Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall be made straight,
and the rough ways made smooth;
and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’” (Luke 3:5-6)

And so we wait and hope. I know that among many parish leaders valleys and mountains, crooked and rough ways have quite vivid meaning. Congregational life is marked by the same topography that Isaiah describes. I also know that leaders long to see the salvation of God again - to see it here and now, in the meantime, in these often “mean” times. And here and there we are privileged to see this salvation given – given into the outstretched hands of those who come to the table to be fed, who sit in the pews longing to hear a promise of hope, of light in a real darkness.

In these Advent days, as the gathering pace of parish and family schedules can overwhelm, keep watch friends, keep awake for the light, the hope, the beauty that is also being given into your very hands.

Peace,

Pastor Lee Goodwin +

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The Project Director
The Rev. Dr. Lee Goodwin

Pastor Lee Goodwin has been called by the Northern Great Lakes Synod Council to serve as Director of The Sabbath Project.

Pr. Goodwin has served as a Parish Pastor for over 27 years, 22 of them on the territory of the NGLS. He has served as Pastor Developer of a new mission congregation and has extensive experience as a retreat leader and spiritual director.

He received the B.A. Degree in American Studies from Hamline University, St. Paul, Minn. (1977); the M. Div. from Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (1981); and the D. Min. in Spiritual Direction from The Graduate Theological Foundation, South Bend, IN (1999) He is also a graduate of the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation’s Contemplative Prayer Group Leaders Program (1996) and Spiritual Guidance Program (1999), and has completed the Teaching Practicum in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction at the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical School(2008).