No More Excuses

Growing up in Wayzata, MN, my family was always active at St. Phillip the Deacon. My dad sang in the choir and my mom helped out on Altar Guild. The Davidson family of seven rarely missed a Sunday and filled the same pew in front on the right side of the sanctuary, ten feet away from the pulpit where the pastor was going to preach the sermon of the day. I helped as an usher, reader, and played on the church softball team.

My parents and my Grandma Mimi were great influences on my faith. Everyone who came in touch with Grandma Mimi thought they were special. Everyone loved Grandma Mimi and she touched and cared for a lot of lives in her 97 years of life. Two of my siblings, as well as myself, lived with Mimi for some period of time. I witnessed her reading the “Portal of Prayers” devotional booklets every morning and reflecting on the past day and the day to come.

Vickie and I lived in Duluth, MN for three years. During our first winter in Duluth we received 141” of snow. It was an all-time record for Duluth and we did not have a snow blower for a very large driveway! As well that winter we experienced -40 degrees F. In year three, I receive a promotion to move back down to the Twin Cities. We sold our house in Duluth in the fall of 1998 and moved into the Holiday Inn Downtown Duluth for three weeks with two little kids. During our extended stay, we played in the pool a lot. We met the Fautsch family and shared with them that we would be moving to Buffalo on December 1, 1997. They invited us to Zion Lutheran Church and we met Pastors Blair and Folkerds and felt very warm and welcomed.

Worshiping gives me hope. I need to attend church and sing with others. It fills my soul and rights the path of my journey with Jesus. I have been involved with ushering, serving communion, Church Council (President, VP, Personnel) Youth Group, Gospel Choir, softball, making baptismal crosses, and men’s Bible study.

During our dismissal, we say “I will Live, Trust, and Serve Jesus Christ our Lord.” The word Serve always sticks out to me and asks the question, “Am I Serving” or “What can I do to serve.” So many times in life I have been asked to serve or help, and I decline because of lack of confidence, impressions, or internal pressures. It is taking the first step that is the hardest. Once you take the step you learn everything that you were afraid of has no bearing on how you serve.

I was asked by Sherilyn if I would be willing to help out with the video tech position. At first, I was making all kinds of excuses of why I couldn’t do it. Was I really the right person? How much time is this going to take? Am I skilled enough? But the phrase “I will Trust, Live, and Serve” rang in my head. So I agreed and took my first step and all my excuses and fears disappeared.

Much of the position is cutting and pasting the material into the software program. It is helpful to have some understanding of how computers work but not more than one can teach themselves. At times, there are several things going on and you have to learn how to stay calm. And there will be times when things go wrong, and you need to accept / laugh / learn from them and move on. I need to learn to give myself some grace as I know I will make some mistakes and learn from them.

I enjoy getting to know the staff and pastors better. I enjoy contributing my time and energy to the services. I enjoy thinking about and better understanding the gospel and trying to apply it to my life. I enjoy the challenges to solve a problem in a tight time frame. I enjoy my time in a quiet sanctuary preparing for the services and listening to the organist or choirs practice. I enjoy the flexibility to fit the preparation time into my schedule as I travel often during the week.

My faith has grown in the area of acceptance of others and refraining from judgment. I often ask myself “What would Jesus Do”. The answer to most of my questions is he would accept those that we often shed/judge/dismiss. He would wash their feet, cloth and feed them, and invite them to follow.

Vickie and I have been married for 27 years and have 2 children Jacob (25) and Malorie (23). Jake graduated from SDSU Brookings, SD with a mechanical engineering degree. He is employed by Polaris Industries. Malorie graduated from UMD with an Elementary and Special Education degree. She is looking for her first teaching position. Vickie works in the BHS activities office.

Rediscovering Faith Life

Jameson grew up attending Ostmark Lutheran Church, which is between Watkins and Litchfield.

I think most of my faith comes from the New Testament and the books of the Apostles. It is a reminder that it is important to be part of something bigger than yourself and provides a basic reminder to treat people decently. My favorite hymn is probably Amazing Grace. Something about the melody and the words is inspiring and it also reminds me of my mother.

