Sandra Singing Goodbye 11 August 2021 Dear Friends in Faith, Over the last several years, Sandra Bohlken has shared her spectacular heart, smile, voice, and coordination as our Director of Contemporary Worship. We are deeply and forever grateful. We are also very sorrowful today to pass on her decision to step down from her position. As you can read in …
Lunch Lady Extraordinaire 04 August 2021 Dear Friends in Faith, One of the “God’s Work, Our Hands” ministries that brings so much joy, energy, and impact is our Summer Sack Lunch Program. Check out this little video interview with Jayne Troy, our amazing “Lunch Lady” who pulls COS together for this amazing effort: If you prefer to read some …
Olympic Motivations 28 July 2021 Dear Friends in Faith, The Christ Our Shepherd Usher Team asked me to show a picture of the new usher outfits they’ve selected to wear for Fall of 2021. So here you go: Good luck to our USA #TeamSpeedo athletes as they prepare for the #SwimTrials16, starting today! #WinningElements pic.twitter.com/ORlrIyjVdJ — Speedo (@speedo) June 26, …
Vacate Into Refreshment 21 July 2021 Dear Friends in Faith, When I was little, the verb “vacate” was a bit scary. For instance, “When the alarm rings, everyone must vacate the building.” But over the years, I’ve realized the beauty of God’s periodic invitations for us to “vacate” our typical schedules, pressures, duties, or ways of seeing things for something …
A Prayer for Haiti 14 July 2021 Dear Friends in Faith, During March Madness a few months ago, Christ Our Shepherd demonstrated amazing generosity by sharing $17,500 in the HOOPS FOR HAITI campaign to support Jesus’ ministry among the poorest country in our hemisphere. Therefore, I thought you’d be interested in the most recent update from the Haitian Timoun Foundation …
It’s Not That Easy 7 July 2021 Dear Friends, We tried to book Kermit, but summer is his busiest time of year. Sorry, he was not available to record our new “progress” song, but here it is: It’s not that easy being green:* We celebrate not being red or yellow. CDC once scared us painting some of those colors, But …
Get Back to Where You Once Belonged 30 June 2021 What fun LuAnne and I had on Saturday attending the beautiful wedding and joyful reception of our own COS Martha Kahley to Dr. Chris Martin. I REJOICED we could celebrate IN PERSON! As the stunning Martha walked down the aisle with father Kevin, I could see all the faces of …
A Father’s Advice 23 June 2021 What are your key three? If you worshiped with us at COS this past Sunday, you experienced an “out of the box” sermon. Not a deep dive into one gospel lesson, but a conversation with my own dad, Fred Wiese, about fatherhood and faith. In the Fourth Commandment, God instructs us to honor our …
Not My Holiday? 16 June 2021 Do you ever feel like an imposter at certain holidays? You’ve heard me recall that my neighborhood growing up was racially and ethnically diverse. If you walked west from my house, the proportion of Irish Catholics surged. So St. Patrick’s Day was a big deal. Chicago actually dyes the Chicago River green in honor …
Sharpening the Saw 10 June 2021 As you read this, I’ll be hiking in Utah with my son, Luke. The experience is called “vacation.” Are you surprised to learn that 55% of Americans do NOT use all their vacation days? I guess I’m one of them. However, I’m committed to USING more days of vacation than I’m LOSING! Studies share …