This June marks ten years since the Michelson family landed in West Chester and began ministry with the incredible people of Lord Of Life. What a wild ride it has been and continues to be as we live, share, and celebrate with all people in the name of Jesus!
As I reflect on this decade of love and ministry together in the 513, I could spend this blog totaling up the hours that we spent experiencing God in meaningful worship, transformational moments of serving, mind and heart-stretching learning moments, and focused prayer for one another, our community, and our world.
I could stun you with spreadsheets and data as we review the millions of dollars that you have generously given in offerings, tithes, gift cards, and fundraisers over the last ten years and highlight the hundreds of thousands of dollars we shared with dozens of ministries and community organizations that are changing the world for the better.
I could attempt to quantify the impact and joy of being a teaching parish for Lutheran seminaries. Still, there is no way to chart the mutual growth that has happened while we hosted five seminary intern pastors in our real-life ministry classroom of preaching, teaching, serving, and learning moments. We have been equally blessed by their time among us and the legacy of their love and leadership will pay dividends for generations to come here.
I could remind you of our shared vision to grow the staff, bring renewal to spaces in need of renovation and/or repurposing, and the building expansion through the Share the Light Capital Campaign, not to mention the essential leap into digital platforms when COVID unexpectedly shuttered our campus and onsite ministry.
I could thank you for the dozens of Bible and book studies, which challenged our thinking, strengthened our faith, and stirred us to greater love for God, our neighbors, and ourselves.
But rather than looking back, I want to focus on the beautiful moments unfolding around us right now!
Every single week, we experience a steady flow of people who come to see what is happening in this thriving community of faith. Since a year ago, 24 families have officially joined us in mission, serving alongside the countless others who call Lord of Life home and regularly find meaning and purpose in our life together. Worship attendance has sky-rocketed from 210 in 2019 to a weekly average of 455 so far this year! If you’ve been in worship over the last month, you may have also noticed that we have a handful of precious new little ones. Four babies have been born in our community over the past month!
Your financial generosity continues to fuel ministry here in powerful ways. Please continue to give throughout the summer months to sustain our momentum. If you haven’t given, please consider a reoccurring or one-time gift to Lord of Life. If you have questions about how or why to give, I would be thrilled to share about the countless ways your gifts strengthen the church and alter your life.
As we assembled the Lifeline newsletter for June, I was captivated by the many ways God is leveraging our gifts and energies for serving this summer. Page after page is filled with moments of us using our hands and voices to be about the work of God. Over the next few months, Lord of Life people will help make homes warmer, safer, and drier with Appalachia Service Project (ASP), share a free hot meal on Tuesday evenings with Stepping Forward, make sure hungry school kids are fed during the summer months through Summer Lunch, and senior high youth will party down in New Orleans as they sing, sweat, and serve alongside 15,000 other youth at the ELCA National Youth Gathering! This Saturday, we’ll kick off a month of Pride activities in Hamilton reminding the LGBTQIA+ community—and everyone we encounter—of their innate value as children of God.
We don't do any of these things to earn God’s favor or to brag about how incredible we are. Instead, “We love because God first loved us.” (1 John 4:19). It really is that simple. There is One who calls each of us by name and loves us with an unconditional and eternal love. How can we keep that Good News to ourselves?
I praise God for you!
Pastor Lowell