My mother was very active at Ostmark and made sure we attended Sunday worship, Sunday School and Vacation Bible School. She was very traditional in her religious views and practices and came from a large family that had also been active in the church.

While my mom was the traditional side, my dad was a little more philosophic. He had a very difficult experience during WWII and I think there were parts of the Bible he found comforting. He wasn’t open about his religion but attended church regularly and read the Bible occasionally. What I really saw in him was his personality and complete openness with people. He didn’t judge people for how they lived or what they owned. He believed trust, honesty and friendship were the best measures of a person’s character.

Ostmark is a small congregation so the Christmas programs involved everyone and we had it in the evening so it was dark outside and they could dim the lights for the scene with the shepherds. After the program, they would give us a bag of hard candy and peanuts. It was really a traditional program with Mary and Joseph and the Manger scene. Every year it ended with Silent Night.

Jameson works as Marketing Director at Ameriprise Financial in downtown Minneapolis, where he has been employed for over 24 years. He is married to Stacia, a therapist at Family Counseling in Buffalo, and they have three sons, Alec (20), Brady (18), and Brock (14).

Most of our hobbies center around our boys’ activities including baseball, football, basketball, tennis, hunting and fishing. We like to travel with the family and, when time allows, Stacia and I like to walk.

After many years of focusing on a career and raising children, Jameson rediscovered his faith life when his sons were young.

The boys really got us back into being involved with a congregation. Like most new parents we suddenly realized that we wanted our children to have the same opportunity to learn about their faith that we had growing up.

They were members of Advent Lutheran Church in Maple Grove before moving to Buffalo, and looked for an ELCA congregation that offered a good children’s ministry, and, after attending Zion for over 10 years, the family became members two years ago.

We really meant to far sooner than we did but it was one of those “get around to it” items on the list. It was when Pastor Luke asked us to join the Fellowship Committee that we thought it might be a good time to become members.

Zion seemed to have a lot of options and flexibility and the 8:30 service worship was very similar to what we had grown up with back in Litchfield. Having grown up with a church that had been a part of my family since my grandparents settled near Watkins in the early nineteen teens, it has been challenging to find another place that feels like home, but over the years we’ve kind of grown into a place at Zion.

Jameson served on Zion’s Branding Task Force in 2013.

I volunteered because it looked interesting and I thought my background in marketing would be useful to the group.

Jameson and Stacia both serve on the Fellowship Committee, and the entire family ushers as part of the 3rd Sunday Welcome Crew.

Like many of the parents with children in confirmation, I was looking for ways to get my boys service hours. We kind of just fell into ushering. Kevin Kuhns, who I met through Cub Scouts, leads the 3rd Sunday crew, and I’ve just made that my Sunday to help out. It’s fun to be able to greet everyone, spend time with the other volunteers, learn more about the church and congregation, and get my family engaged with the church.

His favorite thing about Zion is all the numerous opportunities to get involved.

Whether it is simply ushering on the third Sunday crew, folding clothes for the Blessing Closet or any of the various service projects, there are more things to get involved with than hours in the day.

My hope for Zion’s future is that it remains a vibrant part of the Buffalo community and that it continues to demonstrate the Christian actions of caring for others and giving back to the community.

‘Living God’s Call’ is about being part of something bigger than myself and trying every day to be respectful of other people and try and make life a little easier for others. I am honored to serve on the Church Council to help Zion remain a vibrant part of the Buffalo community and that it continues to demonstrate the Christian actions of caring for others and giving back to the community.

 

Jameson Wakefield

Part of Something Bigger

Jameson Wakefield was elected in December 2019 to serve on Zion’s council from 2020-2022.

Jameson grew up attending Ostmark Lutheran Church, which is between Watkins and Litchfield.

I think most of my faith comes from the New Testament and the books of the Apostles. It is a reminder that it is important to be part of something bigger than yourself and provides a basic reminder to treat people decently. My favorite hymn is probably Amazing Grace. Something about the melody and the words is inspiring and it also reminds me of my mother.

