Discernment is Easier in Hindsight!

November 1^st will mark my 8 year anniversary here at Peace.  I arrived in 2003, excited about what God had planned for this congregation.  It’s interesting to look back on the ways that God has worked among us.  I found this newsletter article from September, 2004:

In the past week, Peace Lutheran Church received perhaps the most significant letter in its brief history.  In a letter from David Groth, Dover-Eyota superintendent, he wrote, “It is the expectation of the school district that, by the end of the 2004-05 school year, you will no longer be renting our facilities for your Sunday church services.”  Without knowing it, Mr. Groth may have been speaking God’s word to this congregation!

Many people at Peace have discussed and debated the merits of building on our land for some time.  Some have wanted to charge forward, others have wanted to hold back and wait. At the beginning of 2004, the church council agreed to table all discussion of building until 2005 to allow the congregation to grow strong and vibrant.  We thought we had some control over when the building would go up.  Perhaps God had other ideas.

In the next few weeks the church council will begin discussing our options.  The way that I see it, Peace can do several things:

1)    Build a church building

2)   Find another place to worship

3)   Try to negotiate with the School Board to be able to stay longer

At this point, every conversation that I’ve had has focused on building.  But instead of just thinking about this among ourselves, we need to keep God in the process.  WE NEED YOUR PRAYERS!  God will lead us in the right direction.

It’s an exciting time at Peace.  Our worship in August saw the biggest crowds since 2001, and the second biggest ever!  Our youth ministry is about to explode with great things.  New members are coming aboard. 

We believe in a God of great surprises!  This is what makes the ministry so fun!  Let’s see what God has in mind for the next year!

We were SO ready to build back in 2004, but it didn’t happen.  When we attempted to move forward with a building program, we were told in no uncertain terms, “Build a congregation, not a building!”  God worked through Mr. Groth’s letter to shift our focus.  God worked to build the awesome congregation that we have today.

God didn’t work on our time schedule.  For a decade we thought we were ‘two to three years away’ from building.    At LONG last, the time has come.  The office is a jumble of boxes.  Deliveries of new furniture come daily.  So much is going on!  Only a few weeks to go now!