Posts by Pastor Joe Orner

Dear Families and Friends of Peace, It has come up very quickly, but this Sunday 2/23 will be my last as your Associate Pastor. And while it’s incredibly bittersweet, and I grieve these upcoming goodbyes, I invite you to come to worship this weekend so that we can celebrate and give thanks for our shared ministry together. I’ll offer one last message, and there will be some fellowship time for farewells during the education hour. It would mean a lot to me…

Dear Families and Friends of Peace, Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, a day to celebrate love—a subject that the Bible talks about a lot! For example, 1 John 4 proclaims: “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we…

Dear Families and Friends of Peace, As I mentioned last month—and as you’ve hopefully seen in the Blast, Sunday worship bulletin, and the Peace website—our deadline for summer camp registration is quickly approaching!  The deadline to sign up for Camp Wapo Seeds, Camp Wapo Youth Camp, Camp Wapo Family Camp, and the Boundary Waters canoe trip through Wilderness Canoe Base is just one week away—next Saturday, February 15. After that, the spots that are reserved for our congregation become open to…

Dear Families and Friends of Peace, This Sunday, immediately after worship, we will gather together as a congregation for the Peace Annual Meeting. During it we will review and rejoice in our 2024 ministries, elect new church council members, pass our 2025 budget, and hear some of the wonderful ways God has been moving through our community.  In addition, I hope you’ll read through our Annual Report, which will be available at the meeting. The booklet contains ministry reports from me…

Dear Families and Friends of Peace, Last week in Confirmation, our students discussed the section of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount called “The Beatitudes”—where Jesus invited people to change their perspective on what it meant to be God’s people and to be a part of God’s kingdom. Jesus wanted everyone to know—despite what society had said about them—that they were blessed and loved by God, and that God had made a place for them in God’s kingdom.  Inspired by this,…

Dear Families and Friends of Peace, As of Wednesday, registration for summer 2025 is officially open!Our schedule for summer 2025 is as follows:  June 23-26: VBS @ Peace July 27-31: Wilderness Canoe Base July 27-August 1: Wapo Youth Camp August 1-3: Wapo Seeds Weekend August 8-10: Family Camp @ Camp Wapo Please see the “Summer Camps” section below for more information and for registration links. An important note on registration: Registrations are taken on a rolling basis. In other words, the earlier you sign…

Dear Families and Friends of Peace, As we step into the new year, there are a lot of things that might catch us by surprise. For example, it’s already time to start planning for this summer! Our schedule for summer 2025 is as follows:  Vacation Bible School will be hosted at Peace once again, and in partnership with Community of the Cross Lutheran Church. Our students will be venturing to the True North, where they will learn about “Trusting Jesus in…

Dear Families and Friends of Peace, Thank you to everyone who helped make this year’s Christmas Program, “Great Joy For All,” possible! This year we give special thanks to: May God’s love bring Great Joy For All this Christmas season and through the New Year! In gratitude and celebration, Pastor Joe Orner

Dear Families and Friends of Peace, This Sunday will be a very special day in worship as we host the annual Peace Christmas Program. This year’s program is called “Great Joy for All,” and there are 25 Sunday School students participating. In addition, the Peace Choir will sing, and the congregation is invited to join in the festivities as well.  Altogether, we will share the Christmas story through music, scripture, and storytelling—and don’t forget about the costumes! There will be…

Dear Families and Friends of Peace, Growing up as the son of a nurse, and having an occupation where I am around people and students a lot, I’ve always had a pretty good immune system and don’t often get sick. But once or twice a year, I’ll catch something that completely knocks me off my feet, and it takes much longer than I’d like to get back up. That happened last Thursday, causing me to miss Sunday worship and last…

Dear Families and Friends of Peace, This past Sunday was the first Sunday in the season of Advent—the four weeks that lead up to Christmas (similar to how Lent is the season that precedes Easter).  For us, Advent is a season of hopeful expectation. Over 2000 years have passed since Christ’s birth, and we know what we’re going to celebrate on Christmas—that God came to us in the flesh, fully God yet fully human—through the birth of Jesus Christ, the…

Dear Families and Friends of Peace, Happy Thanksgiving to all! Today and this weekend, as you gather with family and friends, it’s my prayer that your time together would be filled with love, joy, and gratitude; that you would be able to enjoy laughter and smiles with everyone gathered at your tables, and that the thankfulness shared would fill you with faith, hope, and love. And as we give thanks for the blessings in our lives, I pray that our…