Dear church,
This year marks 40 years in the life of our church! This milestone not only invites us to remember our story, but also to reflect on who we are today and how God is calling us forward as a church Living out God’s grace and unconditional love.
One of the key moments as we celebrate this milestone will be a Sunday morning worship service, October 25, Reformation Sunday, livestreamed from the Saskatchewan Synod Youth Retreat at Camp Kinasao, Christopher Lake.
Our worship’s focus, One Body (Ephesians 4:1–6), reminds us that in a fragmented world and church, we are called to unity in the one body of Christ. One body rooted in the love of Christ, centred in the cross of Christ, and united in service to God’s creation. One body rejoicing together, liberated by grace, reaching out to the world in Christ’s reconciling love. One body is both our calling, our hope and our action.
Ephesians reminds us that the church lives in the reality of what God in Christ has already done, it is now a matter of living into it; that our witness binds us to mutual nurture, care, and peace toward one another; that we are called to be a diverse, inclusive community that celebrates all people; that this growing up into Christ necessitates a changed life: a way of living characterized by love, by humility, bound to peace and to justice.
I want to be part of a church…in these next 40 years…
. . . striving to live out the radical grace and unconditional love of our baptism into Christ, empowering and equipping all for God’s mission in the world through the Word proclaimed and the sacraments celebrated, and through service (diakonia) in Christ’s name,
. . . discerning together God’s call and claim in our lives in a culture marked increasingly by polarization, fear, and isolation,
. . . living a new narrative in which biblical images such as salt, leaven, light and mustard seed, reveal the gift of being small and marginal: a faith and practice that is reliant on God,
. . . emphasizing in every facet of our church an intentional focus on faith formation,
. . . creating intentional opportunities for leadership and leadership development for youth, women in ministry and those on the edge/margins,
. . . expanding lay leadership and exploring additional avenues for rostered leader preparation,
. . . seeking to live into relationships of accompaniment, which require deep listening, less-anxious presence, humility, compassion and curiosity,
. . . embracing new opportunities; risking failure; supporting diverse ministry to suit unique contexts; and encouraging the sharing of the varied gifts, people and programs across organizational boundaries.
We do not know the future, but we have what we need for the next 40 years.
Jesus is feeding us. We have bread and wine. We have the Scriptures. We have each other. We know that we will not get to where we are going without going together. Jesus comes alongside—love is at our side.
Rev. Larry Kochendorfer
ELCIC National Bishop
