Church life

Help…prayers needed

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

I normally go on vacation right after Christmas Day worship…but not this year.  This year my wife and I thought it was a wiser decision to stay through Sunday, Dec. 27 so I wouldn’t be doing sermon prep for Jan. 3 while on vacation. Makes sense but it does throw me off a little bit…hence the needed prayers.

Since our Christmas storm (a.k.a Winter Storm Eric) kept us home for a couple days my brain switched into vacation mode.  Now it is Sunday and I am trying to switch back into non-vacation mode and get ready for worship.  I have two worship services this morning; Christmas worship at Belmont and First Sunday of Christmas worship at Salem; which means two different services and two different sermons.  On a normal Sunday this would be challenging, but today…well…I need some prayers:
–Prayers that I stay focused and not look ahead to vacation starting this afternoon.  The people here deserve my best and complete attention and not just part of me.  I don’t want Satan to use this to distract me.

–I need prayers for energy.  Many pastors know that tons of energy is expended on Sunday and therefore many pastors I know (me included) take naps on Sunday afternoon.  This morning I will need some extra energy (more than my pot of coffee can give me).

So thank you, in advance, for your prayers.  I know I joke about needing my coffee in the morning to keep me going but I do know that my (and our) true source of energy and strength comes from God alone.  So I pray that YOU have a very blessed day and that you may continue to know and experience the love of God in Jesus Christ our Savior.

Take care and God bless!

-edh-

P.S.  If Winter Storm Eric wasn’t enough this past week…we got another inch plus last night.  What a mess for a Sunday morning.

Christmas snow storm 2009

/ The Pastor / 6 Comments

Many of you reading this blog are not here in the upper Midwest part of the United States.  Even if you are not living here you no doubt have heard something about the major snow storm that is here.  Right now we are in a lull but conditions will be deteriorating fast throughout the day (Christmas Eve); creating near blizzard conditions through Saturday (Wow…I almost sound like a meteorologist…I guess it is too much Weather Channel the past few days).  When all is said and done, we should have (here in Jackson) around 15 to 20 inches of snow (maybe more).  Four inches fell last night.  Needless to say Christmas plans have been altered around here.  Many churches have already canceled/postponed Christmas worship services and many family plans have changed.  For me personally…I feel conflicted and a little annoyed.  I love snow storms but this one is bad timing; so therefore I want to enjoy this storm but it is hard too when I know there are people trying to get places and many who can not get to family destinations.

With all that being said I ask you to pray.  I mentioned yesterday that “It WILL happen”…meaning the birth of Jesus WILL be celebrated.  My prayer is that people can still worship and celebrate even though things have changed for them.  I am also praying that people are safe.  Right now the roads are open but no travel is advised.  Those venturing out; please be careful (I am kind of hoping roads close so people are forced to stay off them).

Part of me also wonders why God would allow such a major snow storm to strike…at Christmas.  I know other people may be wondering the same thing.  Even though I can not explain this I know that God will be glorified no matter what.  So pray that people (including me) do not lose focus.  This storm is annoying…it is canceling some worship services…it is throwing a wretch in the works…but God will be glorified.  I believe (even through my concerns and questions) that God will do something amazing through and despite this storm.  Mother Nature can not stop God.

And…I will be praying that all of you have a very blessed Christmas.  I pray you bask in the hope and joy of the Christ child with wonder and love.  Worship doesn’t have to happen in a certain room, in a certain building at a certain time.  Worship is how we live our lives.  Worship and celebrate the birth of Jesus…no matter where you are or who you are with.  Give praise, honor and glory to God, always and forever, Amen.

Merry Christmas!

-edh-

Whew…

/ The Pastor / 1 Comment

Yup…I am still here.  This past week has gotten busy…which is normal for this time in December.  Let’s see what we have here: (1) Christmas open house at the parsonage is coming up; (2) along with our Christmas program; (3) Christmas worship services need to be planned; (4) and of course there are board meetings with the synod, Bible camp and congregation; (5) Plus the everyday, normal church “stuff”; and (5) For good measure I have a funeral next week.

