ZION NEWSLETTER Volume 18, Number 1 February / March 2003

 Pastor’s Message

Ein Mensch sieht, was vor Augen ist, 
der Herr aber sieht das Herz an.

Man looketh on the outward appearance,
but the Lord looketh on the heart.

I Samuel 16:7 (KJV), Watchword for the year/ Jahreslosung 2003

At the beginning of 2003, I take a deep breath, looking back on a busy and successful Fall/Advent/ Christmas season. Attendance at services and special events has been more than satisfactory. We have found a good format, and people have appreciated what we offer. The office is back to full staff with Heidi Garman and Sabine Evans, and working with them has been a pleasure and a real help.

What do we see when we look ahead?

Sure enough, we see huge challenges: in the world, in our lives, in the life of our church and congregation.

There is much need of prayer for peace; our nation’s and many families’ finances are in turmoil, job situations are volatile, violence and crime in the city are yet to be conquered, and I am sure you all can add some very personal concerns to this list. Here at Zion, the question on how to manage the payment of the organ contract has highlighted how tight our congregational finances are. Our timeline is short. Easter 2004, the anticipated date of starting construction in the sanctuary, is not much more than a year from now.

Some of our most faithful members and volunteers are getting older and frailer. We have a great number of younger folks who are willing to give their best, but are committed to family and job, too - and rightly so. The influx of new downtown residents has been slower than expected, since the market has shifted (a recent article in the SUN paper mentioned that only 26% of the Munsey building has been rented so far). What we are getting, are more and more music club neighbors. That does not have to be bad, but it needs close monitoring.

 Der Herr aber sieht das Herz an …But the Lord looketh on the heart …. What is HE seeing there?

I hope a lot of faith, hope and love, ready to be put into action. I hope a lot of trust into his guidance, and a sense of affirmation that we are on a good journey together, a pilgrimage of faith and renewal.

In recent months, we have celebrated several Baptisms, and we pray for another one to come in late spring/early summer. We have a lot of literally new life going on at Zion.

Preparing the calendar has been showing me the wealth of groups and events scheduled for this year. This is exciting and promising. Yet we will have to be careful stewards of our limited time and energy, and we will want to make use of partnerships and professional expertise. The new arrangement in the office (with secretary and bookkeeper), the hiring of Cathy Graham as our developer, and our ongoing partnership with the Kickers are good examples. But we will need more. There is a lot of unused potential. We have a good number of people that could do more networking with other groups/people they are involved in. The large number of alumni of our Language School is another dormant potential.

Let your friends know about Zion! Bring (a) friend(s) to church or to an event!

Using these alliances will help the “busy few” to reorganize/refocus time and energy.

You know, we need to be still in order to shift from looking at outward appearances to getting just a glimpse of what God is seeing… And I pray that God will grant us all at least one of these precious moments in the year 2003.

Have a blessed year of the Lord 2003! / Ein gutes, gesegnetes Jahr 2003 wünscht Ihnen

Your Pastor

Dr Holger Roggelin

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Note: The “Jahreslosung” is an offspring of the Moravian tradition of choosing Bible verses for each day of the year – the Losungen, which have become an important part of German Lutheran piety. The Moravian Daily Texts began on May 3, 1728, when Count Nicholas Ludwig von Zinzendorf handed out a Losung, or "watchword" for the next day to each member of the Moravian congregation at Herrnhut. Thereafter one or more persons in the congregation went daily to each of the thirty-two houses in Herrnhut to bring them the watchword for the day.
The first printed edition of the Losungen, or Daily Texts, was published in 1731. The cover page promised a daily message from God that would be "new every morning." Today's Daily Texts are published in over fifty languages. The actual texts are selected a year in advance in Herrnhut, Germany. The Jahreslosung is intended to accompany us throughout the year and is chosen by the Ecumenical Association for Bible reading in Germany.

A heartfelt THANK YOU & DANKESCHÖN
for all the prayers, good wishes, cards,
a wonderful summer night party,
and your donations of $ 3,090.00
for the Anniversary Restoration Campaign
on the occasion of my 40^th birthday!

Pastor Roggelin's Archive of Past Messages From Zion