he
year paperwork and reports. As I write this it is the
middle of January and I still have muchpaperwork to do.
I feel like I have been on the side of a ping pong table
watching an intense ping pong match. My head goes back
and forth, back and forth.
On
the one side I am thinking back to the year 2011. As I
look back in many ways it was a very interesting year.
We, as a congregation, made some difficult decisions in
terms of personnel here at the church. We went from four
paid people in the office to two. I was impressed with
the way we have transitioned from a larger staff to the
present staff. I was particularly grateful for the way
that the Joint Board decided to let the call process
work. It also warmed my heart to see several people step
forward to volunteer in the church office. It really
warmed my heart to know that we ended the year with
increased worship attendance for the year. This is the
first time we experienced an increase over the previous
year since 2002. I also was excited to learn that we
ended the year 2011 in the black financially for the
first time in several years. We still have a 2010
deficit but I am confident we can eliminate that deficit
soon in 2012.
The groundwork for meeting our budget was done when we
began to look at a realistic number of how many
communicant members we had. This was further helped when
we began to take pledging to the annual budget more
seriously. All of these things put us in a position to
meet our budget and as we continue to do these things it
will allow us to be able to do even more ministry in the
future.
As
I look ahead, I realize that we continue to be in
transition. I realize that there are perhaps some things
tat are “falling through the cracks” in terms of getting
things done. I realize that ministry at Lake Mills
Moravian may look different than it ever has in the
past. As we continue to navigate the waters of
transition and how ministry will look in the future we
have two guests coming in to help our Joint Board and
pastor. Brother Jim Hicks (President of the Western
District Executive Board) and Susan Nienaber (a
consultant from the Alban Institute) will be here to
meet with our Joint Board on February 3 and 4. Jim Hicks
will be here to observe, offer support and
encouragement, and learn. Susan will be here to observe
and to offer her expertise. I am happy to report, that
because of financial support from our district, Susan
will continue to work with our boards following the
Joint Board retreat.
So, like watching a ping pong match, I look back on a
year filled with many huge decisions and some wonderful
ministry; and I look forward to the year ahead with some
more decisions and, undoubtedly, more opportunities for
ministry. I find myself sometimes looking back and at
other times looking forward – back and forth, back and
forth.
Christ with you,
Pastor Bruce J. Nelson
