People of Hope:
In a well known biblical passage, Ecclesiastes reminds us: For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven … a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted.
Indeed, there is a time for every matter under heaven, and now, it is time to say goodbye. I struggle sometimes to remember that nothing but God and God’s promises for us are eternal. Seasons come and go, like summer and winter, Advent and Lent. We sweat through the summer and delight in winter, enjoy the holiday lights in Advent and gather for soup and Holden Evening Prayer in Lent. For everything there is a season, and the season of Esperanza’s interim period has come to an end.
Which means, it’s also time to say hello!
I am truly excited for you as you enter a new phase of ministry and say hello to Pastor Chris Heller! The call committee, the council, and you, the congregation at large, have discerned that Pastor Chris is a good fit for Esperanza, and I concur! I have known Pastor Chris for years through collaborative ministry in the Grand Canyon Synod. He and I served on the Lutheran Campformation executive committee together, which entailed regular meetings as well as the week of camp each summer. Beyond his many gifts in ministry, I sensed early on in my time with you that Pastor Chris might be the person God was calling to serve here.
In addition to saying hello to Pastor Chris, you are welcoming a new way of being as a congregation. You have worked hard in this interim period to let go of past hurts, to end triangulation, and to deal with conflict in a healthy, direct way. You have also begun working together as teams to plan worship, to reach out to the community, to host Hope Talks, to organize fellowship and anniversary events, and to solve problems (instead of just complaining about them 😉). On the back end of ministry, so much work has been done by the council to set and implement needed policies and procedures, and you will soon consider updates to the Esperanza constitution that will bring clarity to how you function as a congregation. In this time, you have also let go and tried new things in worship that I pray brought joy to you and awakened in you even deeper faith and hope.
This community, you, have done this with the help of the Holy Spirit. You are welcoming a new way of being as a congregation. I trust you will continue to be direct (and kind), to work together, and most of all, to love one another as God has loved you. In this transition to a new pastor, it is not simply the role of the pastor to be direct and kind, to work with you, and to love you. It is the role of all the baptized to embrace this way of being.
Dear people of hope, I will be praying for you as you move into this next phase of ministry. I will be praying that you ever live with hope — just as your name says.
With joy, love, and anticipation,
Pastor Sarah