Let me share with you on of my favorite prayers, from the Order of Evening Prayer in the Lutheran Book of Worship:
“O, God, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. God give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.”
This is a prayer for us in these days, a prayer of endings and beginnings. It is a prayer which names fear in the midst of struggle and the unknown, but does so with a voice of hope and trust. It is this prayer we offer to God voicing our fears and our hopes, grateful for the day and looking forward toward tomorrow.
Here at St. Peter’s, we are at the evening of our life together. For 116 years this congregation has done God’s work in this place. It has been a long and fruitful day for the life of this church. And now it is evening, time to look back to the day in gratitude, and look forward to the new day God will bring.
This congregation has done valuable and transformative ministry in this community and throughout the church. It has made a faithful witness, and not just in the days of a booming Sunday School and extra chairs in the sanctuary. Even in these recent lean years, this congregation has been a small but mighty community of mission. This valuable ministry does not end when this congregation closes, but will continue through the legacy gifts and through each one of you.
I am grateful for the privilege of having been your pastor for these past three years. Each one of you has “let your light so shine” to brighten my days and to enliven our shared ministry together. It has not always been easy as we have struggled together and learned from one another. Still, I am honored to have been invited into your lives and to have shared with you your sorrows and your joys. I have been blessed by your faithfulness and by your incredible stories. I will remember with joy the sound of your laughter and your beautiful singing. I will ever hold this community in my heart with gratitude and with love, and I thank you.
In this evening prayer we say the truth that we are called to ventures where the paths will be strange and the perils unknown. There are many things we don’t know about the future. There is much that is unknown. Some of us aren’t yet sure where we will land. Others know the spot, but don’t yet know what life in that new congregation will be like. Wherever we end up, it will be different and will likely be hard for awhile. There is much that is unknown.
But, dear people of God, even as we journey into a future that remains unknown, there are things which we do know. We know that we do not walk this journey alone. God has blessed us with one another and with the community on the Church, others who will walk alongside us as companions. God will bless us with new friends and will surprise us with mysterious angels along the way. We go forward, knowing that God’s hand is leading us and that God’s love is supporting us. We know and trust that God has not and will not abandon us. With this knowledge, we can go from this place with good courage and hope.
It is in this knowledge that I say my farewell to you as your pastor. It is the knowledge that we are all held together in God’s care and guidance that gives me courage. In faith, I entrust you into the goodness of God who will, indeed, bless us and keep us wherever our journey takes us. It is in the peace of Christ that I say thank you, and God be with you...
The congregation met in special meeting on Sunday, October 18th after worship. 20 voting members were gathered, just enough for a quorum.
We began with prayer. The first order of business was the approval of the Legacy Directive, followed by determining at which seminary we would set up our endowed scholarship. After some discussion, the Legacy Directive passed unanimously. More discussion followed regarding whether the scholarship would be set up at the ELCA seminary in Gettysburg or Philadelphia. After this, discussion, 9 members voted for Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, 8 against, and 2 abstained. (The President of Council is not eligible to vote, unless to break a tie.) With this decision, for years to come, a student at the seminary in Gettysburg will be the recipient on the “St. Peter’s Lutheran Church SCholarship.” This is indeed a blessed gift to the church.
A resolution was presented and passed unanimously to transfer the property and assets of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church to the New Jersey Synod for orderly disposition. They will maintain the building and keep up with our bills, along with administering the sale of the building. Once the building is sold, they will distribute those mission assets according to the Legacy Directive we approved. The congregation will be notified upon the completion of the legacy distribution.
Bill Shebey, reporting for the Building Sale Committee, announced that there is not yet a buyer for the building. With the Property Manager Manager of the New Jersey Synod, we are continuing to work with Pastor Joseph Nzeketha and are still hoping that something will work out. The congregation approved to allow the congregations who are now using our building to continue to do so after we close. Bill Shebey, Pat Klatt, Pia Grant, and Ken Troy agreed to be caretakers of the building after we leave.
The personnel committee presented, and severance packages for pastor and staff were approved. Following this, the various closing committees reported on their work and updated us on their actions. It was decided that the offering at our closing worship would be given to FISH Hospitality, in gratitude for their work in this community.
The meeting closed with Pastor Sara sharing a few remarks. Pat Klatt read a letter from Pastor Clark Olson-Smith, thanking St. Peter’s for the gifts which they will receive - the funeral pall, communion ware, outside bench, handbells, and choir music.
