Looking for a Location: Part 2

On Monday we looked at three more spaces in North Liberty.  First up was some new construction on the south side of W Penn between Hwy 965 and I-380:

Next up was a building a little bit older on the east side of Hwy 965 toward the south end of town:

Last we saw a space at the Beaver Kreek plaza on the east side of town at the corner of Zeller and Dubuque:

We now have six places up for consideration.  Our realtor tells us we've seen the full range of prices in North Liberty and all the places currently available that meet our specifications.  We're now weighing pros and cons of each location and an architect is working on a few sketches of what we might do with some of the spaces.  Continue to pray as we are now 102 days from our anticipated launch.

In Christ

Pastor Andrew Richard

St. Silas Lutheran Church
www.stsilaslutheran.org
www.facebook.com/stsilaslutheran
stsilaslutheran@gmail.com

Joint Reformation Service at St. Paul, Williamsburg

On Sunday I was at a joint Reformation Service of the Williamsburg Circuit at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Willaimsburg.  Rev. Carl Cloeter served as liturgist, Rev. Andrew Gray served as lector, and I served as preacher.  The offering from the service went toward supporting St. Silas. 

Thank you all for having me to preach and for supporting St. Silas.

In Christ

Pastor Andrew Richard

St. Silas Lutheran Church
www.stsilaslutheran.org
www.facebook.com/stsilaslutheran
stsilaslutheran@gmail.com

Visit to Trinity in Lowden

Yesterday I was at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lowden, IA for a Mission Festival.  Rev. Vic Young is the pastor there and was also gracious enough to preach at my ordination in July.  President of Iowa District East Rev. Brian Saunders was the guest preacher at Sunday's service.  I was the lector and then I presented on St. Silas during Bible class after service.  A door offering was collected to benefit St. Silas.

Thank you for welcoming me, Renae and Alexi, and my father, mother, and grandmother.  Thank you also for your gift to the capital campaign.  I had said in my presentation that the campaign currently stands at $85,000.  I was later told that it is now at $100,000, meaning one sixth of the total was raised in just three and a half months.  Hopefully we will shoot well beyond the $600,000 mark and have funds ready and waiting for the next church plant in Iowa District East.

Remember me in your prayers.

In Christ

Pastor Andrew Richard

St. Silas Lutheran Church
www.stsilaslutheran.org
www.facebook.com/stsilaslutheran
stsilaslutheran@gmail.com

LWML Fall Zone Rally in Muscatine

On Saturday I was in Muscatine for the Mt. Pleasant Zone LWML Fall Rally.  This was the first thing I had on my calendar after receiving my call, even before moving to North Liberty.  The ladies were very gracious and hospitable.  Rev. Pautz led a devotion and Bible study on the theme "The Lord is my Light and my Salvation" from Psalm 27.  I then presented on St. Silas.  During the course of the meeting there was also an offering collected for St. Silas.  After the meeting lunch was served: salads, rolls, chicken soup, and apple pie.  And it was really good apple pie.

Thank you, ladies, for inviting me to come share about Christ's work in North Liberty planting St. Silas.  I enjoyed being with you and I appreciate your good questions and the generous offering you collected.

In Christ

Pastor Andrew Richard

St. Silas Lutheran Church
www.stsilaslutheran.org
www.facebook.com/stsilaslutheran
stsilaslutheran@gmail.com

Looking for a Location: Part 1

On Thursday October 18th we began the process of looking for space in North Liberty.  We saw four storefronts in Penn Landing, a plaza at the northeast corner of Hwy 965 and Penn St.  Hwy 965 is the main north-south street running straight through the middle of North Liberty, extending south to the mall in Coralville and north to Cedar Rapids.  Penn St. is the main east-west drag, having entrance and exit ramps for I-380 on the west side of town.  Because so many people are commuting from North Liberty to Iowa City and Cedar Rapids, I-380 gets quite a bit of traffic.  From the intersection of Hwy 965 west along Penn to I-380 there are all sorts of new developments being built.  The intersection of Hwy 965 and I-380 is the most developed so far, is arguably the main intersection of the city, and has open storefronts, so we started there.  Here is a link to a map of the plaza in North Liberty: http://bit.ly/pachapkwy.

