Greetings family of Faith! The temperatures outside don’t make it feel like fall is around the corner, but the calendar tells me it is. Hopefully, September will bring an end to this crazy fire season and our skies will finally clear up for a while!
                I shared this already in our Sunday announcements, but I am excited to say once again that we have received our first distribution from the Mission of Faith Endowment Fund! All the hard work, and generosity that our congregation put into raising money during 2016 is paying off and benefitting our ministry going forward. From the the initial $34,000 we raised as our principal amount in the endowment fund account, we received our first distribution of $367.56! Distributions are money that is generated from the interest, dividends, capital gains, etc., which come from the money that we deposited into our account with the broader ELCA Endowment Fund. We will receive a distribution from the Mission of Faith Endowment Fund every quarter, totaling four per year.
                The Endowment Fund Committee, consisting of Rick Tameler, Janette Rosman, Dustin Hess, and myself, met and started deliberating how we should spend the money that our Fund is bringing in. Since we hope to grow the Mission of Faith Endowment Fund over time, the committee decided that it was important to use some of the funds we receive towards this purpose. We decided that we would like to devote a ten percent tithe out of each distribution to put back into the fund for future growth. We intend to be faithful stewards of the money that has been entrusted to us, and we believe that giving money to the future of Faith Lutheran Church’s ministry is a crucial aspect of that stewardship.
                The committee also decided, and our church council approved, that we would like to spend the rest of our first distribution in support of Elias Nawawieh from Polson when he travels to support Christian refugees in Jordan in October. Christians have been in Iraq for nearly 2,000 years, since the time of the apostles and the early church, but ISIS has forced them to renounce their Christian faith, flee, or die. These deeply committed Christians believed that it was better to give up everything than abandon their faith, and many are now in refugee camps in Jordan having left all that they own behind. Elias Nawawieh has traveled and worked with refugees in Jordan for several years. Elias is originally from Bethlehem in Palestine, and regularly leads trips to the Holy Land from the United States and elsewhere. He is uniquely suited to provide aid to Iraqi refugees because his first language is Arabic and he has many contacts in the Middle East. By supporting Elias, we will not only be helping Christian refugees in need, but also pushing back against the evil that ISIS commits against its own people in Iraq and Syria.
                Since distributions from the Mission of Faith Endowment Fund are not all that big yet, we determined that it is best to devote them to specific causes each quarter, instead of splitting them up into smaller amounts. We expect that future distributions will be used to support things like youth service learning trips, scholarships for camp, or similar causes. We also intend to support international and other local causes with the money that we receive from the Fund, and we are grateful for this opportunity which enables us to do both at the same time!

In Christ,
Pastor Seth

                Kids are going back to school already? Summer is nearly over? I mean, it has been hot for a long time, but don’t we still have a couple months left? I guess not! Not sure about you, but this summer definitely seems to have slipped away from me. With the business of trips, family visiting, vacation Bible school, camp, and every other activity over these last couple of months I am left with one thought – “where has the time gone?” I suppose time does really fly by when you are busy.
                As we think about gearing up for the fall once again, there are a few things that I hope you will think about in the life of our community of Faith. First off, you probably have noticed if you are on the email list or Facebook that I have started blogging. If you are not, this message is for you. I have started an author website, www.revsethnelson.com, and I have started a blog that I hope to update on a weekly basis. My blog entries will give spiritual reflections on the church, life, faith and other topics that I hope you will find interesting. Check it out and share it with friends and family that you think might be interested in reading it!
                When the school year starts, there are many things that start back up at church, too. From Sunday school to confirmation, quilting to potluck dinners, you will have many opportunities to get involved when the fall rolls around. As you consider your church involvement this year, I want to challenge you to think about new things you might want to see us do as a faith community this year. Do you think you would like to have more Bible studies in our congregation? Great! Think and pray about what you would want them to look like and tell me about it. Want different activities for kids in our community? Great! Think and pray about it and let me know. Want to see changes to our church property? Great! Think and pray about it and let me know.
                While we are on the subject, I want to throw out a couple of opportunities that I could use some help with. First off, I could use another person to help with the bookstore that we run in conjunction with Dobson Creek Coffee here in Ronan. The bookstore (a mini-bookstore within the coffee shop), has been going well for a little over a year. Through sales we have raised close to $1,000 for our youth! It has been a fun way for me to raise money on behalf of our youth, while at the same time bringing new books into our area. Not only are we raising money for our youth ministry, we are promoting literacy at the same time - a faithful endeavor for us people of the book! Though I have enjoyed monitoring the shelves every week, ordering more books as needed, I could use some help with these tasks. I am looking for one or two people to help me with the ordering process, as well as thinking about what books we want to keep stocked and what books people actually want to buy. If this is something that interests you, please let me know!
                Another task that I will likely need help with is replacing the front steps on the parsonage. The current, concrete ones do not have safe railings for children like Otto and Freja to walk on and we should think about prioritizing safety in our buildings. Additionally, the steps have put a strain on the foundation. As the soil has settled, the steps have pulled forward and are now threatening the integrity of the foundation wall. We are thinking about knocking out the current steps and replacing them with wooden ones that have proper railings and would be safe for the foundation. Let me know if you are interested in helping out with this project.
                Have a blessed August!
 
In Christ,
Pastor Seth

                Western Montana is not a bad place to be during the summer months. Our gray winters roll away to shed beautiful rays of sunshine on our Mission Mountains, eventually warming up the lake at the same time. The birds seem to sing a little brighter, water from the mountains seems to flow a little clearer, and the trees are a bit greener. It is good to have seasons in our lives when things get just a little bit easier and more relaxed. Summer time in Montana is one of those seasons.
                It can be hard to let things just be easy and good - there is always something to stress about if we want to. For instance, we know that western Montana is a great place to be in the summer because of the nice weather and sunshine, but also because of the hordes of tourists that make crossing highway 93 nearly impossible. We can relish in the sunshine, or grumble that it makes traffic around here nearly impassable. The choice is ours. We can cherish how the air is getting warm and sunny, or get paranoid about the forest fires that will very possibly be around the corner because of our sunny skies. With the good comes the bad and we can get stuck focusing on the bad instead of the good.
                Sometimes it is kind of odd how we get stuck dwelling on the bad. You may receive twenty compliments about a job well done, but the only one you really remember is the person who criticized the work you did. You might be respected by most all of your colleagues and friends, but the one person who antagonizes you is the only person you dwell on. You might have countless holiday celebrations as a family that are blessed and wonderful, but the only one anybody talks about is when everything broke down into a heated argument. While there are many good things to focus and dwell on, it is easy to get stuck paying attention only to the bad.
                Yet, for all that we might want to focus on things that can bring us down, God desires for us to dwell on what truly matters. One of my favorite Bible verses is Psalm 46:10 in which the Lord commands through the Psalmist, “Be still and know that I am God.” What a simple but profound command – be still and rest in the knowledge that God is God. Do not be anxious about the people who make you feel bad, the ways that you feel you do not add up, or the circumstances that make you feel miserable. Instead, be still.                      
Be still.
Be still.
 
 
                In the stillness, remember that God is God and has it all under control. And, in the stillness, focus on the things that really matter… (while enjoying the sunshine!).
 
In Christ,
Pastor Seth