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Despite living in Florida for 13 years, Evie and her husband, Frank, had never started the process of Church Shopping.
“I guess we just put it on the back burner,” Evie shares.
Thankfully, Evie’s friend Karen Barnes invited the couple to attend Hope Lutheran Church. Evie and Frank decided to visit for a Christmas Eve service. When they left the sanctuary, Evie had tears in her eyes.
“I just love Hope Lutheran Church,” she says, with a smile of joy in her voice. “I am so impressed with the warmth of love and the feeling I get there.”
Soon, the warmth she experienced at Hope took on a new meaning. Just over two years ago, Frank fell ill. He and Evie had not yet become members of Hope, but that didn’t matter. As soon as Frank was moved to Hospice, Pastor Jon-Marc was there to visit them.
“Pastor Marc has been wonderful,” Evie says. “We weren’t even members yet. He offered us communion and prayed for us. My husband was coherent while lying in bed, and when Pastor Marc went to leave, Frank put his hand in the air and waved.”
This was an important witness for Evie. She felt the power of the Hope community and always felt that Pastor Marc was there for her. More than that, she knew the Hope community would also be there for her, especially after Frank passed away.
“Sitting in my pew, listening to sermons, I would often cry,” she says. “People around me would put their hand on my shoulders and whisper to me, ‘It will be okay.’ It was just beautiful. Just beautiful.” Evie also took a grieving class offered by Hope that helped her cope as she navigated her way through her loss.
Because of Hope’s community, Evie didn’t feel alone. She felt the comfort of her church family then and still does today.
Now, Evie finds herself offering the same comfort and invitation to others. One of her friends lost her husband this year, and Evie invited her to Hope.
It is the generosity of the Hope community that makes it possible for Pastor Jon-Marc and our entire pastoral staff to visit the sick and those in need. It is the generosity of giving that allows the church to offer grief groups and fellowship for those who are alone. And it is the generosity of spirit that leads the Hope community to support one another during the most difficult times.
It is just beautiful.
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