Hello Church!
We look forward to worshiping together this Sunday morning at 9:30 am. Click here to view our live stream.
If you’d like to follow along with the order of service, click here for the bulletin.
To join us in singing, find the hymn texts on our music sheet.
We wish you a blessed and restful Sabbath!

July 14, 2020

Dear Friends,

This is kind of a tough week for us here at First Lutheran Church. Not because we’re facing anything especially difficult. Not because it’s super busy. In fact, this week the building is pretty quiet and calm. Hardly any people are bustling in and out. The kitchens are dark; the fridges and freezers are filled only to their normal everyday levels.

But, you see, ordinarily this week would be wild! Any other summer, this week would be infused with energy and adrenaline, lots of planning and preparing and doing. People bustling in the kitchens, peeling and slicing fruit, hauling in crates of lard and bags of flour. Large food orders would be placed. Phone calls would be going in and out recruiting and organizing shift workers for the First Lutheran fair stand.

The ND State Fair was supposed to start on July 17th. This year, though, the now-familiar circumstances of Covid have prevented this event from happening as usual. Are you missing it? Many are, and not only our own members who have always enjoyed interacting with customers, hanging out with their fellow workers in the kitchen or fairstand, and a free day pass into the fair! There will also be the people from near and far who regularly seek out the FLC stand for its famously memorable homemade pies and those delicious burgers, not to mention our local friendly faces and the chance to support the mission we embody.

It is a loss to forego this annual tradition this month. In addition to feeling kind of sad, I’m also feeling surprised, because I thought I was done lamenting all that the pandemic had taken away. In fact, lately I’ve been feeling really hopeful because our local situation isn’t so bad, and we’ve been worshiping in person again, and it was so, so fun to see everyone at our parking lot worship service last Wednesday night!

But it’s not over yet. Even as we rejoice in our relative health in this corner of the world, we will continue to grieve with our brothers and sisters in other states who are unwell, or mourning fresh deaths, or living each day under the very real threat of infection. Enjoy these beautiful summer days in North Dakota, but keep on praying for wisdom for our leaders, perseverance for overwhelmed medical staffs, insight for scientists and researchers, and safety for citizens of other states. We will persevere. God is with us.

Be well. God bless you!

In Christ,

Pastor Brandy