Campus Ministry in Kearney

Pastor Elisabeth Pynn Himmelman has been called to serve the Kearney community as Associate Pastor for Youth and Young Adults at First Lutheran, Kearney and in partnership with Nebraska Lutheran Campus Ministry as Campus Pastor at the University of Nebraska- Kearney (UNK). 

Pastor Himmelman shared the following about her current call- starting a call in pandemic was interesting to say the least, and I spent much of last year at Campus Lutheran getting to know students, staff, and faculty in 1-1 coffee meet-ups and a ministry of presence on campus. This fall, I am excited for ministry in lessening pandemic! Two bold, brave student leaders are working with me in beginning The Vessel Dinner Church on Thursday nights.

The campus ministry at UNK hosts a weekly gathering known as the Vessel Dinner Church. For those who have never heard of dinner church, here is how Pastor Himmelman describes it- Trusting we are vessels of God’s love and grace, dinner church is an embodied worship experience that is extended Holy Communion. We prepare the meal together, pass the homemade bread as we gather to commune our neighbor, eat together family style, engage with the Word and one another, end with passing wine, communing our neighbor. After the meal, we close out our time together by cleaning up as an act of service and are sent with dessert and a blessing, trusting in the goodness of God.

Pastor Himmelman cares deeply about sharing the expansiveness of God’s love and God’s creating all humanity in God’s image. In her role, she seeks to come alongside young adults as they discern vocation through relationship and joining them in celebrating and stewarding their God-given resources, gifts, and identities.

Though Pastor Himmelman has been serving in Kearney over the past year, the celebration of her installation had to be postponed due to the pandemic. She is looking forward to her installation on Sunday, August 15 at 3pm at First Lutheran Church, Kearney. Pastor Adam White will be preaching and Pastor Kristen Van Stee, Assistant to the Bishop will be on hand to install Pastor Himmelman. There will be a reception following the installation. 

If you would like to know more about campus ministry at UNK, visit their website at this link.

Tekamah- Herman- Decatur: Walking Together, Doing God's Work

 

Tekamah-Herman-Decatur Church Community Council (THDCCC) has come together to do God's Work.

THDCCC's mission is to meet the needs of the community beyond any one church. Though their mission statement was adopted in February of 2015, the THDCCC was actually started back in the 1980’s. This community council currently consists of the pastor and one lay member from each of the following congregations: Baptist Church-Tekamah, Baptist Church-Riverside, Catholic Church-Tekamah, Catholic Church-Decatur, Emmanuel Lutheran Church, Methodist Church-Tekamah, Methodist Church-Decatur, and the Presbyterian Church.

One of the main focuses of the THDCCC is the Food Pantry for those less fortunate in the area. In 2020 they were able to obtain their own building and moved into a new permanent location at 209 S 9th St.  This new facility has allowed the community council to expand their efforts. In 2020, they helped an average of 36 families a month.  In December of 2020 they also gave food boxes to 70 families.  

The THDCCC was also able to open the Helping Hands Thrift Store in late October 2020. Sharing the same building as the Food Pantry, the thrift store is open Fridays 9-5 and Saturdays 9-1pm. With the generous donations they have received, the thrift store has had a very successful beginning.  All proceeds from the thrift shop are reinvested into the food pantry and the community.  Since the opening of the store many volunteers have spent endless hours building displays, creating storage areas to sort the donations, and running the store.  Along with their Christmas boxes of food previously mentioned, they added gift certificates to the Thrift Shop for over 70 families.  In this joint effort of the THDCCC and the community, God’s work is being done each week.

In mid-March 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic the THDCCC was called upon to collaborate with The Tekamah Herman School and Chatterbox (a local restaurant) to continue feeding the school children twice a day. It was a Sunday evening when the call came.  By Tuesday morning they began to serve Breakfast and Lunch to the students. The numbers quickly grew and for the next 9 weeks well over 200 meals a day were served. Since the pandemic had closed the in-house dining at the Chatterbox it was the perfect place to plan and prepare the meals. The food pantry helped to provide the food along with the school, and the teachers organized and provided the cooks and servers. The community stepped up to help provide baked goods and financial backing.  The donations would pour in everyday!  The local grocery store provided the lunch every Tuesday and even the local Volunteer Fire Department provided a meal.  To see this community come together for this purpose was an amazing experience.  

At the end of the school year the THDCCC moved the meal program to Emmanuel Lutheran Church.  They continued the program serving 2 meals a week throughout the summer.  When they were done, over 9,000 meals had been distributed.  This program took a tremendous amount of willing volunteer’s and financial support to be successful.  Again, God’s work was being done.

In 2020 they were unable to have National Day of Prayer (NDP), Baccalaureate, and Thanksgiving service in person.  Instead, as a THDCCC, they came together and recorded Video Services with all churches participating and uploading them online for all to enjoy. In 2021 they also created a video for NDP, and fortunately for 2021 the THDCCC was able to have Baccalaureate in person.

Most recently, in mid-June 2021, THDCCC held Vacation Bible School (VBS) at Emmanuel Lutheran Church.  What a wonderful experience!  Sunday through Thursday 60 kids attended VBS, and they had approximately 20 volunteers to assist. Pastors from four of the community churches, and kids from multiple denominations, sharing together in a common faith. Worshipping God, Praising God, and learning the meaning of “Trust God”, which was their theme for this year. 

