By Rev. Debra Jene Collum Chatfield United Methodist You know how sometimes familiar Bible stories take on new meaning? That just happened to me with the story of the feeding of the 5,000-plus. A quick re-telling from John chapter 6. Jesus has gathered a crowd of people around him. They follow him wherever he goes, apparently. One day Jesus notices that the crowd is “hungry.” … [Read more...]

By Pastor Jeff Jacobs Unity Lutheran Parish - St. Paul, Saetersdal and St. Matthew’s, Granger This week we recall again the story of the Mayflower Pilgrims’ coming to a new land.  And a primary reason they came was religious freedom.  They’d rejected the “trappings” of the Church of England and sought to live and worship in a simpler, “purer” faith. Many early settlers … [Read more...]

By Pastor Paul Hauschild Chatfield and Root Prairie Lutheran Churches The 1964 Philadelphia Phillies will always be known as the team that suffered one of the greatest collapses in sports history.  They let a huge division lead slip away by losing 10 games in a row at the end of the season. Despite the collapse, the Phillies’ season had its share of memorable moments, … [Read more...]

By Pastor Mark Woodward Maple Leaf Parish Churches: Spring Valley: Faith, Cherry Grove, Fountain, Preston (and Lenora) One evening toward the end of the day, I saw a glorious sight as the final rays of sunlight were shining across the valley and giving radiant beams of light to bright red and orange trees in the distance. The blue sky, dark pines and glowing  colors of red … [Read more...]

By Pastor Mark Woodward Maple Leaf Parish Churches: Spring Valley: Faith, Cherry Grove, Fountain, Preston (and Lenora) One of my hobbies involves history.  In this article, I’d like to lift up an inspiring Methodist Circuit Rider by the name of John Lewis Dyer.  Rev. Dyer was affectionately called Father Dyer by those who knew him.  He was a determined evangelist, deeply … [Read more...]

By Pastor Nissa Peterson Chatfield and Root Prairie Lutheran Churches This past summer I traveled to the Holy Land and got to see the holy sites of Israel and Palestine. It was a trip of a lifetime, especially as a pastor. I got to see in person many of the holy places where Jesus walked! I remembered my baptism in the Jordan River. I rode in a boat on the Sea of Galilee. I … [Read more...]

By Pastor Pam Seebach Harmony, Mabel, and Newburg United Methodist Churches We had dry bones, didn’t we?  For weeks on end, we saw no rain, felt no moisture, dragged about in the heat.  Hope fizzled for a good crop.  Our very bones were dried up and lifeless.  God knows what this lack of hope does to us.  God spoke through the prophet Ezekiel to give many messages to the … [Read more...]

By Pastor Kevin Barnhart Spring Grove Evangelical Free Have you noticed higher prices these days? Of course you have.  This has been such a strange season and what things cost is hard to keep up with.  It could be the price of eggs going up and then down.  There are so many things we might pay attention to, some watch the price of gas like a hawk, while others bring their … [Read more...]

By Pastor Stuart Weist First Baptist Church of Preston In our world today, many Christians seem to have lost who they are.  Everywhere I look there is hatred, vanity and angst.  People on social media often post comments they would never say to someone’s face and our youth get caught up in a desire for greed, lust and approval.  I have been privileged to work with youth more … [Read more...]

By Rev. Debra Jene Collum Chatfield United Methodist and Commissioned EarthKeeper of the UMC There are some things that are incomprehensible to me. Like the fact that helium is in short supply because there isn’t more helium that can be made. Isn’t helium just air that makes us talk funny and keep our balloons inflated? Can’t you just make it from regular air? Somehow? You … [Read more...]

By Pastor Mark Woodward Maple Leaf Parish Churches: Spring Valley: Faith, Cherry Grove, Fountain, Preston (and Lenora) Over the years I have much appreciation for Charles Schulz and his Peanuts characters.  On Facebook I enjoy “Snoopy’s Everybody’s Best Friend.”  Now as summer moves ever closer to autumn, I saw a Peanuts cartoon which kind of spoke to a late summer … [Read more...]

By Pastor Jeff Jacobs Unity Lutheran Parish - St. Paul, Saetersdal and St. Matthew’s, Granger A recent Gospel recounted Jesus’ parable about the weeds among the wheat, Matthew 13.  He compared the kingdom of heaven to someone sowing good seed in his field, when an enemy sowed weeds at night. As both sprouted, the servants noticed the difference and asked the householder … [Read more...]

By Pastor Mark Woodward Maple Leaf Parish Churches: Spring Valley: Faith, Cherry Grove, Fountain, Preston (and Lenora) A long time ago I was doing some work at the old church in Lenora.  As many of you know, the historic Lenora Church has been a labor of love for me over the years.  While working in the yard, my shovel struck a buried rock about a foot under the ground.  … [Read more...]

Rev. Peter J. Haugen St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church On the night when our Lord Jesus was betrayed, the hearts of His disciples were troubled. He had been explaining to them yet again that it was necessary for their own sakes that He depart from them, and that they themselves knew the way to where He was going. But the hearts of the disciples were troubled. So an … [Read more...]