May 2012

It was [Christ] who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Chrit may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. (Ephesians 4:11-13)

EDIFYING CHRIST'S BODY, NOT KEEPING YOUR CHURCH AFLOAT

When you eat, do you just want to satisfy your rumbling stomach? No, you eat to benefit the whole body. When you bathe or shower, do you focus on washing only your knee or your elbow? No, you wash your whole body. Yet, when we serve our Lord with our Christian living, using the time, talents, and treasures that he has graciously given to us, do we tend to think about how that will benefit the body of Christ, the whole Christian church, or do we look only at what we can do to keep our own congregation afloat?

This past January, pastors and lay representatives from the area congregations – Bethel, St. Bartholomew, St. John's, and Trinity – got together to see if there are areas of ministry that we can better do together than was can as separate congregations. The result of that meeting was a resounding "yes." In February we officially organized and took the name "Bay Area Lutheran Ministries" (BALM). On April 23 we had our first business meeting, in which we discussed things we are already doing together – like the women's retreat, youth lock-ins, and the "Emmaus Walk" – and also planned how we can further worship together, join in fellowship activities, do joint outreach work, have joint youth activities, and promoting training for Christian living and service. Some of these plans are coming up in the near future, and are mentioned in other parts of this newsletter.

What's the reason for having another organization with more meetings? Please understand that the intention is not to form one big WELS mega-church in Bay City. We still recognize the value and strengths of having our individual congregations. Our goal is similar to the reason why we are part of a synod, to jointly work together in areas where we might not do so well as individual congregations. It's like individual body parts working together for the benefit of the whole body. And all of this is to the glory of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who lived and died to redeem us from sin, death, and the devil so that we might be members of his body, and who rose from the dead and has ascended to the right
hand of the Father to rule over all things for the benefit of his body, the Church.

How does this affect you? Do you tend to think that all you do and all that you offer should go only for the good of St. John's? As members of Christ body by faith in him, could that attitude be too narrow-minded? Don't just look at one body part; look at the other members of Christ's body, too. Pray for us and support this joint ministry. We are looking for at least one laymen from St. John's to represent us on BALM. If you are interested, please let Pastor Schaewe know.