(Check here for urgent announcements, special service times, cancellations, etc.)
Pastor Adam on Sabbatical
Pastor Adam is on sabbatical from June 9th through August 3rd. Pastor Tim Kraemer of Christ Lutheran Church in Haysville will be handling any pastoral emergencies at Redeemer during this
time. His contact information can be found in Redeemer's bulletins, in the narthex, and in Redeemer's newsletters.
Shared Ministry Interim between Redeemer and St. John’s Begins August 4th
The Shared Ministry Interim between Redeemer Lutheran Church in Jasper and St. John’s Lutheran Church in Otwell, will begin as soon as Pastor Adam returns from sabbatical August 4th. The
Shared Ministry worship schedule will begin the weekend of August 9-10.
Please Note Sunday morning worship times at both congregations will be changing starting the weekend of August 9-10.
From August 9-10 through the end of October, unless otherwise announced, the weekend worship and Christian Ed Schedule will be:
Saturday-- 5:00 pm Worship at Redeemer
Sunday-- 8:00 am Adult Education Time at Redeemer
9:00 am Worship at Redeemer
9:30 am Youth Sunday School/Adult Fellowship at St. John’s
10:30 am Worship at St. John’s
Members of both congregations are encouraged to attend whichever worship service they are able to. Envelope offerings and checks made out to your home congregation, will be accepted in the
offering plates of both buildings and will be recorded and deposited in your home congregation’s account. (Please understand that offerings given to Redeemer at St. John’s or to St. John’s at
Redeemer will most likely be counted and deposited with the following week’s offering.)
Shared Ministry: What Does This Mean?
It’s official! St. John’s and Redeemer’s church councils have officially approved a proposal for a six-month shared ministry interim together--starting August 4, 2025 and lasting through
January 31, 2026.
What does this mean?
Answer: For these six months Pastor Adam will become the interim pastor of St. John’s (Boone Township) while remaining the called pastor of Redeemer. While Redeemer and St. John’s
will remain separate organized congregations with their own governance, finances, and buildings, we will seek to do many different ministries together and work to live into the vision of being one
ministry with two sites. This will necessarily involve a lot of change in the ways we have always done things and we will be asking all parties involved--members of Redeemer, members of St.
John’s, Pastor and his family, and regular visitors to both congregations--to be willing to try some new things and approach this with a spirit of openness, flexibility, and forgiveness. This
six-month interim is a trial period for us to experiment with shared ministry and discover if and how we might continue moving forward as two congregations together. Not everything will go
smoothly, some things will have to be adjusted, some we may discover won’t work in the long run, but hopefully we will also find many new and exciting ministries going forward that will enrich the
faith and life of both congregations. During this interim, the shared ministry task force will continue to meet and begin work on crafting a shared ministry covenant--that, with the approval of
both councils, may be put forward to a congregational vote at each congregation’s annual meeting in January. In other words, at the end of these six-months, both congregations will vote on
whether to make this a long-term shared ministry arrangement (perhaps with some changes from how we’ve done things during the interim as we discover what works well and what doesn’t), to renew the
shared ministry interim for a set period to continue discernment, or to part from any shared ministry arrangement.
What does this mean for our worship?
Answer: Both congregations will be giving up their 10:00 am worship time for the sake of Pastor's ability to preach and preside at worship at both buildings on Sunday morning. The
early service will be held at 9:00 am and the late service at 10:30 am. But neither congregation will be “stuck” being either the late service church or the early service church--either of
which could be harmful for the long-term ministry of each congregation. The interim will be divided into two 3-month periods so that each congregation will have three months hosting the early
service and three months hosting the late service. There will be no change to Redeemer’s Saturday worship schedule-which will still be at 5:00 pm.
From August (10th) through October the Sunday morning schedule will be:
8:00-8:45 am--Adult Education/Fellowship time with Pastor Adam at Redeemer
9:00-10:00 am--Worship at Redeemer
9:30-10:15 am--Youth Sunday School at St. John’s
10:30-11:30 am--Worship at St. John’s
From November through January the Sunday morning schedule will be:
8:00-8:45 am--Adult Education/Fellowship time with Pastor Adam at St. John’s
9:00-10:00 am--Worship at St. John’s
9:30-10:15 am--Youth Sunday School at Redeemer
10:30-11:30 am--Worship at Redeemer
Members and visitors are encouraged to attend worship at whatever time their schedule allows and to feel welcome and at home in either building. Arrangements will be made so that offering
money will go to one’s home congregation regardless of which building one worships in during the weekend. (This will be true of envelope offerings and checks, but for obvious reasons loose
offerings will go to the congregation where it was received.)
