I’m a week behind on posts!

Last Sunday, the First Sunday in Lent 2026: ELCA Lutheran Pastor Mia Crosthwaite serves Kuna United Methodist Church in Kuna, ID. This is possible because the ELCA and UMC are in full communion–we can share clergy. I also happened to serve as one of Mia’s internship pastors (Trinity, Nampa and Immanuel, Boise each administered half of her internship) back in 2019. Thank you Kuna UMC for the warm hospitality. It was a joy to worship with you on this First Sunday in Lent. Blessings as you continue to explore your Lenten theme: “Roll down like water.”

Next I was off to Boise’s historic synagogue for the celebration for Rabbi Johanna Hershenson, newly installed rabbi of Congregation Ahavath Beth Israel in Boise. This historic congregation was founded in 1895 by German-Jewish immigrants who built the Temple Beth Israel synagogue at 11th and State streets in downtown Boise. It is the oldest continuously operated synagogue west of the Mississippi. In 1987, Beth Israel merged with Ahavath Israel and in 2003, the congregation moved its historic building from State Street to the Boise Bench. Rabi Fink served the congregation for 30 years until his retirement in 2024. Since I moved to the Treasure Valley in 2010, I have read many of Fink’s opinion pieces in the local newspapers. Now I join the rest of the Treasure Valley faith community in welcoming Rabbi Hershenson to Boise and Idaho.