Hello, St Andrews
!This week presents us with an opportunity to use a variety of resources to worship and grow our faith. The ELCA provides us with Worship At Home resources: https://blogs.elca.org/worship/. They also have Daily Prayer resources: https://blogs.elca.org/worship/2044/.
A number of churches live stream on YouTube, their websites, and/or Facebook. Here are a couple that you may be interested in:
- New Joy Lutheran live streams at 9:30am on Sundays. Just click on “Live Stream” on the homepage of their website: https://newjoy.org/.
- Christ Lutheran in Zionsville does Facebook Live on Sundays at 10:30 am. The link can be found on the homepage of their website: https://www.clczionsville.org/.
- Bible Study Fellowship is also offering some free resources. Download a free two week study of James: https://www.bsfinternational.org/page/try-bsf. They also have resources on actively praying: https://bsfblog.org/finding-god-in-the-midst-of-crisis/. Learn more about their WordGo app for daily readings and inspiration: https://wordgo.org/. (Reach out to Kelli if you’d like to have a group study on here!)
Also, be sure to follow along on our social media pages for daily devotions and conversations. Our website is also full of resources so please be sure to check that out as well. We will still meet for Coffee Hour at 10am and Faith Formation at 7pm on Sunday.
If you have questions or need anything in the coming weeks, please reach out to Lisa or Suzy! They will be able to guide you through any needs that may arise until Pastor Doug officially begins. Before diving into the announcements (be sure to read, there are many updates!), Pastor Doug has shared a letter with us!
God’s peace and love,
Kelli Steurer
To the Saints at Faith Lutheran, Avon, and St. Andrews Lutheran, Speedway:
Grace and peace to you all from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
At the “heart” of the Cross of Christ we witness the love of God flowing down (vertical part of the cross) filling us with love and grace. That love of God sends us out as missionaries into the mission field to share the love of Jesus with a broken and shattered world (horizontal line of the cross).
On that holy ground of the cross, at the heart of God, I accept your call to become your Pastor in this new shared ministry. I acknowledge that the attached compensation package is below Synod guidelines while also knowing we will meet those as we serve the Lord together as soon as we can. Who knew back in mid-December, 2019 when we had our first phone conference call what was lying ahead! We have pushed through this unprecedented time in our lives together and the challenges going forward we will meet with God’s good leading.
Thank you for your prayers, and your warm welcoming, and for all who served on the Call Committee, Council, and hosted Zoom meetings! I give God thanks and praise for you! (Phil. 1:3)I look forward to beginning my first Sunday, July 12th, and first work week beginning July 13. There are many tasks and things to do in this regard that I know the Spirit will lead us forward together.
Again, I accept your call to serve as your Pastor and quote Swedish Economist Dag Hammerskoljd “For all that was, thanks. For all that is to come, YES!! (caps mine).
Respectfully submitted,
Pastor Douglas E. Givan
