By The Rev. Dr. Carl Grosse

You all continue to amaze me. Your pastor going AWOL didn’t stop the Sunday worship service from going ahead thanks to capable and dedicated folks stepping up. You worked together to comfort and help people needing pastoral care. In all kinds of ways, you seem to have developed a knack for helping each other figure out what to do and who can do it so the ministry keeps going when the usual becomes unusual.

Resilience might be understood as the ability to bend without breaking and still retain essential qualities. If something is too rigid, it could break under pressure. Being flexible but not retaining essential qualities could mean getting bent out of shape! You all show remarkable resilience. Your core is the Sunday morning time where you have that loving, caring family reunion with each other and with the Lord. You value having a pastor to lead that time and bring a word from the Lord. But if illness or other exigencies disrupt that routine, you’ll find a way. You appreciate having a pastor visit the hospital or home when things take a turn, but again, if that’s not an option you don’t let it stop the love and care God gives you to share.

In the past, I have approached some jobs by trying to make myself indispensable. What I discovered was that organizations will either replace you, eliminate what you did, or go under if they’re that dependent on you. A healthy church and a healthy leadership understand that what God is doing through us is bigger than any one of us. Each of us is important for sure, that’s why God has us here. But none of us is indispensable. I’ve had a few crystal clear reminders of that lately, in a good way. Thank you for your care and concern for both Denise and me. We look forward to getting back up to speed with you and continuing the good ministry we’re doing together in 2025!