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...
On Oct. 1, 2017, the city of Las Vegas experienced the terror of a 64 year-old man shooting up the Route 91 Harvest Music festival. Everyone was quick to offer their thoughts and prayers for all the victims. Our church held a prayer vigil—the second such vigil (including one following the...
Have you noticed that every other week since Advent, we use a different version of the Lord’s Prayer? The newer version has been the standard at Faith for a while. It was created by the English Language Liturgical Consultation (ELLC), a group of ecumenical liturgists that promote common...
Just over a year ago, the now retired superintendent of schools, Linda Madsen, invited a group of principals, community leaders, and faith leaders together for a conversation. The schools were seeing and hearing a lot of complaints from students that they were targets of racial slurs and...
“And Mary gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.” Maybe you’ve heard that story this week. The name of Mary’s son is Jesus. I wish that we could say that everyone had a...
I’m thankful for my family and friends. I’m thankful for our home and safety. I’m thankful for Faith Lutheran, where I serve as pastor, and the blessings that I see my congregation share with the community. Our church ponders where God is at work in our community and how we...