Fall Convocation Sermon

Posted on October 19, 2026 by megganmanlove

Fall Convocation – Oct. 14, 2026 – Grace Lutheran, Lewiston

Matt. 22:15-22, 1 Thess. 1:1-10

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Is it possible for us to compartmentalize our lives in a way that gives God a compartment? This question is at the heart of today’s Matthew text. The reading tells the story of the first of three attempts by the religious leaders to entrap Jesus and discredit him with others.

The question of paying taxes to Rome was a thorny one in Jesus’ day. The opponents this time are the Pharisees and Herodians, an unusual pairing. You know the context. The Herodians were comprised of supporters of the Herodian rulers. The Pharisees were of course the devout Jews who tried to be as faithful to the law as they possibly could be.

When they asked Jesus whether it was “lawful to pay taxes to the emperor or not,” they thought they might trap him into saying something offensive, either about the Romans or about his Jewish faith. If Jesus said no, it is not lawful to pay the Roman tax, he would be aligned with the rebellious minority and offend the Romans. If he were to say yes, it is lawful, his loyalty to the Jews would be questioned.

Jesus asks to see a coin and then asks whose inscription was on it. A denarius of that time would have had the image of the Roman emperor’s head, along with the inscription, “Tiberius Caesar, son of the Divine Augustus.” Jesus’ opponents replied that the inscription was of the emperor. Then came the response that settled the matter: “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s and to God the things that are God’s.”

In many ways, this is a nonanswer. The Pharisees and Herodians are left to wrestle with their own questions, as are we. Don’t put a period where God would put a comma. God is still speaking. That was a holy envy shout-out to our United Church of Christ colleagues, who often use a comma as a symbol. Yes, God is still speaking. Dorothy Day once said of this gospel, “If we were to render unto God all the things which are God’s, there would be nothing left for Caesar.” There’s some holy envy for our Catholic siblings and one of their modern saints.

So, let’s wrestle together with this text. One scholar [Warren Carter] said that an imperial tax can be paid without the payment being a vote of support for Rome. Paying taxes acknowledges Rome’s political power but not its moral authority to rule. That moral authority belongs to God. Which is why Jesus quickly adds that one must pay to God the things that are due to God. How do we work this out? Is Jesus giving us an ethic?

I won’t make you raise your hands, but I know many of us are struggling with the Portico increase this year. We know that not paying Portico for health benefits will not solve the healthcare crisis in our country. Further, the Portico pool of shared benefits works as a pool. Still, that pool is not universal healthcare as it could be. We continue to advocate for healthcare for all. And our whole predicament reminds us that Jesus’ vision of the Sermon on the Mount is not a reality yet.

Like me, you might be getting constant reminders of our upcoming election. I find myself wanting to put so much hope in our democracy. And yet I know that no election results will be salvific. Yet we continue the work for full participation of the electorate, working for all voices to be heard at the ballot box. We live in this tension–being in the world while always holding a vision for what could be. Before we feast at the table today, we will pray together “Your kingdom come.”

Last week, as part of our CaSTLE Grant from Wartburg Seminary, I traveled to Indianapolis for the rural and small-town ministry project gathering. The theme of the event was program evaluation. We wrestled with yet another problem. The metrics of unchecked capitalism have been adopted by the church so that people talk of God blessing churches with money. We, in this room, know the prosperity gospel is not the Good News. And at the same time, we know evaluation still has value. And everyone in the room in Indianapolis absolutely wanted to recognize and celebrate where the gospel is proclaimed well (see Augsburg Confession Article 5).

The only way I can sleep at night wrestling with all of this, is that I am not alone. The Holy Spirit is with us. In our story, Jesus did not have coin, but those questioning him did. They were carrying around a coin with a graven image on it. When I get caught up in the wrestling and start gazing at idols, you all are my witnesses, pointing me back to Jesus Christ. As Paul wrote to the Thessalonians,

9 For they report about us what kind of welcome we had among you and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.

I know you struggle in the systems; you claim the identity of being both saint and sinners. But I see you servants of the gospel witnessing to the love and mercy of Jesus Christ week in and week out; helping your communities of faith do the same, never perfectly, never fully. We keep praying, “Your kingdom come.”

And here’s the truth. A coin carries the image of an earthly ruler, but all of worship reminds us, as Pastor Leila said several times this week, of the deeper identity that shapes our lives: you belong to God. Quoting Howard Thurman again, “As bearers of the Imago Dei, we each hold expression of God within us that has never existed before us and will not exist again after us.” You are bearers of the Imago Dei.

And if that were not enough, although it is, you have the image of the cross of Christ imprinted on your forehead in Holy Baptism. You were sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the Cross of Christ forever.

When I am outside our synod, I often say that here in the Mountain West, because all the mainline denominations are religious minorities, we swim in deep ecumenical waters. This has led me to revisit The World Council of Churches historic 1982 document, written at the gathering in Lima, Peru: Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry, the foundation for all our full-communion agreements and so much of our ecumenical work. Hear these words of promise and liberation, “God bestows upon all baptized persons the anointing and the promise of the Holy Spirit, marks them with a seal and implants in their hearts the first instalment of their inheritance as [children] of God.” Amen.

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Trinity, Pullman Installation – Oct. 11

Posted on October 11, 2026 by megganmanlove

Matt 22:1-14

There are parables Jesus tells that can stand on their own better than others. The Parable of the Prodigal Son and the Parable of the Good Samaritan are two such examples. Today’s parable does not qualify. The parable of the wedding banquet, as found in Matthew’s gospel, needs some wrap around or context.  

First, we might consider the significance of Jesus using imagery of a wedding. This helps us see the parable not just within the context of the stories of Jesus, but also in the light of the wedding that is the climactic image of scripture, the final wrap-up of the entire Bible, namely the Marriage Supper of the Lamb in Chapter 19 of the Book of Revelation.

The other lens that’s necessary for this parable is the extensive use of the imagery of a festive meal. So, try to recall the many diner parties, suppers, and wedding receptions you can gather out of scripture: not only the final Supper of the Lamb, but the marriage feast at Cana of Galilee, Jesus’ Last Supper, the evening meal at Emmaus on the night of Easter Day, and breakfast of broiled fish by the lakeside during one of Jesus’ resurrection appearances. We read today’s parable in the context of all the gracious invitations to “sit together in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:6).  In other words, the world, including you, has been summoned to a party—to a reconciled and reconciling dinner with the Lamb of God.

