The Blessing of Retreat

By Dan Commerford, Director of Middle and High School Ministries

“Now during those days, he went out to the mountain to pray; and he spent the night in prayer to God.” Luke 6:12 [NRSV]

This verse is one of a few examples in the Gospel of Luke where Jesus decided to get away for a period of time to focus on his relationship with God. Often, when we talk about Jesus, we talk about his teachings, his death, and his resurrection. But hidden in the grand account of Jesus’ story are these little moments where Jesus got away from everyone, even his closest companions, to spend time with God. It seems that Jesus saw the need to retreat in order to gain guidance, energy, and purpose for his ministry.

This October, I spent two weekends taking the middle school and high school students on their respective Fall Retreats. Both retreats went up to Presbyterian Clearwater Forest in Crooked Lake, MN, and both retreats gave the students (and the leaders) an opportunity to play games, spend time with one another in fellowship and discussion, and have meaningful worship as a group. I was surprised to see that even with a schedule full of rigorous activity and the inherent lack of sleep that accompanies a youth retreat, I found myself returning to the Twin Cities more energized and invigorated than when I left.

When I was in high school, I asked one of my youth group leaders why I was having a hard time hearing from God when I prayed. He asked me to take a few seconds, listen to what was around me, and tell him what I was hearing. After I told him about hearing cars, wind, and leaves, he told me to listen more. As I focused, I realized that there was a pair of birds that were singing to each other in a nearby tree. I only heard it when I was able to get past the clutter of everything else around me. To me, that is why a retreat is a blessing. It gives me an opportunity to get away from the busyness of my normal routine and listen to what is often drowned out. Retreats are a blessing because it is a time when I can focus on my relationship with God as well as God’s people.

Blessings Without Number

By: Melanie Ohnstad, Minister of Music and the Arts

Counting is part and parcel of a musician's practice. The beats that I have counted since my girlhood seem more numerous than the stars on a clear North Shore summer night. Like the pulsing of the human heart, a steady beat creates a framework in time in which music can flow. Its predictability brings both stability and excitement to musical performance. If you count music as a blessing, you probably already know that counting in music is also a blessing! A spiritual director once told me that counting blessings was a good way to begin developing a spiritual practice. She urged me to name a blessing from each day before going to sleep at night. While I have not been as diligent about counting my blessings as my beats, I do recognize two things: 1) that counting blessings is a blessing, and 2) that my blessings, too, are more numerous than the stars on a clear North Shore summer night. 

Westminster accounts for a galaxy of my life's blessings. Like a piece in ¾ time, let me count some of the “stars” of my blessings: 

1. Being part of a community of caring, committed people who make my life so rich and make Sunday the best day of the week
2. All we can do together that we could not do alone
3. All we can do alone from the strength gained from our togetherness

1. Having place to develop and share the gifts that I have been given
2. Creative and talented colleagues whom I enjoy and trust without exception
3. Freedom of thought and expression that allow the Spirit to take us to new places

1. Brad Ollmann's and Kela Wanyama's skill and delight in working with our young singers
2. Jere Lantz's energy and musical understanding in directing the Global and Westminster Choirs
3. Nancy Carter's love of handbells and her ability to share the joy of their music

1. Barbara Prince's creamy voice, administrative foresight and Chamber Ensemble leadership
2. Rodney Allen Schwartz's enrichment of our space and lives with art
3. The hundreds of people who devote thousands of hours to offer music in our worship

1. The joy of hearing the congregation sing the great hymns of faith
2. The diversity of music that deepens my faith and provides me a way to worship God
3. The Christmas Dinners that bring in the holiday season and celebrate the Westminster family

Music: Cantus, "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas"

The Blessings of Fellowship

by Susan & Geoff Francis

Note: this "Moment for Stewardship" appeared first in the October 14 issue of the Westminster News newsletter.

When we were asked to join the Membership Committee in 2007, we thought: How can we contribute? What experience do we have?

We had recently become new members ourselves, and felt that we were still trying to wrap ourselves around all that happens here at Westminster. This is a big place, with a lot to offer. What would we have to contribute to new members when we weren’t sure about our own place in the church? We had our reservations but decided to jump in and be a part of this committee.

Each fall, winter, and spring, new member classes are offered. The classes focus on learning what it means to be a Presbyterian and learning about Westminster’s programs and missions. Typically, on a Sunday evening and the next Thursday, new members share a meal with each other and then eat and meet with the Session. These meals not only nourish our bodies—they also provide us time together in fellowship.

This is a congregation that places emphasis on fellowship as God intends. We look forward to each group of new members with anticipation. We have learned that as volunteers the important thing is not what we know about the church, but taking the time to be hospitable and interacting with each new member. When we were new to the church, the welcoming nature of the congregation and the genuine fellowship that we found here was a major part of why we decided to become members. That fellowship has lead to the development of many friendships within the congregation. These friendships have been a blessing in our lives. We moved to the area just months before first attending Westminster, and since we have no family in Minnesota, these church relationships are all the more consequential to us.

We know that many prospective members have similar circumstances. They are in transition from one religious community to another and possibly relocating here. They are now in the place that we were. It is our hope that they are blessed in the same way what we have been by the fellowship of this church.

With each new member class, we find ourselves counting our blessings as we get to know new and wonderful people. Being volunteers with a focus on fellowship gives us an opportunity to make a difference, to touch people’s lives. It gives us a chance to give back to our church community. In fellowship with each other we get a chance to share our blessings.

Learning From the Wind Mills

by the Rev. Annika Lister Strooope, Assoc. Pastor, Evangelism & Fellowship

If you've driven on I-35 between the Minnesota border and Des Moines, or on I-80 between Des Moines and Omaha in the past couple of years, you have noticed a change: the landscape now includes large swaths of occupied skyline. What were once open views now have groups of wind turbines that stretch for miles.

 I was thinking about this blog the last time I was driving on I-35 and I-80. I pondered the intersections of technology and things and places that don’t move as fast as technology seems to move. I pondered the fact that the wind turbines in Iowa have not made Iowa any less rural -- it is, in fact, the large swaths of land with low populations that have allowed for corn and soybeans farms to now also be wind farms.

Whenever churches try to keep up with technological trends, we often ponder: will we be less of the church we are familiar with if we adapt to modern technology?

It seems that a church blog and a wind turbine have something in common: both are new technologies that utilize the strengths of the community they inhabit. The Christian church has always embraced communication to the farthest reaches. Paul's letters traveled hundreds of miles -- distances that the average person at that time would have never dreamed of traversing. The Spirit, which is called by the same word as breath and wind in both biblical languages of Hebrew and Greek, does not know borders and boundaries. Technology actually tries, I think, to keep up with the Spirit!

Stewardship 2011 Video

Westminster is blessed to have so many people with varied and wonderful talents. Enjoy this video made by member Marion Tucker, which she made for last year's Stewardship season. We don't know how she does it, but we sure are glad she did!