Mar. 2001
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As I write this, it is slightly less than two weeks since Mindekirken’s Annual Congregational Meeting. Speaking both personally and in my current position as Congregation President, I was pleased with it.This applies both to the two-and-a-half hours of the meeting itself and to the year that the meeting summarized. The meeting was fairly short, businesslike, and positive. There were not a lot of surprises, which in my mind is good considering what our Annual Meeting is – an opportunity for the members of our Congregation to gather together, close out the year just past, and set our sights on the year coming up. It’s not fair for the church leadership to spring surprises on the congregation in that setting, and certainly not pleasant for them to receive them! This year just finished was a much less eventful one for us than its predecessor, in which we built a major addition to our church, said goodbye to one pastor, and called another. This year saw the arrival and establishment of that new pastor, and we can count ourselves blessed that we will have his services throughout the upcoming year. The other event that strikes me as something new in a major sense is the coming to Mindekirken of the Norwegian language classes established and overseen for many years by the Sons of Norway. This is a substantial opportunity for growth in our cultural service to the Norwegian community in our area, and much to be welcomed for this reason. It may also have the effect, by exposing people to our church, of eventually drawing some of them in – and if that happens, that’s wonderful, too. The one area in which I’ve had some thoughts since the Annual Meeting is that of mission and purpose. A church in America has some of the aspects of a business: It has to concern itself with money, it needs to take in enough to survive and, hopefully, prosper. But we all have to remember that a church is not a business by purpose and motivation, and if we treat it solely like one we seriously miss the point. If we build wonderful structures, receive many gifts and bequests, but do not aim ourselves toward the service and glory of God, we have wasted our time, effort and energy. So let’s all try to make sure that we keep in mind that nothing is more important for us, both individually and as a congregate body, than whole-hearted attendance at our Sunday worship services and then taking that message out and living it the rest of the week. I feel that if we keep that proper focus, all of the material aspects that our church needs will come to it.I was going to introduce to you the Congregation Council that you elected on February 4th, but it looks like my previous thoughts have pretty much used up that space. It will comfortably wait until next month, I think.Between now and then we will have a Council Retreat, an event that we hope will provide some ideas and focus for us for the coming year, as well as serving as a bit of an initiation for our newer members. By next month’s column I hope to have more to report to you.John Casey Congregation President
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The Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church · 924 E. 21st St, Minneapolis, MN 55404-2952 · (612)874-0716 |