I'm tired tonight. The vote this morning at Central was 574-171 in favor of leaving the ELCA. I know that there are many people on both sides of this vote sad, angry, bitter, and disillusioned. At the moment, I'm just worn out. My prayer is that those who want to can move forward with a new / renewed sense of the Bible as our authority and Jesus as our foundation. There will obviously be some people who choose to find a different place to worship, and I think for some that would be a wise choice. Others will be able to forgive what they perceive as poor leadership and be reconciled to remain at Central. We are by no means done with this business, but hopefully as a good friend of mine has said, we can turn our attention to healing now.
Tomorrow (Monday) the church staff is going away for a "play" day. It will be good to go away and decompress. The conversations about "how do we move forward from here?" have already started, though, and I'm sure there will be lots of that around the edges as well as some good belly laughs.
Thanks to so many who have been praying for Central, for the staff, and for me through all this.
Jeff,
ReplyDeleteI just discovered your blog. I enjoyed it so much, I had to buy your book.
Keep up the solid work. Take comfort that through pain comes strength.
I think the healing started yesterday there is a peace within us. I also pray for the healings of peoples feelings. We will overcome and be fine! God says so.
ReplyDeleteBillie
Have loads of fun today you all deserve it.