La Vida de Fe

January 25-27, I attended our annual Tri-Synodical Theological Conference in San Antonion, Texas. The Theme was "La Vida de Fe." These conference times are usually opportunities for reconnecting with pastor-professional contacts and clearing one's head to think about the forthcoming year, as well as listening to the topic presented. At First United Lutheran Church we are not currently involved in the main theme -- Latino ministry, but, after the presentation by a demographer, it is apparent that ready or not, we are challenged for Latino ministry. Texas is already "Minority Majority" -- that is, Anglos (aka Whites) are already a minority in the state when all the "minority" groups are added together. Add to that, the likelihood is that by 2020, Texas will be Latino majority and by 2050, the whole of the United States will be Latino majority. (I may not live to see that.) So, the presentations were good awakenings to key concepts and ideas about the Latino experience of the life of faith. Gracias!

One year and counting!

Well, I have been here a year today. My first anniversary.
Is the honeymoon over? More importantly am I prepared to work at making this relationship happen? Yes. Or as they said up north in my seminary days -- You Betcha, ya sure!
Here are some review items from the year:
We took a photo at the former church location on Cole Avenue for the 86th birthday of the congregation. A new Men-ghetti (Men Who Love Spaghetti) fellowship group was started. A few folks tried their building skills with a Habitat for Humanity house in Old Plano. We shared special worship services for Lent and Advent besides our regular Sunday morning celebration of prayer, singing, Scriptures, sermon, and communion. In addition, we celebrated two special German-language services for Mid-Summer and Reformation Sunday. And some seven languages infused our Pentecost celebration. For Thanksgiving we joined with two area Lutherans congregations for worship. We also hosted the synod-wide Reformation Day “Marty Party” on October 31.
We spruced up the building a bit, especially our long hallway. We offered film festivals of Bible-themed movies as well as the Life of Luther. I also started leading a Thursday morning Bible Study at the Classic Residences, a Senior High Rise nearby. Plus Confirmation classes were initiated.

I Timothy 1:5: “But the aim … is love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith.”

Happy First Anniversary, indeed!

Haiti News

Such tragic reports are coming out of Haiti -- the sheer number of deaths is almost overwhelming, almost unreal. Sometimes it helps to narrow to one person. In my case, I just heard about a young Lutheran seminary student, Benjamin Larson, killed while training lay people for leadership in the fledgling Haitian Lutheran Church. You can read more from CNN:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/01/14/haiti.seminarian.killed/index.html (You have to paste this link into your browser.)
Now I have connections -- he is about the same age as my oldest child; I am a pastor and still remember the excitement of internship and preparing for a first call; I now teach a class for lay leadership development.
Now I can connect with one of the thousands; now the thousands become more real.
How can our hearts reach out to even more families at the loss of many more young men, many more servants of God, many more mothers and fathers and children and ... ?

https://community.elca.org/NetCommunity/SSLPage.aspx?pid=538

Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. The people of God have mercy.

Post-Christmas in Ireland

I took off for Ireland the Sunday after Christmas with wife, daughter, son, and mother-in-law in tow.
What a surprisingly wonderful country! Also, what a freezing cold country! (Coldest winter in a 100 years.) I enjoyed discovering so much. Perhaps I will comment more fully later, but for right now, I want to reflect on the "Celtic" cross.
Much has been made of its shape -- cross with round circle. Debate has been if that was a way to incorporate pre-Christian beliefs. But I want to say, I was amazed at its presence in the country. I saw ancient crosses (from about 1000 AD) through modern gravestones with the motif. I was especially impressed by the Monasterboice crosses I saw the first day in country. Photos are attached. Huge structures affirming the crucifixion, but other space with pictures of other Christian stories. Amazing design and execution. Enjoy the photos.