New Beginnings

I emailed this letter to our council and staff a few moments ago.

Council and staff:

Thank you, all, for EVERYTHING you have done to make the last weeks and days go as smoothly as they did—especially Wednesday evening. Special thanks to Gary Lankki for all his uncompensated work—hours and hours—and to Deb Hammond and Diane Zitzloff for the many hours of extra work you have put in behind the scenes. Thank you, Karen, for accompanying the hymns and thank you to all council members for your work in registering people and kindly handling questions. I did not want this vote but am glad it’s behind us.

We have a task of reconciliation ahead of us as a congregation—not something that the leaders can do on their own but we can model what Rabbi Friedman called “self-differentiation” and “non-anxious presence” while avoiding “triangulation.”

• Without compromising what we believe—being “self-differentiated”—letting others know where we stand—we can continue to be in relationship with all—being “non-anxiously present”—this includes not avoiding those who we know we disagree with and those who still feel confused and hurt above everything else.

• It’s important not to “triangulate”—that is, to not put the focus on something beyond the relationship each of us is directly involved in. The basic law of emotional triangles is that when any two parts of a system become uncomfortable with one another, they will "triangle in" or focus upon a third person, or issue, as a way of stabilizing their own relationship with one another. A person may be said to be "triangle" if he or she gets caught in the middle as the focus of an unresolved issue. Conversely, when a person tries to change the relationship of two others (two people, or a person and his or her symptoms or belief), they "triangle themselves" into that relationship (and often stabilize the very situation they are trying to change).

So, If you see that there is a way that I or anyone else is failing, then please speak directly with the one you have the “issue” with rather than talking with others about it. You can, of course, talk with others to ask for prayer or advice, but not to avoid talking with someone. That will be very important as we move ahead.

If you have any comments or questions about this, please let me know.

Looking forward to seeing you all in worship on Sunday!

Peace be with you in Jesus’ name. – and CONGRATULATIONS to Nate, Sarah & Baby Izabella Grace born the same day as our congregation meeting, Wednesday, June 23. 

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An Historic Crossroads

A letter went out on May 28 from our congregation council to the members of our congregation in regard to a "first vote to determine" if our local church should "terminate its relationship with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) as based on section C6.05 of the congregation's constitution."  The vote is scheduled at a special congregation meeting to be held here at the church on Wednesday, June 23, 2010, beginning at 6:00 p.m.

If you wish to see a copy of this letter, please contact our church office - 320-286-6169.

Feel free to contact me for my own perspective on this vote--or call the office and ask for a copy of our recent newsletter, the Parish Pulse.

This is a very difficult time for all. Difficult times always call for prayer. We'll gather for prayer at 6:30 tonight as we usually do on Thursdays.  Please come if you can.  In any case, please pray that God's Will, and God's Will alone, would be done. 

Matthew 6:9-13

Our Father in heaven,
    hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And do not bring us to the time of trial,
    but rescue us from the evil one.

www.equalsharing.com

A Historic Crossroads - Wednesday, June 23.

The following is from the April 20, 2010 minutes of our local church council:

T.B. moved, B.M. seconded, to have a congregational meeting in order to have our first vote to leave the ELCA.  The vote was taken by paper ballot with these two options: Yes, call vote OR No, let's wait and not have a vote.  T.R. and N.B. served as tellers.  Results of the vote were:
    7 - Yes to take vote
    5 - No, wait and not have a vote.
Motion carried.
...
T.B. made a motion, seconded by J.B., to call a special congregational meeting to be held June 23, starting at 6 p.m. with a vote taken as close to 7 p.m. as possible.  Councilors voted by raising their hands.  There were 7 votes for and 6 votes opposed.  Pastor Thorson voted in opposition.  Motion Carried.

With these actions our church council set up a historic crossroads for our local church. Though many of us have not asked for it, it is upon us.  I have written an article for our church newsletter on this subject.  It will be printed today, assembled with the rest of the newsletter tomorrow, and mailed soon after.

Please keep us in prayer.

www.equalsharing.com