Go & Tell the Story

 Three Rural Churches Doing Worship in a New Way   In response to the pandemic, the three congregations of Sonrise Parish (St. John’s, Eustis; American, Cozad; and St. John’s, Cozad) moved to video-only worship beginning on March 18, 2020.  Three months later, as warmer weather had arrived, the churches decided to do outdoor Word and Sacrament at each site on a weekly rotating basis, beginning at Eustis on June 14.  A weekly virtual brief worship recording was also continued!  The city street, parking lots, and grassy areas became the places to gather in lawn chairs or in cars in a physically-distanced manner.  A low-power FM transmitter broadcasted to those who wanted to stay in their vehicles.   A music group with percussion, guitar, horns, vocalists (and sometimes keyboard) led the services.  For sixteen weeks through the end of September the outdoor services continued, with attendance ranging from 50-60 to as high as over 100.  Two c...

  In spite of all we could not do during the pandemic, the Nebraska Synod did something it hasn’t done in a decade- we launched a new mission start congregation. Envisioned before the pandemic ever began as a hybrid church with a robust online presence, and vibrant small and large group gatherings in person, Church of the Way in Lincoln has already garnered a strong online following. And they will soon be launching their in-person events.  Church of the Way is also envisioned as an intentional source of ministry resources for congregations across the synod as they explore online options, or as they seek ways to sustain ministry even in the absence of a called ministry leader. To learn more about Church of the Way, see what Rev. Ted Carnahan shared about this new mission start below. Greetings from Church of the Way, the newest Synodically Authorized Worshipping Community in the Nebraska Synod! Church of the Way is an experiment exploring the possibilities involved in connectin...

 By Bishop Brian Maas We have now formally kicked off the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Nebraska Synod. We’ll spend the next year reflecting on our shared history and inviting each congregation to reflect on its own history as well. We do this not to rediscover some glorious past to which we might return (we won’t—we can’t); rather, we study our histories because they remind us of our stories. Our story reaches back not only 150 years, but millennia, to the very origins of God’s people. The Bible is our story, every bit as much as our local histories. We reflect on that story so that we might continue to live that story; to see what chapters are yet to be written. This is the why behind the reflection and the history-telling; to remind ourselves of all of those times when God was present in spite of what seemed to be happening in the world—to see God at work in the joys and celebrations we’ve known, and to recognize God’s presence with us in the sorrow...

  Kountze Memorial Lutheran Church, the oldest, continuous Lutheran church west of the Missouri River, is the birthplace of Lutheranism in Nebraska and the Nebraska Synod (1871), and has been worshiping, growing, and serving in downtown Omaha for over 160 years. Kountze Memorial (originally known as Emanuel’s Evangelical Lutheran Church) was founded in 1858, by Rev. Henry W. Kuhns, as a mission church of the Allegheny Synod of Pennsylvania. At the time, there were no other Lutheran congregations in the area. In 1862, after renting meeting facilities for a time, the congregation built a modest church at 13th and Douglas, the current site of the Holland Performing Arts Center. The church bell, cast in 1867, is the oldest church bell in Nebraska and was recently refurbished and remains in use in the current church building at 26th and Farnam.  A second church building was built in 1885 at 16th and Harney at a cost of $50,000 with a gift from charter member Augustus Kountze. This ...

  First Lutheran Church of Lincoln began its life in 1870 as Swedish settlers founded a church in the newly established capital of Nebraska. Though we often assume early founders were heroic pastors, First was mostly a lay movement in its first 30 years, served by a shifting array of preachers who travelled among congregations struggling to establish themselves on the prairie. First Lutheran Swedish Church consisted mostly of new immigrants, many of them young Swedish women brought over as domestics to serve in the houses of the growing town. This early open outreach and service remained a mark of First's ministry, situated as it was in a small structure at 13th and K Street near the heart of the growing town. However, the development of First Lutheran didn't really accelerate until the turn to a new century, when a larger building with a pipe organ was established; the focus on the pipe organ in the expense of building a new structure reveals another long term orientation of t...

 By Bishop Brian Maas September marks the 150th anniversary of the formal founding of an entity known as the Nebraska Synod. The committee working to help commemorate that milestone has chosen as its theme, “Built on a Rock,” having in mind especially Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone upon whom, with the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ’s church is built.  Had the Nebraska Synod been built on anything but this solid rock, this chief cornerstone, I’m convinced it wouldn’t still be around. Only Jesus Christ, through the constant presence of his Spirit, speaking through the Word, becoming flesh again both through the sacrament and through the living members of his body the church, could support and sustain this powerful, dynamic, faithful and committed entity. Certainly those descriptors didn’t all fit the fledgling body at its outset. The first gathering of the Nebraska Synod—its first assembly, if you will—was comprised of a small handful of people, from tin...

