Newsletter Thoughts June 13, 2025

Dear Friends,

I’ve shared a bit of my history in sermons, but that doesn’t mean that you all know (or remember) it.

For as long as I can remember, I have believed in God. But, until I was in my 30’s, I did not participate in a worshipping community. Why? Because I did not like Christians. I often say now that the fact that I am a pastor shows God has a wonderful sense of humor in addition to immense grace.

You see, as a teenager and young adult I’d had plenty of negative encounters with Christians. I felt that the ones I encountered had more contempt than love for me. None of the negative experiences were while at a worship service solely because I didn’t “go to church.” No, my attitudes came from other interactions. It’s a reminder to me always that what we do, what we say, and even how we say it is important. How we treat people is important.

In April we adopted our new mission. Do you have it memorized yet?

We follow Jesus’ actions to be a shepherding force by accepting, embracing, and nurturing all of creation.

Our work now is to continue making this mission a part of our ministry, our identity, and what guides our decision making. Hopefully these words also guide us in our daily interactions with other.

This week I’ve been thinking about the many neighbors who visit our campus. Some stop by to write on the prayer wall (hopefully some of us read and pray). Some stop by our little food pantry to see what food is available. While it is not always full, there is usually something to be found.

Most visitors, though, are on campus as part of another group that rents space from us. It is easy to think of members of these groups as tenants, people who use our spaces but otherwise have nothing to do with us. They are not members of our church, so who are they to us? The truth is that it would be rare for someone who visits our campus because of the group they are in to become interested in our church.

But each person who steps onto our campus is a beloved child of God. Each person is our neighbor. So I wonder what it might look like if we thought of it as our mission to accept, embrace, and nurture these neighbors of ours? What might it be like for a person (young or old) to remember that someone at ALC had a smile or a kind word. What wonderful opportunities to love our neighbors!

It seems like a small thing, but I often wonder how my teen and young adult years would have been if someone who I knew to be a Christian was accepting of me. On the one hand I don’t have any regrets about those non-church years, but on the other hand my heart aches for those who need to experience God’s love.

How might the Holy Spirit be inviting and even pushing us to be the church in this place? Such fun things to think about! I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Peace in Christ,

Pastor Nancy