Dear Friends in Christ,
I shared the above mini painting with you all in February when our gospel lesson for the first Sunday of that month contained the words,
“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer food for anything, but is thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:13-16)
I love the imagery of these words from Jesus. Not because they tell us who we should be, but rather they tell us that Jesus has already declared who we are. We are salt. We are light. These are blessings of God’s grace that allow us to live fully into our faith. It is our living as salt and light that helps a weary world to recognize God’s work among us. Even as we understand this, we need reminders.
I am thinking about this now as I share personal and pastoral news with you. After much prayer for discernment, and speaking with trusted advisors, I have decided to take my ministry in a new direction. This does not mean that I am resigning from Our Redeemer at this time. It does mean that I am asking the congregation to approve a change in my Call from three-quarter time to two-fifths time. With this change, I would be preaching two weekends a month.
The reason for this reduced time commitment at Our Redeemer is because I will also be serving as a part-time intentional interim pastor at a church in Burbank. Serving at both churches will be a bit of an experiment, but also not without precedent as pastors in other regions of the country commonly serve in two-point parishes (two churches). Serving a congregation as they go through the transition towards calling a new pastor is something that I feel called to do.
We at Our Redeemer are also in a time of transition. For the past couple years our congregation council has been working on discernment of our future. Out of this discernment we presented, and you all approved, a change to our mission and vision statements. These are the statements we adopted:
Our Mission:
Living in God’s Love, Building Community, Loving and Embracing People
Our Vision:
a faith community where people participate in activities
that build community with God and neighbors.
With these as guidance for our ongoing work together, I am excited to see how we, together, can live into this vision for the future of Our Redeemer.
You, members of the congregation, will have the opportunity to vote on whether to approve this change in my Call at a special congregational meeting on Sunday, June 4th (immediately after worship). If you have any questions, comments, or concerns and would like to speak to me before that meeting, please feel free to contact me.
Meanwhile let us continue to hold one another in prayer. Let us also remember that we are indeed salt and light, not only for ourselves but for a world that could use a bit more saltiness and some welcoming light.
Peace in Christ,
Pastor Nancy
