Dear Members and Friends of the Hot Metal Bridge Faith Community,
When I started as your pastor in December 2019, there were so many things we could have never anticipated about our time together: a global pandemic, a racial justice uprising, a complete shift in how the world relates to one another. Over these last 3 1⁄2 years, we have weathered through all these challenges, and so many more. I’m so proud of the ways our shared vision and call to serve has both remained constant and has manifested in new and different ways - from a new mission statement, to a Table ministry that didn’t miss a beat, to our more visible and vocal commitment to LGBTQ+ inclusion and antiracism. God has done SO MUCH in this time, and I hope you too can give thanks for the movement of the Spirit you have experienced.
Today, I write to you to inform you that our time as pastor and congregation is coming to a close, far sooner than we anticipated back in 2019. I have accepted a position serving with the Lutheran Advocacy Ministry of Pennsylvania (LAMPa), an office of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s advocacy work. I will be working with Lutheran congregations in their education and advocacy organizing around issues such as hunger, housing, climate change, and LGBTQ+ rights here in Pennsylvania. This is a position that combines many of my long-time passions, many of which have been sharpened and strengthened during my time here at Hot Metal.
In consultation with the Council and Pittsburgh Presbytery, my last Sunday will be August 20th. There will be a Congregational Meeting on August 13th right after worship, and Council invites you all to a celebratory time the following week on the 20th.
After that, the Council and Worship Team will work with the Presbytery to make sure that worship services are coordinated, and you will get to hear from a variety of voices speak God’s word to you! The Presbytery will also work with Council and other leadership to discern next steps in the process of transition. This will include lots of intentional time to listen, speak, and pray together about where the community as a whole feels called to in the future.
There will be many opportunities for you to help in the transition - from worship leadership, to coffee making, to helping with the Sanctuary: Art + Honors in September. I hope and pray that you take this as a time to double down on your engagement and commitment to this community. This community has never been defined by just one person, and I know it will continue to thrive as long as all those who love it pour that love and energy into it.
I have been so blessed to be your pastor. Thank you for teaching me the importance of allyship, of vulnerability, of doubt. Thank you for sharing your stories, your heartbreak, and your questions with me. For all the ways I have fallen short these past three+ years, I ask your forgiveness. For all the ways in which you welcomed me and my family, how you loved my son in his three years on this earth, and for all the good lessons I have yet to realize you have taught me, I thank you. I am sure God is hard at work to ensure that this remains a community where ALL are loved, fed, and affirmed, and I’m so proud to have been a small part of that legacy.
In Christ,
Rev. Erin Jones
