postings from prairie hillpostings from prairie hillReflections on faith, life, ministry, and theology from a Lutheran pastor - ELCA - serving a rural congregation in Texas. Articles
Sunday Trivia Answer
2007-11-20 17:08:00 Well, what an overwhelming response to this week's Sunday Trivia . First of all, thanks to everyone at the RevGalBlogPals for the warm welcome. In amongst the answers were greetings from old friends and people with roots just next door. Thanks to everyone for their words of welcome.A number of people were correct that the Thanksgiving Classic usually refers to the NFL game hosted by either the Dallas Cowboys or the Detroit Lions. Dave rightly pointed out that the Lions game is much older than the Cowboys game. St. John's webmaster, Hal, was the only one to get right that the Lions game began in 1934.When the Portsmouth (Ohio) Spartans moved to Detroit, new owner G. A. Richards was looking for a way to increase interest in the new team (which was overshadowed in Detroit by the Tigers). Thus, he invited the Chicago Bears (who were the World Champions in 1933) to play in Detroit on Thanksgiving Day, 1934. Prior to the game, Detroit was at 10-1, and the Bears were at 11-0. Chicago sque... More About: Answer
Sunday Trivia (On Monday)
2007-11-19 16:52:00 Well, after almost a week of an unreliable internet connection (gremlins seem to have had a hold of it), I am back for this Thanksgiving week Sunday Trivia . As we begin Thanksgiving week, we are giving thanks here for a much needed Saturday night rain (the official Prairie Hill rain gauge says we got 2.5 inches).What is the traditional NFL game for Thanksgiving, and when did it start? More About: Monday
Jim & Casper Go to Church
2007-11-12 19:44:00 I am always interested in new and creative ways to think about how we do church. As such, the website churchrater.com appealed to me: they went to churches, and then reviewed various aspects of the service. The critiques are often not about theology or liturgy, but about how the church seemed to the unintiated. I frequented the site for a while and participated in the dialogue there.And so, when I saw the book Jim & Casper Go to Church , I snatched it up. Jim Henderson is the driving force behind Off the Map, an organization rethinking the ideas of behind evangelism and being welcoming churches. Matt Casper is the atheist hired by Henderson to give his "outsider's view" of worship at some of the most influential churches in America.The concept, I think is a good one. Clergy, evangelism committees, worship committees, and property committees are often all people born and raised in the church. Very rarely are we able to set aside our personal histories and look at what we do on Su...
Sunday Trivia Answer
2007-11-12 17:57:00 (The Journey of the Magi, James Tissot. Public Domain.)There's just no fooling some people. Hal got this one right off the bat: Scripture does not tell us how many Wise Men (or Magi) came to visit the newborn Christ-child, only that they brought three gifts with them: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Lore quickly developed around these mysterious figures, one of the most persistent being that because their gifts numbered three, so too did the Magi themselves. The other persistent tradition is that the Magi arrived in Bethlehem 12 days after the birth (or two years and 12 days), thus setting the length for the litugical season of Christmas and the date of Epiphany.The Wikipedia article on the Wise Men is really pretty exhaustive, and is worth a look. The other wonderful sources for reflections on the visitors from the east are the Christmas sermons of Martin Luther. For example:These Magi, or Wise Men, were not kings, but learned men in the art of nature. Without doubt they dabbled... More About: Answer , Trivia , Sunday
Dealing with questions
2007-11-11 20:57:00 Many of the readers of this blog have either been to graduate school or are currently in graduate school. Many others have encountered this same problem in colleges. The problem: the person in class who monopolizes all of the time with their questions, usually to prove to the prof and/or classmates how very smart they are (or who makes comments because they are sure that the prof was unaware of their very important factoid).Of course, this doesn't apply to adult education in our churches, where often I wish people would ask more questions and make more comments in order to get discussion going. But it is a welcome relief for those grad school/college settings. (Found at gospel resurgence). I proudly present the "Question & Comment Evaluation Chart" (click for larger image). Feel free to print out and discreetly place on the desk of your classmate who needs it most. More About: Questions
Sunday Trivia
2007-11-11 11:46:00 In most churches, plans are being laid for the Advent and the Christmas season. To get us all in the right state of mind for such events, I give you this week's Sunday Trivia :According to the biblical story, how many wise men visited Jesus and what were their gifts?Keep that brain working on this day of rest!
