By Pastor Devlyn Brooks
Much has changed for all of us over the past five years since I was invited by the Faith Lutheran Church Council to begin serving as a S.A.M. … In fact, looking back now, I can hardly believe that we are the same congregation that we were back then!
But that is one of the great beauties of healthy, long-term relationships! We learn to grow and adapt together!
You rode out some early years with me learning how to be a pastor, both in the pulpit and out of it. And together, as a faith family, we rode out two years of fear, uncertainty and confusion during the pandemic years. Also, we’ve lost a good number of church patriarchs and matriarchs in that time. Finally, the very earliest of the youths that I had in confirmation are either in college or about to graduate high school.
So much change for all of us … that it reminds me of the old adage that you can’t stand in the same river twice. A scriptural reference could be Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, also known as “Everything Has Its Time.”
We have learned together that as a Faith Family we find ourselves needing to adapt out of love for the health of ourselves, our congregation and our church. Sometimes that change bubbles up from the congregation, and sometimes that change comes from the church leadership.
Earlier this month, our Church Council decided that it was the appropriate season to make a definitive decision about the status of the church organ that was voted on in 2017, the same year I joined the congregation. And the council decided that out of love for our dearly beloved brother Mike Nelson, and frankly for our entire congregation, that it was in the best interests of everyone if we ended the organ project.
After the council deliberated about this decision at its February meeting, a small number of the council and I met with Mike the very next night to inform him of the decision to forgo any more work on the organ. It was an emotional night for all of us, and the decision was not made lightly by anyone involved.
Five years ago when the congregation voted to move forward with the organ project, no one could have predicted all of the events that would happen in such a rapid succession over the next few years.
Mike suffered a number of great personal losses in a very short time span, and then we entered the pandemic, which altered our church forever as well.
Based on all that has transpired, our council decided that while it was an emotionally difficult decision to make, that it was healthier for Mike and our church to move past the organ project.
We all recognize there will be varying levels of grief that accompany this decision. Mike has poured his musical gifts into this church for decades, and he lovingly wanted to leave a lasting legacy to the church in the organ.
But the compounding factors over the past five years made it increasingly difficult for him to complete the project. And the result was that everyone was left wondering what would become of the organ. That resulted in a spiritually and emotionally draining situation for us all.
It’s now time to move on. Our church is in a new season. It’s time to focus on celebrating the lifelong musical legacy that Mike already has gifted us, and it’s also time now, in the present, to appreciate his ongoing musical direction and his love and loyalty for this church. And we need to do so without the uncertainty of the organ weighing on us all.
There will be more discussion about what happens in the wake of the decision to move on from the organ, and that will play out during council meetings in coming months. We’ll continue to keep the congregation posted about any further developments because transparency is healthy for everyone.
It is natural for all of us to experience a time to grieve what could have been. After all, the organ Mike was building would have been an awe-inspiring gift to the church. But, now we can celebrate more fully the beautiful music Mike produces on our just as beautiful piano each week.
Faith Family, we have a great many things to celebrate here in this community of ours, and the love we share for one another is among the greatest. That is why this decision was so important to us all, and it had to be made.
Now we enter a new season for Faith Lutheran, and we await the Holy Spirit’s guidance as to what that will entail. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
Blessings to you all!
Yorumlar