The first picture is of one of the storefronts, the second picture is of the inside.  Were we to go with this particular space the owner would remove the pile of things on the right, finish dry-walling, and have it primed and ready to paint.

Many church plants begin in a school, a community center, or another place with a large room, like a meeting room in a restaurant or a fitness facility.  We had several reasons for wanting a permanent space that would be ours throughout the week.  It is important that members of the congregation are able to point to a place and say "Christ is there for me."  So the altar, baptismal font, and pulpit remain stationary.  As Lutherans we believe that when Christ is present with us he is always present bodily.  Jesus is never present merely in a spiritual way as he was before his incarnation.  But ever since the incarnation Jesus has been God in flesh.  It is somewhat troubling to think that one day Jesus is present in the flesh in a place and the next day in that same place there is a woman laying there in a tank top sweating, doing crunches, and listening to profane music.  So having a place that is set apart seems important.  Having a permanent altar also provides the opportunity for people to come for individual confession and absolution, provides a place for people to come and pray, and provides a place to have Bible studies during the course of the week, all things that would not be available if we only had a space for a couple hours on Sunday morning.  Plus practically speaking it will save people the trouble of having to set up and tear down every Sunday.

While we have not yet picked a specific place, we know what we're looking for and we're moving in a good direction.  The next big step is still getting more founding families.  Once we have a few more we can begin meeting.

In Christ

Pastor Andrew Richard

St. Silas Lutheran Church
www.stsilaslutheran.org
www.facebook.com/stsilaslutheran
stsilaslutheran@gmail.com

Visit to St. John Lutheran Church in Clinton

This morning I was at St. John Lutheran Church in Clinton, IA.  I preached at both services and presented on St. Silas during Bible class in between.  Here more than anywhere else I had people telling me they know people in North Liberty and are going to find contact info to send my way.  Also of particular note, the following prayer was said during the prayer of the Church:

Glorious Father, we pray for St. Silas Lutheran Church and the community of North Liberty, that with faithfulness and truth Pastor Richard may preach Your Word and rightly administer Your Sacraments.  Bless, protect, and provide for this new congregation that they may serve You and abide in the faithful confession of Christ crucified and risen for our justification.  Lord, in Your mercy,

And then an entire congregation said, "Hear our prayer."  The devil's going to be hurting from that one for a while!

Adam Barkley and Deaconess Sarah Barkley were kind enough to host us Saturday evening so we didn't have to make the early drive on Sunday morning to arrive for the 7:45am service.  Thanks for having us!

And thank you all for welcoming my family and me and for your support of St. Silas.  Continue to pray for me, St. Silas, and the community of North Liberty.  If you do have North Liberty contacts, you can e-mail them to me at stsilaslutheran@gmail.com, and please also make sure to let the person know you're passing along their info.  Phone numbers and e-mail addresses work best for making contact, but addresses work as well.  Thank you again!

In Christ

Pastor Andrew Richard

St. Silas Lutheran Church
www.stsilaslutheran.org
www.facebook.com/stsilaslutheran
stsilaslutheran@gmail.com

Pancake Supper at Immanuel in Fairfield

Sunday evening I ate blueberry pancakes, sausages, and hashbrowns with Pastor Brase and the saints at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Fairfield.  They have an annual pancake supper and then invite a mission speaker to present after everyone has had their fill of breakfast deliciousness.  Of interesting note, the men prepared all the food and it was fantastic.  I also had the unforeseen chance to meet the grandmother of Pastor Caleb Schewe, a classmate of mine from seminary who now serves two congregations in South Dakota.  It turns out Immanuel is his home church.  And in another felicitous turn of events I ran into a young man and a young woman I met at camp Io-Dis-E-Ca when I filled in as Pastor of the Week on July 26th and 27th.

Thank you for inviting me to come partake of your pancake supper.  I'm a big fan of having breakfast in the evening, and you men did a great job of preparing everything.  Thank you also for giving me the chance to present on St. Silas.  Please continue to remember me in your prayers.

In Christ

Pastor Andrew Richard

St. Silas Lutheran Church
www.stsilaslutheran.org
www.facebook.com/stsilaslutheran
stsilaslutheran@gmail.com

Visit to Concordia, Cedar Rapids

First, a warm welcome to Walter, whom Jesus himself baptized on Sunday morning and added to his Church.  "Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me" (Mark 9:37).