Do not let your hearts be troubled
2007-11-10 22:28:00 I do not often post my funeral sermons online, for a variety of reasons. However, the homily I preached today is a nice follow-up to some of the ideas that came up in the recent Alzheimer's series. Lillie did not have Alheimer's, but did have a physically degenerative disease for years before she died.Do not let your hearts be troubledGrace and peace to you in the name of our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ.We learn lots of things in school – how to read and write, all about world history and math. But one of the things they never teach you in school is that there is no one right way to react to news such as the Neutzler family received on Thursday.Most people will tell you that the normal reaction to the death of a loved one is sadness, as you grieve the loss of Lillie. And, for many people, that is the right reaction. When a loved one dies suddenly, unexpectedly, we are often overcome by sadness and grief. But, let’s be honest with one another today: You have been griev... More About: Troubled , Hearts
Congratulations
2007-11-10 22:13:00 My friend David has reached a milestone on his path toward becoming and ordained Lutheran pastor. David, who completed his approval essay early in the Fall, just completed his Approval Panel - getting through the ordeal with flying colors. (To read about how the process works, and how close to the end David is, see my description of the process). David still has to get through the grueling assignment process, which hopefully he isn't stressing about yet. So stop by and offer him your words congratulation for this step and encouragement for the rest of his journey. More About: Congratulations
Show the love
2007-11-09 18:42:00 There are a number of different ways to show your support as a reader of postings from prairie hill.* You can make this blog one of your technorati favorites:* You can vote for this blog as one of the "best religion blogs":* You can vote (as often as once a day) for this blog on blog toplist: More About: Love , Show
At the Banquet of the Lamb
2007-11-09 18:34:00 The family of Saint John Lutheran Church lost one of our faithful saints yesterday. Lillie Neutzler passed into glory early Thursday morning.We will be gathering to celebrate Lilly's life and to affirm the power of the resurrection tomorrow, Saturday November 10, at 2:00 pm. Visitation will be tonight from 6-8 at Memorial Oaks Funeral Home.Please pray for the family of Lillie Neutzler - and for our family of faith - as we say our earthly good-byes. More About: Lamb
An All Saints Baptism
2007-11-06 23:19:00 We are told that, in baptism, we "take off our sinful selves" and we are then "clothed in Christ Jesus." As a symbol of this new beginning, candidates for baptism in the early church took off all of their clothes, were baptized nude, and then were reclothed in white robes which indicated their new purity in Christ. This white baptismal robe is the origin of the Alb worn by many clergy during worship services. The idea of being "clothed in Christ" is also preserved in the practice of baptismal gowns - white gowns for children who are being baptizedLayla's baptismal gown served as a connection with the generations that came before. It was made by Layla's Great-Great Grandmother, Serena Hansen. It was worn by her Great-Grandpa Hansen and his three siblings, by her Grandpa Hansen and his sister, and of course by her Dad and his brothers. On the day of Layla's death and re-birth, only a few members of her family were able to be there -- those who are still living and were able to make... More About: Saints , All Saints , Baptism
Layla's Baptism
2007-11-06 19:15:00 Here, without comment or interruption, are the photos from Layla Margaret Hansen's baptism (hover your mouse over each photo for a caption. Click photos for larger viewing). More About: Baptism
Critiquing Evangelism Links
2007-11-06 17:28:00 The Critiquing Evangelism series looked at some common practices and attitudes that hinder, rather than help, our mission to share the Gospel message. Here are the links to the posts in that series:* Critique #1: Evangelism is not a program.* Critique #2: Evangelism is not the pastor's job.* Critique #3: Evangelism is not a numbers game. More About: Links
Prepare yourselves
2007-11-05 21:17:00 On All Saints Sunday, I was given the gift of being able to baptize my daughter. This has been an unusually busy Monday, but look for pictures and reflections on the joyous day later this week - prepare for the unbridled cuteness of it all. More About: Pare , Prep
Remembering for All the Saints | Conclusion
