Pastor's Message
Dear Family of First,
On April 20 we bade farewell to Pastor Al and Marcie Straatmeyer. We thank God for them and their presence and ministry among us during the last eight years. Now we let them go in the confidence that they are being led by the Spirit and will be embraced by their new church family in the Phoenix area. Pr. Al and Marcie have been a blessing to us and we will miss them personally. Pr. Al’s sermons and wise counsel have been a gift from God, and a strength in this time of the loss of Pr. Dick and Peg Hites.
In Pr. Al’s last sermon on April 13, he “challenged” us to embrace the works of faith that lie ahead of us, to give ourselves even more to the “labor of love,” and to hope even more in Christ -characteristics that have been a mark of God’s people at First Lutheran. In a way, Pr. Al gave us his blessing as we move into what God has for us in the immediate future. I couldn’t have thought of a more appropriate and timely message to us. As Pr. Al and Marcie prepare to move, I’m reminded that you have experienced the loss of three pastoral leaders within the last several months. We’re indeed in transition as a community of faith.
We’ve become pretty comfortable with each other during the last three months. But it is time to turn to the tasks of this interim period.
Transitions are almost always challenging and difficult. We don’t know what God has for us in the future or where we’re going. Pr. Al asked us to “trust even more in Christ,” and the time of transition requires a lot of trust on our part. It is a time of being vulnerable - like the children of Israel journeying in the wilderness. We have left the familiarity of one place but will not arrive at a settled place for some time. But this is also a good time. Led by the Transition Team, the journey’s going to be productive. We want to spend a good amount of time in assessing and evaluating who we are and where we have been in our journey of 107 years. The interim time is also a time of recommitment to our mission as a congregation, and to the excellent ministries of First, and a time when we are open to new visions and directions.
The Transition Team is in place. Our first meeting took place on April 22. Please keep the team in your prayers. We have a big job ahead of us, as we together look back on First’s history, and talk with one another about hopes and dreams of First’s future. The overall goal of the Transition Team is to chart a course that will bring FELC to a condition of even greater health, unity, and readiness to move forward under the leadership of a new pastor.
I’m enjoying being your pastor. This is a great family. But we have some issues to address during this time of transition. I thank God for the partnership of the members of the Transition Team, and your partnership. Let’s move forward with confidence. God is with us in this journey. And we know that for him who raised his Son, Jesus from the dead, nothing is impossible.
Yours in Christ,
Pastor Ray Wade
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