There is much to celebrate as the year 2003 comes to an end.
This is the first anniversary of the new building. It is amazing to think that we moved in on December 30 and 31 last year. In the last twelve months our congregation has adjusted to new spaces and new opportunities of ministry. The most dramatic changes have occurred in education, fellowship, and music.
One only has to observe that we have educational space to assign to each age grouping. Teachers have adequate space to arrange the rooms with ample bulletin board, writing surfaces, cabinets, and sinks. Take note that a greatly enhanced program has emerged on Wednesday evenings. Wednesday Nite Alive! is flourishing with Bible study, music explorers, choir rehearsals, and fellowship meals. "Godly Play" story time is available to all children. "Crossways!" Bible Study is available to all adults.
All this activity needs nutritional support. The Food Service Ministry Team with expert help from Gunther Klein has organized and now oversees the kitchen and produces nutritious meals on Wednesday evenings and other occasions. (We, of course, continue to offer pizza for the younger, more particular diners.) The new kitchen not only offers great opportunities for fellowship but big responsibility for cleanliness and organization. The fellowship does not stop in the kitchen but flows to a commodious parish hall where people enjoy food and each other's company.
Special gifts to the congregation allowed us to pour a new parking surface and re-do the approaches on Rice Boulevard. A new fence beautifully defines the courtyard and play areas while giving much needed security for our children. Benches now adorn the courtyard and cloister and transform the space to a much needed social area.
The new narthex has enhanced our worship life. Not only has it stabilized temperatures in the nave, but it has helped create a more worshipful atmosphere by creating a beautiful space for welcoming and hospitality. During the week the narthex serves as an intimate space for morning prayer.
We celebrated the new building at its dedication in May, and we celebrated a successful Capital Campaign to reduce indebtedness and to manage debt servicing as we prepare to grow. We will grow if attendance is any indicator. We have numerous visitors each week who continue to report how welcoming and attentive our congregation is.
We are also celebrating that after three years of a sluggish economy and large new expenses associated with the new building we have balanced our revenue and expenses not without some sacrifice. Staff salaries were rolled back to 2002 levels. Expenses were kept well below budget. But the most exciting part of this story is the extraordinary giving by numerous families. Extraordinary is the "word of the day." It is this kind of generosity combined with hospitality and congregational care that bodes well for the future.
The Congregational Care Team has expanded our work, knowledge, and skill in service and care. In one year we have commissioned twenty-seven persons as Community of Hope Lay Chaplains. These persons committed their lives to forty-two hours of training in ministry. They serve in various areas of our congregational ministry as well as in other areas beyond the congregation. We are reminded every week that there are those who are not able to assemble with us for the liturgy. Lay Eucharistic Ministers take the consecrated bread and wine of the Eucharistic to those members and their families.
There are challenges ahead: full-time campus ministry, full-time youth and family director, music leadership, parking solutions, new public signs, a new sound system in the nave,to name a few. We are up to the challenge in 2004.
I am celebrating all that is mentioned above in this, my tenth anniversary as pastor, and my fifth anniversary as senior pastor at Christ the King Lutheran Church. I am grateful to loyal members and loyal staff members who continue to strive for excellence in our ministry together. Thanks be to God.
Happy New Year!