Hello Calvary Community,

Alleluia! Christ is risen!
What an incredible gift we have from God: new life gifted through the resurrection of Jesus. Luther wrote, “every day we need reminding of the gospel because every day we forget it.” Holy Week is our big, annual reminder of the good news of God’s love for us. We glorify the cross only because we know the ending is life! I am in-credibly grateful to have walked this season together for the first time, and I look forward to doing it many times again in the future.
This Easter season, on May 7, at 10:30 am and 12:30 pm, respectively, Tanya Behnke will be set apart as a deacon and I will be ordained as a pastor. This will be at Marriott Melville Long Is-land, 1350 Walt Whitman Road.
Easter continues for fifty days, culminating in the festival of Pentecost. On that day, we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit. Oftentimes, Pentecost is called “the birthday of the church.” However we frame it, it is a day to celebrate.
This Pentecost, June 5, at 3:00 pm, we will be having a celebration at Calvary. The Dean of our conference of churches, the Rev. Joann Bond, will install me as your pastor. I will then install Tanya as your first deacon. At the heart of it, this installation worship is a celebration of all that the Holy Spirit is up to in this place! It is a celebration of God’s work at Calvary, and it is a gift that we will be joined by pastors from around our synod as witnesses.
While the setting apart and ordination involve promises to the church as an institution, the installation involves promises to the church as a people. Walking together, we’ll promise to pray for each other, to honor the work we do, and to acknowledge our unity in Christ.
Lastly, installations usually take place right at the beginning of a pastor’s time with a congregation. Though there has been a wait, I am now grateful for the time that has passed until this event. It has given me time to get to know you, and the words of the installation will be that much more meaningful, both for myself as one being installed, and while installing Tan-ya, knowing the impact she has on Calvary’s ministry.
Though these are just one day events, they symbolize the future we have together. I look forward to each and every day of it, and I hope to see you there!
Soon-to-be-your-pastor-officially,

Pastor Zach +