Whew…

…But don’t get me wrong…I am not trying to whine and complain; sharing my sob story here.  But it never ceases to amaze me how I forget about the mayhem that always seems to hit this time of the year.  It’s like I get amnesia…and maybe that is a good thing, because if I were to dwell on this craziness all year-long I might have run for the hills a long time ago.  But as it stands, I am still here…and…God continues to be faithful.

I am a little stressed, but I know everything will turn out great.  The Gospel will be preached and the Holy Spirit will do its thing.  And after all…isn’t that the point?  To let go and let God be God.  I think so.

So I am going to get back to my “lazy” afternoon of sitting in my favorite chair; drinking coffee and reading scripture.  A combination that you can never go wrong with.  And oh ya…all that Christmas planning and other “stuff”…it will get done.  To the glory of God.

-edh-

New Bibles

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

Yesterday in worship we gave Bibles to our 3rd graders (one at Belmont and one at Salem).  In the past I have ordered children’s Bibles from somewhere (I can’t seem to remember now), but this year we gave away a NRSV Spark Bible (Augsburg Fortress).

During the worship service I had the student and their parents come up front and I spoke to the student about the promises their parents made when they were baptized.  I told the 3rd graders that one of the promises their parents made was that they would place in your hands the holy scriptures (among a number of other things that I mentioned as I walked through the baptismal liturgy).  I then handed the Bible to the parents and they in turn handed it to their child.  We then all prayed together over the 3rd grader and their new Bible.

The fun part for me (besides getting to hand a 3rd grader a new Bible) was watching them (periodically) during worship.  Both these 3rd graders spent the worship service paging through their new Bibles…checking it out.  They didn’t seem to be paying attention to anything that was going on (if they ever do) but at least they were paying attention to their new Bible.  My prayer is that their curiosity doesn’t end.

At what point does this curiosity end for many people?

-edh-

Serving at The Banquet

/ The Pastor / 4 Comments

This afternoon we make our annual “pilgrimage” to The Banquet in Sioux Falls, SD to serve supper (see The Banquet for more information on this ministry). Salem, Belmont and Bethany Lutheran Churches bring about 35 to 40 people to serve supper for people who are homeless or just need a hot meal.  When I called last week to plan the meal I was told that The Banquet is expecting to serve about 500 people that day (numbers have been up from previous years).  In the past we have served 465, 421, 363, 396 people.  I guess I shouldn’t be surprised about the increase of people needing a hot meal considering the economy.

But as I think about making the necessary preparations to bring this group to Sioux Falls I find myself looking at our Gospel text for Sunday from Mark 12:38-44 (“The widow’s offering”).  Scripture commands us to care for the alien, the widow and the orphans.  Now I am not calling The Banquet guest “aliens” or anything of the sort, but they are people we are called (and commanded) to care for.  I mean…for the most part we live lives of abundance.  You have food in your refrigerator and you probably have a good idea where lunch and supper is coming from.  You probably even know what you are going to eat at those meals.  For the guests that utilize The Banquet for the livelihood, they don’t know…they don’t even know for sure if they can even get in to have a hot meal.  It depends if they get in line soon enough and the number of people there.  There are so many questions for those guests, but not so much for us.

A friend of mine has told me that they get frustrated with themselves because they feel they don’t do enough for others.  But maybe, just maybe, the poor widow from Mark 12 can teach us something:  It’s not the amount but the sacrifice.

I am looking forward to tonight; looking forward to what God is going to do through each of us…for His glory.

Praise be to God!

-edh-

God is good!!!

/ The Pastor / 7 Comments

If there was ever a time when I needed to be reminded that God will never give us more than we can handle…it is now.

Here’s the situation in brief:

–As I have mentioned before this weekend is Salem’s 125th anniversary and there is an open house at the parsonage tomorrow (Saturday).

–The bathroom is being remodeled.  We ordered flooring but as of Thursday is just arrived but no one was available to put it in = messy house for open house = stressed wife = stressed husband (me).  Help!

