Dear NT-NL Leaders:

This past Wednesday night the story teller at my kids church told about Noah and the flood. He gave the kids little cocktail umbrellas and then used a spray bottle for rain. Those little umbrellas were no match and to their joyous laughter the kids got a bit wet.

While the children enjoyed the mist it was not lost on me how inadequate our abilities can often feel in the face of nature’s power. This past month we have seen hurricanes destroy homes and take lives in Puerto Rico and in Florida. I am so thankful that in response our synod disaster fund immediately could send $2,500 each to our partner synods. Yet in the face of such fury those funds can seem like cocktail umbrellas against a spray bottle.

With all we have been through the last several years as leaders we can feel that sense of inadequacy. From winter storms to just this past August we know the reality of flooding and the power of water against our attempts to contain it. We can feel literally and figuratively overwhelmed as we take honest looks at the sustainability of congregations across our territory. As we consider the history of synodical ministries like Briarwood and the future of camping ministry.

We have been and continue to serve in challenging times. And new situations arise that put to waste our best plans. Yet in the midst of this God continues to provide. New ministries are being started. The ordination of Pastor Veronika Czutor and the joining together of Bethany and Central give us hope for renewed vitality in that part of Dallas. We celebrate 75 years of God’s provision and gospel proclamation at Beautiful Savior-Amarillo and Calvary-San Angelo. These signs, like God’s rainbow after the flood, remind us we are never alone in this work. We do it together and most importantly we do it with God’s spirit guiding us.

So be encouraged in your work this fall. Enjoy the cooler temperatures that have come. Change is and always will be a part of God’s creation. And we rejoice in that for God continues to change us, and bring life from death.

In Christ,

Bishop Gronberg