My mother was very active at Ostmark and made sure we attended Sunday worship, Sunday School and Vacation Bible school. She was very traditional in her religious views and practices and came from a large family that had also been active in the church.

While my mom was on the traditional side, my dad was a little more philosophic. He had a very difficult experience during WWII and I think there were parts of the Bible he found comforting. He wasn’t open about his religion but attended church regularly and read the Bible occasionally. What I really saw in him was his personality and complete openness with people. He didn’t judge people for how they lived or what they owned. He believed trust, honesty and friendship were the best measures of a person’s character.

Ostmark is a small congregation so the Christmas programs involved everyone and we had it in the evening so it was dark outside and they could dim the lights for the scene with the shepherds. After the program, they would give us a bag of hard candy and peanuts. It was really a traditional program with Mary and Joseph and the manger scene. Every year it ended with Silent Night.

Jameson works as Marketing Director at Ameriprise Financial in downtown Minneapolis, where he has been employed for over 24 years. He is married to Stacia, a therapist at Family Counseling in Buffalo, and they have three sons, Alec (20), Brady (18), and Brock (14).

Most of our hobbies center around our boys’ activities including baseball, football, basketball, tennis, hunting and fishing. We like to travel with the family and, when time allows, Stacia and I like to walk.

After many years of focusing on a career and raising children, Jameson rediscovered his faith life when his sons were young.

The boys really got us back into being involved with a congregation. Like most new parents we suddenly realized that we wanted our children to have the same opportunity to learn about their faith that we had growing up.

They were members of Advent Lutheran Church in Maple Grove before moving to Buffalo, and looked for an ELCA congregation that offered a good children’s ministry, and, after attending Zion for over 10 years, the family became members two years ago.

We really meant to far sooner than we did but it was one of those “get around to it” items on the list. It was when Pastor Luke asked us to join the Fellowship Committee that we thought it might be a good time to become members.

Zion seemed to have a lot of options and flexibility and the 8:30 service worship was very similar to what we had grown up with back in Litchfield. Having grown up with a church that had been a part of my family since my grandparents settled near Watkins in the early nineteen teens, it has been challenging to find another place that feels like home, but over the years we’ve kind of grown into a place at Zion.

Jameson served on Zion’s Branding Task Force in 2013.

I volunteered because it looked interesting and I thought my background in marketing would be useful to the group.

Jameson and Stacia both serve on the Fellowship Committee, and the entire family ushers as part of the 3rd Sunday Welcome Crew.

Like many of the parents with children in confirmation, I was looking for ways for my boys to get their service hours. We kind of just fell into ushering. Kevin Kuhns, who I met through Cub Scouts, leads the 3rd Sunday crew, and I’ve just made that my Sunday to help out. It’s fun to be able to greet everyone, spend time with the other volunteers, learn more about the church and congregation, and get my family engaged with the church.

His favorite thing about Zion is all the numerous opportunities to get involved.

Whether it is simply ushering on the third Sunday crew, folding clothes for the Blessing Closet or any of the various service projects, there are more things to get involved with than hours in the day.

‘Living God’s Call’ is about being part of something bigger than myself and trying every day to be respectful of other people and try and make life a little easier for others. I am honored to serve on the Church Council to help Zion remain a vibrant part of the Buffalo community and that it continues to demonstrate the Christian actions of caring for others and giving back to the community.

All Church Council Members

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Those Who Sing Pray Twice

Sue and I met while attending college at Concordia in Moorhead, MN, back in 1968. We must have had the right amount of similarities and differences to get married and this year we celebrated our 48th wedding anniversary. We are blessed with two daughters, six granddaughters, one grandson, and rumors of an arrival of a “great” next spring.

A shared similarity for Sue and me was our upbringing in the Lutheran faith along with its strong choral traditions. With missionary uncles and cousins, plus a brother and nephews as Lutheran pastors, and a long history of Toso’s attending Concordia College, all things Lutheran from baptism on was inevitable for me. I am confident that this has always been a blessing for both of us.

