Each year, on Pentecost Sunday, we hear the church’s birth story. It’s a joyful and festive day in which worship spaces are adorned in vibrant reds, and amazing images and sounds bring to life the frenetic energy of the Spirit’s activity in and through the church.

I was in first grade when I received communion for the first time. Before I could participate in the meal, though, I was required to attend classes and receive instruction from my pastor about the meaning of holy communion.

It occurs to me that you, beloved friends of New Journey Lutheran Church, likely received first communion instruction when you were a child, too. Perhaps you first received communion on the day you were confirmed around the age of 12 or 13. Church practices around holy communion have changed greatly in the span of 60 years. Not to mention how practices vary from denomination to denomination. As we’ve been exploring holy communion these last weeks in worship, I’ve wondered: to what extent does first communion instruction matter?

For this month’s Pastor Pen, Pastor Beth shares a video about the upcoming worship series: “A Place for You”

Towards the close of 2023, the congregation council articulated a vision for our community: “Telling the Story.”

When we began thinking about this vision and how it would direct us in 2024, we were, primarily, focused on celebrating 10 years as an organized congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).

For the first quarter of the year, “Telling the Story” related to remembering the last 10 years of our shared ministry: the people whose gifts deeply shaped us, the pivotal moments that defined us as a community, and celebrating God who has accompanied us in this journey of faith.

“Mommy, how come we don’t get to see Jesus?” Amelia asked me one day on our way to the grocery story.

These kinds of questions often come out of the blue as we’re running errands or playing outside in the backyard. Questions that give me pause and make me wonder what to say and how to say in a way that my six year old might understand.

Lately, (perhaps because we’ve been in the season of Easter for seven weeks and talking about the resurrection of Jesus) Amelia has felt annoyed that the disciples were able to see and talk with Jesus, and we don’t have the same luxury. “It’s not really fair. I want to see, Jesus, too,” she complains.

I wish to share a word of gratitude for the generosity of this congregation. I am grateful to God for your investment in my education as a first call pastor. In the ELCA, all first call pastors and deacons are required to attend theological education events twice per year in their first three years of ministry. As of April 10, I have completed the ELCA’s First Call Theological Education requirements. (Woohoo!)

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

This is our rallying cry during the Easter season. The rallying cry of our faith.

It’s a group effort to cry these words in a world hell-bent on violence, destruction and oppression. Even as we celebrate the mystery of the empty tomb, we live in tension with a world that is not ok: our neighbors are lonely, one in 10 Arizonans face food insecurity, conflict in Gaza & Israel, Ukraine, Haiti rages, and we are managing our own illnesses, struggles, hardships, and worries. How can we proclaim: “Christ is Risen” with authentic hope and courage?

New Journey Lutheran Church is turning 10 this month—double digits! Praise God! Did we ever, in our wildest dreams, think this holy experiment of forming an organized ELCA congregation in the town of Fountain Hills—a town that has plenty of churches already-- would get this far?

On the first Sunday in Advent, the start of the Christian new year, we began praying together this Prayer of Discernment:

As I write this Pastor’s Pen article, I am enjoying the tranquility and peace of the Franciscan Renewal Center in Scottsdale while attending the Bishop’s Fall Gathering with about 60 of my colleagues from around the Grand Canyon Synod.

Sometimes, being a pastor in God’s church and world is overwhelming. There is always something to accomplish, a person to visit, a call to make, a meeting to prepare for, a sermon to write.

“You are cordially invited.” Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie preached to a room of nearly 400 ELCA deacons and pastors at the opening worship service of the Rostered Ministers Gathering (RMG) hosted at the Phoenix Convention Center in mid-July.

As Christian people, we are called to profess hope.

In a world that seems hell-bent on violence and destruction and death, here we are, the people of God: singing and praying, serving and sharing all because we have hope for a world that can be better.

On Pentecost Sunday, we named before God the nations of the world, pleading for mercy and healing for those places and peoples torn by ancient animosities or terrorized by new fears.

Towards the end of April, I joined eight of my first call colleagues at Spirit in the Desert retreat center for our bi-annual and mandatory First Call Theological Education (FCTE) event.

At the end of March, I had the distinct privilege of participating on a “Philosophy of Religion” panel hosted by the Congregation Beth Israel in Scottsdale for their midweek teen education program.

What is Lent, exactly? Well, Lent marks a forty-day period leading up to Easter, and mirrors Jesus’ forty-day wilderness stay. Observing the season of Lent became a practice during the 4th century as a way for Christians to prepare for the holiest days in the church calendar.

I really enjoy developing goals. It has taken me years to figure this out, but I need to develop goals because I am easily distracted by possibilities and new ideas. I love new ideas. My imagination goes wild when someone comes forward and says something like: “Have you ever considered [fill in the blank] before? Might we try that out?”

Merry Christmas, people of New Journey! While many of my neighbors have begun removing Christmas lights from the exterior of their homes and the inflatable Christmas characters are slowly disappearing from lawns, the western church continues to celebrate the joy and the mystery of God come down in the person of Jesus.