Bypass. Transplant. New Heart.
 
Ezekiel 36:26 “A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you.”
 
When I think of the number of men and women I have ministered to with heart conditions, my mind is boggled. Mostly by the fact that their bypasses, transplants, pacemakers and angioplasties were successful and bought them years of life after the procedure. Modern cardiology is a gift of God.
 
But new hearts aren’t free. They come at a price. And not just the financial cost of surgery. Before surgery, bad hearts can wear a body down—making the patient gasp for air, slow her gate, or curtail her activity altogether.  Every part of the body that the heart feeds blood is deprived. When the heart is dying, the whole person suffers.
 
After surgery, the patient may wonder what he has subjected himself to. Whether the supposed benefits he will see are worth the pain of the incisions, the shortness of breath, and the labor of walking the halls of the hospital.  And that’s just two days after the procedure. Then comes the rehab, with physical and occupational therapy, the exercise regime and the heart-healthy diet.  New hearts are an investment. An investment in life.  An investment in a future.
 
So when we hear Ezekiel declare God’s intent: “A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you,” we can be sure that God has no illusions about the work he proposes. God knows that when his people need a new heart, they have been taking the old heart for granted. Abusing it, misusing it, testing its limits, or skipping the medication that might help. God knows that the patient he is performing the procedure on is worn down, discouraged, fatigued by life. And God chooses to give the new heart despite the patient’s past.
 
But once that new heart is transplanted, oh the wonders it performs. A new heart creates the opportunity for a man to have years of loving his family, working to support them, serving others’ needs. A bypass makes the difference between a sedentary life, and a fulfilling, purposeful existence. Ask Marshia, or John, or any number of other Calvary folks, if you need proof.

So why use this language to talk about Stewardship? Well, perhaps we should first reiterate the meaning of the word stewardship: “Stewardship is everything we do after we say, ‘I believe.’”  If we try do the stuff of faith without a new heart, we are like the heart patient living on borrowed time: We are short of breath, and taxed for energy. (Maybe that’s why Ezekiel uses the words “heart” and “spirit” almost interchangeably—because the heart actually allows the body to be “in-spired,” oxygenated, and able to function.) But, with a new heart, the future is open. Not unencumbered, but healthy, and available.
 
That is what happens with us as the church at Calvary. God puts a new heart within us—to do ministry and to support that ministry with our money. God’s heart procedure (giving us a heart for Christ, and so also for the world), means that, as individuals and as a community, we have a healthy, open, and available future.
 
In this new stewardship season, may our hearts beat in rhythm with Christ.
 
Pastor Lori Cornell 

The season has changed.  Fall has come.  There was a specific day that I could feel it.  It was like a brick wall of cold air suddenly hit me as I walked outside one morning.  Just a week before, it had been one of the hottest days in summer; and now it has turned the corner.  That’s not to say that summer hasn’t tried to push its way back in.  We’ve had spurts of warm days here and there.  It’s clear, though, that the turnover of seasons has started. 
 
And I am not sad about this one bit.  Fall is my favorite time of year and there is so much to look forward to.  Kids have started a new year.  Football season is in full swing.  And the holidays give you permission to eat things that would be inappropriate at any other time of the year.  It’s weird to eat bags full of candy in the spring, but during Halloween that’s par for the course.  During the summer it’s hard to convince yourself that drinking a thousand calories of Pumpkin Spiced Latte is okay.  But during fall, nothing tastes better on a cold day than that sweet syrup-laced drink.  Don’t even get me started on pumpkin pies, turkey, mashed potatoes, endless baskets of rolls, and homemade gravy to cover it all.  (Except for the pies.  No gravy on the pies, please.) I also can’t forget about Christmas music.  Starting November 1st, Christmas music will be played up until the actual day. 
 
Now I might be getting ahead of myself.  It’s only the beginning of October.  But, mark my words, it will come quickly.  Many people know this all too well.  The craziness of present shopping and food making is just around the corner.  It can make it a busy time of year.  If we let it.  But the real reason I love fall is because it’s a time when we gather with friends and family members.  I love my family and I cherish those times together.  From my immediate family to my 15 (and growing) cousins.  Fall means that there will be numerous times when we gather to celebrate and enjoy one another. 

For many though, the season change can be hard.  Holidays may not be what they used to be.  Family relationships can be complicated and messy, making coming together more challenging than joyful.  The cold months can take a toll.  They can become more depressing than uplifting.  But maybe it’s also an opportunity for us to change the lives of those who do feel alone.  An invitation over for dinner.  A random coffee for a co-worker.  An unexpected visit.  A card in the mail.  Little things to show that you care and are thinking of them. 
 
