Newsletter May 2015

On the last day of May I will complete 25 years as pastor of the First Eidsvold Lutheran Parish.  My ministry here began on June 1, 1990 followed by an installation service in the afternoon of June 3, 1990 at First Lutheran Church.  None of us knew then how long this ministry would last in light of the serious challenges in this parish at the time.  Then on my second Sunday here (June 10, 1990) First Lutheran Church voted to go ahead with a major addition and remodeling project to be finished in time for the 75^th anniversary of the congregation during my second June here (1991).  We accomplished this and celebrated both the dedication of the addition/remodeling and the anniversary with a banquet and program on Saturday night at the school and a communion service on Sunday morning at church with several former pastors and many former members participating.  It was a great weekend.

Now, 25 years later, I will conclude my active ministry in this parish at the end of May and officially resign as pastor effective on June 30.  This was a hard decision for me to make.  In the Lutheran Church the call to serve as a pastor in a parish ends only with the death or the resignation of the pastor.  There are no terms of office and certainly no term limits.  No bishop or other official determines when, where, and how long a pastor serves, although the bishop may give advice.  It is up to the pastor and the congregation, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to determine when a change of pastor is in order.

Sometimes a call ends when the pastor has another congregation calling for pastoral services, but even then it can take some time and a lot of prayer to discern God’s will in the matter.  In Acts 16 St. Paul endured a time of discernment about his ministry.  As he and Silas (and Luke, presumably) traveled they attempted to go to Bithynia but “the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.” (v.7)  And then “a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing beseeching him and saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’  And when he had seen the vision immediately we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.” (vv.9-10)

Today a pastor may have that same sense of being needed more urgently somewhere else (Macedonia).  And many a pastor can testify to the experience of feeling the need to go someplace else (“Bithynia”) and not being able to do so.  The question then is, “what does God want?”

At other times there is a sense that the time has come to bring a pastor’s ministry to a close in a particular place.  That is my situation.  For quite some time I have pondered the question, “how will it all end?”  This year several things converged that led me to conclude that now is the time.  As I noted, I am completing 25 years of service here.  I turned 65 years old earlier in the year.  Soon I will complete 40 years of preaching, teaching, and administering the holy sacraments.  It’s not just the nice round numbers, but a sense that this is a good time to move on.

Next year First Lutheran Church will celebrate the centennial of the organization of the congregation (November 12, 1916).  I believe the congregation will benefit from a new pastor with new energy and perhaps with a fresh vision as it moves into its second century.  Eidsvold celebrated its centennial back in 1986 and is currently seeking to know what its role in the life of the church and the parish is.  The shape of congregational life is changing in remote rural areas such as ours.  At one time this was a five point parish (Eidsvold, First, Zion, Pelan, and Hegland). It may be that we are headed back to that kind of configuration again.

Pastors are not the only ones who seek the leading of God’s Spirit in deciding what to do.  This parish will enter into a period of discernment about where it is now, what it hopes to be, and what pastor might serve that purpose.  That is what lies ahead in the next few months.  This can be an anxious time for the congregation, as it is for me personally as I enter retirement, but we should look at this as a time when the Lord is leading us to something new.  As Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow…..” (Matthew 6:34)  And remember his last words on “the mount to which [he] had directed [the disciples]….. ‘and lo I am with you always even to the close of the age.’” (Matthew 28:16&20)

I view the next few months with excitement and a bit of apprehension.  I am retiring from full-time ministry but expect to do some kind of ministry part-time after taking the summer months off to visit family in Minneapolis, Chicago, and Wisconsin.  I hope that this parish, too, will be excited and not too anxious about what the future may hold.  As one old saint repeatedly said to me some 30 years ago: “the future is as bright as the promises of God.”     

Pastor Gary Halverson