It’s hard to believe I am wrapping up my internship already and yet here we are. It has been such an honor to serve among you doing God’s work in the world. Thank you for all the love and support and wisdom you have poured into me this past year. You have helped shape me as a minister and I will forever be grateful to you. 

Teaching parishes are becoming harder to find and it is even more rare to find one as thriving and healthy as you have built Lord of Life to be. You have worked to create a loving and encouraging support system in this place that is there for each other through the ups and downs of life. I love that you have made it your mission to help teach me and provide me with experiences that will forever serve as the foundation of my future life as a pastor.

As a thank you gift for the congregation, I created a painting of Lord of Life with a rainbow over it titled “You are Loved.” “You are loved” was one of the first things I learned about Lord of Life’s culture. Before I even began my internship, Cara asked me what colors I wanted my “You are loved” shirt to be tie-dyed. We needed them for the Cincinnati Pride parade, Appalachia Service Project (ASP) trip, and just as a wardrobe staple here. It seems like almost every Sunday, someone is wearing their “You are loved” shirt. And really, it’s more than just a motto or a cool shirt. It’s about who we are as a church. It’s how we love our community and ourselves and it’s what I love about us. 

Rainbows represent God’s promises to us, especially that we are loved by God. God promises to always care for us and be with us. Through the reminder of the rainbow, we can see that God is still with us even through the midst of the rainy days in our lives. Another promise God has for us is that through communion, we are joined together with all the saints of yesterday, today, and tomorrow. No matter where we are, no matter what we’re going through, when we eat the bread and drink the wine, we are nourished and sent into the world together. So even though this is a farewell, every time we celebrate communion, we are together. 

The next Lord of Life seminary intern Nicole Kiefer will be starting her internship mid-August and will get to be with you for two years. I know over this time you will love her and support her as you have loved and supported me. May God continue to bless you as the teaching congregation God has created you to be. 

Thank you, Lord of Life. You are loved.

Peace,

Pastor Laura

God is at Work In & Through the Lives of LOL’s Teens
By Tera Michelson, Youth Volunteer

Greetings from New Orleans, Louisiana! Fifteen of us from Lord of Life—eleven young adults and four adult chaperones—are among the 16,000 Lutherans gathered for the ELCA National Youth Gathering in the Crescent City this week. To date, we’ve tasted gator and enjoyed beignets at Café Du Monde, overlooked the Mississippi River, learned to pronounce Tchoupitoulas Street, been spoiled by New Orleans’ topnotch hospitality, and taken an airboat ride in the Louisiana bayou. We’ve explored this magnificent city on foot, walking from our hotel on Canal Street to the French Quarter, down to the Convention Center and over to the Smoothie King Center, sweating in our matching t-shirts. But this trip is more than a vacation—it’s a hot and holy reminder that God is at work in and through the lives of our teens.

The opportunity to gather like this only comes around every three years, and due to Covid interruptions, it has been six since the last one. As our youth encounter other youth groups from across the country on the streets of New Orleans, they trade LOL rainbow stickers for bracelets, pins, and a variety of creative giveaways. We gather for service, learning, fellowship, and nightly worship including inspiring speakers, musicians, and dancers. For many of our young people, this will be a once-in-a-lifetime faith experience.

Here's what our teens shared about this life-changing trip so far:
• “Seeing homeless people sleeping on the streets honestly makes you so grateful for everything you have.”
• “I have become closer with those around me and been able to get out of my comfort zone, whether it's with talking to people, worshiping in new ways, or just trying new foods while having fun.”
• “New Orleans has wonderful people and we have connected with many of those people. It is very hot and sweaty, but the music is impeccable!”
• “We are all connected through this one thing, and seeing the crowds of people in matching shirts walk through the streets is really cool—to see that we're all here celebrating our faith together.”
• “This is a real cool way for people to learn, have fun, and spread love everywhere.”
• “The New Orleans vibe makes us feel so connected.”
• “When we leave the church to do an activity, it helps students connect to the Lord. It reminds me that the whole world can be a place of worship and not just at church.”
• “There are WAY more street critters here than in Cincy!”
• “I have learned about myself as well as my new friends. I have also learned about how lucky I am to be in the position I am.”
• “People are happy to hear about your day and your faith. It’s beautiful.”
• “The singing, dancing, food, and late-night family time is so much fun. I will never forget this!”

Please continue to pray for us in New Orleans as we continue to study the theme of “Created to Be” for the remainder of the 2024 National Youth Gathering, through this Friday. We’ll be home soon to share more stories of our adventures in faith!

God’s love and peace to you!

