I have a deep confidence that the hand of God is upon us for good here at Bethlehem in many ways, but especially in the calling of our ministers.

Let me describe briefly what I think the Lord has done for us

in the past year or so and what I think

he is aiming to do in our church.

About 14 months ago, the church called me to be pastor of this church and to devote myself primarily to the ministry of the word and to the

prayerful oversight of our total ministry together. During those first months together we prayed and we thought together

about what our priority should be in ministry that should guide the selection of an associate pastor.

And the priorities upon which we decided were that we need a person who could equip us for a ministry of outreach and a ministry of nurture through the development of a network of small groups in our congregation.

To that end, we called in February, Pastor Glenn Ogren.

We saw a vital link in those two things

between life in group, small togetherness and dynamic effective joyful outreach.

Then all along it was also our priority to minister effectively to our youth.

And to that end, we've called Tom Steller to work with our college people,

Corey Dahl, to work with our college people, Cori Dahl, to work with our high school,

youth, and Greg Hinch, to work with our junior high.

At the other end of the spectrum are the elderly,

many of whom cannot come to our services because

of their ailments, their infirmities, but want very much to feel a part of us and experience

as much of the ministry as we can take to them.

And to that end, the church, even before I came, sought the help of David Carlson, who works

in visitation with those people.

And then last month, we added Bruce Leiflad

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