Message from Head Elder Bob Krahn

Greetings dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus,

    I want to take time to reach out to each of you as it is always best to be armed with the facts and not make suppositions. As you all know our beloved Pastor Wilke has received a divine call from Trinity Lutheran Church. This is the extent of the events thus far.

 Pastors very routinely receive calls from congregations seeking a shepherd for their flock, and I have spoken with many of you since this has happened. Let me start by saying our pastor is simply honoring the call process and the divine nature of the Call, both upon his life, and the ministry that God has placed in the path of all ordained pastors. The divine call is very unique in that as the name describes, it is a call from God to serve, whether here, or at Trinity, or in some other location. Nowhere in the divine call process does a pastor seek out a call for himself. The only entities that participate in placing names on a call list for submission are the calling congregation and District President.

 Pastor already has and is faithfully exercising his existing call at Immanuel. He dearly loves each of us with all our shortcomings and faults. But he has an obligation under the yoke of Christ to diligently pray and seek the will of God for the use of his gifts in the service of Christ throughout the kingdom.

We should not begrudge our family, the church at large, because they call our pastor, but instead seek the Lord’s will for our local church and the greater church at large through diligent prayerful considerations. (For who hath known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct Him? 1 Corinthians 2:16) We only know at this time that a congregation has placed a divine call to pastor Wilke. Please diligently pray for him and his family as he honors the Lord in seeking His will. It is most common and an unwritten rule of thumb for this part of the process to take three to four weeks before responding to such a call. It is not something to be rushed or impatient about, also given the season of advent (a very busy time for pastors) it may even be the new year before he will make a decision. There is no restriction of time  

So, in closing, pray for pastor Wilke, Immanuel, and Trinity knowing with full assurance that Christ Jesus, the Lord of the church, will not leave or abandon you and only has the best plans for each of His children. Christ himself builds and keeps His church, and nothing will prevail against His perfect plan.



May God grant you peace in this joyful season of Advent.

Bob Krahn