Tera

I see you, but I can’t get to you fast enough. At the end of worship, I play a postlude or some sort of musical tag and by the time I’ve finished, most of you have gotten to your cars. I never get to say hi! I realized as I looked out at the pews on Sunday morning I have never interacted with 30% of the people who were at our 10 am worship. It is really exciting to see so many new faces, but super frustrating to never know who you are. So if you’ve never chatted with me, make your way over to the piano/keyboard after worship and say hi! I promise I won’t try to pressure you into joining a choir. 

For those of you who already know me or have been at Lord of Life for a little while: if you happen to notice faces you don’t recognize, introduce yourselves to each other. It is amazing to see our community growing and evolving and there are countless opportunities to learn from each other and celebrate the new life that is growing here.

Hoping to meet you soon!

John

This message from Bishop Elizabeth Eaton was posted on livinglutheran.org on June 14, 2024

The airwaves are filled with contentious political discourse. And, as we get closer to the November election, it will undoubtedly get louder and coarser. Each side seeks to catch the other with questions that aren’t designed for clarity and dialogue but to further its own agenda. Martin Luther’s explanation of the Eighth Commandment in the Small Catechism—“We are to fear and love God, so that we do not tell lies about our neighbors, betray or slander them, or destroy their reputations. Instead we are to come to their defense, speak well of them, and interpret everything they do in the best possible light”—is barely visible in the rearview mirror.

But the “gotcha” question isn’t a modern invention. “Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said. … Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar (the emperor) or not?” (Matthew 22:15-17). We know the answer. Jesus told them: “Give therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s” (21).

This passage has been used to inform the relationship between the institutions of the state and the community of faith. In this relationship the authority of the state is real and respected—but limited. God’s authority is acknowledged as ultimate and deserving of ultimate devotion and obedience, yet it doesn’t necessitate withdrawal from or opposition to participation in civic life and its responsibilities. We Lutherans call this the doctrine of two kingdoms, and we understand that the church and the state, the spiritual and the temporal, are both established by God and are both part of God’s twofold rule. Both church and state are good gifts from God.

Lutherans have been accused of congenital quietism. Our understanding of God’s twofold rule and even the story about paying taxes in Matthew have been used to discourage participation in civic life. However, active participation in public life has been part of the Lutheran movement from its beginning. Lutherans don’t withdraw from public life. In fact, the ELCA’s constitution pledges us to “work with civil authorities in areas of mutual endeavor, maintaining institutional separation of church and state in a relation of functional interaction.”

I have been voting for 51 years. I can’t think of an election cycle more fraught and divisive than this one. People all across the political spectrum claim that life as we know it is on the line. It’s not possible to agree to disagree—one must decide and put a stake in the ground. There is the potential for violence.

But division and violence don’t have to be our inevitable future. On Nov. 5, no matter the outcome, we will still be here together. Our church, our people, our congregations will still be here and will witness that unity doesn’t mean uniformity; that what binds us together is new life in Christ; that the church—and our country—are bigger than our “tribe”; and that baptism proves that water is thicker than blood.

This is not “both side-ism.” Based on Scripture and the Confessions and forged through prayer, there are principles that aren’t debatable: love, community, sacrifice for the common good, to name a few. Instead, we are free and forgiven in Christ so that even when we disagree on deeply held convictions, we can still see the other as someone for whom Christ died.

Something that is missed when reading the story of Jesus and taxes is what he reveals about God and the world God so loves. We focus on Caesar. If Caesar’s image and title are imprinted on a base metal coin, a humanly created, literal graven image, where is God’s image to be found? Human creatures—the living beings whom God created in God’s own image, into whom God breathed the breath of life—are bearers of God’s image in the world.

Dear church, our citizenship is ultimately in heaven. But we are also citizens of this country—this flawed, fractious, unequal, imperfect union. In U.S. political history, people have yearned and given their lives for what they had hoped for—democratic life for the sake of the flourishing of all. One of the ways we serve our neighbor is to participate in civic life. Can we see Election Day as a unifying event when the whole country goes to the polls?

Vote.

Have you ever been so physically and mentally tired that all you want to do is sleep but you can’t? Usually, it’s the “to do” list whirling in my head. This month, my mind has been there but more overwhelmingly it has been all the beautiful hearts, hands, and feet that have been giving and growing in Jesus’ name. I find myself just smiling.

One of the questions we ask students in Vacation Bible School (VBS) is where they see God? Their answers are so sweet and innocent. God is in their food, in their friends, in their pets, and their swing sets.

As an adult, my God sightings this month are almost too many to count. When the ugliness in our world makes us question our faith or where God is, it gives me great peace to know that God is alive and well in the LOL community and we are working diligently to spread that message to all.

