![]() Ruminations of a Recovering Reverend, Part 1 To Thee, O Lord, belongs righteousness but to us confusion of face. Daniel 9: 7 Other than the final outcome, it can be rather hard to see any benefits in double knee replacement. To state it mildly it is unpleasant, difficult, painful, frustrating, and, at times, downright miserable. One cannot count the days quickly enough knowing that, as much as anything, time is required for healing. Let’s face it, having surgery is humbling. It can rob you of your ability to do for yourself and your ability to do as you want. One becomes dependent on others for even the basics of life such as eating, dressing, and bathing. But in retrospect such humbling is a blessing. It reminds us of the weakness of our human nature and how we are dependent on God for far more than we want to admit. In the moments of our humility, when we are robbed of our abilities to do for self, it becomes easier to recognize our spiritual poverty. In these moments God works trust in us that we might depend upon him and the all sufficient sacrifice of Christ upon the cross. A second blessing that arises out of surgery is the necessity to slow down! And I do mean necessity. Surgery forces us to lay aside our goals, our work, our projects, our desires. Not only have we been robbed of our ability to do these things but more than likely we have lost the desire to do them. All that matters is getting beyond the pain and healing. Yet, time still remains and it plods on mercilessly refusing to speed itself up to get us to the next day and a better place. Here too in the slowdown I found a blessing. It provided more time to reflect and ruminate. We understand how important daily time in God’s Word is but under the tyranny of a full schedule we can find ourselves “squeezing” devotions in; a few minutes after breakfast and before the commute, during the commute, over lunch, etc. Granted, that it better than nothing but we are missing the time to reflect. The time of recovery has given me that time to reflect. It was/is a blessing to slow down and take some more time in God’s Word. On the 1 st Sunday in Lent, early on in my recovery, my devotion brought me to Daniel 9:3-10. In particular verse 7 caught my attention. Quoted above, it is from the RSV. The phrase “confusion of face” seemed puzzling to me. What does this mean? A quick check of the Hebrew revealed that it could be translated “shamefaced”. In fact, the EVS, the successor to the RSV and the translation many of our churches use, translates it “open shame”. That clarifies much. “To us belongs open shame.” But still I am intrigued by the RSV translation “confusion of face”. The context is the exile in Babylon and specifically of Daniel praying on behalf of God’s people. He confesses their sin of rebellion against God and of not listening to the prophets. Daniel confesses, to you, O Lord, belongs righteousness but to us confusion of face”. Confusion of face is the shame of sin. It is the distortion of the face when the look of shame overtakes it. It is confusion because it is not the way God created us nor the way God desires it to be. Our sin pains us, separates us from God, and distorts us. Our very identity as children of God is confused. In this season of Lent we are called upon to confess our sin, our inability to heal ourselves, our confusion of face. In us there is great shame. But as Daniel recognized, righteousness belongs to God. He is righteousness and he gives us his righteousness in Christ. In Christ our beauty of face is restored and we can stand before him forgiven and holy. Perhaps this unusual translation of Daniel 9:7 found in the RSV can give us a different way of thinking about an old Lenten theme and bring us to our knees in confession and trust in God’s promises. At this point we are only 6 months away from the first March for Life to be held in September. The date is September 26 th beginning at noon. Buses departing from various places around the state will be available for rides to and from Trenton. Again, I am encouraging you to do two things:
Visitation for Convention Resolution Evaluation Congregational Visitation for discussion about the Synodical Convention Resolutions has begun. Thank you to those congregations who have welcomed the visitor I have appointed to your congregation. Early reports are that there have been some very good discussions and new resources for ministry have been discovered. Visitors will share a list of the resolutions so leadership will have a chance to review them before the meeting. At the meeting the visitor and the leadership will have a chance to discuss the resolutions and how they may or may not fit into the ministry plan of the congregation. It is a given that each congregation cannot address all of the resolution but some will prove to be very helpful. The discussion is meant to reveal these helpful resolutions and the resources Synod has to offer congregations as they seek to do ministry. If you have not yet had your visit please look for a call from your visitor soon. Welcome him/her to a meeting of your leadership and expect to have a profitable discussion. Strategic Plan Last month I wrote about the first two parts of the NJD Strategic Plan revealed at the most recent Board of Directors Meeting. They are Worker Support and Congregational Support. Now this month I would like to share about the third and fourth parts of the plan, Multi-Ethnic Ministry and Financial Development. Our NJD s located amidst one of the world’s most diverse populations. As such one of our goals is to develop and support diverse ministries to engage our communities. We will work to reach our neighbors across lingual and cultural barriers for the sake of the Gospel by
The fourth part of the Strategic Plan is Financial Development. Aggressive ministry implementation will require financial support to be successful. Our goal is that the NJD will be financially stable, with systems and resources in place to provide for the long-term support of district operations, ministry expansions, and worker support. To accomplish this goal, we envision:
At this time, I ask for your prayers and support as we continue to plan for our future ministry and begin to implement the strategy. In the coming months please join the efforts to make this plan a reality. Initiative for Ministry Development (IMD) Phase 3 of IMD, the Advanced Studies phase, began last month!