2007-11-05 01:43:00 As I had envisioned this project, I thought that I would write a nice, insightful, weighty summary to pull together the thoughts of the various guest bloggers throughout this week. However, sitting here at the end of the week, I think it would be a disservice to the work that has been done here to attempt such a summary.No, what has taken place in the Remembering for All the Saints series is the beginning of a conversation. To attempt to summarize it would be to end a sentence mid-thought. This conversation is does not need a conclusion, it needs continuation. I urge you to continue it: on your own blogs, in your churches, and in your lives. How ought the church react to individuals with severe memory loss? How can we best minister to and with those individuals and their families? And what do such personality-altering diseases say about God and the world that God made?Continue the conversation. And more importantly, as we end this All Saints Sunday, remember those who cannot remembe... More About: Erin
Remembering for All the Saints | Post 5
2007-11-04 14:02:00 The following is the fifth post of the Remembering for All the Saints series - a series of posts on pastoral and theological reactions to Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia in observence of All Saints Day. This post comes to us from the Netherlands, where Paul Abspoel writes his blog But a Poor Reflection.Hi, my name is Paul Abspoel, a fellow blogger from Hoofddorp, the Netherlands. I am not a pastor and I don't have direct personal experiences with people who are suffering from dementia / Alzheimer, but as a Christian publisher I did publish a book in my own language (Dutch) about the pastoral care for people who are suffering from these mental diseases: Het blijven kostbare mensen (= "Still precious people") The book is out of print now, but it was written by a Dutch pastor who worked in an old people's home for many years. This pastor, his name is Bert Prinsen, told me some touching stories about his experiences.I especially remember the story about an old lady who didn'... More About: Post , Erin
Remembering for All the Saints | Post 4
2007-11-03 22:33:00 The following is the fourth post of the Remembering for All the Saints series - a series of posts on pastoral and theological reactions to Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia in observence of All Saints Day. This post is written by the author of this blog, Pastor David.It is difficult to write with any clarity about what a disease like Alzheimer's might mean for our theology. In the first place, those of us who would think about such things have our memories, full and complete - there is no first-order experiential learning to draw upon. Not to say that our primary way of understanding is experiential, but the absence of knowledge gained from experience certainly leave a whole in our wisdom - and one that must be acknowledged.Second, this is a relatively recent phenomenon in our theological analysis of life. It is really only in the last 20-30 years that severe memory loss has become an issue at the forefront of our pastoral concerns. Compared with the centuries spent wrestlin... More About: Post , Erin
Remembering for All the Saints | Post 3
2007-11-02 04:24:00 The following is the third guest post of the Remembering for All the Saints series - a series of posts on pastoral and theological reactions to Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia in observence of All Saints Day. This post comes from Pastor Walt Snyder, a pastor of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod who writes the wonderfully insightful Ask the Pastor blog. Pastor Snyder here provides a wonderful reflection on the power and importance of both remembering and forgetting.Remembering and ForgettingI’ve ministered to several people affected by Alzheimer’s or other afflictions of the mind. A few close relatives and in-laws have also suffered from dementia — some more noticeably than others. Each person is different, each illness shows itself to varying degrees. Some progress rapidly, others quite gradually. Now that new medications are coming to the market, we may see mental capacities diminishing much more slowly than in the past — at least for Alzheimer’s patients. Those... More About: Post , Erin
Remembering for All the Saints | Post 2
2007-11-01 15:32:00 The following is the second guest post of the Remembering for All the Saints series - a series of posts on pastoral and theological reactions to Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia in observence of All Saints' Day.This post comes from the creatively named More Cows Than People, a mainline Protestant pastor who blogs semi-anonymously. This is a sermon that MCTP preached for a person who suffered from the loss of memory.She could not remember, but she is remembered.She could not remember, but she is remembered. D is remembered. Remembered canning, cooking, and spreading impressively thin layers of blackberry jam on toast. Remembered taking care of her children’s needs long before she’d attend to her own. Remembered in the kitchen baking away or stealing baked goods when she didn’t think anyone was looking. Remembered playing Pinochle, pinching her partner D when he made a mistake. Remembered flying first class to California and enjoying every minute of her visit with J and... More About: Post , Erin