Here are just a few of my God sightings:

• I saw God in college and high school students who could be making money at summer jobs but took a week to serve alongside others with the Appalachia Service Project (ASP) and in adults who took a week off work or jumped in after just retiring.
• I saw God in the courageous people who blocked hateful messages at Hamilton Pride and shared God’s unconditional love while marching and working our booth.
• I saw God in the people who serve each Sunday to create our worship services.
• I saw God in donated ice cream funds for ASP, VBS donations of snacks and craft, VBS donations piled high with underwear/socks/diapers/wipes for Butler County Children’s Services and in LOL’s gift of $1500 to ASP.
• I saw God in all our VBS leaders and helpers who smiled, encouraged, used their gifts, or stepped out of their comfort zone and gave of themselves to 70 students and each other, not to mention how they created, decorated and cleaned up like champions!
• I saw God in people who weren’t visible, but I know were holding together a busy family, or working hard to provide or care for a sick or elderly person or praying for our safety and God’s presence to be known in all we do or experience.
• I saw God in the leaders who stepped up to help organize ASP with laughter and skill when LOL staff couldn’t.
• I saw God in the Healing and Affirming Service. We acknowledged the hurt that has been caused by the church to the LGBTQ+ community and shared the life changing message of hope and love that is for all people.
• I saw God when our ASP crew shared the same daily meals as 20 people experiencing homelessness in Harlan County, KY at the Christ’s Hands facility.
•  I saw God in one of our littlest VBS students. Helpers at VBS wore Thrivent “Live Generously” shirts that had a sideways red heart. This child thought it was a chair. Her mom gently informed her that it was a heart. She said, “like Jesus sits in your heart.” She knew where we could find God!
• I saw God in the people who braved the heat during Cincinnati Pride to share the life-saving message that God loves ALL, no exceptions.

I really could go on and on. We are truly blessed with a faith community that uplifts, heals and shares as Jesus calls us to do.

Where do you see God today? What keeps you awake smiling? Praying along with you that the Holy Spirit continues to guide us to those precious moments.

Living, sharing, and celebrating God’s love in Jesus Christ with you,

Angie Seiller, Director of Faith Formation

Hello, my Lord of Life family! I recently joined you as we celebrated the life and love of our dear friend, Gary Glaab. It was wonderful to walk in the doors and be greeted by everyone as if I had been there every Sunday for the last few years, as opposed to someone deep in the seminary life.

It is a surreal thing to be still living so close while working in my internship for my ordination journey. I am still here, but it can at times feel like I’m a million miles away. The responsibility and time that internship asks of us does come at the cost of regular communion with the congregation that helped deliver me to the Church for candidacy in the first place.

Lord of Life is still my church and I deeply love all of you. As you may know, I showed up with my family at Lord of Life a decade ago. After a conversation with your brand-new (at the time) pastor, we started worshipping with you all. You drew us into a deeper relationship, and you made it possible for me to get more involved at LOL. I was fortunate enough to serve as a Evangelism Ministry Area Coordinator (MAC) for quite a few years, and through Pastor Lowell’s gentle nudging, and seeing our friend Corey Wagonfield navigate the challenges of seminary while maintaining a family, I eventually followed suit.

I am now serving at Trinity Lutheran Church in Mt. Healthy as a seminary intern and have been very fortunate and overjoyed to see some of my Lord of Life friends pop in to see me preach. Seeing you brightens my day! I am coming up on my first 6-month review and have been ruminating on my journey. Worshipping and celebrating with you on May 18 brought a smile to my face, even if it came at a time when we were gathered to reflect on a life well lived. Those days bring with them a wealth and range of emotions, but for Gary, it is hard to look back and not smile. He was a part of my faith journey and he makes everyone smile.

You all have supported me through this. As I write, I find myself sitting in a room at the seminary in Columbus. For us Trinity students, we travel here every now and again for week-long intensive courses. These come with times of reflection and times to connect with the Holy Spirit. It is in one of these moments I felt drawn to write to you all.

As Lord of Life prepares to say goodbye to Pastor Laura, next month and looks forward to meeting Nicole Keifer, our new seminary intern, let me grab the mic for a minute to say thank you. While my duties at my internship site keep me away from your doors, know I am always thinking about you. Lord of Life is an amazing place, filled with amazing people, and I count myself lucky to be counted as one of your number.

Through the lens of people like Gary, we see a reflection of our whole community. A community that cares for one another, uplifts one another, and supports one another. I feel your support and I love being a part of you. I love that you are a part of my journey into ordination and a call to pastoral leadership.

With Love,

Vicar Richard Ponton
Trinity Lutheran Church, Mt. Healthy

Training to be a Lutheran pastor is a four year degree with a blend of coursework while also serving and learning in the parish. We currently support our seminary student Richard Ponton with $5,000 per year toward education expenses. Thank you for your financial generosity that makes training ministry leaders a priority.