I just came across a news article written about the tenth annual District convention.  This one took place almost 100 years ago at the Mouse River Park near Tolley, ND in June 1924.  This included both Montana and North Dakota with more than 100 pastors, teachers, lay delegates and visitors in attendance. The starting time was delayed by an hour thanks to the road conditions from the heavy rains the day before.  The attendees were assigned sleeping quarters in either the big hall or in tents set up outside. The rain never let up, yet Rev. P Freiburger and the Tolley congregation were efficient hosts serving meals every day that were deemed “excellent”. The convention started on Wednesday and ran through Monday.  

     Nine new congregations were accepted by the Synod.  President Rev. T. Hinck retired and was honored for all his hard work and the progress made in bringing Lutheranism to both states. Rev. J. P. Klausler was elected as the new District president.  The report from Montana named 24 congregations and 63 preaching stations. The report from North Dakota named 32 churches and 24 parishes (not sure why preaching stations not given). The worship service on Sunday was conducted in the German language and ended with the pastors’ chorus. Monday discussion was on the finances for the District.  An invite from Kronthal, ND, in June 1925 for the next convention was given and then singing and prayers ended the convention.  (Kronthal was 14 miles north of Beulah, ND, and their church merged back in 1962 with Beulah).  

Now compare that with our more recent conventions!

     We tend to complain about our winter weather and how cold it gets here in North Dakota.  But can you imagine how cold it felt 140 years ago without all our modern technologies?  

     Look at the picture of Rev. T. Hinck.  He came to North Dakota while still a theological student. He’s dressed in a wild-looking buffalo-skin overcoat, that was the height of fashion out east.  It also was a very necessary coat to keep him warm in our North Dakota stormy and cold weather.  One of his first travels was by buggy and horses to preach near Hillsboro, with a settler in another buggy guiding him through the heavy fog.  Soon both Rev. Hinck and the settler had lost the path completely.  They stopped and Rev. Hinck held both teams of horses while the other man searched for the path.  The horses looked around, saw what looked like a buffalo and took fright.  They ran away leaving both Rev. Hinck and the settler to have to walk to their destination in the foggy weather.  The horses were located several hours later at a nearby farm. Luckily Rev. Hinck was a determined and tough pastor who returned to North Dakota and became our first District president.  

Stay warm everyone!

     Have you ever thought about all the various talents people have in your church?  Did you think about your pastor having more talents than just leading his flock? This is a wonderful example of woodworking done by Pastor Patrick O’Brien for St John’s Lutheran church in Oakes.  It’s made of solid red oak with burgundy velvet backing and is 11 feet tall and has eight-foot-wide arms.  There is more than 40 feet of rope lighting attached to the cross back for dramatic effect.  This was hung in the church back in July 2000.  What a beautiful sight! 

     I’m guessing back 125 years ago the pastor did everything in the church from shoveling snow to keep the building warm to fixing anything that broke.  Now our pastors usually have people who do the janitorial work, the building repairs and other necessary work.  Do you know if your pastor has any special hobbies or talents that he could do for the church besides preaching?  Perhaps that special talent will bring him joy and relieving some stress from his regular duties! 

When we think about past Christmas programs, there were always lots of children. In more recent years so many churches have only 2-5 kids in Sunday school.  Well, in 1999, St. Paul, St. Thomas, still wanted to have a Christmas Eve program but with only 5 children, how could they do it?  Sunday school teacher Valerie Heuchert had an idea. She contacted parents, grandparents and friends and more than two dozen people participated in the service. The church was filled to capacity on Christmas Eve as people came for the wonderful program.  This might be an idea for some of our small churches today to keep traditions alive!