“For you shall go out with joy, and be led back in peace,
the mountains and hills before you shall burst forth into song,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall be to the Lord for a memorial,
for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”
---Isaiah
55:12-13
The pains had been there for a
week or so. As we often tend to do, I
debated whether this was truly important enough to warrant a trip to the
ER. Finally I asked myself, “Well, what
would you say to a parishioner who told you they were having chest pains.” So there I was in the ER and though they
found nothing alarming, they admitted they couldn’t be sure I was OK without an
overnight stay and a battery of tests.
After 24 hours, a stress test and an ultrasound, they found a minor
issue that I have to keep an eye on, but nothing of immediate concern. Then I got the bill for that 24 hour stay – and
almost had a heart attack…
So I’m
still an optimist, but an optimist with caution. God has an invisible timetable, and we
ultimately learn to order our lives by what comes from His hands. Together we have faced many twists and turns
of the road this year, after expecting a straight and steady course. We were ready to enjoy the straight road
ahead with new office staff in place and a new building to assist with our ministries. Instead we got another year adjusting with
the twists and turns in the highway. I
am thankful for the continuing patience and enthusiasm that has been shown as
we face each new circumstance, and for the wonderful generosity of a
congregation that loves to serve as Jesus served.
We
kicked off a Saturday worship service in January – the 5pm “godify”
service. Many people came to check it
out, with a few people becoming regulars.
Most of all, however, this service is meant to attract those outside our
present membership. Deacons and deacons
in training including Detlev Aeppel, Jim Turner, Rebecca Parker and Esthel Kane
are in the regular monthly rotation as speakers. The focus is on our spiritual
journeys, the setting is casual, and interaction between the speaker and
attendees is encouraged. The music
choice is a refreshing mix of contemporary Christian (and occasional secular)
songs, many of which I’ve heard for the first time at this service. The music flows smoothly between Bible
readings, prayers and the spoken message in a way that feels very welcoming and
worshipful.
I attend regularly, but only
lead once a month and preside at communion on the last Saturday each
month. It is a wonderful opportunity for
your pastor to have a place to come and worship, without having to be up front
and in charge. I really appreciate that,
and am very proud of the lay leadership.
Rebecca Parker has helped greatly in choosing music and leading the
singing, and has been sharing the vocal spotlight with Kristin Styles, Thaddeus
Kostialik, and sometimes youth members Giada Styles and Griffin Frost. Ian Frost has played along on bass, Cassidy
Kostialik often plays drums (and sometimes Tyler Hanks), and band leader Brian
Lindner often brings in other musicians as guests. It’s a dynamic group, and the music alone
makes this service worth checking out.
In September, the godify
services were the venue we used to explore ELCA social statements. We took a close look at the statements on
creation, abortion, human sexuality, and the death penalty. We had the best attendance yet for the
services, with many people showing up interested to hear where the church
stands on these particular social issues.
The godify services are still developing in format as we strive to reach
a new audience. It provides an alternate
worship time for members, but the main intention is to welcome
non-members. In an effort to provide a
Lutheran service for non-Lutherans, we have communion once a month and messages
that focus on Scripture and the spiritual journey rather than particular
concerns or traditions of the institutional church. Going forward, we will be trying to spark
more interest in the service through a format of monthly themes which we will
be publicizing ahead of time. December’s
theme is HOPE.
Speaking
of new worship services, plans are coming together for our Sunday family
service which we are calling the “Child of God” service. Thanks to Jan Gerle and the Christian
education team, we are making a bold move next year replacing Sunday school with
a worship-centered program of faith formation.
These plans have developed from conversations with families and
considerations of how to help parents be an active part of their child’s faith
development. The service is open to all
children of God (that includes you), but will be specifically designed to help
children, young adults, and their parents learn, celebrate, and practice their
faith in Jesus. Instead of lectionary
readings, the service will center on one Bible story. Instead of a “sermon” there will be an
interactive time of storytelling, sort of an extension of the children’s
moments we used to have at the 10am services.
