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I didn’t sleep well last night. Monkey mind was in high gear, swinging from branch to branch, project to project, and person to person. I’m grateful we’ve evolved past most primate behaviors, though I wish monkey mind would disappear into oblivion. I…
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The pink-colored engraving sand comes from Australia. Tyler Abigt uses tons and tons of it each year. The expertise comes from spending a considerable amount of time studying and working under the man he bought his business from. Tyler Abigt and his…
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Editor’s note: Abby McLeland is one of about 50 ninth-graders who recently completed confirmation by sharing their faith story. She talked about important people in her life, including her mom, small group leaders, grandmother, and someone who taught…
Editor’s note: Katie Hanson and Dave Crowe teach at Augustana College. For the past 20 years, they have led St. Paul people through a rich variety of reading and discussion. They recently answered a few questions about the joy of leading this particu…
Commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation with this multi-congregational event at St. Paul on Sunday, Oct. 29, 3 p.m. With Martin Luther’s A Mighty Fortress as a centerpiece and Psalm 46, God is our Refuge and Strength, as the anthem, this…
A new ministry is taking shape at the Anamosa State Penitentiary, a men’s state prison located in Anamosa, eastern Iowa. FreeIndeed will serve the nearly 1,000 men who live there, using a model created by Prison Congregations in America, or PCA. The…
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Like many of you, my heart is heavy. It feels like we wake up morning after morning to countless images of lives destroyed. Families are exhausted from going weeks at a time without power and basic necessities, knowing they have no physical home to r…
At Checkpoint Charlie, from West Germany into East Germany, guards with machine guns climbed onto the Wartburg Choir tour buses. The guards meticulously looked over documents and investigated the wigs that women wore (a fashion of the time). East Ger…
As with many old books, its character doesn’t come just from being old and worn but from the clues it gives about the people who first read it. According to the loopy cursive inside the front cover, a Miss Mary Nelson spent 25 cents on this tiny hand…
Give blood. Build a home. Share a meal. Care for a garden. Care for another. October is beautifully filled with ways to connect with and love others. Train to become a Care Companion Care Companions are not experts or counselors, but people who walk…
A birthday party is what started it all. Several years ago, Mary Nuernberger attended a birthday party for one of her friends at a local horse ranch. She got a coupon for a free lesson, went for that lesson, and found that it was something she really…
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There is a lot of chatter in the world. Does it feel that way to you, too? We have round-the-clock news on television and radio, and social media is just a finger’s-length away at all times. Some people never stop to take a breath. I wonder, though,…