I had not made concrete plans for this morning because I was to preside at an installation in the afternoon. That installation was postponed until Labor Day Weekend due to COVID. So I emailed Pastor Dave Deckerd at Shepherd of the Valley and said I would like to come worship with them. He invited me to preside and said worship attendance might be sparse due to some COVID in that community. My body quickly remembered March 2020 and I had to do some deep breathing and relaxing.

It ended up being a good morning. When I came to Idaho in November 2010, my first group of mutual supporters were the ELCA youth ministers, including the Luther Heights program director. An important member of that group was SOV’s youth minister Greg Boelken, who later moved with his wife to Atlanta. The pastors and deacons often met at SOV in those early years for a book study, but I would always arrive early and go talk to Greg in his office. He had grown up a Missouri Synod pastor’s kid, attending Camp Perkins. By the time I met him, he was serving on the Luther Heights board. We talked about camp, the Treasure Valley, and church. He truly made me feel welcome and so I still associate that building with his warm hospitality.

Worship this morning was simplified for summer, but still held all the components I value. It was a gift to sit in the pew and hear the good news preached by Pastor Dave and it was, as it always is, humbling to preside at the Lord’s Supper with these strangers, now friends. Fellowship time brought the gift up multiple conversations and introductions.

I read a bit and then logged on to join the joint Lutheran Campus Ministry WSU-U of I Board meeting. It sounds like campus ministry is off to a great start in Pullman-Moscow after last year’s very challenging school year.