How nostalgic it is to look back on a decade of God's faithfulness at Living Rock Church. In some ways, the decade has flown by and yet the reality of time passed is exposed as I begin to forget some early details. I have done my best to recount what I can.
It all began with the "Norwood Five", five local families who had been meeting together for worship and praying that a church would arrive and thrive in their area. With the help of the North Central (then Northwestern) District office of the C&MA, plans were put in motion to start an official Alliance church plant. Jon Wall was youth pastoring at Parkside church in Waconia at that time and he was called, both by God and the district to become the founding Pastor of the new plant that came to be named Living Rock Church. I was finishing up my degree at Crown College when Jon came to me and asked me to join him in the church planting endeavor, serving in the area of my passion, Worship and the Arts. I accepted and joined him that first Sunday leading worship at our gatherings as a school "practicum" which is similar to an internship.
Our first Sunday, August 25, 2002, we met at Central High School in a classroom. We never dreamed 72 people would attend the first service! Our space and resources were surely limited but God had set something into motion that even our personal and environmental shortcomings couldn't stop. The first service was simple but there was a palpable energy in the room - no doubt the Spirit at work. Jon Wall brought the Word with his trademark passion and his wise yet accessible communication style. A small team joined me in leading the congregation in music. We sang "Praise the name of Jesus, He's my rock, He's my fortress…." and it seemed fitting as we embarked on the journey of Living Rock. By our second week we had moved to Central Elementary School and acquired a humble sound system to accommodate the unexpected numbers. Come spring of 2003 I was graduating from college and then became a full time employee. It seems as though I blinked and the church was several hundred strong. It was difficult for a young, inexperienced staff to gain the necessary leadership skills quickly enough to meet the needs of the rapidly growing congregation but God was faithful and His plans were much bigger than any one of us and our limited abilities. In hindsight, it is clear to me that He divinely equipped us and His Spirit carried us through many situations, both good and bad, that were beyond our ability.
In the early days our offices were in the basement of an old bank on Elm Street. I worked as the part time office assistant and part time Worship Director. Jon spent his time in the Word and shepherding the flock, both strong areas of gifting for him. Our Friday morning prayer meetings were a highlight of the week, meeting together to petition God and then singing and laughing together while folding bulletins for the following Sunday. In 2003, Robb Stiffler also joined our leadership team and took on some of the financial responsibilities and administrative tasks. Then in September 2005 Kathy Sutherland, who had been leading our children's program in a volunteer capacity, came on staff as well. Eventually we began to outgrow our basement office space so we moved upstairs in the same building, giving us a more suitable, professional environment for visitors. A benefit of having downtown offices was our ability to be involved in the community. We had many drop in visitors and became acquainted with a variety of people in our figurative backyard who stopped by in need of prayer or rides or financial help.
The C&MA is committed to fulfilling The Great Commission as laid out in Matthew 28 and mission work has certainly become a fixed feature in our body. Throughout the first decade we have had the honor of sending several families from our congregation out into the world with the Gospel of Jesus and funding and building relationships with dozens more who are affiliated with our church. We have prayed over countless young people as they left on short term missions trips setting out into the unknown with a passion for Christ and world evangelism. I hesitate to list names, as I know I cannot list them all but for the sake of records, some of our nearest full time missionary affiliations were: Bill & Ann Mangham, Christy Stumbo, Harry & Jane Landaw, Dwight & Lori Carlblom, Catherine Rivard, AT&T, RR and S&K (names withheld to protect their identity as they serve in dangerous locations) and so many more!
Another highlight of the early years was our community outreach, Party In The Park. We held this event annually for several years offering free food and games and fun so we could get outside of our four walls and become acquainted with our neighbors, demonstrating Christ's love for them. In it's day that event was beloved by many and holds warm memories still today. Our Christmas Productions also evolved to become a community outreach opportunity as well. We developed a skilled drama and musical team that presented the message of Christ in powerful, engaging ways and those Sundays always seemed to be overflowing with visitors as people came from all around to worship with us. We still continue today, our experiential Good Friday service that has become an LRC tradition.
