Pastor's Page -- November 2019
Giving Thanks
Well my friends, I survived. I had a taste of fish soaked in lye and I am here to tell the tale! My first Lutefisk dinner at North Beaver Creek Lutheran Church was a wonderful experience. Despite needing to wash my clothes multiple times to rid them of a certain aroma, I had a joyful dinner with our community.
There seemed to be a palpable positive energy in the air of the white church as preparations were made in the days leading up to the dinner. The white building was cleaned and decorated. Confirmation students counted out plates and placemats and napkins. Food was bought and prepared. Many of you knew your task (even if that task was getting ready to buy tickets or hanging up a poster) and carried it out to perfection.
On Friday I was invited to peel rutabagas on Saturday morning. At first I was a bit trepidatious about accepting this invitation as I had never before seen a rutabaga, much less peeled one. But I went to peel with a group of men, and in this invitation I found people sharing stories, supporting each other, and inviting new people to the group.
Like many of you as we got ready to go the dinner, I invited my family to eat with us. My parents love lutefisk, so they were excited to join the dinner. My brother and sister-in-law were already planning to join my parents for the weekend, and while they were a bit skeptical of the translucent fish, they were glad to be a part of the gathering. As we got to the dinner, I saw many families gathering together to share a meal.
Sunday morning, attendance at worship in the brick church was a bit lighter than usual as many of our regulars were gathered at the white building and cooking shanty as they prepared for worship of a different kind. They gathered to prepare a meal of simple food reflecting the cultural heritage of many of the ancestors of this area. Tickets were sold, raising funds which will be distributed to feed hungry people, aid those in need, and help young people to hear the Word.
As the Sanctuary of what was once First Lutheran church filled up with hungry diners waiting to go to the basement to eat, people shared stories of the many meals that they had eaten in this basement, and of travel they had taken, and of relatives they now miss.
While the conversation in the lutefisk shanty and the basement around a table might sound a bit different than our conversations on most Sunday morning, when we worship on Sundays, we follow the same pattern: we invite others to worship with us, we prepare ourselves for worship, we gather together as one body, we share the stories of the Word of God, we share a meal, and we give thanks for what we have and for the grace and love which God provides in Christ, and we share our gifts with others, going out into the world to share that love that we have found. May we continue to live lives which give thanks for all we have been given, as we do when we gather to celebrate around some smelly, smelly fish.
Pastor Adam Arends
Well my friends, I survived. I had a taste of fish soaked in lye and I am here to tell the tale! My first Lutefisk dinner at North Beaver Creek Lutheran Church was a wonderful experience. Despite needing to wash my clothes multiple times to rid them of a certain aroma, I had a joyful dinner with our community.
There seemed to be a palpable positive energy in the air of the white church as preparations were made in the days leading up to the dinner. The white building was cleaned and decorated. Confirmation students counted out plates and placemats and napkins. Food was bought and prepared. Many of you knew your task (even if that task was getting ready to buy tickets or hanging up a poster) and carried it out to perfection.
On Friday I was invited to peel rutabagas on Saturday morning. At first I was a bit trepidatious about accepting this invitation as I had never before seen a rutabaga, much less peeled one. But I went to peel with a group of men, and in this invitation I found people sharing stories, supporting each other, and inviting new people to the group.
Like many of you as we got ready to go the dinner, I invited my family to eat with us. My parents love lutefisk, so they were excited to join the dinner. My brother and sister-in-law were already planning to join my parents for the weekend, and while they were a bit skeptical of the translucent fish, they were glad to be a part of the gathering. As we got to the dinner, I saw many families gathering together to share a meal.
Sunday morning, attendance at worship in the brick church was a bit lighter than usual as many of our regulars were gathered at the white building and cooking shanty as they prepared for worship of a different kind. They gathered to prepare a meal of simple food reflecting the cultural heritage of many of the ancestors of this area. Tickets were sold, raising funds which will be distributed to feed hungry people, aid those in need, and help young people to hear the Word.
