Foundations of Faith (7)
Arrival of "Help" and the Dawn of a New Millennium
Throughout the years, Our Saviour had discussed the need to add to the church staff; this would be in order to help the Pastor, the ministry, and her outreach efforts to grow in a way that was equal to the size and demands of a large parish. The need had been there for a long time; now the time had come for a staff person to bring expertise to ministry here!
From 1999 to 2001, Miss Jenny Berk came on board to serve on the OSLC staff to work with Youth Ministry and Church Growth. Jenny was a graduate of Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary and came to us from her home parish in Lilburn, Georgia -- All Saints Lutheran Church. We were grateful for her talents that helped the ministry of our youth grow and change! Her artistic gifts also were very encouraging during her tenure as we developed a great group of liturgical dancers that were used from time to time during Sunday worships! Jenny's talents -- through the years since being with us -- developed to where she is well known for her designs in altar paraments and pastoral stoles as well as other chancel and nave dressings. To this day, if you go into the "youth room" downstairs, you can still see some of her handiwork. How many parables do you see painted in the murals upon those colorful walls?
Jenny left us in 2001, but only so that she might be married to Reverend Alex Hoffner, graduate of LTSS. Pastor Alex is the son of the late Reverend Bill Hoffner, who served here from 1966 to 1972. Alex's first parish call was to St. James Lutheran Church in Brunswick, Georgia.
We thank Jenny for sharing her life with us those two years.
During Jenny's stay, Our Saviour continued to flourish, and we inaugurated a new worship on New Year's Eve on the occasion of the new millennium. Not too long after the arrival of the year 2000, another need began to arise among us.
According to Congregational Vice-President Tedd Stephens's annual report on 2002, "we realized the culmination of a 17-year quest to enhance our church kitchen. The old kitchen had outgrown its usefulness, with space and equipment limitations."
The Renovation Committee consisted of: Cathy Bonta, Ian Darling, Lori Markstrom, Betty Marshall, Mary Ostermeyer, Rich Riesz, Berla Smith, Allan and Colette Forsman. Richard Koepper, through his connections in his work with food services, was able to help purchase kitchen equipment at a much better cost than normal.
A New Kitchen... And a New Minister?
The newly renovated kitchen was dedicated on Sunday, September 15, 2002 with our Sunday worship followed by a meal served out of the new kitchen. There was seen a great potential for service to the community in the coming years by having this more modern kitchen, more conducive to the preparing of larger quantities of food to help feed the hungry.
Once the dust settled from the renovation, the issue of a larger staff raised its challenging head again. The search was on. With the help of our Staff Support Committee, a study was done to see what the needs of ministry were (according to the members) so that we could make a better judgment of the person we needed. After much discussion, it was decided that we needed an ordained minister to best help our situation of stagnant growth. We needed (and wanted) new blood -- new ideas that could help strengthen the ministries of youth and young families, as well as someone who could be a blessing to our attempts to create a new worship experience.
The process was a tedious one. The Southeastern Synod- ELCA office sent a number of profiles, but for different reasons, they were turned down. Would there be someone that God had in mind for us? Did we have the patience to wait for this person to come to us? Only time would tell.
