A message from Pastor Emily - July 15

Dear Pastoral Team, members of Ebenezer, Immanuel, and Unity Lutheran Churches, and members and alumni of the E.C.T. Youth Group:

By the time you read this, I will have shared this news with the E.C.T. Youth Group and several of our alumni during our gathering this evening.

It is with a heavy heart that I am submitting this letter of resignation as your Pastor with Youth and Households and leader of the E.C.T. Youth and Young Adults Groups. Words cannot express how much of a blessing and a gift it has been to learn from, grow with, and accompany you these past eleven years.

I have absolutely loved working with the young people of this community and accompanying them for over a decade as they have moved into and through young adulthood. In recent years I have started to feel God leading me toward spaces where I would work more directly with young adults, and I have been considering ways I might do that in a higher education setting. After much discernment through prayer, therapy, and spiritual direction, I have decided to accept an offer from National Louis University (Chicago campus) as the Campus and Community Resource Coordinator. Since more than 55% of NLU students experience food, housing, and/or financial insecurity, this position was recently created to help lead campus programming efforts to address student poverty. In this role, I will be helping create a vision for the campus food pantry and running its day-to-day operations. I will also direct students to emergency funds and community-based resources, lead Civic and Voter Engagement programs, organize service-learning opportunities, and lead homelessness and poverty awareness campaigns.

While I am excited to explore how God is opening doors for me to grow in a new space and in new ways, leaving the E.C.T. community has been one of the more difficult decisions I have had to make. I am incredibly sad to be leaving all of you, and I know this change will come with a lot of grief. During my time with you, I have learned about my identity as a pastor, community member, and child of God, and I have truly come to cherish each of you individually. 

I want to thank the pastoral team, staff, council representatives, and members of Ebenezer, Immanuel, and Unity for welcoming and supporting me in my time here. I would like to particularly thank all of the volunteers and interns of our children and youth ministries for caring deeply for our young people and dedicating your time and energy to loving and educating them in the faith. It has been such a joy and blessing to work with and learn from each of you, and I am thankful to know that the children and youth of Edgewater Congregations Together will continue to be in great hands after I leave. 

I especially want to express my deepest gratitude to the children, youth, and young adults of this community for allowing me to be a part of your lives. You have shown me what the Body of Christ and the Kingdom of God really look like through the ways you have embraced and celebrated each other’s differences and talents, included, loved, and cared for one another, and offered your gifts to make this world a better place. Each of you has taught me so much and has become a tremendously important part of my life. I am so very proud of you, inspired by you, and I am a better person because of you.

I will always care for you deeply, and I look forward to watching how you will continue to use your gifts and passions to make this world a more beautiful and equitable place.

I am looking forward to spending more time with you this summer. I am especially excited to take several of the E.C.T. Youth Group members to Bridge Builders Camp in Michigan at the end of June and to the Multicultural Youth-Justice Synod Event at Loyola University at the end of July. My last official workday will be July 31.

However, on Sunday, August 7, I will be joining parts of worship at Ebenezer and Immanuel Lutheran Churches for a send-off blessing at each congregation. After worship that day, there will be an opportunity for community members from all three E.C.T. congregations to gather for a send-off celebration. We will also have a special E.C.T. Youth Group and Alumni gathering later that afternoon. More details to come. Please save the date for the Send-Off Blessing & Celebration on Sunday, August 7!

My hope is that I can help make this transition go as smoothly as possible during my last few months and that we will continue to be able to grow and learn from each other during this time. I am also grateful to the E.C.T. community for its strong passion and support for sustaining this amazing youth ministry. Pastor Monte and Pastor Michael are already putting together a Hiring Team and plan to begin the search process for a new E.C.T. Pastor or Director with Youth and Households soon. I will be praying as the Edgewater Congregations Together Hiring Team searches for another ministry leader to accompany the incredible youth and households of this community. 

Thank you again for allowing me to be a part of your lives and for your support. You are truly a gift to me, and I am forever grateful for each and every one of you!

In God’s Abounding Love,

Pastor Emily Heitzman

P.S. If you have any questions that haven't been addressed here or would like information about the events mentioned, please contact Pastor Emily, Pastor Michael or Pastor Monte.