Dear Friends and Members of Resurrection,
Thank you for your generous commitment of time, energy and money to the ministry of this congregation. Thanks to you also for all the ways you care for one another in prayer, notes and cards, phone calls, visits and meals. I truly thank God for you in prayer every day.
One of the unique things about this congregation is our partnership with Reformation Lutheran in the heart of the city of Milwaukee. Over the past seven years, I have been privileged to participate in the growth of this partnership so that today, there is little that we consider or do that does not include these brothers and sisters in Christ.
A recent addition to this shared ministry is the formation of the Reformation Partners Council. This council includes two lay members and one pastor from all of Reformation’s partners who choose to participate. The goal of the council is to work together to accomplish things that we could not do as well on our own; membership currently includes congregations from Waukesha, Brookfield, New Berlin, Milwaukee, Oconomowoc and Wauwatosa. The resources and creativity that we can pool together for ministry are amazing!
At our first council meeting held on February 15th, one of Reformation’s interim pastors, Ed Weisskoten, reported that the congregation passed a $35,000 deficit budget at its annual meeting. Pastor Fran Olson, interim Assistant to the Bishop, was present at the meeting and said that such a large deficit would make it difficult for Reformation to move forward in calling a full time pastor. We, representatives from partner congregations, agreed to take this information back to our home congregations and appeal to you for a financial contribution that would trim this deficit and allow Reformation to move forward in the call process with more confidence that a full time pastor would be able to be called and supported.
If any of you are able and feel called to make such a contribution, please place this gift in the offering plate on any of the Sundays of Lent with checks made out to Resurrection, with the line designation: Reformation General Budget. Such gifts will be reflected on your contribution record and will be passed on to Reformation. In a very real sense, this is about calling a pastor to our staff: our ministries are so interwoven that what affects
Reformation directly affects Resurrection. I like that. I think it gives us a glimpse of the living body of Christ—across time and space—across the city.
Also, please continue to hold Reformation up in prayer as well as any candidates whom the Holy Spirit may be calling to ministry in that place. This continues to be a time of transition for our brothers and sisters across the city: that is both trying and exciting. Be that word of encouragement, that voice of love to our friends.
If any of you have ideas about fellowship events or fundraisers that you think might be considered by the Reformation Partners Council, please talk to me or either of our two council representatives, Barb LaSee and Mary Strecker. Also, if any of you would like to work on a “Partners Page”—an information sheet that can be shared in all of our congregations’ newsletters and websites, please talk with me.
The Reformation Partners Council is an exciting development in our ongoing shared ministry. Who knows where the Spirit of God may lead us in the months and years ahead?! I feel blessed to be a part of Christ’s ministry with all of you in this time and place.
Blessings on your Lenten journey,
Pastor Mary