What You Can Learn From Church in Just One Day: Part 2

Today we continue our look at things you can learn in church in just one day.  The day in question was last Sunday, October 27th.  In our last post we talked about Sunday School.  We move to worship in this post.

The 27th was Reformation Sunday, the day when we honor the folks who have reformed our church throughout the ages.  In Lutheran churches this is normally accompanied by selections from Martin Luther and his grand, old German hymns plus some cheerleading for being Lutheran.  This year we decided to mix it up a little bit, talking instead about the theological reforms gifted to us from the Latin American church of the 20th century.  Not only was this a different flavor, it allowed us to define our church as still reforming, in the growth process instead of the end-product of it.

Obviously it would be impossible to cover multiple centuries of Latin American development in a single sermon (or blog post).  Instead we took a broad sweep across history that led to a couple of key theological inspirations in the 1940's and 1950's.

Latin America contained some of the world's oldest cultures...amazing, brutal, heirs to all the good and ill of humanity.  When explorers from Spanish-speaking nations discovered and then colonized Latin America they ran into, conquered, and transformed these indigenous cultures.  As was true of most European-indigenous culture clashes, two themes ended up dominating:

1.  Those native folks were sitting on top of tons of natural resources.

2.  The natives had not heard of Jesus Christ or his Gospel.

In the colonization environment, these two themes intertwined.  Missionaries and "civilized" folks brought religious and cultural reform to the indigenous people, changing their society.  Establishing a European religious and cultural framework paved the way for European access to the economic resources of the region.

We can debate all day whether such missionary impulses were right or wrong, helpful or destructive.  No matter what we decide, it still happened.  The end result of this religious-societal-economic chemistry was a strong strain of Catholicism throughout Latin America, Catholicism which tended to value authority and upholding the status quo, including that dominant (and in some ways exploitative) economic and social framework.

In the mid-20th century several theologians re-examined the assumptions under which their church had operated for centuries.  Latin America continued to be heavily influenced by church authority and the will of a few privileged folks over and against the poor masses who labored for them.  In most circles the authority of the church and will of the economically privileged were assumed to be congruent, if not exactly the same.  The wealthy promoted and supported the church.  The church upheld the system that made gathering such wealth easy.  The relationship was cozy.  Few outside of it had the means or status to cry against it.  What right or standing would a poor, uneducated person have to challenge the church?

In response to this situation a courageous group of theologians bucked the trend.  Their collective movement would come to be known as "Liberation Theology".  As with the history, we can only hope to give an oversimplified summary here, but basically Liberation Theology asserted that God did not exist to make us comfortable in the world, but to set us free from everything that oppresses us.  God's work does not confirm us as much as it transforms us from death into life.

This transformation centers around the notion of justice.  The world judges by certain criteria.  Rich and powerful folks are favored, poor folks are despised.  God loves all his children, rich or poor.  God does not look on the imbalance between powerful and oppressed folks and smile.  Rather he moves to correct it, lifting up his children who have been short changed and calling down the ones who have benefited by oppressing others.  Folks looked upon wealthy men and a correspondingly wealthy church and said, "God favors them!"  These theologians argued that God was actually working harder for the folks who had been left out in the cold by this system.  If you wanted to see Jesus at work, you needed to pay less attention to the gold and more attention to the folks crying out for help and the folks without hope.

In the traditional system, church membership meant going along with the flow.  The church existed, in part, to support the dominant culture which in turn would support it.  The goal of a good church-goer was to make as few waves as possible.  Political and economic concerns had little to do with faith.  Liberation Theology argued that the church should not confirm inequity, but fight it.  Faith was only lip service unless it also resulted in working for justice and true peace in the world.  Faith mandated political and economic action.  If you saw someone suffering you were supposed to approach them and try to fix the inequity...not because those people were inherently entitled but because that's where God was at work and that's what he was doing.

A necessary extension of this theology: a church is not validated just by existing as an institution.  Its spirit is shown most truly by the work it does in the world.  No longer is something right just because it benefits the church.  Rather the church itself serves a greater right, the will and word of Our Lord.