We concluded our meeting, as is the tradition of this community, by praying together the Lord’s Prayer.
In thanksgiving to God for the gifts of faith and hope through Jesus Christ; the members of St. Peter Lutheran Church at our congregational meeting on October 18, 2009, approved the following legacy directive. It is our decision of the ways that we will share the mission assets of this congregation. These gifts will be distributed after the necessary financial obligations following the sale of the building, including but not limited to: legal fees, severance packages to the pastor and staff, monies paid to the archives, repayment of loans as needed and/or any other necessary costs.
PART 1: SPECIAL GIFTS:
$300,000 will be directed to establish a named endowment restricted for the development of pastoral leaders in this church. This gift will be set up as a scholarship at Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg.
5% of all net proceeds from the sale and liquidation of the church property will be shared with ELCA World Hunger Appeal.
5% of all net proceeds from the sale and liquidation of the church property will be shared with Educacion Popular en Salud (EPES) through the ELCA Global Mission Partnership.
$12,500 will be directed into a Mission Partnership Grant supporting the development of the Nava Jeevan ministry. (This reflects a re-investment of the $25,000 EOCM Grant received by St. Peter’s.)
$12,500 will be directed into a Mission Partnership Grant supporting the Waterfront Mission Initiative in Jersey City. (This reflects a re-investment of the $25,000 EOCM Grant received by St. Peter’s.)
$15,000 will be shared with FISH Hospitality in response to human needs generated by poverty, hunger, and homelessness in the North Plainfield area.
$2.500 of mission assets will be shared with the North Plainfield Rescue Squad.
PART 2: After the above listed obligations have been addressed, the remaining resources will be distributed according to the following directives in a timely manner:
30% of the remaining mission assets will be shared with the New Jersey Synod to establish a restricted scholarship fund specifically for the education and training of church musicians.
50% of the remaining mission assets will be shared with the New Jersey Synod Fund for Mission to support congregations responding to demographic, cultural, or other transitions in ministry.
20% of the remaining mission assets will be shared with St. Stephen Lutheran Church in South Plainfield, New Jersey.
These gifts are an expression on thanksgiving and stewardship with the hope that the ministries of Jesus Christ will be strengthened and extended in the life of the Church.
A few Sundays ago, as I drove to Trinity Lutheran Church in Tenafly, for Pastor Beate Storck’s installation as pastor, tears streamed down my cheeks. I am a crier by nature, yet I kept wondering why I was weeping. As I thought about it, I realized it was because I was “going home” to Trinity where I had worshipped with my family; where I was confirmed with Pastor Gunnar Anderson way back in 1962; and where Art and I were married over 40 years ago.
My stomach felt queasy because I was unsure about what I would find. As I arrived, I noticed that the entrance to the church was different, the landscaping was different, and the whole feel of the church was different because of architectural changes. Very few faces in the congregation looked familiar. I wondered if people would be friendly and make me feel welcome. It turned out to be a wonderful service and fellowship afterwards. On the entire drive back to North Plainfield, I kept asking myself if it was harder to go home or start over.
During this past year we have all worked hard during the discernment process. The Congregation Council and Task Force spent many hours at meetings, always seeking the best solutions for our church. The congregation also asked questions and expressed concerns at our Town Hall Meetings and Congregational Meetings. Our Closing Committees worked extremely hard trying to tie up all the loose ends. Gail Konopada, our church secretary, and Mary Ann Schwarz, our director of music, worked so diligently and jumped any hurdle that came in their paths. We could always count on Pastor Sara’s gentle shepherding and her attempts to keep our spirits up in this incredibly sad time. My heartfelt thanks go out to all of you.
We tried to look at everything as objectively as possible. We tried to keep the emotions out of our decisions and seek out and do what God was calling us to do. And now we are at that emotional place where we didn’t want to be, and it is time to make a decision about our personal futures.
Starting over without the rest of our family will be difficult. Some members will be going to the same church, but we will not have the comfort level we had with our family at St. Peter’s. As we choose our new church homes, my hope is that each of us looks to God once again for guidance and trusts that he will continue to lead us. One of my favorite Bible verses is the one that is on Art’s memorial bench: “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” May it bring you comfort, too.
As we move on, remembering our past will help us. Many important ministries happened here. We have memorialized our church’s history by the gifts we have made to other churches. When our building is sold, our legacy will be distributed and many people will benefit. Important papers and plaques which tell our story will be stored in the Archives at Philadelphia Seminary. So St. Peter’s will live on...
