Dear Friends,

 

As we journey through Lent, we remember that indeed, we are dust, but beloved dust. We are finite. We are human. We have limits. And yet, by God's grace, we are called.

 

Recently, the Congregational Council gathered for a retreat titled "Tapping into Our Abundance with Intentional Shared Ministries." It was a day of focused discernment - asking how we might live into what God is already calling us to do, together, in ways that are faithful and sustainable. We began with Exodus 18. Moses is exhausted, carrying the weight of leadership alone. His father-in-law gently helps him what he cannot yet recognize: "What you are doing is not good... you cannot do it alone." That Scripture helped to shape our day. The work of ministry is meant to be shared. When it is not, both leaders and congregations grow weary.

 

Throughout the retreat, Council reflected on four areas of our life together: naming our core priorities, looking honestly at our shared calendar, mapping how our various ministries intersect and overlap, and imagining what it might look like for pastoral care to be more explicitly shared across the congregation. Page Council 2 Second Mile 2 Worship 3 Children's Center 3 Women of the ELCA 4 Prayer Calendar 5.   Events Calendar Good News! Announcements 7-8 6.

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His timing could not be more fitting.

 

All of this reflection prepares us well for Bishop Jeff's visit on March 1. One of the themes he will reflect on is his understanding of shared ministry - how congregations, pastors, lay leaders, and the wider church participate together as disciples following the way of Jesus.​

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Lent reminds us that dust is the great equalizer. Regardless of our occupation, education, background, identity, or energy, we come from dust and we return to dust. Yet we are beloved dust. And within that belovedness, God entrusts us with gifts - not to carry alone, but to offer together as followers of Jesus.  May this be a season when we rediscover that shared work is holy work, and that Christ always goes ahead of us.

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Warmly,

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