Prairie Church News

Just for your information, the last worship service for pastor Penny Entringer at First Congregational UCC in Glencoe will be Sunday June 1st. Feel free to send well wishes to her at the church until then.

Pastor Bill will lead worship at Plato on January 20th at 10:15 a.m. 1/13 was the last day of service for Brigit Stevens, and their pulpit supply person will be coming 1/27. Pray for St. Paul's in Plato during this time of transition.

Wednesday, January 30th is the next Kids Against Hunger food packaging event at Lester Prairie City Hall. You can sign up to work between 2:30 and 7 p.m. Sign up sheet is at church. You can also just show up at City Hall anytime during the packing and you'll have a job. You can also come before 2:30 and plan to stay after 7 p.m. for set up and clean up.

Critical to the success of the packaging events is community donations. It costs ten cents per meal to pack, and the money comes directly from the community where the event is being held. You packing help is critical and very welcome, but we also need money to pay for the food. Be sure to make a generous donation to the cause when you come to work, or send a check to us at Prairie Community Church, Box 85, Lester Prairie, MN. 55354

Thank you!

It took me until January 18th to wish you happy new year. but now that I have a moment for a breather, Happy New Year, 2008. It has been action packed so far. Lent is right around the corner. Ash Wednesday is February 6th, and the service will be at Prairie Community Church, with people at Bethel joining us for the 7 p.m. service with communion and a service of receiving ashes. Remember to have soup at Bethel each Wednesday in Lent from 5:30-6:30 p.m.

February 13th: Bethel, February 20th: UCC, February 27th: Bethel,       March 5th: UCC, March 12th: Bethel      March 19th: Maundy Thursday, services will be held individually at Bethe and UCC at 7 p.m.   March 20th, Good Friday, services will be held at the individual churches at 7 p.m.

At the time I write this Steve Anderson has been hospitalized in Glencoe for two weeks as the site of his stomach feeding tube heals up in preparation for receiving a new feeding tube. He is healing welll, and is in good spirits. Pray that God will use powerful healing to knit him together quickly and allow him to get back home. Any time we pray for Steve we also prayer for his mother Lois who is so central to Steve's care. We also pray for his brother David who also shares in Steve's critical care. This family has been through so much and remains so joyful and grateful. Remember them in every way possible. Just because they can't be in church doesn't mean that we can in any way forgot about how precious they are to us. Through it all, God has blessed the Anderson family and we give God thanks and praise.

Vera Fruetel continues to go through a tough time. She has been living in pain a long time due to degenerating discs in her lower back. This creates excruciating pain radiating into her legs. Even everything the doctors can do is leaving her in great pain. Vera is also grieving the death of her son Mike. This is a wound that will not quickly heal. On top of all that, Vera was in a serious car accident that broke her knee cap and left her generally banged up. Her car was totalled. Pray that God will ease her pain and grant her peace.

When I first became acquainted with the UCC back in 1984 what impressed me was that the minister I heard preaching had a very keen mind and he spoke about the world as I understood it, not in lofty terms that had nothing to do with everyday life. His name was Rev. Henry Campbell, and he made a big impression on my life. His son, Hank, is pastor down at our church in New Ulm, and his daughter Sara is pastor at Mayflower UCC in Minneapolis. Pastor Campbell baptized Nick in 1985. As I learned more about the UCC I knew it was right for me because it openly ordained gay clergy and was a leader in ordaining female clergy. It was a denomination that proclaimed that all kinds of people are part of God's family, including gays and lesbians. I was much more open in talking about my passion for inclusion of all people in my first call, and I brought quite a bit of heat onto myself because of it. I am now more low keyed and diplomatic about these sensitive areas, but my pride in being part of a denomination that welcomes all people as God's own has never waned. I was proud to vote for the marriage equality resolution at the General Synod in 2005, This resolution says that the UCC affirms that any two people who love each other and desire to be united in marriage should have the legal right to do so, and thus receive all the benefits of marriage under the law as any heterosexual couple. I strongly believe that this is right and fair. Several of our Minneapolis churches have stopped performing legal marriages until the law includes everyone. They now ask that a couple gets legally married by the state, and then has a relgious wedding at the church. Thus they will do relgious wedding services for any couple. I am so proud of the stands that the UCC takes, as least at the national level. Challenging as it may seem, I believe that the future strength of our church and denomination lies in boldly welcoming those that other churches judge unworthy. This does not make us heretical or wishy washy or unChristian; what it does do is put us in line with who I understand our Savior Jesus Christ to have been and what he stood for in his lifetime. I am left handed. I was born that way. I would not want to be judged or excluded because of that anymore than a gay person should be excluded because they were born gay. People are people, and they come in all varieties.  

It is certainly concerning that we are an aging congregation that doesn't seem to know how to attract and hold new members. We are at an all time low for children involved in Sunday school, and there doesn't seem to be energy or interest in making it different. Our path may be toward ministering to those who are here for as long as they live, and as long as we can keep things going financially. There is always hope for a new beginning, but new beginnings take interest, commitment, vision, action, and lots of prayer. The biggest key to giving new life to a church is having a clear picture of what kind of church we are so we can let potential new members know if we may be what they're looking for. A church that tries to just be something for anyone will probably end up offering nothing to no one. Our Lutheran brothers and sister are very clear about what they believe and what they stand for. This is true of most denominations. The UCC is really hurting because we resist getting clear about who we are. So, who are we? What kind of person might be right for our church? It is obvious that many of us wouldn't be comfortable at a Missourit Synod Lutheran church, but because the Lutheran churches seem to be doing fine, there are obviously many who do want what they offer. We can't get by with saying we are for anyone and everyone. We welcome anyone who wants to be at an open church that allows people to think for themselves, but that doesn't describe what everyone is looking for. A key to a bright future is being very clear about who we are and letting everyone know about it in as many ways as possible.

Every church has people who just sort of drop out and disappear from the life of the church. It is easy to forget about them or just assume they don't want to hear from us. Always know that it is ok and good to give a person a call whom we haven't heard from for awhile. There are several families I am concerned about, and don't quite know how to approach them. Sometimes having friends and members make the contact can be most meaningful.

You can email me anytime at pastorbill@ucclp.org with anyone who I should post on the blog to keep us all informed. You can also send any calendar updates to this same address.