Wish You Were Here...

The following is an adapted letter that the pastor wrote to past members of First Christian Church over the summer.

To the former members First Christian Church:

Hello. My name is Dennis Sanders and since September of 2013 I’ve been the pastor at First Christian Church-St. Paul in Mahtomedi. Since I’m still fairly new, I wanted to take some time to contact past members of the congregation to share what’s been happening at church.

A small group of members have become leaders in the months since the previous pastor, John Johnson, left in June of 2013. While the numbers are small, God has done a great thing with these faithful members. It wasn’t easy for them at first; but little by little they stepped up and did what they could to help this congregation thrive. I am quite honored to be their pastor.

A number of changes have taken place over the last year. We are focusing on three areas: faith, fellowship and mission. When it comes to faith, we are trying new things to foster the growth of Christians young and old. We have a Children’s Sunday School that meets 15 minutes during the worship service. We don’t have kids every Sunday, but when we do, we have a teacher ready to teach the kids about God’s Story. On Wednesday nights we have and Adult Bible Study. We usually focus on the text I’m going to preach on the coming Sunday. I’ve seen these as very good studies where everyone (including me!) learns a little bit more.

In addition to our renewed emphasis on Christian Formation, our worship services have added live music; something that hasn’t been heard around here for a long time. God provided two gifted church musicians: pianist Luke Swanger and organist Chris Wogaman. I can see it on the people’s faces how much they appreciate hearing live music.

Fellowship is also being renewed with the relaunching of the Sunday potluck. Each 2nd Sunday, we gather for lunch. It is truly a time of fellowship as we connect with each other.

Fellowship isn’t something that takes place in the present; it also means honoring your past. As we were putting away Christmas decorations, we have uncovered a number of artifacts from the congregation’s past. We found a large pulpit Bible that was given to the church back in the 1950s. We also found a number of photos, cookbooks and directories from years past; especially when we were in St. Paul. A few people created a little historical display in the library that reminds us of the great cloud of witnesses that have come before us.

Mission is our final emphasis. A church isn’t a building; is a community gathered by God and sent out into the world to care for the least of these. We work at creating partnerships with various agencies in the St. Paul metro area. The relationship includes the Mahtomedi Area Foodshelf and Hope for the Journey Shelter, the only shelter for homeless families in Washington County. We are part of a five church coalition that takes a week to volunteer at the shelter. Each fourth Sunday we have a loose change offering that goes to a local non profits. Also after worship on the fourth Sunday we have been doing some hands-on mission such as making sandwiches for the Dignity Center in Minneapolis and welcome baskets for Karen refugees.

This summer, Luke our pianist, offered to hold a concert with a friend who was a violinist. The two held a wonderful concert at the church that brought over 60 people in the community out to hear great classical music on a warm summer evening. It became a fundraiser for Hope for the Journey Shelter. I believe it will the first of many events for the community to take place at First in the coming months and years.

There is a lot more I could tell you, like our joining with two other Disciples churches in the area to host a booth at the Twin Cities Gay Pride Festival. Or maybe the plans for a “Trunk or Treat” event on Halloween. Or even the long-range planning event that took place in mid-September. Or how the congregation offered support to a new visitor who was grieving the loss of an adult child. I could tell you a lot of things, but I only have so much time and space.

What I can tell you is that when most other congregations would have closed, this church wanted to be...church. While we haven’t grown much numerically in the last year, we have grown in profound ways, ways that aren’t so easily quantifiable. And most important, I can sense of the Spirit of God moving within this community.

If you have any questions or would just like to visit, feel free to give me a call.

I hope you will take the time to pray for us. First Christian has some challenges as it seeks to re-engage with the wider community. You prayers of support will remind us that God is with us as we continue to be a witness in the St. Paul Metro.

We would love to have you visit us and see for yourselves the wondrous work God is doing here at First Christian.

Thank you for your time. I hope to meet with you all sometime in the near future. May God bless us all in our faith journeys.

Godspeed.

Dennis Sanders, Pastor

This content was originally posted at the First Christian Church website.