Staff Trax

This week is America’s 250^th birthday. The United States Semiquincentennial, also called the sestercentennial (two and a half centuries), or the Quarter Millennium, will be the 250th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. There are celebrations throughout the country in big cities and small towns. Finding a place to celebrate won’t be a problem. Deciding where…

Salem has a quite a few super powers. We love to serve our neighbors, we’ve become very adaptable in our transitional years since 2020, and we are all about being welcoming. I also consider us a pretty tight-knit group, which in other situations tends to lean toward not letting others in, but Salem is an open-arms community.

We do this by leaning into our relationships. We chat over coffee…

On June 6, Van and Judy Chappell and I gathered at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Overland Park to represent Salem at the Central States Synod Assembly. This year, the assembly took place online (a cost-saving decision). So, around 20 folks from around the metro gathered at Holy Cross so we could be together even while being virtual. I love Synod Assembly because it is a reminder of what we do as…

I’m guessing some of you remember this if you were involved in meetings with Pastor Dave: many years ago, Salem spent an entire year starting each staff meeting and council meeting dwelling in the Word with the same scripture, ALL YEAR. Every week, dwelling in the same words. I’m sure we squeezed every ounce of possibility out of that scripture many times over!

I thought of it this week…

When you see “All are welcome” in our weekly announcements, have you ever thought about what that means? Jesus welcomed all, no matter their social status, income, or clothing. All believers are the same in the eyes of God.

In this week’s Gospel reading (Matthew 9:9-13,18-26), Jesus eats with tax collectors and sinners. As you may know, tax collectors in that day were known to be very…