The pastor in me hears pain in these statements. These are hard things to express and to experience. But it also seems like some of our communities are suffering from low self-esteem. The difficult realities that some of us are facing can quickly turn into a self-defining narrative that may seem true, but also leaves out some of the good parts.

On Sunday, August 18th, the people of God at First United Lutheran Church in Sheboygan celebrated the 50th ordination anniversary of our previous bishop, Pastor Jerry Mansholt. He currently is serving as interim pastor in the Greater Milwaukee Synod, ELCA and Bishop Paul Erickson was the preacher of the day.