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...(this message is from when he arrived to be our pastor.)
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Fair, Festival….and Faith

I’ve learned fairly quickly that folks here are justifiably proud of the Bloomsburg Fair. It’s part of who you are, part of what makes Bloomsburg Bloomsburg. I know that for a week out of the year, the character of the town changes with the influx of visitors and the energy all that entails.

It was something like that around this time of year in the congregation I served in Adams County, as the National Apple Harvest Festival took place the first two weekends in October. It is the signature event for that area---it is another way the people know who they are and what they are about.

I should say up front: I’m jealous. I’m jealous that the church often isn’t able to harness the energy and pride and identity that fairs and festivals engender. I find myself wishing we could capture some of that enthusiasm within the congregation.

But the life of faith isn’t always about momentous deeds. Faith is very often lived out on quiet concern for others, and in the day-to-day building up of the congregation in worship and study and prayer. Our gatherings aren’t always earth-shaking---or even mildly entertaining---but we have a purpose: we get together to love God, and serve our neighbor; that’s who we are.

The fair will be history by the time you read this, but I hope the energy and pride it produces in the community will linger a little bit, so that we at St. Matthew might tap into it, and use it to help our own sense of who we are as servants of the Lord.

It’s an exciting time to be the church; to borrow from the title of a book from past Presiding Bishop H. George Anderson, it’s A Good Time to Be the Church. Ruth and I are so looking forward to being with you, getting to know you, settling in for what we hope will be a long haul.

We’re only asked to be faithful. We know God will supply all we need, and that we will find the way together. The newest leg on our journey as the people of God begins now. Fasten your seat belts.

A pilgrim with you on the way,

Pastor Joel

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...(this next message is from when he accepted our call.)
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Love One Another As I Have Loved You . . .

Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,

As I write this, the time is somewhat bittersweet. The excitement of this past weekend, when you called me to become your pastor, is still present. Ruth and I look forward with much anticipation to the beginning of ministry in your midst.

Of course, we realized even the day of the vote that it signaled a new turn in our lives, and as much as we look forward to coming to St. Matthew, it means saying goodbye to our friends at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Lanse.

So, as I write this, we’re knee deep in saying goodbye. And it’s been hard.

It’s hard because we have grown to love one another at Holy Trinity. That doesn’t mean we always agree, doesn’t mean we don’t fight, doesn’t mean people don’t walk away from the congregation. What it means is that those of who are here, are determined to live together in love. We care for one another, we take the time to get to know one another. We have no choice; Jesus commands us to do so. If we are to be faithful to the one we call Lord, we will commit our energies to love.

In these last months, I have felt God calling me forward to a new place, and in trying to discern that call, I seem to have ended up in Bloomsburg. I have been led to you.

And so now I say to you that Ruth and I look forward to coming, and to making new friends, and that I commit to loving you. I expect we’ll disagree, that you’ll question some things I do, and that we’ll struggle at times to see what is lovable in the other.

But I know that first of all we have been loved in Christ, and that joined to him in baptism, we are made to love and serve God and our neighbor. I’m mindful of being another in a long line of pastors at St. Matthew. The rich heritage you and your forebears have established will go on, as we are faithful. What an adventure!

If things come together as planned, our adventure together begins October 1. Until that time and always, may God keep us in love.

A fellow servant,

Pastor Joel Zeiders