FROM YOUR INTERIM PASTOR JUDY ANDERSON-BAUER
December 2020
WHAT A YEAR!
Well, that was a year like no other! Comedian Trevor Noah suggested that maybe we should wait on our New Year’s Eve tradition of throwing a party for the year to come until after we see what kind of year it will be. I’m pretty sure none of us would like to repeat 2020, ever again. It’s going to become part of our vocabulary – “Well, that was sure a 2020!” when we mean something was horrible.
So congratulations for making it through the year. While the pandemic is still terrible, and we still have months of precautions yet to go, there is light at the end of the tunnel (and no, it’s not an oncoming train. Right?) In all likelihood we will see a vaccine rolling out for the majority of us in the next six to eight months or so. It will take time to vaccinate all 330 million Americans, not to mention the nearly 7 billion souls on the planet. And of course the most vulnerable will need to be vaccinated first – our front line health care workers and our elders in care facilities. But eventually, we will all be able to receive a vaccine, and then we can try to remember what our lives were like in the “before time.”
Besides a vaccine, what are your hopes and dreams for the year 2021? Well, we are hoping that United Lutheran will be able to call a new pastor in 2021. As you know, we are in conversation with Our Savior’s in west Duluth about an arrangement to share their pastor. While that isn’t a sure thing, it is a promising possibility. The proposal is for a 2-year “trial” period, where each congregation can see if it’s a workable solution. It could open up new ministry possibilities for United, and would help both congregations’ financial pictures considerably.
Personally, I am looking forward to the day I can join in-person worship again. My goodness, how I miss singing together! I can’t wait to sing “This is the Feast” and “Be Thou My Vision” (my favorite hymn) with a whole congregation. And the simple delight of sitting at coffee with folks! And greeting people after worship. And . . .well, you get the picture. I’ve been a pastor for over 35 years; I have served four settled calls, and six interim calls, a total of 18 congregations (many of those calls were multiple points); in 11 of those congregations I was their first woman pastor. In all those circumstances, I have never had the kinds of challenges this pandemic year has brought. Of course, that has nothing to do with United Lutheran. In any other time, United Lutheran would have been a “normal” interim. It has everything to do with the pandemic. I think we are all tired of using the word “unprecedented.” I miss “normal” as much as anyone.
As we begin this New Year of 2021, here’s a poem I have often gone back to, as we come to the end of the Christmas season, and turn our faces toward the New Year.
The Work of Christmas
by Howard Thurman
When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among others,
To make music in the heart.
As we begin this New Year, that’s our work. That’s what Jesus calls us to do. That’s the meaning of Christmas. . . to find the lost, to heal the broken, to feed the hungry, to release the prisoner, to rebuild the nations, to bring peace, to make music in the heart and – please, God! – make it once again in the sanctuary. May we all do the work of Christmas in the New Year of Our Lord, 2021.
In Christ, Pastor Judy
Well, that was a year like no other! Comedian Trevor Noah suggested that maybe we should wait on our New Year’s Eve tradition of throwing a party for the year to come until after we see what kind of year it will be. I’m pretty sure none of us would like to repeat 2020, ever again. It’s going to become part of our vocabulary – “Well, that was sure a 2020!” when we mean something was horrible.
So congratulations for making it through the year. While the pandemic is still terrible, and we still have months of precautions yet to go, there is light at the end of the tunnel (and no, it’s not an oncoming train. Right?) In all likelihood we will see a vaccine rolling out for the majority of us in the next six to eight months or so. It will take time to vaccinate all 330 million Americans, not to mention the nearly 7 billion souls on the planet. And of course the most vulnerable will need to be vaccinated first – our front line health care workers and our elders in care facilities. But eventually, we will all be able to receive a vaccine, and then we can try to remember what our lives were like in the “before time.”
Besides a vaccine, what are your hopes and dreams for the year 2021? Well, we are hoping that United Lutheran will be able to call a new pastor in 2021. As you know, we are in conversation with Our Savior’s in west Duluth about an arrangement to share their pastor. While that isn’t a sure thing, it is a promising possibility. The proposal is for a 2-year “trial” period, where each congregation can see if it’s a workable solution. It could open up new ministry possibilities for United, and would help both congregations’ financial pictures considerably.
Personally, I am looking forward to the day I can join in-person worship again. My goodness, how I miss singing together! I can’t wait to sing “This is the Feast” and “Be Thou My Vision” (my favorite hymn) with a whole congregation. And the simple delight of sitting at coffee with folks! And greeting people after worship. And . . .well, you get the picture. I’ve been a pastor for over 35 years; I have served four settled calls, and six interim calls, a total of 18 congregations (many of those calls were multiple points); in 11 of those congregations I was their first woman pastor. In all those circumstances, I have never had the kinds of challenges this pandemic year has brought. Of course, that has nothing to do with United Lutheran. In any other time, United Lutheran would have been a “normal” interim. It has everything to do with the pandemic. I think we are all tired of using the word “unprecedented.” I miss “normal” as much as anyone.
As we begin this New Year of 2021, here’s a poem I have often gone back to, as we come to the end of the Christmas season, and turn our faces toward the New Year.
The Work of Christmas
by Howard Thurman
When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among others,
To make music in the heart.
As we begin this New Year, that’s our work. That’s what Jesus calls us to do. That’s the meaning of Christmas. . . to find the lost, to heal the broken, to feed the hungry, to release the prisoner, to rebuild the nations, to bring peace, to make music in the heart and – please, God! – make it once again in the sanctuary. May we all do the work of Christmas in the New Year of Our Lord, 2021.
In Christ, Pastor Judy
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