Worship, Injured Soldier Benefit... and Pterodactyl

SUNDAY, JANUARY 9 – We awoke this morning to a light blanket of snow covering the ground. From our respective guest quarters we all headed into the town of Albion to worship at Zion Lutheran Church. We chatted with attendees of the early service and then met with around 20 members during the Sunday School hour. They all very graciously introduced themselves and shared some of their history in the area, what they loved about being in a rural setting, and what they looked for in a pastor, and then listened with appreciation to our questions and responses.

We attended the 10:30 worship service, and some of us noted the many representatives of different age groups, including what felt like “half the congregation” who ran to the front for the children’s sermon.

For lunch, we shared pizza and enlightening conversation with eight members of the Luther League, also known as the high school youth group. We told our call stories in brief, then listened to the youth explain to us what it’s like for them to live in a small town, what their goals and dreams are for the future, and what they do for fun. As a demonstration of the latter, they introduced us to the circular interactive games of “Ninja” and “Pterodactyl.” Trying to explain either of them in the space of this blog would require another entry at least… suffice it to say that hilarity ensued and a great bonding moment was shared by all.

Patricia and Alpha join in on playing "Pterodactyl." You'll just have to look it up.

After lunch, interim senior pastor Bob Johnson shared with us some insights and experiences from his 50 years of pastoring.

With the schedule changing nearly each hour as the snow continued to fall, Pastor Mike elected to take us to visit Albion’s funeral home, owned and operated by Ron Levander. Ron and his wife Mary shared with us many of the joys and challenges in the funeral home business, including some of the special considerations found in small towns. Ron tenderly explained that a significant difference between operating this business in a small town versus a large town or city is that in a town like Albion, where “everyone knows everyone,” he will almost always know personally the person who has died and their family and friends. This fact adds another element to the personal service provided by the funeral home that one is hard-pressed to find in an area of high population.

A brief respite back at the church, then a ride through the still-accumulating snow to the village of Petersburg (population approx. 300), where we ate a fried fish dinner at a benefit for Neil Claar, a local US Army soldier who was seriously wounded in Afghanistan by a suicide bomber. Despite the cold and snow (the latter of which was getting to be more than our van could take), the place was packed. Pastor Mike told us that Neil received a hero’s welcome when he finally returned home. Rural people are often proudly patriotic and treating a returning soldier with the respect that they have for Neil is something that they are honored to do.