Pastoral Message: “Administration is Ministry” Week of the Third Sunday of Easter April 26, 2023
Pastoral Message:
“Administration is Ministry”
Week of the Third Sunday of Easter
April 26, 2023
Dear People of God at Faith-La Fe!
As you may know, Faith-La Fe is organized administratively according to four broad areas of focus: Worship and Music Ministries; Parish Ministries; Community Ministries; Administration Ministries. Now that the acute, lock-down phase of the pandemic is behind us, and we have emerged again into routines that include in-person activities, our congregation’s ministry areas are receiving renewed attention. Our Worship and Music Ministries have remained quite active and result in the wonderful experiences we benefit from on Sundays, both at the 9:00 am and 11:00 am and also on other special occasions of worship. Parish Ministries are taking off again, with special focus at this point on the return of many and various occasions for socializing and good eating; adult education is also robust, and the ministry of prayerful intercession via our prayer list continues uninterrupted. Women’s ministries have been reconstituted as well. There’s energy around doing more than our usual routines concerning Community Ministries, with talk of re-creating a social justice group. Also, with the wider community in view, we remain active in the Capital Conference of the Grand Canyon Synod with renewed focus on shared ministry efforts with Phoenix Lutherans Together.
Then, there’s the ministry of administration, which I intend as the focus for this week’s pastoral message. Note that the root word for administration is, in fact, the word ministry! And you’ve heard me say this before: good administration is good pastoral care. Which is to say, crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s of careful attention to good order in our life together is a way of our loving regard for each other and for the mission that God has entrusted to us. Thus, we have most recently turned our attention to reconstituting our Administration Ministries Team.
Before I offer a summary of progress to date in reconvening our Administration Ministries Team, I want to comment on my personal approach to administration as ministry. Pastors are called, in part, to share in the oversight of the administrative aspects of congregational life. Most pastors don’t relish this aspect of public ministry. And I admit that there are days when I say that I preach, preside, teach, and offer pastoral care for free, but I earn my salary by managing the franchise of a congregation as a non-profit organization. That said, I take the ministry of administration seriously, and actually enjoy it, especially when it involves me in shepherding God’s people according to their gifts and talents in the service of our life together. Which is to say, when it comes to administration, I am not a micromanager. I see my role as senior pastor more in an oversight capacity in convening lay leaders to offer their talents for the good of the congregation. My approach is more of a big picture role in identifying the needs and opportunities, and calling people together that we may attend to engage the work God has given to us. And this is also a way of honoring the ministry of the laity, for you all have gifts for the operation of a congregation that I simply don’t have and don’t pretend to have!
Moreover, since my call at Faith-La Fe is technically three-quarters time, I need to be an effective steward of the management of my time and talents, with steadfast focus on prioritized roles, especially leading worship, preaching, teaching, and providing pastoral care. Ministries of administration are very important features of my calling, to be sure, but the central things remain at the top of the list. I offer these reflections so that you can have a better understanding of my approach to the administrative features of my pastoral call at Faith-La Fe.
Now on to giving you a summary of where we are currently with reconvening Ministries of Administration. In late March on a Saturday, a rather large team of lay leaders convened for a brainstorming session to begin to identify administrative priorities and then to divide into smaller teams with specialized areas of focus. The result of that meeting are the following teams:
· Finance – which will focus on a team approach to the work of treasurer and more, especially since our financial life is made more complex because we are now receiving synodical and churchwide grants and need to carefully account for those grants. Team members include: Dave Hulin, Pastor Veronica Alvarez, Erik Rehms, John Rael.
· Stewardship – which will focus on reconstituting our congregational stewardship initiatives concerning giving not just of money, but time and talents, as well as other fund-raising efforts and creative sources of income. Team members to date include: Pastor Veronica Alvarez, Bill Kochenderfer, and myself.
· Property – which will attend to the many demands of the many buildings and other physical features of our whole campus. The Property Team met on April 15 and prioritized a long to do list, connecting team members with specific projects. One visible thing already accomplished, which makes a big improvement, is the painting of lines in our parking lot! Team members include: Fred Johnson, Jeff Havir, John Johnstonbaugh, Cal Boldway, Carly Chamberlain, John Rael.
· Personnel – Council has named me as the principal supervisor of congregation staff members. And the Executive Team (Congregation President, Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary) serve as the Personnel Team. I will be working with staff members on bringing up to date their position descriptions with a view to discerning an appropriate staffing configuration for our life together in mission and ministry at this time.
· Building Use by Outside Groups – which has as its focus re-writing the contractual documents signed by other groups and organizations which meet on our church property to facilitate better understanding of and best practices for the ways our property is utilized by other groups. It’s great that we can make spaces available to the wider community, but the complexities of scheduling with groups sometimes vying for the same spaces can make life at Faith-La Fe challenging. Team members include: Dave Hulin, Carly Chamberlain, Scott Palluck, Pastor Veronica Alvarez.
In addition to the convening of these teams, here are some other administrative initiatives that are underway. We have re-activated our membership in the Evangelical Lutheran Education Association so that staff from this national organization can consult with us on clarifying the relationship between the congregation and preschool with the hope of creating up-to-date governing documents for the preschool that reflect best practices. A small group of us also convened to tour the rooms and closets of our campus to generate a listing of items that we may no longer have need for – with the hope of de-cluttering our spaces to make our facilities more hospitable and inviting. Finally, a small ad hoc group is convening to gather information to help our Council discern possible uses of the Faith Place building now that the refugee family has moved.
