All Pastor Ted Vanderpan Updates

By Pastor Ted You can have it all! Even if we haven’t heard those exact words, you and I have heard the message from the world in which we live. Jesus once told his disciples, “Those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will [...]

“He is not here, he has risen.” Luke 24:5   Just think how important time is to us. Not just how we use it, but what time it is. Each one of us, throughout the day, frequently checks to see the time. Every one of us has a timepiece of some sort. Many of us [...]

A few years ago while I was in college (Ok, it was 28), I read a little book that made quite an impression on me. The content of that book has come back to my mind many times over the years. The name of the book was My Heart – Christ’s Home. An excerpt from [...]

November and giving thanks are inseparably linked together in my conscious and subconscious mind. Thanksgiving is about giving thanks for all we have been given. Thanksgiving doesn’t just happen. Thanksgiving takes planning, doesn’t it? For Thanksgiving to happen we need to coordinate schedules, get the shopping done, do prep for the meal, time the meal, [...]

One of my favorite times of the year is coming up! I enjoy the fall’s cooler days and crisp nights. I enjoy the changing colors of the trees, shrubs and grasses even though it is for a brief period of time. I enjoy the new set of activities that each fall brings. I also enjoy [...]

by Pastor Ted Stepping Into God’s Tomorrow is the first in a series of messages outlining the continuation of Zion’s life as a congregation! I am excited to share with you the next step of our congregation’s visioning process beginning on Homecoming Sunday, September 11. This fall, Pastor Luke and I will share messages on [...]

You’ve been there. You know how it happens. You miss lunch so you grab a snack to hold you over.  It’s only one cookie (Oh, alright – two cookies) which has many fewer calories than a whole meal. It takes the hunger craving away and so you consider it “mission accomplished.” Not only did you [...]

By Pastor Ted I enjoyed some vacation time during the month of June. I took a weekend off for my daughter’s graduation from high school. I took a few days off to do house projects to get our house ready to sell. We have our first ever Vanderpan Family Reunion the last weekend of June. [...]

by Pastor Ted I have heard several people comment that Easter is late this year – Sunday, April 24. Christmas is always December 25, but Easter moves each year. Every year Easter is on the first Sunday following the first full moon after the Spring Equinox (March 21). Easter can be as early as March [...]

by Pastor Ted Vanderpan Psalm 1 says that those who rely on the Lord “are like trees planted by streams of water…” So often we think we can go it alone in life. Inside each of us is an independent streak that wants to be set free from any kind of restraint. It is that [...]

by Pastor Ted Vanderpan Happy New Year! I pray that your 2011 will be filled with God’s presence and peace no matter what circumstances the year brings your way. I love the natural inclination to look both backward and forward at this time of year. Most of us reflect on the year completed. We think [...]

by Pastor Ted Vanderpan Fall is filled with traditions. The beginning of the school year brings the start of fall sports. For many of us the fall harvest is an important part of our background. For some of us fall means a trip to a local apple orchard, pumpkins, or bunches of corn stalks on [...]

by Pastor Ted Vanderpan This month, I invite you to begin thinking of 2011 as a year of visioning at Zion. You will have the opportunity to help shape our congregation‘s vision and where we will be heading in the next 5 to 7 years. One of things Zion was looking for in its new [...]

by Pastor Ted Vanderpan Zion is a large church – that is what I have been writing about in this space for a couple of months. One of the ways life is different in a large church is the way the staff functions. People who study these kinds of things – how churches work at [...]

The topic of church size has come up in a number of conversations around Zion over the last month. I recently attended a conference for Senior Pastors of larger ELCA churches. The reason the ELCA brings these Senior Pastors together is because the dynamics of leading a larger church are quite different than the dynamics [...]