Merry Christmas from Odessa, Texas!

December 2013

To All Our Stolpe Star Friends and Family,

 We finished up our interim pastor ministry with First Christian Church of Midwest City, OK in May and started the next adventure with First Christian Church of Odessa, TX in mid-June. We were in the backwash of the tornado that devastated Moore, OK, and had driven less than an hour south of the one that closed the interstate in Oklahoma City the day we left Midwest City.

Leanne and Jon, Hannah and Isaac on mission trip in Guatemala

Sam and Elizabeth with cousins Jenna and William

We had hoped this third interim pastorate might allow us to serve from our home in Dallas. After a seemingly last minute phone interview, we had to decide between two congregations, and subsequent events have confirmed the unexpected was the right choice.

Sam playing at his piano recital

Isaac and his piano teacher at competition

 Odessa is in the Permian Basin about 360 miles west of Dallas. With the oil boom, population has grown to almost 100,000 (slightly smaller than neighboring Midland). Culture is distinct from the DFW Metroplex, colored by boom-bust economy alongside families who settled here generations ago. The church was founded in 1906 in downtown that has changed dramatically in the last decades. As interim pastor, I am guiding them to explore their future mission, perhaps in a new location, possibly in cooperation with another congregation as they seek a new pastor to lead them into this unfolding future.

Elizabeth's smile

Hannah, sweet sixteen

After Easter we traveled to Wisconsin to spend time with Rachel and David, Sam and Elizabeth. We got to see Norm’s Mom in IL, and Norm’s nephew, Tom, and his family was there too, before their family went to Guam for 30 months with the Navy. Candy’s Dad came down from Minneapolis to Milwaukee for a few days.

Fourteenth Anniversary

Together in Guatemala

In October, we went to Dallas for Central Christian Church’s 150^th Anniversary, after which Candy got another visit with David’s family in Milwaukee. Sam is now in middle school and Elizabeth in first grade.

Midwest City farewell

Erik listens to music (or plays video game)

Leanne started a new job as a pre-school teacher, which she is thoroughly enjoying. Erik also started a new job as a Recovery Analyst with Real Time Resolutions (helping people restructure mortgages), with hours that work better with his music than restaurant management.

Backyard visitor in Midwest City

Patio garden at house where we are living in Odessa

Now close to halfway into our third interim pastorate, we are getting into the rhythm of this stage of our lives, and it fits! In retrospect, we are recognizing how appropriate each season of life has been: para-church Christian education, associate pastoral ministry, senior pastor, now interim pastor. Students, newlyweds, young parents, parents of young adults, grandparents. Now with adolescent and growing grandchildren, we observe our children and their families embracing their own seasons with joy and purpose. We are thankful to each have a living parent but recognize that we are fast becoming the senior generation. At Christmas we celebrate the birth of Jesus, Emmanuel – God with us. Surely God has been with us as Jesus has guided us on this journey, and we know we can depend on him to accompany us to its culmination.

Merry Christmas!

Norman and Candy Stolpe

3154 Flowerdale Lane

Dallas, Texas 75229

First Christian Church

601 N. Lee Ave.

Odessa, TX 79761

Norman

214-793-5224

nstolpe@sbcglobal.net

Candy

214-793-2572

cstolpe@sbcglobal.net

A Full Week After Easter

Candy and Norm packed a lot of productive activity into the week after Easter.
   

·         Two visits to Norm’s Mom in Batavia, IL, one of which celebrated her 93^rd birthday (a day early) that included their son, David’s family from Milwaukee, IL and Norm’s nephew Tom Williams and his family from Virginia Beach, VA as well as Norm’s sister, Elaine, and brother-in-law, Max.

·         While in Milwaukee with Rachel and David, Sam and Elizabeth, Candy’s Dad drove down from Minneapolis for some family time and to work on coordinating our plans for the next couple of years.

·         Saturday was the celebration of “Gotcha Day” – the 5^th anniversary of Elizabeth’s adoption into the Stolpe family through Rachel, David and Sam.

·         Norm preached at Milwaukee Mennonite Church (Rachel and David’s congregation) on “Doubting Thomas.” The script of that message is available at http://ndsworshipmessages.blogspot.com/2013/04/missing-out.html

·         Thanks to the generous hospitality of John and Susan Ritland (parents of Rebecca Ritland Keiser of Milwaukee Mennonite Church) Norm and Candy had wonderful accommodations, breakfast and made wonderful new friends in St. Louis, MO both ways of an almost 2,000 mile round trip.

 

Chinese Clothes for "Gotcha" Party

Norm has been the interim pastor for First Christian Church of Midwest City, OK since August, and if all goes well, he will finish there the end of May and the new pastor will come in June. The Elders graciously allow Norm a week’s vacation to make this trip. Thanks to Rev. Julia Jordan Gillett, Associate Pastor, for preaching on April 7. The other Associate Pastor, Andy Beck, will be leading the youth as they present worship on Youth Sunday, April 14. Andy will graduate from Phillips Theological Seminary and be ordained in May. Norm will get to be “host pastor” for Andy’s ordination, a rare opportunity for an interim pastor. On April 21, the worship service will be the choir’s presentation of Faure’s Requiem. This preaching break has given Norm the opportunity to prepare his last five messages designed to get the congregation ready to welcome a new pastor.

