February 2012

Blessed Epiphany everyone. The light of Christ is in the world and growing brighter with the turning of the season. Before we know it we will be in Lenten Spring. Epiphany illuminates the person of Christ. Who is Jesus, and who is Jesus for? Jesus is the son of God come into the world, and Jesus is for everyone. This coming Sunday’s texts are a prime example of Epiphany. The Gospel of Mark shows Jesus beginning his ministry with wisdom and power. Jesus teaches with authority.

Jesus restores tormented people to wholeness, mind, body and soul.

Jesus heals people and drives out evil. The people are astounded. What is this, someone who teaches with authority!

In the midst of change and challenges within and without the church it is comforting to know that Jesus comes bringing in the Kingdom of God. God is on the move. Jesus is in control. This glimpse into the nature and character of Jesus gives us courage and power to carry on our work of sharing God’s welcome to all people around us, and to work for justice and peace in the world. This is a challenging time to be the church. But during Epiphany let us ponder the nature of Christ, Jesus’ wisdom and healing power so that we can live and act with confidence as co-creators in the realm of God.

Here in the office at Calvary, we are in the midst of transition, as Marilyn prepares to retire, and Jan Potter, our new office manager/bookkeeper, is quickly learning what the job entails. Jan has plenty of experience as secretary at All Saints Episcopal and St. Bede’s Episcopal churches and this will be a smooth transition. We give God thanks for Marilyn, her work and her faith and the friendship we share, and wish her God’s blessings in her next phase of life.

Looking ahead toward Lent, Calvary church leaders are in conversation with Pastor Michael Keys, Director of Evangelical Mission for the Oregon Synod. Together with Pastor Keys we will be planning a process for looking at our mission here at Calvary. As I said at our recent annual meeting, we have been together seven years, and I hope to be in it for the long haul. Having had time to rest and reflect over sabbatical, we can now ask “What does God want for us?” and “What does God want from us?” as we move forward together in Christ’s mission. I expect we will engage in a lot of deep and respectful listening. I am excited to see how God’s Holy Spirit will move us through this process. We’ll let you know as plans for these conversations develop.

God’s peace everybody! Happy Epiphany!

Pastor Matthew

January 2012

  First, I want to thank you for the Christmas cards and Christmas cookies and breads and nuts and Mexican cocoa mix and gifts from you congregation members and from some of the children from Pre-school, and for the generous Christmas bonus that President Dave Rabon handed me on Christmas Eve along with his kind words. I certainly feel well loved and appreciated here at Calvary and I hope you know that I care for all of you.

Most of all I am glad that we have been brought together to know and to share God’s love shown most fully and deeply through God’s son Jesus whose birth we just celebrated on Christmas Eve, and, this year, on Christmas Day as well. What a beautiful celebration of worship, music, fellowship and joy.   I am glad so many of you were able to be a part of it, and I hope you all had a very merry Christmas. I think my favorite part of Christmas services this year was reading the illustrated book, "Nativity” illustrated by Julie Vivas to the children. I enjoyed their anticipation and exclamations and their wonder at the Christmas story. I hope that we can all approach the manger with the joy and wonder of children and know deep in our hearts that Christ is born.

      Knowing that Christ is born into our world and into our lives, we can face the New Year with peace, joy, wonder and a sense of confidence because God is with us. We are facing a few changes at Calvary. Marilyn will be retiring after ten years of faithful service as office manager/bookkeeper at Calvary. Marilyn did wonderful work here at Calvary. It was a labor of love for her, because she cared for all of you and for the mission of this church. Her work here was clearly a ministry for the Lord. No matter how busy she was, if someone called or came to the office, she would stop what she was doing and give you all her attention. Showing hospitality to you was for her, I think, showing you Christ’s love. Marilyn will be leaving at the end of this month, and there are plans in the work to give her the celebration and appreciation that she so well deserves.

      As we look ahead to this new year, we are planning a time to look at our mission and vision and do some planning for the years ahead. We’ll be having some structured conversations around this probably around the time of Lent. There are so many good things going on at Calvary. The youth are going to the ELCA Youth Gathering in New Orleans. There is good energy and enthusiasm. We can look forward to this new year knowing that God is with us, and that we are called to be the body of Christ in the world.

Peace on Earth!

Pastor Matthew