We are also planning on having (at least) two joint worship services during the interim period--an outdoor worship and picnic at the Jasper Riverwalk in the
Fall, and a joint All Saints Sunday worship at St. John's. Times for Christmas Eve worship services have not yet been determined, but each congregation will have a Christmas Eve worship service
in their building.
What does this mean for Christian Education?
Answer: Two major desires/goals underlie the plan for Christian Education during this shared ministry interim. One goal is for Pastor Adam to be able to teach/lead an Adult Christian
Ed time prior to the first worship service on a Sunday morning. For in his 13+ years of ministry he has found this Sunday morning Christian Ed time one of those aspects of pastoral ministry
that gives him energy and enlivens and enriches his ability to be fully present and engaged in Sunday morning worship. Something feels missing when he doesn’t have this class time on Sunday
morning, and while it takes a lot of work to put classes together, Pastor really enjoys and values the conversations and education that happens in that time.
The other goal stems from the strong desire of both congregations to have regular Christian Education for youth and a greater number of youth to participate in
that Christian Education--to be able to do bigger and better youth ministry together than our congregations can do apart. To this end, we want to avoid dividing our small numbers of youth even
further and encourage youth and families of Redeemer and St. John’s to know one another and be present together to give us a more critical mass of youth to do the kind of ministry our youth today
desperately need.
Therefore, during the interim period, an Adult Fellowship/Education time, under the leadership of Pastor Adam, will be held from 8:00-8:45 am Sunday mornings at
the building hosting the 9:00 am worship service. Adults (and high school youth) from both congregations are invited and encouraged to attend this time. We will begin the interim with an
informal education time--similar to the format Redeemer has used for Adult Ed the past two summers--”Coffee and Conversation with the Pastor.” This is a time to enjoy fellowship with one
another as we gather together to discuss theological, spiritual, biblical questions and topics as they arise. As we discover the further needs and desires of those attending, we may shift the
format somewhat, but this is how we will start out.
Therefore, during this interim period, to enable a larger, more regular youth Sunday School and have it at a time when we feel parents and children can make it,
Youth Sunday School will be held from 9:30-10:15 am at the building hosting the 10:30 am worship service. We may also be looking into having a lay-led Adult fellowship/education time during
this window as well for parents and others to participate in. Further details as to exactly how we will operate and teach this joint youth Sunday School will be discussed at future shared
ministry meetings and Christian Ed meetings at both congregations. We realize this is a really big ask for the youth and families of both Redeemer and St. John’s--to be willing to attend Sunday
School (and probably worship) at whichever building is hosting youth Sunday School during this interim period. But we hope that the benefits of combining our youth together, having a larger and
more regular Christian Ed for our youth (which we all want and desperately need) will not only offset but outweigh the sacrifice and provide us something to really build on for our
future.
We will also be having a once-a-month, midweek Adult Bible Study/Class in addition to these Sunday morning Christian Ed opportunities. Pastor Adam will
also be teaching the combined Confirmation classes of Redeemer and St. John’s starting next school year, but the precise details of this arrangement will be made over the summer.
What else does this mean?
Answer: Many other details will need to be sorted out in the coming months and we will also be coming up with some new ideas and plans in the midst of the interim ministry--especially in
ways our various committees at Redeemer and St. John’s can work together to do better and more ministry than we can do apart. We’ve been encouraged by what we’ve seen so far at our joint
midweek Lenten services and hope to see the cooperation and willingness to be two congregations in ministry together continue and deepen in the time to come. We all know that this is a hard
time to be the church--living in culture that increasingly feels that has “moved beyond the need for God,” and in a time when all the social pressure is against church involvement rather than
encouraging of it. But shared ministry may offer us a way forward in this time--not a life boat to merely stay afloat a little longer, but a new ship capable of traversing these choppy
waters--better and stronger together than apart. It will require all of us to step outside our comfort zones, but isn’t that what Christ always calls us to? Perhaps it’s time for us get
out of our comfortable but small boats and walk on the water where Jesus is calling us.
If you have further questions or concerns about shared ministry, please share them with one of the members of the Shared Ministry Task Force. The members
of this task force are: Larry Harris, Danielle Houtsch, Diann Zehr, Tim Mehne, Larry Freyberger, Nancy Otte, Sam/Lauren Ebencamp, Carol Keller, and Pastor Adam Ruschau. Copies of the
Interim Shared Ministry proposal that was put before both councils are available in the narthexes of both Redeemer and St. John’s.