Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Grace and peace to you from God our heavenly Father and Jesus Christ the Lord and Savior. Amen.

We live in a region in which the seasons are part of our experience of time. We watch leaves change color and fall. We watch the temperatures vacillate as they sojourn from one season to the next. We notice the leaves begin to change, the first frost, the tiny sprout of green peeking through the snow, the buds forming on trees, and the humidity getting stuck at a ridiculously high percentage. We may complain (about most of them), but we accept these changes as a part of nature’s cycles.

The cycle of the liturgical year is an ongoing reminder of the cycles of life in faith. As we enter October and begin to watch for the end of the Season after Pentecost (aka the long green season) we are nudged into change. We begin to look toward Advent and a new liturgical year.

Congregations also have seasons. Throughout the past Change can be exciting and change can be scary. God uses change to give growth.

Paul reminded the Ephesians,

⁶ I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. ⁷ So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. ⁹ For we are God’s coworkers, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building. (Ephesians 3:6-7, 9)

He later expands the construction imagery describing the church as God’s building.

¹⁰ According to the grace of God given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it. Let each builder choose with care how to build on it. ¹¹ For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 3:10-11)

Whether the botany or construction imagery engages you more, the point remains the same: the church is dynamic and multifaceted. This often contradicts our own nostalgia which tries to memorialize a static, two-dimensional snapshot of the church. Bluntly stated, the church experiences change just as much as any other gathering of living creatures does.

At the end of the month, we will celebrate Reformation Sunday and witness six of our young disciples will make affirmation of their Baptisms. Even in the titles there are notes of change. Reformation Sunday celebrates a moment 508 years ago that set events into motion that forever changed the church on earth as experienced in the West. Affirmation of Baptism is a pivotal transition in the lives of young people and their families, mentors, and sponsors. They are publicly stating, “I believe.” That Sunday will also be my last Sunday leading worship. Next month you will welcome a new settled pastor and adapting to the changes that come from that transition.

Through all the changes you face personally, as families, as communities, as a congregation, God has made you a promise – the Holy Spirit will strengthen and guide you. As Moses was directed to say to the Israelites, so I now say to you:

²⁴The Lord bless you and keep you;
²⁵ the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
²⁶ the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen. (Numbers 6:24-26)

In Christ,

Pastor Carla