First Lutheran is cautiously returning to gatherings. Worship continues to be offered three ways: indoors and live streamed Sundays @ 8:00 and Wednesdays @ 6:15. Sundays at 10:30 are a mixture of inside and outside. Small groups are feeling more comfortable, too, as more and more of our members are reaching ‘fully vaccinated’ status.

Below are the comments I made Mar. 14 as worship began indoors, in-person for the first time in a year. A number of people asked if I’d share them in print. Thank God for the newsletter!

March 14, 2021:

52 Sundays ago, exactly a year ago tomorrow, we were among the first church families in the area to cancel worship in response to COVID-19. It was a difficult decision.

I’ve been on more than a few road trips in my life. As a kid, I remember driving from northern Illinois to Orlando. For my Youth Gathering, it was a 24-hour drive from Medford, WI, to New Orleans. A few years ago, I led our family on the well-worn path from our area to Yellowstone and back.

In January, I assembled First Lutheran’s “COVID Advisory Panel”. The panel consists of five First Lutheran members and me. Dr. Jennie Kleven, Dr. Paul Molling, Rick Cornforth, Tim Smaby and Sheri Betz serve the community as health care providers, elected officials and a small-business owner. Together, we intend to meet weekly on Sundays to consider the current status of community spread, distribution of the vaccine, the impact felt by local hospitals and what guidelines are being offered by our county, state or federal governments. Things can change quickly. This group’s day to day work lives keep up with those changes. Thank you to all five of them as they offer their personal expertise and perspective to an ongoing crisis.

Watch a brief message from Dr. Paul Molling, a member at First and one of the doctors on our COVID Advisory Panel. He and the entire panel will be making themselves available for a Q&A Tuesday, February 2, at 7pm via Zoom.

When will First Lutheran re-open to indoor, in-person worship, small groups and Christian ed? To answer those questions wisely and faithfully, Pastor Stanton has assembled a 6 person panel…

Among America’s founders, Alexander Hamilton was his generation’s foremost financial mind. To help launch the new nation, he believed each state and individual citizens should invest in the federal project by servicing a shared debt. Hamilton said, “A national debt, if it is not excessive, will be to us a national blessing.” How could debt be a blessing? For one, Hamilton believed the states would thrive more if they were members of a stronger union, rather than such a loose confederation. United, the fledgling nation could better defend itself, build infrastructure and send products to market sooner. A national debt would be a national project where everyone shares an interest in seeing it paid.

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.

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.

Members and Friends of First Lutheran,

How is First Lutheran going to reopen? Since March, the elected leadership and staff of First Lutheran have been asking this question. In the meantime, we have tried to meet ‘the moment’ with compassion, care and creativity. The Holy Spirit has been busy among us as we have continued to worship (online), generously give (to both the Capital Campaign and this year’s general fund) and remain engaged through various online opportunities. We now have a weekday Bible study, a daily prayer, a weekly spiritual practice, Bible Bits and more. Our membership continues to be connected through our “Neighbor to Neighbor” program and every once in a while there’s a RAFL - a Random Activity of First Lutheran that you can join.

Last month my newsletter recounted the ways we remain behaving as Church together despite not gathering in person and despite our social distancing. I said, “We worship”, “We give” and “We serve.” It continues to be true. Whether we are celebrating our Senior Class of 2020 on May 17 with a cupcake Sunday and so much more, or engage in the Pentecost Project that made May 31’s service especially multi-lingual, our worship numbers remain steady. Financial giving in April was incredibly generous and brought us closer to meeting our budgeted income through four months of 2020. And we do continue to serve as you care for your neighbors, reach out to your family and oftentimes go an extra mile to keep yourself and loved ones safe. Thank you for all the ways you continue to be the Church!

Sisters and brothers in Christ,

Since suspending in-person worship in March, First Lutheran has continued to worship twice a week, provide pastoral care, serve the community, teach our kids and so much more. Our staff and membership have boldly accepted the challenge to be God’s Church even when we can’t gather in a church building. Thank you for continuing to engage in the ministries, participate in worship and gift the church with your financial generosity. It continues to make a difference!

There were no voice recorders in the 1500s, so we don’t know whether Luther really said it or whether it is simply attributed to him, but here’s the quote so many love, “Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.” It is a hope-filled statement of defiance in the face of certain hopelessness. It would look foolish to the world. But… it is also an act of faith. That even amidst a ‘world going to pieces’ there will be a time when apples will come in handy.