June 2013 – A Seminarian’s Letter Home
To the membership of Circle of Faith Parish:
Greetings to you all from back in Trimont! It’s been a long, complicated, intriguing journey through my seminary years. Thank you for accompanying me through these years with your thoughts and prayers, and through reading these letters. I’m looking forward to being with you for the summer months as we transition into a new world of mission and ministry together.
On June 25, the church celebrates the birth of John the Baptist, the forerunner of the Messiah, the man whom Jesus would call the greatest prophet. I often wonder if John really knew, once he grew up and was out in the wilderness, what he was announcing. Did he know who or what would follow him, or what the Messiah would go on to do? I doubt it. He couldn’t have. But he did know that whatever came would be good news. Whatever came would proclaim that the kingdom of God had come near.
As I write this letter, it’s still May. Very soon, we will vote on calling a new lead pastor. I don’t know what will happen in that vote, nor in the days ahead when our new pastor comes. But I do know that this is a great thing. I know that this is the end of a long and complicated process, and we are now able to launch into an amazing new world as Circle of Faith. I know that God has brought us here, will go with us on this journey, and is leading us into a fantastic place, full of promise and potential.
Stepping out into this summer of great change and hope, let us pray for God’s blessing, using these words:
O God, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. [ELW, Daily Prayer]
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Your fellow member and pilgrim,
Carl P. Rabbe, M.Div.