Sam played "Happy Birthday" for Great Grandma Stolpe



Tom (right) and his wife Tricia (left)

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birthday supper with Norm's Mom (left)

 

While a welcome vacation, the purpose of this trip was practical: to get together with Candy’s Dad and with David and Rachel to coordinate our planning for the next couple of years so Candy’s Dad can have family support and backup should an emergency occur and to map out what will happen as Norm continues his interim ministry journey with the expectation of finishing that around 2016. A real bonus was to spend time with Norm’s Mom both coming and going. The first leg of the trip allowed for birthday dinner with her the evening before her birthday.

Three Stolpe Gilrs Enjoy Breakfast Together

Norm’s nephew Tom and his family happened to be there at that time as well. He will have 20 years in the US Navy in January, and the whole family is headed to Guam for 30 months for his next assignment. David and Rachel came with their family too. Making these extended family connections doesn’t happen all that often.

Candy and Norm visited Norm’s Mom on the return trip as well. While celebrating her birthday with 6 kids and 7 adults was fun, the second visit was calmer and more conducive to conversation.

David explains digital technology to Grandpa Miller

Sam's portrait of his favorite bacon breakfast

Though there was planning work to be done with Candy’s Dad, it was also a time for just being together and having some fun that included a day at the Milwaukee Art Museum (on free Thursday). Norm enjoyed the Georgia O’Keefe exhibit, but the kids had the most fun in the studio where they could paint their own pictures.



 

After Candy’s Dad returned to Minneapolis, Norm and Candy helped Rachel and David get ready for the “Gotcha” party. In between chores, they enjoyed fun with their grandchildren, Sam and Elizabeth: girls together lunch and guys together lunch. David and Sam went with Norm to take Gus to the dog park. Sam tried to teach Grandma and Grandpa how to play Wii Bowling. The house was full for the party that celebrated Elizabeth’s adoption and featured a variety of Chinese foods, decorations and clothes. Rachel’s parents, Kent and Fran Hadley, and her brother Nigel and his fiancée Amanda were also at the party.

 

Merry Christmas from Midwest City, Oklahoma!

December 2012                                                                                                                                  

To All Our Stolpe Star Friends and Family,

Norm’s last day to preach as interim pastor for 1^st Christian Church of Duncanville, Texas (20 miles directly south of our Dallas house) was August 12. On August 19 he preached for the first time as the interim pastor for 1^st Christian Church of Midwest City, Oklahoma (200 miles almost directly north of our Dallas house). In that week we packed, loaded the cars, drove to Midwest City, moved into house and office. In between, Norm wrote his sermon for our first Sunday at the new church.

 

One of the joys of having had pastoral ministries in Illinois, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Texas and now Oklahoma is accumulating a vast treasury of friends which interim ministry accelerates. You who are receiving our Christmas greeting are valued assets of this treasury. With gratitude for the intersection of our lives, this Christmas we wish all of God’s best for you in the year ahead.

Interim ministry is all about helping congregations in transition. The realization that far more is in flux than the identity of the pastor stirs feelings of uncertainty and instability. The opportunities for transformation or retreat are up front. Sharing life with these congregations highlights our personal and family transitions. Rather than trying to freeze time at a cherished moment, Christ calls us forward into our new challenges and adventures.

Here are some snapshots of the transitions for us and our family.

Erik is living in our Dallas house while we are in Oklahoma. He continues to be an assistant manager with Pei Wei Asian Diner, starting at a new (for him) restaurant in north Carrollton, Texas. Besides continuing to play with The Raven Charter, he has branched out into some other music opportunities.

David and Rachel continue their leadership roles with Milwaukee Mennonite Church. Sam (11) swims competitively and plays piano. Elizabeth (Bitsy – 6) has started violin. David is still Dean of Students at Frank Lloyd Wright Intermediate School in West Allis, Wisconsin, and Rachel continues as a night time nanny for infants. We did get a brief visit with them extended from a trip to see Norm’s Mom. 

 

Jon continues in management with Siemens automated building controls, and Leanne does one-on-one support for special needs children. Hannah (15) is a high school freshman and has raised a seeing-eye puppy, Irwin. She went with Jon on a mission trip to Guatemala. She continues to pay violin. Isaac (12) plays trumpet, piano and basketball, and is active in Boy Scouts. They are active at Christ’s Church of the Valley in Royersford, Pennsylvania. They visited us for Holy Week.

Still in his own home in Minneapolis, Candy’s Dad has been talking with us about coordinating our plans for so our transitions will bring us together. At 92 years old in skilled care at the Michaelson Health Center of the Holmstadt in Batavia, Illinois, Norm’s Mom has slowed down considerably.

Merry Christmas!

Norman and Candy Stolpe

3154 Flowerdale Lane

Dallas, Texas 75229

 

315 East Harmon Drive

Midwest City, Oklahoma 73110

 

Norman

214-793-5224

nstolpe@sbcglobal.net

 

Candy

214-793-2572

cstolpe@sbcglobal.net