Thanksgiving is coming...

So, our Thanksgiving Eve service is on Wednesday (at 7:00 p.m. at Fron--join us!). In additional to a lot of fantastic music (really, you have to come just to see how many groups we've got singing, you wouldn't believe me otherwise), I hope to be showing a slide show of photos from the life of our parish in the past year, or several months, or whatever I happen to have photos of. (So, this is the disclaimer: It's whatever I happen to have photos of. Since I am at best a very amateur photographer, with a strong tendency to forget that I am supposed to be taking pictures, this does not come close to representing the full scope of life in our parish. To really do this right, you would have to be a lot more intentional about it, working on it for AT LEAST a whole year.)


The idea is to demonstrate that yes, even though the economy is bad, even though there is always anxiety and tension in the church (at even the best of times)...we have an awful lot to be thankful for. God is doing some amazing things in our community!

So, since this is necessarily only a glimpse of some of what there is to see...what photos would you want to include? What stories would you want to add? What memories would you want to make sure we remember?

~Pastor Sarah

Follow-up: Captive Free

I just realized that although I posted that Captive Free was coming to Starbuck, I never said anything about how it went! I had a great time at both the Saturday night program and the Sunday morning service. Both were a little light on youth attendance (what's up with that? anyone?), but I got a lot of great comments from the people who were there. The music was lovely (I really love organ and piano music and traditional hymns, but it does my heart good to hear something different from time to time), the team was fantastic, and the puppets were adorable.

So, lots of thanks to Captive Free Central Plains, a talented group with strong gifts for ministry. (And they figured out why my computer was projecting green-tinted images.) And thanks to everybody who helped to make their visit a success!

~Pastor Sarah

Prayers: School sports

I have to admit, I'm really not a very good sports fan. I consider it a win if everyone gets home without any serious injuries, and if the players on both sides can be reasonably proud that they played a good game, that's an added bonus.

That said, there are some great athletes in our area, and all of the student athletes I know are dedicated and hard-working. They have a lot on their plates, too, what with juggling school and friends and church as well as athletics. Right now, the fall sports schedule is pretty much over, except at the state level. So, I'll say a few extra prayers for those like some of the swimmers in our community, who are still hard at work. May they stay safe, do well, and remember that all of the glory belongs to God! Prayers also go to the teams that are just starting out!

~Pastor Sarah

Interested in global mission?

This year in K.I.C.K. we are talking about global mission (among other things, including what God is doing right here in our community). As we have done some of the groundwork (as in, some biblical foundations for why we are interested in this kind of thing), I've also been looking up stories and information about what the church in its various forms is doing in other parts up of the world. I've had such a good time reading them that I had to share stories from ELCA World Hunger. (From there, you can navigate to the more obvious place to start, which is ELCA Global Mission.)

It's really amazing what God is doing with our gifts in other parts of the world--and it's just as amazing to read about the partners in ministry who put them to work! Gone are the days when we can imagine that we are the parent church "taking care of" younger churches--now, it is a privilege and a blessing to be able to walk alongside our brothers and sisters who graciously allow us to share in their journeys as they share in ours.

~Pastor Sarah

Prayers: Captive Free

It's almost that time! We are expecting a visit from Captive Free Central Plains this weekend, and from what I can tell by a brief phone conversation and reading some of their blogs on the website (which you should really check out), it's going to be great!

So, since we are hosting this event, here are some requests:

1. Pray for the team, that they may be a blessing in our community and we may be a blessing to them and their ministry.


2. Come to the program Saturday night (7 p.m. @ Fron) and tell your friends! Confirmation and high school youth from our parish are welcome to come at 5:30 for supper (tacos!!!) to help us welcome the team.


3. If you have any old Legos lying around that you don't play with anymore, bring them to donate. (It's kind of a weird request but apparently they're needed for a future Bible study. More usual things like phone cards and postage stamps are also welcome. And we'll be taking a free will offering to support this awesome ministry.)

~Pastor Sarah

Lots of thanks!

Many, many thanks go to everyone who helped with the Hallowed Eve Carnival on Saturday. The Confirmation class (and their friends) did an excellent job of setting up and running the games, and the Confirmation mentors were pros at helping to decorate. Many of the ones who were not able to be present on Saturday did a great job on Wednesday setting up.

We had about 89 slips turned in for the door-prize drawings, which gives you a ballpark estimate of how many kids came. (I figure some probably didn't sign up, and of course, this does not include parents, and there were a lot of parents.) They all seemed to be having a great time and were on their best behavior. Thanks to everyone who came! (Including our visitors from the Starbuck Police, who did an amazing job of putting up with repeated "great costume!" jokes.)

Big thanks also to everyone who donated candy this year. It takes a lot of candy to pull off something this big!

~Pastor Sarah