God is a verb

As a literature PhD student, I developed crippling writer’s block. I discovered I could not write one sentence, let alone a two hundred-page dissertation. For months, panic paralyzed me. If I couldn’t write, I would be dismissed from the program, lose my funding, and sacrifice my career. 

In desperation, I turned to my austere thesis advisor. “Please explain,” I said, “how you write.”

“Well,” he replied, “I generally sketch out my argument first and then begin researching …” 

“No, no, no,” I interrupted. “Start at the beginning. What is an argument? How do you get one?” 

He stared, nonplussed, but nevertheless began again. “I start by re-reading the literary text carefully and marking passages that seem significant. I make note of patterns I observe and keep a list of questions about their significance.”

I diligently took notes: 1.) Re-read. 2) Mark passages. 3) Note patterns. 4) List questions. I began following the steps, with no sense of where they would lead. Eventually, through many hours and tears, the steps coalesced into a dissertation, and my writer’s block subsided.

A few years later, something similar happened to my faith. God had been the center of my life, and one day God simply disappeared. Praying felt ludicrous. No amount of Bible-reading would bring him back.

I demanded that my Christian friends prove that God exists. They tried, but I repudiated all their arguments. “That’s not proof,” I’d say. “That could easily be your imagination.” 

Only one person refused to take the bait, a friend who had been my priest during those fraught grad school days. “God is not some abstract theory for you to reason your way into believing,” he scoffed. “God is a verb. God can only be known through a person’s experience of God. If you can’t understand that, why don’t you talk to the woman in hospice I prayed with, or her husband who was crying on my shoulder? Ask them how God is acting in their lives.”

His words stung, but I took notes: 1) Understand God as a verb. 2) Stop attempting to grasp faith intellectually. 3) Listen to others’ stories. 4) Don’t try to debate Father Matt.

I still had no clear concept of God, but that didn’t matter. A god small enough to fit into my brain would not be worth worshipping. I began my journey back to faith just by following the steps, and listening to the stories of others.

At Pentecost, when we visualize the Holy Spirit as flames alighting on the disciples, I always think of Matt’s reminder that “God is a verb.” God ignited the disciples, and from them the fire spread across the whole world, all the way to our congregation. We heard powerful stories of God at work among us during the Wednesdays of Lent. 

Of course, the most powerful story of all is the life of Jesus. In the beginning was the Word. But not a noun, or an adjective. A verb.

Sondra Gates

 

Greeting from Pastor Anne

Is May a holy moment?

Have you ever noticed that we seem to pack in the holidays and stuff to do during those transition months? We all talk about how busy November and December can be, moving from fall to true winter, but it feels like May can get that busy too! With Mother’s Day, Memorial Day, graduations, the start of baseball, the end of school and the nice weather, we seem to go from zero to sixty in May!

Maybe there’s a reason at the end of the fall and the end of the spring we tend to go a little nuts. Maybe we’re already feeling what the planet is doing around us; ushering in big changes, so we feel the need to pile on. Maybe, in May, we’re shaking off the last of the winter blues we all seem to have in February and March, when the weather is still kind of gross.

How ever it happens that we have this busy month, it is here, and we will rush right on through it. Maybe all this busy is a holy moment for us as much as it is for the world around us with its blooming trees and flowers and greening fields. Maybe, in the spring, busy can feel a little holy.

So, as we all rush around doing the million things that seem to crop up in May, may you find a moment to celebrate the holy rush of planet around us waking and working.

In Christ,

Pastor Anne

 

Sunday Evening Worship

Starting in May, on the fourth Sunday of the month we’re going to have evening worship at 4:30 pm. Get home from a weekend away and still have an opportunity to worship! Get tied up in chores and life and summer shenanigans and still have an opportunity to worship! Sleep in and still have an opportunity to worship! J

Worship will include holy communion and all the part of worship that make it feel like a holy moment in our weeks. We plan to meet outside unless the weather has other plans.

So, we’ll see you May 24, June 28, July 26 and August 23!

 

Youth Corner

Ellen Olson, Coordinator of Youth Ministries

 

High School Graduates

There are eight high school students that will be graduating from high school this May.

Jack Blais, Madeline Blais, Haley Crane, Zachary Dickinson, Jesse Farmer, Alexa Henkle, and Cooper McClintock will be graduating from Vinton-Shellsburg and Aiden Parmater will be graduating from North Linn.

