Joint Ministry Continues
As an experiment in sharing resources, the use of Pastor Sean by both congregations has been a huge success. Services that are valued by both communities have continued to happen and not major obstacles have been encountered.
Council (Grace Lutheran) and Vestry (St. Catherine’s Anglican) have met and discussed and it was decided that a joint call committee will be formed and a replacement for Pastor Sean will be sought jointly. Both Synod and Diocese office are aware of this and are in process looking for the best candidate to come work full time and continue the 50/50 arrangement that we have enjoyed since Christmas.
Thanks be to God for this sharing of resources and the trust and innovation shown by both congregations to make this possible.
June 2012 Message for Congregations and Lay and Rostered Leaders
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ –
First Call Reflections: It all Matters.
Paul writes at the beginning of 1st Corinthians, “I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind— just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you— so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord”.
These words of Paul are written to the church of Corinth and if you read into the emotion behind the words, you see that Paul has a great love for this little Corinthian church.
As much as Paul brought words of peace and hope and Gospel to the church, I get the sense that Paul has received far more from this church than he gave. I feel compelled to put into writing what Edson has meant to me. Three years is a blip of time in the scale of a busy life. It has gone so quick and I am surprised how quick the moment of departure is approaching.
These three years have held so many “firsts” for me that these years are going to live on in my memory forever.
Cont… ->
It all Matters…
My first memories are filled with your great warmth. The first interactions that I received from Edson were exciting and encouraging and positive as I experienced those first negotiations of all the little details with Gordon Booth to arrange the first interview. From that great March 2009 weekend interview where I discovered for the first time your streets and buildings and started to dream about what a life here could look like, all the way to that first day in June 2009 when so many people waited for my late Budget truck to roll into town I knew I was coming to a people of great hospitality. It wasn’t long after that move day that I met Tien for the first time bringing my family our first meal from the castle restaurant.
This was an amazingly soft landing for my first call.
It was here that I was installed and ordained. The words of welcome and invitation to be your Pastor were warmly received and were soon followed by my first time presiding at communion, my first time preaching Sunday after Sunday, my first time baptizing a child... and through these firsts you stood with me and made room for me to grow into my identity as a Pastor.
For me I will wonder if I pushed too hard, or didn’t push hard enough… I will continue to puzzle through what it meant to be your pastor as I move forward and try to figure out what it will mean to be a pastor in the future.
The last few months of serving both the Anglican and Lutheran church has been a blessing. My appreciation for the liturgy that we share and the Anglican Church of Canada has been enhanced by starting this Joint Ministry with you. It was an opportunity that I’m sure will bear fruit in the future as well because the relationship between Anglicans and Lutherans I believe is going to continue to grow in this country and this time with you has given me insight that few others have. Thank-you for this gift.
I owe you my pastoral identity. I will carry this pastoral identity that you have helped forge in me forward in life and ministry. Your names and faces will be what I remember when I think about the people that You have been an amazing gift to me I will thank God for you as I remember the grace that was given to you, and the grace you so freely shared with me and my family. I am still measuring the rest of my “Pastoral Career” in decades of time, and Edson will always be the base of my pastoral identity and for many years to come I will take this gift and faithfully serve the church.
Thanks for everything.
Rev. Sean Bell
July
All Sunday Services will be at
Grace Lutheran Church
At: 10am
August
All Sunday Services will be at
St. Catherine’s Anglican Church
At: 10am
Grace Council Chair: Sheryl Dubois
Pastor Sean’s departure is coming quickly. Although I am sad to see him go, it is an exciting next chapter in his life and the life of his family as they move to Regina at the end of June. I wish him and his family God’s blessings and guidance as they move on.
I also ask for the congregations prayers for guidance as we begin this time of transition without a regular pastor. Church council along with the Anglican vestry have decided that during the summer months of July and August, church services will be combined and held at 10:00. As summer is traditionally a time of low attendance, it makes sense to combine our resources. Grace Lutheran will be the location of all services held in July. These will mainly be lay services, but on July 22, Pastor Tim Pozyluzny will lead the service for us. Pastor Tim is from Edmonton, and is recently retired after serving at Holy Spirit Lutheran Church for a quite a few years. For August, services will be held at St. Catherine’s Anglican Church at 10:00.
The Anglican bishop’s office and Lutheran synod office have hinted at progress being made in finding a suitable person interested in serving a joint ministry with Grace Lutheran and St. Catherine’s Anglican. The congregation will be informed as more details are made available.
