Staff Trax

What is your first instinct when you see a weed in your garden or on your lawn? It probably is to pull it. After all, weeds are usually not very attractive, and you might be afraid that it would spread to other parts of your garden, lawn, or your neighbor’s lawn.

In this week’s Gospel, Jesus tells the crowds to let the weeds stay with the wheat.

“Let both of them grow together…

As I compose this, I have just returned from vacation. It was a restful time away visiting family in north Texas as well as a few days in Austin. The weather was sweltering but we still managed to have a good time. And as soon as we returned home on Monday, we started preparation to send our daughter, EJ, to camp.

EJ has been attending Camp Shalom in Maquoketa, Iowa, for seven years. When…

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…

Dear Beloved of Salem,

During a recent meeting with Pastor Zac and Pastor Jordan at Atonement, we asked a really logical question of “why aren’t we sharing preaching responsibilities?” The initial plan was for Pastor Zac or Jordan to preach the Atonement “lead” services (Saturday and early Sunday) and for me to preach our 11:00 service. But, in order to foster a sense of collaboration…

As we prepare for our final worship service at Overland Park Lutheran Church this Sunday, I looked back on the Staff Trax I wrote before our first service almost 2 1/2 years ago. I quoted a beautiful song called “Grace Alone,” which talks of promises, prayers, steps of faith, and differences we make that are only by His grace. The words keep coming back to me as we have spent the last few weeks…

I am sure that most of you don’t know I was born with a heart defect. I have been fine for most of my life. As a child, my mom would take me into the city of Chicago for checkups about every three years. It was kind of fun; I got to miss a day of school, we usually went shopping and had lunch, and I got to lay on a table for a short time hooked up to machines with a bunch of smiley face stickers…