Greeting from Our CLB President
“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”
I have had this verse on my office wall throughout my time in ministry. I recently took it down off the wall and packed it into my station wagon where it sits awaiting a new office. As I write this, I am awaiting that new office as well. Since being installed in June at the Biennial Convention I have focused on wrapping up a 19-year ministry at True Life Church in Rochester, Minnesota. In the two weeks since my last day there, thoughts have turned increasingly to what comes next.
A lot is unknown―to us―but not to the Head of the Church. Not to The Vine. So my job is to abide. To call it a “job” may be distasteful to some, but if we understand that we get to rest in the One who gave his life for us, to remain in the One who is preparing a place for us, to abide in the One who knows the number of hairs on our heads (mine have been getting easier to count), then the only effort of the job is in remembering. Remembering who produces the fruit. Remembering that apart from him we can do nothing.
Abiding in Jesus gives peace, it gives encouragement, and it reminds us that what he does through us matters. 125 years ago, the Church of the Lutheran Brethren began. The early leaders were those whose abiding led them to action for the sake of the gospel. Their God-given vision was to see many more people abiding in Jesus. Two names stand out in that early history: K. O. Lundeberg and E. M. Broen. They experienced many hardships during their tenures as leaders. There are three things I took away from their stories. They were willing to take a stand for what was right and good and godly… at personal cost. They sought to be faithful to God’s Word. They were dedicated to seeing living Lutheran faith thrive.
The Head of the Church, who is faithful, used their courage and conviction to start something that matters. Over the next 125 years the Head of the Church has continued to call and equip those who have carried that vision forward, to new cities, to new states, to new countries, through struggle and war, through political upheavals and pandemics. Leaders with courage and conviction, with a love for the Word of God and a desire to see people experience salvation and freedom in Jesus. If you are reading this, it is likely you have been impacted by their abiding in the vine.
There are lots of ministry strategies, lots of plans, lots of places where the good news of the gospel needs to be shared. We get to figure out how to do that together as a family of churches, together as congregations called to a place and time, and together in International Missions. We have a great team in place who serve to help congregations to thrive, to equip and support pastors and missionaries, and to coordinate our joint efforts to see God at work, drawing people to abide in Christ. As we continue to do so in an ever-changing culture that almost always stands in opposition to what is right and good and godly, we can rest in the fact that we can do nothing. As we abide in Christ, he will produce fruit. Maybe not in the way we expect, maybe not in our timing, but fruit that matters.
John 15:5 means that my job and yours are the same. To abide (some translations say remain) in Jesus. There are a lot of things we can pursue. There are a lot of ways to use the time, resources and gifts we have been given, but none of them ultimately matter unless they are connected to the vine that gives life and produces fruit.
The Head of the Church is faithful. The mission and ministry God has given to the Church of the Lutheran Brethren matters. I feel blessed to be entrusted to be a part of it. Thank you for that trust, and I look forward to what God has in store for us as we abide.
Mark Nienow is the President of the Church of the Lutheran Brethren.