Pastor’s Report
Voters Meeting
Christ Lutheran Church
May 20, 2018

Beloved in Christ,

Christ Lutheran Church is the continued beneficiary of God’s richest blessings. I pray we can appreciate what we have, and give God all glory, laud and honor in return, both in our formal worship and in lives wholly dedicated to him and his glory.

Before I give my report I'd like to take a moment to review for you what the work of a pastor is, and what the work of a congregation is.

The pastor’s work is to lead God’s people in worship. That is his job description. When you see the pastor in the chancel giving voice to the Divine Word, absolving sins, teaching the gospel, consecrating the elements and giving the Body and Blood of Christ to God’s people; he is doing his job.

And it is the congregation’s job to worship! That is what we do together every Lord’s Day because God himself has enabled us to do it. When you worship you are proclaiming the gospel of Christ. Proclaiming it to one another; to the visitor, the inquirer and Prodigal returned. But what you may not realize is that when the church gathers for Divine Service she is also preaching the gospel of Christ to angels, archangels, and to all the company of heaven. But nor is that the end of the story.

Because as the baptized enter into Holy Communion with Christ each Sunday they also preach the victory of Christ to the: principalities and powers, and to the forces of spiritual wickedness in high places. (Eph. 6:12) The church announces to them that Christ our glorified Lord has saved us from their grasp; and that they are finished, never to rise again. And so there is nothing better and more blessed in all the earth, nothing more beneficial to the church or the world, than for the baptized to worship their Lord and King.

Moving on, we have come very far since coming to our new sanctuary 2 1/2 years ago. But we still have a long way to go. The items on my agenda, in order of importance, are as follows:

1. First we need to transition to the church’s present hymnal, the Lutheran Service Book. This is the church’s hymnal, and it is our duty to pray from it, and sing from it. If anyone has a problem with that they must address it to me immediately, and I will patiently answer all questions.

But let us all be clear that personal preference is not a reason to divide ourselves from the the church. Nor can we afford to let our emotions run away with us here.

There are 2,000,000 Lutherans, 6,000 congregations and 5,000 pastors who pray with this book every Sunday, we can no longer assert our own will. It is wrong to do so. We need to spend $3,500 from our savings to purchase 100 copies of the LSB so that we can take participate in “the unity of the Spirit,” (Eph. 4:3) and join the church in “glorifying God with one voice.” (Romans 15:6)

There is no reason to delay. I suggest we purchase the books immediately, and consider it my top priority as pastor of Christ Lutheran Church at this time.

2. Next, in the intermediate future, we will do well to begin a comprehensive plan to fill our sanctuary with liturgical art. I have a plan in mind and will share it with you as it fleshes out. But it begins with new altar paraments. Ours present ones work, but barely. The rods that hold them in place interfere with the communion vessels. Besides this they are hard to handle because they are not made for this altar – and our tiny altar guild is being unduly stressed. Moreover beauty in worship, is important as truth in worship; and so it is something worth doing as soon as able.

3. Thereafter we need to get our statues refurbished. They, too, are showing their age, and need some work. There is a company in Lakewood that does such work, I recommend that we look into it soon.

4. Next we should fill in the architectural squares that cover the walls of our chancel. Fill them with beautiful and colorful biblical scenes and liturgical symbols. I have a professional artist, who is offering to donate his work to us. May God grant it.

This decoration phase will take several years to research and carry out. But it is time to make definite plans and get started.

Lastly, let me bring you up to date on my nomination as District President. I am one of 5 candidates, the election will be held at the Ohio District Convention on June 28th. It is a three year term. In the event that I am elected I plan to continue as pastor of Christ Lutheran Church; you will always be my first priority and first love. I plan to be here every Sunday, with a few possible exceptions. Should I be elected I believe it will be a good thing for Christ Lutheran Church; and may bring people to us. We are already getting to be known as a church that promotes and defends the historic Lutheran faith. A faith that has been largely denied to most Lutherans for the last 40 years. People are hungry.

That is my report, I will now entertain any questions.

Respectfully submitted,

Rev. Dean Kavouras, Pastor
Christ Lutheran Church
Cleveland, Ohio