Two becoming one
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Two prominent Marshalltown Lutheran churches – Trinity and Our Savior – are in the early stages of the process of consolidation.
By consolidating, the congregations will join together as one church. Our Savior Board President Hap Kretzmann stressed the joining is not a merger. This is not a case of one church overtaking the other, but rather both congregations dissolving and then forming a brand new congregation.
"It's a subtle difference, but pretty significant," he said.
Coming into the beginning of the process was Pastor Sue Tarkka. She said there has been some confusion amongst community members as to what is happening with the Lutheran churches. The consolidation, she said, is two churches choosing to go through "holy closure" and dissolving, then coming together and creating something new.
The process started in 2023 when Pastor Mike Hershberger was being shared between the two churches.
"After about a year of that, we discovered we couldn't supply a full-time pastor, and [Trinity] couldn't supply a full-time pastor," Kretzmann said. "That started the discussion because we were already sharing a pastor."
Our Savior and Trinity formed a shared ministry covenant, which was a formal agreement to equally share Hershberger's pastoral services. He led the 9 a.m. worship service at Our Savior and then went to Trinity for the 10:30 a.m. service. Kretzmann said that continued for about one or two years. When the pastor fell ill, Kretzmann said the churches began conversations about worshipping together.
"That was the first thing that made the most sense," he said. "Then it developed into more and more serious discussions."
Both churches formed call committees, which were then combined, to find a new pastor. After six months of communication, they accomplished that when Tarkka, who was at Overland Park Lutheran Church in Overland Park, Mo., accepted the call. Normally, communication with a potential new pastor takes an average of two or three months, but Tarkka said she wanted to discern what to do as general family life was occurring and other Midwest churches were talking with her, too.
"I just kept hearing 'Marshalltown' in my ear," she said. "It's like the Holy Spirit was whispering to me. I would go back and read profiles, and my profile and see what I wrote that lends itself to what is going on here."
She moved to Marshalltown with her husband Kimmo and their pets in October. Her arrival has spurred more 'Let's get together and do this," she said.
Trinity Board President Carol Conrad looks forward to engaging with the community during and after the process. She.took notice of both churches members since the decision was made to have a single service at 9 a.m. on Sundays. One month the services are held in Trinity and the next month they are at Our Savior, so Tarkka does not have to travel from one location to the other on Sunday mornings like the previous pastor did. She can lead worship with everyone at once. During this month, the services are at Trinity,.which follows the monthly alternation rotation between both worship spaces.
"Sitting in the congregation, in the beginning, it was Our Savior over here and Trinity over there," she said. "But now we all sit together and learning everybody's names."
When Conrad and Kretzmann were chosen as board presidents in January, they decided to continue working together to keep the congregations moving forward.
"Either we were really successful, or it's not that big of a deal," he said, laughing. "Things have been busy, but the busiest thing is working and planning for future growth together."
Process
The consolidation of two churches has not been simple. With it being so early, discussions have not been held as to what the name of the church will be. A joint task force was formed to look into the logistics of creating one church and with guidance from their denomination, the Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELCA) in America, specifically the Southeastern Iowa Synod. That is when they learned an attorney was also needed to ensure state nonprofit codes were being followed.
"We're just finding a lot of things we have to do to follow the synod recommendations," Conrad said. "There is an inventory of everything at church, historical documents. We need to make sure we have everything necessary for evaluating the two churches. As far as which one would make a better choice if we decide to move one church to the other, we need to know which one would be a better financial choice and space-wise."
Following the state process is something both Trinity and Our Savior have to do, which involves considering the constitutions of each.
"When we take votes, we may have to have a meeting together but then separate and each church would vote according to the laws of their constitution," Tarkka added. "As long as we follow the constitutional processes and follow the state law. So, that is what we're doing. We're basically rebuilding together. When all the other activities are completed in proper order, we will be able to move forward and be pretty well-acquainted with one another. We will have our structure and things in place we need to operate well as a church."
Gathering all of the required documentation has been the biggest challenge, Kretzmann said, particularly membership and contribution records during the last three years.
According to Kretzmann, a big decision is if they want to be one entity with two buildings until one is sold. Whether or not one will be sold has not been decided, Tarkka said.
Everyone is still trying to get their arms around the process and what it all really means, Kretzmann said and Conrad concurred.
"Turns out, there are a lot of processes where churches are splitting," he said. "Too many, but a lot of that goes on."
Fortunately, Kretzmann said one of the best things about the process is both congregational bodies are on the same page in wanting to consolidate.
"It grew out of our earlier relationship," he said. "Nobody told us we needed to do this. So, that gets us over one hurdle."
Tarkka agreed, adding it is better to have the Spirit moving among the laity to have the conversations, rather than a pastor saying it has to happen. Even though she is the new pastor, but will be formally installed on Dec. 6 at Our Savior, she has not had to push anything. Whenever someone tells her certain things have to be done, Tarkka is in support. The consolidation includes adaptive work which is taking the next faithful step, and imagining where God is calling them.
"That's really hard for people to do, because nobody likes unknowns," Tarkka said. "But that is what we are called to do as the church."
She added they are planning on taking a vote in January to dissolve the congregations, and attention will be paid to histories, records, feelings,stories and future celebrations. That way, it will be easier to let go in a healthy way and move forward as one.
Kretzmann said if Trinity and Our Savior remain separate, the churches will more likely "go away."
"We could do the shared ministry and coast along for an indefinite time and be fine," he said. "I think it's a much stronger witness for us to recognize the fact that we are better together than apart. It appears to be an opportunity to bear a stronger witness to the community of who we are and what we have to offer together, and eventually as one."
Even though the vision for the ultimate goal of the Our Savior and Trinity consolidation is foggy for the pastor, Tarkka said part of being a church is listening to where God is calling you. That can be tricky with any strategic planning, as plans can be made and pursued but if God is not interested, pivots have to be made.
"It's not a business where you're trying to make profits," she said. "God is involved, and we have to listen, pay attention to the needs of our neighbors, reach out and love. That's a different ball game. We're not wanting to grow because we need more people in seats to support us financially. We want more people in church because we want to share the good news of Jesus Christ. It's not about us, but what God is calling us to do for the world. I have ideas about what God might be doing with the church right now, but we might not grow. We might just be a better church with more hands and feet. Our goal is to continue to share the good news in new and different ways that will engage the next generation, and fill the needs of people we are trying to share the news with, taking care of each other and strengthening our faith together.
Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.