(A newsletter column for Trinity Lutheran Church, Nampa)
Dear Friends in Christ,
Trivia and faith. Many of you have heard me talk about Trivia Night at the Flying M Coffee Garage. This has become a kind of ritual for me, a weekly event I can count on with a second family. Our team is made up of Lutherans, Methodists, Nazarenes, Episcopalians and a Done (someone done with the church). We work in congregations, NNU, and one of us is retired. Does this sound familiar? Continue reading
“It was a brilliant story, if you didn’t have to live it like the Larsons did.” This is my favorite line from the the opening of Dinosaur 13. Directed by Todd Miller, Dinosaur 13 (13) won the 2015 Science and Technology Programming Emmy and was nominated for the Sundance Grand Jury Prize. I love the film and I hate that I have to admit it is biased (for a review which acknowledges the bias and praises the film).
April 30 is the one year anniversary of Trinity New Hope. Here are ten things I’ve learned through our affordable housing adventure:
This Sunday, Trinity’s Worship and Music Team and Altar Guild will sit together and imagine what our worship space will look like this spring and summer. We will also review the Season of Lent and Holy Week. So I have been remembering the way Lent began for me.
A few weeks before Ash Wednesday I received an email message from a colleague belonging to a congregation which just began celebrating Holy Communion weekly. “Do you have an extra processional cross or know where we could find one?” Continue reading
I had the honor of delivering the invocation at the Canyon County Democratic Caucus Tuesday evening at Sage Valley Middle School. It was wonderful to see so many people participating in the political process. Several people have asked me to share the invocation. Here it is: Continue reading
A few weeks ago I went to see the film Race about Jesse Owens. I went on a Thursday because it was the last night it was showing in an Edwards Theater in Nampa and I wanted to see it on the big screen. I couldn’t believe it had such a short life in the theater but I am very naive sometimes–I assume that because a film tells an important story, everyone will want to see it. (For those of you near Nampa, it is now in the second-run theaters).
This Lent at Trinity Lutheran we are reflecting on the promises made in the Affirmation of Baptism (sometimes known as Confirmation) ELW p. 236. On Wednesday, Feb. 24 we focused on this specific promise:
“To hear the word of God and share in the Lord’s supper.” Continue reading
“Oh! A woman pastor.” Uh oh, I thought to myself. Our church office administrator had just connected me to a woman on the phone who was inquiring about Trinity Lutheran Church. It turns out this caller was delighted to be talking to a woman pastor, it simply had not been what she had expected. This was a welcome encounter but her initial declaration was one more reminder that I am not normal in the city of Nampa, Idaho. Continue reading
When the first Trinity Lutheran Church members were trained as Master Food Preservers by the Univ of Idaho Extension, they told me that low-income families, the target audience for our After the Harvest grant from ELCA World Hunger, were probably not considering what food would be in their cupboards in six months. Creating a book with simple recipes for locally grown produce was still an excellent goal but teaching food pantry clients to preserve food was probably not. Continue reading
Collecting and rating recipes, becoming discouraged and encouraged, writing introductions, finding images, receiving nudges from parishioners, formatting, and finally choosing a print shop, that’s the short version of the journey we have taken to reach the production of our recipe book. What started with a conversation in the Canyon County Extension Office has come to an end, or at least a first edition and printing. Yes, at one time we had planned to enlarge the project and include additional information about produce, as part of another Extension program. The Univ of Idaho gave us the red light and we returned to our humble project. A shout out to my partner Ariel Agenbroad, who recently moved to the Ada County Extension, and to Trinity member Di Seba, who carried the project through its middle stage. I am thankful to have found a great local business with which to work: Copies Plus in Nampa. Finally, thank you one last time to ELCA World Hunger for the Domestic Hunger Grant which funded our project After the Harvest. Continue reading
 | Dr John A on Pentecost with St. Mark’… |
 | Martin on Highlights from the Treasure… |
 | Jessica Nipp Hacker on End of a Road Trip |
 | Peg S-A on Last Minute Thoughts – Penteco… |
 | Carolyn Manlove on Answering “How are … |
A Place at the Table 