Remembering for All the Saints: Post 1
2007-10-31 15:21:00 The following is the first guest post as a part of the Remembering for All the Saints series - a series of posts on pastoral and theological reactions to Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia in observence of All Saints' Day.This post is from Art Ruch, a Methodist layman and occassional lay preacher, who hails from my old stomping grounds in Middle Tennessee.Bill* was recognized by the pastor during our time of "sharing joys and concerns". Bill stood and began to speak but he did not ask for prayer. Instead, he spoke about... jet fuel.Bill had been a successful man. He was well-educated, had held an enviable job at the local Air Force base and had a seemingly happy marriage and loving children. But in late middle age, Bill was afflicted with Alzheimer's disease and became unable to perform his job. His marriage eventually failed and he became estranged from his children as well.By the time I first met Bill, he rarely spoke coherently, required full time care by his second wife ... More About: Post , Erin
An Exciting Job
2007-10-30 23:00:00 Ok, I love my job.There, of course, some parts of it that are better than others. More than anything else, I derive great pleasure in administering God's Sacraments of grace. I love to celebrate and distribute the Eucharist, and I love to baptize. In theory, each and every occasion to do these things is equally important and should mean as much to me. But life is not theory.Last Sunday, Reformation Sunday, we had a wonderfully joyful worship service and celebration. The local community college choir enhanced our worship with their beautiful music, the preacher had a pretty good sermon (if I do say so myself), and we had a full sanctuary. I found the combination of my weekend experiences administering communion, both during our Reformation Sunday service and on the Confirmation retreat, to be both deeply meaningful and moving.And, as much as I find every baptism I do to be deeply meaningful, I get chills and butterflies in my stomach everytime I think about the Baptism coming ...
Remembering For All the Saints
2007-10-30 21:07:00 If one needs evidence that all of creation - not just humankind - was affected by the Fall, let me present to you exhibit one: Alzheimer's Disease. It is a demeaning, terrifying, and just plain cruel disease; the sort of thing that makes me think that there is more to this natural world than what God created, for God certainly would not have declared a thing like that to be good.Many of the questions raised by Alzheimer's Disease are questions about identity. What is it that makes us the people we are, and our loved ones the people we know? If our memories and our personality disappear, are we still the person we have always been? And, perhaps more to the point, once the mind is gone in one fashion or another, is our loved one still the person we have always loved?I struggle with these questions on a very personal level, as Alzheimer's has hit very close to home in my own family. I do not claim to be a psychologist, able to answer with authority the questions of personal identity... More About: Saints , Remembering , Erin
200th Post: A mad dash to the table
2007-10-29 20:34:00 My Blogger dashboard tells me I have officially reached the benchmark of 200 posts to this blog. Not bad considering the extended period of inactivity last spring.It would be hard for me to pick a single favorite post out of the bunch. I think I am especially proud of the series on Evangelical Lutheran Worship that I posted last fall, especially my comparison of ELW and the LBW. I also enjoyed writing about "What is a Lutheran?", especially the latest post in that series, Why I am a Lutheran. It seems, for whatever reason, that I enjoy most the series that I do - I think those tend to generate the most give and take.As I posted Friday, I took the Confirmation kids from Saint John to Lutherhill Camp for an overnight retreat. We had a wonderful time with the pastors and students from the four other churches in our cooperative confirmation program.One thing that is true of kids in that age bracket is that they tend to move en mass. One decides something is a good idea, and all of ... More About: Post , Table , Dash
New Blogger Feature
2007-10-29 19:32:00 I often have difficult following discussions on blogs that I only visit occassionally, or blogs that have a great deal of give and take in the comments. You have to remember which blogs you have commented on, and then remember which posts within that blog.But the good folks at Blogger have fixed this dilemma of memory: you can now ask Blogger to email you follow-up comments after you post a comment somewhere. With your Blogger account, it is as simple as clicking an extra box when leaving a comment. No more excuses for not keeping up with follow-up comments. More About: Feature
