Christ Lutheran Parish

This weekend we had a lot going on in our parish. We had two very unique opportunities for worship. The Second Saturday Contemporary Service happened to fall on Valentine's Day. Attendance was in the high fifties which is good for a prime date night. Also, the parish held its quarterly Joint Parish Service at Zion on Sunday morning. The energy and enthusiasm at both services was contagious! On Sunday Pastor Fran led the Chicago Folk Service liturgy, there was a special band featuring many wonderful local musicians, a bell choir played a beautiful prelude, there were liturgical dancers, a special choral anthem, and the preaching wasn't bad either.

These joint services reveal the potential of our churches and show us what kinds of things we can do together. I believe God is at work in the midst of the decision making and planning now underway in our parish. He is showing us that though there may be loss in the short term, there is also much to gain through such expressions of unity as the ones we witnessed on Saturday and Sunday.

Our united efforts as a parish remind us that "⁴There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, ⁵one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all." Ephesians 4:2 I eagerly await the next joint worship service, not because it is less work, because in fact I think it is more, but because it is there that we see where God is leading us. It is in worship, not around a council table, where we see what Christ Parish really is and what it can do.

It's purpose is not to share resources, pastors and support staff, or even to save money. The purpose of the Parish is to share the joy we have in Christ. Resources, buildings, money, and pastors all come and go, but the Word of God remains forever. May we keep this in mind as the Long Range Planning Task Force gathers this Thursday evening for discussion of the future of this Parish.

In Christ,

Christian