Beloved Salem Lutheran Church Pastor, Liv Larson Andrews, Holds Last Sunday Service
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News Story by Matthew Kincanon | FāVS News
It was a bittersweet Sunday service for members of Salem Lutheran Church. The Rev. Liv Larson Andrews, who has been pastor at the church since Feb. 13, 2010, gave her last Sunday service before starting her new position in October as director for evangelical mission at the Northwest Intermountain Synod.
In her new role she will help congregations rekindle their sense of mission as well as embolden and empower new mission projects.
While she said she feels loss in regards to leaving Salem, she also feels a deep sense of gratitude for the past 13 years and the adventures and ministry that she and the church have been on.
During the service, Larson Andrews had the children join her in a circle at the baptismal. After briefly explaining more about one of the passages that was read during the service (Romans 12:1-8), she told them that she would be leaving.
She then invited them to put their hands in the water of the baptismal, reminding them that their sign of the baptism does not go away and they will always be God’s blessed children. She had one more thing to say to them.
“I was about your size when God started to say to me ‘You could be a pastor,’ and sometimes we hear messages like that about what God wants us to be, even when we’re kids or when we grow up,” Larson Andrews said. “So, when you remember this water and you remember who you are, you can also listen. Listen and hear what God is saying to you.”
Being ‘Midwived’ by Salem Lutheran Church
As she discussed a passage from Exodus 1:8-2:10 during her sermon (the interaction between the Pharaoh and the midwives who refused to kill newborn boys), Larson Andrews described how she was seven-months pregnant when she was ordained at the church and how she and her family received support from its members when she had to go on maternity leave.
“So I say to you this day. Salem, you midwived me into this role as pastor, into my vocation as a parent, into many aspects of my vocation, into my writing and into my artwork, you have been midwives to me,” she said. “I think, this morning and this text, is somewhat about this shared calling that all of God’s people have to act as midwives. And saying yes to the crazy plans that God has to bring to Earth, and sometimes saying no to the deadly voices of this world.”
Larson Andrews also expressed gratitude to the church’s members for letting her be with them in times of death and when a newborn entered the world, as well as allow her to anoint, baptize, commune, feed, marry and bury them.
“That you found me trustworthy to do all that is such a great treasure to me and will never leave my spirit,” she said.
A Voice of Justice
Near the end of the service, the church and its members expressed gratitude to Larson Andrews for her work in a message written out in the bulletin. As the words read aloud to Larson Andrews and her family rang throughout the sanctuary, several members of the church became tearful while Larson Andrews recognized and accepted the completion of her pastoral ministry there.
“With the Gospel you have comforted us in times of sickness and trouble, and at the death of our loved ones,” the bulletin read. “Sharing our joys and sorrows, you and your family have been important to our life together in the church of Jesus Christ, in our service to this community and in God’s mission to the whole world. As you leave this community of faith, we say farewell and we pray for God’s blessing.”
After a prayer, several members gathered around Larson Andrews and her family while others held out their hands from the pews to bless them as the service neared its close.
Emily Migliazzo, a member at the church, said she is excited for Larson Andrews to move into her next role and thinks it will be a huge transition for the congregation.
She described how Larson Andrews has made the church a voice for justice in the community and has been a voice for marginalized people, making the church into a welcoming space for the LGBTQ+ community.
Patty Parishioner
Cheri Nelson, who has been a member of the church for over 70 years, said she was sad when she heard about Larson Andrews leaving, but believes that if God is calling her elsewhere then God has a new person in-mind to work with the congregation.
One of the fond memories Nelson has of Larson Andrews’s time as pastor was Patty Parishioner, a doll that was created when people couldn’t attend services in-person during the COVID-19 pandemic and Larson Andrews had to preach to an empty sanctuary. Even though they couldn’t be at the church, Patty Parishioner let Larson Andrews know that the congregation was there to support her and appreciated what she was doing for them.
“[Larson Andrews] embodies the sense of baptism and neighborhood, and our worship space has always been an extension of our baptism,” Nelson said. “We’re a community because we gather at this font every Sunday and we hear a different word than what we hear out in the world, and she’s very good at that and I’ll miss that.”
Larson Andrews will be holding a compline prayer service on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at the church.
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