From the Pulpit: Pastor Shunk, beaver valley

Friends in the Community,

Greetings to each and every one of you from God our loving heavenly Father and our living Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I hope and pray that this article finds all of you well as we quickly enter the month of September!

For those of you who have not met me, my name is Josh Schunk, and I am the new pastor at Beaver Valley Lutheran Church. I started serving this congregation on June 1, and I am very excited to be here in this place with all of you at this particular time!

One reason that I am extremely thrilled to be here at this time is because you can see all the wonderful things that God is doing among us. You see this when you drive by many of the church buildings when the families of faith are gathered for worship and other programming. Many of the parking lots are filled with cars, and the buildings are buzzing with the passion the people have for their relationships with God and their relationships with one another. When you get to see this type of passion and energy, you know God is up to something special!

This excitement is not confined to certain buildings or certain spaces. A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend the prayer breakfast that was hosted by the ministerial association. That event was truly a gift from God to this community. Activities like that do not take place everywhere. We had the chance to see people of all ages gathered together to pray for each other, to pray for the school year and to hear from a great speaker.

Along with giving people passion and energy, God is also causing this area to grow numerically and spiritually right now. I am amazed by the growth that I have seen since the first time I visited here in early January. There are many new houses and apartments that were not here seven or eight months ago. This growth has brought new people and new energy to this community and into our congregations.

God is also using our congregations to help people grow closer to him. I have been blessed to meet many of the pastors who live, work and serve here. I have heard about the great things happening when it comes to the spiritual lives of the people in this community. The pastors and other church leaders are offering many great worship, educational and youth opportunities to help God’s people grow closer to their Lord and Savior and closer to one another.

With all of these great things happening around us, we are invited to praise God in our own congregations and to praise God as members of the Church which is the entire body of Christ! This praise builds our enthusiasm and energy!

Just a thought …