By Kayla Zopfi Perhaps last years’ season’s greetings came with restful tidings and hopes for light to shine brightly again soon. Perhaps you’ve come to feel less and less seen by these greetings. The tiredness and somberness may have weighed heavily for so long. It is finally a fresh year but 2022 has, so far, [...]
By Pastor John Hulden In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see [...]
By Maya Bryant I stared out my office doorway to the windows leading to the white landscape outside and sighed. With the first heavy snowfall hitting the Twin Cities, it’s hard to ignore that winter is here. Sure, the cold and the wind chill aren’t anything to scoff at, but I hadn’t needed to pull out [...]
By Bishop Ann Svennungsen I have never attended a “Blue Christmas” worship service. Perhaps, this year. The service, often held on the longest night of the year, is a time to gather with others, to name the losses that make this season difficult, to lament and pray, and to experience the promise and presence of [...]
By Kayla Zopfi Year-of-service programs are ecosystems of mutual exchange, community engagement, and mentorship. Especially in the nonprofit sector, decades-long histories inform and affect programs that facilitate the connection between individuals who want to engage in their community (often recent college graduates) and organizations who are doing work that makes a difference (often those doing [...]
By Brenda Blackhawk Have you ever heard the phrase, “You can’t appreciate the sunshine if you’ve never stood in the rain?” Several variations of the saying pop up when you look online for quotes of gratitude and thanksgiving. It regularly comes up in our times of grief and sorrow as well, when someone who cares is trying to remind us that [...]
By Bishop Ann Svennungsen In 1900, my grandfather, David Svennungsen, was a member of St. Olaf’s tenth graduating class. I’m not sure what he paid for tuition, but I know something about the funds needed to start the college. Pastor Jacob Muus went to each of his members – mostly farmers – and asked for a [...]
By Pastor John Hulden But Ruth said, “Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you! Where you go, I will go; Where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die — there will I be [...]
By Emilie Bouvier Ole Nore (NOHR-ee), a Norwegian Lutheran farmer and nearly charter member of my home congregation in Lincoln, Nebraska, was not one known for sharing emotions. If you didn’t know him, you’d probably assume he was constantly disapproving. And when, say, a huge stick got stuck in the axel of the church lawnmower, [...]
By Pastor Craig Pederson Over the past 18 months the effects of the pandemic, racial justice awakening, and economic disruptions continue to unfold in unpredictable ways. As they do, new insights emerge that help us understand the seismic changes we are experiencing. In recent months, one trend that has been increasingly reported and analyzed is [...]
