CURATE’S CORNER 07/19/2026

As our church family has grown significantly this year — welcoming new individuals and families, holding (5+) catechism classes each week, and meeting the increasing pastoral needs of all ages — it is important to remind ourselves what it means to be part of the extended family at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church. I use the term 'extended family' because we go to church not just for our longtime friends, but because we have a responsibility to care for our new members as well. We are to be an example of what it means to live under the Gospel — that life we have in Christ in an increasingly complex and challenging society. In the early days of the Lutheran Church in the United States, when a congregation grew too large — reaching about 500 members — they would divide and form another church. This was done to ensure a responsible pastoral ministry, allowing the pastor and the congregation to build family-like relationships with one another. With the growing movement in the United States treating the church as a collection of individuals and programs based on personal preference — where we hop from church to church to suit our desires — there is a growing loss of the church as a family. We are losing a certain dedication and accountability to one another as a congregational family. While writing this article, I noticed my paper planner had a quote at the top of the page that seemed to apply to this article. It says, "The easiest kind of relationship for me is with ten thousand people. The hardest is with one." Joan Baez. While we use media to communicate with many people — such as through emails and Facebook — we can easily lose personal dialogue, conversation, and relationships, especially within the life of a church family. While media is helpful, it cannot replace personal interactions with one another, our fellow congregation members, and your pastor. This point is a biblical one. When the Bible says, "Love your neighbor," it means the person who is “physically” next to you. When we rely simply on forms of media for our communication, we can quickly lose, or even fail to build, the genuine, in-person relationships in Christ that the Bible talks about. As God continues to bless the growth of our church this year, let us move forward by nurturing the genuine, organic relationships we have in Christ here at Our Redeemer, as our extended family. Pastor Dreyer