“The Samaritan went to him and bandaged his wounds, tending them with oil and wine. Then he placed the wounded man on his own donkey, took him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day, he took two full days’ worth of wages and gave them to the innkeeper. He said, ‘Take … More Hello, Neighbor
A few years ago, I was a part of the team of folks that helped to put together the racial reconciliation roundtables that took place at the Owatonna Middle School after the high school experienced an incident of racial conflict. The goal of these sessions was to open lines of communication, and to have healthy, … More I See You
On September 28, Pastor Cindy completed her work as a visitation pastor at Trinity. In addition to her part-time work at Trinity, she has also worked for two years for an organization called LeaderWise. LeaderWise works to support congregations and pastors from many different Christian denominations. They provide counseling, coaching leadership development and conflict resolution. For awhile … More Thank You and Godspeed Pastor Cindy!
On September 12, 1962, President John F. Kennedy took the podium at Rice University to speak to a crowd of 40,000 people. It was a hard time: Our nation was struggling. Viet Nam was escalating. The Bay of Pigs incident had taken place the year prior. The cold war was heating up, and our nation, … More It is Time
The new fence went in this past week around the playground at Trinity. It replaces the (quite ugly) temporary, plastic fencing that has been in place since the beginning of the school year. We put the fence in to fulfill a state licensing requirement, needed because the Trinity Nursery School was expanding its hours. We … More The Law of Love
We are just one week away from the 2nd anniversary of the tornado that came through Owatonna, September 20th, 2018. Remember that one? For a couple of days, the power was out through most of the town, including here at church. We had to shout our way through the Saturday night worship service, and the … More Today We Start With Why
Dear friends, I hope you are well and healthy! During this strange time in our life together as a community, I wanted to give you an important update on the state of Trinity Lutheran Church. We’ve been living together in this time of the pandemic now for well over a month, and as the church, … More An Important Update on the State of the Church
A number of years ago, I was in New Orleans for a continuing education conference. I was in the hotel lobby, deep in conversation with a colleague after the evening session when we witnessed an interesting exchange. A man who looked to be homeless shuffled into the lobby and approached the front desk. I don’t … More A Turn in the Story
There is a whole series of psychological exams that students at our seminaries have to undertake. These exams dig deep into our family history, our personality characteristics and our sense of call to become a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. When I went through this process, I had to go to a … More Right Here, Right Now
I’ve been thinking a lot about encouragement this week. I’m writing this post from the Cincinnati International Airport, awaiting my flight back to Minneapolis and the short drive back to Owatonna. I spent the past week as a parent chaperone on Owatonna High School’s Marching Band tour to southern California. Three of the young people … More The Power to Encourage
Test Driving Theology 