When I ride by St. Peter’s after the building is sold, and the sign on the lawn has a different church’s name, I’m hoping that at some point, instead of wiping away tears, I will be able to smile because of all the wonderful memories that I have tucked in my heart. May God bless you always!
Our biggest thank you goes out to the various committees and all the work they have done over the past months:
The Archive Committee, chaired by Ken Troy, who has spent countless hours working on getting the archives together with the help of many, including his committee, Evelyn Troy, Elizabeth Ennis, Walter Blenderman, Tony Pasquarello, George Shebey, Leigh Rink, the Duo-Covin family, and many, many more.
Building Sale Committee, chaired by Bill Shebey with Pat Klatt and Pastor Sara, for your hours working toward the sale of the building.
Clean-Up Committee, chaired by Ken Troy, with Dottie and Dave Wilson, Gary and Gina Johnson, and Leigh Rink. You may not yet have done too much, but you will, and we are grateful.
Closing Celebration Committee, Pat Johnston and Linda Nietman, chairs, for coordinating our closing worship and the reception following. And thanks to all who will participate in the service, and those who will bring food for the reception.
Congregational Checklist Committee, co-chaired by Pia Grant and Oretha Duo-Covin, who have worked to put together, with the help of our secretary, Gail Konopada, everything that will be forwarded to the New Jersey Synod Office.
Legacy Committee, chaired by Linda Nietman, with Lynn Blenderman and Bill Shebey, along with those who attended the Legacy Workshop and subsequent meetings, and all who have given insight and helped shape our final legacy.
Personnel Committee, chaired by Oretha Duo-Covin, along with Pia Grant, Walter Blenderman, Elizabeth Ennis and Pat Klatt, who worked to make sure the staff of this congregation will be cared for beyond our closing.
Property Distribution Committee, chaired by Pat Shebey, with Pat Johnston, Barbara Henriksen, Ken Troy, and Ann Kircher, along with all who helped with cleaning our closets and rooms, and all who took and shared items from the tables, for your hours and hours of work, ensuring that the “stuff” of this congregation will be continued to be used for God’s work in the world.
The many hands and hearts, seen and unseen, that have enabled this place to serve, worship and gather.
Thanks to the Congregation Council for their leadership, wisdom and faithfulness.
Thanks also for this congregation and it’s almost 117 years of faithful ministry, and for each member, each a valuable part of this community. Thank you for all you are which has shaped our work for the Gospel
Thanks also to our most wonderful staff - Gail Konopada, our church secretary, and Mary Ann Schwarz, our director of music - for all they have done to support and enrich the ministry of St. Peter’s over these many years! We are so very grateful!
A Special Personal Thank You
Dear Pastor Sara, Council Members, and St. Peter’s Congregation,
I want to take this opportunity to let you all know how grateful I am to have had the privilege of serving as your Parish Secretary over these past 25 years. It has truly been a great blessing in my life. Thank you so much for all the kindnesses shown to me. I wish each and every one of you all the best. I will never forget you or St. Peter’s.
As I will no longer be pastor of this community, I will no longer be available for pastoral care for emergencies or otherwise. This includes hospital visits, emergency phone calls, as well as funerals, weddings and such. It is my prayer that you will find a new congregation to become part of and a new pastor whom whom to build a new relationship. I am grateful for the opportunity to have built the relationships we have over the past few years, and it is my prayer that you will develop new relationships with your new faith community, and I don’t want to get in the way of that. It may be possible for me to take part in any special service, but that would have to be arranged through your new pastor.
As the pastor of our designated receiving congregation, Pastor Clark Olson-Smith will be available for pastoral care and emergencies. He is available for those who decide to join St. Stephen as well as for those who need anything before they are able to find a new congregation in which to set down roots. His contact information is:
Pastor Clark Olson-Smith
St. Stephen Lutheran Church
3145 Park Avenue
South Plainfield, NJ 07080
After November 1st, the building will be transferred to the New Jersey Synod and they will be working to sell the building. There will be those of you who need to maintain access to the building to finish cleaning out the building, or for caretaking responsibilities. It would be best if those who will not need to enter the building for a specific purpose would return their keys on November 1st.
