I would like to begin my first letter to the congregation
with a heartfelt word of thanks to both Ed Hartman and Betty Birner. Ed has been a member of Council these past
two years and has provided needed leadership and a keen perspective on a wide
range of issues. Betty is completing a
four year term on Council, during which time she spent the last two years as
Council President. In many ways, Betty
has been the glue that has held Council together during our search for a Senior
Pastor. The leadership she has provided
has been inspiring and beneficial to the Council and to Our Saviour's as a
congregation. Both Ed and Betty will be
missed as we move forward. At the same
time I would like to welcome Shirley Garrison and Walter Grandberry as new
members on Council. They have both
jumped right into the various issues that we have discussed and have helped set
priorities for the future.
We met as a group at our Council Retreat on Saturday,
March 6. At this meeting we deliberated
on a wide range of issues that we will be dealing with in more detail in the
coming months. These include:
-
Staffing and our need for a new pastor to assist with
ministries
at Our Saviour's. We will be moving
forward
with
a Call Committee and hope to have an additional
pastor
on board by sometime this fall. We will
host an
Open
Forum to hear the views of the congregation on
Tuesday,
April 6 at 7:00 p.m. and Sunday, April 11 at
11:45
a.m.
- We are in discussion on ways to improve
communication with the congregation as a whole. This will be critical
as we move forward on the ELCA decision on Human
Sexuality. We hope to put
together a task force by summer
to explore Our Saviour's response to the very important
issues that have been raised by this decision.
- We will be examining advocate groups at Our
Saviour's and
plan on reviewing what sorts of issues we support as a
congregation.
- In addition to these major issues, Council
will review the
following areas in the coming months as well:
- Establishing a Mutual Ministry Committee to
support the pastors
- Reviewing worship at Our Saviour's
- Choosing delegates for the Synod meeting in
June
It will be a busy time at Our Saviour's in the coming
months, but we as a Council look forward to the challenge of continuing our
mission at Our Saviour's: to welcome all people, to grow in faith and to make
Christ known to the world.
Yours
in Christ
Joe Meyer