Sunday morning I was at Concordia Lutheran Church in Cedar Rapids with Pastor Brad Brown and the saints Christ has gathered there.  I preached at the two services and presented on St. Silas during the Bible class time in between.  I also had the chance to meet Harlan Ketelsen, a man who for years has been making small wooden crosses to give to people.  These little crosses have been distributed all over the world.  Pastor Brown was sharing some stories.  One time a woman from Russia was here in the States and someone gave her one of the wooden crosses.  She looked at it and then pulled one out of her pocket that was the same.  When asked where she had already gotten one, she said some missionaries came through her town in Russia some twenty years prior and had the crosses with them.  That corresponded to about the time Harlan made a bunch of crosses for the missionaries to take with them.  There were a number of these sorts of stories.  The crosses are about 1.5" x 3" and made of two pieces of walnut.  Harlan gave me 300 of them in a coffee can for use in North Liberty, along with a couple of pectoral crosses, a cross on a stand for my desk, a wall cross, and a palm cross.  Of special note, Harlan and his wife will be celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary this coming week.

Thank you for welcoming my family and me.  I was glad for the opportunity to meet my neighbors to the north, to preach God's Word, and to share with you about St. Silas.  The sermon manuscript can be found here: "So Easy a Child Can Do It."  Continue to remember me in your prayers.

In Christ

Pastor Andrew Richard

St. Silas Lutheran Church
www.stsilaslutheran.org
www.facebook.com/stsilaslutheran
stsilaslutheran@gmail.com

Make a Difference Event in North Liberty

On October 6th seven churches in North Liberty gathered for an event called "Make a Difference," St. Silas Lutheran numbered among them.  I was part of the planning meeting when the various churches had representatives come together to discuss logistics.  This event has been happening for several years now, I'm not sure the exact number.  Prior to this event forming some of the area churches were individually collecting needs in the community and sending people out from the congregation to help meet those needs.  A few years back some of the churches said, "Hey, why don't we do this together?"  And so "Make a Difference" began.  It happens twice each year, once in the fall to handle yard work and to winterize homes, and once in the spring to handle spring cleaning and the removal of the winterizing materials.  One of the coordinators goes around to the project homes and sites beforehand to talk with people, find out exactly what they need, and make sure people aren't just being lazy (in some of the early "Make a Difference" days people were taking advantage of the Church).  Another coordinator puts the teams together, making sure each little team has a variety of members from the congregations.  On the one hand this allows us to get to know members from other congregations.  On the other hand if one of the people we're serving were to ask, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" he would get an earful of different responses.  So in the end it's a service event divorced from the Word of God, which is unfortunate, but it was still a good way for the name "St. Silas" to be heard in the community.  I personally do plan to take part in it again.

I was with a team of two other guys, one from the United Methodist Church, one from Grace Community Church.  We went to one house and cleaned out a spot in the gutter where rainwater wasn't draining.  Then we went to the trailer court and installed a drip cap on the front door where water was leaking into the trailer.  We had a good time together and were able to help a couple people who were in need.

Showing mercy to the community is the second most important thing the Church does, the first being receiving Jesus Christ in the Divine Service.  The Lutheran view of mercy is different from many other church bodies in that the Divine Service and mercy are not mutually exclusive, in fact they are tied together.  During the offering the Church used to collect not only money, but even more food and other items to meet physical needs.  The offering was gathered so that Christ could use it to have mercy on the world.  Some of the bread and wine would immediately be used in the Lord's Supper, Christ having mercy on us in the extreme by giving us his body and blood for the forgiveness of sins.  Other items would be distributed to the poor of the Church and the poor of the community.  The mercy of the Church is the arm of Christ sweeping out from the altar into the world and gathering people back to the altar.  Mercy begins and ends with the body and blood of Christ and its purpose is not only to meet physical needs but to bring people to the Divine Service where they receive mercy for every need.  Lutherans still see mercy and the Divine Service as inseparable.  In this St. Silas will be able to offer something unique to the community of North Liberty.

The North Liberty Leader (North's Liberty's newspaper) had an article printed in it before the "Make a Difference" day that explained what was going to be happening.  This was the first time St. Silas was mentioned in the local paper.