 Sent in by Lord of Love in Omaha “Loads of Love” laundry, hygiene supply pantry fills a need for local families   As early as two hours before the event began, on June 26, 2021, cars began to line up at Lord of Love Lutheran Church in Omaha. Neighbors were waiting to receive free laundry and paper products. Since 2019, Lord of Love has held “Loads of Love” several times per year to provide items such as laundry detergent and toilet paper for those in need. These items, though part of the grocery shopping list for many of us, are not eligible for SNAP benefits, meaning some families struggle to get these necessities.     Kathy Christensen and Paula Foster of Omaha realized this through volunteering with neighboring church Holy Cross at their monthly food pantry. In addition, Lord of Love youth and leaders had recently attended a youth gathering in Kearney, where they prepared baskets of laundry and paper hygiene supplies for First Lutheran, who has hosted a simi...

 By Rev. Suzanne How, pastor at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Wymore So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!  -- 2 Corinthians 5:17 Like that “new car” smell? Or perhaps you were in the store standing before hundreds of toothpaste choices and a box with “new and improved” emblazoned on it caught your eye. Ever watch a show where designers go in and completely change a house and you wait patiently for the end of the program where the shiny, new changes will be revealed? There’s a part of human nature that likes new, bright, different, improved – transformed. Until we’re talking about the way we do church, that is. Then it is less excitement and more consternation. The questions come hard, and fast: what’s wrong with the way we’ve been doing things? What things need to ‘pass away’ and who gets to decide that? Who is going to be upset? How in the world do we come up with the vision of what the “new” wi...

 By Lisa Kramme, Director for Faith Formation “There’s a pin prick of light,” the pastor told me as we visited about the work their congregation is starting.  Concerned about the number of young people involved in their church, the pastor issued an invitation during worship one Sunday:  Let’s have a meal together and then visit about what we can do to make a difference. About fifteen people, mostly Baby Boomers, came together and learned that there’s no magic wand to wave that will cause young people to appear in their pews, and pied pipers are found only in fairy tales.  The hands of time can’t turn back to when there were more children in Sunday School, and much to the dismay of many, there is no ONE strategy that will lead to engaging more young people in the life of the congregation.   But then this group learned that there are practices that churches of varying sizes and settings have in common where young people are thriving.  The book Growing Yo...

 By Brenda Rivas, Communications Manager When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.      --Viktor E. Frankl Change is not an easy thing for people. We are hard wired to resist it. Even our physiology finds change difficult; just think of how much our bodies put up a fight when we want to lose a few extra pounds.  Still change happens everyday, all around us. Day turns into night and back to day. Summer becomes fall, then winter, then spring, and the cycle begins again. Every year we grow older. Eventually our hair grows whiter and our skin grows more wrinkled.  So, with all the change going on around us, why do we still fight to keep so much of our lives the same? Why do we hold on so tight to so many of the things we could let go? Is it fear? Is it a desire to avoid what makes us uncomfortable? Does it really matter why, when the world will continue to shift and change and progress whether we want it to or not?...

 By Bishop Brian Maas 2 Corinthians 5:17--So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! Paul proclaims good news that is doubly good.  On the one hand, Paul is calling us to look at our fellow believers (those who are “in Christ”) not according to the world’s measure, standard or expectations, but rather to see them as new creations, whose primary identity is Child of God. That’s great news for the others with whom we live, though it can prove challenging for us. I have no problem seeing everyone in the sanctuary on Sunday as a Child of God. But if one of them happens to cut me off on the way out of the parking lot, “Child of God” isn’t usually part of what pops out of my mouth. It’s hard to sustain a view of others as new creations, especially when we know so much of their old behaviors, old patterns, old ways of being—their history in relationship with us.  But Paul says we’re to see past that, to see...

12For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.    -- 1 Corinthians 12:12-13 This year's synod assembly focused on how "We Are One". Though we could not gather together in person, we still worshipped together, as one. We still celebrated important milestones like the anniversary of women's ordination together, as one. We still learned about our Serving Arm partners and how we are doing God's work together, as one. And we still took a look back at all the wonderful ways we as the synod, in spite of the pandemic, continue to be the church together, as one. For those who were unable to join or would like to revisit our time together at assembly, the recording is available at this link. For those who are interested in learning about or sharing informa...