As today’s parable begins, the King is not mad at anybody. He wills above all to celebrate.  God extends a gracious invitation to join the joy. Sadly though, the situation is not so simple. Those invited would not come. Here is the unhappy truth that the world is full of fools who won’t believe a good thing when they hear it.  One scholar [Capon] declares, “Free grace, dying love, and unqualified acceptance might as well be a fifteen-foot crocodile, the way we respond to it: all our protestations to the contrary, we will sooner accept a God we will be fed to than one we will be fed by.”

The invited guests make light of the king’s preparations and go off to care for their business interests. Some seize his servants and kill them. Why the violence? I think it would be unnatural if the violence did not bother us. I also know we are not supposed to strictly allegorize parables. What does it mean to faithfully tease out such a violent parable? Perhaps Jesus wants to highlight the enormity of the rejection. It’s followed by a festival of death presided over by the king himself. The king sends his soldiers and destroys those murderers.  

Whoever these people were, they were lacking in the trust, the faith, that is the only divinely acceptable quality.  And so, they take their place in Jesus’ parade of winners who lose. They are the Pharisee in the temple reading off his list of good deeds. And yet, they may also be you and me.

They are all of us who live in the twin certainties that our good works will earn us the right to attend the Super of the Lamb, and that God’s good nature will absolve us from having to sit through it if we happen to have other plans. Why the ferocity?  Since neither they nor we could possibly be more wrong about either of these two certainties, Jesus insists on displaying both of them as dead wrong. Salvation is not by works, and the heavenly banquet is not an option. We are saved only by our acceptance of a party already in progress, and God has paid for that party at the price of his own death. 

Jesus is on a roll in the parable and he presses on.  The wedding party will go on.  Servants are sent out and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good.  This, my friends, is the hallmark of Jesus’ major parables of the kingdom and of grace.  

Sowing, Wheat and Weeds, Nets, Good Samaritan, Prodigal Son, Jesus goes out of his way to make heroes of life’s losers. “Bad” is not a problem for the kingdom: it has already been aced out by the power of Jesus’ death and resurrection.  He does not invite the good and snub the bad.  He invites us all, while we are yet sinners; and he simply asks us to trust that invitation.  And therefore, because the remaining inhabitants of his kingdom did just that, the wedding hall was filled with guests.

The invitation is free to everyone. Forgiveness and mercy are given abundantly through Jesus death and resurrection. If you accept the invitation to discipleship, the parable seems to say, it is not enough to simply RSVP and then show up.  

Indeed, it is not enough anymore to call yourself a follower of Christ and then act as if you were sound asleep during the Sermon on the Mount. It is not enough to pledge allegiance to church membership without then vowing to live out that chosenness in the world. It is not enough say you are a “Christian” and then stay silent when life, liberty, and love are in jeopardy.

What exactly does this look like in 21st century Pullman, WA? You recently celebrated 100 years of ministry, 100 years of answering the question of what it means to be the Body of Christ in a particular time and place. It’s impossible to separate WSU from Pullman, but WSU has changed as the entire community has changed. Agriculture on the Palouse is still vibrant, but farming here as in rural Western Iowa where I served my first call, is staggeringly different than during the pre-Depression1920s. The religious landscape of the Palouse has also changed since Vulga Germans and other northern European immigrants brought Lutheranism here. 

God’s gift of grace through Jesus Christ is still a gift that can lead to transformation. It is still a message that frees us from sin and death. Every instinct in us, shaped by our families of origin, rugged individualism, whatever shame we are carrying on any given day, may tell us we too should stay away from the banquet. Too scandalous is God’s abundant and underserved mercy and love. 

Yet you know that you were claimed already in the waters of baptism, transformed in accordance with the difference made by Jesus Christ. You get to say yes to the banquet, the robe, and the life of discipleship. Let the words of the Apostle Paul be your song: Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.  Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. 6 Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Today we celebrate the still new mutual ministry between Pastor Chris Hogstad and the people of Trinity Lutheran. Congregations, like people can have multiple callings throughout their existence. As the world, nation, and Pullman have changed, so have specific callings changed here. One of your tasks together is to faithfully carry out Word and Sacrament ministry so each of you is strengthened and nourished for ministry in your daily lives. The ELCA model constitution for congregations describes this in the purpose section: “Nurture its members in the Word of God so as to grow in faith and hope and love, to see daily life as the primary setting for the exercise of their Christian calling, and to use the gifts of the Spirit for their life together and for their calling in the world.”

You do that work as part of the synod, 85 ministries in the Northwest Intermountain Synod walking together. And we are part of the larger ELCA, including Lutheran Disaster Response, ELCA World Hunger, Sumud—our partners working for peace in the Holy Land and standing in solidarity with Palestinians, companion synods like the Ulanga Kilombero Diocese in Tanzania, and the whole Lutheran World Federation preparing to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Augsburg Confession.

You, Trinity, will also discern what your collective love is calling you into here and now for your community and the world—how the Holy Spirit will move through you as you join the banquet in 2026. Again, the constitution states that you will “Serve in response to God’s love to meet human needs, caring for the sick and the aged, advocating dignity, justice, and equity for all people, working for peace and reconciliation among the nations, caring for the marginalized, embracing and welcoming racially and ethnically diverse populations, and standing in solidarity with the poor and oppressed and committing itself to their needs.” 

Thank you for your ministry for so many years in this place and thank you for the mutual ministry you have embarked on for the next chapter. As we will now sing, to God be the glory.

With Pastor Chris Hogstad and his spouse, Deacon Megan Hogstad

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Rural and Small Town Ministry – trip to Indianapolis

Posted on October 9, 2026 by megganmanlove

This past week I traveled to Indianapolis with a team from Wartburg Seminary as part of the Lilly Endowment funded Ministry in Rural Areas and Small Towns program. What I did not know until I arrived in Indiana is that this program is run by Duke Divinity School’s Forum for Congregational Life (previously Leadership Education initiative).

For the past two years, the Northwest Intermountain Synod has been a sub grant recipient of Wartburg’s CaSTLE (country and small town lived ecclesiology) . We were one of the only synods that received a a grant from Wartburg’s Rural Ecumenical Experiments bucket. The other bishop along in Indiana was my colleague Bishop Tessa Moon Liseth, who serves the Eastern North Dakota Synod, has received funds to train pastor mentors and lay leaders.

