Finding Faith ... in still being the church

Hello Faith Family! … Greetings to you from God our father, and peace from our savior Jesus Christ!

Gracious. … Here is it the morning of June 4, and I am finishing this latest article for our newsletter. Where has the past three months gone? Looking in the rearview mirror they seem like a wisp of smoke!

Just fair warning about this month’s update Faith Family: It will be long. I will do my best to be as concise as possible, but frankly there’s a lot of ground to cover, and we have limited opportunities to address our entire congregation at once. So I will do my best in this month’s article. … Oh, and one point regarding that: This newsletter will serve as both June and July’s newsletter because given our current circumstances, there won’t be much news to publish come July. So just know in advance this will be the last newsletter until August.

Ok, here we go!

INTERNSHIP:

Can you believe that as of May 1 -- which is already a month ago! -- I had served half of my two-year internship? … Speaking of time flying by, where did that year go? Unbelievable.

That gives us 12 months left. And what a 12 months it’s going to be!

In this coming year, I will be heavily focusing on my official internship project, which has been approved by my internship committee here at Faith, the Faith Lutheran Church Council and by Luther Seminary.

In summary, the project will entail creating a new and vibrant approach to our religious education here at Faith Lutheran, from the ground up. The intent will be to make a seamless approach to religious education from our youngest of Sunday schoolers on to First Communion on to confirmation and then adult small group education as well. And the goal is to have pastoral interaction at each level.

We will be sharing more about this with the congregation in the coming months. But just know that I am excited to reinvigorate faith education here on all levels. I hope that you will be as enthusiastic about the changes to come as well!

VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL:

I want to give a big, ol’ shout out to our Sunday school parents who have stepped up to create a meaningful alternative to traditional Vacation Bible School this summer. Thank you FLC Sunday school parents! (High five!)

As you likely know, we are prevented from hosting a traditional VBS because of safety concerns. However, the parents have agreed to take turns developing a home-based VBS project each month. And then all of the kids will get on a video conferencing call on the fourth Wednesday of the month to share their projects with the other kids and to enjoy some awesome fellowship time together.

So, for instance, in June the two parents who are organizing the “virtual VBS” for this month have selected a project in which they are going to send care mail to those in our congregation who could use a greeting the most, our members who are the most cut off from our Faith Family. How cool is that!

Be on the lookout on our church Facebook page and in future newsletters for more information about this summer’s VBS adventures. We’ll share them with you!

RE-OPENING OUR CHURCH:

First, let me just say this Faith Family … I miss you! I miss our Sundays together, and I’ll promise that this experience due to the pandemic has made me realize that I will never again take for granted the beauty, majesty and holiness of being able to gather together as a group of believers again!

Now to the business of re-opening our church: As you likely know, in the past two weeks we have held “live” services on Tuesday nights and then recording those for playback on Sunday mornings.

And, Faith Family, it seems that is how we will be doing service for the foreseeable future.

The Faith Lutheran Council, Pastor Jill Steichen and I met last night for the council’s June meeting. And after weighing the factors -- including the safety of our congregation, the safety of those helping to produce the services, the vast amount of work it would take to re-open right now and the typical impending summer slow down in church activity -- the FLC Council voted that this same format will be our service plan through the end of August.

None of us came to this decision lightly, but given our current circumstances, and the events that are taking place around us, we all agreed that it was the wisest choice for our church.

We know that other churches around us may make different decisions. And that is OK. Some churches will be opening their doors to regular services, or some new kind of makeshift service. But as we weighed all of the factors surrounding what is best for Faith Lutheran Church, this is what we decided will work best for our team at this time.

This is how it will work: Our Digital Services Response Team will be gathering together for “live” services on Tuesday night at the church. I will be joined by Debi, organist/pianist Mike Nelson, vocalist Veronica Nelson and videographer Austin Erickson, and we will produce a full service, complete with liturgy, music, scripture readings and a message.

For those who wish to watch them live on Facebook, we will be holding service at 6 p.m. every Tuesday night. Then, after service, I will be posting the recorded service to our YouTube page, and again at 9:30 a.m. (our summer schedule) on our Facebook page.

