“Raising the Roof”!

Abiding Love is “Raising the Roof” as Staff, Congregation Council, Boards and members in 2011! Raising the roof on “barriers to overcome” by identifying and addressing the key factors that our growing church and children’s center must consider as “barriers to overcome” as we strive to grow.

As we follow God’s call to grow both spiritually and physically, we have recognized some obstacles. Our Congregation Council will be informed at their council retreat this January with the leadership of Bishop Emeritus, Reverend Paul Blom (whom we know as Pastor Paul). Pastor Paul will use material from his own experience, the Carver Board Leadership Model, ‘Raising the Roof’ by Alice Mann and from Lyle Schaller’s ‘Worship Type Analogy’.

Alice Mann’s research shows that churches are generally organized in one of four ways:

1)      Family Church: Average attendance up to 50  people

2)     Pastoral Church: Average attendance up to 150 people

3)     Program Church: Average attendance up to 500 people

4)     Corporate Church: Average attendance over 500 people

For years now we have been stuck in an attendance plateau of around 195 people. Lately, we have begun breaking the glass ceiling on this number! Please pray for Abiding Love to meet the needs of the community and it’s membership as we grow! These are exciting times and, with God’s help, we really are - “Raising the Roof”!

With abiding love,

Pastor Lynnae

Have you seen our website?  www.abidinglove.org

MUSIC

Music helps me to celebrate the season and I am inwardly transformed when I have a song in my heart! It’s not even December yet and already I’m hearing the melodies of the season!

So far, five different people have sent me the youtube video of the special Halleluiah Surprise concert in the mall! Can you just imagine, sitting in the mall food court, after a couple hours of holiday shopping that probably included a bit of gluttony and greed, and suddenly all around you people are standing and singing the Halleluiah Chorus? I wish I had been there! I would have stood and sung along! I was sitting at my desk and I got teary! To sing of the joy of Jesus is part of the history of his story.

Welcome to Our World! That is the name of the cantata and part of the words that the choir will sing on Dec. 12th, at the 11:00 AM service. Not only do we welcome Jesus in memory of that first Christmas, but we also invite him into our hearts – today – to stay.

This year we say welcome to our world, Lord Jesus! As the days and years of Christmas continue, we pray for peace, humble hearts and compassionate acts for the whole world. May your season be filled with more glad tidings than gluttony, more glory than greed. May you know Jesus as the heart of your faith and the center of your life.

Merry Christmas!

With abiding love,
Pastor Lynnae

Growing, Loving, Sharing, Serving and Celebrating!

Growing, Loving, Sharing, Serving and Celebrating!

These five words are Abiding Love!

In every Newsletter, every bulletin, on our web site and soon – on some of our walls, these five words will remind us of our Vision and Mission Statements. Everything that we do and say – should point to those special words. So often I find myself in a meeting or working on something and I wonder, “Where is God in this?” or “How does this further our mission?” We may decide to let some things go because they are merely not important to our vision and mission. We may decide to add some things because they will make our work for the vision and mission better! As I take on this new role as Senior Pastor, I find that I’m having to pay attention to some different things. For instance – Membership Roles.

I think ‘membership roles’ can be counter to our mission as we worry too much about how many members we ‘really’ have or how many contributed or communed. I don’t’ like counting and labeling! But then evaluating has to be a part of those five words. If we never evaluate how we are doing, then there is no accountability. We are going to begin working on those pesky ‘membership roles’ and we are going to take a real hard look at how we are doing – according to our own plan. Please, help us to ask the right questions and do the most work— for in that we will be ‘Growing, Loving, Sharing, Serving and Celebrating’!

Pastor Lynnae

Stories to Tell and Gifts to Share

I can usually talk about just about anything! I especially love talking about God. When I get to talk about how God made this earth complete with hummingbirds and mosquitoes, strawberries and zucchini, I can’t help but smile! When I get to bend my head in prayer with a member or a guest at our food pantry, I am in love with God.

This year our annual Stewardship Emphasis is all about talkin’ and givin’! Two of my favorite things! The themes for each of the four Sundays of the emphasis are: Graceful Living, Grateful Living, Giving to the Church and Cheerful Sacrifice.