In the fall of 2006, Brian Malvig joined our team filling the roles of Associate and Youth Pastor. The staff team was ever changing, we had farewelled one staff member but quickly added three more. Lisa Wolfe came on staff as our office administrator in the fall of 2007. Susana Perez and Nicole Bursey joined the team as Children's Ministry Assistants in 2008. Meanwhile the search for a property to call our own intensified and it wasn't long before we had purchased land at our current farm property on the West end of town. We had a capital campaign themed "Take The Next Step" to raise funds and pledges to cover the purchase. However, on the heels of our capital campaign came an economic downturn in 2008 that definitively slowed our ability to pay down debt. We continue, today, to trust God for the removal of our land debt so we can look to the next phase, fundraising for a building!
I recall hosting a worship team picnic at our brand new farm property in 2008. After everyone left that evening, my family remained to clean up. The most vivid double rainbow I have ever witnessed cut the sky. It's prominence took my breath away. I followed the arc until it came to rest only several yards South of the farm house. The moment seemed significant, perhaps it was a message from God - a promise of His faithfulness, so we stayed a while, savoring the moment.
The next several years we took to making our property "home". Many renovations took place to bring the farm house up to code for office use and we began to settle into a new routine at our new location.
On January 2, 2011, our founding Pastor, Jon Wall, announced his resignation in the first Sunday service of the new year and we grieved the loss deeply but understood that God was up to something new for the Wall family and for Living Rock! I recall reading Isaiah 43:19 over the congregation that day which reads, "See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland". Amidst the difficult changes to the landscape of our church, God was whispering "hope" because our God is in the business of hope. The church appointed a search committee to begin looking for a new pastor, one that we believed would be appointed and called by God, Himself. During the months of our pastoral search, we said goodbye to several beloved staff members and welcomed new ones to carry on the mantle of leadership. In 2011 Kyle Ague and Kellie Beneke joined the staff. During that time, our elder board also worked heroically to support the church staff in the absence of Pastoral leadership and to lead and serve the body as a whole. It has been very clear throughout the ten years at Living Rock that God has blessed us beyond measure with godly men of great character and wisdom to give leadership to our congregation.
In July of 2011, the search committee and the elders invited Pastor Roger Eng and his family from Fremont, Nebraska to candidate. He was put through a rigorous interview process and it was clear that the church was committed to finding the right man for the job - God's man. Roger's strong leadership skills were evident and his casual persona was clearly a good fit for our congregation. Following an exhaustive interview weekend the church leadership extended a call to Roger to become our new shepherd. The Eng family accepted and Pastor Roger joined us in an official capacity on September 11, 2011. It hasn't even been a year since the Eng family came to LRC but I can already feel a positive momentum in the air, many exciting things are happening and I am confident that Roger's heart for discipleship will overflow into the DNA of our church. I look forward to seeing what God has in mind for Living Rock Church in it's second decade!
Looking back, it is the sacred events that mean the most to me. I will never forget the home goings of loved ones from LRC, some who walked many years with Christ and others who were taken young and tragically. I well with thanks as I remember the hours of selfless and tireless volunteer work that I have witnessed as people step up to the challenges of being a portable church, all for the glory of God. I can remember specific times where the Spirit was so tangible in our worship services that the experience may well be forever engraved in my mind. I have watched lives be changed because Almighty God showed up at a small church in rural Minnesota and used her people. I have seen broken relationships miraculously reconciled and lives forever changed by the power of the Spirit. I am simply awed by how masterfully this decade has been adorned with the fingerprints of God. In ten years I have learned that no family is perfect, that pain does come and conflict is inevitable but God's beauty is evident in a body that stays together through it all; iron sharpening iron, pursuing the common goal of being like Christ for the acclaim of Christ.
Thank you Lord for never leaving us or forsaking us. You have allowed us to be a part of Your story and I well with joy at how you have loved. We invite you to lead us for the next decade and beyond, even to the end of the age.
Praising God for building His church in NYA and around the world,
Nikki Petersen