–[Here’s God intervening] One of my trustees has a son who installs flooring (why I didn’t remember is beyond me).  She heard about our setback and called her son and he said he could come on Friday to install the flooring.  PRAISE BE TO GOD!  He just left (Friday morning) to get is tools so he can start.  The  bathroom will now be done by the open house = less stress for my wife = less stress for the husband (me). PRAISE BE TO GOD!!!

–[Here’s God intervening again] Project #2…the patio.  One parishioner is working on this (former landscaper) all by himself = lots of work.  Yesterday and this morning people have been calling me left and right saying they are coming over to help Joel and get this done (Joel is happier).  PRAISE BE TO GOD!!!  And now I am feeling overwhelmed by God’s greatness and faithfulness.

–[The priesthood of all believers] People from the anniversary committee, the congregation president, various other council members, parishioners, and friends from the community (a friend of mine who happens to be the council president at the other Lutheran church in town) have stepped up to make this weekend happen.  Thank you and PRAISE BE TO GOD!!!

In response to this all I can say is “God is good…all the time.  All the time…God is good!!!”

PRAISE BE TO GOD!

-edh-

The week in review

/ The Pastor

<Deep breath>

I have been trying to stop and to that from time to time…stop and take a breath…but it has been tough this week.  Here’s my week in review:

Monday: Relaxing day with a hint of stress and anxiety over what was coming up during the week.

Tuesday: A do-to list that looked a mile long.  I would check one thing off and add two others (one step forward and two back…all day).  But in the end I did get all the Tuesday items checked off plus 3 for later in the week (a minor victory).

Wednesday: A day that was a little more low-keyed (since I got so much done on Tuesday).  Ministerial meeting, out-of-town hospital visit, and council meeting.  All the while overseeing the new patio that is going in at the parsonage next door.

Thursday (today): Plan two worship services for Salem’s 125th anniversary weekend, sermon prep, parents coming through to have lunch with me (I can hardly wait), and an out of town Shetek Lutheran Ministries board meeting this afternoon/tonight.  And sometime today I need to get to a building supply store to buy some retaining block for the patio landscaping.  This should be an interesting day.

Friday: This is supposed to be my day off but I got a feeling it might not be.  At the very least I will sleep in, but beyond that…who knows.  It all depends on today.

Saturday – Sunday: Salem Lutheran Church’s 125th anniversary celebration.  If you hear from me next week it means I survived the weekend.  I am looking forward to the celebration but part of me will be glad when Monday arrives.

Now that you know my calendar for the week I what to share something with you that was written on my Facebook site the other day by a friend and reader of this blog.  He wrote:  “Live within the limits of the day.  God is also the Lord of the undone.”  Thank you, Patrick, this has been helpful this week.

God bless all of you and take care!

-edh-

A change of pace

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

I have been taking a little break from blogging the last couple days.  This past week has been a whirl wind since “the vote” at the ELCA CWA.  Many of my posts and comments here have dealt with issues from the CWA (Churchwide assembly).  This will continue to be an important topic to think and pray about and discuss…but I need a little break to process.  There are some comments on this blog that I need to attend to and I plan to respond to those early this week…so I thank you for your patience.  I am also working on a plan to meet with parishioners in small groups to listen to their concerns and questions while I share more information about the ELCA.  I have yet to finalize details yet, but when I do I will be sharing this plan with you here.

These next couple weeks may continue to be a whirl wind for me though:
–Salem’s 125th anniversary celebration is just 2 weeks away…with much to do yet.

–Confirmation, release time and Wednesday Night Live is beginning in mid-September.

–My wife and I are in the midst of home remodeling…which we are trying to finish before the 125th anniversary (we are having an open house at the parsonage).

So there’s much to do…and with that probably much to blog about.  But if you see a little dip in postings from the past week you will know why.  As I say every year…September is one of the busiest months of the year for me (next to December and Holy Week/Easter month).