To better accommodate families, the service will begin at 11:30pm and
last an hour. The last 15 minutes,
children will work on a craft while adults will stay for a short open
discussion on how to bring the story of the day into the rest of the week. We’ll discuss how to find the story in your
own Bible, share some questions to discuss with family members, and ways to
pray and serve based on that day’s lesson.
This year also saw our first
Beer and Hymns night at O’Brien’s pub.
We have been thinking about doing one of these for a couple years after
attending one put on by one of our Tampa conference congregations. Then, Su and I experienced Beer and Hymns at
a church festival we attended in North Carolina. The idea was simple – reach out to the
community by getting out of your church building and sharing some of the
treasures of our faith – the wonderful hymns we sing every Sunday…only don’t
sing them like we do on those sleepy mornings when we haven’t had our coffee
yet! Sing them with heart and joy and a
sense of fun.
When we approached the folks at
O’Brien’s, they loved the idea. Monday
nights are their slow nights, so they are delighted to have our business and
make a place for us at their establishment.
So far we’ve done two – one in August and another in October, before
Reformation Sunday. We are planning
another for December where we will be singing (naturally) Christmas carols.
A big
change for us and the whole synod was last year’s election of our new bishop,
Pedro Suarez. When I introduced myself
to Pedro on the morning of the second day of the assembly, congratulating him
on his new role as assistant to our interim bishop, who could have guessed that
two days later he would be our new bishop-elect? We attended his inspiring installation
service at St. Mark’s Catholic Church in New Tampa this January, where Esthel
served as crucifer and Nicholas Trejo carried the pulpit Bible. Bishop Suarez is the first Hispanic bishop
we’ve had in our Florida-Bahamas synod, and has moved up from Pompano Beach to
become a neighbor in Lutz. He first
joined us for our “God’s Work, Our Hands” worship and service project on September
9, for which he brought his wife, kids and grandkids along. His family has been worshiping with us
regularly since then, and Bishop Suarez himself showed up at our latest Beer
& Hymns night.
Atonement
is blessed to be the supportive home congregation for Esthel Kane as she
studies and works towards ordained ministry in the ELCA. Esthel’s program of ministry and theological
education was linked to her role as lay developer of our Hispanic mission, Todos Unidos en Cristo. However, this year we discovered that this
program, which was being funded through the national church’s mission budget,
was intended for people with considerable experience in parish leadership. Esthel had no such experience when she
entered the program, so the course of studies and training were not appropriate
for her level of development. We also
were not able to gather a stable base of people serving and being served as
part of the Hispanic mission. After
review of the situation by synod staff, they decided not to renew funding for
the mission, which will require that Esthel find an alternative route to
seminary and ordination. However, they
affirmed her desire to continue pursuing ordained ministry and finish her pastoral
training.
This
means that Esthel will be looking for an alternative way to finish her seminary
studies. She is committed to continuing,
and can still get help with the funding through scholarships, and of course we
will support her as we can at Atonement.
This also means that our Hispanic outreach here at Atonement will go
back to simply being our Hispanic outreach, and we will continue efforts to reach
our Spanish speaking neighbors and possibly begin a Lutheran service in
Spanish. Because of this situation, we
are discontinuing “seminarian Sunday” offerings until Esthel finds and is
accepted to a new program of studies.
What’s the best way to help Esthel in the meantime? Talk to her, encourage her, and most of all,
keep her in your prayers.
Our
building is another project which hasn’t gone as expected this year. After breaking ground last December believing
that we would be starting construction within a month or two, we have been in
an uphill climb ever since. We had heard
stories, some of them horror stories, about the slow progress others had made
in getting their permits approved by Pasco County. Knowing that ours was not a big money
project, we also realized that we were not a high priority for them. Still, we never thought our simple little
fellowship annex would take 10 months to get through the permitting. Our contractors kept tabs on the process,
with various changes to regulations requiring updated drafts of our plans, but
there was still little forward progress until the last month or so. Our contractors have also promised to keep to
our original price of $90/square foot for the project, although some less
expensive materials may have to be substituted where we can still maintain
quality. The biggest hurdle this has all
caused is simply not being able to use the extra space we were counting on this
year. The extra storage and meeting
space we thought we’d be able to offer various ministries in early 2018 will
have to wait until early 2019.
