Day Three: Confirmation, Confirmation, Worship, Pizza & Pipes

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Day three of our visit was spent at Shepherd of the Valley.  We arrived at 8:30 AM and left at 7:30 PM.  What a great day!

The morning was spent preparing for two confirmation worship services with 80 young people. There was breakfast, rehearsal, photos, and a light lunch.


Then two worship services, another light lunch between.  Here's John congratulating confirmands after the services.


The SOTV pastors are a fun group to hang out with. From the left, that's Pastor Diane Sponheim, Pastor Chris Smith, Pastor John, Pastor Duane Paetznick, and Pastor Mary Lund. 


On the left his Dave Johnson, who works with Bega Kwa Bega and the Agriculture Institute in Iringa.  Dave's granddaughter was confirmed today.  He and Pastor John have a lot of Tanzanian friends in common.


John with three of today's confirmands.


Between confirmation services and the regular 5 PM worship service, John had a conversation with Pastor Duane, who explained the intricacies of how SOTV pastors serve communion, which John will be doing tomorrow at 11.  There's a diagram, you have to remember which station is yours, there is the regular pita bread or the gluten free option, and you have to watch for clues as to whether a child is there to receive communion or a blessing. So many things to remember!


We worshiped at 5 PM and then greeted congregation members in the narthex.


A warm welcome!


Look at the monitor screen above John's shoulder.  For the first couple days, he was startled when he walked into the narthex and realized his picture was on the screen.

Yes, we have been eagerly awaiting your visit!


Pizza was our fifth meal of the day (breakfast at home, brunch with the confirmands, two lunches, pizza supper). Pizza and Pipes is a family friendly tradition since Shepherd of the Valley installed a wonderful new pipe organ several years ago.  Kids (and some adults) come in costume, enjoy pizza, and then a short program of spooky organ music performed by the extraordinary Mark Ertl, SOTV's Director of Worship and Music.


Pastor Chris and Pastor Mary led the costume parade.



To be completely honest, the dry ice from the fog machine irritated John's eyes by the end of the evening.

But the organ music was fabulous!

At home, we selected something RED to wear for Reformation Sunday tomorrow, and John went to bed.

Tomorrow:  Worship at 8:30, Adult Forum at 9:45, Worship and serve communion at 11. We'll spend a quieter family afternoon, and then enjoy a turkey dinner with guests.  There's some chance we may watch a bit of the Vikings/Packers football game.

We are grateful for another wonderful day!


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