One of the recurring questions that I’ve had during the time I’ve had the privilege to be Congregation President is: What should we as a church attempt to do? To make it even a little more complicated, the question is not always just what we should attempt to do as a church, but also as a Norwegian cultural center and as a gathering place for those of Norwegian citizenship and ancestry. There are many needs, and many opportunities – really more than we can possibly handle in any adequate sort of way. Sometimes the choices are obvious, and many times they are not.

When I was first elected President, at the Annual Meeting in early 1999, the Congregation had also taken the historic step of approving the new building addition. The task before us wasn’t easy, but at least there was not much confusion about priorities! The new addition was driven by the need for an elevator for our church, and it had been a subject of discussion, debate, and fundraising for many years. Now that we had decided to do it, there was no question that it would be the focus for the next year or so.

Another priority that was thrust upon us came in the summer of 2000 when the Sons of Norway asked us to take on the Norwegian language class program that they had developed and no longer had the room to house. I was personally dubious at first, concerned about the time and effort it would require when we had so many other pressing matters. Fortunately, Priscilla Sorknes and Denise Arntsen stepped forward to shoulder the oversight and administrative tasks respectively, and the classes have been a huge success for us. They more than paid their own way in their first year, and are now off to a fine start in their second fall. They have raised our visibility among many people who care about Norway and its language, and have brought to our building a lot of people who had never been there before.

Another area where we had no choice but to spend time and effort has been that of calling a Pastor – once during that busy first year and again during 2001. We hope that our next pastor will be as successful as Pastor Gillebo has been, and also that the next one will be able to stay with us a bit longer! It’s sad to lose Pastor Gillebo and his wife Jorid so soon, but he left obligations in Norway in order to come here, and it has not turned out for him to be able to stay as long as we had all hoped. I’ve been reminded all over again this year what an expenditure of time and effort it takes to find a pastor for Mindekirken.

In between these rather non-negotiable matters, though, there has been time to look at and wonder about other priorities. One matter of perpetual concern is that of bringing in new members, which many times just means getting out to as many people as possible the word that Mindekirken exists and offers the opportunities that it does for worship and fellowship. Along with that issue is the whole question of what services we need to provide to become a more "family-friendly" church. There aren’t nearly enough families and children at Mindekirken, and those of us on the Council would love to see that at least start to change, but it’s not a quick nor an easy matter. Another one of the big questions is what relationship we should have with the neighborhood surrounding our church, which mixes the issues of what we can do, what we should do, and what’s the right thing to do.

What else? I’m sure there are important issues I haven’t mentioned even briefly – it’s pretty overwhelming sometimes. What have I missed here? If you have opinions, please let me, or others on the Council, know. It’s also easy for me to start thinking of it too much as a business, and forget the fact that even though God commands us to give our best effort, He also promises to watch over our efforts Himself. What a wonderful challenge it has been so far!