May 1, 2025 This past Sunday, nearly 20 folks gathered after worship at 11 am to begin a weekly discussion about the book When Church Stops Working – a Future for Your Congregation beyond More Money, Programs, and Innovation, by Andy Root and Blair Bertrand. One of the initial claims the authors make in the … [Read more…]
…don’t think that you can be wise merely by being up-to-date with the times. Be God’s fool—that’s the path to true wisdom. What the world calls smart, God calls stupid. It’s written in Scripture, He exposes the chicanery of the chic.The Master sees through the smoke screensof the know-it-alls..” 1 Corinthians 3:18-20 (the Message) When … [Read more…]
Lent couldn’t have come at a better time for the church. Amidst the chaos and uncertainty of national and world events, Lent offers us an opportunity for deep reflection and discernment. Who are we as followers of Jesus? How might Christ be calling us to set our own faces towards the future and respond faithfully? … [Read more…]
…walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called… Ephesians 4:1 I open this annual report to our congregation with a sense of thanksgiving and anticipation. This is the fourth time now that I have been able to share with you thoughts on the year past and the year to come … [Read more…]
New Year’s Day 2025 falls on the Eighth Day of Christmas (in the liturgical calendar), on which the Church also remembers the Name of Jesus. It’s a wonderful reminder that our identity as people of faith begins, is sustained, and ends in our identity as sisters and brothers of Christ and in Jesus, the Christ. … [Read more…]
When I was young, my parents always loaded up the car with luggage and presents, food and drink, kids and dogs for our annual Christmas trip to Cambridge, Nebraska, where my mother’s parents, George and Babe Scott lived. In the earlier years, we spent Christmas on the family farm ten miles or so north of … [Read more…]
“For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” Galatians 5:14 I sense a great deal of anxiety about the upcoming national elections on Tuesday, November 5. Some of you have directly shared your concerns and fears with me; in other cases I have heard tension … [Read more…]
October is a an interesting month, isn’t it? Now that Summer has passed and Fall has arrived, so have the weeks of craziness that mark the transition from harried summer schedules to the more steady rhythm of October. Teachers, kids, grandkids and their parents are following the even cadence of the school week. Work schedules … [Read more…]
This summer, I was asked to write an article on sermon preparation for workingpreacher.com, an online resource for working preachers from Luther Seminary. The request came in response to a workshop I, along with my Fleshpots of Egypt buddies Jeff and Steve, participated in at the request of our fearless leader, Rolf Jacobson, during the … [Read more…]
Let the Good Times Roll. As I count the days before attending the 2024 ELCA Youth Gathering in New Orleans with our confirmation youth — Amelia, Henry, and Kirby — I am excited and hopeful. As I look back on my own faith formation, experiences such as the Gathering resonate strongly and deeply. My little … [Read more…]