Dear St. Luke’s,

This morning (Wednesday) I had the extreme privilege of doing chapel with the Day School, which is consistently the most fun I have all week. That lasted about twenty minutes, and since then there has been a flurry of activity around the stewardship campaign, planning the Celebration of New Ministry, getting ready for the Senior Saints Luncheon, and the Day School Silent Auction. Things are busy and feel alive. I am amazed that Sue (our parish administrator) is able to keep all of the balls in the air while we juggle through these major events. On top of things in the immediate future, we are still rediscovering our community.

Before I arrived, St. Luke’s had always employed two full-time clergy. I like to think that we’ve done an admirable job of keeping things going, but we are still working out how to thrive with fewer people. We have been able to keep things going largely because St. Luke’s has incredible volunteers that are dedicated and have tons of institutional knowledge. However, many of those amazing volunteers have moved away and there are fewer people with the muscle memory to keep things going. The good news is that the next generation of St. Lukers seems to have arrived, and now we are working on the old guard training the new. Everything is hopeful, but there is no doubt we are in a time of transition.

I would love to have more staff and clergy that would ensure that things run smoothly, empower us to do more ministry, and grow the Church even more, but I insist that whatever we do, we must do so out of abundance. We should not fill positions at the expense of financially stretching the congregation too thin. Spending beyond our means could result in instability with the staff, constantly asking for money, and coming back year after year begging our contributors for an increase. I want to focus on doing ministry, and only want to spend as much time as absolutely necessary beating the stewardship drum.

At the intersection of practicality and spirituality is an invitation to learn to thrive in whatever reality God gives us. If we cannot afford paid staff, we can still be the Church if we listen to the Holy Spirit and are willing to adapt and do the work. Our boiler issues over the past two years have even reminded us that we can be the Church if we can’t get the boiler running. Everyone can just bring a blanket with them to Church.

The fate of St. Luke’s is not resting on your decision to pledge to the Church, but if you do choose to pledge, then we may find that thriving in our new normal is a bit more vibrant, easy, and fun than if you do not. When I come to Church, I feel alive and that we are growing. Regardless of where we find ourselves in the coming months, I know that we will respond to God’s call to love the world and be the Church, and I hope that you will be there with us giving your gifts to our community.

Blessings,

Nick