Sunday Trivia Answer: Reformation Sunday Edition
2007-10-28 12:52:00 Albert of Hohenzollern (Albert of Mainz) was roughly a peer of Martin Luther, being born in 1490 and dying in 1545. In 1513, at the age of 23, Albert was made Archbishop of Magdeburg and Bishop of Halberstadt. In 1514, Albert was appointed by the Emperor as the Prince-elector of Mainz. Finally, in 1518, Albert was made a cardinal in the church.It was also in 1518 that Albert took out a large loan from the Fuggers. This money was used by Albert to purchase the Archbishopric of Mainz and his position as a cardinal, and was used by the Pope to help fund the massive project of the Basilica of St. Peter in Rome. Johann Tetzel, the Dominican indulgence-preacher, was employed by Albert and the Fuggers to help recover some of the loan money. It was Tetzel who was preaching just outside of Wittenberg on October 31, 1517, and provoked Luther to write his 95 Theses. The interesting question is, would there have been a Reformation without Albert's provocation? How would history have looked dif... More About: Answer , Trivia , Sunday , Edition , Sunday Edition
Sunday Trivia
2007-10-28 12:00:00 Today's trivia question is the last in a series of questions about Lutheranism, in honor of Reformation Sunday .If the tradition is to be believed (and isn't the tradition usually much more meaningful than the doubts of sceptical academics?), it was 490 years ago that Martin Luther posted the 95 Theses on the door of the Schlosskircke in Wittenberg. That event has come to be considered as the official starting bell of the series of events known as the Reformation.To whom was Luther's treatise, The 95 Theses, officially addressed?And what were the official titles of that individual?Enjoy your Reformation Sunday. More About: Trivia
Off on An Adventure
2007-10-26 23:12:00 Well, I am off this afternoon to Lutherhill Camp for an overnight retreat with our Co-Op Confirmation Group. 24 hrs, 25 Confirmation students, and four pastors. Let the adventure begin. More About: Adventure , Advent
Do Buildings Matter?
2007-10-25 20:20:00 Alternately titled: The Idol of UtilitarianismSaint John Lutheran Church of Prairie Hill recently adopted a new Strategic Plan for Ministry. Within that plan is a re-organization of our ministries around our new mission statement:A family of faith Gathering around Word and Sacrament,Forming disciples,and Proclaiming the Gospel to the world. Each area of the ministry of the congregation is grouped under the three concepts/actions of our new mission statement: Gathering, Forming, and Proclaiming. There was some discussion among the committee about where to place property and grounds. In short, the question is "Do buildings matter?"There are certainly churches, pastors, and commentators who answer with a resounding "no." The building (and grounds) they argue are purely utilitarian - they provide a place to gather, and as long as they effectively serve that function they need no further thought. Indeed, many will argue, the building and grounds ought to be maintained at a very minimal l... More About: Buildings , Matter
Coming Soon
2007-10-24 21:36:00 As each generation is blessed through medical science to live to a little bit longer than the preceeding generation, Alzheimer's Disease and other forms of dementia are becoming more and more common. It is often an issue for clergy, as we deal with the effects of Alzheimer's among our parishioners. But it is also an issue for everyone, as the impact of Alzheimer's often reverberates through families and communities.In honor of All Saints' Day (November 1), I have invited a few bloggers whom I respect to write about theological and pastoral responses to Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia. The exact slate of guest bloggers is still being hammered out, but expect to see both clergy and lay, as well as Lutherans and non-Lutherans. Hopefully this will be a resource for all of us to reflect on how we can best learn to respond to these diseases.Look for this series of posts next week.
An Interesting New Blog
More articles from this author:2007-10-24 16:19:00 I received word in my inbox this morning of an interesting new blog. Bishop Mike Rinehart, newly installed bishop of the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod of the ELCA, has started a new Bishop's Blog . There is not much content up as of yet. However, I think this is a wonderful idea, and a great way for our new bishop to keep his ideas in front of the synod and also a great way for him to provide another means of keeping in touch with the synod leadership. Stop by the site and encourage Bishop Rinehart in his new blog. More About: Interesting , Eres 1, 2, 3, 4 |
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