In November 2007, I preached my “Candidating Sermon” on Christ the King Sunday, and waited anxiously with my family in the Library while the congregation voted to call me as Associate Pastor for Educational Ministries at ELPC.
It’s hard to believe that Sunday was now 15 years ago—and that before being called to pastoral ministry, I served as ELPC’s Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministries, and before that I was the Moderator of the Deacons, and before that I joined ELPC as a member, claiming ELPC
as my church home.
So much has changed since then—from the presidents who have occupied the White House to the pastors who have served as Head of Staff; we’ve seen change in the shape of the Cathedral of Hope through a season of renovations, and I’ve seen changes to the shape of my own family. The one constant has been that
ELPC has been my central community of faith since I first walked through the doors of the church in fall 1997 looking for a new church home. Life is like that, isn’t it? There is a constant dance between constancy and change—birth and death, planting roots and moving on, struggle and ease, hellos and goodbyes. One season follows another, each marked with its own quality and character that reflects both that which is new and that which is deeply familiar.
Faith is like that too. A dynamic faith bears witness to the new life we have in Christ. There are elements of the old that are washed away so that something new can grow. There is struggle and hope and grief and joy. And yet God is with us always. The constancy upon which we can “hang our hat” at the end of the day is the promise of God’s abiding presence and steadfast love.
These promises give me hope when I feel overwhelmed by the turns and changes of life and faith—especially when seasons of pandemic or transition or political turbulence seem to extend on and on. The constancy of God’s character and the power of God’s love assures me that I am a part of something much bigger than myself, and that love will prevail.
May we find comfort and hope in the promise that God is with us always. May this hope infuse our life together in this season—here and now. And may this hope call us forward in faith that we might continue to grow into the People that God is calling us to be.
Thanks be to God.
—Pastor Heather