West Region News
Alberta and British Columbia - Michelle Heumann, editor
What’s Normal Anymore? FROM THE REGIONAL PASTOR, REV. ROBERT MOHNS
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his spring, in the midst of all the challenging questions and chaos brought on by the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, I found myself driving in the countryside. My attention was drawn to things that I had viewed a hundred times before but never taken notice of. The tender shoots of newly planted crops, the black dirt, the slowly greening hayfields, calves frolicking about the land enjoying the first blushes of life outside the womb. There was something comforting, grounding in the normalcy of the scene. I was reminded of what God had spoken in His covenant with Noah: “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease” (Genesis 8:22). In the midst of a pandemic of “new normals” flooding our lives, we can take heart in the constancy of God’s Word for us. The term “new normal” seems to be a buzzword for our day. It extends beyond new hygiene protocols like physical distancing, mask-wearing, frequent hand washing, and the like. This pandemic of new normals includes mandates to grab hold of new worldviews, values, beliefs, and
ways of living in relationship with one another and with God. Perhaps you are feeling confused, anxious, fearful, or overwhelmed as you stand in the midst of the onslaught of new normals. What’s normal anymore? Why should it matter? God be praised that He has not left us alone in this pandemic to navigate our way through the chaotic onslaught of new normals. No, He has given us His holy Word. God’s Word is the one true norm by which all others are to be judged, as “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). In a few weeks, our congregations will observe Reformation Day. The Reformation restored the Word of God to the Church at a critical time. The Reformation happened during another pandemic, the Black Plague which decimated the world. It happened during a period of social upheaval. Luther’s world was chaotic and filled with challenges to the life and faith of God’s people. It was filled with war, uprisings, and revolts. It was filled with new thoughts, new inventions, and new social relationships.
Historians have often pointed to the development of the printing press as the reason why the Lutheran Reformation took off. Some today have also begun to suggest that equally important was the Black Plague pandemic. Whatever the case may be, it is evidence that our God continues to act to keep His Word front and center in the midst of His people, yes, even in the midst of the overwhelming chaos of our day. We trust that our gracious Lord will continue to act to save people in our day as he has done in the past, by His Word alone, by His grace alone, and by the free gift of faith in Christ alone. Friend, the world, such as it is, is filled with new normals, God’s people are blessed to have only one normal to focus on: God’s holy Word. May our gracious and merciful God continue to reform our hearts and minds, that His Word remains ever rooted there. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” - Colossians 3:16
Vancouver Island Circuit barbeque VANCOUVER ISLAND, B.C. - On the afternoon of June 28, 2020, members of the Vancouver Island Circuit and their families gathered for the first time since the pandemic lockdown for a barbeque and to give thanks for the service of circuit pastors Revs. Mark Smith and Tim Rumsch. Rev. Smith retired from ministry at Our Saviour Lutheran Church, Parksville, on June 21, and Rev. Rumsch was scheduled to conclude his service September 1. Rev. Fraser Coltman
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THE CANADIAN LUTHERAN September/October 2020
L to R: Rev. Mark Smith, Darlene Smith, Jackie Rumsch, Rev. Tim Rumsch, Rev. Erik Trovall, Jennifer Trovall, Rev. Paul Roggow, Rev. Al Dudiak, Rev. Phil Washeim, Shirley Dudiak, Rev. Fraser Coltman, Wendy-Lee Kruesel, Rev. Tom Kruesel, Rev. Kevin Platz, Jakob and Josiah Platz, Elisabeth Platz, and Rhonda Kelman
