It was a joy last Sunday to be welcomed to St James as the Interim Bridge Pastor. With all that God has and is doing at St James, I begin with an Easter “Alleluia!!!”.….

On behalf of the St. James Council Executive Team, I am pleased to introduce Pastor Walter Still, St. James Bridge Pastor. As you will see in his bio below, he is a great match for St. James. Please join us in welcoming Pastor Walter during his first worship service with us on Sunday, September 10.

Darcie Gorell-Evers
Council VP.….

I had been thinking about a different topic for the ministry moment this week. But then this post popped up on my Facebook feed. It is just too good not to share. – Pastor Lamont

A Facebook post by one of my favorite writers,  Anne Lamott: (from August 20)….

A long running daytime drama began each episode with, “Like sand through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives.” And so it is that our days and our lives move on and it is time for me to share this word with you….

First, a word from Kept Moments, by Gerhard E. Frost

 The Difference

He’d just received a box of crayons, a birthday gift. Deluxe, it was, with more than seventy colors, and he was proud..…

Here we are in the heart of summer. The time many of us look forward to all year round. Yet as I write this we are only 29 days away from the Minnesota State Fair. You know what that means. We can almost see the end of summer from here.…

Jacob in the Desert, A Baby in an Airport: Unexpected Grace!
“Jacob’s dream of angels on a stairway to heaven, strikes me as an appealing tale of unmerited grace. Here’s a man who has just deceived his father and cheated his brother out of an inheritance. But God’s response to finding Jacob vulnerable, sleeping all alone in open country, is not to strike him down for his sins but to give him a blessing...…

I live 40 minutes from St James. That’s what Google Maps tells me. It assumes I will take the fastest route. The freeway. But there are times when I deliberately take a different path to my destination..…

Along our Way
Summer is often a time filled with motion and emotion. Many are on the move. Some travel. Some move between home and “the lake.” There are some preparing to move away from home to attend college...…

John 3:8
The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”..…

Though certainly not the case for everyone, one of the things Summer often means for many people, is a bit more relaxed time. You know, the “Summertime, and the liv’n is easy,” sort of vibe. This is a time folks often turn to thinking about Summer reading, on a deck in the backyard, at the lake, or on a beach somewhere..…

In this space last week, I wrote of the arrival of Summer and the kinds of opportunities the season provides.

Today, I want to extend to you an invitation to join me and Pastor Nancy for some conversations around worship practices, here at St James, and more broadly within the whole Church.....…

Our weather has suddenly turned very summer-like. While Summer has its own busyness there is something about sunny days, warm nights, birdsong in the morning, the profusion of color blooming around, and children laughing and playing in their yards and in the parks, that naturally draws us toward rest and renewal....…

First the word. Then the meaning(s). Then the amazing powerful implications. 

Pentecost did not begin with the Christian Church. Its roots are found in the Jewish celebration of the Festival of Weeks, typically called Shavuot by Jewish people...…

This Sunday will be filled with music as we gather for worship and hear the choir sing, as we join our voices in singing the hymns as a congregation and hear piano and organ music.…

This time of the year you can experience a cavalcade of seasons within a matter of days. You never quite know what season you will wake up to each morning. One day it is 87, the next is 37. It snows, it rains, the sun shines. This is Minnesota!..…

Your Transition Task Force (Judy Jensen, Jim Soleim, Miriam Ring, Jim Collins) appointed by the church council, has been hard at work since January gathering information to complete a document called the Ministry Site Profile (MSP).  This MSP will act as a guiding document to support the Call Committee through their process. .…

Based upon the list of nominees provided by the congregation, in accordance with the provisions of our constitution, and following our synod call process guidelines, your council has prayerfully selected these persons to serve as your call committee.…

Alleluia! Christ is risen!                                 

Christ is risen indeed, alleluia!

Then all the people said, “Now what?”

Last Sunday we celebrated Jesus’ resurrection. We decorated the church, sang songs, words were spoken, and we shared a meal we call communion or eucharist, which means, “thanksgiving.”…