Here’s a full list of Lilly Grantees. You can see that it was a very ecumenical group–Episcopalians (IONA), Methodists, Presbyterians, Roman Catholics, non-denominational, and more.

The other thing I didn’t know until about a week before the conference was that the topic of this gathering was program evaluation–something I am usually overwhelmed and intimidated by even though I know it can be very valuable if done well.

Wartburg President Largen, Bp Tessa, me, Professor Kris, CaSTLE Grant Director Ramie

I made so many fun connections (some new and some reunions):

  • Pastor Sarah (UMC) from Montana (sub grant participant in the NC Rural Center,
  • Darren and team from the NC Rural Center,
  • Jodi from Duke (we have at least one mutual friend),
  • LSTC grad Rob Salier who teaches at Christian Theological Seminary and who I’ve known for years, was an excellent presenter
  • The great folks from Rural Strategies (learned yesterday that Ben Fink was trained by Organizing for Mission years ago when Sue Engh was at the helm); sometimes High Country News picks up articles from Rural Strategies; if you want to read good journalism covering rural America I recommend subscribing to The Daily Yonder
  • The IONA Collaborative Team from the Episcopal Seminary of the Southwest
  • Allen Stanton, who wrote The Gift of Small, and friend Phillip Blackburn from University of the Ozarks
Screenshot
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Fall COB 2026

Posted on October 6, 2026 by megganmanlove

Official Press Release (photos are Bishop Meggan’s)

Worship Grounds Us

ELCA Conference of Bishops Welcomes Six New Bishops

CHICAGO (Oct. 6, 2026) — The Conference of Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) met Sept. 22-26 at the Lutheran Center in Chicago. The conference, an advisory body of the ELCA, welcomed six new bishops elected this year. 

The Rev. Deborah Hutterer, bishop of the ELCA Grand Canyon Synod and chair of the conference, said the meeting provided an “opportunity to gather in worship, prayer, fellowship, study and deliberation about the ongoing ministry of this church and our congregations. Together, we pondered how we can participate in God’s mission and serve the church.”

Prayers for Pastor Craig Schweitzer–transitioning from bishop to Director of CCL

In his presiding bishop’s report to the conference, the Rev. Yehiel Curry offered highlights of key developments across the churchwide organization that will continue to strengthen sustainability, improve organizational alignment and cultivate opportunities for ministry growth. 

To assist with these efforts, Curry announced that the Rev. Wyvetta Bullock, whose term as executive for administration ended Sept. 30, will serve in a part-time special assignment through the end of the year. Bullock’s work will focus on researching, identifying and recommending organizational changes that may improve organizational efficiency and strengthen support for the churchwide organization’s mission and purpose.

Curry also announced that the Exploration team will be integrated into the Innovation unit, creating a unified structure. This will help align complementary work, reduce unnecessary duplication, strengthen internal collaboration and maximize the impact of both churchwide and donor-supported investments. 

Simon Wong from the Task Force on Interdependence and Purpose leads us-excellent!

During the meeting, the conference:

  • Heard a presentation from Annette Shoemaker, interim president and CEO of the ELCA Foundation. The conference discussed how the Foundation could interact more equitably with synods. 
  • Received an update on Portico Benefit Services from Chris Johnson, Portico president and CEO. As a follow-up, the conference requested that future considerations of changes to benefit plans and rate increases that impact congregations, synods or plan members involve consultation with the conference. It also asked that a committee comprising members from the conference, the ELCA Church Council and Portico be created to review and evaluate the Portico Philosophy of Benefits and make recommendations to the conference.

The conference also received:

  • An update from the Task Force on Interdependence and Purpose from co-chairs Rachel Irene Faulkner; Simon Wong; Anthony Ormbee-Hale; the Rev. Bryan Penman, bishop of the ELCA Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod; and the Rev. Regina Hassanally, bishop of the ELCA Southeastern Minnesota Synod. The first stage of the task force’s work focused on the constitutional purpose statements, developing language that is more accessible to members. Discussions with the conference centered on this work and next steps as the task force drafts proposed recommendations for the Church Council’s fall 2027 meeting. The conference serves as consultants on the task force.
  • An update on the Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust task force from the Rev. Brenda Bos, bishop of the ELCA Southwest California Synod, and the Rev. Kevin Jones, bishop of the ELCA Northeastern Iowa Synod, who serve as liaison bishops. The task force is leading the church in a reconsideration of the current concept of four convictions Lutherans hold in conscience in the social statement Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust. The group is still in the discernment and study phase as they work to prepare draft text for public comment, due in spring 2027. Dr. Ryan Cumming, director of theological ethics, and the Rev. Laurie Jungling, program director for theological ethics, offered guidance to the conference on how best to interpret the task force’s work within their synods.
  • A report on candidacy manual revisions from the Rev. Timothy Graham, bishop of the ELCA Indiana-Kentucky Synod. The work is being led by the Rev. Greg Villalon, interim senior director for leadership for Christian Community and Leadership. The revisions will address areas that need greater clarity and develop those not addressed in earlier work, including support for multiple pathways of theological education.
  • A presentation on synod diversity goals presented by Judith Roberts, senior director for diversity, equity and inclusion and interim director for African Descent and African Ministries, and Dr. Adam DeHoek, senior director for research and evaluation. The survey was created to help synods discern how well they are living into constitutional commitments for diverse, inclusive leadership and participation in the life of the church. The current goal reporting incorporates language from chapter 5 of the ELCA constitution that also defines diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility; it includes historically underrepresented groups within the church and society as well as greater representation of youth and young adults. 
  • A report on the misconduct prevention survey from the Rev. Anne Edison-Albright, bishop of the ELCA East Central Synod of Wisconsin, and the Rev. Jeff Johnson, bishop of the ELCA Sierra Pacific Synod. The survey was conducted to better understand how synods structure and carry out their processes for handling clergy misconduct. Kendra Stea, director for misconduct prevention, shared available resources to help those synods dealing with clergy misconduct. 
  • A presentation on the 10th anniversary of the ELCA Federal Chaplaincy Ministries Scholarship Endowment from the Rev. Suzanne Dillahunt, bishop of the ELCA Southern Ohio Synod and liaison bishop to the ELCA chaplains, and the Rev. Murray Finck, who oversees the scholarship committee. The endowment, part of the ELCA Fund for Leaders, was launched in 2016 to provide financial support to ELCA seminary students open to a call to military chaplaincy. Established with an initial fundraising goal of $30,000, the scholarship fund has raised $2.5 million.
  • Greetings from seminary presidents from the Rev. R. Guy Irwin, president of United Lutheran Seminary.  
  • Reports from the ELCA secretary and treasurer and updates from the conference’s various committees.

