They swam, went caving, took a hike, made crafts, sang, climbed a rock wall. Twenty-five adults with disabilities spent the week at Camp Shalom last week – including two St. Paul members. It was the first time Joy Crane attended camp. What was her fa…
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One afternoon over a decade ago, I was cleaning up after serving lunch at a soup kitchen for poor, elderly Russians in the middle of Moscow. I was wiping down the tables as a pair of women were getting ready to go, tying their scarves and packaging t…
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It’s pretty quiet at the Treat House on this Friday afternoon. It’s about 2:20 p.m., and Ann Schwickerath is sitting in the living room chatting with visitors. There’s a knock on the door – the sign that the quiet is about to come to an energetic end…
Play an instrument? Sing a song? A much-loved tradition of summer at St. Paul is people sharing their musical talents during 9:20 a.m. worship. Maybe a flute-trombone duet could do, or perhaps you’d like to take your place on the piano bench. Watch f…
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While attending Yale Divinity School years ago, I had the fun of playing on the intramural hockey team for Calhoun College, one of Yale’s undergraduate colleges. My teammates were kind enough to embrace me as a de facto “hounie,” even if our lives on…
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Rosita Tendall recently retired from St. Paul as a children’s choir director. She shared a few thoughts about her time here, and her plans for the future. How long have you been a children’s choir director at St. Paul? I started out at St. Paul subbi…
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Earlier this spring, I attended the Festival of Homiletics in San Antonio, Texas. Homiletics is a fancy, $20-word way of saying preaching and sermon writing. This week-long event is meant to educate and uplift pastors across all denominations. Basica…
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Editor’s note: Andy Langdon is the director of youth ministries at St. Paul. Michelle Juehring is the children & family life coordinator. From Andy Recently, Michelle and I attended a webinar about the recent Netflix series 13 Reasons Why. I am p…
A few months ago, a new WELCA circle popped up on St. Paul’s congregational calendar. WELCA stands for Women of the ELCA. It’s a national organization devoted to service, study, advocacy, and fellowship. Many churches, including St. Paul, have small…
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Last weekend, along with a few other folks from St. Paul, I attended the Southeastern Iowa Synod Assembly at Lutheran Church of Hope in West Des Moines. As Lutheran Christians, we believe the church is much bigger than one congregation. This is what…
Liz Josie and Lisa Fiedler sat next to each other at a presentation earlier this year about refugee camps in Jordan. They were at the Bettendorf Public Library to hear Dr. Majdi Omar and nurse Ann Garton tell the story about their time serving overse…
Saturday mornings are when new beginnings happen. That is when groundbreakings take place, and dedications, too, for Habitat for Humanity Quad Cities. It’s also when volunteers and partner families come together to build the homes where those new beg…