Posts from 2025 (Page 2)

Welcome to the first weekend of October! Where did the summer go? Where did the beginning of fall go? Temperatures will soon be dropping (I think next week already!) and we’re on our way to those wonderful fall colors! This past week I had the joy of spending a few days up in Alexandria at the annual Bishop’s Theological Retreat with about a hundred other pastors from the Minneapolis Area Synod. We spent time in worship, prayer, and conversation, as…

Greetings to everyone from Peace Lutheran Church! In the past couple of weeks our church leadership has been gathering for a variety of reasons: The Service and Mission Committee met to discuss their upcoming service projects, the Listening Sessions Team gathered to organize the transitional work we’ll be leading in the next couple of months, and the Church Council met to carry on with their ongoing leadership responsibilities. Peace is a vibrant congregation with excellent lay leaders! Coming up this…

Greetings to all! It’s September and we’re just a few days away from the official start of Fall! The temperatures are just beginning to drop, the leaves are just beginning to turn, and pumpkin spice lattes are just beginning to appear in our coffee cups! And speaking of beginnings, many new things are beginning (or beginning again!) here at Peace. Sunday School has started, Confirmation classes have begun, the Choir has returned, and we’re off and running into a new…

Greetings from Peace Lutheran Church! We had a great time last week at our annual “Gathering Sunday” celebration, Part One! Following a festive worship service, we gathered inside and outside for popcorn, sno-cones, glitter tattoos, a bounce house, and our first ever “Flat Pastor” project! (Have you sent your pictures in yet? (Click here to send it!) This Sunday we’ll be celebrating “Part Two” of our Back-to-School celebration. During worship we’ll be blessing our students, blessing our teachers, passing out…

Greetings from Peace Lutheran Church! The summer is winding down and the energy is winding up! School programs are starting in our neighborhoods and church programs are starting in our congregations! This Sunday we’ll be kicking off the coming year with our annual “Gathering Sunday” events. During worship, we’ll sing our songs, pray our prayers, share in the Lord’s Supper, and hear a word from Jesus about our call to be a community that’s grounded in the cross of Christ.…

Greetings from Peace Lutheran Church! I’m looking forward to gathering for worship as usual this Sunday morning where we will sing, pray, and hear a word of hope from scripture. The passage we will hear has to do with humility and hospitality in a world where we have too little of either. Yes, I’m thinking of the tragic shooting on Wednesday at Annunciation Catholic Church and School in south Minneapolis. It’s still hard to know how to respond. So in…

Greetings from Peace! Today is August 22, the second day of the State Fair. It’s often called the “Great Minnesota Get-together”, and for good reason – people from all walks of life gather for food, fun, and festivities. Speaking of which, did you know that Peace Lutheran helps out regularly with another “Great Minnesota Get-together”? On the third Tuesday of every month, several Peace members gather at Christ the King Lutheran Church just a few miles from here and prepare…

Dear Peace Community, Greetings from Peace! As of today we are officially halfway through August – the summer continues to slip away! But there is still plenty of warmth (and even HEAT) for us in these “Dog Days of Summer.” Our Transition Team has met TWICE now and continues to lay the foundation for our work ahead. Last Monday night we divided our work into various subcommittees (Communications Team, Written Survey Team, Listening Sessions Team) and we also elected our…

Dear Peace Community, Greetings on this fine Friday morning! This new Interim Pastor survived his first morning of worship last Sunday, and then gathered the very next day to meet with the Transition Team. We’re off and running! At that initial meeting, we discussed the importance of doing our work slowly and carefully, without rushing through it. The immediate work ahead is not simply about “filling a position” but rather it’s about “catching a vision” of God’s Spirit leading us…

Dear Peace Community, Last Sunday morning, Pastor Mark led his final worship service at Peace Lutheran. He and Marcie will now begin the next chapter of their lives together after nineteen years of faithful service in this congregation. Even in the midst of this change in leadership, the ministry of Peace Lutheran remains the same: each Sunday morning we will continue to gather to pray, to sing, and to share the meal of Holy Communion, and we will continue to…

Dear Peace members and friends, Last Wednesday evening was a big-bash gathering to celebrate our ministry together over these last 19 years. The room was packed with many of you. The program included a testimonial or two and there was a song and a poem written especially for the occasion. There also was an awful lot of laughter. As Marcie and I drove home, we couldn’t stop talking about how much fun it all was.  Maybe God knew what we…

Dear Peace members and friends, This Sunday, I will conclude the sermon series, “How My Mind Has Changed.” And I want to end the series with Jesus. Why Jesus? Because he is the core of our faith; the reason we exist as Peace Lutheran Church. And, even for those who are indifferent to him, his influence remains—on everything. The great church historian from Yale, Jaroslav Pelikan, wrote, “Regardless of what anyone may personally think or believe about him, Jesus of…