So, in reality, that means you all will have multiple ways to view our weekly worship services: 1.) Live on Tuesday evenings. 2.) On demand anytime you want during the week on YouTube. 3.) And then again on Facebook at 9:30 a.m. Sunday mornings. All of which is very exciting to me, as this is giving us new ways to connect with you all!

I know that this certainly doesn’t replace the warm feeling we all get from our traditional in-person services on Sunday morning in our beautiful church. It’s different, that is for certain. But, honestly, what isn’t different about our lives anymore?

We know that there absolutely will come a day when we are participating in a church service together in our sanctuary. Because hope is central to our faith!

But meanwhile we are making the best of the situation we have been dealt. We are seeking new ways to reach our members; we are building church in a whole new way; and we are trusting in the Holy Spirit to guide us as we figure out what our new normal is.

None of this, of course, means that “church” isn’t still happening.

We are still spreading the gospel. We are still producing worship services. A team of Faith Lutheran caretakers still is spiritually caring for our members who are sick or injured. We are still caring for and supporting families who suffer the loss of a loved one. Our Sunday School leaders are still doing Vacation Bible School this summer. FLC council members are still making sure that our building is cared for both structurally (including the installation of a new bell tower roof and a new water softener and water heater) and aestichally (with new flowers and decorations all around inside and outside the church).

And so while the current pandemic may have changed some of our worshipping practices, it has not dulled the Holy Spirit that has a relentless grip on our church. I can assure you of that!

The way that we celebrate and care for each other and show the world Christ’s light is all different for the time being. But I like to focus on what the pandemic hasn’t done:

-- For instance, we can still hold church services, and reach many more faithful in ways we didn’t before.

-- We can still love our neighbor as Christ commands, in so many different ways.

-- We can still pray.

-- We can still read our Bible.

-- We can still feed the hungry, clothe the naked and befriend those who are in jail.

-- We can still care for the orphaned and the widow and the oppressed.

In short, we can still believe, act and practice our faith very much like what Jesus’ followers were doing 2,000 years ago in the 1st century.

Yes, the pandemic may temporarily change how it is that we meet, but it cannot change who we are and why we believe! … And, Faith Family, that is the Good News for this June!

COVID TASK FORCE:

So, all that being said, the very first step in eventually being able to re-open our church is that we are required to establish a church taskforce, led by a “plan administrator,” that will review the guidelines issued by the state and by our church, determine the steps we need to take to ensure that one day we can re-open safely and then craft a step-by-step re-open plan specific to our church.

The council last night discussed the names of some folks whom we think would be true assets to a taskforce like this. And after the meeting, Council President Debi Byars and I also brainstormed some more names.

But this is an invitation to you about stepping up to serve our church. We are looking for a handful of people, preferably five or six, who would be willing to serve on Faith Lutheran’s COVID Task Force. We need members willing to accept this very important role, as our volunteer council already has its hands full with the running of the church. And so we need more people willing to accept this call.

I am asking you to serve. If you have the heart, the mind and the willingness to help our church in a way you may never have thought possible, this is it! Meanwhile, a few of us leaders will be putting our heads together next week as to whom we may ask to participate. However, that task would be greatly reduced if you have the heart to serve! If this sounds like something you’d be willing to do, please contact either Debi or I. We’d be grateful if you did.

And please know that you will not be serving alone. Debi and I will be working in close communication with this committee, and you will have the full support of the Faith Lutheran Council.

Thank you for your consideration!

Wow, that was a lot of words! Faith Family, I hope this letter finds you safe, in good health and good cheer. The world we are living in right now is taxing on all of us. Everywhere you look, there is strife, and it doesn’t seem that it will get any easier in the coming weeks and months.

Please take the steps necessary to care for yourself and the ones around you. Stay physically active, be cognizant of your mental health, take sabbath so that you are prepared to shine God’s holy light on this dark world that needs us now. It is the duty of each of us now, more than ever, to love our neighbor as we do our Christ. It is the only way through the darkness that surrounds us.

God bless you Faith Family, and I cannot express how excited I am to know that we will be back together in person coming this fall! … And that is the Good News for this month. Amen!

Intern Pastor Devlyn Brooks