Practicality mandated that the people the church should pay most attention to (and respect) were the people who gave the most to it...allowed it to exist.  This ended up being the rich.  More money equals more influence in the church and being credited with a closer connection to God.  Liberation Theology stood this on its ear.  It claimed that if we wanted to find God most clearly at work, we shouldn't look towards the people who seemed most blessed by the world's standards.  Rather we should seek out those who needed God most...by definition those who were doing without.  Poverty was not holier than wealth, but if a father had six children doing quite well and one going hungry, he was going to devote his energy to feeding the hungry one before he feasted at the table of the other six.

No theology gives a complete picture of God, but Latin American Liberation Theology exposed many practical weaknesses in the church tradition.  The theologians who risked their reputation, standing, and in some cases their lives to bring it to us gave us a great gift...shaking us out of our complacency and our complicit alliance with the ways of the world that appeared to benefit us.  They helped us to see that in the name of serving God and preserving his church, we were actually steering farther and farther away from him.

We don't have to look far to see how our own churches and the dominant American culture became aligned whether or not that was in accordance with God's teachings.  We, too, suffer the temptation to go along in order to benefit ourselves.  We find it inconvenient to immerse ourselves in, and be led by the needs of, the poor and oppressed instead of staying comfortably in the world of the privileged.  We'd rather have a church where everybody gets along, where folks don't make waves, where we don't have to fight (or do) much out in the world, and where "peace" is defined as the absence of talk about justice instead of the end result of fighting for it.  We're good with the church as long as it doesn't disturb the rest of our life much.

Liberation Theology has a message for us as well.  The things we are trying to embrace and preserve end up empty.  God is headed in another direction than we instinctively want to go.  Even today, half a century later, it remains a wake-up call for the church of the Reformation...a church which hates to contemplate that it might still be reforming.  How have we worked for justice?  Have we taken a stand for those outcast, impoverished, slighted and disadvantaged?  If not, are we really doing the work of the Lord who ate with sinners or are we doing our own work and appending God's name to it in order to justify ourselves?

Another thing to think about and learn from just one day in church!

--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)

Help Needed: Is Anyone Coming Home from Moscow on Friday?

Hey folks,

One of our lovely, wonderful college-aged students wants to come and participate in our activity on Friday night but can't find a ride from Moscow to Genesee.  Is anyone working in, or passing through, Moscow in the late afternoon or evening tomorrow?  If so, could you give a congregation member a lift?  Contact me if you can help.

I can give him a ride home after we're done but I can't pick him up beforehand.

[Update:  Problem solved!  Thanks, all!]

--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)

Pastor Dave is Back!

Hey folks!  I'm back from my long journey now.  It's good to be home!

"But Pastor Dave, wherever did you go???" comes the chorus of voices.

I'm glad you asked!  Let me tell you...

My trip started on Tuesday with a drive to Portland.  It was for business but it was actually my "other" business.  Each year our Portland Trail Blazers blog takes donations to send underprivileged kids from the Portland area to a Blazers game.  We work with dozens of organizations who serve kids who otherwise wouldn't get to go because of economics or family situations.  These organizations range from low-income schools, foster care programs, programs that work with disabled children, churches, counseling services, youth programs, after-school programs, you name it.  This year we sent 750 kids and chaperons to last Wednesday's game where the Blazers faced the Golden State Warriors.  Portland lost--one of the few times that's happened on our special night--but it was fun anyway.  I've already got letters and e-mails from people describing how much the night impacted their children.

It just goes to show you how easy evangelism and service are if you have your eyes open.  This whole thing started six years ago when we were holding a regular old get-together at a Blazers game.  One of my readers purchased tickets but wasn't able to use them.  He e-mailed me and asked if I could give them away to someone in need.  I posted on the website that we had 3 tickets available if anyone could use them, priority given to anyone in need.  A guy wrote and said he worked with a dozen kids from impoverished families.  He asked if he could get tickets to send 3 of them to a game.  I told him to hold on for a day or two and put the word out on the site that we needed 12 tickets.  Within a couple days we had 45.  I wrote the guy back and said we had enough tickets for ALL his kids to go, and by the way did he know other people in similar circumstances?  That's how Dan, a youth worker in Portland, became our official ticket coordinator...a post he's held ever since.  It's quite a job now that we're up to 750 kids instead of just a dozen!  But people are looking for a chance to do something wonderful and the need is always there.  Ministry doesn't always mean doing everything yourself.  Sometimes it's just having your eyes open and being able to connect people who need to be connected.

