news.zionbuffalo.org

By Pastor Judy Burgett-Winzig

The week of SonRock Kids Camp, this year’s Vacation Bible School, was great! Lots of kids, lots of excitement, lots to do, and lots of volunteers! I was absolutely “blown away” by the number of volunteers, 150 to be exact. Thanks go to all those who helped—from greeters and runners, to the blue Jell-O makers, to youth who helped lead worship, to all those who came in the weeks before to decorate and make name tags, and to so many more. SonRock Kids Camp could not have run without their help! As I experienced the volunteers, I was reminded of the work of the church in Nigeria.

It can be easy for us to think about what we might be able to share with our new partners in the Shelleng congregation in Nigeria. We have so much and we want to give. What can we receive from them?

One thing that we can receive from the whole Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria is their approach to outreach and evangelism. Yes, they train and send evangelists and catechists to live in remote villages to share the Good News about God’s love and mercy lived out in Jesus. However, the evangelist is never expected to do the job alone. People from the sponsoring congregation go out to those villages to share their stories and share their faith. The men go to talk to the men, the women go to talk to the women, and the youth go to talk to the youth; not just one or two either, but large groups, and they will go out and stay for a period of time. People of the villages are impressed and excited that people from a larger town or city would come to be with them and share. That’s the kind of evangelism we can copy and grow into our own!

The late Sri Lankan missionary, D T Niles said of evangelism:

“Evangelism is one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread.”

It is being present with others and sharing the story I know to someone I know is also looking. The energy I was a part of during the SonRock Kids Camp week was evidence to me that Zion has the people, has the energy, has the stories and the faith to go out and share the Good News and not just one week of the year. We share it with those we know and with whom we have a natural connection.

Let’s pray for God’s guiding hand as we share the gifts we have been given here at Zion.

By Pastor Chris

Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.” John 20:21

Three “ships” summarize the life of members in church. We continuously move among three phases of church life, that of worship, discipleship and apostleship.

Worship is praising and thanking our Lord. We worship God communally every Sunday morning. But we also are to worship the Lord with all our being and with every breath. We worship when we live as God‟s people, when in our being and in our bearing we reveal God. Our existence is testimony to our Creator and Redeemer who gives and preserves life.

Discipleship is instruction and training. Jesus‟ disciples were in training during their time with Jesus. They learned what it meant to follow Jesus. They practiced using the authority Jesus gave them. They reflected on their experiences. They were molded and formed into being God‟s people. Learning is a life-long endeavor. We are to continually learn more of what it means to be followers of Jesus.

Apostleship is being sent into the world as God‟s people. It is being appointed, being commissioned. Following orientation toward our Lord in worship, and following training as God‟s people, we are sent into the world to be testimony to God‟s kingdom that has come. Apostleship is carrying out God‟s mission in the places God has sent us: our homes, school, jobs, neighborhoods.

God‟s mission is fourfold: create, care, redeem and reconcile. We carry out one or more of those ministries through our jobs and in our relationships.

We learn how and are sustained in those activities by “the three ships.” Worship keeps us oriented to the Lord who sustains us and whose Spirit works through us. Discipleship hones our ability to be God‟s representatives in the world. Apostleship carries out our callings as God‟s people, delivering grace and mercy to a world in need.

Church life has largely neglected the three ships. For many, church has been reduced to a couple of hours on an occasional Sunday. Worship has ceased to be day-long praise and thanks as we go about each day‟s business. Discipleship has been narrowed to childhood Sunday school and perhaps confirmation. Apostleship has been relegated to committee work.

I encourage this congregation to examine again the church‟s core functions of worship, discipleship and apostleship, with the intent of shaping Zion‟s future ministry. The outcome of that ministry is people sent as God‟s emissaries to a world astray and hurting.

May God bless Zion, for the sake of the world.

The following letter was sent to members last week:

Dear Members of Zion,

As you know, I am on sabbatical. This time continues to be a good time of resting in God, experiencing God in new ways and enjoying wonderful family time. An important part of this time has been to reflect on God’s call for me. It is with prayerful consideration that I share with you that I will not be returning to Zion at the end of my sabbatical in October.

Thank you for your partnership in ministry, for your trust, respect and support. I consider it a privilege to serve God as a pastor. I am thankful for my call to be a part of God’s unfolding story at Zion for the past nine years. We do not get to read ahead in this story but we all live in the same baptismal promise that God is at work and will guide us. God will continue to work in this time of transition at Zion and as I seek a new call.

God bless you all in this journey.

In Christ,

Rev. Dr. Rebecca M. Sogge

And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed his last. Mark 15:37

The death of God is a concept peculiar to Christianity. No other religion suggests that an all-powerful god would experience death. It runs counter to the very notion of a god. What god would come to an end? Why have a god who cannot last?

And yet in all four Gospels, God suffers death and is buried. God becomes nothing.

We confess in the Apostles’ Creed that Jesus “descended into hell.” Hell is that place apart from living. It is separation from life. Jesus entered that realm so as to be Lord of both the living and the dead. Just as God entered human flesh as Jesus to be Lord among us in life, Jesus enters death to be Lord among those who have passed into that place too.

No one is outside of the Lord’s reign. No one is beyond the mercy of God, not even those who have passed from this life. God’s mercy and love and reign extend to those who have passed into death.

