Andrea and Arnie Koenig devoted 43 years of their lives to an ELCA congregation in the rural town of Hutchinson, Minn.
The Koenigs felt genuine anguish when their congregation voted to leave the ELCA in May 2010, partly in response to the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly decisions.
For support, the Koenigs met with others from the congregation who also sought to remain in the ELCA. Together they began exploring the possibility of starting a new ELCA worshiping community.
A “Service of Hope” was held on the lawn of the Koenig’s farm in July. More than 100 people attended the service. Soon afterward, the group planned a second service held at a city park. At that point, it became quite clear that a new ELCA mission start was possible.
Two months later, River of Hope Lutheran Church was born. Members are now holding worship indoors thanks to Vineyard United Methodist Church in Hutchinson, which opened its doors to welcome the budding congregation.
A grant from the ELCA Southwestern Minnesota Synod enabled River of Hope to become a “congregation under development” in November.
Although members of River of Hope are still trying to establish who they are as a congregation, one thing is certain: All are welcome. And that’s been their goal from the start.
“We did want everyone to feel welcome,” says Andrea. Once members began finding others who felt the same way, it became easier to move forward. “All of the people involved were so full of enthusiasm and love for one another.”
It also became quite clear that the congregation is passionate about evangelism and outreach, eager to make the gospel come alive in Hutchinson.
Part of their outreach plan includes welcoming people who are looking for “friendship, peace, spirituality, fellowship and a great place to worship.”
“Personal invitations are a huge part of River of Hope’s success, if we dare call River of Hope a success yet,” says Andrea. Her husband, Arnie, agrees, adding that River of Hope “can be a place for the ones who never felt at home somewhere else.”
On Friendship Sunday, nearly every member brought someone to worship.
“We are often asking ourselves, ‘Who is not here? Who is not being reached out to in this town full of churches’?” says Laura Aase, River of Hope’s pastor and mission developer. She was called to serve the congregation in January.
Finding hope in the midst of crisis
Tom Heyd served as interim pastor at River of Hope before Laura’s call to the congregation. His last sermon at River of Hope was a turning point for the congregation.
“How is it that you left bitterness and betrayal behind and came together in hope and peace, love and joy? How could such broken hearts be so wonderfully healed?” Tom asks.
He told the congregation, “You were intoxicated by the Holy Spirit, filled with new wine and destined by God for his glorious purposes.”
And members of River of Hope agree with Tom. They deeply believe that God is up to something good in Hutchinson, Minn.
Dave Pedersen has been a newspaper reporter in Minnesota for 38 years and a pastor’s spouse for 25 years.
My thanks to River of Hope (and other such mission start-ups) for doing the hard work of keeping an ELCA presence in your community. The congregation where I was raised and confirmed also left the ELCA and likewise give thanks for the worshiping community, Grace Lutheran, that is rising up in Giddings, Texas. I am inspired and given hope by these stories.
Congratulations River of Hope for the courageous decision to remain with the ELCA. Many are praising God for His presence in the heart and mind of your congregation! To walk in the ways of Christ and to welcome anyone into your "home" to share God's Good News just has to be what God expects of us. I will continue to pray for you and your mission.
Unfortunately there is a lot of this going on these days. So much strife over opposing ideas. You wonder, "why can't congregations just get along" when doing the work of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? But with dissension in the ranks the ultimate decision to leave the ELCA is made more often than it should be. For those who work as hard as River of Hope and Grace Lutheran congregaations to restore and renew their churches I applaud you, and pray for your continued growth and success in the ELCA.
I usually disagree with the Episcopal Church making a congregation leave their building when they decide to leave the church but this is an example where the opposite should happen: the church members who voted to leave the ELCA should be the ones to start over. That is only right.
Wow, our story parallels River of Hope almost exactly!! We just don't have a name as yet!
A number of us had met in one of the parishoner's basement late last fall knowing that we were being headed out of the ELCA with precision by the folks that wanted to leave. So, we arranged to meet in one of the nursing home's chapel the first Sunday of January...and it has been a blessing to so many...such a feeling of joy and happiness and spirituality and wanting to do outreach and mission. We've been worshipping about 60-70 folks every Sunday with about 100 people on a "roster" that we can count on...our worship space is great for the time being, and we just received permission from the synod to start "acting like a church!" The congregation that we split from has adopted a constitution and have voted to leave the ELCA and join the LCMC, but the synod council hasn't released them as yet...they've just chosen to ignore that fact.
We have an "interim" pastor that is the campus pastor at the University about 45 miles away. He doesn't have services on Sunday morn, so he's been able to help us so very much!! He has been wonderful!
Hopefully, we'll continue to leave the bitterness and betrayal behind us as we come together in hope and peace, love and joy, just as River of Hope has done. We have a number of folks that feel really betrayed by the old congregation after giving so much, but it's like a divorce...you move on. We feel like we are filled with the Holy Spirit and moving in a great direction!
We agree with the members of River of Hope--God is up to something good in Holdrege, Nebraska!! (Hutchinson, Minn.)
We'll continue to be the ELCA presence in our small community (about 5000 in south central Nebraska) and welcome ALL folks!!
One way to be intentionally welcoming of all people, including those of all sexual orientations and gender identities, is for your church (or nascent church) to join the Reconciling in Christ program sponsored by Lutherans Concerned/North America (see www.lcna.org for details). Lutherans Concerned also offers resources and information on the practical details that helps a church achieve its goal of welcoming all people.
According to the 2006 ELCA Year book, Hutchinson MN used to have 2 ELCA churches with a total membership of almost 5000, average attendance of 1400, budgets totaling over 1.2 million and benevolence to the ELCA of 120,000. Both ELCA Churches voted to leave the ELCA.
I think it is a good move for the ELCA to develop River of Hope and I am glad that they have 100 as they start. It grieves me to lose that many ELCA members from one town. Its disappointing that so far only 100 of those former ELCA members decided to stay in the ELCA.
I hope that former and present ELCA churches welcome everyone.