ELCA Lutherans are spiritual descendants of reformers. From Martin Luther in the 1500’s calling for the church to stop selling indulgences, to our own grandparents calling for the ordination of women in the 1960s, our ancestors in faith have practiced ongoing discernment regarding how the fruit of God’s Spirit is feeding the Church for its work in the world today. In 2023, First Lutheran lives more fully into this reforming tradition by seeking to become a Reconciling in Christ congregation, for the sake of the world.

Regarding financial stewardship and meeting ministry goals at First Lutheran, 2022 was the best of times and the worst of times. Compared to 2021, our congregation increased giving to the general fund by more than 5%. This allowed us to not only meet our obligations, like keeping the lights on, paying staff and clearing snow from the parking lot, but also two of our dreams. We cut a $10,000 check to the Hunger Task Force and another $10,000 check to REACH as they know how to address homelessness in our communities.

I love Disney. Almost as much as I love Jesus…

Greetings and peace to you in the name of Love!

I wanted to give you a brief introduction to myself and my involvement at First Lutheran. My name is Kathryn Thompson and I am a seminary at Wart burg Theological Seminary. I am in the ordination process for Word and Sacrament ministry to become a pastor in the ELCA. I have completed two years of seminary and this year is my internship year. The bulk of my internship is being done as a Chaplain Resident with Gundersen Health System. However, I also have some congregational touch points that I will complete with you at First Lutheran. I was grateful for the opportunity to help lead and preach at the Thanksgiving Eve service. I have been able to meet some of you as my family attends worship and I look forward to meeting more of you as I help with other worship services and events throughout the year.

The holidays can be so stressful as we try so hard to make it picture-perfect inside and outside of our homes. I know I tried that picture-perfect look, especially when my girls were young. The pressure to do it all and have it all affects most of us. I have had to cut back on doing a lot of things that I did when my girls were young, but one of the things I will not give up is an advent study, wreath and/or calendar. It helps me remember what the season is all about.

Wider Welcome, Deeper Love

What does this mean? This is a question that I have gotten a lot in the last couple of months. So often we want solutions…

Since First Lutheran’s Call Committee formed in May of 2021, we have been excited, disappointed, surprised and anxious to name just a few of the feelings we’ve processed together. It’s been a while since we’ve provided an update on our search for a Youth & Family minister, so I thought I’d share our current status. It is familiar territory for the Call Committee, at this point.

You’re lucky. Let me tell you a story about why.

As I consider the upcoming program year being a “Year of Welcome”, I have been tasked with considering how this theme (and core value) can be carried out in worship and in our Caring Ministries.

I love meeting with my friends, it’s so much fun greeting one another and catching up with each other. Meeting someone new is still a little scary for me. I’m not a natural at meeting new people, and yet God has placed me in the position to do this almost weekly. I have to remember to do things that make others feel welcome and remind myself of what I should say. If God has given me the courage to help make people feel welcome in our church, he can do the same for you.

Like many people did during the pandemic, I used this disruption in my life to reflect on what I discovered was important and then decided how I can keep those things going forward. Things like how much I enjoyed having dinner with my family each day, or working outdoors at home really was helpful for reading and creativity. One thing I realized I missed while we were all separated was teaching, so that became one of the three things I decided to focus on as we returned to in-person opportunities.

Have you ever wanted to make a special effort to reconnect with an old friend, a distant family member or an acquaintance that you’ve always wanted to know better?

Have I got a deal for you!

The image that keeps coming to mind as First Lutheran returns to in-person worship, offers in-person Vacation Bible School (August 1-5!), gathers for in-person OWLs potlucks and prepares for in-person confirmation and Sunday School in just a few weeks is… a lawn mower. Have you ever tried to start an old lawn mower after a long cold winter? That first pull can feel like trying to pull a sword from a stone. The second pull may be no better. By the 10th pull, I wonder whether this thing is ever going to fire up!

For years now, as I continue to study human behavior, I have heard from people far smarter than myself about the importance of making time to think a regular part of your daily routine. On those days when I manage to carve out such time, I find that I am better able to face whatever comes my way, so when Charles Duhigg, author of The Power of Habit and Smarter, Faster, Better, said this thing during an interview, I shouldn’t have been surprised. It certainly shouldn’t have stuck with me days later. Except that I don’t remember my other teachers making the connection between deep thinking and productivity so clearly. Except they did, if we consider productivity to be more about staying connected to your “why” than about getting more things done. I haven’t finished listening to the interview, mostly because I keep going back and listening to sections again, but I have been led more deeply into the connection between deep thinking, productivity and my “why”, which is nothing more than another way to think about living out your values, stating your purpose statement, your personal purpose statement.

The First Lutheran Foundation Fund Committee is excited to share with you some news of how we are reaching out to help people in our community. Recently, we awarded grants to several worthy organizations, including Causeway Interfaith Volunteer Caregivers, Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater La Crosse, Holmen Area Community Center, Coulee Region Hunger Walk, Lutheran World Relief, Sugar Creek Camp Counselors, along with our very own Prayer Shawl Knitters, First Teen Clothes Closet and First Helping Hands Fund, We also are supplementing painting the “house”, owned and used by First Lutheran. In May, we awarded scholarships to five deserving high school seniors who are members of our church.

Since January 1, 2021, First Teen Clothes Closet (FTCC) has hosted 44 guests and given out more than 628 items (clothes, shoes, toiletries, hair care kits for black teens, and accessories. In January, we reopened by appointment only, and in mid-May, we returned to open shopping on Monday nights.