INSIDE: Drive-In and In-Person Worship

I’ve been on more than a few road trips in my life. As a kid, I remember driving from northern Illinois to Orlando. For my Youth Gathering, it was a 24-hour drive from Medford, WI, to New Orleans. A few years ago, I led our family on the well-worn path from our area to Yellowstone and back.

I was sad going into Ash Wednesday, missing you all and missing the rituals of the day whose meaning is made stronger by your presence. It was so strange, even after 11 months, to stand staring at empty pews just beyond the camera. I was sad going to sleep on Ash Wednesday, happy to have seen some of you in person, but it still wasn’t quite right.

The First Lutheran Foundation Fund supports organizations in the larger community and also those that are part of First Lutheran Church’s own mission outreach. Included in the latter category is the First Teen Clothes Closet, which was established in 2012 as both a mission to serve youth in need in our community and as a volunteer opportunity for the youth in our congregation.

INSIDE: Drive-In Worship, Holy Week Schedule, Scholarships

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INSIDE: Drive-In Worship and Preschool Open House Tours

INSIDE: Grade 4 Faith Building Block, Faith Alive! U: Teen Mental Health, Holden Evening Under the Stars

Inside: Annual Meeting, Lenten Small Groups, Drive-in Worship Cancelled

In January, I assembled First Lutheran’s “COVID Advisory Panel”. The panel consists of five First Lutheran members and me. Dr. Jennie Kleven, Dr. Paul Molling, Rick Cornforth, Tim Smaby and Sheri Betz serve the community as health care providers, elected officials and a small-business owner. Together, we intend to meet weekly on Sundays to consider the current status of community spread, distribution of the vaccine, the impact felt by local hospitals and what guidelines are being offered by our county, state or federal governments. Things can change quickly. This group’s day to day work lives keep up with those changes. Thank you to all five of them as they offer their personal expertise and perspective to an ongoing crisis.

One thing 2020 taught me is to slow down and pay attention. To wonder and to be curious about what the Holy Spirit is doing in our lives and our world. As 2020 came to a close, I wondered about 2021 and how I would grow in my faith. The conclusion I came to was that there could be no better way to enter 2021 then to ground myself in the love of God and open myself to the Spirit through something as simple as a word? For several decades now, churches have been practicing the giving of “star words” at the time of Epiphany. Businesses are even joining in! Having a word of intention for a year is quite the thing now. It was quite serendipitous that the materials we were using for Advent included “star words”. I looked forward to what word would come my way.

On Jan. 7 and 9 several members of First participated in a training sponsored by ReconcilingWorks (RW). ReconcilingWorks is a para-church organization that helps our ELCA congregations live more fully into the vision of being inclusive of ALL people, particularly LGBTQIA+ people. On the same weekend nearly 40 households participated in a Faith Alive! U event on Sunday evening with the executive director of RW, Aubrey Thonvold, to hear more about the congregational process to become a “Reconciling in Christ” or “RiC” Congregation in the ELCA.

INSIDE: Annual Meeting Feb. 14, Lent & Holy Week Insert, Ash Wed Live Stream & Drive-Thru, Lent Small Groups

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• Newsletter as PDF

Inside: Lent Around the Table Box, Drive-In Worship, Annual Meeting

Inside: Stewardship Week, COVID Advisory Panel Q&A, Bible Readers begin 1 Thessalonians