February 2024

“It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.”—Charles Dickens

2023 started very well with St. Luke’s welcoming Pastor Brian and looking forward to strong growth in mission and ministry. Sadly, Pastor Brian needed to resign his call in May because of personal issues. Interim Bishop Claire contacted me and asked if I would consider filling in for a time at St. Luke’s. As most of you know, I retired at the end of 2020 from serving as pastor of St. Luke’s for 27 years. It is rare for a retired minister to be asked to fill in at the congregation he or she had previously served. I told Bishop Claire I would do whatever she felt would be best for St. Luke’s. So, she and the St. Luke’s Church Council contracted with me to serve as ¾ time Term Pastor of St. Luke’s on a month-to-month basis, starting July 1. My term here will end when a new Pastor is called or when the Bishop, the Church Council, or I feel it is best to end the term.

It is a joy to have the opportunity to serve again with St. Luke’s for a time. I retired during the pandemic. Because of pandemic restrictions I just had to leave without really getting to say goodbye. These months together are a great blessing. During my time here I have worked on the following goals and activities:

· Preached the Word of God and presided at Worship each Sunday and at Special Services.

· Provided pastoral care through many in-person and phone conversations. Sent out several requests for prayer to the St. Luke’s Email Group. Made myself available every Sunday in the prayer alcove 15 minutes before worship for folks to pray with me regarding concerns.

· Along with members of the Evangelism Board, took Communion to homebound.

· Officiated at several funerals and baptisms.

· Put together and distributed a revised St. Luke’s Members and Friends roster. That was a vital and major goal of  my term here.

· Met regularly and assisted in the ministry of the Worship and Music Board, Evangelism Board, Community Concerns Board, Executive Committee, and Church Council.

· Established and maintained regular office hours on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. with the church secretary keeping office hours on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. There is now a stable and reliable presence in the church office Monday – Friday for congregational members and others.

· Led Confirmation/Catechumenate class with a potluck supper on seven Wednesday evenings in the summer. The average attendance of the class was 22.

· Reached out to 2020-21 Confirmands and their families to connect with them and invite them to the Confirmation service on September 24 when their Confirmations would be recognized and celebrated. Their Confirmations had to be with family only due to the pandemic.

· Celebrated with the Confirmation Class of 2020-21 and confirmed Jacob Kiser and Andy Weber at worship on Sept. 24. That was a major goal of my term here.

· Completed a goal to encourage and assist the very dedicated live stream volunteers, Marlene Kiser and her family, in upgrading the live stream equipment and software. Encouraged Jack Fenske and Bill Myers in mounting and providing connections for the new live stream camera.

· Worked to intentionally include online worshipers in the Sunday Worship service rather than considering them simply as folks viewing the service.

· Started listing in-person worship attendance and online views in the News & Views.

· Along with Laura and Justin Tice, Peggy Moser and Marlene Kiser, represented St. Luke’s at the Synod Assembly on September 15-17 in Burlingame. Took part in the election of a new Bishop for our Synod, Bishop Jeff Johnson.

· Reinstituted the Flower Chart for providing flowers for worship.

· Encouraged and helped with the completion of the Soul Sisters project of painting and redecorating the church office. Special thanks to Justin Tice who did a fabulous job with the painting and Sarah Madison who coordinated the project wonderfully! That was a major goal of my term here as the church office had become very unattractive and uninviting during the pandemic.

· At the request of the Executive Committee, revised the Duty Statement for the Church Office Secretary and drafted a Duty Statement for a Church Office Secretary Back Up.

· Completed a Term Pastor year-end review of the Church Office Secretary at the request of the Executive Committee.

· Completed a goal to personally contact and encourage members and friends who hadn’t been a part of the life of the congregation for a time to take part in holiday worship and activities. Sent 32 personal notes as well as made several phone calls and sent several emails to accomplish this task.

It has been a privilege to serve as your Term Pastor these last several months. I have done my best to help St. Luke’s prepare for a new pastor who will lead you forward in mission and ministry. I especially want to thank Chet Madison, our Congregational President, for his caring ministry with Pastor Brian and for his tireless efforts to move the congregation forward toward calling a new pastor.

Spreading, Serving and Sharing with You,

Term Pastor Carl Hoppman