January 15, 2007
Dear Sisters and Brothers
in Christ,
Grace, mercy and peace be
unto you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Pastor Janet Hunt,
Assistant to the Bishop for the Northern Illinois Synod, has received and
accepted a call to be Senior Pastor of Salem Lutheran Church in Sycamore
(see letter below). Pastor Hunt has served faithfully and well on synod
staff since 1998. We will greatly miss her excellent and dedicated work.
We rejoice, however, in her continued service among us in the Northern
Illinois Synod.
Pastor Hunt will begin her
ministry at Salem on February 15. In what I hope will be a short interim, I
will be assuming her responsibilities in the West and East conferences as
well as the work of Synod Mission Director. Please don’t hesitate to be in
contact with me about any needs in these areas.
I will be meeting with the
Synod Executive Committee next Friday to discuss future staff
possibilities. I am considering widening the model of part-time deployed
conference staff such as we are currently doing in the South, Southwest and
Central conferences. I will keep you informed of our progress.
During this time of
transition, please keep Pastor Hunt, Salem Lutheran and our Synod in your
prayers.
During this Epiphany
Season, and always, “Let your light so shine before others that they may see
your good works and give glory to our Father in heaven.”
In Christ,
Bishop Gary M. Wollersheim
January 15, 2007
Bishop Gary M. Wollersheim
Northern Illinois Synod
103 West State Street
Rockford, IL 61101
Dear Bishop Wollersheim,
This letter is to formally inform you that I am submitting my resignation as
your Assistant effective February 15, 2007. The congregation of Salem
Lutheran Church, Sycamore, voted yesterday to call me as their pastor and I
gratefully receive and accept that call.
The opportunity to serve on your staff these eight years is one for which I
will always be grateful. It has given me a view of the work of the whole
Church in a way I would not have had otherwise. I have been privileged to
work alongside wonderful colleagues in your office and to share in ministry
with gifted and committed leaders across the Northern Illinois Synod. I have
been stretched and have grown in ways both personal and professional that I
could not have imagined when I first began. For all of the real challenges,
I truly would not give any of it back. However, as you know, the call to
return to the parish, to work again with a single congregation, is one that
I am no longer able to ignore. My prayer is that the many gifts I have been
so generously given in this call will in turn be a gift to the people at
Salem and through them, the community of Sycamore and beyond.
Know that I will always consider myself a partner and a friend in the very
important work you are called to in behalf of Christ’s Church. May the call
to Make Christ Known continue to empower and shape and strengthen you in
your ministry. You remain in my prayers even as I ask that I remain in
yours.
In Christ,
Pastor Janet H. Hunt