ELCA Conference of Bishops Welcomes Six New Bishops

– – –

About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with 2.6 million members in 8,200 communities worshiping in 41 languages across the 50 states and in the Caribbean. Known as the church of “God’s work. Our hands.,” the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA’s roots are in the writings of the German church reformer Martin Luther.

For information contact:
Candice Hill Buchbinder
Public Relations Manager
Candice.HillBuchbinder@ELCA.org

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Grace, Mountain Home – Oct. 4

Posted on October 4, 2026 by megganmanlove

What a gift to be with the saints of Grace Lutheran in Mountain Home this morning. Father Larry preached and presided so I was able to simply worship. And then I joined the council for a lovely meeting following a potluck, Grace Lutheran and St. James Episcopal are deepening their relationship by worshiping together once a month starting in November. Grace continues to explore local partnerships and discern what to do with its property footprint.

Holy Communion Distribution

Here’s what I shared with the congregation, more poetic here than what I said this morning as I’ve had time to edit:

Here, at Grace Lutheran, as you have lived into a deep conversation about stewarding or caring for your church property, I assume you have asked, “who’s property, is it?” Legally it belongs to your congregation and in ELCA Church governance, if you can follow your congregation constitution and have congregational meetings, you make the decisions about the property. Historically, this property has belonged to the many saints who have been members of Grace Lutheran. And theologically, everything, the fields and our church buildings, belongs to God and we are stewards of it all.

The Bible provides one witness after another that God’s mission to heal the world will not be derailed by human wickedness, doubt or failure. God’s reign is not built on human institutions or promises. It is built and planted in God’s grace-filled will to make it happen. The wicked tenants, by contrast, are tending the vines, but as they work, they are plotting how to turn stewardship into ownership.  

If you hear nothing else from me this morning, hear me say thank you, Grace Lutheran, for what I know has been hard and faithful discernment about property. I hope you come to a decision that continues the transformative and life-giving Word and Sacrament ministry, shows love of neighbor, and displays faithful stewardship. Yes, the end result is important. But in our get things done culture, we sometimes forget that the process or journey is equally important; the process in which you engage scripture, neighbors, Lutheran teaching, deep listening and prayer. 

The truth is that faithful and good stewardship as a collective body takes time and energy. It might include lament and grief for what is no longer. It might be filled with moments of uncertainty as you wait for the Holy Spirit to reveal what the vineyard will look like next. Meanwhile, we celebrate the harvest and that God forgives us and nurtures us for this work. I’m delighted to be with you as we feast at the Lord’s Supper!

Council Meeting
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Bishop’s Report to Synod Council – September 2026

Posted on September 19, 2026 by megganmanlove

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4 in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it. (John 1, Gospel for Feast of Creation)

I remain grateful that the ministry sites that make of the Northwest Intermountain Synod continue to be wellsprings of God’s love. You proclaim the lifegiving Word in worship and individual disciples of Jesus carry Jesus, the Word, into their daily lives in every corner of our synod, sharing the triune God’s love and forgiveness and grace. 

Since Synod Assembly I will have visited the following ministry sites, usually on a Sunday morning: Central, Yakima; St. Mark’s, Spokane; St. John’s, American Falls; Shepherd of the Valley, Boise; St. Paul, Ontario; Immanuel, Moses Lake; Lake Chelan Lutheran-Ordination/Installation; Trinity, Nampa; Advent Lutheran, Spokane Valley; Our Savior, Pinehurst-Installation; St. Paul, Quincy and Holy Trinity, Ephrata; Luther Heights-summer camp; Lutherhaven-Boots and Pearls Fundraiser; Grace, Lewiston; Star Valley United, Thayne; King of Glory, Boise; and Peace, Colfax and Trinity, Endicott. I have visited with Prince of Peace and St. Luke leadership in the aftermath of the wildfires and I’ve met with a few other councils during pastoral transitions during Pastor Phil’s sabbatical.

Staff’s purpose (adopted December 2023): serve, accompany, and equip ministry sites and leaders of the NWIM of the ELCA so they can point to and participate in the gracious work of Jesus.

In bold below, and shaping this report, are the staff’s four subgoals, created at the same staff retreat in 2023 where we created our purpose statement. I’m surprised, three years later, how well these are still guiding our work.

Amplify collective gifts and resources by deepening and broadening relationships and partnerships.

We knew this would be a challenging wildfire season, given the low snowpack and infrequent spring rains, but we could never have predicted the Spokane Wildfires along with the wildfire that caused Luther Heights to briefly evacuate, the Little Giant Fire near Chelan, and the many wildfires whose smoke has impacted life and, as of me writing this Aug. 31, whose burn scars are impacting drinking water in Washington State. And, all of this has, as I have written elsewhere, made me ever grateful for the VOAD (Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters) teams in our states and Lutheran Disaster Response’s membership in state and national VOADs. We have never been alone. I am also incredibly proud of the individual and congregational generosity that these disasters have brought forth. Thank you!

Ecumenism (and interfaith relationships) has shaped disaster relief, but it also is part of so much more of our culture. Thanks to our CaSTLE Grant from Wartburg Seminary, we kept pastors from full-communion denominations serving ELCA churches and ELCA pastors serving full-communion denomination congregations an extra day after Synod Assembly. We had sessions on preaching, worship, governance, and pastoral care. Thanks to Pastor Liv for organizing our time.

The CaSTLE Grant and synod’s long commitment to ecumenism led to an invitation for me to participate in opening worship (including ordinations) at the Oregon Idaho UMC Annual Conference in Boise. In late September I’ll be a guest at the Oregon Idaho UCC Conference in Boise. In October, Spokane Executive Presbyter Sheryl Kinder-Pile and I will be guests at the Spokane Episcopal Diocese event in Pasco. 

In 2024 I wrote the application for a Quality of Call (supporting women in ELCA rostered ministry) grant for Region 1. This summer we used grant funds to scholarship Region 1 women serving in active calls to attend the Rostered Ministers Gathering in Indianapolis AND we had a dinner for everyone from Region1 at the RMG during which we talked about gender justice in the church. In 2027, we’re planning a retreat for women rostered leaders.