I don’t usually like to talk about money, but Jesus sure did. Jesus talked about money more than anything else in all of scripture! – Well maybe except love. I guess it behooves us to take a few Sundays and examine God’s economy and how we might fit into God’s plan. Join us as we celebrate the stories and gifts of the members and church family of Abiding Love!

Pastor Lynnae

JUMP!

“When they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with Boldness.” Acts 4:31 (about the first believers and the early church)

One of my most frightening childhood memories was my first jump off the diving board into the community swimming pool! I love to swim, but I really don’t like heights! The only way I was going to pass swimming lessons, was if I could jump off the board! I know it took me a very long time, but finally I jumped. I think I had my eyes closed and my mouth open, but I did it!

Sometimes when a great opportunity is presented – you just have to JUMP in! JUMP with both feet and your hands outstretched!

This fall we have so many wonderful opportunities at Abiding Love! We have Bible Studies, Sunday School, Youth Groups, Koinonia Groups, and so much more! Being a member is more than just going to worship. Yes, it starts there, but then as you make new friends, your relationship with God grows and you can be, like the members of the first church in the book of Acts, “shaken”!

I pray that you will feel the shake of the Holy Spirit and that you will, with boldness JUMP IN!

JUMP into boldness with our many ministries at Abiding Love!

See you in church,
Pastor Lynnae

"Free Wheeling It!"

I remember learning how to ride a bike – without the training wheels. My Dad taught me and he started by running beside me, with his hand on the back of the seat. He kept panting out “I’ve got you, I’ve got you!” Even though I knew that I could trust my Dad, I was still scared. Eventually, he either got tired of running or he got frustrated with my slow progress and he just gave a big push – and watched me go!

Maybe, he really knew when I was ready, because he changed his mantra from “I’ve got you!” to “You’ve got it!”

It seems like we’ve taken the chance, here at Abiding Love, and we are taking off the training wheels. I guess at 30 years old, it’s time. With the retirement of the founding pastor and the planned changes in leadership we are ready to free wheel it! We’ve been good at rolling along with the way that things have been done for a long time, but now we are trying to do some things differently. Worship Unplugged, Godly Play, Interim Pastors-- there is a whole list of “new”-- but there are plenty of things that remain the same. You can rest assured that ministry will continue and that in this time of transition, we will still worship, still teach, still answer the Call to Word and Sacrament, hospital and home.

I remember getting so good at riding my bike that I could throw my hands in the air and cry out, “Hey, Dad, look at me!”

“On your Mark, Get Ready, Set – GO!”

We received news this month that our well was being dug and hewn for the village people of central Ethiopia! Water to Thrive workers wanted to know what to put on the sign! Can you believe that across the world, in the remote Oromiya Region of Ethiopia there will be a sign that reads - this well is a gift from “Abiding Love Lutheran Church, Austin, Texas, USA”!!

I read a story about a great Lutheran: “Matt Berg dreamed of bringing technology to Africa to help improve people's lives. Living that dream through the Millennium Villages Project and Child Count+ earned Berg, a Lutheran and the son of missionaries, a place this year among Time magazine's 100 people who most affect our world.

Berg, 32, has spent considerable time in Africa, particularly in the past three years, perfecting the use of simple mobile phone technology to create a system to monitor the health of children in Africa. That work got the attention of the people at Time.

In an interview with the ELCA News Service, Berg said he was "shocked and humbled" to learn that he had been named to the Time list. "The community that I work with was very happy," he said. "It's been really good for our work, a big validation that the work we're doing is really important."

A select group of people made the Time list, including such notables as Kathryn Bigelow, Bill Clinton, Steve Jobs, Conan O'Brien, Elizabeth Warren and Oprah Winfrey.

How awesome to be a part of a church that gets such recognition! We have missionaries that serve in 48 countries around the world! We participate in these mission ventures through our gifts, both monetary and in kind, and our prayers. With our name on a sign half way around the world, who knows what’s next! I can’t wait to find out! Let’s go!