Pastor Sarah Olson Smith
Dear people of Christ the King,
Hello and blessings
to you. I am Pastor
Sara Olson-Smith, and I am blessed to serve among you as your interim
pastor in
the coming months. Christ the King has most certainly been blessed by
the years
of good and faithful leadership from Pastor Schott.
It is difficult to say goodbye, but we
entrust him, and ourselves, into the faithful care of God.
In the midst of
all
these transitions, as we move into
another season in the life of Christ the King's ministry, one thing is
certain—our God, who has led and sustained the faithful life and
service of
this community will continue to lead and sustain us. In the midst of
all the
changes in this congregation, and in our lives, we can be assured that
God’s
generous love is unchanging and constant. And in the midst of all the
changes-
Christ the King will continue to do its faithful work,
"rejoicing in God's Grace, sustained by
God's Word and inspired by God's Spirit."
Let me tell you
a bit about myself. My dad, who passed away in 2002,
was a
pastor and my mom has been a teacher, weaver, family therapist and
spiritual
director - and now, she, too, is a pastor. She is the Lutheran campus
pastor at
the University of Illinois. I grew up
around Denver, Colorado and moved to Wisconsin when I was in high
school. I lived in the northern Midwest
for the next
years, taking every opportunity to get to back to Colorado that I
could. I did
my undergraduate studies at the College of St. Benedict - a small Roman
Catholic women's college in central Minnesota.
Before going to
seminary in Chicago, I worked in Denver as a outreach
counselor
at a shelter for homeless and runaway youth and as a youth minister at
an urban
congregation in Minneapolis. I attended
seminary at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago - where I met my
dear
husband, Clark. He is the Pastor at St.
Stephen in South Plainfield, where we live. I served as pastor of St.
Peter's
Lutheran Church in North Plainfield until their closing in November. As
difficult as this was for the congregation, community and for me, I
deeply
believe that it was a courageous, faithful and missional decision from
which
God will bring surprising and joyful new life.
And now, God has
led me to you. As your interim pastor I will do all
the
regular stuff that a pastor is called to do: to preach and administer
the
sacraments, and to teach, provide pastoral care, and give other
pastoral
leadership to the congregation and its teams.
It is my hope that together, we can continue the bold, faithful
and
missional work that Christ the King has been doing.
As an interim, I will also provide care and
support through the transition emotions and grief following Pastor
Schott's
retirement. This will be our primary
work together in the coming months, along with looking at the history,
identity
and ministries of the congregation. When the congregation is ready,
perhaps in
the fall, we will begin working with the Pastor Tracie Bartholomew from
the NJ
Synod Office in beginning the process of calling a "permanent"
pastor.
You
will get to know much more about me in the coming months
as we work together to serve Christ and his people. And I am very much
looking
forward to getting to know each of you, Kendall Park and
getting to know the vibrant and faithful ministries of this
congregation.
Blessings,
Pastor Sara