Pastoral Message: “What’s the Big Deal about Congregational Meetings?” Week of the Sixth Sunday of Easter May 17, 2023
Pastoral Message:
“What’s the Big Deal about Congregational Meetings?”
Week of the Sixth Sunday of Easter
May 17, 2023
Dear People of God at Faith-La Fe!
We’ve had quite a few congregational meetings at Faith-La Fe in the past several months! There was one to call me as pastor. And another one to call Pastor Veronica as half-time pastor. And yet another to extend her call to three-quarters’ time. And then we had our annual congregational meeting to pass the budget for 2023. And now, this coming Sunday, is yet another congregational meeting to hear reports about what has been going on at Faith-La Fe in the past year as well as to elect members of our Congregation Council and Preschool Board.
To be honest, many people find church congregational meetings to be tedious and boring. But let me encourage you to have a higher vision than that. First off, when it comes to passing the annual budget, remember that church budgets are spiritual, moral, and theological documents and not just numbers games about the “business” of the church. We put our money where our mouth is. Which is to say, budget categories and their dollar figures reflect our spiritual, theological and missionary commitments. So, it’s not just about dollars and cents, but what we’re doing in Jesus’ name to engage the work that God entrusts to us in and for the sake of the world.
Then, as a focus for our meeting this Sunday, there are the annual reports from called and elected leaders and heads of ministry teams. Again, one may view reading and hearing reports as ho-hum. But such reporting gives us the privilege of seeing the big picture, of seeing the forest for the trees, as it were. When one steps back with that larger vantage point, we come to realize, for example, that a lot has been going on at Faith-La Fe in this past year as we have emerged from the acute phases of the global pandemic and as the congregation has called two new pastors to lead and serve in our midst for this season of our life together.
Next, consider the elections, another set of actions that can simply seem pro forma. Yes, the congregation members present this Sunday will elect new members to the Congregation Council and others to serve on the Preschool Board. These are crucial leadership roles and our Nominating Committee has worked diligently to select members who will serve capably. Your vote this Sunday is an affirmation of their leadership, which is a shared leadership among the pastors and members of our various ministry teams. A smooth-running, engaged Congregation Council is crucial to the health and vitality of the local church. And such elections affirm the ministry of the laity and they give expression to Martin Luther’s theological insight that all of God’s people have a God-given vocation and are called to lead and to serve in their own ways, according to their own special gifts, our shared ministry of proclaiming in word and deed the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Finally, a word of encouragement about congregational meetings as they relate to the polity of our Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Congregational meetings are ecclesial democracy at work. This is the occasion when members of the church have voice and also vote in the operation of the whole congregation. In our ELCA tradition, a congregational meeting is the highest legislative authority within the local church. There are churches that don’t have such meetings that seek the input of and value the authority of the whole assembly of God’s people in a congregation. Those are the churches which are run top down by the clergy. We are not such a church. Lutherans affirm the role and authority of entire assemblies to engage in discernment and decision-making about our share in God’s work. That’s why Lutheran churches are organized synodically, reserving the highest authority for whole groups in the congregational, regional, and national expressions of the church. Decisions are not made by our pastors or bishops, but by our synodal bodies. Synod, by the way, comes from the Greek, meaning “on the road together.” A congregational meeting is an occasion to give expression to this theological commitment that values and celebrates the ministry and the authority of the whole assembly in the body of Christ, each body part, each member, working for the good of the whole.
With these reflections, I pray that I have inspired your faithful attendance at our meeting this coming Sunday, May 21. Remember: there’s one bi-lingual liturgy at 10:00 with the meeting immediately following. Our morning will conclude with an all-member potluck luncheon-convivio. See you in church on Sunday for all of this!
Faithfully, I pray, in Christ,
Pastor Jonathan Linman
Pastor’s Office Phone Number: 602-265-5860
Email: pastor@faithalive.com
Announcements
Ascension Day Worship, Thursday, May 18 at 7:00 pm
Our liturgical celebration of the Ascension this Thursday evening, May 18, will cultivate a vigil-like atmosphere, for Jesus’ return to the Father began those days of waiting among the apostles for the Spirit’s coming at Pentecost as they huddled prayerfully together in the upper room in Jerusalem. To make for this spirit of vigil, we’ll observe more silences and pregnant pauses in our worship on Ascension Day, nurturing a slower pace to open us to deeper prayer and reflection in waiting. Thus, you can expect lengthier silences after the readings, during the prayers of intercession, and at the consecration of the Eucharistic gifts and during the communion of the faithful – all of this in service of my call to lead you to deeper spirituality in our life together.