Vicar Rex Rogers shared this- "From a VBS perspective, my first experience in this call, put things in another perspective for me. Sometimes we are so quick to judge our youth. We question the decisions they make, their priorities, or the way they act.  However, I witnessed a bright future for our community and our churches.  These kids were focused, engaged, and were not afraid to proclaim God’s word loud and proud with each other. Being in tribes with kids they knew, and perhaps kids they just met for the first time. Kids worshipping together in different age groups up to the sixth-grade level. Interacting well with pastors, group leaders, and other volunteers. I think we can be assured that God’s word will continue to be proclaimed into future generations."  

The THDCCC has been blessed with great support from their community, local clubs, individuals, and churches. It is amazing to see the things that can happen in communities when we all pull together to do “God’s work. Our hands”. 

*Respectfully Submitted with input from THDCCC Lutheran lay member Patty Olson, who by the way was just named Volunteer of the Year by the Mainstreet Nebraska Association for all her efforts in coordinating several of these efforts. Story by Vicar Rex Rogers, Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Tekamah.

We Are One- 2021 Nebraska Synod Assembly

 

The Nebraska Synod gathered digitally for its first-ever online assembly on Saturday, June 5. Live-streamed from the television studios of the University of Nebraska Omaha, the assembly managed to share online worship, hear from presenters, conduct elections, transact business, and engage in dialog, all in a matter of six hours. The opening worship was adapted from the ELCA’s commemoration of the 50th anniversary of ordination of Lutheran women in the U.S., the 40th anniversary of the first ordination of a woman of color, and the 10th anniversary of the ordination of persons in same-sex marriages. Former Bishop Jessica Crist of the Montana Synod was the guest preacher, and served as a keynote speaker as well, reflecting on the critical importance of lifelong learning for all disciples.

Rev. Dr. Rafael Malpica-Padilla was the ELCA Churchwide Representative and reported on all that the Nebraska Synod does nationally and globally through the many varied expressions of the ELCA’s ministries. Picking up on a phrase from Bishop Maas’ report in the Bulletin of Reports, he repeatedly asked whether “we will lean backward and tip over into history, or lean forward and tip over into a new future.” He spoke with passion of the ways the ELCA is leaning into God’s future and expressed gratitude to the Nebraska Synod for its support and leadership within the ELCA.

The Bishop's Report

Bishop Maas started out his annual report with a recap of 2020 and how the pandemic led to change. As part of this recap, he discussed Walter Brueggemann's  work with the three urgent prophetic tasks- Reality, Grief, and Hope. It was inspiring to see all the hopeful ways congregations were able to adapt to the reality of the pandemic and recover from grief to continue to be the church together. Bishop Maas also discussed some key topics, such as leadership in the church and the work we do with our Serving Arm partners. He ended his time by highlighting synod programs and new ministries, such as Seeking the Spirit Within, the Church of the Way, and the Vitality Initiative for Congregations. To find out more about synod ministries and programs, visit nebraskasynod.org.

Other Highlights

Opening worship featured many of our female leaders from across the synod. Pastors, deacons, and lay leaders from Nebraska congregations took part in leading this celebration of women in the church. Rev. Jessica Crist from the Montana Synod gave a sermon about women being called to preach. 

Several of the synod's partners shared their stories and messages in short videos. These videos were featured as part of our time together. To learn more about what our partner organizations do, you can find their videos at this link.

We successfully gathered to do the business of the church. Though voting was not in person, elections and approvals happened online via Zoom polling. Several individuals were elected for Synod Committees, Synod Council, and Churchwide Assembly. This year's assembly marked the election of a new Synod Council secretary- Gwen Edwards will be joining the Synod Council officers. Attendees also approved the agenda and the 2022 proposed budget. 

To view the 2021 Nebraska Synod Assembly, click here.

We are the Nebraska Synod

Nebraska Synod Road Shows are one way the synod walks together. First established in 2019, the Nebraska Synod is excited for the Road Shows to resume in late 2021. Gathering in the different clusters and territories of the synod, disciples from area congregations are invited into a rich Saturday of discipleship building, worship, and fellowship that runs from mid-morning through mid-afternoon. Lunch is provided half way through the day, which also includes times of story sharing, conversation, deep listening, learning, and fellowship with most the Nebraska Synod staff and other key synod leaders. 

On Road Show weekends, the entire synod office hits the road, if you will, to one corner of the state and synod or another, together. As one pastor exclaimed when gathering on the Saturday morning of the road show in Alliance out in the Panhandle, “They are all here. They all came.” This is a priority for the Nebraska Synod because we believe that together we are growing disciples, walking together, and serving God’s world. Road Shows are one way we literally engage in times of discipleship growth, walking together, and sharing stories and ideas for how we serve as part of God’s on-going work today.

On Sunday mornings of Road Show weekends, synod staff and other synod leaders visit area congregations with words of greeting, sermons, and other presentations, presence, and conversations. Area congregations who register for the Road Show are encouraged to invite a synod staff member (or more than one) to come and visit and join their congregation. Congregations may request members of synod staff, areas of interest or topics, needs or gifts, and the synod staff will do its best to accommodate such invitations and requests. 

Road Shows were held in the fall of 2019 in Adams and Alliance, and in February 2020 in Grand Island, and Schuyler. Road Shows that were scheduled later in 2020 and were postponed because of the pandemic are being rescheduled to resume in late 2021 and 2022. The fun of the Road Show will recommence starting November 6th and 7th, up in Northeast Nebraska. And then in 2022, Road Shows will travel to:

• Lincoln, February 19-20, 2022

• Hebron, March 26-27, 2022

• Eustis, August 27-28, 2022

• Omaha, October 2022. 

Stay tuned to the synod website and social media for more information about upcoming Road Shows and to register your congregation to participate in the next one coming to your area. If you don’t see one coming near you in the year ahead, know that we’ll be returning to areas of the state that we have previously visited on the Road Shows after this first round concludes in October 2022.