The two congregations who are currently using the building, Inglesia Wesleyana and World Compassion Outreach Ministries, will continue to worship in our space as they have been doing. Additionally, the county will use the building on November 3rd for voting. Any other use of the building, other than cleaning out and preparations for sale, will need to go through the New Jersey Synod.
The four people who have volunteered to be caretakers of the building are Bill Shebey, Pat Klatt, Pia Grant and Ken Troy. If you have questions or concerns, please be in contact with them. Other questions or concerns about the building can be directed to Tom Kull, the NJ Synod Property Manager and Treasurer, who can be reached at 609-213-2929.
Once the building is sold and the assets have been distributed as designated in our legacy directive, the congregation will be informed.
Stewardship/Giving
(Information provided by Pastor Sara)
Walter Blenderman, our Recording Secretary, will be sending out your giving reports after November 1st, with the complete recording of your offerings to St. Peter’s for 2009. As you join and connect with a new congregation, you can request a set of envelopes to use. For those who will be attending St. Stephen Lutheran Church, you may continue to use your St. Peter’s offering envelopes through the end of the 2009. They will have a list of whose envelope corresponds with which family, and will be able to record your giving as such. They will then give you a report for the remainder of 2009. Just remember that, although the envelope is from St. Peter’s, the checks will have to be written to the congregation where you are worshipping.
EPES
(Information provided by Pastor Sara)
For those who have already committed to giving to EPES this year, please make that donation by November 1st, at the latest. If you would like to give into the future, Evelyn Troy has envelopes which can be used to mail in your support directly to the ELCA Office of Global Mission. Just be sure to write in the memo line of the check, “EPES - Karen Anderson" and they will make sure it gets sent to her. Please talk to Evelyn Troy if you have any questions.
“The Lutheran”
(Information provided by Pastor Sara)
Everyone who now receives “The Lutheran” magazine will be sent the December issue through St. Peter’s “Every Home” Plan. If you wish to continue to receive “The Lutheran” without interruption, please call (800) 328-4648 in early November. (This phone number can be also be found in your magazine.) You can call to start up a subscription at any time after November, but issues will be missed.
Property Distribution Committee
(Update to be added to, or corrected, as appeared in the October 2009 “Friendly Messenger”)
Spruce Run Lutheran- File cabinet and some music, narthex furniture.
Advent Lutheran, Warren - Wise men and cross from Fellowship Hall.
Living Waters Lutheran, Flemington - Martin Luther picture, Christmas stable, etching (one of two from the upstairs Choir Room).
St. Luke Lutheran, Dunellan - folding chairs, file cabinet, etching (one of the two from the upstairs Choir Room), Delarobbia style Italian pottery wreath from the Nursery, small brass table cross and tablecloths (used Maundy Thursday for Fellowship Hall communion).
The Pottery Communion Set will be returned to Gary and Gina Johnson.
Still to be offered on the Synod web site: Candlesticks, candelabra, paraments, offering plates, and worship book stand.
Archives Committee
The Archives Committee, having just about completed all their work, have sealed and labeled 20 boxes to be picked up and delivered to the “Lutheran Archives Center” at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. This is the Northeast Regional Archives for the ELCA
Current records, such as membership lists and the last 7 years of financial records were sorted and boxed by Pastor Sara and Gail Konopada, our secretary, and prepared to be sent to the NJ Synod Office or to St. Stephen Lutheran, South Plainfield, our receiving congregation. Two pick-up trucks of recycling were delivered to the Fanwood Recycling Center.
All “in memory” plaques from the organ, steeple, narthex furniture, and nursery room door will be sent to the Philadelphia Archives. A brass plaque, commemorating the 6 men from this congregation that were killed in WWII, originally commemorated in the lower panel of one of our sanctuary stained glass windows, which will remain in place, will also be forwarded to Philadelphia. All of the forwarded plaques will be displayed on a wall at the Archives Center. Photographs of 13 of the 15 pastors (photographs of 2 of the very early ones could not be located) who served at St. Peter’s will also be forwarded, along with many Confirmation class pictures, and more current photographs from the 1980's to the present.
Thanks to the Archive Committee members (see the October “Friendly Messenger”), and especially George Shebey and Tony Pasquarello, for helping load and unload the pick-up truck. Many thanks to Gail Konopada, our church secretary, for cleaning out the files and sorting the good from the recycling and still getting the church bulletin and “Friendly Messenger” out, through the last several months of the committee’s activities. We wish Gail good health and much enjoyment of her grandchildren.
