Ink Blot

Monthly Newsletter from Pastor Dawn

September 2026

Greetings Advent Lutheran Church Family,

Thank you for attending our conversations to consider our public declaration to become a Reconciling in Christ (RIC) congregation. The RIC Task Force held 3 scheduled gatherings in August and our congregational vote is Sept 13, just ahead of Boro Pride. Please plan to attend.

            The Council had an excellent Strategic Planning Retreat last month and have come up with the following primary and secondary goals for this year:

1. Increase the number of Small Groups we provide to the congregation as a way to foster faith formation, fellowship, and congregational growth.   New groups thus far:
   1. Verses of Advent (monthly prayer brunch)
   1. LGBTQIA Round Table: Meets monthly, 2nd Sunday
   1. Men’s Group*: currently seeking 2nd-facilitator (if interested, connect with ME).
   1. Senior’s Ministry: First monthly luncheon Sept 16th
2. Work on our strategic marketing plan by:1) Hire a paid Tech position that will focus on public facing strategic marketing and a potential “Advent LC” app to help us better serve our congregational family and our neighbors.

As I mentioned last month,  we are doing wonderful things in multiple areas. We are known as a friendly church but we are NO longer the only affirming church in RuCo. We are, however, the only ELCA Lutheran church.

We need to dedicate our efforts in a direction that sets Advent apart and sparks interest for folks to visit, and hopefully join. The options to expand are many but you need to decide how you would like to grow. A thriving church does not count “butts in the pews,” as Bishop Strickland says, it measures the impact to the community, inside and outside the church walls.

We did a great job stabilizing ourselves last year; Thank you to each of you who regularly attended worship, volunteered, blessed us with your prayer requests and praise reports, and helped to grow our congregation to where we are today. It is now time to shift forward and focus on creating and revitalizing our ministries.

As we make decisions, I invite you into a time of prayerful consideration as to what and how you would like to use your gifts to help grow, enliven, and enjoy your church. It begins with you asking yourself “what do I need from my church?” and “why do I keep coming back to Advent LC?” (specifically) I’m excited for this next year of ministry and I humbly thank you for your trust in me as your pastor and for your encouragement and support of me to help guide and lead us into the future of what God has in store for us.

Peace and blessings,

Pastor Dawn