Two events that anchor the fall are Bishop’s Fall Convocation for pastors, deacons, and Synod Authorized Ministers and First Call Theological Education for pastors/deacons in their first three years of ministry. I am very much looking forward to welcoming Bishop Emeritus, Pastor Leila Ortiz to Bishop’s Fall Convocation in Lewiston in October. I have been communicating with the Nez Perce National Historic Park about tours during Tuesday’s open afternoon. Our presenter for First Call Theological Education at SeaBeck in Washington will be Pastor Sara Cutter, Senior Director for Operational Effectiveness in the Christian Community and Leadership Home Area of the ELCA’s Churchwide Organization.

Develop and raise up discerning leaders who proclaim and further the Gospel.

A highlight for our Candidacy Committee was holding our first ever Candidacy Retreat at Lutherhaven. Deacon Tammy Devine was our guest presenter. The value of this retreat cannot be overstated during a time when so many of our candidates are distance learners. We will hold this retreat again in 2-3 years.

A joy of Synod Assembly was commissioning Lay Ministry Associates at Synod Assembly. We are growing into tracking these students, making sure they have pastors or deacons mentoring them, and encouraging their learning. Right now, we have LMAs in the Synod Authorized Minister certificate programs at Wartburg Seminary and PLTS. Several LMAs have completed Luther Seminary’s one-year lay school of ministry program.

It was a joy this summer to ordain and install Pastor Lynette Rose as Associate Pastor of Lake Chelan Lutheran and to install Pastor Amy Sperline as pastor of Our Savior, Pinehurst.

In one of my summer columns, I promoted next summer’s ELCA Youth Gathering in Minneapolis. About six years ago, Sacred Playgrounds did an “enormous survey of Lutheran (ELCA) clergy members in fall 2020. We heard from over 3,000 pastors and deacons. Of all the ministry spaces we examined, four rose to the top as particularly important for faith formation and call to ministry among our respondents. These big 4 ministries include Sunday school, camp, the national youth gathering, and campus ministry.” I would love to see a large group from the NWIM Synod attend the Gathering.

            Speaking of campus ministry and ecumenism, the Spokane Diocese, Spokane Presbytery, and NWIM Synod applied together in April for the Lilly Endowment’s Exploring Christian Faith Practices Initiative (though Pastor Liv and I think it’s easier to keep track of who in our worlds did NOT apply for this grant than who did). Nonetheless, if we are a recipient, our piece of the pie will support our campus ministries and Cultivating Justice, a Synod Authorized Outreach Ministry in Wenatchee. 

Equip and empower partners to practice stewardship towards solidarity in Christ.

I remain grateful for the work of our Companion Synod Committee, Domestic and World Hunger Committee, and the Eco-faith Action Network. We have our long-standing partnership with Lutheran Community Services Northwest. Thanks to a SHARE Grant, we have new partnership with the ELCA’s Organizing for Mission Network, and we hope to bring director Brother Steve Jerbi to the synod in 2027.

By the time synod council meets, I will have hosted the first of two Zoom sessions on Conscience and Conversation: A Study during the Reconsideration of the Social Statement Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust. Thanks to the ministry sites across the synod engaging in the study and individuals providing feedback to the ELCA task force.

I have enjoyed working with the Prayer and Public Life working group that came out of our spring council meeting. This work aligns so well with the biweekly conversations I have with around ten bishops focused on the national Faith in Us movement. 

We sent Pastor Ian Carr McPherson (Salem, Spokane) to the Faith in Us training in September in Minnesota. Pastor Sarah Toney (Celebration, Wenatchee) will attend the Sumud Ambassador event in Chicago this fall. Pastor Ethan Bergman and two others will attend the next ELCA Hunger Gathering. More exciting, Deidre and Lance Jacobson (St. Mark’s, Spokane) are attending the Montana Synod’s hunger ministry retreat in Great Falls, MT September 17-19, 2026, to learn more about the Montana Synod’s internal hunger grant programs/ministry.             

Our CaSTLE Grant from Wartburg Seminary ($30,000 for 2026) continues to draw people together for rural ecumenical gatherings. I’m meeting with our facilitators and my denominational counterparts online in September to discern if and what we will apply for this fall for 2027. Wartburg asked me to be one of the bishops who attends the rural ministry Lilly Endowment gathering in Indiana in October.

This summer, Bishop Brenda Bos (Southern CA) and I were the two bishops on the Lilly Storytelling Initiative Advisory Team for Regions 1 and 2 (using a $50,000 preparation grant to apply for a 5 million five-year grant for the two regions). We were invited to apply this round so unless we really messed up, we should learn by December that we will receive the grant. 

Cultivate a team culture that enables our collective work and individual thriving.

Pastor Phil Misner received a sabbatical. Alleluia! Pastor Terry Tuvey Allen was a wonderful interim assistant to the bishop. Please thank her if you see her around the synod. 

Our staff decided to extract the Candidacy part of Cathy Steiner’s large job description and hire a Candidacy Manager. We had three excellent applicants. Cathy, Candidacy Committee Chair Cory English (Calvery, Post Falls), and I were the hiring team. We offered the position to Pastor Tricia Christman and she will start training in September, overlap with Cathy for the October Candidacy Committee meeting, and then take over the role completely.

All Saints Legacy

All Saints Lutheran, Spokane had their service of completion or holy closure May 31. There will be more gifts from All Saints’ legacy as the payments for the building continue. With the $25,000 initial gift to the synod, we followed our gift policy and then made additional decisions:

$2,500 to Churchwide for Mission Support

$2,500 to the Wells Endowment for Campus Ministry

$3,000 to fund the PLTS Certificates in Lay Ministry for three lay people.