Evelyn and Ken Troy,
Co-Chairmen, Archives Committee
(We were invited by the Memories Committee to share our own special memories with the congregation during worship services held on Sunday, October 18th, and Sunday, October 25th, 2009. These were my words to the congregation.)
Thank you, Pastor Sara and members of the Memories Committee, for providing this special opportunity.
Between the year 1994, the year my mother died, and 2002, the year my father died, I saw a dramatic change in the funeral industry, or maybe it was just in the funeral home that I had chosen - both times the same one. What had been called a “viewing” in 1994 was suddenly a “life celebration,” in 2002. At first I was startled, taken aback by this new phrase, maybe even a bit uncomfortable with it, but I soon came to understand and appreciate what was being expressed. While we mourn, there is much comfort to be gained in recalling the best in the life that we have lost. Speaking of these precious moments with one another, sharing photographs and other special items, allows us to progress in the grieving process and move forward into new beginnings.
So, we, too, at St. Peter’s are participating in this “life celebration” as we recall those moments which shall always remain precious and special to us. Obviously, these moments will not be the same for all of us. These are a few of my own:
I remember beautiful, candle-lit, Christmas Eve services, and the smell of fresh cut evergreen trees as I came forward to receive communion. I remember Easter Sunday, the chancel bedecked with lilies, and the resounding echo of the closing hymn’s final words,”Christ is risen from the dead!” I remember sermons preached, and still preached to this very day, as only Lutheran pastors can preach them, always, always, “pulled through the cross.”
I have many other precious memories that will remain with me, too numerous, and not enough time to touch on here. But above and beyond those I have already mentioned, I remember those moments when we seemed to shine like a fine, sparkling jewel, when we really “got it,” what God’s mission is all about - those times when we were, to borrow the tag line of one of our Lutheran seminaries, “Of the Spirit and In the World,” those times when we were bold to reach out beyond the walls of St. Peter’s, to a world so desperate, and “hungering to hear the good news of Jesus Christ, proclaimed in word and deed.”
In particular, I remember the help given to resettle Southeast Asian refugee families, bewildered and frightened, falling into the loving embrace of a welcoming, compassionate people.
I remember thousands of canned goods and food items, collected, packed and transported by truck by our own members to the Carolina’s, devastated by Hurricane Hugo.
I remember the 26 years of steadfast, consistent support, both in offerings and prayers, for Karen Anderson, our Lutheran missionary nurse in Chile, who founded the EPES program to improve the health conditions of people, and women in particular, living in the shanty towns of Santiago. That work continues today, having grown and expanded in a multitude of directions.
I remember hundreds of quilts, over 12 years worth - cut, stuffed, stitched, and transported by our own members to Lutheran World Relief in Baltimore, Maryland, for distribution to such diverse corners of the world as Azerbaijan, India, Mauritania, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and Thailand, just to name a few. Heavier material, which could not be used for quilts, was cut and stitched into lap robes, to bring warmth and comfort to our veterans at nearby Lyons VA Medical Center.
I remember Vacation Church School, when, summer after summer, we reached out into the wider community surrounding us with the good news of Jesus Christ. We will never know how many young lives we touched, influenced, or changed though the dedicated efforts of both pastors and staff. I am sure there are many.
And, I especially remember the FISH Hospitality Program, hosted by this congregation for 15 years - the thousands upon thousands of meals prepared and served, both dinner and breakfast, the countless hours donated by St. Peter’s volunteers as evening hosts, overnight hosts, cooks, set-up crew, clean-up crew, transporters for both guests and belongings, and the many other support positions that a program of this magnitude demands. I must admit, we were sometimes nearly stretched to the point of breaking, but our homeless guests were never short changed, never lacking in God’s abundant love, showered upon them through the willing hearts and hands of this St. Peter’s congregation.
It is my hope, as we move on from this place, into our new beginnings, that we will all carry some of the seeds from these fruits of our labors here at St. Peter’s into other congregations, that these seeds will then be planted in those congregations, igniting them to boldly move beyond their own church walls, to “advocate for the least, the lost and the broken,” and “to proclaim in word and deed, to a world hungering to hear, the good news of Jesus Christ!”
Lynn K. Blenderman,
Evangelism Committee Co-Chair and Congregation Council Member, 1997-1999,
Congregation Council Vice President, 2000-2003,
St. Peter’s Web Site Co-Administrator, 1996-2009
