A Letter From Pastor Tim

October 2021

Dear Family of Faith,

Sometimes, God puts a Scripture in front of us and we can’t turn away from it. Every time we open the Bible, every time we look in a specific direction, every time we close our eyes and meditate on God’s Word, it’s there. There is that special passage again and again. Lately, I have been seeing Paul’s words. So powerful is the Word and promise of God for us:

“ For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.  For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.” 

1 Corinthians 12:12-13

How’s the Body of Christ at St. John’s Orange doing? Are we healthy? Are we growing? Are we unified? Paul uses this passage to describe for the new Christians what their connection to Christ looks like – disparate people, with very little in common. But when people are in Christ, we’re so intrinsically linked together that it is like a single body.

Here’s some “Body” updates for St. John’s:

Momentum and morale are high. The new school year and fall ministry season have kicked off with tons of energy. Sundays have been filled with people singing a new song, with growing attendance and with more and more people participating. Our school enrollment is at a record level. Our campus is truly active seven days a week. Life Groups, Children’s Ministry, new Student Ministries, Outreach and Missions, have all started with great energy, and we are all working together.

Worship and Music ministry is also operating at a high level. While it was hard to say farewell to our former team, our new team has added a great infusion of youth. With Alex Guebert, Karissa Raebel and Stephan Nosrat leading our services, the energy and the connection to our hearts has been inspiring. You are all invited to:

The Installation of Alex Guebert as
Director of Worship and Music

St. John’s Lutheran Church of Orange

November 7, 2021 at 5:30pm in St. John’s Historic Sanctuary

A reception in Walker Hall Dining Room will follow the service

Missions and Outreach at St. John’s has provided a strong sense of community for our people and help to so many in need. Our work, led by Pastor Trevor, has gained significant energy and influence. Our monthly food distribution, support of Graceworks Kenya, and work with Foster Care in Orange County are making a difference in the lives of many. Thank you to the Body of Christ for faithfulness in witness, generosity, and having a heart for others.

Our school life is more active than it has ever been and we have a fantastic opportunity for outreach to dozens of school families who are new to St. John’s. This is the first time in recent history that less than 50% of the students in the classrooms are church members. We are working hard to follow up, engage, train, and welcome hundreds of people to ministry and, even more, connect them to Jesus. 

For generations, a focal point for the Body of Christ has been our Holiday worship. From Thanksgiving to New Year’s Eve, we will be worshiping the Lord Jesus. We have changed our service offerings to accommodate our growing congregational needs. The schedule is included in this letter, and I look forward to seeing so many of you in these celebrations. Thanksgiving is always so significant at St. John’s. Our Thanksgiving Eve Night of Worship will have a new tone with new leadership. Our Thanksgiving Day service in The Sanctuary will undoubtedly lead us all to a sense of dependency on God’s faithfulness and provision.

Our online broadcasts have been very successful and meaningful. We rejoice with our people who are able to worship digitally. However, I believe the online platforms are pale substitutes to gathering weekly with the Body of Christ—the worshipping community here in The Sanctuary and in Walker Hall. It’s hard to grasp on the screen just how energetic and emotionally tied we are when we worship together in person, here on campus.

Our financial status remains strong. You, as the Body of Christ, are continuing to give generously and faithfully of God’s gifts to you. Our administrative team have been good stewards of your gifts in their programmatic, facilities upkeep, and personnel spending. Year-end will provide an opportunity for us to step up and finish 2021 with
a grateful and generous spirit.   

When I was taught to read the Scriptures, I learned to look carefully at the nouns and the verbs. Who is driving what verbs? As I end this letter, I come back to the Body of Christ and am reminded who is “driving the verbs.”

“But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.  
If they were all one part, where would the body be?  As it is,  there are many parts, but one body.”   

1 Corinthians 12:18-20

The driving noun is God. The verb God is driving is placed, which can also be translated as arranged. God has placed. As I move farther into the back third of my professional ministry, I really think a lot about how God places the parts of His body. He puts people in places of influence. He puts people in places of unique service.

This I know; when God is driving the verbs, my response is trust. He knows where each one of us belongs and He works to get us there. Our congregation has gone through and is going through a major transition, and we have done so united and together.  WE are the Body of Christ!  At St. John’s Orange, God has arranged us as He wants us to be for this season. Our trust and hope are in Him for the arranging, and for the future.

