January  2010
Pastoral pondering

Where do we go from here?

Fifty plus years of ministry in the books.

One year of celebration.

What do you do after a Jubilee year?

You get to work.

Ground which has lain fallow is ready to be plowed up again.

In the Jubilee year, that ground has been able to recover.  It has had time to rest and be renewed .

It is ready.

It doesn’t really matter if you feel ready.

You are.

But, for what?

For following Jesus.

Nice, right?  Just the kind of thing you’d expect a pastor to say:  some spirit-y kind of thing that has no meaning in the real world.

But I am serious.  And I do believe that it has meaning in the real world.

We have the most incredible opportunity a congregation can have.  We have grown from infancy into adulthood.  We are standing.

The growth that has happened here moves me.  It is growth in each 
person   – Christ being formed within each person.

Those who stand are then expected to walk.  When Jesus healed someone who was lame, he told them to stand up, and he told them to walk.  So now it’s time for us to walk.

Where are we going?

What will it look like?

Only God knows right now, but God will show us, step by step.

After a Jubilee, it’s time to stand up.  It’s time to be following  Jesus.

Where to?

We’ll see.  Step by step with Jesus.

In Christ,
Pastor Julianne Smeck

A personal note:  I want to thank the congregation for your monetary gift for Christmas.  These are such difficult days financially.  I’m deeply touched that you still chose to give toward a gift.  I am 
grateful.

With love, in Christ,