After the game and a couple stints on the radio in Oregon explaining why the Blazers stunk so bad at the end  of the season and how they'll try to fix that this summer, it was off to Boise for the annual Synod Assembly.

The assembly was a mixed bag.  Some parts were great.  I attended a couple workshops on stewardship and got some traction on some materials that should be inspirational for all of us.  I'm glad other people have gifts in areas that I don't!  We also heard plenty of inspirational stories of ministry from around the synod.  Unfortunately the assembly seems to be locked into a system where all of the less important parts get most of the time and attention while all of the vital, living parts get shunted to the side.  It was ironic that in a gathering with the theme "The Spirit Gives Us Power" many of the presentations were tone-deaf reports that inspired...well, let's just say "few".

However even the down parts were an instructional eye-opener of sorts.  It's easy to get locked into a range of vision that extends no farther than our own world.  Our own ups and downs seem like the only thing in the universe sometimes.  Being at the assembly showed several things:

1. We are way ahead of the program in terms of our priorities and the way we conduct our own meetings now, annual and council.  We made the right decision in making those changes and those decisions will now have to prove instructive to the larger synod body.
2. We are also way ahead--and very blessed--in the quality and variety of musical expression in our church.  We should give plenty of credit to Louise, Phyllis, Patrick, Jennifer, John, Rob, and other musicians for leading us to bold yet wonderful horizons.  Being at the assembly was like eating Saltine crackers musically when you're used to gourmet meals at home.  Nothing wrong with the Saltines...they tasted fine.  But after a while you go, "Is this all there is?"  We are downright spoiled here.
3. Most of the really inspirational success stories that people shared came from the same cloth as our best stories:  acts of service without thought of reward or growing "membership".  People are starting to catch on to the really holy ways of doing ministry.
4. I'm not trying to brag, but I think I need to give you perspective.  We heard multiple stories of churches that were ecstatic to get 40 people in worship and/or to get those people active in ministry.  We also heard stories of people lost and confused about the way forward, even some who are facing the idea of their parish closing soon because they don't have a single child among them.  Sometimes we take our church for granted.  Other times we're encouraged to look at things it isn't (or isn't yet) instead of celebrating what it is.  If nothing else this assembly was a huge referendum that we're not only on the right path, but may well be at the very tippy-top of small-town/rural churches in a vast geographical area.  That's not to say we're better than anyone else...especially not if some of those "anyone elses" are reading.  Very rarely do I find comparing churches helpful no matter what the measure.  Each congregation walks its own journey and there's goodness in each path.  I just know that sometimes we're tempted to view our church negatively by criteria in which we're actually doing comparatively well...VERY well, in fact.  That's not to my credit, but to yours.  The church you're helping to create is a serious and bright beacon on the hill...or in the Valley in the summer I guess.

Thanks to John, Patrick, Rosanna, Bertle, and Linda for helping lead worship while I was gone.  Lay leadership of worship is another wonderful feature to our church that I think could catch on with others eventually!  And thanks to all of you for helping make this church so special...far ahead of the curve in so many ways.

--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)

Lessons from Silverwood

I just got back from a mini-trip to Silverwood Amusement Park with Derek.  It was pretty fun!  He's just getting old enough to enjoy rides.  Even though he's not quite brave enough (or tall enough) to tackle the Big Coasters yet, we still made plenty of hay on the slightly shorter rides.  It wasn't just the kiddie rides either!  He has something of a thrill streak in him.  This actually created something of a problem.

I love amusement park rides.  Careen and I used to go to all kinds of parks before we had kids.  The thing is, I like rides that climb and zoom, even more if you also get wet.  (Think coasters or the log ride.)  Derek, as it turns out, likes rides that spin...and spin...and spin and spin and spin and spin.  This proves two things:

1.  Sometimes the apples does fall far from the tree.  Then it rolls down a hill, drops in a stream, floats down to the river, and gets churned up into applesauce in the turbine of a hydroelectric dam.  And apparently it LIKES it!

2.  Even in the best of times, even when you're having the most...fun...ever, life is still about negotiation and compromise.  Those spin-rides don't agree with me.  Artichoke dip at midnight?  No problem.  But one trip on the Tilt-a-Whirl and my stomach is sour for the day.  Even so, the unbridled joy on Derek's face as we tried these rides made me suck it up (and in) and ride them at least a couple times each.  Except The Scrambler.  That was more like a dozen times.  In turn I forced him to ride the log ride a couple times even though he got fussy about "getting splashed".  The little weenie.

