The Present Becomes The Future
Abiding Presence Lutheran Church

 
From 1993 On To the Future

Before a new pastor can be called, or even interviewed, a congregation must make a detailed evaluation of its needs, wants, desires, and resources. This is a time of reviewing the past and revisioning the future; a time of soul searching and discovering what the ministry of the congregation is now and shall be in the coming years. President Jack Palmer led us through the maze of paperwork and 1993 became "The Year of the Late Night Council Meeting". Council Secretary Ulli Freymuth deserves a special note of thanks for the complex minutes required for these meetings. The Call Committee, chaired by Fred Gould after Steve Hall began a new job in the South, also met often and long. After 9 months of waiting and praying, Pastors Tracie Bartholomew and Dan Whitener were duly interviewed, presented to the congregation after preaching and conducting worship, and called as the new pastors of Abiding Presence. Pastor Whitener will serve as full time pastor, and Pastor Bartholomew will serve on a one-third time basis. The congregation must stretch and grow as together they enter this new phase of the life of Abiding Presence.

Thirty years! Not very old compared to most of the Lutheran churches in New Jersey, many of which have reached the one hundred year mark. The congregation has undergone many changes in its lifetime. Children born and baptized at Abiding Presence have grown and gone on to college or jobs in other parts of the country. Many have married and brought their children here to be baptized. Few original members are still part of the congregation. Our transient society has brought new members and relocated those who contributed long hours of service. A new generation will take us into the future. What will the future bring? Only time -- not our time, but God's time -- will tell.

May we go in peace to serve the Lord