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SAYING GOOD-BYE Pastoral Care to Those Whose Congregation is Closing Reflections from Internship,
January, 1995. I know when you read this, Christmas 1994 will already be a memory, but I want to tell you about Christmas at Vang. Vang Lutheran Church is the country church in the Fairdale parish. I drive 10 miles out on the prairie every Sunday when I'm done in town and lead worship for anywhere from 8-20 people. Vang Church closes for the winter and so it is their tradition to celebrate Christmas about the 3rd Sunday in Advent. (Depending on the weather). This year the weather was cold but clear and the road was open, so Christmas came to Vang! There are only 4 children in the Vang congregation. Ages 17, 9, 3 and 1. When they told me they combine a Christmas program with their Christmas worship I had a moment's hesitation. but then I found out that EVERYONE takes a part in the Christmas program - not just the children. And so we had readings - we had music and candles and we heart the old, old story told once again in this little church on the prairie of North Dakota. Our 3 year old even froze when it came time for her to say the piece her sister (not I) had so carefully taught her - making is a TRUE Christmas program! After it was over the tables were set up in the sanctuary (it was too cold downstairs) and we feasted on wonderful food, wonderful conversation and shared cards and gifts and stories of Christmases past. Outside the wind blew the now in never-ending waves across the prairie and, except the for cards parked along the side of the road, it could have been just about any year in the last hundred. Christmas came to Vang Church just as it has for nearly ALL of those last hundred years. Inside we were warm and fed and happy - filled with the wonder of the season and the goodness of being surrounded by our Christian community, as small as it has come to be. As I left, I was reminded by the tombstones standing tall and sturdy against the snow in the churchyard that we were also surrounded by a larger Christian community - one that had celebrated Christmas at Vang in the past and had handed that heritage down, one generation at a time until we, in this time and place, held it in our hands. Thanks be to god for the gift of Christian community - in EVERY time and place - and for the rich heritage of faith that has been passed through the ages. May we never take for granted the privilege that is ours in passing it on to those who come after us! Sandy |
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