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The warmth of this congregation made up for the lack of heat this morning in the sanctuary of St.Peter’s Lutheran Church in Luck. Their furnace was not operating but the congregation bravely huddled upstairs in the sanctuary for our service and Holy Communion.

I like this bunch. It’s a small group, but the building does not seat a great number of people in the first place. Perhaps this is a case of the physical facility limiting the size of the congregation. (When you hit 80% capacity, people feel too close to one another and attendance tends to fall off.)

Anyway, I enjoy being with this bunch and perhaps we can meet together again. I think this is the fourth time I’ve done services there. One poor kid got a Communion wafer from me and had not had his First Communion yet. He wasn’t sure quite what to do with the wafer. My bad; I can always learn and one thing I can learn is to ask first. My tradition(s) are that everyone can receive; it’s up to the parents to explain the meaning of what takes place in the service.

I just finished listening to a taped broadcast with Dr. Bunny Vreeland on Mercury Broadcast, an internet radio station. (Full disclosure: Bunny is my sister-in-law). Although my wife, Marina said my voice sounded good, as a guy who’s done radio and stage work, I thought I sound like a geezer these days. Anyhow, we had 17 minutes for me to ramble. The truth is, though, that Bunny gave me good lead-ins so that we could cover a variety of subjects in a fairly brief time and still be able to plug “The First Gathering” book.

 

Mercury Broadcast has a nice audience that is growing, so I appreciate Bunny’s generosity in giving me the time to share. She interviews a variety of people with expertise in a broad  array of subjects. By profession, or at least one of her professions, she is a hypnotherapist, hence the “Doctor” by her name. She operates out of Oxnard, California with her office and school located in Camarillo, California.

 

As an aside, I’ve had more conversations with both the White Bear Arts Center and the St.Croix Festival Theatre for possible book readings. We shall see if something comes of the latter (it would be a fundraiser for them) and a date is all that needs be done for the Arts Center.

I took Sunday service yesterday at Cumberland United Methodist Church. Their sanctuary is a beauty, perhaps 35-40 years old and modern. The congregation boasts some fine Christians. I heard several mentions of the Holy Spirit in casual conversation. They have some young retired people and three children were present, yet I was told they are struggling. There were 44 at worship, which is “down” for them, I gather, but that has been the trend of late. A few years ago the church at McKinley they were joined with closed and I suppose some of the remnant came over to Cumberland. That’s not the best way to gain new members. We talked a bit about how Birchwood UMC came to understand that small can be beautiful and then that congregation doubled in size while I served there. It’s a matter of becoming beautiful so that people are attracted to you and then recognizing what you have to offer and that what you have and who you are is unusual today.

 

I’m glad I had the opportunity to serve Cumberland yesterday.

Instead of “It was a dark and stormy night” it was a warm and muggy night in St.Croix Falls last night. My thanks to Librarian Sarah Adams for arranging this reading. We had a good turnout, perhaps 17 people, which is good for author readings around this area. I sold books, too. The first fellow who showed up told me that if I were to run against Rep. Adam Jarchow I’d have lots of support in this area. No interest on my part, although I’d like to see Jarchow thrown out. But the people who did show up are some of the people here I like most.

 

I read “I’ll Cook For You” and “Hansel and Gertie”. The readings went well and I’m grateful for the opportunity. “Hansel” got plenty of laughs, too. There was some discussion of doing a reading for Festival Theatre as a fund raiser for the theatre. Stay tuned.

Another preaching date has been added to my schedule, this one a return to St.Peter’s Lutheran congregation in Luck, Wisconsin. Today’s Osceola Sun has an article about my coming story reading at the St.Croix Falls Public Library. I’m grateful to the Sun’s editor, Suzanne Lindgren, for her consistent and generosity coverage me. I knew Suzie first as a teen age member of the St.Croix Falls United Methodist congregation I pastored. My first year there (I think it was) she was named Homecoming Queen and she’s done a nice job as the Sun’s editor. The sheer amount of news she manages to produce each week says she works very hard and on top of that she’s the mother of a small child. Kudos to Suzie!

