The Fast and Furious

I’m writing this from my hotel room near La Guardia airport in New York City. I always feel an extra jolt of energy when I’m in the Big Apple. The combination of densely populated neighborhoods, traffic, incredible ethnic diversity, and interesting sites set in the midst of beautiful rivers and harbors make it unlike any other city in the United States, maybe the world. If you’ve been here, you know what I mean.

Out of this energetic city sprouts some really innovative ministries as the church shares health and hope with others in Christ’s name. I am glad for the opportunities Wheat Ridge has to help seed new ministries here. This week I visited congregations who are currently receiving our help developing programs ranging from health care for the uninsured to ESL classes for recent immigrants to providing quality Christian education and social services through urban Lutheran schools.

I’m in New York just before Thanksgiving. It’s been a fast and furious few weeks for all of us on the Wheat Ridge staff and the upcoming break over the Thanksgiving weekend is certainly welcome. I know our staff would agree, however, that the events we’ve hosted and the projects with which we’ve been involved since mid-October reflect the dynamic and exciting opportunities that are always before us as we pursue our seeding mission. These have included:

 Hosting a reception in San Francisco at the home of one of our board members (Thanks, Lois!) featuring the presentation of our “Seeds of Hope” Award to Dr. Mary Gundelach, a great friend, encourager, teacher, and philanthropist who continues to share the love of Christ with so many individuals and organizations.

 Hosting “Living Well Days for Professional Church Workers” for over 200 pastors and other church workers in Minneapolis and Chicago. These events are designed to help these servant leaders refresh and renew as they consider God’s great gift of health and wellness.

 Visiting organizations and projects seeded by Wheat Ridge in Pennsylvania, California, New York, Kansas, Michigan and Florida to encourage them, to help them assess their efforts and capture what they are learning so we can share their experiences with others.

 Sponsoring a lecture and panel discussion featuring Dr. Robert Putnam, author of the best selling book Bowling Alone, and the newly released American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us. Attended by over 200 people in downtown Chicago, this lecture and discussion provided new insights regarding the critically important role of the faith community in civic life.

 Facilitating the most recent meeting of our Wheat Ridge board of directors. Our board of 18 talented and wise leaders from around the United States is passionate about the seeding of new ministries of health and hope. They work hard to govern our organization effectively and efficiently and always seem to have fun together in the process!

 Convening a military ministry stakeholder meeting of 15 leaders who have been active in promoting awareness around the needs of service members and their families before, during and after deployment and encouraging congregations to be centers of healing for them.

Praise and thanks to God who inspires leaders to impact the lives of people in new and creative ways. And thanks to God for the entire Wheat Ridge family of friends, donors, volunteers and staff who make it possible for us to serve these leaders through our seeding mission.

I hope you had a wonderful time gathering with family and friends for the Thanksgiving holiday last week and may you be touched by God’s presence on your journey to the manger as the Advent season begins!