I’m baaack.

I’m baaack.  Well, I can’t reproduce Arnold’s charming Austrian accent in my variation of his well-known words.  But I am pleased to assist the congregation as the search for an interim/permanent pastor continues.  As you might recall, during Pastor David’s sabbatical I was the “point pastor” for those months, in that I led worship, attended some meetings, and made hospital visits to the critically ill.  I have agreed to be the primary Sunday liturgist through Christmas I, with a supply helping out on occasion.  After January 1 we’ll see where the congregation is.  So please be assured that pastoral care is available if and when needed during this pastoral vacancy.  Lay eucharistic ministers will continue to offer home communions, committees will function as usual, and your personal ministries will continue.

You see, no congregation should be so pastor-focused to the extent that you, who are the Church, do not participate in the ministries to which we all are called.  After all, the giving of the Spirit on Pentecost granted the blessing of gifts for the common good to all believers---so that God is praised, and those who do not know or acknowledge God come to that divine truth.  The call to Abraham to be a blessing to others is the exact same call extended to all the baptized.

The Church’s One Foundation is Jesus Christ, her Lord is a hymn which encapsulates the profound truth of who we are:  members of the Body of Christ, God’s presence in a world that desperately needs Good News.  That call never ends for us this side of Beulah land, and so we all, as members of Beautiful Savior, can focus on that greater need for others.

This coming Wednesday evening is the Thanksgiving Eve Service, held at 7 PM.  Gratitude and thanks for blessings showered upon us by God are not limited to one national holiday per year; the Christian life is one of continually giving thanks, which we practice during worship.

This Sunday marks Christ the King, the end of one liturgical year, and following is the First Sunday in Advent.  Our gospel lessons shift from St. Luke to St. Matthew in the new liturgical year, so we will hear a different perspective on the life, death, resurrection, and teachings of Jesus.  Advent is a tough time, in a way, because we are asked to reflect in peace and quietness what the coming of God in the flesh, which we call the Incarnation, means for us as individuals, the Church, and the world.  So the Church can offer a calm respite from the frenzy of “the holidays.”

Pastor Richard