Confirmation: A Team Sport

It’s no secret that I love doing baptisms at Holy Trinity. It is a delightful experience to hold each baby (even the crying ones) and dunk them in the water of new life in Christ. As the water drips off of their naked bodies, we sing ♫“You have put on Christ” and I can’t help but beam with joy for the newly baptized. 

On the day of your baptism, God said “yes” to you. You are wanted, loved, forgiven and chosen to live among God’s faithful people with grace and purpose. On each person’s baptism day, God’s people gather to add their “yes!” to God’s “yes!” for the newly baptized. As baptized Christians participating in another’s baptism during worship, we promise to receive them as wanted, loved, forgiven, and chosen people. 

And we make promises to be in relationship together with God’s people as they develop in Christian faith and life. 

Confirmation instruction is one of the many ways we live out that promise to help them grow in the Chrisitan faith and life. At the time of their confirmation those now grown babies will affirm their faith--the faith in which they were baptized. We’ll repeat the the marks of a Christian faith and life that were spoken at their baptism: 

to live among God’s faithful people, 

to hear the word of God and share in the Lord’s Supper

to proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed

To care for others and the world God made

And to work for justice and peace in all the earth. 

Promises made at baptism are nurtured in the life of the congregation. Confirmands need mentoring and nurturing from their community of faith to grow, question, appreciate, learn from and live into a baptismal way of life; a Christian way of life. In other words they need you; yes, you! 

This year’s confirmation instruction will be guided by a curriculum called Chosen Together. I like the name because we are in this together. Confirmation is not just for the pastors, confirmands and their parents, but the whole congregation is encouraged to be part of their faith formation. Throughout Chosen Together confirmation, the students will be expected to talk with others in the congregation about their faith and they’ll ask you questions that help us to reflect on what we are learning in class. Typically this would happen in the pews after worship, but because of the pandemic, they’ll need to do phone calls or zoom. It would be helpful to have a long list of people who say “yes” to being contacted by our confirmands. If you're open to 10-15 minute conversations with our confirmands, please let me know. 

Confirmation is a “team sport,” meaning that confirmation is only ever as strong as the surrounding community. Thank you for being part of the Holy Trinity “Confirmation Team” and committing to engage with others in the Christian faith and life through words and actions.

An Anti-Racist Reformation

Perhaps like many of you, I look forward to celebrating Halloween this weekend and next week. Our neighbors host a fantastic Halloween party each year; costumes required, so it is sure to be spooky and crazy fun. 

But what I’m really looking forward to this weekend is wearing red on Sunday. Why? Because it’s Reformation Sunday, and at HTLC we only make a big deal about the Reformation about once every 500 years or so when there’s a big anniversary to celebrate. Recently a former pastor donated a beautiful red chasuble to us, so it’s time to celebrate with Reformation red again. 

Seriously though, a fun fashion opportunity is not the reason we are recognizing the Reformation this year. The church is constantly reforming, re-imagining itself and making changes to be more inclusive for everyone whom God adores. 

The Reformation began in 1517 when Martin Luther challenged the church’s theology about salvation and sacraments. On October 31st he nailed 95 theses (statements or protests) which initiated a religious movement that became known as Protestantism (It’s not just for Lutherans).

Diana Butler Bass, American Christian historian, wrote

It strikes me as interesting that those who followed the teaching of the new reform movement did not come to be known as ‘Reformists,’ instead of ‘Protestants.’ Luther and his associates were protesters rather than reformers—they stood up against the religious conventions of the day, arguing on behalf of those suffering under religious, social and economic oppression. These religious protesters accused the church of their day of being too rich, too political... having sold its soul to the powerful. The original Protestants preached, taught and argued for freedom—spiritual, economic and political—and for God’s justice to be embodied in the church and the world.

It is time to put the protest back in Protestantism.

The heart of Protestantism is the courage to challenge injustice. Protestantism opened access for all people to experience God’s grace and God’s bounty, not only spiritually but actually. The early Protestants believed that they were not only creating a new church, but they were creating a new world, one that would resemble more fully God’s desire for humanity. The original Protestant impulse was to resist powers of worldly dominion and domination in favor of the power of God’s spirit to transform human hearts and society. Protestants were not content with the status quo. They felt a deep discomfort within. They knew things were not right. And they set out to change the world.

