A Peaceful Release: The Challenge to Gloria Dei Lutheran Church

The senior pastor of our congregation, Rev. Greg Finke, has requested and been granted a “peaceful release” from his divine call to shepherd this particular flock.  The reasons for this are only partly known to me at this point, so I’ll not comment on them. 

Some folks in our congregation are upset at this development, and understandably so.  Regardless of the reasons for the separation of a congregation and it’s senior pastor, such separations are never easy for everyone.  Some will take it in stride, while some will go through a grief process of sorts because of their love for both the pastor and the congregation.

So the challenge for me and my fellow Christians at Gloria Dei is to endure the loss of our pastor, engage — yet again — in the process of issuing a call to another pastor, while continuing to be who we are called to be as God’s people in this time and place, in a truly peaceful and constructive way.  Not an easy thing.

Pray for us and for Rev. Finke, if you are so inclined.  The coming days will be challenging for all.

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Command lines rule!

Actually, I am somewhat aggravated that I had to resort to a command line method to solve this problem.  Even so, it’s good to get to know your command line.

Instead of giving away the details of my security-related dilemma, let me just say that if you want to manage the local security policy on a Windows Vista Home machine, you will find that neither the group policy editor nor the security policy editor are available in the Home editions of Vista (why?  I’ve no idea.)  However, the very same magic that is not installed in the GUI components is available via the net command, in this case net accounts.  Type net accounts help for some enlightenment on things you can do when logged in as Administrator, even without the usual policy editor tools.

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Joke of the Day (I am in soooo much trouble….)

(Scraped from a geek-centric messge board.  Original author unknown.)

A fellow bought a new Mercedes and was out on the interstate for a nice evening drive. The top was down, the breeze was blowing through what was left of his hair, and he decided to open her up.

As the needle jumped up to 80 mph, he suddenly saw flashing red and blue lights behind him. “There’s no way they can catch a Mercedes,” he thought to himself and opened her up further.

The needle hit 90, 100… Then the reality of the situation hit him. “What am I doing?” he thought, and pulled over.

The cop came up to him, took his license without a word and examined it and the car. “It’s been a long day, this is the end of my shift and it’s Friday the 13th. I don’t feel like more paperwork, so if you can give me an excuse for your driving that I haven’t heard before, you can go.”

The guy thinks for a second and says, “Last week my wife ran off with a cop. I was afraid you were trying to give her back!”

“Have a nice weekend,” said the officer.

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On Olbermann: Watch some TV, Rachel!

In her explanation of the Keith Olbermann situation, Rachel Maddow writes:

> But we’re not a political operation — Fox is.
> We’re a news operation.

Amazing. Rachel Maddow doesn’t watch her own network! ;)

For the record, I like having both liberals and conservatives out there in the media  to poke, prod, and annoy each other.  I actually lament the lack of liberal/progressive radio shows these days, but the truth is that the ones that have been on in Houston over the past decade or so just haven’t been very good.

Keith Olbermann — and he would hate me for swaying this — seems to be trying to be the liberal’s Rush Limbaugh.  Lately he’s been comporting himself the way Rush did in the late 80’s and early 90’s.  And I do hope he gets back on the air soon, even though I agree with him on almost nothing.  But it sounds like this was just a misstep on his part that ultimately shouldn’t make much trouble for anyone.  Kudos to MSNBC for sticking to their policy, and Keith, buddy, I hope you get your desk back soon.

11/6 update  – I like Craig Shirley’s take on MSNBC’s policy.

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A Tribute to Stephen and Rita Chuvala

   

My parents left a great legacy for their children, comprised of three distinct yet intimately related gifts. First, they treated each other such that we never had reason to question whether they loved each other. Second, they treated us such that we never wondered if my parents loved us. Third, they believed in God in a way that was unforced, natural, and comforting.

Just a few days before Mom went home to be with her Lord, I quietly “celebrated” the 19th anniversary of my Dad’s passing. Each year since, that anniversary has served as a reminder to me to try to leave my kids the same legacy Dad left me. Now that reminder will be doubly strong, as he and Mom were committed and loving partners in that joyful yet grueling endeavor we call “parenting.”

Thank you, Dear God, for loving parents, and today especially for Stephen and Rita Chuvala. May the testimony and blessing of their love and faith live on through their children, and their children’s’ children.

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+ Rita Rheé Chuvala +

Rita Rheé Chuvala, 76, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, found complete healing from Alzheimer’s and all other effects of sin on October 24, 2010, and now rests with the Lord Jesus.

Rita was born on November 23, 1933 in Mt. Vernon, New York to Gordon J. and Gloria D. (Walker) Scott.  The daughter of a talented and in-demand engineer, the family moved to various cities in the northeast during her early life.  She graduated from Katonah (NY) High School in 1951, and Berkeley Secretarial School in White Plains, NY, in 1952.  She continued her education throughout her professional life, earning numerous certificates in various office-related areas and technologies. 

In her mid 20’s Rita met Stephen Chuvala while playing badminton — by all accounts, rather badly!  Steve took mercy on her as-yet unformed badminton skills, and the two “courted” in a different way, and married on January 30, 1959 settling down in Danbury, CT, Steve’s hometown, where they lived, worked, and reared two sons until Steve’s retirement in 1976.  The family moved that year to Albuquerque, where they enjoyed living close to Rita’s brother Terry and his family, her father and stepmother Feijke, all of whom had moved to the city in previous years.  Rita and Steve loved the sunshine and clear, dry climate of Albuquerque (so much more suitable for their shared love of tennis than the northeast!), and Christ Lutheran, their final church home in this world.  They made many fast friends here in their new home, where they lived the rest of their lives.

Rita worked as a secretary and receptionist for many years, and ended her career with long tenure in civil service, working for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Social Security Administration, and the last 15 years with the Department of Veterans Affairs, where she was a supervisor in the Centralized Transcription Unit in Albuquerque.

Rita was preceded in death by her Mother, her Father, and her dear husband Stephen.  She is survived by her sons, Keith Gordon Chuvala and his wife Sharon of Friendswood, Texas, and Kevin Scott Chuvala of Durango, Colorado; by her grandchildren Patrick Michael and wife Amy, Timothy Christian, Andrew Kent, Christopher Stephen, and Holly Nicole Chuvala (children of Keith and Sharon); by her brother Terrance J, Scott and his wife Alfides (“Blackie”), and her stepmother Feijka (Bleeker) Scott, all of Albuquerque; by her stepchildren Ray Chuvala and his wife Marlene of Arizona, Richard Chuvala and Ysabel Chuvala, both of Idaho, and Lynne Kearney of Connecticut, as well as numerous nieces and nephews, located in New Mexico, Colorado and Pennsylvania.

 

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