Years ago my commute took me across a small stream twice a day. An adjacent dirt parking lot occasionally had a car or two, presumably belonging to fishermen trying their luck for perch, largemouth bass or chain pickerel. Other days the small lot was empty.
Twice a year, though, the lot was packed. Cars and pickups overflowed, parked on both sides of the road to Trenton. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection had just stocked the stream with thousands of trout, many of a nice size. The fishermen (and women) were ready for a great catch.
I was reminded of Assunpink Creek by the Transition Team's work on its report ahead of calling a new pastor and by Pastor Tony's recent excellent message on evangelism. If you didn't read his note, you're encouraged to do so. https://beautifulsavior.net/news/evangelism
At many points in the Bible and in different ways, Jesus calls us to be "fishers of men." Mark 1:16-18 and Matthew 4:19 tell the story of Jesus walking beside the Sea of Galilee, encountering Simon and Andrew. He encouraged them to drop their nets and to follow Him. Pastor Tony's newsletter "Good News!" quoted Luke 10:1-3a where "the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. He said to them 'The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.'"
Studying changes at Beautiful Savior and in the church's immediate neighborhood, the Transition Team found an aging, slowly declining, yet very active congregation. Our outside "community," based on members' average driving time and mileage, was a less than 6-mile drive to and from church. A developer site created a map showing a community roughly extending north to Tangerine Road, east to the end of Ina Road, south to Prince Road and west to the end of Ina.
The neighborhoods in that 6-mile community largely are established with homes built in the middle 1970s and 1980s, some newer ones immediately south and east of the church. The population of our defined community has grown from 102,873 in 2010 to 112,072 in 2024, and is expected to grow by another 3,000 over the next four years.
The outskirts of that community and just beyond, however, have witnessed rapid growth. The Town of Marana, ranked 33rd nationally in development, added 5,956 single family homes from 2019 to 2024 and is poised to add another 900 in 2025. Additionally, it has added 2,194 multiple family residence units during that period with more in construction and nearing lease stage.
Most rentals are large apartment complexes located no more than 10-12 minutes from the church, including two large complexes down the hill and behind the Target store; two very large apartment complexes across the street and next to the new Amazon warehouse; more apartments at Coachline and Silverbell; and next to the Tucson Premium Outlets mall. Fewer than six miles away is the first phase of a 693-unit “new houses for rent” development along Linda Vista, with several hundred more to come. The town’s director of economic development expects the growth to continue. Marana’s current population of approximately 60,000 is expected to swell to 100,000 in the next five years. Growth also is forecast for Oro Valley, to BSLC’s northeast, and in the immediate areas of unincorporated Pima County immediately north of the church campus.
Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church is at the southern tip of a rapidly growing metropolitan area. In addition to the major new residential construction, a hospital, emergency center, medical offices, retail, self-storage and other commercial enterprises have been built within the past five or six years. Yet Beautiful Savior members seem reluctant or unwilling to reach out to the new arrivals. One member was overheard at church saying she had repeatedly invited someone to come but they hadn't accepted the offer. I'm sure she's not alone.
At several points in his recent message, Pastor Tony challenged Beautiful Savior to begin looking outward to invite those around us to join the excitement and the special things taking place here.
"What Jesus teaches the 72 is to go out and be him in the world," he wrote. "Go, stay where you are welcomed, eat with others, heal them, and share the good news that the kingdom of God is coming near. We can see hints of it right here, in this little community, in this place, such exciting glimpses it entirely makes sense we’d want to invite lots of others to come and see.
"Would you like to gather with others who want to see this image together? Could it be healing? Could it make us more whole?"
To borrow from the fish tale (a true one!) at the beginning of this note, God is pouring hundreds of new "fish" each year into our stream, our pool. Can we find ways to reach out, to catch some and reel them in to the church of Christ on Earth? Should we?
- Mark Mittelstadt, Transition Team