For the spring series of our “Training Disciples” program, we meditated on the themes of “Death, Grief, and Hope.” Training Disciples is our primary Christian education program at St. John’s; we gather on Wednesday evenings to share a meal and then spend time together in bible study and prayer around various topics. This particular series was designed more as a contemplative evening prayer service. I offer it as an opportunity to process grief and encounter hope in God anew.

Week 1

Written guide, with reflection questions

Video

Week 2

Written guide, with reflection questions

Video

This week, which culminates in the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus at Easter, is the holiest week in the Christian liturgical year. It’s a time of special reverence and solemnity and celebration with unique rites and rituals embodying the last days of Christ and the joyful hope of the resurrection.

I just wanted to write this to extend an invitation to whomever might be looking for something this time of year, some deeper way of connecting with God. You are invited — whether in person or online — to join us at St. John’s in our Holy Week observations, at all of these services below. Each one will be live-streamed from our Facebook page.

• Palm Sunday: April 2, 9:30am CDT – We join Jesus’ triumphal march into Jerusalem, waving palm branches and shouting ‘Hosannas’ that turn into shouts of “Crucify him” as we read the Passion story. You can watch the live-stream video here (and follow the bulletin here).
• Maundy Thursday: April 6, 6:30pm CDT – We sit with Jesus and the twelve at the Last Supper and wash one another’s feet as Jesus commanded us; this service ends in silence with the stripping of the altar.
• Good Friday: April 7, 6:30pm CDT – We gather silently in the shadow of the cross for a solemn, reflective service on the day commemorating Jesus’ crucifixion.
• Easter Vigil: April 8, 6:30pm CDT – On the great Vigil of Easter, we gather around the lighting of a new fire to hear the great story of God’s faithfulness, from creation through to the life and death of Christ, as hope begins to shine forth from an empty tomb. This service will also be followed by a celebratory reception — with cake!
• Easter Sunday: April 9, 9:30am CDT – On this joyful day of days, we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

All are welcome. Come as you are and join us on this journey toward the cross and past it, to the empty tomb. Come. Come and see.

As we’ve done previously, St. John’s is continuing to hold our fifth Sunday services of “Letting Go and Letting God.” You can watch the latest one here on our live stream and follow along with the order of service below. (Also, since both of our organists were unexpectedly out of commission on Sunday, you can also enjoy… or at least experience… my rudimentary guitar accompaniment skills, haha)

Thank you for joining us for worship! Wherever you are, we invite you to create space for worship, both in your physical space and in your heart — perhaps light a candle or fill a bowl with water to remember your baptism, or grab a bible or hymnal, or do whatever helps you most to feel worshipful.

On fifth Sundays of the month (like today, January 29), we have begun practicing a rite we call a “service of letting go and letting God”; it’s an opportunity to acknowledge the burdens weighing on our hearts and to surrender these things — along with our very selves — into the care of God. Typically, we do this with some kind of visible sign; if you’d like to pray along at home, today’s ritual involves a fun little DIY science with household items that you can learn about on this page.

We did a little traditional Epiphany house (of worship) blessing at St. John’s this year; check out the video and blessing below. You can also grab a piece of chalk and bless your own home along with us!

We tried something a little goofy for Christmas this year at St. John’s: a pop-up pageant. Much like the first Christmas, it was an improvised affair with the people who showed up, with the sounds of wiggly kids and the joyful noise of celebration.

If you need a little more Christmas yet this year, you can watch the live stream of our service here and follow along in the digital bulletin.

Back in June, I gathered for a mini-retreat with the worship and music team at St. John’s to look ahead over the coming year (Aug-Jul) and dream up creative and innovative ways to deepen and diversify our worship life together. Especially after the practically apocalyptic challenges of the last few years, people are just exhausted — weary of historic world changes, worn out by constant worrying, carrying burdens of grief and disappointment and frustration and stress in their hearts with nowhere to set them down.

I wanted to find a way to offer people an opportunity to name and begin to process some of these burdens, some of the trauma of the last few years, and to open up their wounded hearts to God for healing. In previous years, this congregation had a history of doing some kind of special service — usually a service of healing — on the fifth Sunday in months with five Sundays; so we decided to resurrect that tradition to start periodically doing a ritual we have called “A Service of Letting Go and Letting God.”

Below, you can find the link to the live stream of worship, as well as the embedded video (if it decides to work 😜); I also copied the bulletin so you can follow along if you so desire. If you’re looking for a way to unburden your heart and open up your pain to God in prayer, I hope this service may be useful to you — that it may help you to name your burdens, let them go, and let God take care of the rest.

Watch the service here or embedded below.

The Easter proclamation is an ancient song of the church, traditionally sung on the great Vigil of Easter. We decided to forego a formal Easter Vigil service at my congregation this year, but the singing of the proclamation is one of my favorite moments in the entire church year, so I decided to sing it and share it with you all from my back yard. As I sang, I was accompanied by lots of chattering birds, accelerating vehicles, and the strains of a neighbor’s lively ranchera music — a lovely reminder that all creation together celebrates the great good news that Christ is risen. He is risen indeed.

Watch the video and read the text of the proclamation below. (Or click here to watch the video on Facebook.)

Sunday worship, January 3, 2021
Second Sunday after Christmas / Epiphany Sunday
Service of Lessons and Carols

Watch this service below. You can also follow along in the digital bulletin.

The Longest Night service — along with the similar “Blue Christmas” service — is a tradition in the church that seems especially relevant this year. It’s a service traditionally held on the winter solstice — the shortest day and longest night of the year — to recognize that the holidays are not a joyful time for everyone, to make space for the feelings of grief and loneliness and longing we may be carrying, and to proclaim that Christ is every bit as present in the darkness as in the light and celebration.

There are probably many more slickly produced versions of this service available online, especially this year. But here’s my humble offering — a simple little service of song, scripture, and poetry at sunset in my backyard with some candles and a smoky little fire. May it be a moment of peace and blessing for those who could use it.

Wednesday, November 25, 2020
Thanksgiving Eve

Watch this service below.

A joint Pentecost celebration broadcast live from St. Timothy Lutheran Church in Fremont, NE, on May 31, 2020!

Worship leaders:

• Pastor Shari Schwedhelm, Salem Lutheran Church and St. Timothy Lutheran Church, Fremont, NE
• Deacon Timothy Siburg, Nebraska Synod staff and Salem Lutheran Church, Fontanelle, NE
• Pastor Heidi Wallace, Bethany Lutheran Church and First Presbyterian Church, Lyons, NE
• Pastor Day Hefner, St. John’s Lutheran Church, Schuyler, NE
• Pastor Allison Siburg, Salem Lutheran Church, Fontanelle, NE
• Pastor Scott Johnson, Campus Ministry at Midland University, Fremont, NE
• Pastor Al Duminy, Sinai Lutheran Church, Fremont, NE
• Pastor Inba Inbarasu, outgoing pastor of Faith Ambassadors and Redeemer Lutheran Church, Hooper, NE

Watch the Facebook Live video of this service below, and/or follow along in the digital bulletin.