This Reformation Sunday we have the opportunity to get our protest on. To challenge injustice. To stand up against racism. To commit to learning about our own place in a racially unjust system.

Maybe you, like me, and like the early reformers, feel a deep discomfort within and know things are not right. Are you ready to set out to change the world? If not the world, to change yourself? We have an opportunity to engage with the Chicago Metro Synod working toward long-term anti-racist congregational transformation. This weekend we will sign a covenant with Another Pebble, the Synod Anti-Racism team, for a two year process of learning, engaging, advocating and changing.   

Join our staff, congregational council, the anti-racism team and the rest of the community in wearing red this weekend to worship. Bring a red pen too. Let’s sign this covenant and begin the good, holy work of protest and reformation that will transform us, our congregation and our world.

Rejuvenate, Reconnect and Reorganize--Pastor Sevig’s Sabbatical

Twenty-five years ago, on June 5, 1994, I was ordained into the ministry of word and sacrament in the ELCA. A lot has changed in my life and in the ELCA in the past 25 years, and I’m so grateful that 17 of these years I’ve been a pastor at Holy Trinity.

At first I was named Pastoral Associate for HTLC while I worked full time in the ELCA Commission for Women. As Pastoral Associate I preached every six weeks, presided monthly and provided a pastoral presence on Sunday mornings. Beginning in 2005, shortly after my twins were born, Holy Trinity extended an official call as Associate Pastor; I worked one-third time at HTLC and one-half time as a hospice chaplain. Just three years ago, the pastoral expectations shifted again and I now work half-time; preaching monthly, presiding weekly, providing pastoral care, creating a youth group, coordinating hospitality with primary leadership responsibilities for family ministry, children’s education and social ministry.

Twice during my tenure at Holy Trinity Pastor Mueller has been blessed with sabbatical opportunities. Once I jokingly asked on Facebook, “When do half-time pastors get to have a sabbatical?” I never expected to actually get one, but thankfully, Pastor Mueller and the personnel committee proposed a six week sabbatical for me to take during the summer of 2019.

During the six weeks of sabbatical I will rest from the daily work I’m called to do at Holy Trinity. It’s the most important reason for a sabbatical, in my opinion, so that through rest and relaxation, I will be rejuvenated for continued ministry for many years to come.

My hope is to rejuvenate--breath new life into--spiritual practices that will restore my spirit and help me be more centered in my relationship with God. I get so busy most days, that I don’t take time to breathe, relax, meditate, dream. During these six weeks I’ll intentionally set aside time to rest--go to the beach, take walks in nature (without headphones) or read novels just for fun.

One of my favorite places to rest and rejuvenate is Holden Village in the Cascade Mountains. It’s a Lutheran retreat center tucked away in an old mining village. The last time I was at Holden I was pregnant with the twins, and I look forward to returning to this beloved place where I can hike in the mountains, learn from village guest teachers, worship daily, eat healthy vegetarian food and be creative on the weaving loom or pottery wheel.

Another focus of my sabbatical is to reconnect with family and friends. I plan to do getaways with each member of my family, one-on-one. Spending time alone with each family member is really important to me, especially now that my kids are teenagers. Because I work every weekend it’s impossible to go away for a short period of time. I look forward to reconnecting with them on a more personal level, when we can just play together and talk.

The third part of my sabbatical is to reorganize our living space. Actually, this was my first idea for sabbatical. I thought, “Oh good, I’ll finally have some time to clean the basement.” Thankfully I have good friends who reminded me that sabbatical is about rest, not more work. However, I’m still eager to do some decluttering and stuff management as a spiritual practice.

I’m grateful for this sabbatical opportunity to rejuvenate, reconnect and reorganize this summer. I’ll begin the sabbatical with two weeks vacation time at the Sevig family cabin on Green Lake in Minnesota, starting July 19th and return to Holy Trinity on September 11.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed financially to subsidize the cost of the sabbatical. There are no sabbatical grants available for part time ministers, so we were relying the generosity of the HTLC community. Thank you for making this sabbatical dream a reality!