60 Years ago (in 1946) a small group of Christians - primarily from Bethlehem Lutheran Church and Our Saviour Lutheran Church - started meeting together in their homes. They laid plans for "the Ruth Avenue Mission" which began services (with the help of Bethlehem's pastor, Dr. Gamber) in October 1946 in rented facilities at Eastern Heights public school on Margaret Street. A mission station for Jesus Christ was established and thousands of people have been reached with the Good News of forgiveness and eternal life.

Now as we enter the seventh decade of this mission, we renew our commitment to build a bright, warm blaze to draw people from across the East Metro into the faith and fellowship of the Crucified and Risen One.

If we are to be "Ablaze" with Christ's love and mission… … there will be no room for exclusivity.

Our church family will continue to become more diverse and multi-cultural, with folks of all different backgrounds worshipping their One Lord together. … there will be no time for complacency. We will not sit back and wait for people to come to us. Instead, we will target different groups and individuals each month with whom to share the Good News. …there will be no place for timidity.

Being wise stewards of all the resources God makes available for us, we will boldly leverage those resources to make changes and improvements that will contribute toward setting the Eastside Ablaze for Jesus.

When the Risen Lord Jesus encountered those disciples on the road to Emmaus on Easter evening, they later said, "were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?"

If the Bible is still a closed book to you, I pray that 2006 will be the year that Jesus opens the Scriptures to you. If you are already a student of His Word, may it burn brightly within you as we work together to set our east metro (and all the world) ABLAZE with the great universal, life-changing love of God in Jesus Christ. Ablaze in Christ,

Steve Benson/pastor and Director of Missions