Zion became our church home when we moved to Buffalo over 40 years ago. We greatly appreciated the variety of ways we could be actively involved with our new church family. I have served on the Church Council and Personnel Committee, Sue with Harvest of Hands and other groups, but both of us would say that our long involvement with the Senior Choir has been our biggest blessing.

Those who sing pray twice,

is attributed to St. Augustine, and Martin Luther’s further comment on this was

…that the devil flees before the sound of music almost as much as before the Word of God…

For me, these remarks remind me of the many rewards of being a part of Zion’s Senior Choir. It has been great to have a closer family within our church family to have as choir teammates, working together to musically complement the gospel lessons and glorify God. I believe the texts in the liturgy, hymns and songs we learn as a congregation and share as a choir can help uplift all of us to meet life’s challenges and inspire us as we respond worshipfully to God’s love.

Hopefully, the choral traditions at Zion will always be an important part of our congregation’s worship and more will consider adding their voices to the Senior Choir. We do have a few excellent soloists, but our greatest need is more supporting voices during all or part of the year.

Jim Bischoff

My wife, Mary and I have lived in Buffalo for 17 years. We raised our children here (Emily, Elizabeth, and Mike). Early in our marriage we had lived in South Minneapolis, and had belonged to a Catholic church there. When we first moved to Buffalo, we joined St. Francis parish. But our eldest child shared a locker with Amanda Burgdorf, and the rest, as they say, was history. We met and became friends with Sherilyn and Andy, and haven’t looked back since.

Before becoming members, we were impressed with the feeling of warmth and welcome you can get just walking in the doors at Zion. I can’t say I know the Bible very well, but the people I know in this my church community are some of the best, most upstanding people I know, and are some of my very best friends. So, when I was invited to join the church council, I didn’t have to take too much time to decide (Mary was kind of pushing me too, I may add). The chance to give back to a community filled with people I genuinely love is a pleasure. I hope I can measure up.

  • Jim was appointed to the Church Council to fill the vacancy left by Lora Nichols when she became a staff member.
  • Jim was reelected in December 2020 to serve on Zion’s council from 2021-2023.

All Church Council Members

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Be Still

Nancy was elected to Zion’s council in December 2018 and will serve from 2019-2021.

My name is Nancy Dehmer, and I have been a member of Zion for 30 years. My husband Rick and I moved to Buffalo in 1985. We have three grown children who all went through their Christian education at Zion. I retired in 2014 after a long career with the Buffalo school district. My career as an educator with the ECFE program gave me the flexibility to work and be home with our children. I also served on the Buffalo school board for a number of years.

My great grandparents immigrated from Germany and farmed in the Corcoran area. They were one of the founding families of St. John’s Lutheran in Corcoran. My parents were faithful members of that same church, and I watched them participate in the life of that church in a variety of ways. It was our second home, and I remember those days with fondness.

My own faith journey continued as I left home and attended college. I felt drawn to reading the Bible and trying to understand its meaning. As a young mom, I connected with a group of women who formed a Bible study. Each week we brought all of our children to one of our homes as we gathered to study and pray.

Zion has provided me with opportunities to grow in my faith and meet friends who share the same love for Jesus, and a heart for service.

One of my favorite Bible verses is

“Be still, and know that I am God.”

It gives me a sense that I do not have to figure life out on my own, and that I need to spend time listening to God’s direction.

I have especially enjoyed serving on the Women’s Ministry Committee these past five years. The women in this group have taught me much about faith, and selflessness. I also enjoy making crepes for the Harvest of Hands event, serving communion, and greeting or ushering.

During my time on the church council, I look forward to getting to know other people in the congregation and being a part of the decision-making process as we hire a new pastor, and move forward in our mission to serve Christ in new and unimagined ways.

Dale Schmidt

Dale was elected to the Zion Council in 2022 to serve a one-year term (2023).

Dale is a life-long member of Zion and has many childhood and adult memories of Zion

Somehow the annual Christmas Eve service has a way of flooding my heart with many of them. Zion is special for me because I have been able to be a part of the continuation of a church that my ancestors were instrumental in forming, 150 years ago. My mother started me on my faith journey. She has taught me to do the right things and to keep God as the center of my life.

