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Council President
Tom Scherbert Keeping in touch with the the living body at Resurrection |
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Well, this October newsletter is late for a couple of reasons. First, your Church Council and Call Team have been very busy the last couple of weeks. Second, I wanted to wait to write this letter until that important work had been completed. By now hopefully most of you have heard that the Call Team and Church Council are excited to present Pastor Matt Short as the recommended candidate to be our next pastor. Pastor Short has 19 years of pastoral experience. Pastor Matt’s wife, Jessica, is also a Pastor. They have two children ages 17 and 19. The Short’s first calls were in North Dakota. They have been in Milwaukee since 2008. Pastor Matt’s first call in the Greater Milwaukee Synod was at St. Luke Lutheran Church in Slinger. For the past 7 years he has been Assistant to the Bishop for Evangelical Mission at the Greater Milwaukee Synod.
Some of you may remember Pastor Matt from his visit with us last November. He was here to preach and present information about the synod’s program for Adventures in Renewal. At the time he said we were a very joyful church, with a good sense of humor and that he could feel our energy. Pastor Matt shared a story about that day with the call team. He said that he remembered going home that day and telling his wife that if he could get back into congregational ministry at a congregation like Resurrection, he would. The Call Team had the opportunity to interview 5 candidates, all of which expressed a strong desire to be our next pastor. This was a lot of work and required a great commitment of their time and energy for which we all owe them an extreme debt of gratitude. When the Call Team met with the Council to present Pastor Matt, it was clear that they were all very excited about their choice. They each spoke of his infectious enthusiasm for ministry and his genuine enthusiasm for who we are as God’s people. Pastor Matt liked that, because of our size, he would be able to connect with members of the congregation directly. He was very supportive of our status as a Reconciled in Christ congregation and was excited about our ministry partnerships. The Call Team all viewed Pastor Matt as fitting well into our Resurrection Family. The Call Team also viewed Pastor Matt as an excellent resource to meet the goals put forth in our Ministry Site Profile. He brings lots of synod experience and resources from contacts with other congregations over the past 7 years. He emphasizes teaching people to live their faith outside the walls of the church in very positive ways in his ministry. Pastor Matt has lots of ideas about community building and he is passionate about it. He describes his mode of operation as blurring the line between church and community and modeling ways of grace and love. A long list of Pastor Matt’s positive personal and professional qualities were identified by the Call Team including; compassion, collaborative skills, organization and preparedness, dynamic speaking and preaching skills, and a good sense of humor. It was said that he clearly loves the Lord, is authentic about God’s love, and speaks so very positively about the gift of grace. Everyone will have the opportunity to meet Pastor Matt at a Meet and Greet event on Friday November 1st at 6:30 pm. Pastor Matt will be introduced by members of the Call Team and there will be time for those in attendance to meet and visit with him. (There will be a sign up for a few people to bake some treats for that evening.) Then, we will have a Special Congregational Meeting on Sunday, November 3rd (immediately following the service) so that the congregation can vote to authorize us to extend a call to Pastor Matt Short to be our next pastor. We are nearing the end of a long process that has involved the work and support of each and everyone of you. I am so grateful to have been on this journey with such a great group of loving and caring children of God. Peace and Blessings, Tom (Please note that ways to get involved or help out are in italics.) Calendar in Brief:
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