Submitted to the Clay County Union
September 12, 2017

Watering the Church

When you plant a garden, the last thing you do is leave right away without making sure it will be watered. In fact, if you’ve worked hard at planting it, it’s very difficult to leave. In many ways, that describes my situation as pastor of Calvary & Grace. September 10 was my last Sunday serving both churches, upon accepting a call to a church in Oregon, Wisconsin.

I’ve been called to both Ulen & Crookston since the spring of 2016 and served as pastor since last summer. I’ll be the first to admit that it was a relatively short ministry. The call to Wisconsin was unexpected. In our church body, the Evangelical Lutheran Synod (ELS), pastors don’t seek calls. They don’t even interview. Calls come from the congregation which usually gets a list of names from the synod president of men with certain skills that the congregation may be looking for. It is unusual for pastors to receive a call soon after starting at a new parish, although it isn’t unheard of.

And yet, when it happens, although the call came from a congregation, it is really God who directed it. That means serious thought must be given. The book of 1 Corinthians, (which was written to them by their former pastor, the Apostle Paul, who had served them for only a year and six months) guides pastors even today in the call process.

In speaking about the spiritual gifts belonging to each member of the body of Christ, Paul explains that there are differences of gifts and ministries. “But,” he says, “the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all” (1 Cor. 12:7). This is the main criteria for deliberating a call: not how big or small the town is, not how big or small the congregation is, or even how large or small the salary is, but where a man’s specific God-given skills can be best used to serve for the profit of all.

There’s the comfort for pastors as well as for congregations. God finds men with specific gifts to serve at the right point in time. That also means that God has another man in mind for Ulen & Crookston. In fact, Calvary & Grace have already extended a call to another man to be their new pastor. He will now have to go through the same process as he deliberates where God would have him serve.

Earlier on in 1 Corinthians Paul actually compared the ministry to planting a garden: “I [Paul] planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase” (1 Cor. 3:6-7). Pastors (including myself) are dispensable. Christians aren’t. We serve for the good of all and God blesses the work.

Although it has been a short term, I was able to do a little planting (or maybe I watered what the previous pastor planted). It’s hard for me to leave what I feel I worked hard at, but then I have to remember that’s irrelevant. If any work was accomplished at all, it wasn’t I who did it. God gave the increase and God will continue to do so. God’s churches will continue to be watered after I leave, after the next guy leaves, and so on, until God finally brings His harvest home. Soli Deo Gloria.

Tomorrow, Sunday, September 10 is our annual Rally Day, the Sunday when Bible classes start again after the summer hiatus.

A breakfast provided by the Ladies’ Aid will follow the 8:00am service.

Tomorrow is also Pastor Hendrix’s last Sunday at Calvary and Grace following his acceptance of his call to Faith, Oregon, WI which he received in July.

And as always, please join us not just for these events but for the Divine Service, where God continues to serve us through His Word and Sacraments.

Friday, August 25 beginning at 6pm.

One Friday night per month in the summer, including again this Friday, Pastor & family will be hosting Family Bonfire & Bible Night, a casual environment in which Calvary & Grace members (and anyone else) can delve deeper into Biblical theology and how it relates to our lives.  Come between 6-7pm for food and fellowship around the fire at the parsonage.  At 7pm, Pastor will discuss various Biblical topics ranging from apologetics, Christian education, and church and state issues.

On July 9, pastor Hendrix (unexpectedly) received a Divine Call to serve Faith Lutheran Church, Oregon, WI.  With this call, he was forced to examine where his skills could be put to the best possible use.  You can read his decision below:

To the members of Calvary Lutheran, Ulen & Grace Lutheran, Crookston, MN, and Faith Lutheran, Oregon, WI,

In receiving a divine call to Faith Lutheran, Oregon, WI, I have been given the immensely difficult challenge of determining where the gifts that God has given me can be put to the best possible use.  St. Paul, in speaking about the spiritual gifts belonging to each member of the body of Christ, explains that there are differences of gifts and ministries. “But,” he says, “the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all,” or as another translation says, “for the common good” (1 Corinthians 12:7).

As I have prayerfully struggled with this thought, I have been led to the conclusion, for conscience sake and out of love for those I have been called to serve in either place, that the Lord would have me accept the call to Faith Lutheran Church, Oregon, WI.  So it is with both joy and sadness that I announce my acceptance of this call.  

It is with joy because I am confident in the promises that the Lord gives through His Word to strengthen and equip believers, and I know the Lord will bless my efforts at Faith.  I believe that it is at Faith where the skills God has given me can be best used “for the profit of all.”  In talking with various leaders in your church, I can sense an earnest desire to reach out with the message of the Gospel in your community.  I would be happy to lead your congregation in that endeavor.  

At the same time, I am truly saddened to leave the members at Calvary and Grace.  In the short time that we have been here, we have developed many friendships at both churches and in both communities.  My wife has also found a place in a nearby community teaching.  What is more, I also have the promise that the Lord would have continued to bless my efforts here as well.  Nevertheless, I still have God’s promise that He will bless the ministry of both congregations in the future.  

One of my chief concerns about leaving is an Early Childhood Learning Center project that the members of Grace have been pursuing.  But I am confident that the Lord’s will will be done in regards to the Center.  To be quite honest, I believe that my skills have been put to good use in the first phase of the project, but that others may have better and more suitable skills than I in future phases of this project.  It is not about me or any one person after all, it is about furthering the Gospel.  

We have not even had the chance to think about plans in terms of timing, etc.  But we will certainly inform everyone involved as our plans solidify.

I have many more thoughts, but cannot bear to tell them now.  Please keep all of the saints at Calvary, Grace, and at Faith in your prayers.  Please keep us in your prayers as we make this transition.

In the name of Jesus,

Pastor Jeff Hendrix