The CORE on the Move

Recently St. Peter Evangelical Lutheran Church and The CORE in Appleton, WI had a unified sermon series entitled “Don’t Just Go to Church: Be the Church.”  (The CORE is St. Peter’s daughter congregation).  Regarding this sermon series, St. Peter’s October newsletter states that

“Pastor Ski [Skorzewski], Pastor Sievert, and Pastor Tim [Glende] preached on being devoted to God’s Word, People, and Mission.  The series has encouraged members to unite as one congregation in two locations.”

Emphasis added.

On October 1, 2010, I e-mailed Pastor Glende (and carbon copied Pastor Sievert) this question:

“What is the current status of The CORE with respect to St. Peter?  Back when the voters approved The CORE, we were assured that The CORE would be a separate congregation, but lately I’ve heard a number of statements that The CORE is our “downtown campus.”  I haven’t attended all the voters meetings in the last two years:  Did the voters approve a change in status between The CORE and St. Peter?”

Three days later, Pastor Glende responded that he would not answer my question via e-mail, and that if I wished to discuss this matter, then we needed to meet face-to-face.  We tried to schedule a meeting, but there have been too many scheduling conflicts.

Regarding the “Don’t Just Go to Church: Be the Church” sermon series, St. Peter’s October newsletter also reports that during this series

“we learned that the church is about more than just the building.  Christians belong to Christ and to each other.  The CORE’s building has never officially “belonged” to them.  It was during this series, that Pastor Ski announced another church has put in an offer on the Big Picture [the movie theater where The CORE currently meets] … and that offer has been accepted…  In the next few weeks Pastor Ski will be announcing where The CORE’s new home will be.  Please understand that this does not mean that the ministry is ending, it only means that the building and location from which the ministry operates from will be changing.”

The Big Picture movie theater is an impressive building.

Kyrie eleison.