$3,000 for two pastors/deacons to attend the Faith in Us training in Minesota in August (only one ended up attending)

$14,000 to be held in bequests for later needs

Besides the NWIM Synod, other organizations were/are recipients of All Saints’ legacy. From the All Saints Dissolution Trust Document:

Net Proceeds shall be distributed in the following percentages:

BeneficiaryAddressPercentage
Spokane Urban Ministries1423 W. Broadway Ave., Spokane, WA 9920130%
Lutheran Community Services Northwest210 W. Sprague Ave., Spokane, WA 9920220%
NWIM Synod Campus Ministry c/o Northwest Intermountain Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, 245 E. 13th Avenue, Suite A, Spokane, WA 9920415%
Lutherhaven Ministries3258 W. Lutherhaven Rd., Coeur d’Alene, ID 8381415%
Salem Lutheran Church1428 W. Broadway Ave., Spokane, WA 9920110%
Northwest Intermountain Synod ELCA245 E. 13th Ave., Spokane, WA 9920410%
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Colfax/Endicott – Sept. 13, 2027

Posted on September 17, 2026 by megganmanlove

Honored to join the saints of Trinity, Endicott and Peace, Colfax. I preached and presided and then led a conversation after worship as these two churches live into a time of pastoral transition. Pastor Ian recently took the call to serve as campus pastor at Capital University in Ohio. Thanks for a wonderful morning!

Peace, Colfax and Trinity, Endicott – in Colfax

Matt. 18:21-35

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. This is an awkward text for a bishop’s first sermon to congregations. I don’t know you and a few of you know me just a bit through Synod Assembly and email exchanges. And we are left to wrestle with the big, and I would say somewhat personal, topic of forgiveness. Nevertheless, could there be anything bigger than our understandings of the centrality of grace and forgiveness that unites the 85 ministry sites that make up the Northwest Intermountain Synod? Probably not. So with that shared appreciation for grace and forgiveness, let’s turn to this text from Matthew’s gospel.

“How many times should I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” Peter asks Jesus.  Peter’s proposal to forgive seven times sounds extravagantly generous. Jesus’ response is far beyond Peter’s proposal. He doesn’t simply extend the quantity. The difference between Peter’s proposal and Jesus’ pronouncement is not a matter of math.  It’s about the nature of forgiveness.  Whoever counts has not forgiven at all but is only biding his or her time. The kind of forgiveness called for is beyond all calculation.

A king wished to settle accounts with his slaves. The debt of the slave in question was earned through mismanagement of the king’s resources, not by personal expenditures. Even so, the figure is notrealistic. 10,000 talents owed?!  One talent alone is the largest monetary unit, equal to the wages of a manual laborer for fifteen years. “Ten thousand” is the largest possible number.  The amount is fantastic, beyond calculation.

How does this debt translate into our lives? Are our debts beyond calculation?  Whether or not we are in debt ourselves, the systemic debt is real–ignoring the poor, mistreatment of the natural environment, extreme polarities on every issue with little interest in dialogue, abuses of power, neglect of the world’s children.  The debt of the community is actual. As the story unfolds, it is clearly the community that is at stake in this parable.

The first servant’s debt is unpayable. Casting the servant into prison will be punitive. It will pay him back for his mismanagement.  Still, is beyond the realm of possibility that the servant can ever repay his debt of 10,000 talents. It won’t matter how much time is given. Both the servant and the king know this.  The servant’s situation is hopeless. He asks for mercy, and contrary to all expectation, the king responds with compassion. “Out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt.” So great is God’s mercy.

The debt of the fellow servant is microscopic compared to the first servant’s debt.  Yet it is still a significant amount.  It represents 100 days’ wages for an ordinary laborer. There is an outrageous contrast between the way the first servant is treated by the king and the way the servant treats his fellow servant. It is not just a contrast of amounts owed.  

In the first scene, there was no reasonable way to repay such a debt. One could only be condemned or receive mercy. The thrust of the parable is to bring the second scene in line with the first. This does not happen. The servant does not treat his fellow servant like he has been treated by the king. This outrages the other servants; it outrages the community. It even outrages us and we become sympathetic when the community reports the fellow’s conduct to the king.

“When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed.”  They were not angry, they were sad, they were distressed, they mourned the welfare of the community. The slaves “went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. Then his lord summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked slave!  I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slaves, as I had mercy on you?’ 

In his anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt.” Again, the unthinkable happens.  The king takes back his forgiveness, and the servant is condemned to eternal torment.  

This coda, this torture, needs a bit more explanation, I think. How can one who has been forgiven 10,000 talents be concerned with a mere 100 denarii? It is in this light that the final troubling verses should be read. Obviously, if God literally handed unforgiving people over to torturers, that would diminish the parable’s claim that God is outrageously merciful, the promise on which everything rests. It is hardly logical to assume that all sins can be forgiven except the sin of being unforgiving. It is also illogical to imagine that God takes human beings as role models and mimics their failings. The point is this: when we are tempted to withhold forgiveness, we might ask ourselves, “What if God were like this?”

What are the consequences today of not forgiving?  God does not withhold mercy like the king in the parable. The results of not forgiving do not include hell and damnation. The torment comes from being separated from the community. They had nothing without the community. Like them, to truly be part of a community we must be willing to at least work on forgiveness.  

Today’s parable is about a new economy. Jesus suggests that the new economy of the heart flows from an inner transformation generated by underserved love.  Forgiveness is meant to create a chain reaction that not only changes who we are but also alters how we deal with others. In worship you experience the grace of God that welcomes sinners and fills them with Godself. How will you be changed by this encounter? How will your lives this week witness to the inner transformation of forgiven people who use God’s economy of underserved love to make a new world?

Great forgiveness is possible in our day and age is possible. We know how hard it is to forgive others. And there is also fear in forgiveness. Sometimes we are afraid that our unconditioned and repeated forgiveness may encourage evil. How does the world reflect on us when we put forth such protests, when we do not forgive each other? It shames God. It’s like the king in the parable who was shamed when the servant he forgave refused to forgive his fellow servant.  

I know that when it comes to perfect forgiveness, I am in way over my head. Yet God has commanded me to do so and so I keep trying. This is what I believe God is hoping for, that we keep trying to forgive one another, and that we help one another in our forgiveness. To be sure, often a weight is lifted off our shoulders when we forgive. But ultimately, you forgive not for our own sake, but for the good of the community, for the building up of the Body of Christ. In doing so, you can trust that God’s forgiveness never waivers. 

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Labor Day and Callings

Posted on September 8, 2026 by megganmanlove

Originally posted in the Northwest Intermountain Synod’s electronic newsletter.