On Sunday June 17, we will have a time of celebration following the service to thank Pastor Sean for his service to Grace Lutheran Church. This will be in conjunction with the Sunday School wind-up BBQ. Watch for more details about this.
Sheryl Dubois Church Council Chairperson
Rector’s Warden: Joan Carter ST. CATHERINE’S REPORT
Dear friends,
The year so far has been very interesting and exciting. The shared ministry with GraceLutheran Church is working very well and there are some wonderful opportunities ahead. We feel that this is the pathway that we need to continue along together. We are very sorry to see Pastor Sean leave, as we have really enjoyed his ministry among us. We pray that he and his family will be happy in their new life in Reginaand that his ministry there will be fulfilling.
Our ministries in the parish are continuing on a regular basis. Kate’s Kitchen is held on the third Thursday of each month and provides meals for 20-25 people. We have a lot of fun and it is a time of true fellowship. Our Prayer Shawl ministry meets on the first Thursday evening of each month. We would welcome anyone to join us.
We will not be having a Dessert Booth on Canada Day this year. It is a Sunday which makes it difficult. Our trailer is not in good repair, so Vestry made the decision to let it go this year. Our Building Project is ongoing, and we are fundraising to complete phase two. If you have any ideas, please let the Building Committee know.
Pot Luck Brunch is held on the fourth Sunday of each month after service and we encourage you to join us for the worship service and the fellowship that follows.
In Christ, Joan Carter (Rector’s Warden)
A Challenge from Rev. Larry Kochendorfer – Assistant to the Bishop of the Alberta and the Territories
May grace and peace be yours in abundance (I Peter 1:2a).
This month I want to invite you – perhaps challenge you – to read, reflect and pray over the summer months.
Since the Great Three Days of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and the Easter Vigil, I have been reading Eugene Peterson’s Practice Resurrection: a Conversation on Growing Up in Christ focusing on the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus. It is a fascinating read!
Peterson notes that while other letters written by Paul addressed specific issues or concerns in a local congregational setting the Ephesian letter is unique in that it is the only one that is not provoked by some problem, whether of behavior or belief.
At the center of the letter Paul writes: “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beg you to lead a life [to walk] worthy of the calling to which you have been called” (4:1). At the center of the letter there is a single Greek word, axios, on which the entire letter pivots.
Translated as “worthy,” axios is a word with a picture in it – it functions as a metaphor. An axios is a set of balanced scales, the kind of scales formed by a crossbeam balanced on a post, with pans suspended from each end of the beam. You place a lead weight of, say, .5 kilograms in one pan, and then measure out flour into the other pan until the two pans are in balance. When the flour in one pan balances the .5 kilogram lead weight in the other, you know you have .5 kilogram of flour. The unknown weight of what is being measured in one pan is equivalent to the known weight in the other. The two items, lead and flour, are axios – worthy. They have the same value, or, in this case, weight.
The items balanced in the Ephesians scales are God’s calling and human living: “I beg you,” writes Paul, “to walk worthy of the calling to which you have been called.” When our walking and God’s calling are in balance, we are whole: we are living maturely, living responsively to God’s calling, living congruent with the way God calls us into being. Axios, worthy – mature, healthy, robust.
The balancing scales, the axios, centers the Ephesian letter. Everything in Paul’s letter, Peterson suggests, is written to keep God’s calling (chapters 1-3) and our walking (chapters 4-6) in equilibrium.
God calls; we walk.
God calls. God doesn’t hand out information to us. God doesn’t explain. God calls. And our response? We walk. We follow God’s call. We respond with our lives. We hear and respond.
God calls; we walk. When the calling and walking are in equilibrium, we are worthy.
I have a challenge for you over the summer season. Read through Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus and consider God’s calling to you (individually and as a faith community); at the same time, ponder your walking (individually and as a faith community) – your/our response to God’s call. I am confident that your reading, reflection and prayer will be meaningful – and balancing.
The God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:13).
In Christ Jesus –
Shalom,
Larry
Rev. Dr. Larry Kochendorfer
Assistant to the Bishop
Synod of Alberta and the Territories
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada
REMEMBER!
July and August summer services are all together.
All July at 10am at the Lutheran Church
All August at 10am at the Anglican Church
Joint Ministries has so many possibilities!!!
