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It started out as a strip of plants along the back of Jeanne Withycombe’s home. Today, on these July days of sunshine and rain, her large garden bursts with life – colorful flowers, beautiful birds and crawling little critters. “It’s at one of its pr…
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Goodbyes are always hard. As I near the end of my time at St. Paul, I wasn’t expecting to say goodbye just a year into my residency. I had plans; plans to be here for two years. I had plans; plans to really live into parish ministry and fall in love…
When I joined the St. Paul staff eleven months ago as director of faith formation, I got a lot of quizzical looks. I often had to answer the question, what’s that? The shortest way to answer is to say my job is about learning or Christian education….
One night when Deb Whitford was leaving her office at Lutheran Services of Iowa, or LSI, she heard a noise that she thought she should go check on. She didn’t think anyone else was in the building – but she was mistaken. Deb opened the door to a conf…
Their first bundle of joy, Bradley James, came home in October 1958. Then followed Douglas Ward in September 1960. The youngest, Sara Lynn, followed in August 1963. Betty Dexter had always wanted a family. Through adoption with her husband Jim, she b…
She was born in Beirut, Lebanon. Her father is a retired Lebanese diplomat and agricultural expert, her mother is a teacher and musician from the northern suburbs of Chicago. His family was also from the northern suburbs of Chicago, and he grew up in…
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A field trip to an Iowa-based organ builder. Lessons from college professors and full-time church musicians. Recitals. Classes in hymn playing, organ literature, and improvisation. Fourteen teenagers from across the Midwest are at Wartburg College th…
For four weeks beginning Wednesday, July 6, St. Paul Lutheran Church’s Mental Health Awareness Team will host a midsummer mental health movie series. Come and watch a movie and join in discussion afterwards. Movies begin at 6:30 p.m., popcorn include…
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If you were to head south out of Minneapolis along Highway 169 for about an hour, you’d eventually arrive at the quaint little town of St. Peter, Minnesota. It’s not much of a tourist destination. There’s no more than a handful of stop lights before…
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Last week during Vacation Bible School, we repeatedly sang one of the top five favorite songs among the children and youth of St. Paul. It is a ridiculous and beautiful song called “The Hippo Song.” It tells the story of creation and has some fun act…
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When Ronda Meier was growing up, her family had a Lutheran background but did not go to church. But still, God was there. As an accounting student at St. Ambrose University, she took a few classes in religion. It was around the time of the attacks on…
As the American public pores over every possible cause for Omar Mateen’s act of evil atrocity at the gay nightclub in Orlando, one label we should not place upon it is, “surprising.” We can debate an ISIS connection, domestic terrorism, or a hate cri…