Fill… Spill… Thrill…

Bishop Dave deFreese
Nebraska Synod, ELCA

“It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praise to your name, Oh Most High; to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness at the close of the day.” (Psalm 92:1-2)

While the drums played, while the children danced, while the people greeted one another, while prayers were said, while commitments were acknowledged, and promises kept … God was glorified! So many had a part to play, and all those who had gathered for this dedication recognized God’s Spirit active and alive with gratitude and excitement. It is good to be the church together!

We recently celebrated the dedication of the new building for Lakota Lutheran Chapel and Center in Scottsbluff. It was a profound and powerful reminder of the ministry we have been given together. We rejoiced in God’s work through our hands!

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Mitch McCartney
Director of Communications & Development
Nebraska Synod, ELCA

Back in the day when I served on a church council, I remember the tough discussions we would have around this time of year.

Few things would cause more anxiety than conversation about where the congregation would spend money in its upcoming budget. Our church was typical: we had building expenses that had to be covered, staff obligations that had to be met, requests to fund ministries within our doors that various individuals supported.

There was always this feeling that “there was only so much to go around.” (As if we hadn’t read about feeding of the 5,000 lately.) So when it came to the end the process, there would always be a discussion about whether we could fund mission share to the larger Church at the level we did the year before.

I have a confession to make. I once advocated for cutting mission share from my congregation’s annual budget. At the time, I was a strong advocate for our congregation’s youth ministry and with all of the “brick-and-mortar” items having already been funded, I was worried that every dollar that we spent in mission share, ministry outside of our church doors, would mean one less dollar we would spend on ministry between our church doors.

I was unsuccessful, but not without some support, in making the argument to cut mission share. It’s good that I failed. I was wrong.

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During this year’s Synod Assembly, Bishop deFreese asked mission centers/congregations to share what they do in ministry with and among the poor. Below is just one of the many responses the Bishop has received so far.

Last Thanksgiving we provided complete Thanksgiving meal gift boxes to 15 Saunders County families, which were delivered by our confirmation students, their parents and other volunteers.

In December we provided care packages for eight college students preparing for finals.

In January, donations in the amount of $200 each were sent to ELCA World Hunger appeal, Saunders County Emergency Food Pantry, the Open Door Mission in Omaha, the People’s City Mission in Lincoln and the Orphan Grain Train.

In February, we had an “Undie Sunday” and collected 85 pounds of new underwear for the Open Door Mission, which we presented to a representative of the mission who came and shared their message with us.

In March, we held joint Lenten Services with our brothers and sisters in Christ from Prague and Czech Presbyterian Churches, and two of the offerings collected that added up to $169.50 were given to the Saunders County Food Pantry.

We recently completed a food drive here in Malmo where volunteers distributed empty plastic grocery sacks with a list of needs and an invitation to share with others to every home in our village. A total of 25 filled grocery bags were picked up the following Saturday, again by volunteers, and all the items were turned over to the Saunders County Food Pantry. We will be doing a similar event in Prague and in Weston.