In any case (and as always) I thank you for your comments and for stopping by.  Your presence here is extremely important to me and to others who visit.  Your thoughts and questions cause me (and others) to think.  So thank you and God bless!

-edh-

Faith journey

/ The Pastor / 11 Comments

[Personal side note: I know I have posted a lot recently so hopefully I am not overwhelming you…it’s just that I have had lots on my heart to say.]
———-

This last week has been a faith journey for me (times of trial have a way of leading people on these journeys).

For me this faith journey started (of course) last week when the ELCA Churchwide assembly began debating/discussing the sexuality issues.  But I don’t want to write another post about these issues (been there, done that).  Rather I want to share with you what has been going on inside of my heart during this past week…after all…this blog is titled “The HEART of a Pastor”.

Recently I had a conversation with a person who shared with me their heart about what happened at the ELCA CWA.  When this person called me and told me they were coming in, I did not expect a conversation about “the vote”, but when this person arrived…oh boy…I saw the heart of this person that I had not seen before.  They were almost apologetic but I kept telling them “We need more people like you to open their hearts and share what they are feeling about what is going on.  I appreciate seeing and hearing your passion and faith.”  This person was not happy about the outcome of “the vote” but need to tell someone…and they felt I was the only one they could talk to.  I wish that were no so.  I wish this person felt comfortable talking to others about their feelings and faith.  I told this person “I got a feeling that there are plenty others who probably feel the same as you.  So share your faith and don’t be afraid.”  I am not sure what this person will do, but hopefully this is just the beginning.

But in another way this “beginning” kind of scares me…

…part of me doesn’t feel ready to take on this task because I am still on this faith journey.  But another part of me knows that I need to be ready to guide and lead this congregation…and because that is the case I trust that God will guide me along this journey and give me what I need to lead Salem and Belmont Lutheran Churches through these tumultuous (wow…that is kind of a big word for me to use, but I like it) waters.

Yet another part of me is somewhat concerned what people here and beyond will do.  Will churches and people up and leave the ELCA?  Will Salem want to do that?  This is just one uncertainty that plagues me and one that I need to be ready to deal with.  I need to explore my heart and test my faith to see where it leads me.  I know the question will come up so I am in constant prayer…asking God for guidance and wisdom here.  “What is your plan for me and this church, oh  God?  Where are you leading us?  How are we to be faithful witnesses to the world during this tumultuous time in the Church?  But also…I don’t want this issue of homosexuality to distract us from the Gospel.  Grant me/us wisdom oh God.”

But I am thankful that this journey is happening before the busyness of the fall season hits.  School is not in session yet; Release Time and Confirmation classes don’t start for another couple weeks and Salem’s 125th anniversary is still a couple weeks away.  I can afford some down time to pray, reflect, talk with colleagues, write, read, pray, reflect, etc… And I got a feeling I will be doing plenty of this during the week and beyond.

I don’t understand why things happened last week the way they did, but I hope and pray it causes people to reflect, pray and engage their own personal faith journeys.  Maybe the Church needed this to spur people to action; to explore their relationship with God; to get people talking and thinking; to force people to explore their faith; to get into scripture more.  Whatever God is doing I trust that the mission of Christ will continue forward and that we will continue to be faithful witnesses.

“Oh God, grant me strength and wisdom.”

-edh-

Twitter updates on ELCA Church wide assembly

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

Maybe you have noticed, maybe you have not…on my top, left side bar there are some Twitter update about the ELCA Church wide assembly (CWA) that is going on in Minneapolis.  I have been keeping an eye on things and Tweeting updates and comments.  I am thinking I won’t blog a whole lot more about the CWA but if  something inspires me then I might.  For the time being check your Twitter account and follow me (SWMNRev) or check the top left side bar for updates.  I won’t be doing much tonight (Tuesday) with Twitter but will be back in full gear tomorrow while I try to get stuff down (I am a “master” at multitasking).

In any case, please the CWA in your prayers.  There is much to discuss and much to do but as I mentioned before my hope and prayer is that we, as a Church, will eventually move on and do something to advance the mission of  Christ.

-edh-