Dear Saints of the Northwest Intermountain Synod,

Growing up in Custer, South Dakota, Labor Day weekend always marked the end of the

major tourism season that shaped so much of life in the Black Hills in the 1990s. Of

course, Labor Day celebrates much more than that, and in 2026 it can hold many

meanings. If you are looking for something to read, I recommend one of our most

under-read social statements: Sufficient, Sustainable Livelihood for All, sometimes

referred to as our Economic Life Social Statement. For a family, church, or

neighborhood ritual, I commend Affirmation of Christian Vocation, found on page 84 in

the front of Evangelical Lutheran Worship. I wish I had used it more often when I served

my two congregations. We regularly celebrated Rogation Sunday and blessed teachers

in Soldier, Iowa, but both congregations also had many other vocations worth

celebrating. This affirmation, along with Affirmation of Baptism by the Assembly, can be

incorporated into worship on any Sunday.

During the two years before I affirmed my baptism, I attended confirmation classes in

Custer with an extraordinary person I still count among my close friends. Jennifer is now

a clinical professor, large animal surgeon, and head of the Department of Large Animal

Clinical Sciences at Texas A&M. We both studied scripture and Luther’s Small

Catechism, and we both seek to follow Jesus faithfully in daily life. I am grateful for the

ways Jennifer lives out her faith, and I sometimes wonder whether her teaching and

formation of young adults does more to help bring in the reign of God than my own work

does. But this is not a competition. Jennifer would be glad that I am celebrating all our

callings, and she would trust—and be grateful—that, as bishop, I am encouraging my

current flock to support future pastors and deacons. Jennifer and her husband raised all

four of their children in ELCA congregations. Who will shepherd the ministries their

young adult children, three of whom are now in college, will join?

Our synod is currently walking alongside ten candidates for ordained ministry. Thank

you to all who have encouraged and continue to support these candidates. If you see

gifts for public ministry in someone, please tell them. We in the ELCA look for both an

external call (others seeing gifts for public ministry) and an internal call (someone

feeling the nudging of the Holy Spirit). If you know someone considering becoming a

pastor or deacon, please tell them that our ELCA seminaries are hosting a Virtual

Discernment Event (https://elcaseminaries.org) Sunday, Sept. 27: 1-3pm Pacific/2-4pm Mountain.

Thank you again for all you do to encourage all disciples as they respond to God’s

promises and live out the promises we make in Holy Baptism.

Peace,

Bishop Meggan

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King of Glory – Feast of Creation of Christ -Sept. 6

Posted on September 6, 2026 by megganmanlove

It was wonderful to be with the saints of King Of Glory Lutheran Church in Boise this morning for Feast of creation in Christ Sunday. KOG was served by interim pastor Mark Galbraith who just took another interim in California. Pastor John Hergert will soon be here as the bridge Pastor as the congregation continues through the call process. I stayed for a special meeting after worship during which they voted to pay off their mortgage. Musician KJ fit contemporary Christian music to each piece of the traditional liturgy. Loved it!

Genesis 1:1-2:2 and John 1:1-5

I used to love having Confirmation Class students (7th and 8th graders) act out the story from Genesis One. I imagine that has been done many times at King of Glory during the Easter Vigil. The flick of the switch lit up the sanctuary on the first day. Students were sprayed with water bottles on the second. Later we stepped outside to see the stars and moon. On and on we went through the ancient story of creation. Our attempt to recreate the creation narrative illustrated the wonder of the event. It also showed the intricacies of the creation–the care taken. As the story was enacted we were always reminded of God’s blessing–God saw that it was good.

The thread woven through this text is that God and God’s creation are bound together in a distinctive and delicate way. This is the foundation for everything that follows in the Bible. It is the deepest premise from which good news is possible. God and God’s creation are bound together by the powerful, gracious movement of God towards that creation. The binding which is established by God is difficult to comprehend. It will not be explained or analyzed. It can only be affirmed and confessed. “We believe in God the Father, Creator of Heaven and Earth.” 

The text announces the deepest mystery: God wills and will have a faithful relation with the earth. The creation narrative invites us to celebrate that reality. The binding is irreversible. God has decided it. The connection cannot be nullified. This binding relationship is illustrated throughout scripture. It is this binding relationship that we examine every time we enter the rite of Confession and Forgiveness. We ask where in our lives have we bent this relationship. We try to mend our ways.  

The eldest of my two half-brothers lived outside of Ely, Minnesota, on the edge of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness–that expanse of land and lakes covering Northeastern Minnesota. Mike worked for the Superior National Forest. For many years he spent his summers out on the lakes enforcing laws and maintaining portages and campsites. He always took a volunteer with him. I fell in love with the Boundary Waters as twelve-year-old and so I went along as a volunteer for a week during one of my college summers. I was along to help paddle the canoe and help with maintenance –mostly clearing trees that had fallen across portages or into the middle of campsites and cleaning up litter. Mike died in 2007 but a few weeks ago my adult nephew was home in Ely and texted me a photo of myself during that trip.

I enjoyed the physical labor of using hand saws, but watching my brother interact with groups of campers was a true joy. We pulled our canoe into campsites and Mike would check that there were not too many people traveling together. He eyed the campsite for bottles and cans–which are not allowed in the Wilderness. Then he would inquire about the group’s route and how things were going. If they were breaking any laws or if he had any suspicions about their practices, he would take extra time to visit. Mike was a pro at talking about the fragileness of the lakes and land and why the laws were in place. He was a true caretaker of the Boundary Waters. He wanted people to enjoy the lakes as much as possible, but he did not want campers leaving traces of themselves all over the Wilderness. He loved the region and he tended to it however he could.        

We need to be about that tending. The whole creation that God so wonderfully made is aching. The land itself has been harmed and so has the human family.  I know you can think of examples of this brokenness both near and far. The world needs tending. We need such tending also. When we recognize this need and turn to God we are never turned away. Remember, the relationship is binding. Where there is confession there is always forgiveness and new life. 

But tending to the natural world and to other human beings also requires more than confession. It requires repentance, a new perspective. The great poet and farmer Wendell Berry died this past week, and he was a master of calling us to see the world and our place in it with new eyes, to have a new perspective. Here’s just one of 100 quotes you can read that will keep you pondering for days: 

“We have lived by the assumption that what was good for us would be good for the world. … We have been wrong. We must change our lives, so that it will be possible to live by the contrary assumption that what is good for the world will be good for us. . . We must recover the sense of the majesty of the creation and the ability to be worshipful in its presence. For it is only on the condition of humility and reverence before the world that our species will be able to remain in it” (The Long-Legged House).

