In the immortal words of the lyrics from the Sound of Music, “How do you solve a problem like Maria?” Except we are not solving a MARIA problem, we are solving a TONY problem. And truly, the LAST thing Tony is, to all of us, is a problem!

Yet, we have come this far by faith. Ascension hired Tony in the fall of 2013 and he began his ministry as the Director of Faith Formation in February 2014. Lord, how far we have come. In the spring of 2016, Tony and I started talking about the possibility of seminary. We realized through multiple conversations that Tony had been running from God’s call for a long time. Since Tony was a marathon runner – running was no problem. Yet, God has the power and the stamina to outlast us all, and even Tony could not run forever. So in the Fall of 2016, Tony entered Wartburg Seminary in Dubuque, IA. He entered a program that allowed him to work full-time at Ascension while concurrently taking classes full-time. After 18 months of classes he began his internship with us in February 2017.

For the last 18 months Tony has led a double-life as the Director of Faith Formation and Pastoral Intern and somehow kept his head above water in order to also be husband, father, and self-care advocate. It turns out we are coming to the end of Tony’s time as pastoral intern. On Aug. 18, Tony will preach his last sermon as our pastoral intern. We will celebrate the end of his internship with a reception in-between services and give thanks to God for his ministry among us as our pastoral intern. (BUT WAIT – HOLD ON!)

Tony is not leaving but his ministry among us is changing. After Sunday, Aug. 18, Tony will be away from Ascension from Friday, Aug. 23, through Friday, Sept. 8. The time away is to allow Tony to reset himself into the role of Director of Faith Formation and attend his normally scheduled “Prologue” week at the seminary. Tony’s time away also provides an opportunity for Ascension to reset as well. In September, Tony will return to his role of tending the faith formation and needs of primarily our children, junior high, and senior high populations along with their families. He will be, of course, available to chat and tend all of us as he always has, but he will no longer fulfill the role of pastor in our midst. It is unfair of us to ask Tony to continue in the role of pastor while he continues in his final year of seminary education. It is also unfair of Ascension to ask him to tend us as pastor, when we do not pay him appropriately for that specific role. All that being said…what is next?

At the July council meeting, the timeline for the next call process was introduced. In September, members will be invited to nominate other members to serve on the Call Team. The Church Council will craft the Call Team in October and we will install the Call Team in early November with the expectation that we will be ready to interview in February or March. And in February or March, as in September through November, as in every day of our lives, we will invite the Holy Spirit to tend the ministry of this place and the call process to come. We will pray for Ascension and our future; we will pray for Tony and his family and their future; and we will ask God to let God’s will be done among us. And we will not be singing, “How do we solve a problem like Tony,” we will simply continue to sing our praise to God as we have always done and lift our praise and our prayers to our God.

See you in church.
Pastor Chris

(Reprinted from the August 2019 newsletter)