Ephphatha

on july 1st, i was officially installed as the first pastor of advent lutheran church by our bishop-elect john schleicher. the day was absolutely amazing and i was humbled by the turnout of loving people and the reception following. it is almost impossible to me that i have been serving this area for almost two years- where has that time gone? it is equally amazing to me that we are a point as a congregation to be organized and now to officially have a pastor. god has done and continues to do amazing things in this little village of lake ann and it is such a joy to be able to be here.

i took a two week vacation after being installed (nice eh!) and was able to do much thinking and contemplating about where we are heading next. i have many mixed feelings- excitement, nervousness, anxiety, joy, confusion, fear, hope going through my mind as we now move into the next chapter of our life together as advent.
we are earnestly searching for land in hopes of finding a property that works for us so we can begin to move forward with the construction of our new facility- that scares the heck out of me to be honest, yet i know we need to keep the momentum moving. I pray daily that God continues to push us forward, out of our comfort zones so we can continue to touch the lives of others....while god continues to provide what we need to make this happen. as we move forward we are also adding a second worship service this fall- that too scares me a bit, almost like we are starting over. please pray for this transition as we figure out how to make this work.

e and k visited this past weekend and worshiped with us on sunday- it was awesome to have them and very fun to hear their perception of life at advent. k, is an amazing assisting minister as well :-).

may god bless you wherever you are.

jg

Labels: church, ministry