A Note from Pastor Christian Scharen
Photo Credit: Ronnie Gilmore
The following letter was sent to the St. Lydia’s email subscriber list on May 17, 2024. Christian Scharen served as pastor at St. Lydia’s from the end of 2019 through June 2024.
Dear friends of St. Lydia’s,
St. Lydia’s is, undoubtedly, the best job I’ve ever had. A dream job, really, a surprise of God I never expected to happen. St. Lydia’s is creative, playful, rooted in tradition yet ready to break the rules for all the right reasons. It is a community with a wide welcome, and and a deep love. I love being pastor here, as hard as it has been at times (more on that below).
I’m writing to let you know, however, I have accepted an offer for another dream job, again, a surprise of God I never expected to happen. The past few years I’ve been teaching liturgy as an adjunct professor at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. They have offered my a full-time, tenured position as Associate Professor and the Gordon Braatz Chair in Worship. This position offers a platform to do work I care deeply about, helping shape the future of theological education and the life of the church. It is in Chicago, and we’re planning to move after concluding my time at St. Lydia’s at the end of June.
I remember how hard it was when I first came to St. Lydia’s. In December of 2019, the bishop appointed be to be interim pastor after a conflict with the former pastor led to her resignation after only 10 months. I began my ministry here holding space for truth-telling, hard conversations, listening to pain, and forging a path towards healing. But brave leaders and congregants held that space with me, and offered deep listening and care to one another. People showed up for one another, despite how hard it was. We healed together.
Then, just three months into my time as interim pastor, the pandemic arose like a tsunami, engulfing us all in its wave of panic. The congregation tried one week of an awkward hybrid Dinner Church before going wholly online. In uncharted waters, we did what we do: we experimented, noticed, and found our way forward. We bucked the rule of our denomination and our sibling denomination, the Episcopal Church, who both called for a so-called “sacramental fast” as they couldn’t imagine online Eucharist as possible. But for St. Lydia’s sharing the meal is the whole thing—if we didn’t, we wouldn’t be us. So we found a way to bless the bread and cup, and to use breakout rooms for the dinners we all made at home. We’ve pivoted more times than I can count, all sharing in envisioning a way to keep being St. Lydia’s in whatever circumstances. All of this was work we shared together. We again and again figured out a way forward. We made church together.
Now as St. Lydia’s celebrates its 15th anniversary year, the congregation—and its wide circle of friends, including includes you!—will build bridges to the future the Spirit has in store. Building bridges to the future will be shared work, just as healing from conflict was, and just as navigating the pandemic has been. I sometimes liken St. Lydia’s to The Little Engine That Could, except that instead of saying “I think I can; I think I can,” St. Lydia’s might put it, “Together, we can; Discerning the Spirit’s lead, we can; Around the table, we can.”
The very capable Leadership Table and its chair, Billy McEntee, along with Community Coordinator Debbie Holloway, will help navigate the waters ahead. While we don’t yet know who will be the interim pastor, the Leadership Table will work to communicate regularly about next steps as they learn more.
The picture above from this year’s Easter Vigil is so full of joy. Such joy is one of the reasons it is such a delight to serve as St. Lydia’s pastor. I am deeply grateful for all I have learned, and for the many rich connections I have made in the congregation, community, and network of friends of St. Lydia’s.
I’m grateful for you!
Christian