A Message From Pastor Wes

Grace and peace to all of you!

Our faith informs everything, including how we engage our world and, yes, how we vote. This was the main takeaway from the event that TLU's Campus Ministry and Church Relations hosted last Saturday in the Chapel of the Abiding Presence. Local church members joined our students as we learned from religious and institutional leaders. As we worked through theELCA's Statement on Civic Life and Faith, our presenters-authorities from both ecclesial and academic spheres-shared how they understood and lived out their callings both as disciples and as members of society.

Through a presentation from Rev. George Brookover (class of 1961) followed by a large group lunch discussion, we were reminded of the tension that we live in as a people of faith to be in the world but not of it, how our values as followers of Christ impact and speak directly to our engagement with the people and systems around us, and how even and especially in the midst of what seems to be unprecedented hyperpartisanship and divide, we have reason to hope and act in the name of Jesus Christ.

Thank you to all who participated in this event, especially our presenter, Rev. Brookover, and our panelists, Dr. Cottrell, Professor Beth Barry, and Rev. Keats Miles-Wallace.

~Pastor Wes