Dear Fellow Members of St. John’s Lutheran Church,

Each Sunday since Pastor Scot Sorensen came to St. John’s, as Sunday services begin we say and hear these words from Psalm 118:24: “This is the day the Lord has made.  Let us rejoice and be glad in it.”  Some days it is easier to rejoice than others!

As you read the letter from Pastor Sorensen, you, like Pastor Scot, may have a variety of emotions:

• Sadness that he, Kathy and Kai will be leaving us.
   
• Joy that he has a new call to serve God and His people at Bethel Lutheran Church in Madison, Wisconsin.
   
• Gratitude for the work Pastor Scot has done together with us at St. John’s.
   
• Satisfaction over the wonderful growth of all kinds and the expanded outreach that St. John’s has experienced during his twelve years with us.
   
• Thankfulness that we have dedicated and trusted staff members and many wonderful lay leaders in our church.

We, like Pastor Scot, continue to trust God as we continue on our own exciting journey. As a congregation, we will move forward with thoughtfulness, prayer and parishioner involvement in beginning the process of selecting a new senior pastor. The Council will meet before the end of September to begin seeking an interim pastor, someone who will help us maintain the enthusiasm and vitality that has made St. John’s a special place of spiritual growth.  We will also begin the work of establishing a Call Committee from the Congregation to identify candidates for the position of Senior Pastor.  We will keep you informed on our work through our newsletters, bulletins and announcements in church.

Our mission and vision statements give us the tools to grow individually and collectively in a changing environment and we will not stop doing God’s work with grace, in trust, by faith, through action—because that’s who we are. Our nearly century and a half history shows clearly that St. John’s has not allowed change to dampen our commitment to our mission, rather we have embraced change and moved forward in the belief that, with God, all things are possible.

God’s blessings on Pastor Scot, Kathy and Kai and on all of us as we continue our journeys, always striving to fulfill God’s vision for us. And let us truly rejoice in every day that the Lord has made, being ever vigilant at St. John’s to seek ways to live God’s love in the world.

Yours in Christ,