Last summer we celebrated the 125th anniversary of Eidsvold Lutheran Church and tried to contact the 3 men who were interns from 1957 to 1960 under Pastor Maurice Molvik and the 11 men who served as interns from 1973 to 1985 under Pastor Don Peterson. Several of them responded with gracious letters about the good experience they had as interns in this parish, preaching at First and at Eidsvold and living in the old parsonage in Halma.
Pastor Paul Peterson wrote, “Much of who I am today is from the witness of the saints who have worshiped at Eidsvold Lutheran Church.” Pastor Glen Hetland wrote, “We look back fondly on the days that I served as your intern. My internship took on an even greater dimension when Pastor Molvik resigned soon after our arrival and I became the acting pastor for the whole parish. You were all very understanding and supportive, for which I have always been grateful.” Pastor Charles Bunnell wrote, “My appreciation of your support, love and acceptance was so important to us. My appreciation of Pastor Don and Esther Peterson grows with every year of ministry. I learned so much, and I treasure Don’s wisdom, courage, and grasp of God’s grace.”
It is clear that the people of this parish back in the 1950s, the 1970s, and the 1980s had a big impact on the education of the interns who came here to learn, grow, minister, and worship among us. Today they are active or retired pastors in Minnesota, California and many places in between.
Now in the fall of 2012 the members of this parish have another opportunity to help shape the ministry of a future pastor of the Lutheran Church as Kate Johnson becomes the first woman to serve her internship in this parish. Some things will be different with this intern. She is the first intern to work among us half-time for two years instead of full time for one year. She will be the first intern not to live in Halma as she makes her home with her new husband in Hallock where he serves as a newly ordained pastor. And finally, she will be the first intern we share with three other congregations in Kittson County.
But the essential purpose of the internship program remains the same as in decades gone by. She is here, first of all, to worship, witness, and work along side of us as a sister in Christ. In that respect she is just like all the rest of us members of the two congregations of this parish. We all worship, witness, and work together in the name of Christ, each of us in our own way as the Spirit of Jesus has gifted us. Ephesians 4:11 says, “And his gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers for the equipment of the saints for the work of ministry for building up the Body of Christ.”
This intern’s unique purpose in coming among us is to learn and grow into a pastor of the church. After college and seminary, after preaching in her home church and working with youth in another church, she is here to learn by experience the joys, sorrows, and rewards of parish ministry in rural America. Of course, we are all learning all the years of our life, and in that respect we are all in the same boat. But only she is in the official program for educating new pastors for the church.
I hope all of you will welcome her as a co-worker in the Kingdom of God and a sister in Christ. As she takes on some of the duties of a pastor I hope you will all respect her work as much as you respected the work of the pastors and interns who have served in this parish in the past. The internship committee will be looking for positive and helpful feedback on the work she does among us as they report back to the seminary. And I hope you will pray for her and her ministry in this parish.
At the end of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians he has an intriguing little note tucked in with all the other greetings and salutations. “When Timothy comes, see that you put him at ease among you, for he is doing the work of the Lord, as I am. So let no one despise him. Speed him on his way in peace.” (16:10) Could we take that verse as directed to us as we welcome our new intern? Especially, “put [her] at ease.” If you are wondering about the word “despise” in this verse, turn to 1st Timothy 4:12 where Paul writes to his young protégé, “Let no one despise your youth, but set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Till I come, attend to the public reading of scripture, to preaching, to teaching.”
This fall our parish is starting something wonderful and new in cooperation with two other parishes. May God bless this new endeavor.
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