January 2012 Newsletter Article

Though I am small, my God, my all,

you work great things in me,

and your mercy will last from the depths

of the past to the end of the age to be.

Your very name puts the proud to shame,

and to those who would for you yearn,

you will show your might,

put the proud to flight,

for the world is about to turn.

My heart shall sing of the day you bring.

Let the fires of your justice burn.

Wipe away all tears,

for the dawn draws near,

and the world is about to turn.

- Rory Cooney, “Canticle of the Turning,” ELW 723

As our calendars turn from 2011 to 2012, I cannot help but reflect on the year past and look with anticipation to the year ahead. This has been a strong year for us of Lutheran Church of the Savior. We have engaged in new local ministries by volunteering at the Loaves and Fishes Pantry with our sisters and brothers of Sunnyside United Methodist Church, and by building a relationship with Ministry With Community. We continued many of our now-annual traditions, such as VBS with neighboring congregations, our spaghetti dinner to benefit Kairos Dwelling, our involvement with local the Thrivent chapter, our rummage sale and holiday bazaar, and many more.

For me this has also been a remarkable year. I got married and moved, I joined the board of Lutheran-Episcopal Campus Ministries here in Kalamazoo, and I found many ways to engage in ministry in our wider community, from speaking on an interfaith panel to meeting with our local Congressman along with a group of local clergy. I even started a blog, though I should probably make better use of it than I have of late.

Looking ahead to 2012, I am particularly excited about the success of our stewardship drive in recent months. Thanks to the tremendous generosity of our members, we have increased pledges more than $13,000 over last year. This increase exists because nearly 2/3 of us increased our pledges from 2011 to 2012, some by a few cents per week and some by as much as $50 per week. The fiscal stability we can project due to this generosity will allow us to increase our mission support to the Synod as well as increasing our budgeted giving to local, national, and international ministries doing God’s work of love and service in the world.

The new year will bring fresh opportunities for us to engage in God’s work in our community and around the world. Will we expand on our local volunteer efforts, spending more time getting to know our neighbors and giving more of our time to local needs? Will we continue to deepen our relationships with partner congregations and local ministry organizations? Will we continue to recognize the blessings God has given us, and to share those blessings with our community, welcoming new sisters and brothers into our church family and encouraging everyone to listen for God’s call to love and serve God and neighbor? I hope so.

Thank you, Lutheran Church of the Savior, for living out God’s call to this community. Together we can be the body of Christ for one another, for our neighbors, and for the whole world. We can do this not because God requires it of us, but because we know what God has done for us in the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Thanks be to God.

Pastor Andrew