Rev. Stacy's letter continues below... 

To say the least, I am very proud of what our vestry has been able to do during my time with the body. But as I said, our work is not done. Mine is not done. Even as I rotate off the vestry, as you have heard me say before, I look for new opportunities to serve. In truth, that is what brought me back to the church: service.

I have shared with many of you the fact that for about a decade I held an aversion to attending church. There was no aversion to faith, to be sure, but my soul was not satisfied by simply appearing once a week. I doubt, though, that I have shared what precisely led me back to the church and St. Paul's.

It began during the summers, when I was staying with my parents. My mother, a long-time church organist, approached me one day to help out with a project. A family had come to the church, at which she was working, in desperate need of people to paint. Their home was located in a historic district of Dayton, Ohio. Codes in that area required that the homes be well kept and represent the historic look of the district. This family had neither money, nor man power to repaint their four-story home, and the fine for not painting was untenable.

I remember my fear ascending the ladder, but a little voice kept saying, "Someone has to do this." Once up on the ladder, I had no fear, but a calm, which allowed me my own time of thought as each brushstroke led slowly but surely to the end goal that a family would not face additional hardship.

From then on, each summer, I would return home, and my mother would ask if I would help on another project. In one case, we repainted the apartment for the campus ministry group at Wright State University. For a week, it was just my mother and I spending a few hours, stripping paint off the walls, trimming, painting; and each day ended with a trip to Sonic, where we both indulged in our shared decadence, a chili dog.

During another summer, I stayed with my mom at the church overnight, as we hosted families who had no home, and who stayed at the church for an evening and got a shower, a hot meal, and real beds to sleep in. On one occasion, one of the families had a young daughter, six years old I believe, who was celebrating a birthday. My mother bought her a cake with her name on it, which sadly, I have forgotten. The girl's eyes lit up to see a birthday cake with her name on it. It was a first for her her mom later told us.

While the children played, Mom and I sat outside and ate cake and hotdogs with the parents. The father had been out of work for over a year. The family lived in their car, by which we were sitting. The father had recently found a job that paid a little over minimum wage. This ministry in which churches rotated opening their doors to displaced families allowed him to save up enough to finally put a deposit down on an apartment.

I wish I could say that I did all of this out of a deep abiding altruism by which I was raised; maybe that played a role. Truthfully, I did it because I had nothing better to do while I waited to go run a camp somewhere on the East Coast. But with each opportunity, I learned that for me, being able to do good, to help others was something I needed in my journey of faith.

This past Sunday, St. Paul's afforded that opportunity again, as I was able to join Henry Leonard for the CROP walk. With Eva cheering us on, Henry did the one mile walk; I did the three mile walk. Alone, I enjoyed that time. I was merely walking, but I held my sign so passing cars could see why I walked...perhaps they will look the event up online, perhaps not. But the event, in the end will raise over $10,000. At least 25% of that will go to the DeKalb area, which if you were at our Farmer's Market this year, you saw the dire situation of some of our city's neediest families. Thank God we have a church that answers the call to serve. Thank God, I have a church like St. Paul's that affords me that opportunity.

In no small way, do I sense that my path in life is leading in new directions from these opportunities to serve. What these new directions are I'm not ready to say, as I still pray and contemplate on those options. But I am grateful to serve, to worship with those who serve in our church, which are legion. Thank you for the opportunity to serve. Most importantly thank you to all who do serve, will continue to serve, and give so much of that precious resource, time.   

Respectfully submitted,

Luke Krueger