One year ago today, I was ordained as a pastor of The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.  It was the day I became the occupant of a new office, “The Office of Pastor”.   The previous office I held was the “Office of Police Chief”.  Most people I talk with consider the transition a drastic change, but there are more similarities than differences in the two positions.

A lot has happened with Public Safety Ministries since I was ordained by Bishop Craig Johnson (pictured above) last year.  I have learned a lot as I’ve walked this ministry path, and that learning has been greatly enhanced by walking it holding the new office of Reverend.  From that vantage point I have some new authority and a new credential, but it also comes with a much greater responsibility.  There is no official “probation” period for pastors like there is for new cops, but old habits are hard to break and I consider today as the day I completed my probation. Now, after a year of holding the office, I know one thing for sure.  Public Safety Ministries is here to stay.

In coming days I’ll be sharing more of what we (yes we) have learned here at Public Safety Ministries this past year.  I am excited about what the future has in store!

I’ll leave you this morning with a picture from a recent trip I took to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area this summer.  It was my first trip to the BWCA but definitely not my last.

Take Care!

Yes, the holidays are upon us. Tis the season to be … “told what to do.” There are a lot of people out there with a lot of advice on how to best experience the holidays. And since I am venturing down the road of this message, I can be counted among them. You may have noticed I used the word “experience” the holidays rather than enjoy, survive, celebrate, endure and so on. It really depends on your circumstances and your expectations as to which advise you may choose to follow.

So just to be clear, I’ll remind you that unless noted differently, my perspective is focused on promoting spiritual health and fitness. I sort through the abundance of opinions out there looking for what I believe is good for the soul. I found a nice commentary in the Strib on Saturday that stuck with me for a few days, so I refer back to it today. I connected with “Slow down; you move to fast” by Lisa Valentine, in several ways. As I read the title I figured this would be another nice message about slowing down the fast pace of our lives. It was, but it was more than that. It took on the practice of multitasking and suggested the alternative of “rapt attention”. Although the message is directed at parenting, it is applicable to whatever your situation may be.

Rapt (deeply engrossed or absorbed) attention is something that discourages multitasking, the skill that most of us are required to perform if we are to succeed in the lives most of us live. But just as multitasking speeds us up, rapt attention can slow us down. And slowing down is most often a healthy exercise for the soul. So take some time this holiday season and give whatever it is that you are doing some “rapt attention”, especially when it involves spending time with those you love, those whose time you enjoy and those who feed you the good stuff for your soul.

Take Care!

Good Morning Readers!

I hope everyone (at least those reading in the US) had a great Thanksgiving Holiday.  Holidays often bring additional conversation into our lives.  We talk to people we haven’t seen for awhile and we talk about things outside of our normal conversations.  I am often asked what exactly it is that I do in this ministry adventure I’ve taken.  Even more frequently I ask myself the same question.  And although there are many answers to those questions, one that has been surfacing a lot lately is that the ministry “Encourages Conversation”.  Our mission is to “Serve Those Who Protect by Promoting Spiritual Fitness” but the question of how we do that, is a question that I hope we never stop asking.

This morning I was reading my latest issue of the National Geographic, an article about King David and the biblical and archeological perspectives / controversies of his history.  Although the article is very interesting, I was drawn to a statement made about one of the participants in the controversy whose actions were described as “She knew what she was doing.  She waded into the fray wanting to make a statement.” This reminds me of another statement I read recently describing a political activist’s intentions in speaking “We wanted to put a different kind of thinking on the table”.

The statements these two people made “Encouraged Conversation”.  Some positive and supportive, and some negative and confrontational.  But all of it engaging.  As we talk about things related to faith in the workplace, especially in the government and public safety workplace, it is critical that we encourage conversation.  And as Bergie once taught me, conversation where we can respectfully disagree.  It is in these conversations where we can learn and grow in our personal spiritual fitness and the spiritual fitness of our organizations.

So that’s my answer of what I do, at least this week anyway, I try and encourage conversation, respectful conversation.  But conversation with substance.

Take Care!

Yesterday I had a great day of techno-learning. I spent the afternoon with my techno-adviser, well one of them anyway, and discovered an app that lets me write and publish posts from my phone. I don’t want to burden those who take the time to read my stuff with a blow by blow of my learning process, but there is a message here.

I spent almost eight years to the day, from the day of my first class at Luther Seminary to the day of my ordination, immersed in the learning process. Learning is a good thing but often takes a lot of time, and takes a lot of practice.

I’ve found that this website is a great resource for gathering cops firefighters and EMS folks to discuss and share our faiths. So as challenging as this techno-stuff is for me, it’s well worth it.

Learning is good!

My Ordination Certificate hangs in my church office.