God grant you resilient faith, robust health, and undying hope in Jesus.

Rev. Timothy M. Klinkenberg

A Special Message From Pastor Tim

Summer 2021

Dear Family of Faith,

The Lord reminded Jeremiah that...

“his mercies are new every morning.”

[ Lamentations 3:23 ]
Writing in the morning is sometimes the best time at St. John’s. It’s quiet. It’s beautiful with the sunrise. The mercies of God are being renewed as people wake up refreshed, as they call to their heart that they belong to Jesus and that the new day will be filled with “good works God has prepared in advance to do.” [Ephesians 2:10] My hope is that God’s mercies are yours as you read this lengthy letter and as you recall what we share together at St. John’s Orange.

■  New mercies are being experienced as our campus opens up more and more. Each weekend welcomes more returning worshipers than the weekend before. We are making one small change to weekends in the near future. Due to the departure of Pastor Hayes, the resulting strain on scheduling, and the warmer months ahead, our final outdoor service will be on August 1. I give thanks for the 29 of us who attended that first outdoor service with no tent and lots of heat last summer, and for all who helped to make Christmas, Easter, Graduation, Confirmation and many other tent events such memorable experiences. Our first service under the tent was held the last weekend of July 2020. For the past year, the blue and white tent has served us well and we give thanks.

■  New mercies are being experienced as we say farewell and Godspeed to Pastor Michael Hayes and his family. August 1 will be Pastor Mike’s last Sunday with us, and we will celebrate and say farewell at 10:30am Sanctuary service and a reception in the Dining Room that will follow. Pastor’s ministry here has been heartfelt, effective and filled with successes. Most notably is his work with Life Groups, establishing our Discipleship Pathway and connecting St. John’s to Peace, Tustin. Pastor’s new Call will take him to Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Springfield, Virginia. Pastor Mike will join a vital ministry and will lead a church that has significant influence in our denomination. Our work here at St. John’s will be challenging for a month or two, but we are a team that is prepared and ready to do what God has called us to as we continue in our ministries. New mercies include both the sending and receiving of workers. Our hearts go with the Hayes Family and our trust is in Lord of the Church to bring us another pastor who will stand in the significant footprints of Pastor Mike.

■  New mercies are being experienced as our schools prepare for a new school year with the robust blessing of almost 1000 students and a retention rate of over 96%. We are thrilled to add seven teachers this year: Carolyn Willett, Sharon Frydendall, Nicole Miller, Blake See, Jenny Lewis, Noah Eschmann, and Emily (Dabrow) Remsen.  God has placed so many wonderful faculty members in the lives of our children, new and returning, who will daily hear the “Good News” of Jesus’ love for them. Our children’s youthful laughter is evidence that mercies are new every morning. Thanks to Dr. Jake Hollatz and his team for recruiting and retaining so many students and putting together a fine faculty.

■  New mercies are experienced each weekend as we gather together for worship. We said farewell to Dr. Bill Heide after 31 years of service and have been working almost 2 years to find his successor. Our dedicated team has interviewed 16 candidates online, 2 in person, and hope to bring this decision to you in the weeks ahead. Our two candidates are energetic and truly have complimentary gifts that will no doubt be a tremendous blessing to St. John’s. Karissa Raebel is from San Antonio but grew up in Orange County and is a graduate of Concordia University, Irvine. She is a gifted musician and leader. Alex Guebert is our current interim Director of Worship and Music and also is a Concordia University Irvine graduate, noted composer and joyful teammate. My hope is to announce our Director of Worship and Music sooner rather than later.

■  New mercies provided for safe families and helping vulnerable children and families in our region. Pastor Trevor and his team have added a new team member, Jessica Holt. She fuels a bright momentum for this ministry. A St. John’s member recently shared with me that she had brought In-N-Out burgers, fries and drinks to a family of 10, led by a grandmother after the grandfather died of Covid.  She related that the children went to her, hugged her and said, “I love you.”  This is one of many vignettes that have happened as this ministry has continued to ramp up to a greater scale. We look forward to engaging more and more families and leading more and more families to Christ.