Growing Young One of the concerns that I hear over and over again from our churches is that their membership is growing older and that they have few children. It doesn’t take much thought to understand this is an unsustainable trend. But how does a congregation reverse this trend? Dr. Dave Rueter, trained and tasked by the LCMS, has put together a process whereby congregations could learn about and reverse this aging trend. He went to Fuller Youth Institute and learned about the Seven Core Commitments of Congregations that are growing younger. He then teamed that with the LCMS’s Seven Practices for Youth Ministry to come up with a comprehensive program to help congregations connect with younger generations. One question that may immediately come to mind (and frankly is the first question I had) is “Will this work in small and medium sized churches?” The answer is “Yes!” The principles and practices that are a part of Growing Young have been tested in churches of various sizes and have been found to be successful in all sizes! That is good news for us in NJ. Few of our churches are of the larger variety. We need solutions that work for medium and especially smaller congregations. Dr. Rueter will be coming to NJ to speak to our Spring Pastors Conference in May, 2024. Pastors will be able to hear and evaluate Growing Young to see if it is something that will be helpful for their congregation. After speaking with their congregational leadership, pastors and their leadership who want to know more will have the opportunity to gather with Dr. Rueter for further conversation. Then those congregations that are interested in joining a cohort of NJD congregations to implement Growing Young will be able to do so. The cost per congregation for participating in a cohort is reasonable and the NJD hopes to be able to subsidize those costs to some extent. My hope is that you can begin to have leadership conversations about this possibility over the next several months. Also, please see the separate article about the Pastors Conference in this month’s Grapevine. Congregations
District Short Clips Official Visits will resume sometime after Easter. I anticipate being able to drive again after my surgery sometime in early April. I will be sending out an email with available dates to another select group of congregations inviting them to schedule a visitation with me. If you get this email please respond in a timely fashion. Dates are first come, first served. Pastors Wives. The next NJD Pastors Wives retreat will be held on Friday-Saturday April 26-27 th at the Crowne Plaza, Edison. The speaker will be Judy Benke, Pre-school Director, VP of Church and Community Relations for the Lutheran Care Network, and wife to Rev. Dr. Benke former President of the Atlantic District. Her topic will be Faith, Fellowship and Friendship. Congregations are strongly encouraged to pay for the expense for their pastor’s wife to attend. These are very special people in the life of a congregations who face unique challenges. They need the support and encouragement of this conference. Educators Conference. The NJD Educators Conference will be held on Friday April 12 th at Somerset Hills Lutheran Church, Basking Ridge from 10:00am – 2:00 pm. All teachers and directors from our schools are encouraged to attend. Continuing educations credits will be awarded to participants. More details regarding speakers and times will be published in future Grapevines. Conclusion Surgery forces us to slow down and can give us a chance to reflect of God’s Word and life. Another way that we slow down in the season of Lent is with additional midweek services. That may be counter intuitive but it is true. Adding an event to our busy schedule to reflect and pray can bring us that needed time for spiritual refreshment. A blessed Lent to you, President/Bishop Gewecke He Set His Face to Go to Jerusalem In but a few days we will experience one of the great turns in the Church Year. That turn will be from Epiphany to Lent. The day that actually makes that turn for us is The Transfiguration of Our Lord, the last Sunday of Epiphany. Many sermons have noted how this is a climax and turning point in the synoptic Gospels and the telling of the story of our salvation. Up until this point the focus has been upon Jesus’ appearing and the revelation that he is the Christ. The transfiguration is the apex of that revelation. As Jesus comes down the mountain he again tells of his forthcoming death and the focus of the Gospels turns toward the cross. While Luke 9:51 is not read on Transfiguration it is connected. The first half of vs. 51 (“When the days drew near for him to be taken up”) may put some time between this event and the transfiguration but the placement of the verse only 21 verses later makes it clear there is a connection. This is a turning point! Jesus, the