Nothing in life comes easy.  You end up having to compromise plenty for the people you love.  That's a natural and necessary lesson.  The harder one is remembering that God commands us to love everybody, strangers as well as our children.  It's a lot harder to compromise in less-than-ideal circumstances with people you don't know, who seem strange, with whom you disagree.  But even if it makes your stomach churn like the fourth minute on the Tilt-a-Whirl, you still have to suck it up and do it.

Our world needs a little more compromise and a little less finger pointing and yelling.  If it doesn't start with us, God's people, with whom will it start?  Find somebody you can start a mutually-giving relationship with today and then do it!  Either that or bury the hatchet with somebody with whom you haven't seen eye-to-eye.  Your life will be better for it.  The world will be too!

--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)

Small Things

On the topic of evangelism (as we have been for the last couple of months)...

Don't make the mistake of thinking that your acts of faith have to be huge and dramatic.  Usually small things make the difference.  Today I got the privilege of going to see the movie "Brave" with three of our youth and one of our youth-at-heart people.  The movie was good, its messages were interesting, we had a good time munching candy and discussing the film.  It wasn't anything out of the ordinary but it didn't have to be.  Faith doesn't get grown in huge leaps.  It gets built block by block, experience by experience, thought by thought.  Today wasn't a life-transforming day for any of the folks in that theater.  It didn't have to be.  Sometimes doing something fun together is enough.  Do enough of those things and you start to get the idea that God is good, life is worth something, sharing makes everything nicer.  That's a great start to understanding the world through the eyes of faith.

Don't miss the opportunity to do something small and good today if it comes before you.  Enjoy it!  You'll be rewarded a hundredfold.

--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)

Everyday Evangelism

Every once in a while Dan Carter comes to mess around in our yard.  Sometimes he's checking up on the church. Sometimes he's repairing the church lawn mower.  But mostly when he comes, it's to mow the lawn.  It's a great service to our congregation and we're lucky to have Dan do it.

Every time Dan Carter comes over to mow the lawn, I know about it within 30 seconds of him starting.  No, we don't have security cameras screening the yard.  We have a four-year-old boy.  Derek loves lawn mowing.  Along with race cars and girls named Mattie, it's one of his passions in life.  As soon as he hears a lawn mower start anywhere within three blocks his ears perk up.  "Somebody's mowing the lawn!" he'll say.  Then he'll run to the window to see if it's anybody he knows, what kind of mower they're using, etc.

When Dan Carter comes to mow the lawn, Derek is priceless.  I'll hear, "Somebody's mowing the lawn!"  Then he'll run to the window and look out.  All of a sudden his body goes rigid as if you shot a few hundred volts of electricity through him and set off a firecracker in his feet.  "It's DAAAAYANNN!  It's DAAAAAYAANNN!  He's mowing OUR LAWN!!!"

(If you imagine Forrest Gump as a four-year-old sounding really happy to see Lieutenant Dan you'll get the pronunciation of that name about right.)

At that point Derek makes like Wile E. Coyote in one of the old Road Runner cartoons.  His feet start running way before the rest of his body catches up.  He scrambles for his socks and shoes...the MOWING shoes, the ones that he can get grassy and dirty.  Then he dashes for his ear protecting headphones.  He slaps them on his head, looking for all the world like one of those guys on an airport tarmac directing planes.  These things look huge on him, but he doesn't care.  He darts to the door and outside.  I stay at the window, watching him run across the lawn.  Usually Dan hasn't even had time to make one pass before Derek is there.

My son runs across the lawn, body still arcing with excitement.  Then he gets a little ways away from Dan and stops.  I can only see him from the back, but you can see the hope and expectation in his posture.  Only Christmas and his birthday do it for him like this.  He stands a few feet away from where Dan's riding, partially because he knows not to get too close to a running lawn mower and partially because...well...it's not dad on that mower.  When dad's mowing the lawn he just jogs out there confidently, knowing that I'm going to pick him up.  But this is Dan.  He's hoping so hard that Dan will stop for him, but he knows it's still a question, not a certainty.

There's always this moment, an in-between time when he's fully ready but still waiting for a "Yes".  He realizes now that Dan sees him.  He freezes. The world freezes, really.  You can see time stop for him.  He's still unsure.  The question isn't answered yet.  He might have to turn around and go back in if Dan doesn't want him.  Tick...tick...tick...

