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.
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| Leanne and Jon, Hannah and Isaac on mission trip in Guatemala |
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| 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.
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| Sam playing at his piano recital |
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| 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.
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| Elizabeth's smile |
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| 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.
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Fourteenth Anniversary
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| Together in Guatemala |
|
In October, we
went to Dallas for Central Christian Church’s 150th Anniversary,
after which Candy got another visit with David’s family in Milwaukee. Sam is
now in middle school and Elizabeth in first grade.
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| Midwest City farewell |
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| 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.
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| Backyard visitor in Midwest City |
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| 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
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