One of the things I love to do is ask people about the names of their children. When I served as a missionary in Madagascar, a Malagasy friend of mine named her child, Aina [pronounced I-Nah]. It is my favorite Malagasy name, and it is quite common. But the reason why I love it is … Continue reading What’s in a Name?

It's kind of tradition in many churches in the summer to host a Vacation Bible School. Often the routine runs from 9 am to 12 noon. So to change things up, a few years ago, I started offering an after VBS Service Day Camp, 12 noon to 3 pm. Camp is structured different than VBS: … Continue reading Service Day Camp

Starting with Ash Wednesday, people were encouraged to write prayers through Lent. Each week, prayers around the theme of service and hunger were collected. People wrote prayers on hunger in our schools, communities, and world. People wrote prayers for changed hearts and for a love of service. People wrote prayers of love for life and … Continue reading Prayer Paraments

Church #46. March is Minnesota Food Share Month.  St. John's Lutheran Church  in Lakeville, MN was challenged to collect 1000 food items for the local food shelf. If the goal was met, Pastor Heather Roth Johnson and the Compassion Team would create a food labyrinth with prayer stations.  The congregation exceeded the challenge to 1200 items of … Continue reading A Food Labyrinth

Both the Revised Common Lectionary and the Narrative Lectionary meet up on June 9 at Pentecost - it's the debut of summer! I always find Summer the perfect time to shake things up and try something else. So to jump start your creative minds, here is an optional summer sermon series on The Gospel According to … Continue reading The Gospel According to Dr. Seuss?

Church #45. Meet Julie Blum. She is the solo pastor at Maple Leaf Lutheran Church in Seattle, Washington. Maple Leaf is an urban congregation that worships about 85 on a given Sunday. Blum said, “What I love about this church is how they partner with the community to make Seattle a better place!” With an … Continue reading The Pinterest Pastor

Welcome to Lent! We all love food and feasting around the table as a family. So while you do, use this Lenten Devotional, Feast on This: Table Talk for Families starting Ash Wednesday, March 6, through Easter Monday, April 22. It’s simple to do and takes 5 minutes - read the daily devotional, ask the … Continue reading Feast on This – Lent Devotional

Church #44. Meet Lent. It starts with Ash Wednesday, March 6. For Epiphany, St. John's Lutheran Church, where I serve as the associate pastor of faith formation, and around 100 churches took part in a project called "Why Jesus?" Looking into the Narrative Lectionary stories and thinking about Why Jesus?, St John's decided to address … Continue reading Five (sort of) New Things for Lent

Church #43.  Meet Pastor Jo Gast. She is the pastor-mission developer at Augustana Lutheran Church in Grand Forks, ND. With an average worship attendance of 80 people on a given Sunday, Augustana will celebrate 125 years of ministry in 2022. Located on the fringes of downtown Grand Forks and a mile away from the university, … Continue reading More Than Just Books

Baptism of Our Lord Sunday is January 13. John proclaims the kingdom of heaven has come near. What is the kingdom of heaven? It is God at work in human affairs. God entering into relationship with humanity. Here, as a parent to a beloved child. Baptism, for Lutherans, is where our relationship with God begins. … Continue reading Baptism Dove Art