This past weekend, 11 lay people from across the northern part of the synod, three pastor teachers, and two synod staffers came together for prayer, learning, and building relationships. We titled the event Preach, Pray, Preside. Six of the participants are currently enrolled in the Montana Synod’s Lay Ministry Associate two-year online program. I handed over responsibility of shaping this retreat to our Director for Evangelical Mission Pastor Liv Larson Andrews. The retreat exceeded my expectations, largely because of the riches in the room.

Pastor Jim Johnson (St. Luke, Spokane) taught the preaching sessions and the first evening he simply invited everyone to share their context and, if they are preaching, why them? The stories were so honest, the individuals so passionate about the gospel of Jesus Christ, the eagerness to grow was so palpable. After Compline, we retired for the evening. Following Morning Prayer on Saturday, Pr. Jim did a great job teaching/leading a conversation on Lutheran proclamation and preaching.

Pastor Kimmy Meinecke (an ELCA pastor serving St. David’s Episcopal Church) took us into the St. Mark’s Lutheran Church sanctuary for a session on worship leadership–again wonderful–a balance of theology and the practical. We moved to the synod office for lunch and were reminded that the synod office does not always show up on GPS maps the way we want it to. A few folks got turned around.

Pastor Yvette Schock (Chaplain at Riverview Retirement Community and daughter of Holy Trinity, Ephrata) led a session on prayer, specifically leading prayers publicly but also praying with individuals. Intentionality, reading a context, and hospitality were all themes Yvette wove throughout her session. Liv then had Pastors Kimmy, Yvette, and I answer general questions (as a panel).

We had a nice afternoon break and then gathered at Liv’s home in Spokane, where her husband Casey cooked and served us a delicious dinner. This group had, by then, been together for some time and the pre-dinner and dinner conversation rolled with stories, questions, pondering, and laughter.

Sunday morning I went up to St. Paul, Chewelah (home church of one LMA student) and almost everyone else disbursed to different ELCA Lutheran and Episcopal churches for worship. Pastor Liv gathered them all at a restaurant and debrief over lunch and then people headed home.