One
ministry that has been moving along nicely is our Stephen Ministry
program. We have four Stephen
Ministers - Kathy Alvare, Vanessa Frost,
Chris Rymer and Bill Slippy – working regularly with care receivers, as well as
Stephen Leaders Jan Buland and Chris Rymer working with me on training and
supervision. Detlev Aeppel, Kirstin
Westbrook and Laurie Chiaramonte are also currently in training and should be
ready to begin as Stephen Ministers in early 2019. Pamela Pientka, who is a licensed therapist,
is also helping provide continuing education and working as a consultant. As we expand the number of Stephen Ministers,
we are also considering opening up the ministry to serve care receivers who are
not Atonement members.
This
year we celebrated the life of Fred Agnir before his death, with a special
service on his and Ruby’s anniversary.
He exceeded all expectations by continuing to come to church and sing,
and even officiate at a wedding well into his battle with cancer. Many remarked at his positive demeanor and
even joy as he sang with the choir (and even solos), and continued worshiping
with us. I was his backup at the wedding
of Kim Arnold and Fabian Soto, but he gave me more of a part than he needed to
as we enjoyed an evening cruise in Tampa Bay on the Starship yacht as Kim and
Fabian tied the knot. When it came time
for Fred’s funeral, the service was of truly epic proportions, with moving
musical offerings from 2 choirs and personal tributes from family.
Ann
Davis will also be greatly missed by Atonement.
Her long history as the founder and backbone of our Social Ministry team
(with daughter Jean Jakes) helped create our partnerships with Christian Social
Services of Land O’Lakes and Resurrection House in Dade City. She and Jean began the regular baby showers
that Jean and our WELCA team are continuing for migrant worker mothers at
Resurrection House. She was also our
resident gardener, who could regularly be seen tending the flower beds out in
front of the church (before the portico was built).
Newly
budding ministries like the prayer garden, Bartell Memorial Garden and Carole
Hendry’s Creation ministry continue that dedication to keeping Atonement
beautiful and nature-friendly. The
Caring team will be looking at designing a walking trail around the perimeter
of our property, which can be used for exercise and/or enjoying the natural
beauty of our site. Carole Hendry’s
ministry will be bringing that natural beauty to areas around the church
through planting and caring for flowers and plants. Our first official worship service at the
outdoor sanctuary took place this last Easter Sunday at sunrise. Neighbors from the community joined us as we
sang, prayed and shared communion in that beautiful space. This fall, Alex Rivera chose beautifying the area
around the Sean Bartell memorial tree in the far front corner of our property
as his Eagle Scout project this year.
Take a moment and stop by, sit and reflect on the bench, remember Sean
and his family, and consider God’s gracious love that reaches beyond all
earthly life into life eternal.
Perhaps
the most significant advance this year has been hiring an Office Administrator
who will be with us working each weekday.
We have been getting by for years now with different people in charge of
the office each day, volunteers who were being coordinated by Kay Edwards (in a
position with minimal pay). They have
each brought their unique gifts into our office environment, but as we’ve grown
we saw the need for a more consistent presence.
We have also been looking for someone with the skills and know-how to
help manage a new updated website which Cara Chiaramonte has designed and we
are waiting to bring online.
To that
end, we hired Lynn McCurdy this April, but she soon informed us that family
issues were forcing her to find full-time work.
Now, after another round of resumes (156 this time!) and interviews, we
are pleased to introduce Marybeth Gandiosi to our Atonement family. She comes to us with years of office
administration experience, and as someone who ran her own business. She worked in Tampa for the Yacht Starship,
and in Las Vegas as a wedding photographer, coordinator, and officiant. If you are in the neighborhood during office
hours (Monday through Friday 10am-5pm), please stop in to meet Marybeth and
welcome her to Atonement.
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