The Listening Ear

Its Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Wanda and I have had a tradition of hosting a Christmas Open House at our home. Its a tradition that goes back more than two decades. We haven’t had an open house every year, but we have done it the last six years here in Treynor.

 

Wanda enjoys decorating for Christmas and you see from the photos below she goes to a lot of work. She also like to bake. You can see our daughter Rachel and her friend Katie helping her make lemon drop cookies tonight. My job has mostly been cleaning. We are looking forward to the Open House tomorrow.

SPY 5th Quarter Christmas Video

SPY (St. Paul Youth) had a Christmas 5th quarter after the basketball game a couple of weeks ago. Here’s a video that features some of the things that went on that night.

Transformational Ministy-2

I came back yesterday from the Western Iowa Synod’s first Transformational Ministry event. Pastor Keith Zeh, ELCA Mission Director for the Dakotas and Northern Minnesota was the leader for the event. 

Keith had a wealth of material to share with us and in subsequent posts, I hope to pass some of the on to those who read this blog.

I am happy to be included on the team that will start working with four congregations in our synod who are ready to explore what transformation might mean for them. I think that I might have a few things to share, but more importantly, I think I’ll be able to learn a great deal from this experience. Indeed, the learning has already begun.

I am excited to be working with St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, rural Neola congregation. I have had some contact with St. Paul’s over the years—in fact I just got back from serving as their Consecration Sunday speaker this morning. St. Paul’s pastor, Sara Jensen, is a member of the clergy group that I’ve been meeting with for the past couple of years at least. 

What I told the St. Paul’s congregation this morning is that they remind me of the congregations I served when I started out at a pastor in Western North Dakota. Wanda and I lived right next to one of these churches, Trinity Lutheran Church in rural Kenmare. ND. The altar with its pointed, winged spires look so much like Trinity’s altar. The individual sliver communion cups used at St. Paul’s were just like ones we used at Zion Lutheran Church, another congregation that was part of the Greater Kenmare Area Parish. While I was in that parish I developed an appreciation for those small, rural congregations. 

I am sure you’ll be hearing more about transformational ministry on this blog as time goes on. It  should be a rich experience.

Keith Zeh speaks to participants at the WIS Tranformational Ministry event.

Preschool Project

I got involved in a project at our church today. A crew assembled this morning to put new siding on our preschool building. The building used to be the church's parsonage and then housing for our youth minister. Three years ago our turned it into our preschool building. This year we turned the garage into another classroom to accommodate increased enrollment. It was decided that we also needed to reside the building and that was the project for the day.

I got to help out this morning even though I had to do some other things in the afternoon. The crew kept at it until it was nearly dark and almost completed the job. Here are a couple of pictures from the day.

Perry Vorthmann cuts a piece of siding.

Frank Maguire and Scott Molde get ready to put another a piece of siding.

Grounds For Thought Photos

I just got back a while ago from our Grounds For Thought worship experience. I was glad to see more people there this month. We are starting to get some very positive comments. Here are some photos we took tonight.

Grounds For Thought This Sunday

I am excited about the next installment of Grounds For Thought, our experimental worship experience. The next one takes place this Sunday, January 6. Worship starts at 6:30 p.m., but coffee, other beverages and snacks are available beginning at 6 p.m.

Our congregation’s mobilization team is planning to do some video-taping during the event. We want to put together a short video that can be used in several ways to help people know what Grounds For Thought is all about.

Basically it is worship taking place in a relaxed, coffeehouse-like setting, featuring contemporary music. It is a place to connect with God and with others. Childcare is available for those who have young children, but many who attend don’t have kids to worry about.

I hope you can check it out.