|
|
|
|
August 31, 2007 Message
I will repay you for the years – Joel 2:25a For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. – Jeremiah 29:11 Dear Gulf Coast Coworkers in the Gospel, I am writing to you on Friday, August 31, my last day as bishop-elect. Bishop Blom is spending his last day gleefully packing up books, saying goodbye and preparing for his big move this weekend to Georgetown. On the road again Tomorrow Peggy, Rob and I head out on a whirlwind tour of the Eastern Sector. 15 churches in four days. Pray for us. This is part of my education: to acquaint me with congregations I’ve never seen and pastors I’ve never met. We’re asking what congregations are celebrating and what they need. It’s part of my commitment to spend time listening at the outset. Part of this tour will include two services to participate in the rededication of Grace, New Orleans’ and Gethsemane, Chalmette’s facilities. Grace is under the capable leadership of Leon Philpot, who also served flood-ridden Grand Forks. Gethsemane is being served by tenacious Jim Shears. That congregation just got power back this summer. Pat Keen and his family are hosting a Labor Day BBQ for area pastors at his home. Tuesday I’ll meet with the Bayou Ministerium. By the end of this tour I believe I’ll have been to all the East Texas congregations and all but a couple of the Louisiana churches. My hope is to get a deeper understanding of the post-hurricane situation and what it will take for ministry to thrive in these areas. I’d like to visit this Ministerium several times a year, and work closely with the Dr. Walt Ehrhardt and the deans: Pastors Robin McCullough-Bade and Sean Ewbank.
Grace NOLA before: Grace two years ago, after Hurricane Katrina Grace NOLA after: Grace now, with chairs donated by Grace Lutheran Church, Tallahassee, Florida.
Visiting Around This month, besides New Orleans, I’m preaching at St. James, New Wehdem and the WELCA gathering in Brenham. After this I’d like to pay mid-week visits to each of the twelve churches that are in one Brenham zip code: 77833, focusing on those I have not yet had the privilege of seeing. Brenham has more ELCA congregations in one zip code than any other zip code in the U.S. Then we’ll spiral out. I’m also trying to visit as many of the ministeriums as possible. You could help me by calling me to get something on the calendar. My Sundays are full through November already, so if you’d like a Sunday morning visit, please plan ahead. I’ve scheduled a few Sundays to just “pop in” places from time to time, like I did at St. Paul’s Brenham last week. It was a treat to worship with my family for a change. Pastor Lawrence Bade had an excellent sermon. And, being the new guy on the block I was able to worship under-cover for the most part. If you invite me to come and visit, let’s find a way to do something after worship so we can “go deeper.” I would love to brainstorm with you about mission, evangelism, outreach or whatever God has placed on your heart. Reaching Bishop Blom Shifting gears a little bit: Should you wish to reach Bishop Blom, he invites you to use his personal email, pjblom41@gmail.com. In the latter half of October, he and Marie will land at this forwarding address. The Rev. and Mrs. Paul Blom 1005 Ft. Davis Street Georgetown, TX 78633 Reaching me My graceconroe.org email account is no longer functional. You can reach me at bishop@gulfcoastsynod.org. I’m already having trouble managing the volume of email. Every committee copies me on their interaction, and there’s a whole load of stuff from Chicago too. Therefore I’m going to have my assistant checking my email, so that communications receive immediate attention even when I’m on the road. My assistant will be under confidentiality, but if there are things that are for my eyes only, don’t put them in an email. Pick up the phone and let’s talk. Addressing Me Many have asked me these last few weeks, “What do I call you?” Please call me Mike. Some have said “Pastor Mike” then immediately apologized, “I mean bishop Mike.” My standard response is that a bishop is a pastor with a special call. I will never find it remotely demeaning to be referred to as pastor. It reminds me what this is all about. A bishop is a pastor who serves pastors. As Lowell Almen used to say, “We are servants of the servants.” I have tried to get my wife to refer to me as “your eminence,” but I’m not having much luck. Staff Update Next week I will be emailing out to Houston congregations a job posting for the bishop’s administrative