Sunday August 30th found me just a few miles up the road from my home at Faith, Fort Worth. This congregation has been served faithfully by Pastor Janet Kraatz for 14 years. She is now retiring, and we gave thanks for her ministry and released her from call. Although at least one member in the drive by reception line had a sign encouraging her to reconsider.
Every time I go to Faith, I am drawn to the photo on the wall of Rev. Orville Wold who served Faith for just 3 years (1959-1961) but whose family and impact live on. The Wolds are “shirt tail” cousins of my family and Orville’s son David (Dave) served as campus pastor at Augsburg College, Minneapolis (my mother and younger sister’s alma mater) for 30 years. He died suddenly in 2018.
Today I was speaking to a charter member who was 10 at the time of the congregation’s founding in 1956. When I mentioned the Wold family, she asked how Dave was. I was grieved to both share the news of his death with her while also comforted that in memory we live on. A good morning of endings and beginnings. God bless Pastor Kraatz and the Faith community as they look to the future. #NTNL #FaithFW #InMissionTogether