Posts by Pastor Joe Orner (Page 2)

Dear Families and Friends of Peace, As of yesterday, Ash Wednesday, we have officially begun the season of Lent.  Lent echoes the 40 days that Jesus spent wandering through the wilderness, facing temptation. In Matthew’s Gospel, this journey happens immediately following his baptism from John, and is followed by his three years of ministry.  During this season, we will follow Jesus on his 40 day journey to the cross—but it should also be noted that this is a journey to…

Dear Families and Friends of Peace, As I mentioned last month, and as you’ve hopefully seen in the Blast, bulletin, and/or website, our deadline for summer camp registration is quickly approaching. The deadline for Camp Wapo Seeds, Camp Wapo Youth Camp, and Family Camp at Wilderness Canoe Base is just one week away—next Thursday, February 15. As a refresher, here’s our summer 2024 schedule:  Camp Wapo provides students with the opportunity to come together with friends and neighbors from all…

Dear Families and Friends of Peace, On Tuesday night, the Jefferson Jaguars faced off against the Kennedy Eagles in a boys hockey game at Bloomington Ice Garden. Like most games, there were parents chatting, Mites and Squirts giddily sporting their own jerseys, and a raucous group of students supporting their team. But for this game, while the score was still important to players and spectators, there was also a bigger purpose—Hockey Fights Cancer.  Held annually for three years now, both…

Dear Families and Friends of Peace, This Sunday, immediately after worship, we will gather together as a congregation for the Peace Annual Meeting. During the meeting we will review and rejoice in our 2023 ministries, elect new church council members, pass our 2024 budget, and hear some of the wonderful ways God is moving through our community.  In addition, there’s also a lot to catch up on in our annual report, which will be available at the meeting. The annual report…

Hello from New Orleans! This week I am attending the ELCA Youth Ministry Extravaganza, a continuing education conference specifically for those who work with young people in our denomination.  During the conference, I’ll be hearing from excellent and insightful speakers during our general sessions, and I will also be attending various workshops. One main focus while I’m here is learning more about the ELCA National Youth Gathering, which will be hosted here just six months from now. It has been…

Dear Families and Friends of Peace, As I mentioned last week, it is time to think about summer camps and programming.  Here’s what our schedule for summer 2024 looks like:  Registration for Camp Wapo will be open January 15-February 15. Plan to register early (link below), as spots fill up quickly! We have a limited number of spots, and you’ll be assigned to a waitlist if we reach that number before the February 15 deadline. After February 15, any remaining…

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 Summer 2024 Schedule:  Wilderness Canoe Base is located 60 miles northwest of Grand Marais on the Gunflint Trail. During this extended family camp weekend, families will have the opportunity to venture into the Boundary Waters while also enjoying the amenities of staying onsite…

Dear Families and Friends of Peace, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend, and that you were able to spend quality time with the people you love. And I hope that the joy that Christmas brings extends in your homes throughout this weekend and beyond as well. Here at Peace, we’ll be continuing the celebrations. This weekend will be the first Sunday after Christmas, and then we begin the six-week season of…

Dear Families and Friends of Peace, Christmas blessings to all! First, a huge thank you to everyone who helped make the Christmas Program possible! Sunday was such a joyous morning of worship, and all of the Sunday School children did an amazing job. Through their singing and acting, they shared both the Christmas story and the love of God. As I mentioned on Sunday and wrote in the bulletin, it took a great team of people to bring everything together,…

Dear Families and Friends of Peace, This Sunday will be a very special day, as we will be hosting the annual Peace Christmas Program. This year’s program is called “Heaven to Earth: A Service of Lessons and Carols.” We have 29 Sunday School Singers participating; the Alleluia Singers and the Peace Choir will both sing as well. They’ve all been doing a wonderful job rehearsing and preparing and are so excited to praise God with you on Sunday–because you all, as a congregation, will play a part…

Dear Families and Friends of Peace, This week I’d like to share some thoughts from last night’s conversation during Confirmation, which I think are incredibly important for all of as we read and do our best to make sense of the Bible. After focusing on the Ten Commandments last week, this week our Confirmation group focused on all 613 of the laws given in the first five books of the Bible. The laws existed to help people better love God and their neighbors…

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 past 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 Messiah. Yet…