Father having revealed his divinity in the transfiguration, now “set his face to go to Jerusalem.” To set one’s face toward something is to be determined. Luke 9:51 is actually part of the periscope read near the beginning of the season of Pentecost (Proper 8, Series C). And what is the focus of that periscope? Jesus’ teaching on the cost of following him. Jesus says, “Follow me” and “leave the dead to bury their own dead” and “no ne who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God”. The point is that Jesus’ determination for our salvation is the same stuff that our discipleship is made of. It is quite clear that we can never live up to the standard Jesus set in his life and for discipleship. We are never the disciples we ought to be. But that doesn’t mean we are not continually making the effort and steeling our determination. Yet even that is not the point. How is our face set toward discipleship like Jesus’ was set toward Jerusalem? Ash Wednesday and Lent give us the answer. We die to self and live in Christ. On Ash Wednesday and in Lent we die to self and the flesh. We are nothing. There is no hope to be found in ourselves. We confess our sinfulness and hopelessness. We are dust and to dust we shall return. We remember our baptism and how we were buried with Christ only to be raised with him to new life. Christ lives in us. So, it is Christ in us that gives us the determination we are looking for. Let’s not miss the turning point. Epiphany and the miracles of the divine Christ are marvelous to contemplate and believe. The story is incomplete without them. They are necessary. But so also, as we turn the corner, is dealing with sin and dying to ourselves. Remember Jesus also said about our lives of discipleship that he who would save his life must lose it. Here is what we set our face toward. There is an uncanny symmetry between Christ and us. Warning: sharp tun ahead…. Note: Some of our smaller churches may find it hard to host their own Lenten midweek services. Why not provide for your people by joining with a nearby sister congregation? You could ride share and even pastor share! The service and sharing can be a great blessing as we die and rise with Christ. Life Rally Last month I introduced to you the new Life Rally and March for Life in Trenton on September 26, 2024. At this time, I am suggesting two things:
Since parking will be limited, buses will be scheduled to leave from various locations throughout the state. These buses will take participants to the rally and return them afterwards. The times and places of pickup will be announced in the upcoming months. Visitation for Convention Resolution Evaluation Visitors have now been trained and assigned to visit each congregation in the NJD to share with leadership resolutions passed at the 2023 Synodical Convention that pertain to congregations. These visitors are our DP, VPs, Circuit Visitors, and Convention Delegates. Visitors will share a list of the resolutions so leadership will have a chance to review them before the meeting. At the meeting the visitor and the leadership will have a chance to discuss the resolutions and how they may or may not fit into the ministry plan of the congregation. It is a given that each congregation cannot address all of the resolution but some will prove to be very helpful. The discussion is meant to reveal these helpful resolutions and the resources Synod has to offer congregations as they seek to do ministry. In the near future the visitor will be calling to ask for some time during an upcoming leadership meeting to have this discussion. I ask that you receive this call, welcome the visitor, and enthusiastically participate in the discussion. Strategic Plan This past month, assisted by Billy Brath, LCEF Ministry Solutions VP, I had the opportunity to present to our NJD Board of Directors the next development in our NJD strategic plan. Because of the limited space here in this newsletter I will only present the first part of the presentation which highlights the Ministries District provides (District Services). Next month I will more fully lay out the developing strategic plan. The first part of the strategic plan centers on Worker Support. The District Services offered to our Church Workers are in the following areas Worker Wellness
Call Process
In the coming days the Office of the President and the Board of Directors will be working together to develop goals and tasks for new ministry in these two areas as well as setting goals and tasks in two new area of the strategic plan. More on that next month! For now, I hope that this presentation gives you a better sense of how much the District is currently doing and an anticipation of the additions that are coming. Initiative for Ministry Development (IMD) Phase 3 of IMD, the Advanced Studies phase, is beginning this month!
