Posts by Pastor Joe Orner (Page 7)

Dear Peace Parents and Families, Gathering Sunday is this weekend, and I am so excited to begin the new year of ministry together. We will kick it off with worship at 9:30am, a brief Sunday School Preview immediately following worship, and a Fall Kickoff Festival in the upper parking lot at 10:45am. We’ll have snow cones, walking tacos, and plenty of games. Everyone is invited—we hope you can make it! And as we move into the fall season, I want…

Dear Peace Parents and Families, There are a lot of exciting things happening at Peace in the coming weeks, and we want you to be a part of them!  Here’s a brief taste of what’s to come: And to make these wonderful ministries possible, we need your help! Each one needs dedicated leaders who care about our young people and their faith formation. Because when you serve in our Children, Youth, and Family ministries, you are making a big difference in…

Dear Peace Parents and Families, For Bloomington schools, school starts next week. As I’ve done in previous years, I’d like to share this prayer, “A Prayer for the First Day of School,” for all of our students, parents, teachers, and education workers as they prepare to begin this exciting new season.  “O God of new beginnings, as this child begins this new school year, we are reminded that they are Yours and Yours alone. We have filled their backpack, and…

Dear Peace Parents and Families, It was great to see so many of you this last Sunday as I returned from my parental leave.  Reilly and I welcomed our son, Cameron, into the world on June 29, which also happened to be the last day of Vacation Bible School. I’m grateful to everyone who cared for us at the hospital, and to everyone who helped make our “Stellar” VBS such a blast! The six weeks of my parental leave that…

Dear Peace Families, VBS Begins Monday, and it’s going to be a STELLAR week at Peace! We have 57 children between Peace, Community of the Cross, and the Bloomington community who will be attending VBS at Peace! And to make VBS happen, we have 35 volunteers helping throughout the four days! “Stellar” is our outer-space-themed curriculum that rockets kids on an out-of-this-world adventure and is full of faith-building fun. Throughout the week, students will travel with their crews to different stations that help…

Dear Peace Families,Tomorrow, our group of travelers will return home from their week in Chicago, where they’ve been spending time serving others and exploring the city. Led by their amazing leaders, Lori Thomson and Ann Losinski, they’ve had a great week growing in their understanding of what it means to love others because God first loved us.Here’s a brief summary of what they’ve been up to this week:On Sunday, the group tracked over 21,000 steps as they adventured through the…

Dear Peace Families, On Saturday, 7 students and 2 adult leaders will embark on a service trip to Chicago. While there, they’ll be working with some wonderful organizations that are making positive impacts all across the Chicago area, including Share Our Spare, Working Bikes, the Lydia Home, and the Chicago Food Depository.  At Share Our Spare, they will assist in making care kits for babies and toddlers under 5 to assist parents in providing a safe and healthy start for their…

Dear Peace Families, The end of the school year is finally here!  Last night, seniors at Bloomington Jefferson High School graduated and received their diplomas—including Peace’s own Julia Freemark and Elena Stockinger. The commencement ceremonies for our other graduates—Marta Borggreve (Eden Prairie), Harrison Oxford (Blake), and Ava Scribner (Edina)—continue next week as well.  In addition, today is the last day of school for all of the other students in the Bloomington School District. Congratulations and well wishes to all! To celebrate the completion of another school year, we…

Dear Peace Families, This week, as students near the end of the school year, I offer a prayer from writer, Kayla Craig: O God, Creator of beginnings and endings, we pray for our students. Walk ahead of them and beside them as they step into a big world littered with loss but glittering with hope. You were there for every newborn squeal and first step and lost tooth. Remind us that You are with them now, too, as our child…

Dear Peace Families, This weekend in worship we will be recognizing our high school graduates—five students from four different high schools. Each of them are exceptional individuals with bright futures ahead, and I ask you to join me in both celebration of them and prayer for them—celebration for the wonderful young adults they’ve become and all their accomplishments along the way, and prayer for them as they enter into this next season of their lives. Marta Borggreve is graduating from Eden Prairie…

Dear Peace Families, This weekend marks the last day of Sunday School for the 2022-2023 school year. We have had a wonderful year growing in faith and community. In the fall we read and learned about stories from the Old Testament, starting with Creation and Abraham and moving through the Exodus narrative. Beginning in Advent, we started reading through the Gospels and learning about Jesus. On Sunday we conclude our spring adventure through the New Testament with a lesson on Paul’s Letters. …

Dear Peace Families, As many of you know, I am a big sports fan and care a lot about our Minnesota professional sports teams. And last week, Thursday-Saturday, the 88th annual NFL Draft was held down in Kansas City. Over the course of seven rounds, there were 259 players selected by the 32 NFL teams.  Prior to the draft (sometimes very prior—Todd McShay’s “Way-Too-Early 2024 NFL Mock Draft” was just posted by ESPN), there are mock drafts created by analysts and writers…