Plans and Prayer

I have always found November to be an interesting month of seasonal transition. We are past (Canadian) Thanksgiving, the children have been out in their costumes for Halloween, and now we in the church find ourselves waiting to begin the season of Advent. And all of this while Christmas tunes start appearing on the radio, Hallmark movies are playing daily, and Santa appears at the end of his annual parade.

As I prepare to start my time of interim ministry at Epiphany, I think this messiness and confusion of seasonal transition matches how the next few months might feel for us. It will feel like we are coming off the excitement of a great month. There has been a farewell party for Pastor Rasma and you have agreed to move forward in a forward-looking partnership with Kindred.

Along with all the good that has just happened, there is also hope for what is to come. There is a new interim-pastor who will be leading worship and visiting members. We will start to hear about what suggestions Kindred has for the property. There is anticipation of having some sort of an in-person Christmas service again after two years of facing restrictions.

It is to the people in exile that Jeremiah shares the Word of the Lord saying: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

Let us look together to our hope and future, of what is to come, while also remembering what has happened in the past. I want to thank Epiphany’s church council, especially Ron Heino, for their work in preparing for this transition. And thank you to Pastor Rasma for her leadership over the years and for helping me get oriented with your community.

We will get to know each other more over our coming time together but I’ll take a moment now to briefly introduce myself. I was ordained in December 2020 to serve the people of Emmanuel Lutheran Church in North York. I grew up in the Lutheran church, spending a great deal of time volunteering in my local congregations and with the ELCIC’s national youth gathering. I worked for ten years in the sports television industry before starting my studies at seminary. My wife, Carmen, also works in television and we have two daughters who love exploring the parks and trails near our home in East York.

I look forward to walking alongside your congregation as we enter November and the changing seasons. Epiphany has some wonderful plans in place, and I am excited to help you work through those plans. In the coming months we will pray together, we will worship together, and we will look to a future that connects the community and is led by the Lord.     Pastor Jordan Smith