Dear friends in Christ, As we approach Thanksgiving, there is a lot going on at St. Peter’s and much to share with you. First let me share the very important news that in preparation for the Thanksgiving holiday, when family gatherings are predicted to spread COVID-19 even faster than before, St. Peter’s Council has voted […]
The following was shared by me (Pastor Katie) in the November newsletter. I have a serious pastoral concern to share with you regarding music (primarily in our online services, since they utilize a lot more music than the in-person services). You might be thinking “huh?? What does music have to do with pastoral concerns?” Over […]
Dear friends in Christ, In my sermon on Reformation Sunday, October 25, I spoke about how the good news of God’s love and grace in Jesus Christ surprises us and sets us free. I talked about how that needs to continue happening; we need to experience this liberation ourselves in order to share with other […]
Dear friends in Christ, I know that for the past six months, it’s been a struggle to find good news in the world. But the stories are there, hidden under the umbrella of a pandemic, waiting quietly in the corners of our lives, flying under the radar…they are there. Simple stories that remind us that […]
Dear friends in Christ, Last September, we celebrated the Season of Creation in worship, and even though everything else about worship has changed since that time, we are preparing to do the same this year. Last year we focused on Universe, Ocean, Storm, and Animals, but this year the Sundays are Forest Sunday (September 6), […]
Dear friends in Christ, A well-known and oft-hammered home part of the Lutheran tradition is the focus on faith vs. works. Martin Luther railed against those who said that works done by human beings were part of our salvation, and insisted that salvation came only by the grace of God, and all that was required […]
Dear friends in Christ, Things are changing swiftly in our current world situation. There is an odd combination of both monotony and variability that’s got us upside down and all over the place. When I look back at what I wrote for you in last month’s Chatter, I feel that all over again. At that […]
Dear friends in Christ, While preparing this article for you, I was also thinking about the Bible texts for the coming Sunday, which include 1 Corinthians 12 (the part of Paul’s letter where he talks about the body of Christ and how each one of us is a member of it). Then I happened upon […]
Dear friends in Christ, I am guessing that many of you eagerly opened your copy of the Chatter hoping to see a definitive date for when we will resume in-person worship. Oh, if only I had something that concrete to share with you! But we are adjusting to a new normal where concrete details about […]
Dear friends in Christ, As we navigate a new reality, I have heard a number of people referring to the time in terms of B.C. (“before coronavirus”) and the current era. It really does seem like the beginning of March, before “stay at home orders” and “social distancing” were part of our vocabulary, was a […]