Our baptism assures us that we are never far from the God who made us. The Lord grips us fast with love and grace. God promises us that nothing shall separate us from the Lord, not even death itself, not even God’s death (Romans 8:38-39).

On the third day some women came to the tomb to prepare his body for final rest. They were met by an angel with a message, “He has risen, he is not here. See…!” Not only has Jesus entered death, Jesus has conquered death. Jesus is Lord over even death itself. He has dissolved its power and deflated its threat.

Our God is one who died, who rules over death, and who lives still. Nothing shall separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Pastor Chris

by Pastor Judy

She would roar her big Buick into my drive way and pick me up for Lenten midweek worship. It was just my Aunt Liz and I, wild driver that she was, who then sped uptown to St. Peter‟s Church. Inside, we would sit with elders and families, people I had grown up seeing on Sundays, together on dark Wednesday nights.

I can‟t tell you that I remember much about the services, except I think we sang “Go to Dark Gethsemane” a lot. I‟m sure that Pastor Berg‟s sermons were still too long for my High School mind to grasp. What I do remember is being there, there in church soaking it all in, and that it made the Easter celebration better. Not better because I had won “browning points” with God and the elders of St. Peter for my presence. But, better because what I would now call “walking the weeks of Lent” helped me focus on faith; my faith and the faith of the community to which I belonged. Each Wednesday we walked together closer to the cross. Unspoken was the sense of our corporate recognition that as a community of faith we needed to not just pursue the call of Jesus to discipleship, but to deepen it together.

Catherine Gunsalus Gonzalez, Professor of church History at Columbia Seminary in Decatur, Georgia wrote of Lent:

“Lent reminds us of that fact (life of discipleship) and gives us a specific time to reflect on our own need for recommitting ourselves and our congregations to the true following of Christ. Just because we call our selves Christian does not mean that we are not tempted to follow the way of the world. In fact, we can easily fall away from the discipleship if we do not have this annual reminder of our frailty.”

Lent for me became a gift: a gift of time and worship, of fellowship and community. In the midst of the being bombarded with all of those messages about how things in the culture around us can bring us whatever it is we think we need, we have the gift of Lent. Let us together embrace this gift, and open its promise and prodding for our community‟s life and the life of the world.

“Return to God, with all your heart, the source of love and mercy; come seek the tender faithfulness of God.”

Lenten Worship & other opportunities

Interim Associate Pastor

Pastor Judy Burgett Winzig has served previously served Epiphany and Bethany (36th Ave S.) Lutheran Churches in Minneapolis: as well as being a Lay associate at Messiah before she attended Seminary. She is a graduate of Augustana College (Illinois) and Luther northwestern Theological Seminary. Pastor Winzig as served on the Synod Council and Executive Committee twice, co-chaired the Partnership Table, and is currently a member of the Global companion Table.

Pastor Winzig has visited the Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria twice, as well as representing our Synod at a Woman to Women’s Global Conference in Cameroon. She is married to Jerry, has three children and lives in South Minneapolis.

While at Zion, Pastor Winzig will be the main pastoral care pastor, working with established programs, making hospital calls, and other opportunities to visit.

On January 16 I will begin a nine month sabbatical.  A sabbatical is a period of time during which a pastor sets aside normal responsibilities at a congregation for the purpose of renewal.

I intend to use the nine months as a time to rest and reflect.  This will be a time to catch my breath and “be” instead of always “doing”.  I have not formalized any specific plans although I look forward to some down time with my girls, a chance to read and to continue to experience God’s work.

Eugene Peterson in The Message paraphrases Psalm 23:1-2 “God, my shepherd!  I don’t need a thing.  You have bedded me down in lush meadows, you find me quiet pools to drink from.  True to your word, you let me catch my breath and send me in the right direction.”

I thank the congregation for this gift of a sabbatical and thank you for your partnership in ministry, for your trust, respect and support.   I continue to hold firm to God’s grace and guidance in our ministry together.

Pastor Becky Sogge

I will be giving periodic updates in this newsletter on the progress of the interim time. I started on October 6th as your interim senior pastor. A key step has already been finished, that of preparing the congregation profile. The Call Committee has now begun their work.

In January and February, we will participate in a Bridgebuilder process to address some lingering issues at Zion. In early spring the Call Committee could be interviewing candidates. Easter is April 12th this year. Most candidates will not consider leaving their current church until after Easter. And after Zion issues a call, the candidate has a month to consider and then another month of notice to his/her current congregation. So, the earliest the next senior pastor could begin at Zion most likely is early summer.

Although this interim time seems long, Zion’s experience is quite common and normal. The Lord works in the Lord’s own time-and the Lord continues to bless Zion.

Pastor Chris

Dear Friends in Christ,

As our days together wind down, I find myself going about several final tasks. For instance, this is the last time that I will address you in this particular form.

As I write this column in mid-August; the Personnel Committee is about to interview candidates for the interim that will take Zion through the Call process for its new senior pastor. Therefore, I want to share with you some thoughts as you prepare for these new beginnings. This piece came across my desk a few years ago as I was bringing closure to another interim and I have used it as parting advice in each succeeding interim.

The Ten Commandments from the Outgoing Pastor.

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