Greetings friends!

I am so grateful for you! I pray this letter finds you experiencing the grace of God right in the middle of your daily comings and goings. Many of you have kindly been inquiring how I am doing, how the girls are, how Kevin’s new job is, and how our family is adjusting. I have been so grateful to know that I as much as I love and pray for you, you are remembering us in your sincere prayers. Thank you! I wanted to share a family update as well as give a peek into what I’m praying will be a “year of transformation” for us as a church.

The past four months could easily be characterized as a season of constant change, bringing both beauty and challenge. Our sweet Junia is adapting to life on the “outside,” being willing to take a bottle and sleeping better at night! (sometimes for 8 hours! *praise hands*) We girls are taking as many walks and playground trips as we can while the weather is nice. Sleep and sunshine are good medicine!

Thank you for being gracious as we figure out life as a family of four and as we discover what shape our pastoral roles are taking. Kevin has been working full-time in customer service at La-Z-Boy since Oct 8. (If this is news to you, check out the announcement on the church podcast from Sept 30.) It’s been an adjustment for all 4 of us, but it seems to be truly a wonderful arrangement. Kevin’s structured days are providing us with a more predictable routine as a family, and have helped me develop healthier work boundaries, giving my mind “permission” to not keep toiling every waking moment. Kevin has done well learning the new job and gets to use the side of his brain which enjoys data and systems. Plus he’s been making new work friends, getting to discuss faith while walking the beautiful grounds on their lunch breaks. I am thankful for the ways the Spirit grants opportunity for him to pastor in this corporate environment.

Not only does Kevin’s new job alleviate some of the church’s financial strain by providing an alternative health insurance plan, it brings increased financial stability for our family. Because of this added income, we are able to afford childcare and are incredibly grateful for the good care Rachel is providing for Kirsten and Junia a few days a week. This arrangement allows me to spend time praying, reading, studying, and writing without distraction, while reserving a number of tasks for when the girls are with me. Being “pastor-mom” sometimes looks like printing bulletins or changing the roadside marquee, and other times it means baking bread together and bringing it to someone the Spirit has brought to mind. The girls’ participation in ministry is often a blessing, and the Lord continually shows me how active the Spirit is in children. I honestly believe our little ones are experiencing the realities of the Kingdom of God with great clarity.

I am thankful and hopeful that we as a family and as a church are moving toward a new normal, a new rhythm to settle our uncertainties with all this pastoral transitioning. Even as the past few months have been a bit confusing for all of us, I continue to see signs of spiritual growth in so many places. I notice this in the way we are opening to the Spirit’s invitations, in how we listen to one another, when we participate in Sunday liturgy together, and in the brief moments when I serve you the consecrated elements of our Lord’s Supper. But what’s next?

I believe discovering what Jesus is asking of us as a church is a corporate task, learning to discern and do the will of God. The Spirit interacts with every one of us in countless ways including nature, gut instincts, songs, conversations with friends, prayer and Scripture. As we practice paying attention to the Spirit, I trust we will be given unified clarity about our purpose in the community and our function as a church. To help in this ongoing process, we use spiritual disciplines, tools for tuning our heart to hear from God.

But really, Mel, what’s next? A new year begins for us on December 2nd, the first Sunday of Advent, the first week of the Year C in the liturgical calendar. “What’s next” is a Year of Transformation, a year of small but foundational practices to help us grow in our practice of discerning and doing the will of God. Our framework for this Year of Transformation will be the six seasons of the liturgical year combined with the six streams of the Christian faith (based on Richard Foster’s book Streams of Living Water.) I have included on a separate page a summary of what-in-the-world I mean.  

Would you join me in this year of transformation, seeking to become a community that lives like Jesus did: contemplative (prayer-filled), incarnational, evangelical, holy, Spirit-empowered, and compassionate?

Let us immerse ourselves in these six streams of the Jesus-life through the  rhythmic flow of the liturgical year. In ADVENT we focus on contemplative practices, being poised and prayerful as Mary was, expectant for God to break through. In CHRISTMASTIDE we embrace the incarnation through sacraments, celebrating the invisible God being made visible in the Christ and now in His Church. In EPIPHANY we live the evangelical life, proclaiming the Good News of Jesus and following in obedience as the wise men. In LENT we seek practices for holy living, returning to God with our whole hearts. In EASTERTIDE we embrace the charismatic practices which enable us to live out the resurrection in and through the power of the Spirit. In ORDINARY TIME we live the Compassionate life, seeking justice by extending the peace and love of Christ to others.

The goal here is not that we’ll be “done” with this Year of Transformation come next Advent, but that we’ll begin again, year after year, growing in our resemblance to Christ and our engagement with his mission to bring wholeness into the world. I am looking forward to beginning a new year with you and seeing what the Lord has in store for us.

Pastor Melanie Eccles