Day In The Parks: Servant of Christ

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Servant of Christ

Since we moved back to Minnesota 3 years ago we've gone to church here in Champlin at Servant of Christ Lutheran. It's a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America synod, which is the most liberal synod of the Lutheran church and very progressive in general. There are other synods such as Wisconsin Lutherans and Missouri Synod that are very socially conservative and might as well be the same as those crazy Catholics that I went to school with for so many years ;-)

I was fortunate enough to have been raised ELCA Lutheran (because we all know Far Far and Far Mor Sjolund don't mess around with any close mindedness) and now as an adult I'm so happy to have found an awesome church so close to home to raise Eva in. If you're interested in a run down of the ELCA's stance on all major issues go here - http://www.elca.org/What-We-Believe/Social-Issues.aspx

Our church is currently in the middle of "The Story", which is a 40 week session leading up to Lent where we study the Bible from beginning to end one Sunday at a time. It still amazes me for all my years of parochial school how many facts of the Bible I still don't know or have forgotten. Like King Solomon, the wise king who knew that the mother who offered to give up her child instead of having it cut in half must be the real mother, had 700 wives and 300 concubines! Daaaaaaaamn Gina. It all helps to remind me that being a Christian is not a passive act, God calls us to seek His word and never stop learning and growing in our faith. Anything worth having is worth working for. I just ordered Eva her first big picture Bible geared towards pre-schoolers and I bet there will be some stories, which I have totally forgotten, that will be nice to hear again.

Our service always closes with this benediction and I love it so much:
May the Lord grant you joy that radiates from the inside out, Love that erases barriers and heals wounds, Courage to walk to the path of peace and patience to outlast the troubles of the day.