The graduates will be recognized during the May 17th worship service with a reception to follow.

God’s blessing to our graduates.

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EWALU Summer Camp

Camp brochures are available on the bulletin board in the fellowship hall. Scholarships are available for all those wishing to attend. Contact Ellen Olson and she will take care of the details.

 

Vacation Bible School

Mark your calendars for a week of FUN. Vacation Bible School will be at Wesley Methodist Church this year (and we are again partnering together with Vinton Presbyterian Church also). We will step through the mist into RAINFOREST FALLS, overflowing with wild waterfalls, towering trees, and colorful creatures. Kids plunge into a lifelong adventure of discovering the nature of God. They will explore what it means to be rooted in relationship with God, their creator, a safe place in life’s storms.

The dates are Sunday, July 12 through Wednesday, July 15 from 6-8 pm for those completing 4-year-old preschool through completion of the fourth grade.

Dinner will be served each evening from 5:15 pm – 5:45 pm for all participants and volunteers. Registration is open at vbspro.events/p/vinton2026

If you would like to volunteer to help in ANY way, please contact Ellen Olson.

We do have a supply list of items that we will need. Please start collecting these household items. We will ask that you bring them to church in June.

            Green Rectangle Plastic Tablecloths

            Green Construction Paper

            Green Napkins

            Craft Rope or Twine

            Green Plastic Cups (any size)

            Colored Tissue Paper

            Craft Moss

            Spray Foam

            Gift Card to Fareway or Vinton Dollar Fresh

 

Summer Meals at Tilford

Hello Summer Food Service Program Help feed kids this summer! Our school district is looking for volunteers who can help with lunches Monday through Friday at Tilford and Shellsburg Elementaries and Garrison Library. Our church will be providing volunteers on Wednesdays in June and July. All kinds of tasks need doing, so don’t worry if you can’t lift a giant soup pot! All volunteers need a background check (forms available from the church office) and training is provided. Sign up on the bulletin board in Augustana Hall or call the church office 319-472-3784.

 

Food for Thought Book Club

Meets on the third Thursday of the month at the Brickside

Brew N Chew at 12:00 noon in Vinton.

May – Sophie’s Heart by Lori Wick

June – Julia’s Hope by Leisha Kelly

July – Against the Tide by Elizabeth Camden

August – Secrets by Robin Jones Gunn

September – The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhorn

October – Unplanned by Alana Terry (#1 in Kennedy Sterns series)

November – A Day to Pick Your Own Cotton by Michael Philips (#2 in the Shenandoah Sisters series)

December – Christmas in Chestnut Ridge by Nancy Naigle (#2 in the Chestnut Ridge series)

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Outreach Ministry

Volunteers are needed to participate in the outreach ministry at Bethlehem. 

On the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Mondays of each month (except holidays) from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm 2 volunteers are needed to deliver Meals on Wheels through HACAP.  Please contact Linda Wallace if you are interested in this ministry.

On the 3rd Thursday of each month, Pastor Anne offers holy communion service at the Lutheran Living Community chapel at 10:00 a.m.  Please come and join her. If you have any questions, please contact the church office or Pastor Anne.

The Vinton Area Ministerial Association churches have a rotating schedule to hold worship services on Sundays during the year at the Viriginia Gay Rehab Center at 1:15 pm and Windsor Manor at 2:15 pm.  Bethlehem will be conducting the services on Sunday, May 3rd & 24th. Please contact the church office if you are interested in this ministry.

On the 4th Thursday of each month, Bethlehem joins with the Lutheran Living Community residents from 1:00-2:00 pm to play dominos and cards in the dining room.  Please come and join in the fun.

 

Benton County Food Pantry

The Benton County Food Pantry could use the following items: Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Broth, Oatmeal Packets, Pancake Mix, Muffin Mix, Side Mixes, Hamburger Helper, and Soup.  Please bring these items to the church and deposit in the container by the north door or monetary donation please send it to: Benton County Food Pantry, PO Box 3,

Vinton, IA 52349 Thank you for your continued support.

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Lutheran World Relief Quilts & Kits

On Sunday, April 12th our congregation blessed 126 quilts, 41 Health Kits, and 28 Baby Layettes. These quilts and kits were delivered on Saturday, April 18th to Trinity Lutheran Church in Cedar Rapids for shipment to Lutheran World Relief in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  They will distribute them as needed in the United States and all over the world.  Thank you for your support of this mission.