Message from the Pastor - Archive
Sept. - Oct.
Our dog Chester seems depressed, although he has adopted the porch as his new space. Our other dog Alvin does not care as long as we are around and the food keeps coming. My husband is happy in the new house. I am excited about the work at Trinity. Obviously, we all react differently to major transitions in our lives.
It has been a few weeks now since I started as the new pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church. It is a pleasure getting to know you and it is – despite the chaos that comes with moving - exciting to explore a new environment, a new community. I appreciate you welcoming my husband and me so warmly and the offers to help us during this time of transition.
Even though all our belongings are in the house, we are not done decorating and putting everything in its place yet. At times I am getting impatient and all I want is to be done with it and being “settled.”
Then I am reminded that being “settled” has never been God’s plan with humankind in the first place. God’s people have always been on the move, whether we look at the story of the Exodus, or at the fisherman Jesus had recruited out of their settled lives (“follow me”), or Jesus himself who was moving from town to town. God has a tendency to keep us on our toes, which can be exhausting at times.
While I still hope that the new house is going to be sooner than later our home, being settled is not so much the goal any more. We will not sit in our house, but venture out and discover things. The same is my hope for Trinity. Trinity is home to many, but that does not mean that we have to be settled. It is the place from where we go out into the world as people on the move, following where God is leading us; at the same time we know that we have a place to come home where we find renewal, hospitality and friendship.
For those of you who read this message and do not know the people of Trinity yet, I invite you to come and meet us for worship, coffee hour and conversations, and experience the hospitality and warmth my husband and I are experiencing.
Peace,
Beate Storck, Pastor