November 2024
Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; even now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? - Isaiah 43:18-19
Get Ready for Long Advent!
I saw my first Christmas commercial last Sunday. Old Navy was singing about buying some holiday cheer during a timeout not long before the epic ending of the Bears vs Commanders game (Google it to see an epic Hail Mary finish). This year we’re trying something new. Or maybe, we’re returning to an old tradition and seeing if it fits our day and time. This year, we’re going to start Advent after All Saints’ Sunday. November 10th will be our First Sunday of Advent. I saw this schedule in action while living in Jerusalem. The Lutheran Church there uses a German one year lectionary to organize their church calendar and starts Advent after All Saints’. What was most striking about the practice was that Advent stopped feeling so rushed and started feeling expectant. Instead of the “hurry up and wait” feeling, we had time to balance the ‘Soon and Very Soon’ of preparing for Jesus’ return with the ‘Joy to the World’ that we feel when we celebrate God coming among us in the form of a baby, Jesus. Alongside this newsletter, we’ve sent you an Advent Devotional from a publisher that we’ve used for Advent themes in previous years. The theme is “Words for a New Beginning” and we’ll be drawing out the themes of the first two weeks over much of November.
Budget Update
Plenty of advertisers will be leaning hard on holiday nostalgia in their commercials, but Advent is a great opportunity for us to reorient ourselves to God’s future. The council will be working on reorganizing our budget during this season and the goal is to reflect on our values as a congregation to prioritize our principles. It has been a gift these last two years to use the money from the sale of the building to bring above and beyond funding to our mission and outreach goals. In council we’ll be casting a vision for the next year of winding down that above and beyond spending. We will be working hard to keep the vision of the community we want to be in front of us to avoid letting the numbers eclipse the mission and ministry we share. With that in mind, we’ll also invite a couple council members to talk about stewardship in worship during November. Among other things, we want to invite all our members to reflect on their planned giving and consider if they are able to help the congregation offset the rising costs of doing business.
God’s New Thing
This season of looking forward to what God has in store for the world, for our community and for us has been inspiring conversations all over. In the past several weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to meet with and deepen discussions with some First members and our collaborating Wildfire pastors. The consensus is that it is time to cast a vision for what we hope for God’s mission in the Northwest Hennepin Conference in the coming years. To that end, you’ll be seeing more invitations to collaborative events that build community amongst our congregations and more opportunities to have community conversations with our neighboring churches. I’m looking forward to more opportunities to dream big about the future and to talk together as a community soon and very soon. In this season of hope and expectation, I’d love to hear from you: What hopes do you have as you begin to look towards Advent, towards the future of our community here at First, and for God’s mission and ministry in our neighborhood and our word?
I’m thankful for you and for this community we share,
Pastor Colin