Holiday preparations can overtake the joy of the season.  But let’s focus on the people,instead of the busyness.  The relationships that bring us together in the first place.  For its people who actually matter.  Meals end.  Presents will be unwrapped and forgotten.  But people and relationships continue.  Those relationships will sustain us through the winter and blossom in the spring.  God cares deeply about each and every person and so should we.  People are the reason for the season. 
 
Now I will save my Christmas speech until closer to December, but it’s never too early to start making the holiday seasons about relationships and not just stuff.  We can be warmth to someone else in need during a time that can be cold and lonely. 
 
Serving Christ with you,
 
 
 
 
 
Intern Pastor Jake Schumacher
 
 
 
 
 

“Let no one despise your youth, but set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.”   1 Tim. 4:12

These are the Apostle Paul’s words of advice to Timothy as he “flies solo” in ministry while Paul is away. “Until I arrive give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhorting, to teaching” (v. 13), he continues.
 
These are the words of an older pastor to a pastor in training—we might call Timothy an “intern.”  They are wise words of encouragement. Words that acknowledge that Timothy is a novice. Words that I could well share with our new Intern, Jake—whom I’m sure is very aware of the freshness of his calling.
 
I lift up this exchange between Paul and Timothy to remind us all about the calling we have corporately accepted in receiving an Intern. And while we are now in our second year doing this ministry, we, like Timothy, are just learning. We are a teaching congregation, who is accompanying our Interns on a journey of self-discovery, spiritual growth, and nurture. And we not only have much that we can continue to learn about hosting an Intern, we have much to learn from Jake. Because age doesn’t bring wisdom, the Spirit does.

But while Jake comes to us relatively inexperienced, he brings with him gifts, a temperament, and instruction that will shape our life together. He also brings a relationship with his wife, Mandy, that will inform his ministry and our life together. We will be called in the next months to listen for and encourage Mandy’s gifts as well as Jake’s. Jake and Mandy will, for the next 12 months, pray and worship with us, they will sit at the table with us to laugh and perhaps cry, they will listen and speak. May we soak up the rich treasure that they are giving us by entrusting themselves to us.
 
Jake will be given some pretty clear expectations about what he needs to accomplish over his year with us: Luther Seminary and ELCA Church-wide put the Internship Team and I to the task of helping Jake to develop the gifts he has, to build skills in areas where he lacks expertise, and to effectively manage the tasks of ordained ministry. Quarterly we are expected to provide electronic evaluations about his effectiveness to the Seminary.
 
The Internship Team and I are not the onlyCalvary members involved in the process of equipping Jake for ministry however. Each of you who attend worship, participate in Forum, bring your children to church, engage in Bible studies or other ministries of the church, have an opportunity to encourage and shape Jake’s ministry for the better. So, to conclude this article, I want to list a handful of ways you can support Jake this year:
 
Invite Jake and Mandy to dinner soon at your home or, if you don’t want to scrub the toilet, take Jake out for lunch. The Intern needs to be welcomed by you personally. More important, he needs to hear your faith story, and know who he’s preaching to, ministering with, and caring for. 
 
Fill out a Sermon Feedback sheet—more than once—when he preaches. Each time Jake preaches he needs feedback from the congregation about how he’s doing (does he makes sense, is his delivery effective, is his theology sound). Sure, he will get feedback from me, but he needs to hear from you. When an Internship Team member approaches you on any given Sunday and asks you to write down your impressions, please say ‘Yes,’ and then return the sheet to that same person that day. (Incomplete sentences are welcomed, but relatively coherent thoughts will be appreciated.)
 
Say Yes when Jake asks to come visit you. Making cold calls to unfamiliar new people is totally intimidating—even for the most outgoing Intern. Say ‘Yes’ to Jake dropping by.
 
Stop by Jake’s Office to introduce yourself and talk. Approach him after worship and chat. Remind him of your name when you are finished talking. (He has 160 names to memorize and you only have his name to memorize.)
 
Invite Jake to join your ministry group for a meeting or social time. Your Intern needs to know what you are up to, how you use your gifts and skills to further the mission of the church. And, hey, it’s just fun to hang with you. You’re interesting people.
 
Ask Jake to visit you at your workplace. If you can swing it, and your boss is cool with it, let him see what you do when you’re not at Church. Your workplace is where you live out Christ’s love in the world. What a great opportunity for Jake to experience that.
 
Respond gently. If you can’t hear Jake when he prays, if he makes a statement that you don’t understand or somehow offends you, let him know. But be gentle and good-humored. He wants to learn from you; and that will be a lot easier if his defenses aren’t up because you were less than kind.
 
So you see, we all have marching orders for the next 12 months. We’re not quite novices, having accompanied Carrie through her internship this past year. But we’re also wise enough to know that we can always learn something new about this Internship Process with each new Intern who is entrusted to us.
 