As the Sanctuary of what was once First Lutheran church filled up with hungry diners waiting to go to the basement to eat, people shared stories of the many meals that they had eaten in this basement, and of travel they had taken, and of relatives they now miss.
While the conversation in the lutefisk shanty and the basement around a table might sound a bit different than our conversations on most Sunday morning, when we worship on Sundays, we follow the same pattern: we invite others to worship with us, we prepare ourselves for worship, we gather together as one body, we share the stories of the Word of God, we share a meal, and we give thanks for what we have and for the grace and love which God provides in Christ, and we share our gifts with others, going out into the world to share that love that we have found. May we continue to live lives which give thanks for all we have been given, as we do when we gather to celebrate around some smelly, smelly fish.
Pastor Adam Arends
Pastor's Page -- October 2019
We Hold the Faith Together
I didn’t want to be a pastor. Not for a long time, anyway! (Don’t worry, I changed my mind.) As a pastor’s kid I didn’t want to just do what was expected and be a pastor like my dad. So I tried out a whole bunch of other things.
Part of what held me back was that I thought I had to know all there was about faith and the Bible before I could teach others about God. I thought that I had to believe everything about God as the Lutheran church believes all the time, without question, in order to be a pastor.
That changed for me when in two separate places, from two different people, I heard the same message: “We hold the faith together, and together we hold the faith.” We don’t do faith alone. There may be days when my faith is strong, and there are other days when I have more questions than trust. And that’s okay! Because together, as a community of faith, as the people of the church, as the body of Christ, we lift each other up, and through our lifting up, we share the love of God in Christ.
This month we have wonderful opportunities to lift each other up and hold our faith together in welcome and thanksgiving. On the 6th we welcome 7 young people into the congregation as confirmed members. These young persons will say “Yes!” to God’s Yes. God, through the Holy Spirit welcomed them in baptism, and now they continue their life of faith by affirming what was promised in their baptism. Young people (and many older people too) have lots of questions about faith. Let us all support each other in our lives of faith.
At the end of the month we welcome hundreds of people into a church basement to serve them fragrant fish, mighty meatballs, and piles of potatoes. This celebration we throw is a way to honor the Scandinavian heritage of many of our members, and it is also a powerful witness to the love Christ first showed us. We eat together as a community, lifting each other up, and then we use the funds raised by this meal to support organizations in our community who feed the hungry, clothe those in need of clothing, and care for those in need. Thanks be to God that we do this together!
God, thank you for community, and that we don’t live out faith alone. Amen
I didn’t want to be a pastor. Not for a long time, anyway! (Don’t worry, I changed my mind.) As a pastor’s kid I didn’t want to just do what was expected and be a pastor like my dad. So I tried out a whole bunch of other things.
Part of what held me back was that I thought I had to know all there was about faith and the Bible before I could teach others about God. I thought that I had to believe everything about God as the Lutheran church believes all the time, without question, in order to be a pastor.
That changed for me when in two separate places, from two different people, I heard the same message: “We hold the faith together, and together we hold the faith.” We don’t do faith alone. There may be days when my faith is strong, and there are other days when I have more questions than trust. And that’s okay! Because together, as a community of faith, as the people of the church, as the body of Christ, we lift each other up, and through our lifting up, we share the love of God in Christ.
This month we have wonderful opportunities to lift each other up and hold our faith together in welcome and thanksgiving. On the 6th we welcome 7 young people into the congregation as confirmed members. These young persons will say “Yes!” to God’s Yes. God, through the Holy Spirit welcomed them in baptism, and now they continue their life of faith by affirming what was promised in their baptism. Young people (and many older people too) have lots of questions about faith. Let us all support each other in our lives of faith.
