March News and Updates

Congregational Retreat and Visioning Outcome

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

Together in God’s Word and love, we boldly go to sow and grow Christ’s kingdom!

On Saturday, February 17, we held the second Congregational Retreat of our visioning endeavor at Holy Cross.   

The Mortgage Burning.  In grateful thanks to our heavenly Father who provides all things, to His Son, the Lord of the Church, and to the Holy Spirit who calls us by the Gospel, we started the Congregational Retreat with a ceremonial burning of the mortgage for the Holy Cross Christian Center.   Tom Marzano, our current president, passed a copy of the PAID-IN-FULL mortgage to Pat Ludwig, who was president of Holy Cross in 2006 when we acquired the Holy Cross Christian Center building.  As Pat held the mortgage with tongs, Peter Olsen, current chair of our Elders, ignited it with an acolyte’s taper and all the assembled members of Holy Cross sang Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow.  Pastor Nickel led us in a prayer of thanksgiving for the faith, wisdom, resources and sense of common purpose by which God blessed us and led us during the time of this undertaking.

We thank God also for the work of His kingdom that has occurred in the Holy Cross Christian Center since 2006 as Sunday School teachers and children, youth and youth leaders, council members, elders, pastors, staff, Holy Cross members, mothers of preschoolers, visitors and others have gathered to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with others in this place.  We pray that the Lord will continue to guide us to do His will.

Review of Small Group Visioning Input.  The Elders led an overview of the input received from the 10 small group visioning meetings we held in January and February.  May God bless all 69 individuals who were able to participate in these small group meetings.   Our bold vision of what Holy Cross looks like in 2025:

• We will be bigger as we grow those who follow Christ!

• We will be more recognized in the community.

• We will have impacted others in need – both in our community and far away.

• We will have more fellowship opportunities among all members.

• We will help those with disabilities and special needs.

• We will have used the Dream Fund.

• We will be stronger and deeper in our faith.

• We will have more outside groups use Holy Cross’ facilities.

Developing a Congregational Strategy.  How will we get there?  At the retreat, we reviewed the more than 33 “sowing and growing” ministry ideas that came out of the small group meetings (and brainstormed a number more) and who we would be trying to reach with them.   And we asked ourselves how we would like to be involved.  LCMS Eastern District President Chris Wicher encouraged us to consider our congregational strategy in terms of three levels of a triangle or pyramid:

1. the base of the triangle is the internal infrastructure (both facilities and the structure of our current Word and Sacrament ministry) which all congregations naturally address inwardly;
2. the middle level consists of the outward efforts of the congregation to reach the community, such as by having 3-6 “blessing” events per year in which Holy Cross simply acts to bless our community with no expectation of a return; and
3. the tip of the triangle is 1-2 partnerships with other congregations where we strengthen each other by sharing our strengths and build our common purpose (Christ’s kingdom).

Led by the Holy Spirit, we then cast votes to decide which ministry initiatives have the highest priority in terms of current focus.  By far, the 5 ministry initiatives that generated the most energy are:

1. enhancing our current physical facilities to make them more welcoming and safe (the base of the triangle);
2. enhancing our current staff with the potential addition of a Director of Christian Education (also mainly the base of the triangle);
3. re-starting a Mothers Of Pre-Schoolers program (the center of the triangle);
4. organizing mission trips and relief efforts both locally and distant (the center of the triangle); and
5. partnering more closely with Lutheran Church of Our Saviorin Buffalo (the tip of the triangle).

Next Steps.  We then broke up in small groups to begin to flesh out what our next steps might look like in terms of leadership, participation, support, resources and timing.  Some participants in our small groups included:

1. Physical facilities – Nancy Cote,…
2. Director of Christian Education – Wendy Shelton, George Schettler, Diana Zubrzycki, Pastor Nickel
3. Mothers of Pre-Schoolers – Bob Corneck, Francis Cote, Katie Chalmers, Linda Cummings
4. Mission/Relief trips – Tom Marzano, Jeff Allen, Rachel Nickel…
5. Lutheran Church of Our Savior – Dave Chalmers, Bob Hamp…

Go! And Serve the Lord!  Last June we launched our strategic visioning process to help us continue to grow in God’s Word and fulfill the “planting” and “watering” that the Apostle Paul speaks of in 1 Corinthians.  Paul reminds us that God calls us together for a purpose, and urges us to maintain unity.  

Through your participation and feedback in our visioning process, we updated our Mission Statement and affirmed the gifts and strengths God has given us to advance His kingdom together.  In the meantime, God provided the resources, faith and wisdom through you, the members of Holy Cross, to pay off our mortgage 99 months early.  We now have been led to focus first on just 5 specific ministry efforts to strengthen or initiate.  Our collective mission is now to do this boldly and together.

We encourage your joyful participation in our continuing journey to advance God’s Kingdom and our faith.  If you were not able to make it to the congregational retreat, please prayerfully consider supporting and getting involved in one of these 5 ministry initiatives.   If you have any questions, or feedback, and were not able to attend the congregational retreat, please reach out to someone who was, or to Pastor Nickel, the Elders (Peter Olsen, Scott Brooks, Francis Cote, David Chalmers), the Council (Tom Marzano, Bob Hamp, Susan Brooks, John Zachau, Courtney West, Doug Garlapo, Laura Scarantine, Alex Hartley).   

The Lord gives us many opportunities to plant the seeds in the hearts of those around us.  Prayerfully consider how the Holy Spirit is calling you to help plant and water those seeds – whether it is leading, participating, praying, or supporting it financially.  There is a role for everyone.  Consider how the Lord has blessed and gifted you, and how the Lord may use your gifts in Holy Cross’ mission – “Together in God’s Word and love, we boldly go to sow and grow Christ’s kingdom” – and vision.  Read 1 Corinthians 12  and pray that the Holy Spirit will help you know your own spiritual gifts, increase them in your heart, and show you the opportunities before you now to use them to magnify His kingdom.

May our Lord Jesus Christ, the head of the Church, bless you, increase your faith, draw you closer to Himself, and use you to build His kingdom according to His holy will.

Peace be with you!

Pastor Nickel