Last month, I wrote an obituary for the Lutefisk dinner at Faith Lutheran church. It was a lighter way to spread the news that, after 70 years, our congregation would no longer be hosting this community event that around 500 people would attend on the 2nd Tuesday of December. As you can imagine...
Faith Lutheran Scandinavian Dinner, also known as “The Lutefisk Dinner” or “Holy Tuesday”, has peacefully died at the age of 70. Preceded in death by numerous cousins (many other churches have had to make this decision over the years). Survived by a few remaining siblings...
A year ago, Faith Lutheran Church received a grant request to help families who were grieving the death of a child. It was submitted by a family that had personally experienced this pain and was looking for ways to help other families who would need support as they took the first steps into life...
There’s a show called “Shark Tank” on ABC in which entrepreneurs pitch their new inventions, ideas, or products to a panel of venture capitalists, “sharks,” in hopes of landing an angel investor to provide more money to help grow their idea. The contestants get...
Remember when Mr. Rogers would say, “Won’t you be my neighbor?” What does it actually mean to be a neighbor? In the Christian faith, we believe that being a neighbor is one of the most important characteristics of living out our faith. How does Jesus finish this statement?...
As a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, one of the requirements that I have is to regularly take a Boundaries Workshop. This is an intentional time to talk about the foundational understandings of boundaries and power along with conversation on harassment, self-care, and the...
April hasn’t exactly felt like April, has it? Mercifully, the weather feels it’s finally taking a turn towards spring. On April 15th, Faith Lutheran and many other Twin Cities churches either canceled or had worship with very few people venturing out in the middle of the...
As you wake up to dig out of the snowstorm, here are a few options to remain worshipful today. Listen to our radio broadcast at 9 on 95.9 WKLX (it's an appropriate re-broadcast based on how things look outside) Read the scripture lesson for today from Acts 9:1-19a. In your own devotional time...
In my article last month, I reflected on how we as a community can respond after another mass shooting, this time at a school in Parkland, Florida. At Faith Lutheran, we wondered how our prayers were calling us into action. We focused on intentionality with serving youth, especially in Forest...
On Presidents Weekend, a few days after the tragic shooting in Florida, I preached about the importance of our thoughts and prayers for those mourning. But I also stressed that, as Christians, we can’t remain silent. I even wrote about it in the Forest Lake Times. We are called to...