It started early on Saturday with canned tomatoes, noodles, and freshly baked bread. Our cook, Debbie, worked with volunteers to prepare goulash for 200 people. Once the food was loaded into roasters, another tiny team swung by OSL to pick up the roasters and other food—several hundred pounds of food, in total—and caravan to the Sioux Falls Ministry Center downtown.
There, at the Ministry Center, almost 200 had gathered. This was Church on the Street. The folks who gathered there were all sorts: some church volunteers—both from OSL and elsewhere. Some volunteers and leaders from Church on the Street, including Rebel Hurd, the minister to Church on the Street. And those Rebel calls her “Church on the Streeters,” many of whom have no place to live. It is a mix of old and young, including several women with little children.
Once the food arrived, we transferred the food into the kitchen. We carried heavy roasters through snow flurries. It was only October, but it was already snowing.
For many folks from OSL, it was the first day we turned on our furnaces in earnest. Complained as we walked the dog in the morning, or scraped the frost from our windshields.
For many of the Church on the Streeters, though, it was the first of many nights this year that they passed sleeplessly, hiding from the cold, because they had no house; no car with heated seats; no warm, dry bed.
That morning we had worship. I preached on the prophet Jeremiah’s words to the Israelite exiles. OSL folks sat with, and sang with, Church on the Street regulars. We prayed and shared Holy Communion.
Outside it still snowed. Inside, for just a moment, there was warmth. Peace. Hot goulash with freshly baked buns. Coffee and cream and birthday cake and long conversation in a room where everyone belonged around the table.
—Pr. Justin Kosec
Theology Tapped
Because of Thanksgiving, November’s Theology Tapped was moved to December…Thursday, December 5, to be exact, from 8:00 to 9:30 p.m. at Monk’s House of Ale Repute, 420 E. 8th St.
And because of the Christmas holiday, there will be no Theology Tapped on the fourth Thursday this month.
So if you’re looking for engaging conversation on matters of faith and life in a fun, informal setting, join Pr. Randy on December 5 for the, um, November Theology Tapped. And everything will be back on track in January!
Give a Good Gift!
ELCA Good Gifts is your opportunity to provide critical support to the ministries and programs that mean the most to you and the people you love. It’s just one way you can share God’s love with others in 77 countries around the world!
There will be a Good Gifts Information Table in The Gathering Place West on Sundays in Advent—stop by to learn how you may give a gift of chicks, a rooster, a goat, a piglet, a cow, a fish farm, honeybees, and much more to help individuals and communities around the world. Visit goodgifts.elca.org to learn more.
“Improvisation on a Theme for Reformation”
OSL Sunday and Wednesday School students and their parents had an extraordinary opportunity to learn about music in the Protestant Reformation—specifically, Martin Luther’s influence on music in the church, and the ways that the pipe organ has carried Luther’s music to worship at Our Savior’s today.
On October 20 and 23, OSL Principal Organist Matthew Tylutki led kids and their parents through two stations. The first station was in the Sanctuary balcony, where students undertook a scavenger hunt for information about Luther’s musical legacy. As they were guided through Our Savior’s pipe organ, seeing the inner workings of the large and complex instrument, students also searched for knowledge about Luther’s musical training and compositions, and the Reformation’s effect on music in the church. Kids and parents alike were amazed to explore the mechanics of the instrument, with over 2,000 individual pipes, from a new perspective. After investigating the organ, students received cards with a small range of musical notes, to create their own simple compositions. These compositions later served as the backbone for music played on the organ in worship on Reformation Sunday, “Improvisation on a Theme for Reformation,” carrying on the Luther’s compositional tradition, which students learned about on their scavenger hunt. OSL Communications Director Bill Reynolds created a video featuring the composition; you’ll find it here.
It was remarkable to see students’ excitement as they were welcomed into a space normally reserved for organ technicians and the occasional organist, to learn more about their own church. Several parents even commented that in their time at Our Savior’s they had never seen or experienced the pipe organ from this perspective. This exploratory, hands-on, Reformation-themed event was a great success, and highlighted, for our youngest members, one of the many amazing ministry areas that Our Savior’s has to offer them.
If you think the Orgelkids organ is something you’d like to include in your programming, here at Our Savior’s or elsewhere, Matthew Tylutki is the Orgelkids Team Leader for the South Dakota American Guild of Organists, and he would be happy to help schedule a presentation: 336-2942, ext. 31, or mtylutki@oslchurch.com.
Have Something to Eat!
OSL Food Ministry serves breakfast on Sundays in The Gathering Place, starting at 9:30, and Wednesday supper starting at 5:00. All are welcome!
OSL Food Ministry is entirely supported by freewill donations. Thank you for your $6 contribution to cover expenses. Here are the December menus (subject to change):
Sunday Breakfasts
1 – Bacon, scrambled eggs, roasted potatoes, yogurt, orange juice, donut holes
8 – Egg bake, donut holes, yogurt, orange juice
15 – Bacon, scrambled eggs, roasted potatoes, yogurt, orange juice, donut holes
22 – Cheese Omelets, Sausage Patties, Potatoes, Yogurt, Orange Juice, Donut Holes
29 – No breakfast
Wednesday Suppers
4 – Advent Fair: roast beef, mashed potatoes, green beans, dinner bun and butter, light dessert
11 – Burrito bowls, queso and chips, tossed salad, dessert
18 – Lasagna, tossed salad, bread sticks, dessert
25 – No supper—Merry Christmas!