This is a long listing of Ministries of Administration! But in brief, the various teams will be giving much needed attention to our life together, living out the maxim, once again, that good administration is good pastoral care in our life together. How quickly things happen will depend on the particular teams and what they can realistically accomplish. But look for signs of progress in the coming weeks and many months as things unfold.
Moreover, if you are drawn to assist in any of these efforts, kindly let me or other team members know, for many hands will make for lighter work!
Faithfully shepherding, I pray, at Faith-La Fe,
Pastor Jonathan Linman
Pastor’s Office Phone Number: 602-265-5860
Email: pastor@faithalive.com
Announcements
An Invitation to Benefit the Refugee Family who Recently Moved from Faith Place
Our Congregation Council invites donations from members of the congregation for a house warming gift for the refugee family as they continue to make the transition to their new place. For those who wish to contribute, please write “Refugee Family” on the memo line of your check or on the outside of an envelope for cash contributions. The deadline for making these donations is April 30.
This gesture is a modest, but tangible, expression of thanks to the family and to God for the privilege of having hosted them here at Faith Place for a season in their odyssey of having their lives upended in Afghanistan and now their acclimation to a new home in the United States. Please join us in making this offering of thanks.
Join us for a Quiet Day Introducing Lectio Divina, Sacred Reading
Do you desire to deepen your experience of devotional bible reading? Are you drawn to praying with the scriptures? Do you want to learn how the Holy Spirit speaks to us through the holy word? If you answer yes to these questions, then join us on Saturday, April 29, beginning at 10:00 am and concluding in the early afternoon, when Pastor Linman will lead an introduction to lectio divina, or sacred reading, an ancient approach to prayerfully engaging scripture that emerged from the Benedictine tradition and is increasingly popular today among clergy and lay audiences. Pastor has done extensive work exploring the experiential dynamics of lectio divina, and is eager to share insights for your inspiration and edification. We do a modified form of lectio divina during our Wednesday bible studies, but spending the day together will give us occasion to do this prayerful form of bible reading as it is more fully intended. Please plan to join us for this prayerful occasion which promises to enrich in profound ways the ways you engage and are engaged by the biblical word. Please contact Pastor Linman to indicate your intent to participate: pastor@faithalive.com. If you plan to join us, kindly bring your own brown bag lunch!
Preschool/Church Workday Volunteer Opportunity
When: Saturday, May 6th, 8:30 – 11:30 am at Faith-La Fe
What:
· Preschool – we’ll build and plant a vegetable/flower garden (if you want to work on this project, please bring your own tools, like a shovel or trowel).
· Church – under the guidance of members of our Property Team, we’ll engage in initiatives to help make our campus look great.
Action Item: please let Fred know if you can or cannot make it, for we hope for a good turn-out of volunteers (602-228-3349).
We Invite you to Share with Us Your Favorite Hymns
What are some of your most favorite hymns? The Worship and Music Team at Faith-La Fe would like to know. We intentionally choose hymns and music that fit appropriately with a particular Sunday’s lectionary readings and also the liturgical season. But there will be occasions when your favorites will make good choices to honor a Sunday’s readings and seasonal themes. Kindly send your favorites via email to Pastor Linman at pastor@faithalive.com. We’ll compile a listing of these hymns to guide us in our selections.
Mark Your Calendars Now for Upcoming Special Worship Services
Further detail about the following special occasions for worship is forthcoming, but please note these special liturgies now in your calendars!
May 18 at 7:00 pm + Ascension of Our Lord, Holy Communion
May 28 at 9:00 and 11:00 am + Day of Pentecost
May 31 at 7:00 pm + Visit of Mary to Elizabeth, Holy Communion
July 22 at 10:00 am + Mary Magdalene, Apostle, Morning Prayer
August 15 at 7:00 pm + Mary, Mother of Our Lord, Holy Communion
September 14 at 7:00 pm + Holy Cross Day, Evensong
November 1 at 7:00 pm + All Saints’ Day, Holy Communion
Upcoming Saturday Quiet Days at Faith-La Fe in 2023
Saturday, April 29 – an introduction to Lectio Divina, or sacred reading, an approach to prayerfully engaging scripture that emerges from the Benedictine tradition and is increasingly popular today among clergy and lay audiences. I’ve done extensive work on the experiential dynamics of lectio divina, and I’m eager to share insights for your inspiration and edification. We do a modified form of lectio divina during our Wednesday bible studies, but spending the day together will give us occasion to do this prayerful form of bible reading as it is more fully intended.
Saturday, June 3 – a day to more deeply explore the spirituality of preaching, with special focus on how sermons are occasions of spiritual guidance. We’ll also spend some more time on your role as listeners to sermons, and how you can get still more out of preaching for your spiritual edification. We will touch on listening to sermons at next Sunday’s adult forum, but focusing on this topic for a whole Saturday will give us occasion to go still more deeply into the topic. On this day, we’ll also learn some of what Luther had to say about preaching!
Saturday, September 30 – on this day, close to the commemoration of St. Francis of Assisi, we will explore Franciscan Spirituality and what it might mean for Lutherans in ministry and mission in the 21st Century.
Saturday, October 28 – as we approach Reformation Sunday, this will be a day devoted to revealing key features of specifically Lutheran Spirituality, or Christian spirituality with Lutheran accents. We will discover that there’s a lot to draw from in our own tradition to take us ever more deeply into the spiritual life.
Saturday, November 18 – this day will be devoted to spending our time together in our beautiful nave doing “Stations of Our Stained Glass Windows,” a series of visual meditations on our stained-glass windows and the miracles and parables of Jesus they depict. We’ll explore in conversation the bible stories the windows are based on, and then look carefully at the windows to see features of the story which the stained-glass art highlights. Each station will feature a hymn before we move on to the next window.