Then Dan smiles and waves him over, scooping him up onto his lap.  Derek grabs the wheel alongside Dan's hands and off they go.  Derek's posture is so straight, like he's working now, but his smile is so giddy, like he just got on the best roller coaster ride in the world.  He leans back into Dan and they mow...a dream come true, every time.

Now tell me, is Dan just mowing the lawn or is something greater going on here?

On the surface it's just a task.  Lawn needs mowing, Dan's being a good guy, now grass is short.  It happens dozens of times around town every weekend.

But through the eyes of faith, what a marvelous moment this is, and what evangelism.  Look at all Dan is doing!  By giving his time and effort in the first place he's showing he cares about the church and its people.  That's the part everybody understands and is grateful for.  But my gosh, what is he doing for Derek with just a wave and a smile?  Every time Dan turns the key on that mower it's like announcing the best news ever to my son.  It transforms Derek's day.  He gets all prepared in an instant.  He runs out hoping, expecting that he might find joy and acceptance and someone to share both.  With that simple gesture saying, "Come on up!" Dan confirms all of it.  The world is a good place.  Wonderful things can be found right outside your window.  People are glad to see you.  People want to share things with you.  You are welcomed.  You are loved.  Today really is the best day ever!!!

Can you think of better ideals to teach a kid?  Can you think of a more potent message to counter all the world's ills that Derek is eventually going to experience?  And can you think of a simpler or more natural way to teach it?

Plus, you know, Dan is now a legend around our house.  Like practically a saint.  I think Derek is commissioning a statue of him next Tuesday.

Don't mistake the importance of seemingly ordinary events and small gestures in life.  The greatest lessons are taught through them.  Open your eyes of faith to see the miracles in every moment.  Both you and the people around you will be richly rewarded.

--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)

The Biggest Difference

A very nice person not associated with our church, familiar with us only through these posts, wrote in and asked me to summarize the biggest difference I see between the way we do church and "church as usual".  He intimated that he's familiar with the church scene and it wasn't satisfying to him, but he was intrigued by some of the things we'd been talking about and doing.  So here you go.

I'd say the biggest single difference between our ministry and the (stereo-)typical church experience is the direction of our focus.  If we're not doing something that changes or informs your daily life, makes your everyday experience more Spirit-filled and closer to God, then we've failed in our mission.  That's why we go to great length to keep church activities special, but not isolated.  They represent the best of what we can give, naturally, but we also try to make them connect to ordinary life.  We don't sit people down and make them go into another world, or even another mode of thinking, in order to experience our teaching of God.  With the kids we teach through everyday activities like games and movies.  Even with adults in more formalized studies we try and bring the words of scripture back around to our daily lives and tasks.  We invite "ordinary" people to ask "ordinary" questions and state their "ordinary" opinions and by gum, we find God is plenty active in the ordinary! Our job isn't to bring God to you.  We assume he's already there.  Our job is to help you see him in all the moments of your life.

Many churches give lip service to this kind of thing, but in the end most spend the bulk of their time and energy trying to get you farther inside the church, more focused on the institution, investing in church for church's sake.  You can see it in the hoops you have to jump in order to belong or participate.  You can feel it in the emphasis on attendance and giving as litmus tests for the success of the church...or failing that having a grand building and breathtaking decorations.  We talk about all of those things too, to be sure, but they're in service to the people and the community, not trying to get people and the community in service to us!  We don't try to get the outside into church in order to make the church bigger.  We try to get the inside out of church in order to spread God's goodness farther.

This change in direction makes all the difference.  I believe it's the same distinction that separated Jesus from the religious leaders of his time.  One wandered hither and yon, gracing people with healing and the news about God's goodness, bringing the Kingdom alive before them.  The others stayed in their temple-castle, protecting what they had and encouraging everyone to come and bow, calling them great and securing their place in the community.  The first is the ultimate self-giving, the second ultimately self-serving.  We prefer the former to the latter.

Hope that answers the question!

--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)

Road Trip

Before we get into the story here, a reminder that Soup Supper and Lenten Evening Services are tonight at 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. respectively.  We've been hearing wonderful stories from our church family folks throughout Lent at these services and tonight's will be no exception.  If you're missing them, you're missing something.