This year’s inaugural Feast of Creation of Christ can be traced back to 1989 when the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople issued an invitation to “the whole Christian world” to join the Orthodox in observing September 1-known in the Eastern church as the Feast of the Indication—as a day of prayer for creation. 

Over time, this day of prayer was adopted by various churches and ecumenical groups as a Creation Day, along with a companion Season of Creation spanning September and early October. Why September 1? It has origins in the civic calendar of ancient Rome as a harvest festival, considered the beginning of the agricultural year, and the Orthodox feast commemorates the beginning of God’s creation and of Christ’s ministry as well.

In the Genesis 1 story of creation, the chaos becomes a world surging with the mystery of God’s gracious, empowering speech. Again and again “God said” and something good was created. The good news is that life in God’s well-ordered world can be joyous and grateful response. The good news found here is that there are beginnings. There are not simply repetitions, moving pieces around, or copying. There are beginnings, and they are wrought by the speech of God which evokes among us a new world.  

We discern this good news in Jesus of Nazareth. In John’s prologue, we read “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.” And in his second letter to the church at Corinth, the Apostle Paul writes “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new.” (5:17). 

Through Jesus Christ, God’s powerful speech is still being spoken. Through the Holy Spirit, God’s powerful wind is still blowing. At the first creation, the Spirit of God moved over the waters bringing order from chaos, and creation began with the coming of light into the darkness. In the cross and resurrection of Christ the new creation begins. Creation is continued in each Baptism. We are baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection and every day we are called to remember this baptism–this new life. Wendell Berry ends one of his most famous poems with the command for us to “Practice Resurrection.” Joined to Christ’s death and resurrection, we are free to love our neighbor, whether the fox, the pine in the forest, the mushroom, or our human companions.

As God has spoken this text of blessing to us through creation, so we may say it back to God. We must listen to the text, but it does not stay in our ears. It leaps to our lips. Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann says this proclamation of thanks becomes a doxology. When I think of doxology I first think of table graces. 

Brueggemann says table graces are brief Sabbaths when we live by gift and know that we are strangely sustained, nurtured, and nourished. It will be worthwhile to make a visible link between the overpowering miracle of creation and the daily reality of food. It has been more than a cliche, then, when the church has prayed through the generations: ‘Come dear Lord Jesus, be our guest, and may these gifts to us be blessed.’” Might we think of this doxology as part of our feast of creation vocabulary. When we see the goodness of God’s creation and the goodness of God we return to God and invite God into our lives, that the gifts God has given us will be blessed once again by their creator.

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Southern Idaho Camp Tour

Posted on September 4, 2026 by megganmanlove

I have wanted to take a tour of the many camps in Southern Idaho since I first moved to the Treasure Valley in the fall of 2010 and the interest grew in 2011 when I started serving on the board for Luther Heights Bible Camp between Ketchum and Stanley. I talked about this with other board members but we never made it happen. In 2023, around the time I was elected bishop, Pastor Andy Hamblen, former board chair and pastor of Our Savior Lutheran in Twin Falls, began convening camp directors and board members of the five mainline camps. I joined the Zoom calls when I could. The camp people slowly got to know one another and learn more about the sites, but nothing can replace visiting a site. Last spring we put dates on the calendar and on Tuesday, Sept. 1 we began our two-day tour. I wish we could have included the 4-H, Baptist, Seventh-Day Adventist, Quaker, Girl Scout, Nazarene and other camps. We’ll just have to organize another trip.

What no photos of beautiful UMC Sawtooth Camp capture if the 20 mile dirt road up out of Fairfield before you arrive at the site, donated to the UMC Annual Conference by a rancher in the 1940s. The road was good in places but also a bit bumpy. I can’t believe I’m complaining about the road because I worked at Camp Christikon in southern Montana for three summers. That road beside the Bolder River-IYKYK. The Hargraves, from my own adopted city of Nampa, ran this camp for decades and their legacy is everywhere. Most of the cabins were quite simple but well kept. The welcome center and dining hall, including the outdoor patio and open kitchen, were gorgeous. The open spaces were lovely–great places for free play but way up high in the mountains.

We drove back down the road and picked up the highway to Ketchum and just a little beyond to PCUSA Camp Sawtooth, which leases land from the Forest Service. This camp started unofficially in 1927 but its real start date (along with the UCC) was 1932. They have 8 camper cabins plus a two-story lodging for adults + kids. The plan is to have 5 RV Sites.

Our final stop Tuesday was Luther Heights, so up over Galena Summit we drove. It’s hard to see the camp I’m most familiar with through other people’s eyes and the camp property has changed a great deal since I first visited in 2011. That was one of the first summers of the new cabins with bathrooms. A few years later, bathrooms were added to four older cabins. Then came the new dining hall–Sawtooth Lodge. I like the outdoor chapel and I love the chapel in the meadow, see below.

We spent the night at Luther Heights. I planned and presided at a simply Holy Communion Service. Along with Pastor Andy and I, our travel group included the Episcopal camp director (finishing up in October) their cook, assistant director and an advisory team member, and the board chair of the UCC camp. Luther Heights direct Maddie hosted us and joined as at Paradise Point the next day (she’d already visited the PCUSA and UCC camps). After the worship service we sat around the fireplace in the dinging hall and sang camp songs–classic.

Group Photo at Luther Heights Wednesday morning

The next day, during a thunderstorm, we drove down to the Alturas Lake docks (where Luther Heights campers go canoeing). No, we did not get out of our cars. Then we drove the 3.5 hours over to McCall for lunch. Linnae, the Paradise Point advisory team member who has only lived in Idaho for five years, had never seen the Sawtooths until that morning.

After lunch, we drove out the UCC camp Pilgrim Cove, down the beach from McCall. This camp is 11 acres and was started around 1936. They are slowly remodeling their cabins; we loved the loft area created in the cabin pictured below. The new dining hall with lodging on the lower level was completed quite recently. There is something marvelous about a property directly on a lake.

Our final stop was up around Lake Payette at Episcopal Paradise Point Camp. This camp is 55 acres also on the lake and was started in 1935. They have a dining hall but try to do almost all of their eating outside on the patio. Their water system is impressive–filtering water right from the lake for camp use. Cabins are small and rustic but there is other remodeled lodging with attached bathrooms. The large rec building gave me a picture of what Luther Heights old Whitecloud Lodge could look like someday. The newest two buildings are the director’s cabin and maintenance building. At the very end of our tour, we made it out to the actual Paradise Point.

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