Come this June I have served First Lutheran Church for eight years. It has been a good eight years from my perspective. When I came to this congregation there was a lot of anxiety about the future of the congregation, about whether a pastor would even want to serve in this place, about finances, and many other issues. I am happy to say that these worries are in the distant past. Currently our anxiety here is about more mundane things: getting a newsletter out, how are we going to repair the skylight in the atrium, will we get an usher to serve for a particular sunday, you know ordinary, small things. We have come a long way to be in this state of normalcy.
But now we are experiencing change in our midst. This change is causing a new kind of anxiety, an exciting kind of anxiety. The Holy Spirit is blowing through this congregation and is calling us to new ministry opportunities. Below I will outline three movements that will affect FLC and how we will move into God's preferred and promised future for us.
1.
Chinese Ministry: Pastor Jade Chienyu Yi came to Living Truth Chinese Lutheran Church last spring to serve as their new pastor. It has become clear that this mission start, that began in 2005, will not ever become a self sustaining congregation. What has also become clear to us is that this is a very important ministry to this community. With Pastor Jade's leadership we have closed "Living Truth" as a project geared for developing an established congregation. That was done at the 11:00 service on Easter Day. Many of you witnessed that event. We are now exploring if it is possible to continue this work as a ministry of the ELCA and FLC. Pastor Jade has interviewed the members of the Chinese ministry about what they desire for their future work together. We have also begun to worship together at the 11:00 service bilingually. The question before us is about the future of this ministry. The ELCA and the Synod have pledged to fund Pastor Jade through August. This gives the Chinese ministry and FLC time to reflect on this question and maybe develop a funding proposal to submit to the ELCA. Please keep this ministry in your prayers.
2.
Visioning Process for FLC: FLC's congregational council has hired a consultant to help us develop a visioning process. The Rev. Rick Rouse will work with our visioning team chaired by Tom Payne. We hope to spend the next 15 months or so in deep reflection on God's preferred and promised future. This team will be made up of 8 individuals including Pastor Berg and president Kaaren Hatlen. We hope when the time comes that you will choose to participate in the various opportunities to explore what it means to be the church in this community. By the end of this process we will have a better understanding of who we are and where we are called.
3.
Northshore Lutheran Ministry: Northlake Lutheran Church and FLC councils and leaders will meet on May 19 to share dreams about what shared ministry may look like in our community. There are opportunities for us to work together as a united Lutheran presence. How will this be done? Are there staff positions that could be shared? Are there ministries that can be pursued better together than apart? It is fascinating to think about these issues moving into our visioning process.
Please understand that no decisions have been made about anything in particular. We are exploring what God is doing in our midst and trying to discern what is best in furthering the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Feel free to share your opinions, knowledge, or concerns with us at anytime.
