Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ of Salem Lutheran Ministries,
On Sunday, October 15, Dan Bierwagen met me in the narthex entering into the House of the Lord with a hug and said to me, “Welcome home!” It had only been a couple days prior to that day that we had been attending the funeral of Emily’s grandfather, our last remaining grandparent on either side. But it was those words, “Welcome home” that truly struck a chord with me.
Since we have been here, you have all truly made us feel at home here in Springdale. To think of a bunch of northerners feeling at home so instantly is no small thing. Yet, that is the way it has truly felt. Upon arrival to the rental home, we were overwhelmed to see all of the housewarming gifts, to receive all of the gift cards to local establishments, to read all of the cards, to have people stop by to introduce themselves and greet us, the people that have come by to help us with house projects and moving in, to the beautiful banquet that was hosted to welcome us into the congregation, to the wonderful worship service to celebrate my being installed here as pastor, and to receive cards extending condolences as we grieve the death of Emily’s grandfather. And to the Martins, you have been such gracious and generous hosts, going far above and beyond anything we could have ever asked or imagined. We are truly humbled and honored. Thank you all!
As we begin our time together, I wanted to take some time to say a few things that I hope God will use to bless our ministry in His name and to His glory.
The first thing I want to tell you about myself is that I am a sinner. I am going to mess up. I am going to let you down. Even my wife and family will sin and let you down. It’s going to happen. What’s also going to happen is that you are going to sin against us. It’s going to happen.
But, you see, that is what makes being a part of a family of faith so different. We have a language of love rooted in God’s Word and Christ’s cross that sets us apart from the rest of the world. So, when we sin against each other, I would ask that we would be quick to confess and quick to forgive. And if you are upset about something I have done or failed to do as your pastor, I would ask that you please come and talk to me directly, so we can work through our differences in light of God’s Word.
And that’s another thing that you can expect. There will be differences. My being here, in and of itself, is a difference. But where change happens, we can rely on our God who does not change to guide us. So, I would ask that we all pray for patience, wisdom, and unity as we learn to walk with the Lord together. It will take time for us to learn from each other, but with the help of the Lord, He will bless us to do great things to serve Him and His kingdom.
And that’s just it, I am excited to serve the Savior with you. I am excited to be in team ministry with Pastor Martin. I am excited to learn Spanish with my family. I am excited to follow in Christ’s footsteps side by side with you.
One thing to know about me is that I am big on is collaborative team leadership. I was once told, and I stand by this saying: “People support the things they help create.” And, as my Mama always said, “many hands make light work.”
Put simply, this is not my Church. It is not your Church. It is Christ’s Church. And He has called us to walk humbly with Him that we might put aside our own self-interests, sacrificially serving together, that we may love Jesus with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love our neighbors as ourselves.
God has positioned this congregation and all us who are members of it with great intentionality. He has gifted each of us and placed us here so that we may share what we have been given to share in our homes, in our congregation, and in our community. That is what a family of faith does. Having put on Christ as baptized children of God, by His grace, we seek to bring others into our family so that they too will be saved.
With all that being said, I have two things that I want to begin our ministry focusing upon: The first is that I delight in being your pastor. I love being a pastor. I love being Christ’s undershepherd to you. I consider it to be an absolute privilege to be called here to serve you God’s gifts of Word and Sacrament. His gifts are what you and I need so that we may live in Christ’s forgiveness and be strengthened by Him in our faith. So, I welcome you to come to me with your pastoral care needs. I look forward to the opportunity to get to know each of you well, and to grow in our faith together.
The second thing I want to begin our ministry focus upon flows from what was communicated throughout the call process. I heard multiple times that this congregation has a desire to more deeply develop ministry from a Lutheran perspective. This excites me greatly as I take great pride in our Lutheran faith and its commitment to the Word of God.
Therefore, my desire for everyone in this congregation is to start on the same page. To do just that, I can’t help but think of sports. When a team wants to get on the same page, the coach will often break things down by returning to the fundamentals of the sport that is being played as a team. That is what I would like to start by doing here.
In the next couple of months, I will be offering a Fundamentals in the Faith class that will run for eight weeks. I will offer this class multiple times with the hope that everyone will get a chance to attend. From there, we can use the fundamentals we have learned together as our launching pad for what the Lord has in store for us next.
And truth be told, God is going to do more than we could ever ask for or imagine as we serve together. Of that I have no doubt. But, as we await His work to unfold in our lives, I have one request that comes with a promise. Will you please pray for Pastor Martin, myself, and our families as we serve together? Will you please pray for all who work here in this congregation? And all the while, my promise is that I will be praying for you.
One thing I learned in ministry is that one of the primary “jobs” of a pastor is to pray for his flock. I have already been doing that. I will continue to do that. I simply ask that you would do the same for me and those I am blessed to serve with.
In Christ, Pastor Gless