Monthly Archives: October 2011

We are now “Spirit of Grace Lutheran Church”

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Now that we’ve changed the name on the website and made it “Facebook official,” I guess it’s really here: our new name!  We voted yesterday to adopt the name Spirit of Grace Lutheran Church.

The Story of a Name

After our Leadership Team shared three possible names, it was clear that we didn’t have a consensus around any of them.  We gathered a few weeks ago for a Forum on naming the congregation.  Out of that conversation, it was clear that even though there were a lot of good name ideas, we wanted to be known as people of “grace.”

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Huh?

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Ran across this old joke online.  It would have been great for last week’s sermon, so I’ll share it here:

Jesus said, Whom do men say that I am? And his disciples answered and said, Some say you are John the Baptist returned from the dead; others say Elias, or other of the old prophets. Jesus asked: “But whom do you say that I am?” Peter answered, “Thou art the Logos, existing in the Father as His rationality and then, by an act of His will, being generated, in consideration of the various functions by which God is related to his creation, but only on the fact that Scripture speaks of a Father, and a Son, and a Holy Spirit, each member of the Trinity being coequal with every other member, and each acting inseparably with and interpenetrating every other member, with only an economic subordination within God, but causing no division which would make the substance no longer simple.”

And Jesus answering, said, “Huh?”

Who is the church?

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From this week’s newsletter:

Picture of ornate church

What do you think of when I ask, “What is the church?” Do you think of a building? An local or national institution? Maybe something theological like, “the invisible body of all believers on Earth?”

How would your answer change if instead I asked, “Who is the church?” Would you think of a group of people – maybe even

our worshiping community? Maybe someone specific who has been Christ for you?

That’s an oddly worded question, isn’t it? But the word “Who?” expects an answer that’s alive. It seeks a name. It directs us beyond wood and steel and organizational structure to something that’s alive. Messy. Organic. Human. We’ve been asking that question lately. I hope you’ll join us this Sunday for Part 2 of “Big Questions for a New, Emerging Church: WHO is the church?” where we’ll talk about this important question.

We will vote this Sunday after worship on the proposed name “Spirit of Grace Lutheran Church.” I hope you can attend this brief meeting, but if not feel free to submit your vote via email or written note at the office through Friday.

May you encounter Jesus in other people this week,

Pastor Ted Carnahan

Read the rest of this week’s newsletter >

Back from vacation

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Toasting marshmallows on the grillDo you ever dread going on vacation? I look forward to it, but at the same time I know I’ll spend some of the time worrying about what has to get done when I get back. What came up? What did I forget? The list goes on and on.

But I’m happy to say that things went great! Jennifer and I went down to Kansas City for a few days to visit family and friends, and then we came back to Holdrege for a “staycation” the rest of the week. We were going to go camping, but it was going to be colder than we expected and we didn’t want the kids to freeze. So we set up our tent in the back yard and “camped.” We even made s’mores on the grill.

I’m really excited about the end of the year. Tomorrow, we start a great five week sermon series on “Big Questions for a New Emerging Church.” Next week we vote on our idea for a new name, “Spirit of Grace Lutheran Church.” Grace Place is going strong! We’ll share a Thanksgiving Eve service with First Presbyterian on Wednesday, November 23. And there’s even more – stay tuned!

Finally, special thanks goes to Pr. Tom Wilson for providing pastoral care coverage and Pr. Harold Gronstal who preached and celebrated Holy Communion with us in my absence. Colleagues like these are one of the great advantages of being a part of the Nebraska Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

See you tomorrow!

Pastor Ted