One of my favorite Bible verses is from Proverbs, Chapter 3: 5-6

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways submit to Him, and he will make your paths straight.

I try to be the best person I can in everyday life, trusting the Lord will guide me through this journey of life on this earth.

Dale has served in the nursery, as a confirmation guide, as an usher, and on Pastor Ted’s Call Committee. He was elected to Zion’s Church Council in December of 2017 for a three-year term.

During the call committee experience, I learned a lot about the workings of the ELCA and its leaders. That was very informative to me, and something I wouldn’t have learned without serving in that ministry. It was during the time of a somewhat difficult transition in the church and after spending so many stable years for the majority of my life, I felt a calling to help restore the family of Zion.</.blockquote>

My newest experience, being on the Church Council, is a way I can serve, get to know other members better and appreciate their individual gifts they bring themselves to the table.

Dale’s hope for Zion is that we continue to grow in numbers, faithfulness, and service.

I appreciate our Vision Statement which we repeat every Sunday reminding us to take our faith with us, showing kindness and generosity so others can see God at work through me.

Dale has been married to Terri for 23 years, and they have four children: Ellen (22), Alexis (21), Trevor (17), and Spencer (16). He is self-employed as the owner of Schmidt Electric Service, Inc. in Buffalo, and enjoys hunting and fishing.

All Church Council Members

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YES, Harvest of Hands is Worth It!

What does the Harvest of Hands committee do all year long and why do they do it? Harvest of Hands started 40 years ago this year. The event started small with a few women wanting to do something extra. Over the years, it has grown and changed with the times. Volunteers have come and gone. Volunteers meet the second and fourth Tuesday morning and Wednesday evening to create crafts for the annual event the first weekend of November.

Why is it Worth it?

  • Because our packing events feed people around the world.
  • Because we are able to donate a significant amount of money to the Buffalo food shelf.
  • Because we are able to donate a significant amount of money to Heifer International through Baby Animal Fair.
  • Because we help educate children about helping others and that makes them feel better about themselves.
  • Because it feels great to see how many people come out to help with annual events.
  • Because we cannot stand the thought of being a mother with no food for our children.
  • Because we want to be example to our children and grandchildren.
  • Because it makes us feel good.
  • Because we like getting our families involved so we can “give back” together.
  • Because we get the chance to work with other wonderful people who also have a passion to feed the hungry.
  • Because we love to do crafts and they are even more fun when we are doing them for something meaningful.
  • Because we love looking forward to getting together with friends to do crafts, to visit, and (do not forget) to have treats.
  • Because when we diet, we realize how bad being hungry feels.
  • Because We Make a Difference!

The Harvest of Hands craft groups meet at 9am on Tuesday mornings February 13 and 27, and after Lenten worship (around 7:30pm) on Wednesday evenings February 14 and 28 to work on creating cards and jewelry.
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God is Real

Angie has been a member of Zion her whole life, and now attends alongside over 70 close family members.

My ancestors were founders of Zion Lutheran Church in 1866.  Zion at the time was called Carlslund Lutheran Church. Zion is a great place to grow in faith and now I am seeing the faith growing through my own children here; which is a really cool to see.

Growing up I did not always want to wake up on Sunday mornings to go to church but my parents almost always made me go.  Thank you, Mom and Dad!  Now I look forward to going to church and listening to the sermon to see how I can connect with the word of God.  While at church there were a lot of people around me that inspired me from family, pastors, leaders and everyone in the congregation.  Thank you Zion members.  The biggest inspiration that everyone at Zion has had on me was being taught how to pray and being taught to have faith in God.

I realized at a very young age that God is real and is always walking alongside us at all times.  Don’t get me wrong everyone has hard times in their life; which I have had as well.  I have just always looked/prayed for God’s guidance and strength in the hardest times of life.

She fondly remembers her time as a confirmation student at Zion.

It was a way to get together with friends my age and also talk about God which was not always the number one subject outside of church with peers at that age.  I believe this was a very important part of my faith journey and where my true faith started to build as an adult in church.

