May 2025: Conferences, Cold, Calgary, Celebration of Life, Changing Addresses, Convocation, and Cleaning

May 2025 is a month brought to you by the letter "C" (as per Sesame Street, a favourite show both now and when I was younger). Let's begin...

C is for Conferences: I had the chance to spend time with pastors and other church leaders from the North American Lutheran Church in Canmore at the end of April and the beginning of May. See last month's blog for more details about this. I also attended the Sabbath Conference in Edmonton with other LCC deacons and volunteers at the end of May. It was good to hear the presentations and catch up with everyone. Here's a photo of our crew at Concordia Lutheran Seminary in Edmonton (they were kind enough to host us) and some photos of our fun times trying to throw some axes.

I also had the opportunity to attend the annual conference of the Canadian Society for the Study of Religion in Toronto later in the month of May. I presented a paper based on some of my current research and also enjoyed many sessions with the other presenters at the event. Traffic in downtown Toronto was crazy but the conference was great! 

C is for Cold: I noticed that I was feeling worse and worse at the conference I was attending at the beginning of May. By the end of that week, I was in the middle of what might be termed a "nuclear" cold / cough / flu. I was planning to attend the Alberta Youth Retreat as well as the LAMP 55th Anniversary event at Bethel Lutheran Church in Sherwood Park that weekend but felt too sick to do either. Very sad to miss these events!! No pictures available....probably for the best!

C is for Calgary: After some rest, I was feeling better and was able to head to Calgary to do a LAMP presentation at Shepherd of Peace Lutheran Church. Pastor Mark R and his congregation were wonderful hosts and it was good see some old friends and make some new ones. Here's some pictures...

C is for Celebration of Life - I was honoured to be able to attend and also to help with music for Bobbi B's Celebration of Life. Bobbi was a youth in the youth group at Bethel where I served for many years. Bobbi faced a lot of health challenges in his life and it was clear at the service that he touched a lot of lives in his attempts to live a full and rich life. Here's a few pictures...including one of me with Pastor Matt Z, Normay W and Herman W. Pastor Matt led the service and Normay and Herman played most of the music for the service. Good friends I've known and loved for a long long time!!

C is for Changing Addresses: As I noted in my blog over the last couple of months, my wife Lynne and I decided to sell our home in Sherwood Park, Alberta and purchase a home in Abbotsford, BC. It made for a busy couple of months and the time finally came to do the "big move". We were so thankful that our sons Josh and Matt were able to take the time to come and help (we also were helped by lots of other family and friends, including our amazing neighbours in Sherwood Park). We were able to do a classic road trip with Josh and Matt as we moved ourselves and most of our stuff down to the coast. Here's a few pics...

C is for Convocation: After spending the weekend moving, I spent a few days with my wife Lynne and her family celebrating her parents' birthdays. I then headed back to Edmonton to attend the Sacred Convocation for Concordia Lutheran Seminary. I was especially glad to be there to cheer on the newly graduated DPS Samantha Neeb and the newly graduated Pastor Martin Jagnow. These are two special people I came to know as they were going through their training and it was fun to cheer them on on this special day. Martin will be serving as pastor at Grace Lutheran Church in Drumheller, AB and Samantha will be serving as Associate Director - Family Ministries out of our synod's national office in Winnipeg. I look forward to hearing more good things about these two and the work they will be doing in their respective fields of service. Here's some pics from that night...including a picture of some of the deacons (and deacons to be) who were able to be there that night (Samantha is the one in the middle).

C is for Cleaning - I spent a few days at the end of the month packing up the last bits and pieces of what was left behind at our house in Sherwood Park. While I did some packing and tidying myself, we also appreciated the help of Tera and her husband as they helped put a little bit of polish on the place. As the house grew emptier and the echoes grew louder, it was a good time to reflect on so many good memories there and so many good years of life in that place. The night before the new owner took possession, I finished up my packing and said goodbye to our house in Sherwood Park. Here's a picture of my last look at the place as I headed out that night.

As I write this, I am on my way to Winnipeg to try and do some community visits in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Our LAMP teams have been making plans to travel to these places this summer and I want to follow up on how things are going. One major issue many of our LAMP communities are facing at this time is forest fires...it's been especially bad this year. Some communities are evacuated currently and others are under threat. Prayers for the communities, for the firefighters, and for all who are trying to help and support them are appreciated!! Rain and cooler weather would also be good to pray for!!