Midsummer Tower Echoes: Pastor’s Page
In case you thought last Sunday was just a Sunday in Ordinary time, two events occurred that testify to the work of the Holy Spirit. Our former Vicar, Elizabeth Peter Eckman, was ordained to the ministry of Word and Sacrament. She will be serving St. John Lutheran Church in Shiremanstown, Pennsylvania. Also, at around the same time, PRLC voted to extend a call to our Outreach Minister, Patrick Meagher, to serve as Deacon, a ministry of Word and Service. Yes, the Holy Spirit can be in two places at once!
It strikes me that both of these events of June 6 remind us that we are part of something greater than ourselves. PRLC is part of the greater church. What a blessing it is to assist in the formation of vicars who serve the ELCA in other parts of the church. And what a blessing it will be for Patrick and PRLC to further strengthen our deep connection with the larger church. At his ordination, the Bishop will set him apart as not just a deacon for our community, but for the whole church. In his ministry of justice to our neighbors, he will continue to work as part of a collaborative staff and be connected to the community of deacons throughout the ELCA.
The events of last Sunday reminded me, too, that the Spirit continues to move and stir up the church even in the midst of a pandemic, a time when we have sometimes felt that our shared work has become idle or stalled. Now, we turn our face toward the summer and the resumption of in-person worship, the hiring of a new staff, planning for the Fall, and just getting connected again to one another in a post-pandemic reality.
Times like these are fraught with more than a little anxiety. We wonder what is next and what might change in the next months. This is understandable. All of us get a little concerned about a future we cannot control, but maybe in times like this it is good for us to trust the Spirit’s work among us. God has brought us through an unprecedented year and refuses to abandon us. Listen to Jesus’ parable of the seed: “The Kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how.”
Peace,
Pastor Hansen