August 2014

                  Grace and Peace,

                  It has been a whirlwind of a summer for my family, as I am sure it has been for many. I graduated from Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in May, attended multiple weddings, a couple family beach weeks, and…oh yes, the Holy Spirit and Lutheran Church of the Holy Comforter have called me to serve as pastor. The summer has been chaotic at times, restful at others, and at every point of the way filled with the Holy Spirit moving and working among various communities, lifting up God’s gift of relationships. We said goodbye to a seminary community that has been our home for the past few years, and now we are warmly welcomed to Holy Comforter and to Belmont; southern hospitality in no short supply.

                  I am excited to serve at Holy Comforter, as it is a congregation with many gifts and with energy for God’s work. One of the first things people mention about Holy Comforter is the gift of music that is in this place, lifting up Greg, certainly, but also the gifts of the members. That is something I have been glad to witness already, and certainly echo that sentiment. As I have spoken to a few new members, why people choose to keep returning seems to be the rare combination of compassion for one another and openness to others that this community shares. This is a gift of the Spirit, and I believe the kind of love for one another that God calls us to be a part of; a love which ultimately comes from God.

                  The work I have already been involved in: preparing for Sunday services, an ordination, and working with those going through difficult times in their lives, among other things, quickly brings into perspective the gravity of the work God has called me to in this place. Yet it is the same work that we are called to in various roles. We are called to proclaim Christ to a world which is in desperate need of the Gospel, whether that is in the words that we speak or the patterns of our lives as disciples. We are called to love God, love one another, and love the world around us with the love of Christ. This is a love which fills us and simultaneously calls us to empty ourselves out for the sake of others. I am blessed to be called to the Lutheran Church of the Holy Comforter, and look forward to discerning how Christ is calling us to live out these lives of love and discipleship together in this place.

(Matthew 22:37-39) [Jesus] said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”

God’s peace,

Pastor Micah Kearney