  By Rev. Emily Johnson, pastor at Christ Lutheran, Louisville, NE We all are one in mission, We all are one in call, Our varied gifts united By Christ, the Lord of all.   So starts the hymn by Rusty Edwards (ELW 576), which starts playing in my head (which frequently transitions to singing out loud) whenever we start talking about “being one” in church circles. This is a good soundtrack to accompany such a discussion, as it hits the main points, that it is Christ who unites, calls, and sends us even as it is Christ who gives each of us different gifts and ways for living out the mission. This last point is fleshed out in the second verse:   Our ministries are different;  Our purpose is the same: To touch the lives of others With God’s surprising grace, So every folk and nation May feel God’s warm embrace.   Unity resides in a commonality of purpose and oddly enough, this requires a diversity of skills and approaches. As part of my call I get to teach ...

 By Bishop Brian Maas “Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.” It’s the very last night of his life, and Jesus knows what lies ahead—but Jesus prays for his disciples; prays for us. What is it that he prays? Among other things, he prays for God to protect us, and he prays that we may be ONE--one as he is one with the Father (and the Holy Spirit).  Based on the polarizing division all around, I’d say we don’t have a prayer of experiencing that kind of unity. Except we do—we have this prayer, His prayer. And I believe that while God alone can complete it, we all have a role to play in achieving it. I think the heavy lifting in Jesus’ prayer is in that clause, “as we are one.” We all confess that we are part of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church. We confess that there is one Body of Christ over the whole world, and that we’re all part of it. But we certainly don’t look like One the way God looks like one. T...

 Shared by Rev. Kristine Hileman, pastor at St Paul's, Gilead God’s Faithfulness for 25 years On May 9th at the 11:00 am Worship Service, St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church of Gilead celebrated God's faithfulness to them for the 25 years since a tornado destroyed their church building. On May 8, 1996 at 8:55 pm on a Wednesday night, a tornado pushed the entire building off of its foundation and scattered it on the surrounding ground and into the kitchen of the parsonage. No one was injured or killed. The choir had been practicing that night and had left just a half hour before. The night before there had been a Congregational Meeting in the basement.  If the tornado had hit on the upcoming Friday night, the basement would have been full of women at a Salad Supper. The pictures of the scene are breathtaking. The pews, organ, and piano were lifted and broken and scattered. Debris was everywhere. Two members found the historic carved altar and covered it with a tarp. They ...

WELCOME EXTENDED 8,508 MILES AWAY  by Barb Johnson Frank  When it’s Adult Forum time at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday morning in Lincoln, Nebraska, it’s late-afternoon in Kitui, Kenya, where Shadrack Matuku Musyoka lives.   8,508 miles away from First Lutheran Church, Mr. Musyoka taps his keypad a few times to join the Adult Forum session. Connie Kisling, host for the church’s Zoom gathering, smiles as she greets Shadrack, a familiar participant, by name. First Lutheran Church members, Kay and Lee Rockwell, had invited Musyoka to attend, certain that the subject would interest him.  Forum topics vary by the week. Many have offered ideas and information that the guest from Kenya finds applicable at work. Recorded sessions, available on the church website, enable Musyoka to watch later and to include family members or colleagues.   Musyoka’s relationship with First Lutheran began in 2011 when he met Kay Rockwell, then a volunteer for monitoring and evaluation in a...

 By Deacon Timothy Siburg, Director for Mission, Innovation and Stewardship When we proclaim Christ crucified and resurrected, and believe that God is alive, we profess a living faith. It’s one that abides. It’s also one which knows that God’s promises are true. That God is present and up to something- through, for, with, and even in, you and me. That’s bold and awe-inspiring. It might be terrifying too. But such is life with our God who knows us better than we know ourselves, and who loves us, is with us, and is for us, always.  That raises a question though for me. As we have moved through this pandemic, and come to this point where many of us adults, at least, have now been vaccinated, I’ve started to hear and wonder myself, “what’s next?” What might this mean for us as God’s people today in the weeks and months ahead? And what might it mean about what God is up to? Amid this pandemic time, my own life has changed again since I last shared space on the synod blog....

 By Bishop Brian Maas When Jesus sent out the twelve, the first task they were given was to “proclaim the good news.” He gave many other instructions, including advice to “shake off the dust from your feet” if a community wouldn’t receive it. Not everybody will hear the good news as a good thing. The kingdom of heaven is disruptive. Throughout the pandemic, the church has done a pretty good job of going out to proclaim the good news—or at least going out beyond the building’s walls, livestreaming worship and other events, literally to the ends of the earth. Now things are beginning to change. Congregations are beginning to gather again in person, and they’re noticing something. The numbers in the pews now are smaller than they were before pandemic. And there’s a bit of anxiety and a lot of uncertainty about it.  That makes it all the more likely we’ll hear objection to the good news or its proclamation. We’ll hear calls to end online outreach and to ensure an appealing message...