Category: sabbatical
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A Sabbatical Summary
Today, after 12 weeks of rest, renewal and learning, I return to the office. I loved these 12 weeks. They were a wonderful opportunity and a gift. At the same time, I’m glad to be back to Trinity. I’ve missed the people and the work. I wrote a summary of my sabbatical experience for the…
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Worshiping at: St. Andrew Lutheran in Eden Prairie
This morning, Lori and I had the opportunity to worship at Saint Andrew Lutheran in Eden Prairie (not to be confused with St. Andrew’s Lutheran in Mahtomedi, where I worshipped last weekend). This was the final of my sabbatical worship experiences away from Trinity. I would describe the worship at St. Andrew as orthodox and…
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Predicting the Weather
Just about every day, Lori and I check the weather apps on our phone. Ok, to be honest, we usually check two of them. We look at the app that tells us the forecast. (Partly cloudy…high of 76…10% chance of precipitation…etc…). Then we also will look at the app that has the radar on it,…
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Sabbatical Reading: “Lead Like it Matters”
Churches either have “it,” or they don’t, argues Pastor Craig Groschel, in his book “Lead Like it Matters.” I think there is a lot of truth in this. I remember when I was growing up and my family would drive back in to the city to the church where my brothers and I were baptized…
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“How to Lead When You Don’t Know Where You’re Going”
During this sabbatical, I’ve been doing a fair amount of reading. One of the books I read was “How to Lead When You Don’t Know Where You’re Going; Leading in a Liminal Season” by Susan Beaumont. This may be the best book I’ve read so far during my sabbatical. Susan Beaumont is a consultant, a…
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Worshiping at St. Andrew’s Lutheran in Mahtomedi
On Sunday, I had the opportunity to worship with the community at the contemporary worship service of St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church in Mahtomedi, Minnesota. St. Andrew’s is a congregation much larger than Trinity, but I would describe their congregational culture and style as being very similar. They have a beautiful, giant sanctuary, and then a…
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Visiting Christ Lutheran in Charlotte
Towards the end of my trip to the southeast, I drove from Atlanta up to Charlotte, North Carolina. There, I spent some time with Pastor Scott Suskovic, the senior pastor at Christ Lutheran Church. I had met Pastor Scott a few times, at the “Senior Pastors of Large ELCA Congregations” conference that I participate in…
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Visiting Redeemer in Atlanta
On Tuesday, I had the opportunity to sit down and visit with Pastor Mark Larson, the senior pastor at Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in Atlanta, Georgia. Redeemer is a historic downtown church in the Midtown area of Atlanta, which is just outside of downtown. Redeemer is a traditional, historic congregation that has a long…
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The Martin Luther King Center
On Sunday, after I worshipped at North Point Community Church, I had a chance to connect with Pastor Andrew Lewis, his wonderful spouse, Suzanne, and their 10 month old baby, Junia. Many of you will remember that Pastor Andrew was once “Intern Andrew” at Trinity, and was a wonderful and deeply appreciated part of our…
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Worship at North Point
On Sunday, I worshipped (in-person!) at North Point Community Church, just outside of Atlanta, Georgia. North Point is a non-denominational church with 8 different campuses across the Atlanta area. If you add the worshipping attendance at all 8 campuses up, North Point averages over 35,000 people worshipping together every weekend. North Point is led by…