In Christ

Pastor Andrew Richard

St. Silas Lutheran Church
www.stsilaslutheran.org
www.facebook.com/stsilaslutheran
stsilaslutheran@gmail.com

Visit to Trinity Lutheran School in Cedar Rapids

This morning I was at Trinity Lutheran Church and School in Cedar Rapids to conduct the school's chapel service.  Trinity had celebrated St. Michael and All Angels this past Sunday so we kept that theme going with a sermon on the reading from Revelation 12.  The service was Matins with hymn 522, Lord God, to Thee We Give All Praise.  The kids knew the order of service, the Venite, and the Te Deum.  That's two local Lutheran schools I've visited now where the kids could teach the rest of us a thing or three!

Thank you for having me to conduct chapel.  I enjoyed sharing God's Word with you and seeing your school and the Sanctuary of the church.  I look forward to coming again.

In Christ

Pastor Andrew Richard

St. Silas Lutheran Church
www.stsilaslutheran.org
www.facebook.com/stsilaslutheran
stsilaslutheran@gmail.com

Visit to Shell Rock, Waterloo, and Cedar Falls

This past Saturday and Sunday I was with Rev. Mike Knox at the three congregations he serves: Peace Lutheran in Shell Rock, Christ Lutheran in Waterloo, and Our Redeemer Lutheran in Cedar Falls.  Several things made these visits a little different from others.  First, this is thus far the only time I've been at three different congregations in one weekend.  Second, we celebrated the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels; any day that the devil is sent away with his head hanging and his tail between his legs is a good day.  And third, Rev. Dean Rothchild was also present for the two presentations on St. Silas, one at Peace and the other at Our Redeemer.  Rev. Rothchild has been meeting with members of the LCMS in Iowa District East who are interested in helping to fund St. Silas by contributing to the "Proclaiming Christ Jesus" campaign.  Because of these individuals, as well as the support of entire congregations, the capital campaign is currently at over $77,000 in donations and pledges.  And that's after only four months!  The goal is to raise $600,000 for this campaign.  If $600,000 is raised and St. Silas ends up needing all $600,000, then everything will be covered.  If more is raised or if St. Silas becomes self-sustaining before the $600,000 mark is reached, then there will be left over funds designated to other new mission starts in IDE.  Either way St. Silas is funded, but my hope is that funds will be left over for other church plants.  Perhaps some day St. Silas will be a mother, at which point St. Paul's Lutheran Chapel will receive a card that says "Congratulations, Grandma!"  If you are interested in contributing to the "Proclaiming Christ Jesus" campaign, click here.

At Peace Lutheran in Shell Rock on Saturday evening I preached during the service and then presented on St. Silas afterward during the Bible class time.  During the presentation a lunch was served.  Even though Bible class doesn't end until around 9:00pm, most of the congregation still stuck around.

The following morning I preached again at Christ Lutheran in Waterloo.  Even though we had to hurry to Our Redeemer, there was still a little time to talk to the congregation about St. Silas.  I preached again at Our Redeemer in Cedar Falls and presented after service.  There was once more a considerable turn out.  Rev. Rothchild and I exchanged frank opinions of each other, for example after service: [me] "The last time Iowa District East planted a congregation I was still in diapers. [to Rev. Rothchild] And you were already gray."  And again during the presentation: [me] "I only set up a Facebook account because I have to.  I would prefer to live in the Stone Age."  [Rev. Rothchild] "You say you'd rather live in the Stone Age, but you are a techie geek."  This sort of brutal honesty not only makes for good team-building, but is also highly amusing for those listening.

Thank you for having me to proclaim Jesus Christ and him crucified.  I was delighted for the opportunity to celebrate the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels, hearing a reading from the book of Revelation and singing "Lord God, to Thee We Give All Praise" and "Christ, the Lord of Hosts, Unshaken" (which is definitely among my top 5 favorite hymns).  I enjoyed feasting on Christ's body and blood with you.  I appreciate your hospitality and eagerness to hear more about St. Silas.  Please continue to remember me in your prayers.

In Christ

Pastor Andrew Richard

St. Silas Lutheran Church
www.stsilaslutheran.org
www.facebook.com/stsilaslutheran
stsilaslutheran@gmail.com