Now, providing weather permits I will be departing immediately after this evening's service, taking a brief road trip to Portland.  The occasion is a special Trail Blazers game.  It's not special because of the opponent or because of how well the Blazers are playing.  Instead it'll be a special night for a few kids.

Almost everybody knows by now that I also write a blog about the Trail Blazers that gets a fair amount of attention.  Five years ago the site was getting big enough that we figured we should hold a get-together.  So I arranged for a block of tickets at a game to be reserved for purchase by our readers.  We sold several dozen and were looking forward to getting together at the arena, getting acquainted.

That's when I got an e-mail from a reader.  He had purchased a couple tickets in our section but it turned out he couldn't go.  He said he'd send them to me.  He figured I might know somebody who could use them...a poor college student or something.  I really didn't, but I figured I could find somebody.  So I put up a notice on the blog, saying we had a couple extra tickets to give to somebody who needed them.  I got a wonderful e-mail from a guy named Dan.  He said he worked with underprivileged kids.  They knew all about the Blazers, of course.  Several of them were fans.  (Keep in mind this was just after the Brandon Roy-LaMarcus Aldridge draft, so the Blazers had hit big in the local community again, especially among youngsters.)  He said he knew I must have several requests already, but it would mean a lot to one of these kids to be able to go.

I read his letter and called him up.  We talked for a while and he explained the work he did through an area church.  I asked him how many kids he worked with who fit the description he had given.  He said 16 or so.  I told him I wasn't assigning the tickets yet and asked him to hold on.  Then I went back to the blog.  I explained this guy's situation and request.  I said I was going to give him the tickets but noted that several seats in our block remained unsold.  I wondered if we couldn't surprise him by donating enough tickets to send all his kids plus a couple chaperons.  We needed 18 tickets to accomplish that.

We got 46.

A couple days later I called up Dan and gave him the good news.  We weren't sending a kid, we were sending all his kids plus a couple adults.  I asked if he knew any more children in need because we had about triple the number of tickets we had asked for.  He didn't right away but he said he'd call and check.  Through his network among schools and social agencies he collected enough kids and adults and our very first site get-together included 60-odd readers and 46 wide-eyed and enthusiastic kids who couldn't believe they were actually at a real Blazers game.

The stories we got back from that night were incredible.  Teachers told us how their students--hard and mistrusting and many of them dead silent all year--all of a sudden began to talk to them about the Blazers.  We saw again and again how the weariness of lives we couldn't even begin to imagine--lives that made these kids grow up far too quickly--melted away when they walked into that huge arena, heard the music, saw the court.  For one night they got to be kids again.  It was a side that many of the people who worked with them said they had never seen before.  We were rewarded 100 times over for the effort.

That's how our blog's night at the Rose Garden started.  We kept the tradition through the years.  Dan became our official ticket coordinator, managing requests and distributing our tickets.  As the years went by we saw a curious thing happening.  Everybody gave up going themselves in favor of buying tickets for kids.  We'd announce which night the event was for the year and ask people to write us if they worked with children who wouldn't otherwise be able to afford a game.  Those e-mails would come in, wondering what they had to do to get tickets for their students.  When we told them, "Nothing, we just give them to you," they were somewhat disbelieving.  Then they'd ask how many of their kids could go.  We'd reply with, "How many you got?"  They'd say 5 or 15 or 23 and we'd tell them that we'd send them all.  You could hear the jaws drop.  When we said we'd send chaperons for free too because they deserved it for their hard work, people would come near to crying.  And we always have...as many as ask, we send.  As far as I know, we've not turned away a single request.

On Thursday night 705 kids and their chaperons will attend the Portland Trail Blazers game against the Memphis Grizzlies.  For almost all of those kids this will be the first and only time they'll get to go...their chance to be normal and have fun like everybody else.  Of course everybody at the site is delighted to be able to do this.  They're already asking if we can reserve 1000 tickets for next year.  We just might.

In any case, as long as the snow doesn't destroy my chances at driving, I'm heading out tonight at 7:30 and driving to Portland so I can be there at the game tomorrow.  I'll drive back on Friday, so I won't be gone long.  But it should be a fun time.

It just goes to show you that ministry can happen in the most unexpected ways and places.  And people want to be involved in loving their neighbor like we always talk about.  If you give them the chance, you might be surprised what happens.

--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)