It’s been a long time since I’ve written. Why? Because I’m back at work. Since late November, I have been serving as the interim Care Pastor at Northlake Lutheran Church in Kenmore, WA. Care Pastor means that I am responsible for worship and pastoral care. But I am also helping out a little with Council and administration. I am committed through the end of March, but they are not going to be ready to hire a new pastor by then and I’m having fun, so it is likely I will stay longer, perhaps up to a year.

Northlake’s pastor left in February of 2022 and they had another interim Care Pastor for about a year and then have spent a number of months just using weekly substitutes. Like so many churches, Northlake has experienced a significant decline in membership. But they have a dedicated and hard-working core group and they have set some excellent goals to become a healthy and strong enough congregation to hire a pastor. So there is a good amount of hope and positive energy.

They have a program called Imagine whose mission is to “Build beloved community through the arts.” This spring Imagine will be putting on Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat in the sanctuary. They sponsor monthly karaoke nights—and I am even going to give karaoke a try. We had a community Christmas Carol sing and there is a musical revue later this month. Imagine is doing great things. I’m also excited about joining with the local Episcopal priest and offering the imposition of ashes on Ash Wednesday at a local coffee shop. Lots of fun things happening.

It is very fulfilling for me to be building new relationships and getting to know people and their stories and lives. I have visited almost everyone in the congregation and that has been especially rewarding.

So if you get a chance check out the Northlake website or even join zoom for one of our services. You can also watch services later on YouTube.

Okay, back to work now…

God bless,
Coe