Politics has no place in the pew or in the pulpit. That’s a phrase we often hear uttered. Let’s look at what’s behind these references to politics in the church. If by political we mean campaigns, governmental structures and processes, or the encoura…
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Like so many beautiful things in life, Pamela Hardiman’s work came to be because of something that wasn’t working quite right. A quilt-maker at the time, she was creating a quilt she wanted to call Fire and Ice. The fire part was great, but putting i…
“Everything changes when the people you love are at risk.” I recently attended a conference for pastors and other professional church leaders where issues of race and justice were part of the discussion. Too often conversations like this remain abstr…
St. Paul’s Mental Health Awareness Team will host two upcoming events – one a panel discussion on mental wellness, and the second a presentation on depression. Both are free and open to the public. The first, onThursday, Oct. 29, 7 p.m., will…
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At 3:45 p.m. on Thursday afternoons, Dan Pepper’s classroom fills with the music of middle school students. Three dozen or so kids pluck away at ukuleles, more or less in unison, learning an instrument that has joy embedded in its strings. Dan, who t…
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It’s that time of year again. The days when haunted houses and apple orchards are filled with visitors. The time when you can eat candy corn by the fistful and walk down grocery store aisles filled top to bottom with assorted bite-sized candy. And th…
Earlier this week, the Quad Cities experienced what Winnie the Pooh would surely have called a blustery day. It was windy. The kind of wind that kindled fires in fields of dry crops. The kind of wind that would knock someone right off their bike. As…
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Kathie Heaps first saw the story on Facebook, of a barber in Dubuque that gives free haircuts to kids as long as they read a book to him. Immediately, she knew: “I can do that!” Kathie, a hair stylist for more than three dozen years, has tutored stud…
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There is a fear epidemic in America. We are a people full of fear. Swapping stories of fright has become our national pastime. If you want to kill anything in politics these days, just get people good and scared about what some action or legislation…
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My father, “the Good Reverend” as I called him, lived 84 magnificent, fulfilling years. This weekend we will have the opportunity to honor and celebrate a life very well lived. While it is normal to be sad on these occasions, I take tremendous comfor…
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An 11-pound bowling ball with purple and blue swirls rolled down the alley and toppled every single pin in its path. Carma Schwarz stepped away from her throw and says with a smile: “They just felt sorry for me and fell.” Carma is 89 1/2 years old. S…
A gray steel box in the St. Paul archives, locked and taped, has an envelope that says it is a time capsule, sealed in April 1994, and to be opened 100 years later. While there is no indication of what is in the box, the year leading up to that day w…