![\"Pews](\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2022\/11\/St.-Peter-Lutheran-Church-300x200.png\")
<\/p>\nJennifer Coles was 11 when her family found the vibrant youth and family ministry at St. Peter Lutheran Church in Spokane, Washington. After traveling the world as a U.S. Air Force nurse, she returned to the congregation in 1997. Since then, she and her husband, Craig, have been active members.<\/p>\n
When St. Peter\u2019s membership began to decline, the Coleses and others did what they could to keep the 111-year-old congregation alive. Members took on more responsibilities and dreamed up new ways to partner, stay relevant, and draw neighbors to their pews.<\/p>\n
But by 2020, the congregation began the closing process, and in September 2021, St. Peter held its final service. Coles said members refuse to dwell on what was lost. They are focused on a legacy that will continue God\u2019s work in the neighborhood and in the future of the church.<\/p>\n
During St. Peter\u2019s decline, the congregation partnered with Grace Moldavian Baptist Church, which rented space to hold worship and events. The rent was low, but it helped St. Peter stay open and led to a rewarding partnership with this growing congregation that eventually purchased the church. \u201cGrace Moldavian will continue to keep Christ and the work of the church present in this neighborhood,\u201d Coles said.<\/p>\n
From the sale of the church, a major gift was designated to support scholarships at Luther Seminary. Once St. Peter could no longer support a full-time pastor, the church opted to open its doors to pastoral interns, who preached and cared for the congregation with the guidance of an off-site supervisor.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor 10 years, we raised pastors and helped prepare them to go out into the world to preach the Gospel,\u201d Coles said. She added that the congregation\u2019s gift is a gesture of support for Luther\u2019s innovative mindset and an investment in those eager to lead the future church.<\/p>\n
\u201cChurch may not look the same, and pastors may serve different roles in our communities\u2014maybe going out to be among the people more than meeting them at a church,\u201d she added. \u201cBut as God\u2019s people, we still need leaders to gather us, guide us, listen to us, share the Word with us, and be with us in times of celebration and sadness.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Ladd Bjorneby \u201985 M.Div.<\/strong> joined the church in 2015 after his retirement from 30 years of preaching. He advocated for the church\u2019s investment in Luther. \u201cSo many people are called to ministry but cannot afford seminary,\u201d said Bjorneby, who serves on the Luther Seminary Board of Directors. \u201cSt. Peter transformed their end into others\u2019 new beginnings.\u201d<\/p>\n The church also made generous gifts to area youth programs, social services programs, campus ministry programs, world relief programs, and Second Harvest Inland Northwest. Bjorneby said even the glass communion cups and Bibles in the pews found new homes; Union Gospel Mission in Spokane placed the Bibles in rooms of its transitional housing facilities.<\/p>\n Coles said members are elated that the church will continue ministry in the neighborhood and that the parsonage is now home to a young family.<\/p>\n \u201cWe could have driven the prices for the church and the parsonage up much higher, but instead, we were able to give a growing church and a young family an opportunity to ground themselves and continue to grow and flourish. In our sadness, this brought many of us hope and joy.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The decline of a church in Spokane, Washington, presents new opportunities\u2014including a generous gift to support scholarships at Luther Seminary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7099,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-7059","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"issue-winter-2022","9":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n