We are Church, We are Called





The ELCA gives thanks to God for the ministry of women. To learn more about 50-40-10 visit the ELCA website.

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Not My Will But Yours

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By Bishop Brian Maas

Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want.” –Mark 14:36
When this text was chosen months ago as the theme for April’s Tell the Story blog theme, we were thinking primarily of Holy Week. We had no idea how fitting it might be instead for the experience we all share of living in a time of pandemic. With Jesus, we pray to the God in whom we know all things are possible, that the cup of suffering known as COVID-19 might pass from us. In faith, we also pray, “not what I want, but what you want.”

Our understanding and our experience of God is that it is not our suffering that God seeks. Contrary to what some preach, I am utterly confident that—I stake my life on the certainty that—this virus is not God’s weapon to punish us or to teach us a lesson. It is simply one consequence of a world broken by sin, a world in which things do not yet function as they will when all creation is made new and perfect. Until tha…
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Finding Hope in the Midst

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By Deacon Timothy Siburg, Director of Stewardship


Hope is a funny thing. It can be fleeting. It can be fulfilling. Sometimes it can feel abundant, and other times it can seem worse than scarce. Amid the realities of an upside-down world, where a pandemic has changed the way we do just about everything, it might seem that hope may well be in short supply.
The numbers are daunting. Each day it feels like a damage report- as cases go up, and the total who have lost their battles with this dreaded virus go up as well. Thinking about a way forward in ministry may seem hopeless too. There is no real safe way to sing in groups right now, and for me, a musician, that makes the idea of gathering for worship in person not very hopeful. My grandma, like many in care facilities around the world is more or less under lock down to try and stay safe. All my family’s summer trips and vacations have been cancelled. Add in the continued isolation and distancing, and it can really feel hopeless.

Amid it al…
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What Does It Mean to be Blessed

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By Bishop Brian Maas“…the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.”       --Matthew 11:5-6
 “Blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.”That’s a pretty low bar, isn’t it? That if the idea of being blessed—being holy, happy, content, pleased—appeals to us, all we need to do is take no offense at Jesus. How can one take offense at Jesus? What could possibly be offensive about the Good Shepherd of easy yoke and light burden?
Well…maybe that’s not the part that Jesus thought would be offensive.Jesus’ words in Matthew are intended for John the Baptist, who wants to know if Jesus is the Real Deal, or if the long-awaited Messiah is someone else. Jesus invites John to consider the evidence: all kinds of slaves are being set free. Slaves to sightlessness, to injury, to illness, to the despair of poverty, to death itself are set free! This …
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