Good day siblings in Christ,
Tomorrow is Mother’s Day where we acknowledge all mothers, motherly figures, and the important women in our lives who have guided and influenced us through teaching and caring.
For the next two weeks, Melanie will be on vacation to celebrate her son’s wedding, so there will be no one in the front of the office during that time. I will be in and out as much as I can to check the answering machine and the mail.
Next weekend, we will have the Assistant to the Bishop for Metro NY Synod Rev. Chris Mietlowski with us to preach, say a word of greeting from the Bishop’s office, and to preside. Rev. Mietlowski has also offered a time during coffee hour if anyone would like to ask any questions about what is going on in Metro NY Synod. The Synod office is about 2 blocks from Columbia University too, so I am sure he would be open to talking about what things are like.
I will be in Geneseo next weekend with my former congregation celebrating the 15th anniversary of becoming a Reconciling in Christ congregation. We were the second in the Synod and the first in our conference during a time when there was a lot of discussion and drama around the issue of allowing gay and lesbian ministers in committed relationships. The ELCA always allowed them, but they had to live a chaste lifestyle, which was deeply unfair. I will be talking about that process. I am so glad Our Saviour made the choices we did to be open and affirming.
Pastor Johnson