Musically, in terms of the setting for Holy Communion, here’s what you can look forward to: the Kyrie is Russian Orthodox traditional music; the Gloria is the classic Lutheran hymnic version of Gregorian Chant, “All Glory Be to God on High;” the Sanctus and Agnus Dei are from Franz Schubert’s Deutsche Messe. Our Chancel Choir will be present to lead us in song.
Please join us this Thursday evening!
Congregational Meeting on May 21st and Potluck Luncheon-Convivio
This Sunday, May 21st we will celebrate a single bilingual service at 10am, followed by our second of two annual meetings. A congregational pot luck luncheon and convivio celebrating our unity as one congregation engaging in mission in two languages. Please plan to attend this important event in the life of our congregation. At the meeting we will receive a financial update, elect new council members, elect preschool board members, and select the 2023-2024 nominating committee. For the potluck convivio luncheon, please bring your favorite foods to share. So that the people organizing the serving of the food can also attend the service, please bring your items to the Parish Hall kitchen no later than 9:30 a.m., plated and ready to serve. Thank you.
Let’s Watch a Movie at Grant Park
AARP invites you to watch episode one of a documentary by Dr. Pete Dimas.
Arizona’s Mexican Heritage: An American Story
Join the journey of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica–central Mexico; the Spanish civilization; the Mexica/Aztec Empire; the multiracial mining, ranching, agricultural, and commercial society; the independence of the US & Mexico; the US Civil War; and former Mexican citizens playing a major role in the establishment of the AZ Territory and their participation in WWII.
A complimentary meal will be served. Coffee and pastries in the morning, and lunch at noon.
Date & Time:
Saturday, May 20, 2023
9:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Location:
Grant Park (auditorium)
701 S. 3rd Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85003
Map It
Movie is complimentary of AARP.
Another Rummage Sale is Coming, but Not Yet!
We enjoyed great success at our last rummage sale, and another one is being planned in the coming months. Thanks to generosity and hard work, our January Rummage sale was such a compelling event that we want to do it again. In the meantime, kindly do not yet bring rummage sale items to the church, for there is no place to store the items. We will announce the date when items for the coming rummage sale can be and will be received. Again, no date has been set at this time, so please do NOT bring any items to Faith/La Fe for our next rummage sale until we announce the date and put out a call for contributions. Watch this space for updates. Thank you in advance for helping us make our next sale as successful as our previous sale. And thanks, too, for your patience in holding on to your treasures at home for a little while longer.
Invitation to Contribute to These Weekly Pastoral Messages
Please remember that our congregation newsletter is now published quarterly and has more of a wider community, outward-facing, evangelistic focus to herald special, seasonal events at Faith-La Fe. Which is to say, these weekly pastoral messages and their announcements effectively take the place of the more membership-focused concerns of our congregational life. Thus, if there are events and matters related to our life together that you wish to have included in these weekly messages and announcements, please let Pastor Linman know: pastor@faithalive.com. He is always looking for and welcomes new content.
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, 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. 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.
Phoenix Lutherans Together:
“From Everlasting to Everlasting:
Exploring our Role as Stewards in this Life and Beyond”
Gloria Christi is having a Stewardship - Legacy Planning workshop following the service on Sunday, May 21st - it will start no earlier than 11:15am. We would love to have anyone that would like to join us, come. If you haven't yet had the opportunity to meet Lisa Higginbotham, our Regional Gift Planner for the ELCA Foundation, it would be a good opportunity.
Is stewardship just about money and how much goes into the offering plate every week? Is money bad? How do we balance giving, receiving, sharing, and cultural norms? These are not easy questions, but they affect how we operate in the world and how we engage with our churches and within our churches.
Please join us at Gloria Christi (3535 E Lincoln Dr, Paradise Valley, AZ 85253) on Sunday, May 21st at 11:15 am as we explore what stewardship means for us personally, how we “do stewardship” in the church, and how we can continue to live out our stewardship beyond the span of our lifetime.