Serving Christ with you,
 
 
 
Pastor Lori 

“When I remember you in my prayers, I always thank my God because I hear of your love for all the saints and your faith toward the Lord Jesus. I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective when you perceive all the good that we may do for Christ. I have indeed received much joy and encouragement from your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, my brother.”    —Philemon 1:4-7
 
It is so strange to think that this is the last Caller article I will write. This year has gone by very quickly, and I find it hard to believe I have only a few weeks left as your intern.
 
As I sit here and reflect back on last fall and remember who I was then, I realize the ways that I have grown and changed. Through this experience, I have found my strengths and understood my weaknesses. I have learned more about who I am and what kind of pastor I will be. 
 
And so I thought of all of you when I read these verses from Paul’s letter to Philemon. I am so thankful for all of you.
Thank you for welcoming me into this community.  It was even more important, considering I had no friends or family around to support me. Thank you for the kind words, for the hugs, and for the encouragement. Thank you for your honesty. Thank you for listening to sermons, for visiting me at coffee shops, and for allowing me into your homes and your lives. Thank you for accepting me when I made mistakes, for being gracious as I learned and grew, and for celebrating my victories along with me.
 
This last year has been challenging and difficult, surprising, wonderful, and helpful. It has been so delightful to get to know all of you and being able to actually work in ministry, rather than only study it.
 
My last Sunday on August 21st. If you are wondering what is next for me, I will be returning home to Minnesota, where  I will spend time with friends and family.  In October, I have my final interview with my home synod, and then from there, I will start looking for calls.
 
I will miss you all and this place so much as I return home to Minnesota, but I can’t help but be excited for the year the next intern will have because I know it will be one filled with grace and kindness, as you all are.
 
As I leave, I wish you all the best. May you continue to be a great community in which future interns can grow and learn, and may you continue to love and support these new leaders as they begin their ministries.
 
Be well, 
 

Carrie  

Paul writes: By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, competing against one another, envying one another.        Galatians 5:22-25

My Mom was raised in the Southern Baptist Church here in Washington—a denomination deeply rooted in the Bible Belt, that has shaped the Christian landscape of the South for decades. She left that denomination, with relief, when she was a teenager, after being invited by a friend to join other teens at a local LutherLeague (youth group). In the Lutheran Church she began to hear about a gracious God, and she liked the God she met there. No doubt the kindness of her Lutheran friends made that transition even more attractive.

Mom’s decision to leave the SBC was confirmed for her in midlife, when her own mother—newly widowed—decided to return to church after my grandfather died. (My Granddad had been ill, so my grandmother had faded from weekly worship, while taking care of him.) When she returned to church, the elders of her local congregation questioned her fitness for membership, and pressed her to name the precise date on which she had been “saved.” My grandma was looking for welcome; instead she got scrutiny. My mother introduced her to our local congregation.
This past month the Southern Baptist Convention (at their national assembly), declared that the Confederate flag is a symbol of hatred and should not be flown in public spaces. And this past week a leader in the SBC declared that “soul freedom” was so integral to human dignity that Christians should not seek to restrict the rights of Muslim citizens to practice their faith.

This is mind-blowing stuff.  A denomination known for its fundamentalist views, and prescriptive faith, is defending the rights of people of color and of different faith traditions.  The church’s words are prophetic.

I don’t think it’s an accident that we are hearing these surprising public declarations by the SBC in 2016. We live in a country and world that is feeling pretty unkind. The presumptive GOP presidential candidate wants to restrict Muslims from living in or emigrating to the U.S.  The U.K. has voted to leave the European Union, and some Brits have taken this (marginal) vote as permission to express their racial and ethnic hatred. Isolationism abounds. (We humans want to feel safe, so we push away those we don’t understand or know or look like.)

But notice what the notoriously closed Southern Baptist Convention is doing: Opening up. Becoming vulnerable. Practicing being the neighbor (like the Good Samaritan). They are risking reaching out to those who are not like them. Or, to use Paul’s words, they are living by the Spirit.

In Galatians 5 Paul calls the Church not to live by fear or self-interest, but to live open-hearted with “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” It’s what I am amazed and overjoyed to see in these two actions of the Southern Baptist Church.

That open-heartedness--in us, at Calvary, in Federal Way, for the sake of the stranger—is also what will make the world a less hostile and more welcoming place.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Hate doesn’t drive out hate. Love drives out hate.”  So Jesus calls us to show our faith by bearing the fruit of the Spirit. And so I urge you, who are loved by Christ, to be a “little Christ” in our community: Love, be joyful-patient-kind-generous-faithful-gentle, and practice self-control. And in you, in us—Jesus’ people here at Calvary—the people of Federal Way (Muslim, homeless, atheistic, skeptical, gay, black, brown, and gray) will see the Spirit’s fruitfulness.

Your sister in faith,

Pastor Lori