Lord of Love Lutheran Church ELCA – Omaha, NE

Hello Lord of Love!!

Well, last time I wrote I was gearing up for a couple of weeks in South Dakota at the Pine Ridge Indian reservation.  I did indeed go and I was amazed by Pastor Larry Peterson, who is the full time ELCA pastor on the reservation.  The Christian mission/ministry that I see currently being carried out on the reservation is like nothing I’ve ever really seen.  First, Pastor Larry does not have a traditional congregation or church building.  I was fascinated to see what a pastor does who is a full-time minister with no congregation.  I saw an amazing understanding of ecumenical ministry.  Larry’s ministry is not to Lutherans and the recruitment of new Lutherans, but rather, his ministry is truly to the people that come into his life every day.  His ministry is to encourage and support fellow pastors in the area with no regard to their denomination.  These ecumenical relationships include preaching, serving, building, teaching and other parts of a pastoral vocation that I understand.  It was surprising for me to recognize that the entire reservation is his congregation and he is not limited to one physical space.  I really enjoyed seeing what ministry can look like outside of the “box”.  Larry’s personal ministry responsibilities also included food ministries, one-on-one ministry with people from the community, funerals, rides for people needing transportation, and an amazing children’s ministry.

It is interesting to see how a pastor works when he has no building and no specific congregation.  It is clear that he sees the reservation as a whole as his congregation and truly ministers to every person who comes his way.  What a great example!!

The past six weeks have been full ones for me.  The semester has been busy with two Bible classes, an elective on Forgiveness and Healing, my first preaching class, and in a couple of weeks I am adding two more classes, one on stewardship and one on the book of Revelation.  Along with my regular studies, my time has been filled with interviews for my internship next year.

I have restricted my internship sites to the Twin Cities since it is difficult for David to move with his job.  So, the school has agreed that we should stay around here and it is nice to think that we don’t have to move away for a year like the majority of the Interns.  Although, I will admit that it would be fun to go to Hawaii or California or somewhere else I’ve never lived.  The churches around here are good, though, so I am looking forward to staying.  I interviewed with eight pastors and next week I will submit my top 4 choices.  After that, the school determines where I will be placed. 

I am right in the midst of midterms and I preach this week on John 20:19-31 in my class.  This is the text that comes up in the lectionary every year the Sunday after Easter.  My professors picked this text for us to preach on so we could all go to our internships with at least one sermon already prepared.    My professors this semester are great and I am really feeling ready to go spend a year in a church full time next year.  I can hardly believe internship is almost here already!!

One of the hardest things about the Seminary schedule is that apart from the students in my own class, we really only get to spend one year with the other students in the MDiv program.  The students in the year ahead of me are gone on internship my second year.  When they come back, I am gone on internship, and the students the year behind me are gone on internship when I come back.  So, as David and I have made great connections with different people here, we have found that to really establish a long-term friendship we have to be very intentional about keeping in touch.  It is so wonderful to see the amazing range of people that God has called into ministry.  There really is no “type” of person that is called to be pastor and it becomes so clear that God truly works through all kinds.

On a personal note, David and I are doing very well and are looking forward to some time with family over Easter.  We are planning a short backpacking trip with some good friends to the Porcupine Mountains in early May and gearing up for Colorado in July.  We can’t wait to see you all soon!

Peace, Paula