Growing Young One of the concerns that I hear over and over again from our churches is that their membership is growing older and that they have few children. It doesn’t take much thought to understand this is an unsustainable trend. But how does a congregation reverse this trend? Dr. Dave Rueter, trained and tasked by the LCMS, has put together a process whereby congregations could learn about and reverse this aging trend. He went to Fuller Youth Institute and learned about the Seven Core Commitments of Congregations that are growing younger. He then teamed that with the LCMS’s Seven Practices for Youth Ministry to come up with a comprehensive program to help congregations connect with younger generations. One question that may immediately come to mind (and frankly is the first question I had) is “Will this work in small and medium sized churches?” The answer is “Yes!” The principles and practices that are a part of Growing Young have been tested in churches of various sizes and have been found to be successful in all sizes! That is good news for us in NJ. Few of our churches are of the larger variety. We need solutions that work for medium and especially smaller congregations. Dr. Rueter will be coming to NJ to speak to our Spring Pastors Conference in May, 2024. Pastors will be able to hear and evaluate Growing Young to see if it is something that will be helpful for their congregation. After speaking with their congregational leadership, pastors and their leadership who want to know more will have the opportunity to gather with Dr. Rueter for further conversation. Then those congregations that are interested in joining a cohort of NJD congregations to implement Growing Young will be able to do so. The cost per congregation for participating in a cohort is reasonable and the NJD hopes to be able to subsidize those costs to some extent. My hope is that you can begin to have leadership conversations about this possibility over the next several months. Also, please see the separate article about the Pastors Conference in this month’s Grapevine. Congregations
Ordination and Installation of Rev. Borbor Zolue District Short Clips
Official Visits have resumed in January and I am currently scheduled through mid-February. At that time, I will need to take a break as I recover from a scheduled double knee replacement surgery. I ask for your prayers for this surgery and recovery. Pastors Wives. The next NJD Pastors Wives retreat will be held on Friday-Saturday April 26-27. These are early plans so mark you calendar and look for more details soon. Educators Conference. The NJD Educators Conference will be held on Friday April 12th at Somerset Hills Lutheran Church, Basking Ridge from 10:00am – 2:00 pm. All teachers and directors from our schools are encouraged to attend. Continuing educations credits will be awarded to participants. More details regarding speakers and times will be published in future Grapevines. Reconciler Training. Five members of our District completed the training last month to qualify as Synod Reconcilers. They will be added to previously trained reconcilers and available for Synod and local reconciliation cases. We will be blessed to have this resource in our District to help us live as the children of God. Convention Management Training. Yes, it is time to start thinking about the 2025 District Convention! It seems like a long way away but planning for the convention is starting now. On February 3rd I was off to St. Louis for convention management training that was tacked onto the front of the COP meetings. This intensive training is intended to introduce new DPs to the knowledge and skill set required to prepare for and conduct a successful convention. Here we go! Conclusion It is not uncommon to see a curved black arrow on a yellow sign that warns us of a sharp turn ahead. When we see that sign we know to slow down because the way is a bit more difficult. Luke 9:51 can be that kind of sign for us as we move from Epiphany into Lent. There is nothing to fear if we but heed the sign, slow down, and take the more difficult path seriously and in faith. May both the season of Epiphany and Lent in their distinct uniqueness be a blessing to you as you worship and serve in your congregations. The LORD with you, President/Bishop Gewecke |