For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord,
plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
(Jeremiah 29:11)
Next stop: change for the better
It’s been quite a whirlwind of a summer! If I hadn’t encountered God’s sense of mystery (and humor) before, I would be wondering if I had connected some dots that ought not be connected. But indeed, God has a way of giving His people what they need, when they need it most. God’s timing is always perfect (though rarely understandable). If people would have told me back in May that we would be calling a part-time Associate Pastor in September and that I would be starting a Doctor of Ministry degree, I would never have believed them. But here we are, at the cusp of September with the unexpected, but very welcomed, joy of calling Pastor Sue Ellen Grudt to our pastoral team. I also now have piles of books labeled “required reading, deadlines for papers coming up in October, December, and January” and I have to learn something called the Turabian style for writing academic papers. I haven’t written an academic paper in almost 25 years!
I hope between the letter I sent out to the congregation in August, as well as the three congregational meetings regarding calling Pastor Sue Ellen Grudt, that any questions or concerns you had will have been answered by the time of the congregational meeting and vote on September 18th after the late service. God has placed before us an incredibly wonderful and generous gift in the music, education, and pastoral ministry of Pastor Sue Ellen. The difficult thing will be to honor her 15-hour work week.
As I write this newsletter article, we are a few weeks away from the vote, but people are growing excited about this awesome opportunity for Christ Lutheran Church. Calling a gifted musician as our associate pastor is a way of saying “yes” to the future God has planned for us. This is a leap of faith, but one that brings with it an amazing future that we can’t even imagine right now—but God can. And that’s good enough for me!
Please plan on meeting Pastor Sue Ellen Grudt in person after the 9:30 service on Sunday, September 11th. She will be playing all the music in worship that day. Then, please plan on attending the congregational meeting on September 18th after the late service for the vote to call Pastor Sue Ellen as our Associate Pastor.
God is good!
Yours in Christ,
Pastor Sue Beadle