Good day siblings in Christ,
This Sunday, we welcome Larry and Lori as our musicians. They will be providing music with the organ, guitar, and piano. I am grateful they will be sharing their gifts with us so Phill can be away.
Beginning Monday, I will be away for the week and on Sunday, January 29, Lee Ann and Jamie will be leading worship. There will be no communion that Sunday. This will be the first Sunday I’ve had off since August, so I am grateful for Lee Ann and Jamie.
Saturday, January 28, the ordination of Lisa Stephens and two other ordinands will take place at the God Box in Manhattan. It will be live-streamed on the Synod’s Facebook page in case you would like to watch it.
Writing on ordinations, the Lutheran church is about to make history in the Holy Lands as the ordination of Sally Azar will take place in a few days. She will be the first Palestinian woman ordained in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Lands (ELCJHL). I posted a link to the service on our Facebook page, if you would like to watch it after it happens. This is truly a joyous and historic moment.
As of this week, my joy is I am done with editing my dissertation and will submit it within the week. What happens next is sometime in February or March, I will defend it to a small panel at the seminary. If all goes well, I will either “pass” or “pass with needed edits” (or fail, eek). Then in May, I will attend the commencement ceremony in Philadelphia. My official title would be “Rev. Dr.”, but that would only be needed on official items. I am trying to stay moment by moment, so having this first part completed represents the end of a year of study and writing and three years of seminary work.
Pastor Johnson