This past weekend I traveled to Omaha, NE to preside at Gretchen Olson Kopp’s ordination to ministry of word and sacrament. She has been called to St. Mark’s Lutheran in Spokane, WA.

On Gretchen’s suggestion, I worshiped at First Lutheran in Omaha.

Gretchen grew up in Western Iowa (Moville–which I’ll come back to) and served her internship at Kountze Memorial Lutheran Church in Omaha. Her husband Sacha’s work in academia has taken them around the country so there were people present also from around the country. I was happy to be back in Omaha, site for me on many days off when I served Soldier Lutheran Church in Western Iowa.

One of Gretchen’s childhood friends and neighbors is Megan Sorenson, who became a friend of mine when she was nurse for the week and I was with kids from church at Lutheran Lakeside Camp in northwest Iowa. Gretchen graduated from Wartburg Seminary and retired professor Dr. Thomas Schattauer was the guest preacher–I’m still thinking about his sermon.

I loved talking with Dr. Schattauer about worship (which he taught at Wartburg) and then I asked his wife Paula Carlson, who has had a career in Lutheran higher ed, where she grew up. When she answered Brooklyn, that led to us connecting over Camp Koinonia, the camp my dad helped found in Highland Lake, NY. Carlson celebrated her birthday at Koinonia’s dedication–cake and everything! It really is a small world. She also had great stories about Koinonia overnight trips in the Catskills and along the Delaware River, stories that would make the American Camping Association (who sets safety standards) shake their heads today.

If family and friends are near where I travel for work, I try to catch up with them. I wish I could have connected with even more people on this trip, but I did get my cousin and husband from Lincoln, NE to drive over to Omaha. We went to the Old Market neighborhood. When I came to Omaha on my days off, I often visited Soul Desires Bookstore. Now it is much more than a bookstore–it’s a United Methodist worship community (and more) called Urban Abbey.