Over the past six months, I’ve been spending time with San Pablo / St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Minneapolis. It was established in 1888 and for much of its history, served a community of Scandinavian immigrants. But over time, the demographics of the neighborhood shifted and now many of its members have Hispanic and Latin-x roots. The pews are populated with first and second … Continue reading Belonging
Sandy Gokee is Anishinaabe—Bear Clan—and lives in Ashland, Wisconsin. For the interview, we sat outside at a park overlooking Lake Superior as a storm skirted around us, so you might hear a little wind and maybe even thunder in the recording. Sandy introduces herself in her native language, Ojibwemowin. Her Ojibwe name, Wenipashtaabe, means “She Carries a Light Load. She shares her concerns about the … Continue reading Wenipashtaabe – Sandy Gokee
I’ve been really interested in this question of community lately. Especially as we come out of the pandemic, where our experience of community was so drastically changed. Especially as we go into mid-term elections where our sense of a common vision is challenging. Especially as we have spent these last two years on the road, constantly reimagining what it means to belong in a place. … Continue reading Building community
When we sold our house and went nomadic in the fall of 2020, we agreed, “We’ll give it a year and see how it feels.” But after the first few months, we realized a year was going to go by quickly, so we renegotiated and agreed again…”We’ll know when it’s time to be done.” And now we know. As luck would have it, we both … Continue reading Roots
Mary Dougherty lives in Bayfield, Wisconsin on the shores of Lake Superior. As she says, just about as far north as you can go in the state without getting wet. She is the author of “Life in a Northern Town: Cooking, Eating, and Other Adventures along Lake Superior.” We talked about preserving the watershed of the world’s largest fresh water lake and how we need … Continue reading Mary Dougherty
Bill Mefford is the Executive Director of the Festival Center in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington DC. The Festival Center is an outreach of the Church of the Saviour, designed as a hub for supporting community centered ministries and nonprofits, and to train faith leaders for mission and justice. “We like to say, we live at the intersection of hospitality and justice. It’s not … Continue reading Bill Mefford
It’s one of my favorite questions, “When have you made the greatest impact?” It allows us to remember when we’ve done things right. It recognizes our successes. And it allows us a moment to pause and reflect on when we have been effective, so we can use that as our road map to move forward. More than anything, this question gives us the chance to … Continue reading Montana
We spent last week in residence with Easter Lutheran Church in Eagan, Minnesota. As part of their Lenten “Better Together” exploration, we asked the community, “What can we create together?” You can see a selection of their responses in this video, and find the entire collection in photos below. As you watch, think about how you would respond to the question…as a family, as a … Continue reading What can we create together?
Melanie Stanley lost her home and business in Blue River, Oregon in the Holiday Farm Fire of 2020. The Meyers General Store and Liquor Shop had been in her family for 29 years. I interviewed her on the cement slab that remained. We talked about the fire that devastated the town of Blue River, her commitment to rebuild and both her dreams and fears about … Continue reading Melanie Stanley
We landed in Georgia on the night of the big game. We were there to work with University Extension Agents to help them articulate and tell the story of how they had made an impact in their communities. Needless to say, the mood the next morning was pretty enthusiastic, as UGA brought home the national championship. Go Dawgs! They had been waiting 41 years, after … Continue reading Georgia