Her favorite hymns are On Eagle’s Wings and Hallelujah.

I have heard On Eagle’s Wings many times at funerals, which is a sad time for everyone, but when I hear this song it is very reassuring that there is a heaven and we will all be comforted by God there and here on earth. I like Hallelujah because of the calm feeling I get when listening to it and it also makes me think of how much we should praise the lord every day for the gifts that have been given to us.

Angie has served as a confirmation small group leader for two groups, a Sunday school teacher, a VBS volunteer, and worked in the nursery.

I tell people that Zion is great, we have a great children’s Sunday school along with a lot of activities for kids and it is an awesome place to be.  We also have great pastors that send powerful messages to everyone.

Helping people experience the joy of life in Christ by Living God’s Call in my eyes means to help everyone you see no matter what they may look or act like.  Everyone is a child of God and everyone should treat others as God’s children no matter whom they are.  I also help people by expressing faith and let it be known it’s okay to open up to God anytime.

She was a member of the 2012 Mission Jamaica team, and is returning this year with the 2018 team.

I went into my first trip to Mission Jamaica not knowing what to expect.  I went with a lot of people but my parents (Russ & Terry), sister (Missy) and friend (Laurel) most influenced my decision to go.  Once I got to Jamaica it was a beautiful hotel with a nice beach view, the perfect look of a vacation setting.

I had been told that the church service was long.  We got to the church on Sunday morning and sang for a while and then it came time to greet everyone around you.  At Zion we do greet those who are around us, at their church it means greeting everyone in the church.  We spent about 20 minutes greeting everyone and then started the church service.  We were at church for more than two hours.  It was a great experience with a great sermon.  I believe everyone should experience this amazing service at least once in their life.

The next day we went to the clinic site and it was at that point I knew that God was calling each of us to be there.  The vacation scene was no longer around and it was a lot of people in need of care from all of us.  I am truly blessed to have the experience of helping people in need even though I am not a doctor there was still plenty for me to do to help.

The most fulfilling part of my faith journey was devotion time at the end of the night on my last Mission Jamaica trip.  It was an amazing experience to be surrounded by so many people who are connected with God at one time.

I am looking forward to what God has planned for me this year at Mission Jamaica. My top two reasons that I am going to Mission Jamaica again are to help the people in need there and to help myself as well.  When helping others it does make me feel good inside.  Also the people who are on this mission with me are great people to be around and it does help me grow even more in faith.  I am so excited to experience Mission Jamaica again.

Angie currently lives in Buffalo with her husband Darroch, and three children Savannah, Amelia, and Hudson.  She is the owner of Hair Haven Salon and also picks up some shifts at Kids Haven when needed.

School of Hope Library

Zion’s Legacy Funds at Work in Zambia

The School of Hope library will soon be ready for books and library furniture. The walls are up and the roof is on.  The inside plastering is almost finished so it can be painted. The floor needs to have the final smooth layer applied and electricity and lights need to be installed. The inside is projected to be done and painted by the middle of January.  In mid-January, a U.S. librarian is going to be at the School for six weeks to catalog the books and set up a system for shelving them.  A church team of 13 people will be going on January 16 to help put together all the metal shelves on the container and to help shelve the books.

The indoor bathrooms and painting the outside will be the last part to get finished. The school’s resident artist, Felix, may be commissioned to paint a mural on the outside of the library.

Kathleen and Benedict Schwartz, the CEO’s of the Village and School of Hope (All Kids Can Learn International) are very grateful for the funding Zion has provided for building the library and for the books that Zion sent over on the container.  More pictures will follow as they complete the interior and add the books.

The Hope College of Education, a new part of All Kids Can Learn International, is now taking applications for the 2018 year.  The new library is a key factor in making this opportunity possible for the teachers of Zambia.  Hope college will offer education classes to fulfill further government teacher certification requirements. Check out the college website at hopeedu.org.

It is exciting to see and hear about the completion of the library and the preparation for it to be ready to be used.

Please continue to keep this project in your prayers.  We know God can use this library as a blessing to all who enter its doors.