Our Mission Statement:
We are a Gospel-centered community of people blessed by God to be a blessing to others.
All church activities, including in-person worship, are canceled for the next few weeks due to the coronavirus.
However, the Sunday morning service at 10:30 will be live-streamed through the church's Facebook page.
Joe Nolte is in charge of setting this up. You can contact him with any questions, at jtnolte22@gmail.com.
Get involved!
Highlights of our upcoming events:
The Coming Back Together Committee
-A new committee has been formed to make decisions about worship as we deal with COVID-19.
Want to spotlight your event? Email the webmaster at popdsm@gmail.com and we'll put it here!
This month's letter from Pastor Roger Osbeck
I'll have a blue Christmas without you
I'll be so blue just thinking about you
Decorations of red on a green Christmas tree
Won't be the same, dear, if you're not here with me
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Most of you who read the Pastor's Page are old enough to remember Elvis Presley's 1957
version of the song Blue Christmas (first verse above). The song is about the sad feeling the
singer experiences as he is unable to be with his loved one during Christmas.
Blue? Yes, blue as in the blues. As in "I am feeling blue." Not everyone is up and cheery for
the Christmas holidays. Most often the sad sensation comes as one tries to deal with the death of
a loved one, or facing life after divorce or separation, coping with the loss of a job, living with
cancer or some other disease that puts a question mark over the future. These and a number of
other human situations make parties and joviality painful for many people in our congregations
and communities.
There is a growing attentiveness to the needs of people who are blue at Christmas. Over the
years, increasing numbers of churches started to create sacred space in worship services for
people living through dark times. Such services are reflective, accepting where one might really
be, and holding out healing and hope. Loneliness blurs the vision of the true meaning of
Christmas: the peace, hope, love and joy found in the birth of the Christ Child. It robs the soul of
celebration. A Blue Christmas Worship aims to help clarify the vision of Christmas and restore
the soul's remembrance of all it's significance.
For most of you who are unfamiliar with this kind of service, a Blue Christmas Worship
contains passages from Scripture, hymns and prayers which reflect the nature of human
loneliness; not recognizing God’s presence, carrying the burden of life's complexities,
responsibilities, adversities, and defeats, and the separation from the loved ones with whom we
long to share time.
Some churches have held a service of worship on the longest night of the year, which falls on
or about December 21st, the Winter Solstice. There is an interesting convergence for this day as
it is also the traditional feast day for Saint Thomas the Apostle. This linkage invites making
some connections between Thomas's struggle to believe Jesus' resurrection, the long nights just
before Christmas, and the struggle with darkness and grief faced by those living with loss.
Blue Christmases will, no doubt, be suffered in a larger part of our congregation this year from
the separation we will experience due to the pandemic through which we still endure. Many
plans will have to be altered as the expectation the COVID numbers will dramatically improve
seem slim. The curve is not flattening at the degree we have hoped. Families who are used to
gathering together at Christmas will decide not to take the risk. The disappointing, discouraging
circumstances will spread like the virus.
To help all those who might be experiencing a blue Christmas this year to better cope with the
situation, we at Prince of Peace will be offering our own Blue Christmas Worship online to be
posted on our Facebook page beginning sometime the week before Christmas. If you would like
to join us, please look for further information with our regular announcements (ironically, the
blue pages), and our Facebook page.
Peace to you. See you, sometime soon, in church,
Pastor Roger
Outreach links:
Meals from the Heartland
Habitat for Humanity
Lutheran Services in Iowa
Lutheran World Relief
Make Malaria History
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