The Cookbook Committee would like to thank you for the great recipes you have submitted for the 100th Anniversary Church Cookbook.
We will be collecting recipes through Sunday, April 4! We encourage you to bring in your favorite recipes and as many as you are willing to share with us! We are especially in need of recipes for breads, casseroles, cakes, and pies. Thank you for participating in this project!
Last year’s Easter was definitely strange! There was no “call and response” of “He is risen!” “He is risen indeed!” Last Easter was a little like the first Easter. In stunned silence, followers were separated. While we learned to worship in a new way, there was community togetherness that we missed. We had to adapt, to change, to learn to worship in new ways.
But our God is like that, always adapting. God made covenants with Noah and Abraham and then God adapted to working with humanity through kings and prophets. Then God adapted to working with humanity through Jesus. Adaptation is not always smooth. In fact, often it is wearisome, tiring, and frustrating.
But there’s an adaption that I am thrilled to experience. This year, while we are still caring for the other, particularly those not vaccinated, it pleases my heart so much that we can worship in person, together! I’m guessing that I’m not alone in that joy. We’ve been worshipping together, in person, for a while now and that has been a privilege and a light of hope. Being in community, in any of its forms (in person, online, etc.), is how we are created to be. Being in community, in any of its forms, is how we are supposed to follow Jesus.
While the virus is still with us and we are still protecting the neighbor, the light of hope shines brightly. Worshiping together at Easter will be great. Worshipping together in the second Sunday of Easter (sometimes otherwise known as Holy Humor Sunday) will mean joy met with the sounds of laughter – sounds that were too much absent from last year. What joyful adaptations!
For being in community, for hope, for a God who always adapts, let us give thanks.
Soli Deo Gloria,
In May, Jon McElderry and LuAnn Kahle will be moving to Garnavillo, IA which is 15 miles from her hometown of Guttenberg. Lu is not retiring just yet and will be able to spend more time with family that lives in the surrounding area.
There will be a socially distanced gathering after church on Sunday, April 18 to celebrate their dedication to St. Paul over the years.
