Pastor Christine Chiles

Your name means- Christian.

I can hear grandpa telling me this.  Grandpa was widowed when I was five years old;  we spent more time together after that, keeping each other company.  Grandpa was a Lutheran Chaplain and his telling me how much Jesus loved me was a natural part of our relationship, just like the shiny quarter he always gave me, the oatmeal breakfasts that fortified us on cold, Minnesota winter mornings, and our trips on the bus to Nicollet Mall and Dayton’s Department Store. 

Christine- your name means-Christian.   Grandpa wanted me especially to know whose I was.

I’m supposed to write about myself here- my history, education and family.  But first I want to tell you something about yourself. Whatever your given name, the most important thing to know about yourself is that God loves you.  

I grew up a Lutheran Christian, in Plymouth, MN, in a loving family and community, with church and faith woven through our lives.  When I was in junior high, my family moved to a suburb outside Philadelphia, PA.  We joined a new mission-start church, and I took confirmation classes there.  I used to think disparagingly of that little Lutheran congregation.  Wednesday after Wednesday, the pastor taught that through baptism, I was a child of God.  Once again, someone was telling me whose I was, and by the grace of God I’ve come to understand that is the most important thing I can ever know about myself.  That God loves me.   

So, I want to tell you that in baptism, God claims you and calls you, “My child”.  That’s ageless; we presently are a community of faith with ‘children of God’ from newborn to 97 years of age. But we each have, through baptism, a life that will be forever, with God. 

This news changes me, every time I hear it.  It’s like being reborn, a fresh start, loved, forgiven, blessed, joyful.  The Apostle Paul describes this in his letter to the Christians in Galatia- 
 

Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not "mine," but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that. 

I will never fully know all that it means to be so loved, to be a child of God. But it’s wonderful, and I live a thankful life, and I love to tell others, God loves you too.   I’ll keep trying to live up to this wonderful calling of being a Christian, following Jesus, who shows me how. 

Okay, so here is more about me. I’m blessed  beyond measure and grateful to God, to be:

• Married to Jim, for 27 years. Jim works for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, with recycling policy and programs.  He is also a writer and author on technology. I learn so much through him.
• Parent to three grown sons, Ben, Jeff and Kevin; also to have gained a daughter in law, Emma (Ben’s wife) and to be gaining another daughter in law (Emily, to Jeff). 
• Parent to a young adult son with Asperger’s Syndrome, through whom we see God creates all people with abilities.
• A Loyal Minnesota Twins Fan
• Educated at Pennsylvania State University, Bachelor of Science in Public Service;Temple University, Master of Public Administration; Luther Seminary, Master of Divinity.  I’ve always felt called to serve people; my mom has called me a “people collector”.  I served people as a VISTA volunteer, and in local governments, working for low-and moderate income housing programs with the City of Philadelphia and Dallas, Texas.  Since 2004, I have served Christ, as Associate Pastor, and then as Pastor with the people of Maple Grove Lutheran Church.

On Sundays, when we celebrate a baptism, and the waters of rebirth are poured over the person, our congregation responds in acclamation , “You belong to Christ, in whom you have been baptized. Alleluia!”  Remember this most important thing for you and me to know about ourselves. God loves us.  Come hear this good news every week. Come grow with us to be the people God is calling us to be.  

Pastor Chris