Who We Are
Abiding Love is a growing mission-focused congregation. In addition to persons who have been a part of this congregation from the start, many of the people you meet here have recently become affiliated with us, Several of our families include members of other churches or religious traditions. We are people who value diversity, inclusiveness, hospitality, service, witness, nurture and ministry in daily life.
Abiding Love is a welcoming community of persons of all ages and background, with joys and sorrows, gifts and flaws, loved of God. Rejoicing in God's Grace, sustained by God's Word, and inspired by God's Spirit, we care for others, work for justice, pray for peace, and share the Gospel of Christ, as we journey through life as best we can.
Our Interim Pastor
Rev. Carol Lindsay is Abiding Love's interim Pastor. She brings more than 30 years experience to our congregation with tremendous leadership skills and knowledge of the gospel and Lutheran principles makes her the perfect fit as Abiding Love forges a new path towards the future.
Our Deacon
Deacon Sue Gerrard calling is the music ministry and we are so fortunate to have her! Deacon Sue brings her top notch musical skills to us every week at worship in addition to leading our choir and heading our Worship and Music Committee, among so many other of her contributions.
Our Mission
Building relationships with God, our congregation, and the community through
Worship, Outreach, and Work.
WOW!
Our Core Values
As a God-centered Congregation, following Jesus' commandment to love one another,
and believing that all persons are children of God, we set forth our core values:
Discipleship
Evangelism
Hospitality and Welcome
Respect for All Persons
Service to Others
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Our Congregation Council
is a group of voting members of the Congregation elected by the Congregation
to serve for a two year term. A member can only serve three consecutive terms, but may return after leaving council for two years.
The Council has four offices, President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer. Each is a voting member of the congregation and elected for a two year term.
The President prepares the agenda for meetings of the Council and Congregation, and presides as chairperson at these meetings.
The Vice President serves in the stead of the President when that person is unable to
fulfill his or her duties.
The Secretary attends all Council and Congregational meetings and takes minutes, making them available to the Council and the Congregation.
The Treasurer is also a member of the Finance Team, makes reports monthly to Council and annually to the Congregation pays bills as authorized by Council and keeps the financial records of the congregation in good order.
Our Current Council Members are:
Nansi Krauss (President) Emily Melnyk (Vice President) Linda Anderson (Secretary) Alexandra Thomas (Treasurer)
Agnes Banya Don Corwin
Becky Hoven Duane Hoven Jackie Singh
Michael Taistra
Krista Uudna-Tammaru
Brief History
The people of Christ the King first began meeting for worship on September 18, 1960. Services were held at Phillips School, located on Route 27, just north of Henderson Road. The Congregation was officially organized on March 10, 1961.
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Since
its organization, Christ the King has been faithfully served by nine pastors:
the Rev. Dwight A. Huseman, the Rev. Ralph Spears, the Rev. Elizabeth
Waid, the Rev. Terry Wimmer, the Rev. Fred Schott, Interim Pastor, the Rev. Sara
Olson-Smith, Vice-Pastor the Rev. Walter Wagner, the Rev.
Dr. Kimberly T. Carlson and the Rev. Dale Selover.
The
Congregation purchased the current property and built a new church
building which was dedicated on April 19, 1964. The building housed the
growing Congregation for over 40 years.
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By
2005 we were in need of additional space. After much planning, engineering, permitting and our Growing with Love, Joy and Vision campaign, in 2008 we broke ground for a major addition. We
completed and dedicated a major addition to our church building in on
February 22, 2009. The new addition added our large fellowship space, a
kitchen, a meeting room, a sacristy, Pastor's office and made the building more accessible.
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The
house next to the church building was purchased from the National Bank
of New Jersey and moved from New Road to its present location in 1970.
This facility served as the residence of the congregation's pastor until
1991. It was then used for our children's education programs and as a home to clergy members of ministries with a connection to Christ the
King. It is presently a rental property.
Our mediation garden was built by member, Christopher Molnar as his Eagle Scout project and was dedicated September 17, 2011.
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We recently have lost several beautiful trees that had been planted over the years by the congregation. If you stop by, you will notice that things look a bit different today. Generous gifts have allowed us to plant new trees which we plan to nurture and grow.
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