Being Stewards of our Churchwide Partners

 

            … but finding no way to bring [the paralyzed man] in [before Jesus] because of the crowd, [the men carrying him] went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles … in front of Jesus.  When [Jesus] saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven you.”  [Luke 5:18b-20]

 

It is easy to become “caught up” in our own personal lives; so much so that we fail to recognize the faith other individuals have in Jesus.  More often than we may wish to acknowledge we make our faith journey a very personal ‘me and you Jesus’ experience.  Yet every Saturday evening or Sunday when we gather as the people of God around Word and Sacrament, there are people surrounding us who share our faith in Jesus’ promises of grace, forgiveness, and salvation now and forever.

Of course, I would hope that we additionally recognize the other 41,000 plus baptized Lutherans of the Allegheny Synod as people who share our call to be disciples of Jesus.  They too gather in worship and study to be fed by God, and in turn are scattered to be stewards and evangelists of the good news of Jesus’ love and forgiveness in word and deed.

If we forget about one another as partners on this faith journey, it is no wonder that disciples of Jesus who serve as churchwide staff of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America are also rarely considered as persons who are a part of our faith journey.  Now I cannot focus on all members of our churchwide staff, the editor says I only get a part of one page, not the whole newsletter!  I can, however, in this space for this month talk about the group of deployed staff assigned to our region and synod who invited me to lunch early in July.  They serve our Lord and live here on this territory and thus walk with us on our faith journey too.  They bring gifts of talent and time, resources and ideas to encourage and assist us in being more vital and faithful disciples of Jesus.

Briefly they are …

 

o       Nancy Gable who offers her gifts as she helps our candidacy committee work effectively with ministry candidates and she helps coordinate ministries among the eight synods of the region.

o       Helen Harms who can assist congregations in strategizing and planning how best to be the Church of Jesus Christ in fulfilling God’s mission through their ministries.

o       Pastor Erica Kennedy & Roger Smith, both stewardship specialists, who bring ideas and resources to assist disciples of Jesus in understanding that everything we have is given to us by God.

o       Pastor Gregory Kramer who lives out his ministry as a gift planner.  Pastor Kramer has the knowledge and resources to help us offer financial gifts to the many and various important ministries of our church.

o       Jeffrey Spann, a church building consultant, who can help your congregation assess your building needs and offer ideas for construction and/or major maintenance.

o       Charles Zang who has the gifts and experience to help individuals and congregations invest their financial resources so they receive a solid return while assisting sister congregations with new and additional construction.

 

Over the course of the next several months I have invited each of these partners

to introduce themselves to you through The Lutheran Letter.  I hope in this way we might be better stewards of these churchwide partners and their gifts and resources; and who, like us, believe Jesus is Savior and Lord.

            I pray we express that faith in Jesus with our words and deeds daily, … and Jesus sees that faith and uses it to make a difference in our world.

            May God continue to bless you in these wonderful days of summer.