June 14 @ 1pm- Final Service at Christ Church

Dear brothers and sisters,

I regret that a prior commitment will take me out of the country on June 1 so that I will have to miss the final service of Christ Lutheran Church in Ghent on June 14 at 1 pm. The congregation is not disbanding. The members have voted to sell their building to a Mennonite congregation which has a school and would like to get started as soon as possible in renovations to ready the building for the new school year.

Christ Lutheran Church is deeply involved with Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Chatham to consolidate the two congregations and form a new congregation. It seems that in voting to sell their beloved building, Christ Church is all but said yes to the consolidation even before all the details are worked out. My observation is that the mood is just as positive at Emmanuel, though they are not selling their building in order to prove it. I am happy to say the level of trust seems to be high in both congregations.

The willingness of Christ's members to sell their building seem to be driven by four factors. 1. They have come to the conclusion that they cannot continue on as a freestanding congregation. 2. They want very much to see their beloved church building continue to be used as a church. 3. They have an interested buyer, which is very important in this market, and that buyer happens to be a church. 4. Christ and Emmanuel have already been worshiping together every Sunday at 10 am in Chatham since January.

In the months since January the church building in Ghent has been used for meetings but not for worship. The people of Christ rightfully desire to have one final service and at its conclusion to carry out certain items which symbolize their life together in that place. These items like the Bible, chalice, cross, membership roster, historic documents like minutes of meetings for over two hundred years will be brought to the Chatham building as part of Christ Church's contribution of its life and history to the new congregation under formation. Other furniture and items specifically used in worship will be moved to Chatham later.

A consolidation of the two congregations is not the end of a ministry that began in Ghent in 1801, nor one that began in Chatham in 1874. These are efforts to build something new on these foundations.

What will be observed on June 14 is the final service in the venerable old building in Ghent by Christ Church. Meanwhile Christ Church continues to worship together with Emmanuel Church in the building on Park Row in Chatham until the new congregation is officially formed. They may choose a name for the the new congregation as early as this coming Sunday, May 31, 2009, the festival of Pentecost, the day on which Christians observe the birthday of the Christian Church.

Come and join the members of Christ Lutheran Church as they say farewell to a church building which has served them so well for nearly a century. Come and celebrate with them and encourage them, and their fellow Lutherans in Chatham as they together take a bold next step in the process of forming a congregation that can position itself for a new and stronger ministry together which will continue to serve the neighboring communities they have previously served separately.

Pastor Bob