■  Life Groups and our fall push will focus on the “Being Challenge,” which will lead us toward a deeper sense community. We will explore “Keystone Habits” such as committing to community, studying Scripture, prioritizing prayer, seeking solitude and choosing worship. I think it will serve as an ignitor for our ministry and will help us to find joy and connection with others.

■  Our Family Ministry Team welcomed Mr. Jim Meyer on July 19 and his presence is so significant. Jim will serve as our new Director of Family Ministry. In the world we live, in which culture assails young people, we are blessed to have a strong leader like Jim to walk with students, parents, and families – pointing them Jesus, and providing a platform as our young people go from challenge to challenge in their lives. Welcome to the team Jim, and God be with you.

■  New mercies have been experienced through your generosity. As we finished the previous fiscal year, we have been blessed with financial stability. Covid spending was significant with some items that were expensive, including tent rental and many hours of overtime to provide a seamless ministry during the quarantine period. We have worked on, and completed, a normalization of salaries according to our Pacific Southwest District Salary Guidelines. This provides that our people are fairly compensated with wages that are aligned with other Lutheran Churches in Orange County. Thanks to Strategic Services team for all their work on finances, facilities and personnel. Their behind the scenes work and communication with staff and congregation regarding Covid has led us to remain open and serve so many people.

■  So many of us are grateful for our online worship. We went from crawl to walk to run in our production and now we do a very fine job. A new mercy for us, indeed! But now, as our campus opens, we need to overcome the convenience factor and “how nice it is to see you in my pajamas pastor.”  I also understand the ebb and flow of travel and catching up with vacation and finding renewal. The Scripture is replete with calls to worship and community. Each of us benefits from the community of the faithful and the encouragement that we give and take on a Sunday mornings.  My sense is that many of us have “over scheduled” our Sundays and filled that time with other activities. I encourage you, for your spiritual health and well-being, to get back to weekly worship on-site and get back in the rhythm of life

This fall, we will have “Super Sundays” that will include celebrating and highlighting all our ministries. The School Faculty installation and rededication happens in August, we have an all-church mission project planned, opportunities for children and families, Life Group leaders and participants will be celebrated, and healing and outreach will be shared.

■  There are many things to share and so much to celebrate. Our lay leadership is working on some significant projects. Our revised Constitution and Bylaws will be ready for review this fall. They are also working on strategic planning; producing a master plan that maximizes our acreage, including much needed renovation and updates to our older buildings like Building A and Walker Hall. We envision a place that will be a premier worship and ministry facility in central Orange County.  There is much for us to do as we “deliver the restorative hope of Jesus.”

■  One issue that has occurred since the closures, both at St. John’s and in churches across the country, is that volunteers have been slow to re-engage in service. Some are traveling, some are wondering how it works, some used this time to redirect their volunteer time toward other areas. From the bottom of my heart, I can tell you, “WE NEED YOU!”  We need leaders to help in so many areas of worship alone. We need ushers, greeters, communion servers, your help with hospitality, people to help with children’s ministries and student ministries. WE NEED YOU! Our team will continue to ask and encourage you and I look forward to seeing many of you step in and be a part of the team. As we engage in service, we engage in the ministry. Serving with the Sunday Team is a simple way to deliver the restorative hope of Jesus to others. WE NEED YOU!

The sun is up, and the sunrise today was glorious. Looks like God has provided another day of His grace. I find myself excited and focused for the days and weeks ahead. No doubt they will be filled with grace and joy. That’s how the Lord Jesus rolls in his Church. I pray that you are having the best summer ever. I pray that a time of new spiritual growth awaits our community and that we hit the fall renewed, refreshed and ready to roll.

As the Lord speaks to Jeremiah about the new mercies every morning, He also says, “Great is your faithfulness.” God is faithful. We have all experienced his faithfulness in so many contexts in the last year. He has been faithful in our families. He has been faithful in our hearts. He has been faithful in our congregation. God is faithful. I pray the best for you and for God’s love to be with you as make the big turn toward fall 2021.

God be with you and keep you strong in Jesus.

Rev. Timothy M. Klinkenberg

P.S.  I truly look forward to worshiping with you this weekend.