October 31, Reformation Day, 1870 was a Monday. Kids (and adults) would not start dressing up as ghosts and goblins and other strange things for Halloween until the 1930s. Trick or treating wasn’t a ‘thing’ until the 1950s. In 1870, the end of October didn’t mean candy. It meant harvest time was here. And… winter was coming. Spring and summer was the time for planting, building and carefully cultivating many new and growing things, including a new church built at what is now 4th and Irvin in Onalaska. Norwegian immigrants had clustered around this part of Onalaska, and amidst their many other concerns, those Norwegians needed a place to gather for worship. They chose October 31, Reformation Day, as the founding date, the birthday, of their congregation: your First Lutheran Evangelical (which means good news) church.

Dear friends, this newsletter article is taunting me for I have few words right now that feel or sound edifying. My soul actually longs for fewer words and more stillness. So I am going to invite you into a moment of stillness with me, right now, as you are reading this newsletter. We live in a world that is so full of so many things and there are days when the burden of these things is too much and the words are too loud. Paul tells us that if we speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, we are a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. I think we can all testify to the truth of that - there has been a lot of noisy gongs and clanging cymbals in my world lately.

Our peak views for the month of August totaled 770; which is up slightly from June (728) and down slightly from July (813). The summer peak views, in general, have proven to be lower than the spring months (both were over 1,000), but as this is all new and is compounded by pandemic closures, it is hard to say what is lower or higher than average.

Inside: Sunday Morning with Coffee, Gr 3 Faith Building Block, Above & Beyond

Inside: First Lutheran Play Days @ Sugar Creek, Sunday School Creation Box

Inside: First Fest Sunday (COVID edition), Parenting During Virtual Time, Sunday School in a Box

Inside: Outdoor Worship, Blood Drive, First Lutheran Play Days @ Sugar Creek

Inside: Outdoor Worship, Blessing Backpacks & Devices / Students & Staff, Preschool Openings

Inside: Confirmation Orientation, Blessing Backpacks & Devices/Students & Staff

Inside: Confirmation Orientation, Blessing Backpacks & Devices/Students & Staff

Inside: COVID-19 Update for July 31, OWLs Zoomin’ Aug 12, & another opp for Communion Training Assistants

Inside: Exodus in 13 days, Confirmation Orientation, Blessing of Backpacks & Devices/Students & Staff

What can faith formation look like during a pandemic when we can’t gather for in-person conversations, studies, worship or prayer? The current moment is no different from any other chapter of our lives: either we’re growing in our faith or other priorities and interests are taking the place of our relationship with God. This is a time to get creative with how we use our time to stretch our faith in ways we haven’t before. That’s why Pastor Karyn and I and our whole staff have created a bunch of new ways to engage with God and each other amidst COVID time.

I am determined to get my newsletter article in on the day it is due. Typically my article is late because I have a hard time deciding what to talk about, there are so many ideas running through my head. This month, there are a whole bunch of things, but not one of them is enough to fill up the space I have. So as I sit here in my home office, longing for the entertainment of baby birds being fed by a momma bird right outside my window, it occurred to me that all the things running around in my head are the things I would talk about if I were seeing you face to face.

At the beginning of this staying at home for the safety of everyone, I was enjoying baking on the weekends. I work from home during the week and unlike many who have had time to bake and clean out closets during the week, I only have the weekends to do projects. I loved baking cookies and muffins and gave many of them away during the first couple of months, but lately I haven’t and I’ve missed not only the baking but the giving away my goodies to my neighbors.