From Pastor Phil

Greetings to you in the name of our risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

That may sound a little formal, but we are still getting to know one another. I have been delighted, honored, and truly blessed to begin this journey with you as your Interim Pastor.

I have already experienced the warmth of your greetings, both in person and virtually. I look forward to getting to know each of you better in the weeks and months ahead. Since the July newsletter included my biography, I will not repeat it here. Instead, I want to share a few thoughts about this initial phase of our journey together.

I look forward to meeting with the Church Council on August 18. We would also welcome two additional people who feel called to serve as Council members.

My pastoral and coaching approach has three movements—I like things in threes:

Observe • Reflect • Grow

I have been delighted by the thoughts and stories some of you have already shared about New Journey, your lives, and your journeys of faith. I want to continue listening to those stories, and I am deeply honored whenever someone entrusts their story to me. I have also read New Journey’s Ministry Site Profile—more than once—and have begun learning the story it tells about this congregation.

All of this is part of observing: listening carefully, paying attention, and seeking to understand.

I also want us to reflect together on what we know, what we believe, and what God may be revealing to us. Through that reflection, we can begin to discern how we are being called to grow as God’s people and as New Journey Lutheran Church.

I have some ideas, but even more importantly, so do you. Let us listen and reflect together as we prayerfully discern what God is calling us not only to do, but also to be.

God’s direction may not come in the wind, earthquake, or fire that Elijah experienced in last Sunday’s reading. It may come instead through the “sound of sheer silence.”

Please pray for our Council, for one another, and for me as we seek to discern God’s call for New Journey.

Yours in Christ,

Pastor Phil