Grace Notes

Dear faithful People of Christ the King Church:

My previous contribution to this email concluded with a prayer from Morning Prayer asking God to “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,” and describing the time we now have entered as “ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.” Except for knowing that there will be a joyous “ending” and we will all know it when we see it, the rest of that description and the request in that prayer are accurate and true. Our ministry together has now officially begun. In this edition of what we are now calling GRACE NOTES, I simply want to reaffirm my understanding of your priorities, at least for the beginning of this time together.

I am available for you. If you need pastoral care, please feel free to call me. In case of that kind of need, please make your first call. If I an not able to assist, I’ll steer you to someone who can do so. When there is a pastoral care need, there should be no confusion about who to call.

My cellphone number is in our new pictorial directory. If you don’t yet have one, please pick one up at the church. Because of possible misuse, these directories are not available electronically. The same is true for my unwise attempt (thank you, wise and caring staff) to post my telephone number on our bulletin, website, etc. There are far too many scams, frauds, and swindles occurring that use that kind of information harmfully. To that caution let me add: If you receive a call, text, or email asking for money purportedly from me or anyone on our staff, don’t respond except to report it to us so we can take appropriate preventive action.

Presiding and preaching, teaching and pastoral care are the primary concerns and expectations that have been shared with me over the past few weeks. With my colleagues at Christ the King Church, I will do my best to respond to those concerns.

There will inevitably be changes, but those changes will involve a process and, unless there is an emergency, that process will always include the relevant committee and/or the congregation council and whatever is decided will be clearly communicated to the congregation as much in advance as possible. Surprise is not our friend, especially right now.

These are my primary commitments to you. I ask one major commitment from you, the faithful people of Christ the King Church. Please communicate! If you have a concern or problem that needs addressing, please speak to a member of the council, staff, or to me directly and expect us to share your concern with one another.

We will make every effort to ensure accurate information comes from the church, especially in our electronic communications. Please read them! Communication is always at least a two-way street.

Finally, please be present to receive the gifts that God gives to us in the Word proclaimed and the Sacraments celebrated; please be present with our whole faith community as we worship together. Worship is, and has always been, the center of our life together because it revolves around Christ who is the Center of our life together. Choir members, worship enablers new, young, older, and experienced, altar guild members, staff and so many faithful people of Christ the King Church strive for excellence as we lead in worship. Expect excellence. Expect to meet Christ.

I look forward to serving you and serving God’s world with you. Most of all, I look forward to our being together as, nourished by the Holy Spirit, we meet and serve God with and through our Savior Jesus Christ.

Peace and Joy – and Courage

Pastor Mandy
Amandus J. Derr
Interim Senior Pastor