January newsletter

From CrossWind Photos

Although the church year technically begins with Advent, January always feels like a time for new beginnings. It’s time to pull out a new calendar, and get used to writing a new date on checks. We have to answer important questions like “is it ‘two thousand ten’ or ‘twenty-ten’?” Arguably, 2010 isn’t just a new year—it’s a new decade, even. And that’s always a great opportunity to look back on what God has done in our lives, and to look ahead to what God is going to do!

As we move into a new calendar year here are some of the things that I am looking forward to:

• Next summer’s Mission Trip to the Lake Traverse Reservation. We are going a little farther afield this summer to learn about what God is doing in a community that is quite different from ours, but not that far away! (Haven’t signed up yet? Talk to me ASAP!)


• The after-Christmas return of K.I.C.K., our after-school program, which has blossomed in the past few months.


• Joint meetings of some of our women’s groups at MLH, to change things up a bit during the winter. Always a delight!


• The return of the 30 Hour Famine at the end of February.


• Lent and Easter, 2010!


• Our post-Lent adult study on the book of Luke. It’s always great to read the Bible together, and Luke is one of my favorites!


• Presentations from our Confirmation students during worship. (I can’t tell you all the details—it’s a surprise! But they are going to be great!)

What would be on your list? What are you looking forward to in 2010? Perhaps more importantly, what do you think God might be looking forward to? I don’t know exactly what is in store for us…but knowing God, it’s bound to be good!

So…Happy New Year! And Merry Christmas! (12 days, remember?)

~Pastor Sarah

Breaking news!

Have you seen our synod's new website?

Scroll down to the bottom of the page. The photo in the left-hand corner is from our 2009 mission trip! Isn't it awesome to see our amazing youth showcased like that? Thanks to Lois for pointing this out!

No comment on that other photo.

~Pastor Sarah

Happy [insert-day-here]

In keeping with my theme of remembering holidays that occur around this time of year, here is a run-down of the past few days:

• December 26 is the day for St. Stephen, using the logic that as the first martyr, Stephen deserves to have his heavenly birthday the closest to Jesus' birthday. His day is mostly remembered by American Lutherans only when they happen to be singing "Good King Wenceslas".


• December 27 is St. John's Day, on which it is traditional to be really confused as to which John is intended. (Okay, not really, but "John" is the masculine equivalent of "Mary" in the New Testament...you have John, John, and the other John.) Visiting the island of St. John is not a tradition on this day, but it really should be.


• December 28 is the Holy Innocents, which, no matter how you look at it, is not the most cheerful of feast days.

~Pastor Sarah

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! :) May the news of Christ's Incarnation fill you with his joy and and peace and love. In the midst of all the craziness of this busy season, still he comes into our midst. Sometimes the angels herald his coming...but quite often, he slips in quietly, while we are looking the other way--like a baby born in the middle of the night in a tiny village.

Given the weather, perhaps it is appropriate to offer a prayer for travelers.

Lord Jesus, your parents traveled a long, hard road to get to Bethlehem for your birth! Be with all those who travel in this season--give them safe journeys and happy homecomings, protect them from any dangers along the way, and fill them with your peace when their plans are interrupted or delayed. Bless all those who are unable to be with their families because of weather, or distance, or illness, or broken relationships--and especially those who have no families with whom to celebrate. As we rejoice in your Incarnation, help us to find--and to be--signs of your own gracious presence in the midst of all our confusion and uncertainty. In your holy name we pray. Amen!

~Pastor Sarah

Disclaimer: No, I did not stay up until midnight to post this. I programmed it to post in advance, in keeping with my family's traditional approach to holidays that involve staying up late (i.e. we go to bed anyway).

Christmas surprises

Actually, the snowstorm we are supposed to get this afternoon (which is currently taking a break, I understand) is not much of a surprise, since it has been predicted for several days. What is a surprise--and will continue to be a surprise--is how much that snow will or will not affect our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day service plans.

So far, my guess is that unless it is literally snowing (or blowing) so hard you cannot see across the street, there will be a service at Fron at 4:00. The 10:00 service and services at the country churches are anyone's guess right now. Come if you can, and if it seems safe--and if it isn't safe, then by all means, please stay home! Jesus came into the world 2,000 years ago without us being at church to witness it, and he will continue to do so. It's awesome to celebrate that together as a church family on these festival days...but Jesus will still love us even if we are not able to do that. (Thanks be to God!) And who knows? The weather may not be as bad as they're predicting.

If you are stuck at home because of the snow (even if you're just waiting for the snow plows), here is a fun article from NPR about snowflakes, which pleases my inner science geek. Then you can enjoy tonight's lectionary readings with links to associated art.

Update 11:45 a.m. As of now, in anticipation of worse weather to come (especially the winds), Christmas Eve services are canceled at St. Johns and Indherred. At Fron, the 4:00 service is still on but the 10:00 is canceled. As for Immanuel's Christmas Day service tomorrow morning, we are still waiting to see what happens.

~Pastor Sarah

Ringing in the holidays...

Bell choir puns should generally be avoided, because:
1-They are entirely too easy, and
2-Bell choirs enjoy them entirely too much.

However, there are not a whole lot of bell choirs around Starbuck, so I think I am fairly safe.

That said, check out this video. It's a local news segment featuring the handbell choir of a church in West Columbia, SC (there area where I went to seminary). They are playing a Christmas tune witha lovely variety of handbell effects. If you have never had the chance to see a handbell choir in action, it's worth checking out just for that--otherwise, you can amuse yourself by trying to figure out which of the guys playing the really big bells is one of my classmates from seminary, who is doing his internship at that congregation, and who has seen my dad's rock band in person (unlike me). (He and his wife are both knitters, as well. Nobody tell Pastor Paul.)*

I have always considered handbells a particularly churchly instrument, because, well, the nature of the choir is that you need everyone working together for it to work. If one person drops out, you have a serious gap--but if one person plays alone, you have no melody. This is a great illustration of life in the Body of Christ! This particular group does a great job--they don't go much into the two-bells-in-one-hand technique or the really exceedingly high treble bells, but they really go for the big bass ones. Be on the lookout for the mallets in the beginning and the martellato** at the end.

~Pastor Sarah

*I kind of hate to admit it, but facebook is actually pretty good for finding out this kind of stuff about people you used to go to school with. And then appropriating their cool links.

**What's a martellato, you ask? Well, it's that thing they do at the end.

Happy St. Thomas day!

Day Trippin' in Madras
Originally uploaded by Prince Roy

Today is the festival day for St. Thomas, which is hardly ever celebrated by Lutherans, because a-it sounds like something Roman Catholics would do and b-it is entirely too close to Christmas, and we already have enough extra services this week.

We mostly know Thomas for his famous profession of faith in the risen Lord (hey, I can always dream). What you may not know is that, according to tradition, he is also said to have been the first to take the gospel to India--in fact, to this day, there are Indian Christians who trace their roots back to Thomas. In Chennai, India, you can visit St. Thomas Basilica, which is said to be built over the saint's tomb (which you can also see), or St. Thomas Mount, where he may have been martyred. (When I was in Chennai a few years ago, we did not get to see inside the basilica because there was a funeral or a possibly a wedding going on. But the outside is gorgeous.)

Then, of course, there is the island of St. Thomas, which sounds pretty good this time of year, even though their website does auto-play an annoying sound effect.

~Pastor Sarah