Beloved Community,
Blessings to you in this month of October! I look forward to a joy-filled month with all of you.
On October 11, our kids will sing in worship and share a VBS recap, along with our Noisy Offering! Then, on October 25, we will commemorate the Reformation and witness our newest class of confirmands affirm their Baptism through the Rite of Confirmation!
As many of you know, October is an important month in the Lutheran church because it is the month in which we commemorate the Reformation. We traditionally mark its beginning on October 31, 1517, when Martin Luther shared his 95 Theses in Wittenberg, Germany. Luther was deeply concerned about practices within the church and sought to call the church back to the good news of the Gospel. At the heart of the Reformation was the freedom found in God’s Word and the freedom found in God’s grace: we are justified not by our works, but by God’s grace through faith.
By the grace of God, reformation is still alive today. Every Sunday, we have the opportunity to come together, to hear God’s Word, and to be challenged, changed, and created anew—birthed from the love given to us in Christ through the mysterious workings of the Holy Spirit.
October is also a uniquely important month for St. John Immanuel. One year ago, on Sunday, October 26, 2025, the members of both St. John and Immanuel voted unanimously to merge our congregations. Then, on October 31—Reformation Day—we officially became one congregation.
How fitting that our life together as St. John Immanuel began on Reformation Day! Our story reminds us that reformation is not simply something that happened more than 500 years ago. God is still at work among us—calling us, shaping us, and creating something new.
May this season of autumn and this season of reformation stir the Spirit’s presence in our midst. May we continue to come together, discerning where we are being challenged, where we are being called into reformation, and where we are being called into grace. May we continue making space for one another as we grow into this shared life, united as one in Christ’s love.
With Love & Gratitude,
Pastor Maggie Westaby