From Pastor Walker’s Desk
People of St. Paul’s and friends,
"For Everything There is a Season"
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” Ecclesiastes 3:1
When I arrived at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in January 2020, I carried with me both reverence for this historic congregation and hope for where God might lead us. As the fifth senior pastor—and the first African American woman called to this church—I knew that my arrival marked a new chapter in our shared story. There were two things I learned immediately: first that this was a loving and welcoming community of faith and second, the old way of running the church was not financially sustainable. What I could never have imagined was just how much change would come, not only to our church, but to our city, our nation, and our world.
Within weeks of my arrival, the global pandemic redefined how we worship, serve, and gather. In that season of disruption, we discovered new ways to be church—from masks being a requirement, livestreamed services and virtual Bible studies to communion on the front steps and eventually a full weekly worship service with communion and music held outdoors.
While I missed getting to know this community in the normal fashion, I felt God’s presence. The Spirit moved through Zoom screens and socially distant outside worship, reminding us that church is not a building—it is us, together, in Christ.
And while I had plans of how to move forward circumstances changed it all.
Here is a list of some of the changes in the last 5 years:
In 2020 baptisms and confirmation took place outside, along with worship at St. Paul’s. The over 20-year-old nursery school closed. The synod moved in using what was formally the shelter reducing our benevolence apportionment.
Reformation Sunday of 2021 we joyously returned to the building attempting to discover a new “normal”.
In 2022, most of us removed our masks and tried to move on from the pandemic.
In 2023, our musicians began taking the Summer off, our Sexton left and the Accessibility, Belonging, Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity committee was formed. The ABIDE committee helped to form the library in the transept with the children’s corner and pushed us toward further accessibility.
2024 saw successes in repairing our flat roof, remodeling Schafer Hall and working toward chancel accessibility.
As we began 2025, Sunday School was revamped and is now called “Rise and Shine Kids Club," our Director of Congregational Life and our Musicians resigned. We have just installed a lift to make our chancel fully accessible to all.
Through these changes (there were more) we’ve welcomed over 25 new members and as I write I am about to baptize my sixth child just this year. Our committees function fully and though our staff is down to two, the ministries of St. Paul’s continue to grow and flourish.
The last five years have seen new voices, and a new openness to what the Holy Spirit is doing in and through us. The leadership is now reimagining our mission and vision, taking into consideration all these changes as well as our financial situation. This is not for the sake of novelty, but for the sake of rediscovering, shoring up our mission and crafting a new vision statement that we can all remember, recite and relay to friends, neighbors or anyone who asks about St. Paul’s.
In this season, we are being called not simply to preserve our legacy, but to live our purpose. What does it mean to be the church for this moment in time? Who is God calling us to become for the neighborhood, for each other, and for the world?
As we pray, listen, and grow together, we are trying to cast a vision that is both rooted in our past and reaching toward the future God has prepared. Stay tuned!
With Love, Pastor Andrea
