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A FUTURE AND A HOPE 
"I've got a new pastor ‘under my Christmas tree' this year!"

Lutheran Church of the Risen Lord and Hope Lutheran call new pastors.

What will be under your Christmas tree this year? Most of us will get sweaters, sports equipment, jewelry, computer programs, toys for the kids, and plenty of chocolates and goodies. While it won't be wrapped and set under the tree, Lutheran Church of the Risen Lord and Hope Lutheran will receive a very special gift this year–both churches have called a pastor from the Augsburg List of Clergy and will have their new pastor in time for Christmas!

Rev. Chris Conner accepted a letter of call from Lutheran Church of the Risen Lord in Odessa, TX. He will be ordained and installed as their pastor on December 15, 2002. Conner graduated from Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN, in May 2002. He was admitted to the Augsburg List of Clergy available for call in January 2002 upon the nomination of Dr. Walter Sundberg.

Rev. Cher Clay accepted a letter of call from Hope Lutheran Church in Platteville, WI. Rev. Clay will lead her first service at Hope on Christmas Eve. She will be installed as their pastor at on Sunday, December 29, 2002. Clay is a 1996 graduate of Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus, OH. She was called to serve a church in Ohio and ordained in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Changes in doctrine and practice within the ELCA put Rev. Clay in a state of confession (in status confessionis) and she demitted from the ELCA clergy roster.. Clay was admitted to the Augsburg List of Clergy in July 2002 upon the recommendation of Rev. David Schrader.

As we went through the process of approving Rev. Conner and Rev. Clay for the List of Clergy and helping them obtain interviews, those involved were struck by their sense of being called as God's servants of the Word, and their selfless service and dedication to proclaiming his gospel of salvation to the world. It has truly been our privilege to help them obtain calls as servants of the Word.

Many thanks to Mr. Ralph Martin for helping us to get the names of candidates to Lutheran Church of the Risen Lord's call committee, and to Rev. Kathy Sukke and Rev. John Fahning whose able assistance helped Rev. Conner to be certified by the Luther Seminary faculty, which in turn entitled him to the professional Master of Divinity degree he earned upon completion of the ELCA's four-year graduate program. We celebrate Lutheran Church of the Risen Lord's call to Rev. Conner, and their affirmation of the Lutheran teaching that it is the right of the congregation to call and judge the teaching and preaching of its pastors.

Many thanks also for the able and willing help of Rev. Mose Henney and Mr. John Howe in assisting our new mission start in Platteville, WI, in drafting a constitution and bylaws, a vision for their mission, and a budget for 2003 in addition to going through the call and interview process. We praise God for giving the people in Platteville the courage and conviction to start a new church and issue a letter of call to Rev. Cher Clay. Hope Lutheran began worshiping this summer, and God has blessed their fellowship with about 40 members already.

Please join us in prayers of support and praise to God for these pastors and the churches calling them to proclaim Christ–the real gift of Christmas.

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