CURATE’S CORNER 07/26/2026

When the Lutheran Church traditional culture is challenged for more modern ideas of what it means to be a Church, the idea of relationship between the pastor and members and what it means to be a member of a church can be shaken. A pastor's life can be impacted by his life being almost always in public, ministering to quite the variety of people with different backgrounds and personalities, and being on call essentially 24/7. Many older pastors today who are faithful to our practices and teachings and dedicated to the ministry - go to their next church slightly worn and some ways burned out from the challenges of the ministry and the desert of this life but move forward with great joy known in the Gospel, in Jesus Christ. Even from a worn pastor to keep up with the demands of the ministry, many congregations begin to grow spiritually and in numbers. Why? Because when a church centers on the Gospel, the relationship between the pastor and the members and among the members is not centered upon the people and their shortcomings or successes but the life won for us in Christ in the Gospel. It is easy for a pastor to center on the people in a congregation and not always center in the Gospel ministry with everyone in mind. When a pastor is serving all sorts of people it is easy to pigeonhole people, to avoid certain people, center on the popular and active people of the church, or center on things that make the ministry look good to the congregation. It is easy for the members of the church to think that church is simply hanging with their friends they know so well and creating cliques within the church and forgetting that the whole church is our extended family, both new members and old. When people are the center of the life of the Church rather than the Gospel, we can easily compare one another, compare pastors, see the church as simply a service organization and so on and forget that the mark of the church is not found in people, but rather in the marks of the hands and feet of our crucified Lord. Much like we have been hearing in the sermons on the parables, we might first think about ourselves when looking at the parables when we should be first looking at Christ to us in the parables. The life that establishes our relationship with one another in the Gospel of the crucified Christ. When this is the case, the pastor and members, no matter how imperfect we are, we are united in Christ, under His love, mercy and forgiveness. This year, our church has received quite a few new families and individuals into our congregation. Please take the opportunity to be aware of people around you and greet them. If you are unsure if they are new or an old member, still greet the people around you and ask how they are doing. Always remember that all our members are part of our extended family in Christ. Ephesians 2:19; Galatians 3:26-27, et al) Pastor Dreyer 

 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. Ephesians 2:19 

 26 For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. Galatians 3:26-27