assistant. Please put the word out. Anyone may apply: current staff, congregation staff and others. Qualifications: Faith in Christ, church member, great interpersonal and organizational skills. We’re working on a job description. We’d like to garner a number of the most qualified candidates to consider. As I mentioned last month, the ELCA Department of Synodical Relations is coming down September 18 to do a staff audit. I also have in hand the staff structures of about a dozen other synods. We’ll be getting at this in September and then we’ll know more. At this time, everyone is in proverbial limbo I’m afraid, which is a challenge in and of itself. Please keep us in your prayers as we make decisions to benefit the 127 congregations of our Gulf Coast Synod. Installations There are three installations so far this month and one in October. I’ve asked for them all to be off the Sunday morning hour, so that you can attend if you’re in a 60-mile range. Even if you cannot attend would you be so kind as to offer a note of congratulations to the pastor and congregation? This offers a gracious welcome and reinforces the sense of the whole church as a network of congregations. Pastors David Tart and Eric Klimpel are both being installed on Sunday, September 9. David is being installed at Peace, Pasadena at 4:00 p.m. Eric is being installed at Spirit of Joy, The Woodlands at 4:00 p.m. Pastor Deb Grant will be installed at Faith, Dickenson at 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 14. I am being installed at Grace Presbyterian in Houston (Westheimer and Beltway 8) at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 29, Bishop Mark Hanson, presiding. A pre-service concert by the Bach Choir will be held at 12:30. A reception will follow the service. Several adjunct events are happening. I am swinging a hammer at a Habitat for Humanity Project that morning at Faith, Bellaire. Contact Pastor Herb Palmer if you want to know more. Friday night, September 28, our New Orleans churches are doing a get together that may include serving meals to the homeless in Houston. Contact Pastor Jim Giannantonio pastorjim@christtheservant.net or Pastor Barb Simmers (Peace, Slidell: 985-641-6400) for more information. Worship Matters As I look through the lectionary for the rest of the year, my heart is warmed by our deliberate march through Luke: 14, 15, 16, 17 through Reformation and All Saints, then Luke 20 and 21 in November and finally Luke 23 on Christ the King Sunday. We hear of counting the cost, then the lost sheep, counting again. (More on this next month.) Next the Dishonest (or Shrewd) Steward, for the exegete a marvelous text, which seems to say, “Use your filthy stinking money for some good in this world.” Then we lean into the Rich Man and Lazarus, enough to make the hair on the back of your neck stand up, then mustard seeds and servanthood, followed by the healing of the ten lepers and the Unrighteous Judge on October 21. (Call John Boldt if you want to hear a great baseball story he has that fits this text.) And finally in November we turn to Last Things. With all these great parables, and Luke’s penchant for the least, the last and the lost, as Capon likes to say, this seems to me to be a great time to preach a theology of lavish stewardship and welcome to the stranger – themes that are as timely as ever, and critical given the challenges we face in our mission to make disciples and help congregations and their members become outwardly focused.
One last thing: A teaser as you look ahead to the next liturgical year. First of all, Epiphany falls on a Sunday this year, an unusual event. Also, Easter is the earliest that it will ever be in our lifetime: March 23. Of course the Feast of the Resurrection of our Lord is traditionally for the Western Church recognized on the first Sunday after the first full moon, after the Vernal Equinox (Spring, March 21). Only two or three times does Easter even fall in March each decade. In the next 50 years, the earliest Easter will be is March 25, 2035. All this is to say that Ash Wednesday is February 6 this year, four short Sundays after Epiphany. Be thinking about Lent this Fall. It’s only been one Sunday since my last Sunday at Grace, and already I can see that you are going to be blessing to me and to my family, even as we attempt to be a blessing to you. Thank you for your kindness and gracious welcome. Yours in Christ, Mike Rinehart, almost-bishop Rev. Michael Rinehart with daughter Yuliana, age 5 Photo Courtesy of the Conroe Courier, Jerry Baker
|
