<p><span style="color: #3594bc; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong> Serve Sioux Falls</strong></span><br>Serve Sioux Falls<!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->For the past few weeks, OSL members and friends have been signing up to be part of a 60-day citywide service campaign, Serve Sioux Falls: 60 Days to Unite the City, to help transform Sioux Falls with God’s Spirit of love and mercy. The idea is for volunteers to sign up to help with projects, or for teams of volunteers to add their projects to the program. OSL Library volunteers and reading program participants have already completed their project, Laundry of Love; see the OSL Library section in this month’s <i>Intercom </i>for their report. Other OSL projects include VOA, Dakotas: Records Storage Relocation, with team leader Pr. Randy Gehring; and Faith Temple Food Giveaway, with team leader Melissa Nesdahl. Other project may yet come together; keep an eye on weekly bulletin announcements. Contact team leaders or the Church Office, 336-2942, to see about joining a team.<!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --><br><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --><br><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->Serve Sioux Falls will celebrate the 60 days of unity with City Fest, August 26 and 27, featuring local and multicultural speakers and Christian music artists. Children, youth, and family activities will be available as well, all to celebrate what God is doing in Sioux Falls!<!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --><br><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --><br><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->To learn more about Serve Sioux Falls and City Fest, visit <a href="http://servesiouxfalls.com" target="_blank">servesiouxfalls.com</a>.
<p><span style="color: #3594bc; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong>OSL Staffer Becomes U.S. Citizen</strong></span><br><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->At a naturalization ceremony held at Mt. Rushmore on June 15, OSL custodian Duresa Kabato joined nearly 200 other people from 39 countries to become a U.S. citizen. Duresa is on the left in the photo at right, in the white shirt and tie, as the oath is administered.<!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --><br><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --><br><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->Upon Duresa’s return to Sioux Falls, the rest of the OSL staff treated him to lunch to celebrate his achievement. At a local <i>Chinese </i>restaurant. The U.S. is indeed a melting pot!<!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --><br><br><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->Congratulations to Duresa and his wife, Asantu, and their children!
<p><span style="color: #3594bc; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong> OSL Women’s Fall Retreat </strong></span><br>“Mindfulness and Your Faith” is the theme of this year’s Women’s Fall Retreat, on September 22 and 23, at Joy Ranch, near Watertown. Pr. Cindy Hoy will be the event’s facilitator. Cindy is the director of Pastoral and Spiritual Care at Sanford. Music will be provided by Toni LeVasseur. Register before August 1 for a $10 early discount. Register at the Information Center or online at oslchurch.com (starting July 1).
<p><span style="color: #3594bc; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong>Looking Back & Called Forward: ELCA 500 <!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --></strong></span><br><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->In this 500th year of the Reformation, congregations, members, synods and other institutions of the ELCA will be observing the anniversary by a variety of events and activities in the coming months. Many of the local activities will reflect the magnitude of work being done on a national and international scale.<!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --><br><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --><br><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->One such event, Looking Back & Called Forward: ELCA 500, will be held in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, October 31. All are invited to join ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton as she co-hosts the event, which will include speakers and a service, at the Lutheran Church of the Reformation on Capitol Hill. Bishop Eaton will be joined by co-hosts Bishop Bill Gafkjen of the Indiana-Kentucky Synod, ELCA Vice President Bill Horne, and Bishop Dick Graham of the Metropolitan Washington, D.C., Synod. <!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --><br><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --><br><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->The event is open to the public and will be available online via livestream. All are invited to participate and honor the Reformation anniversary as we bear public witness to Christ, who frees us to love and serve our neighbor, and as we look to the future to which God is calling us. <!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --><br><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --><br><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->More details will be available in the near future. Visit <a href="http://ELCA500.org/events" target="_blank"> ELCA500.org/events</a> to stay up-to-date on this and other ELCA 500 events.
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