Every three years, the ELCA Youth Gathering takes place. It is a milestone event in the lives of tens of thousands of young people across the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. It is more than an event; it is a pilgrimage that offers profound spiritual growth, community, and inspiration to both the youth and the … More As We Gather: Created to Be
According to the United States Coast Guard, Minnesota has the highest number of recreational boats per capita of any state in the country. By a lot. There are 143.6 boats in Minnesota for every 1000 residents. (Which leads me to one important question: Where’s my boat?) That’s roughly 35% more than the next highest state, South Carolina, with 108 … More Know Your Name
In the late 1800’s, the Union Pacific Railroad was being built. Rail tracks were being laid across the whole country to connect passengers and goods from coast to coast. It was a massive construction project. As a section of track in the western United States was being laid, the construction team came to a large canyon. It … More 40 Days
Have you ever experienced really, really, really amazing hospitality? The kind of hospitality where you knowdeep in your soul, that you are welcome? The kind of hospitality where you don’t have to worry about a thing. The kind of hospitality where you know that the person who is hosting you, cares about who you are, and is glad that you are … More A Place at the Table
This week, we’re continuing our 8-week sermon series called “Truths Along the Way.” Our series is focusing on the truths Jesus taught through the parables. In today’s Gospel reading, you may recognize the story of “The Parable of the Talents.” It is a parable about a master who entrusts his servants with his property before heading off … More You’re Going to Need a Bigger Box
In my younger days, I would take youth groups out on cross-country trips to build homes with Habitat for Humanity. On the night before we left, we would always gather with families for a short worship service. And at that worship, we would give every young person who was going a small cross, on a leather lanyard. … More To Tell the Truth
When the decade of the 1960s came to an end, many of the hippies who had lived in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district were forced by rising real estate costs to moved down the coast to the town of Santa Cruz. There, they married and had children, they bought cars and homes and they enrolled their … More Truth has a Name
I have a confession to make: I am easily tempted. Yes, it’s true. It could be ice cream. Or it could be potato chips. (You see, I don’t discriminate, I like both the sweet and the salty.) Or it could be a new, really cool electronic device that does something amazing (that I probably don’t … More Temptation
Today is a windy day. As I’m writing this, I can look out of the windows of my office and see the trees on the front lawn of the church blowing around in the wind. Branches and leaves are swirling. But as I look down the trunk of the trees from the top to the … More Deep Roots
We’ve come to the end of the season of Lent. In just a couple of days, we celebrate Palm Sunday and the beginning of Holy Week and the journey to the cross and then the empty tomb. During our midweek Lenten worship services we have been thinking together about the scars that we carry in … More Wounds + Healing = Scars
Test Driving Theology 