 

My baby brother Greg and his wife, Bunny (aka Doctor Bunny) have been in town the past 24 hours. We “caught up” until late last night, but you know, when you get to be my age, it’s possible you’ll never see each other again. That’s a reality for anyone at any age, of course, but when you get older it’s something you think about when you’ve not seen someone in awhile. We had a nice family lunch today at the Watershed Cafe here in Osceola. I think everyone enjoyed our time together.

I did this morning’s service at Osceola United Methodist Church and things went very well. Their numbers are up and there is a positive spirit about the place, all of which are good to see. They feel good about themselves and I am grateful to God for that.

 

I come away, of course, with the realization that there was much more I could have thrown into the message, things I’d thought about in the wee hours of the morning, things given me perhaps by God but that didn’t get mentioned. When that happens I figure the Lord didn’t need them to be said and I remind myself that the Holy Spirit is in charge. I do wish, however, I’d thrown in a “commercial” for the book reading I’m doing on September 21st at the St.Croix Falls Public Library. I’m hoping for a good turnout then and for books to sell.

I was at St.Peter’s Lutheran Church again today and things went very well. I feel among friends. Elder son, Aaron, left yesterday for Oregon, where he plays today at a very large festival celebrating the eclipse. He–as “Ocelot”–is among the advertised music people there especially for dance. Aaron and his wife, Berta, were here with us for two days before he had another festival up near Ashland, Wisconsin. They are back next weekend and the plan is to have a family get-together at daughter Britta’s in Wyoming, Minnesota. Aaron and Berta return to Portugal on Labor Day. It has been good to see them and to spend time with them.

This coming week is an easier week than the past several weeks have been. We head toward our 49th wedding anniversary next weekend–almost impossible to believe that durability, considering the number of people who were betting against our success years ago, as well as the times we thought we had hit the end of the road. Still, convincing Marina to join her life with mine was the best decision I’ve ever made. (Not that she needed much convincing.) Thanks be to God!

Today I took the morning service at St.Peter’s Lutheran Church in Luck, WI. This is a small LCMC congregation with good people. Turnout was small; sometimes we go for quality, rather than quantity. St.Peter’s receives me well and I feel very welcome. Next week I’m there again and it will be Holy Communion, which has a format that is quite different than the formats I’m used to. I just need to find my way in the thicket of options in their “green book”. The congregation is gifted with a good musician, Sherry, and with Tommy Thompson, Balsam Lake’s police chief in real life but a man who can step in to read scripture in public with understanding and authority. I can tell you from experience elsewhere, this is a blessing for St.Peter’s!

Yesterday I was able to be present for the baptism of Caleb Yeonjun Kim, the infant son of the Korean pastors at the Upper St.Croix Parish. Rev. Tim Berlew did the baptism and Holy Communion services. He’s from Wauwatosa United Methodist and has an easy, graceful manner that went over well. Pastor Kookho has a “fun” sense of humor, which  I think serves him well in congregations that have to pay attention because of his accented English. The place was full and it was great to experience that again in the space that I’d been accustomed to seeing full when I pastored in St.Croix Falls. The occasion’s four-congregation choir sounded good, too. There was lunch downstairs, with one dish featuring Korean noodles in a light sauce. I had the opportunity to greet many people and many faces of people whose names I have yet to learn but whom I’ve seen during the time I guest pastored in those four congregations. And I even sold a book! Overall, I’m glad I could be present for this fine event. The timing was right; I’m booked to guest preach the next couple of Sundays.

I dropped a note to Luck Library’s Librarian, Jill Glover and, after apologizing for forgetting to give her the book I’d promised for the library, I said, “Thanks for setting up this reading. We had a good time.”

Jill responded, “So glad to hear it. The folks at the Museum said it was a successful program. Thanks for offering to do it for our community!”