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Showing posts from June, 2022

The Start of Something New

I had a blog. Twelve years ago, I started a blog. Don't look for it. It won't make your life any better. I think my goal was to offer some thoughts and reflections on being a new pastor. It turned into a site full of pieces where I lamented how my first call was going, how I was hurt, lied to, manipulated. Reading through it showed me how much I have grown as a pastor in the nearly thirteen years I have been a Minister of Word and Sacrament in our amazing Church. For this blog entry (the first on this new site!), I want to offer a few things that I have learned about being a pastor. Being a pastor is really hard ! Seems to be an odd thing to have learned, but it is true. When I started, I had no illusions that it was going to be a Sunday morning only kind of life, but I have learned that balancing everything necessary is a challenge. From worship planning and sermon prep to exploring new ministries the church could embark on, to empowering people to do good ministry, to good pu...

Welcome to the Blog!

Welcome to the blog of the St. Olaf Lutheran Church Pastors. St. Olaf Church is an ELCA congregation that is For Our Neighbors, located in downtown Austin, Minnesota. As it continues to grow, this blog will contain a little bit of everything. You'll find thoughts and written work from Pastor Mark and Pastor Madison. You'll find some information about what's happening in the life of the church. Hopefully you'll find a lot of Jesus and the love that God promises to all of creation. For more information about St. Olaf Lutheran Church, visit our website: www.solc.org . Thanks for visiting us today, and remember: Jesus loves you! Peace, Pastor Mark and Pastor Madison