When Pastor Scott and I first started talking about my internship for this year, I was really convinced that part of my internship should include some commitment to try and get to know the neighbors who live directly around the church. For those of you who have never been to Lakeridge Lutheran Church, it is the quintessential neighborhood church. It is buried in the middle of an unincorporated territory and is encircled by block after block of residential homes overlooking Lake Washington to … [Read more...]
Some Thoughts For While You Wait
The early Christians though Jesus was going to come back in their lifetime, but the weekly worship service is just one indication that they were wrong. So what do we do while we sit around and wait? … [Read more...]
Getting to Know You
Visitation is one of the more common elements of the pastoral ministry, and something that I really wanted to try out during my internship. I have been in hospitals, nursing homes and other care facilities as a visitor or employee; but stepping into these places as a pastor is totally different. Or, at least it feels different. I attempted to prepare myself well. I wore the clerical collar that I had borrowed from Pastor Scott to make myself look a little bit more legitimate. Scott called … [Read more...]
Revealing Ritual
It seems like we have a service for everything in the Lutheran Church. Technically my first day of internship was Sunday, September 3, and yet there I was this Sunday alb and all getting installed with friends from The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology and Church of the Beloved standing by to send me off. During the service I kept on thinking about this quote from the 2004 movie King Arthur produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. In this more historicized retelling of the King Arthur myth … [Read more...]
The Work of Generosity
Pastors are traditionally the only one's that wear a stole, a traditional piece of clerical clothing worn around the neck. But what if there are others amongst us who should be wearing one too? Pastor Jon's inaugural sermon at Lakeridge Lutheran Church considers the generosity of the Master Jesus and the work that we have been called to. … [Read more...]