At the end of the month we welcome hundreds of people into a church basement to serve them fragrant fish, mighty meatballs, and piles of potatoes. This celebration we throw is a way to honor the Scandinavian heritage of many of our members, and it is also a powerful witness to the love Christ first showed us. We eat together as a community, lifting each other up, and then we use the funds raised by this meal to support organizations in our community who feed the hungry, clothe those in need of clothing, and care for those in need. Thanks be to God that we do this together!
God, thank you for community, and that we don’t live out faith alone. Amen
Pastor's Page -- September 2019
From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!
(2 Corinthians 5:16-17)
Are you starting to see it? Can you see that there are new things happening?
September is a time when things get started again. Our kids are back at school, teachers are back to teaching, parents are able to get back on a regular routine. We will celebrate with our community at Cheese Fest in Blair (you’re invited to community worship at the High School, Sept. 15 at 9:30am). At church, we will soon have Rally Day (September 22) when the children get a fresh start in learning about our God of love; our confirmation class begins again for the year (September 25 at 4:30 – parents invited!); and we get other programs ready to start.
While the fun, busy times of summer begin to come to an end, September is a time of coming back together in community and regular routines.
This September is a particularly joyful time for me as I begin my first year of ministry with and among you. We will celebrate on Rally Day, at a baptism, and a wedding. We will welcome the little children and we will teach them what it is to live lives of faith.
As we begin this year, I pray that we can together live into the promise of new life that Paul writes about in 2 Corinthians. When we gather to learn about God’s word, to worship God, and experience the love of Christ, we are participating in that new life in Christ. We are made new to live out faithful lives in service to God and our neighbors. We can continue to live that life of faith as we go to work, visit friends and families, care for loved ones who are ill, and enjoy our days.
This month in our readings on Sundays we will have some challenging words from Jesus as to how we live a life following his way. As we navigate together what that challenge means for each of us in our own daily lives, may we remember that we are free to live lives of service to one another, because Christ has set us free from all that which weighs us down. We are free to live lives of faith because of the love of God found in Jesus. And let’s remember that we do not do this alone. Our God is with us, and so are our siblings in faith: that great cloud of witnesses, and those we see in worship on Sunday.
Through God’s love, may we live together our new lives in Christ.
Peace + Grace,
Pastor Adam Arends
(2 Corinthians 5:16-17)
Are you starting to see it? Can you see that there are new things happening?
September is a time when things get started again. Our kids are back at school, teachers are back to teaching, parents are able to get back on a regular routine. We will celebrate with our community at Cheese Fest in Blair (you’re invited to community worship at the High School, Sept. 15 at 9:30am). At church, we will soon have Rally Day (September 22) when the children get a fresh start in learning about our God of love; our confirmation class begins again for the year (September 25 at 4:30 – parents invited!); and we get other programs ready to start.
While the fun, busy times of summer begin to come to an end, September is a time of coming back together in community and regular routines.
This September is a particularly joyful time for me as I begin my first year of ministry with and among you. We will celebrate on Rally Day, at a baptism, and a wedding. We will welcome the little children and we will teach them what it is to live lives of faith.
As we begin this year, I pray that we can together live into the promise of new life that Paul writes about in 2 Corinthians. When we gather to learn about God’s word, to worship God, and experience the love of Christ, we are participating in that new life in Christ. We are made new to live out faithful lives in service to God and our neighbors. We can continue to live that life of faith as we go to work, visit friends and families, care for loved ones who are ill, and enjoy our days.
This month in our readings on Sundays we will have some challenging words from Jesus as to how we live a life following his way. As we navigate together what that challenge means for each of us in our own daily lives, may we remember that we are free to live lives of service to one another, because Christ has set us free from all that which weighs us down. We are free to live lives of faith because of the love of God found in Jesus. And let’s remember that we do not do this alone. Our God is with us, and so are our siblings in faith: that great cloud of witnesses, and those we see in worship on Sunday.
Through God’s love, may we live together our new lives in Christ.
Peace + Grace,
Pastor Adam Arends
