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Longing
for an Adopted Family
Growing up in Kaukauna, I had friends
whose families provided an atmosphere of
welcome and acceptance to everyone.
It didn’t matter if you were from
the north side or south side, if your
own family was rich or poor, if your
parents were married or divorced, if you
got good grades or just got by, all were
invited in to share in the extended
family.
There were never any pretenses or
special accommodations made.
Whatever the family was doing,
others were invited to join in and
expected to participate whether it be
preparing and eating a meal, doing
dishes, working on the car, raking
leaves, etc.
I am certain that my own family
was such a place for my friends as well.
Serving as pastor allows me the
privilege of getting to know and
experience families during some
important and intimate times of passage.
Baptisms, confirmations,
graduations, weddings and funerals are
all occasions during which I experience
how family members interact with each
other.
Often after such occasions I find
myself thinking and even commenting to
my wife, Linda, “I want to be part of
their family I want them to adopt
me!!
What is it that attracts us to our
“adopted families”?
For me there are several things
that come to mind.
While it’s not always the case,
most of those families were larger than
my own of four people.
They often included grandparents,
aunts, uncles and cousins.
There was a great deal of
diversity and both opinions and people
were respected.
However, when leadership had to
be given there were clear roles and
responsibilities.
Many families did not have much
in the way of earthly possessions, but
they seemed to value what they did have
and were willing to share what they had
with others.
Interactions with each other and
me were genuine and based on truly
caring about the other person.
I never felt I had to pretend to
be someone I wasn’t; I could be myself
without jeopardizing my sense of
belonging.
Laughter and joy seemed to
abound.
Who wouldn’t want to be part of
that kind of family!!
What about our church family here at
Grace?
Is it the type that inspires the
desire to be adopted?
Many of the traits of my adopted
family go a long way toward creating the
sense of community that attracts those
longing for an adopted family.
And let’s be honest – in today’s
world where we often can feel so
alienated and alone, all of us could use
an adopted family!
Pastor Rick Engen
Pastor Rick Engen grew up in small towns in eastern North Dakota. He is a graduate of Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota (1966) and Luther Theological Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota (1971). He served his year of seminary internship at Lutheran Campus Ministry, University of Texas at Austin. From 1971 to 1979 Pastor Engen served as Associate Campus Pastor and Instructor in Religion at Carthage College, Kenosha, Wisconsin. In 1979 he accepted a call to serve as pastor of Christ The Servant Lutheran Church, Waukesha, Wisconsin, where he served until his retirement in 2009. He is married to Laurie, and they have two adult children. Leah and her husband Eric live in Seattle, Washington, and David and his wife Kristin live in Weyauwega, Wisconsin. They have one grandchild, Jack, who was just six weeks old. Pastor Rick and Laurie live on Pearl Lake near Redgranite where they especially enjoy nature, fishing, reading, music and volunteer work.
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August 23, 2010
Present:
Pastor Sielaff, Bishop Justman, Dave Ziemann, Craig Chovanec, Bob Eidahl,
Steve Sponholtz, Heidi Schramer, Keith Yedinak, Terry Saylor, Mike
Shattuck, and approximately 50 members of the congregation
President Steve Sponholtz called the meeting to order at 7:01 PM.
Steve spoke for about 10 minutes giving a synopsis of the transition
process thus far. He talked about Pastor Quello's farewell,
introduced the transition team, and described the consultant situation.
He mentioned the three vital questions we must answer first: 1) who are
we as a congregation, 2) where
are we going, and 3) what do we
need to get there. Steve commented that we have Pastor Engen in
place to begin September 1 and that a call committee will be formed in
the future to conduct interviews.
Steve then called on Bishop Justman to make some comments and field
questions from the congregation, which he did for a little more than an
hour. He explained how a call committee is formed and stressed
that balance on that 6 member committee is crucial to its success,
balance in terms of age and gender. He said a demographic study
would be first and foremost, and that such a study could be done quickly
and easily. Next a survey should be given to as many
congregational members as will participate to determine our core values
and what's most important to us as a church. Survey questions
could be posted in the bulletin and newsletters and possibly during
church service itself and then collected by ushers. The more
feedback from members the better. Questions came up about the
consultant. Bishop Justman said that business consultants are far
too expensive for our purposes and that the consultant would come from
our synod at a rate of approximately $50 an hour. A list of four
consultant candidates was given to Steve, one of whom will be selected
in the near future. Many members will likely want to be
involved in the call committee but only 6 will be selected, the
transition committee selecting members who will be committed to the long
term process and who will form a balanced group to as fairly as possible
represent all sectors of our congregation. Members must be at
least 18 years of age. Alternates will also be selected in case
they are needed. Probably 5 candidates for the new pastoral
position will be interviewed and the field eventually narrowed to 2 at
which point a second interview will be conducted. The bishop
discussed salary and suggested that a decent salary is important to
secure quality candidates for the long haul. The meeting was
concluded with members singing 3 verses of "Amazing Grace." The
meeting adjourned at 8:16 PM.
The
transition team will meet on Monday Sept. 13, 2010 at 7:00 PM.
The congregational council will meet on Monday Sept. 20 at 7:00 PM.
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