Some of us deepened that process this past Saturday and Sunday while Sam Torvend made his presentation on the aspects of this Pacific Northwest culture that bear directly on how we are church here, and how that is different than being church in other areas of the Untied States.  You read about that in the lead article in this newsletter. 

I bring my “diaconal lens” to these questions.  I continue to ask “So, what difference does this make?”  Knowing more about how the culture around us works and interacts with the church, what difference does it make?  Does it have anything to say to us about what it means to BE church?

How are we called to live out the radical love of God that is modeled in the life of Jesus of Nazareth, here, in Seattle, at Green Lake, as part of  Bethany Lutheran Church?  I  keep thinking about the  old gospel song “They’ll know we are Christian by our Love”  Will they?  How do we show God’s love in the world? 

In this newsletter there is an article about a proposed new way to participate in the Jubilee dinners held by our neighbor St. Andrews’ Episcopal church.  Take some time to read and the THINK about it.  How can you participate in this ministry?  Maybe the only thing you can really do is lend your name if you are a Thrivent household so that we can help provide funds to continue this program. We need that help.  Keep the ministry in your prayers.

So, if you don’t participate in the Dinners, what else can you do?  Well, Lutheran World Relief tells us that they are critically short of quilts with the call for them in the flood and tornado ravaged areas of the Untied States.  Can we continue to sew quilts over the summer?  After all, it’s cool in the basement in the hot (maybe it will be hot sometime soon!) times of this summer.

How are you spending time enriching your faith life this summer,, during this time of sabbatical?  Are you reading some challenging book?  Taking time to develop a deeper prayer life, or to begin a prayer practice?  Are you finding time to get out in this beautiful world of the Pacific Northwest and still be in conversation with God?  How about prayer walking?  Or silent meditation on scripture texts while outside? Is it time to begin preparing to help the homeless in the cold of next winter?  After all, knitting hats and mufflers can take place all year round, and we’d have a nice stockpile to give out next fall when the rains begin.

When Pastor Andersen comes home, what will we have to tell him about how we spent the time while he was away?  Will we have new ideas to share with him, new insights into our lives of faith?  Will we have determined that there are some changes we, as a congregation, want to make in the way we do “business as usual”?  How will we be open to the things Pastor has learned about himself and his ministry among us?  Will we walk with him into a new way of being church together?

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I plan to take time while he is gone to begin to seriously reflect on these questions. I’d love to talk about my conclusions with you and find out what you are thinking.  Let’s take advantage of this wonderful gift with which the Lilly Endowment has gifted us.   Let us take time to figure out how we can share the love of God in this place, in this time, to our neighbors at Green Lake. Call me, let’s talk.

Together in diakonia,
Jan Cherry
(425) 210-0652

 
Jan Cherry, Diaconal Minister
Ecumenical Liturgical Coordinator
School of Theology and Ministry
Seattle University
    PO Box 222000
    Seattle, WA 98122
(206) 296-2383
cherryj2@seattleu.edu