Greetings Calvary community,
Since I began serving as pastor, I’ve been increasingly learning patience. “Why is that,” you may ask? Well, in seminary, we get to serve in congregations for roughly a year at a time. Because of this, I’d learned to quickly get to know people and assess what short-term impact was called for, knowing that I’d be leaving soon. Now, at Calvary, time is not a pressing issue! It’s been a gift to be able to think, for the first time, about long-term possibilities alongside a congregation.
Given the opportunity to think long-term about what God is up to, I get impatient. That’s because there is much to get excited about, and I want it all to happen now! Vacation Bible School is coming up for the first time since pre-Covid; Calvary will begin serving as a learning site for our synod’s Growing-in-Faith program (which may mean more deacons in the future); and our newest identity as a United Partner with United Lutheran Seminary will have impacts on Calvary’s mission long-term.
How do I feel about all of this? I want it to happen now! (Hence me learning patience). But I share all of this because of what it means for our present. The ability to think long-term, and being strategic about setting us up to be open to God’s work in our midst, means that we have a solid foundation now, including with our finances.
Finances are often a taboo subject when it comes to church, but it’s important for us to remember that everything we have comes from God. Though financial means are not evenly distributed throughout society, the way we choose to use the finances we do have says a lot about who we are. We are God’s people, and at each finance committee meeting, we give thanks for all that God has provided to Calvary’s ministry through you. And though summer is often seen as the time when congregations slow down, for Calvary it is instead a moment for us to pause, give thanks for all that we’ve been given, and look ahead to all that can be.
And though, for me, many exciting things can’t come soon enough, I know they’ll be worth the wait!
God’s peace be with you all in these summer months,
Peace,
Pastor Zach +

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