Summer Schedule Begins

Starting this Sunday, June 7, Life in Christ will begin its summer schedule. We will have our regular service at the Cook County Community Center at 9:00 Sunday mornings, and then we will have an additional service at 11:00 at Heston's Lodge on the Gunflint Trail. If you're vacationing on the Trail, please stop by and join us on Sunday morning!

Year in Review

Yes, it's been quite a while since we posted information to this site! Blame it on busy schedules and a lack of news to report. Hopefully both will improve, but I'm not making any promises at this point!

Meanwhile, here are a few highlights from the last year at Life in Christ Lutheran Church:

• We welcomed some new members, including the Mesenbring, Bockovich and Berglund families.
• For the third summer, we conducted a second Sunday service at Heston's lodge at the end of the Gunflint Trail. We thank Gecas's for hosting our service at their lodge and look forward to having services there again this summer.
• This summer we did Vacation Bible School a little differently - instead of having classes each morning for a week, we had them one morning a week for six weeks. This schedule was much easier on both teachers and parents, and we're planning to do VBS this way again this coming year.
• This fall we began having a Sunday school after church. It's a pleasure to see the little children learning about Jesus, their Savior!
• On the down side, we continue to struggle financially. Our pastor's final compensation in 2008, including benefits, was about 46% of his designated compensation package. So far this year is looking about the same - please keep us in your prayers on this matter!

Summer Potluck

One Sunday, July 29, Life in Christ members from town joined the members who meet at 11:30 at Heston's Lodge on the Gunflint Trail. After the service, everyone gathered for a potluck dinner, loaded with all kinds of great dishes. A short voter's meeting followed the dinner.

Baptism

On Sunday, July 1, 2007, we were happy to welcome Kendra Berglund into the Christian church through baptism. Congratulations to Kendra's parents, David & Heidi Berglund, and to big brother Spencer. We wish all God's blessings to Kendra.

Fire News

Just a quick update - the Ham Lake fire burns on, and the evacuation is still in effect north of County Road 85 on the Gunflint Trail. That includes all the area around Gunflint Lake.

While we were delighted to see the Gecas's in church today, we were sorry that the reason they were in town and not busy with the fishing opener was because they'd been evacuated and their home and livelihood is in very real danger from the fires. We were also sorry to hear that so many of the cabins where our summer guests vacation have been destroyed by the fires. How appropriate that today's readings focused on prayer! Our prayers are certainly with the Gecas's, the Preuss's, and all who've lost property and/or had to leave their homes due to the fire.

Today was another high-danger day as winds were expected to rise and blow the fire towards the homes and businesses on the south shore of Gunflint Lake. We haven't heard yet what happened on the fire today, but the good news is that the winds here near the Lake stayed mild all day. I hope they were as mild up on the Gunflint Trail.

To see lots of fire photos and pictures of the devastation, click here, and please remember our people in your prayers!

Potluck Dinner ends in Flames

On Sunday, May 6, Life in Christ held a potluck dinner after the morning church services. Why? Just because! As usual there was plenty of wonderful food for everyone, but the morning took an interesting twist when people suddenly started coming in and moving tables around.

Soon we found out why they were here - the sheriff had ordered a mandatory evacuation on the Gunflint Trail due to the Ham Lake fire (see http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/articles/index.cfm?id=41732&section=homepage&freebie_check&CFID=33676342&CFTOKEN=40918805&jsessionid=8830a78f60e1654ed4e4 for the latest on this fire) and the Community Center, our meeting place, was needed as a check-in point for evacuees.

Needless to say we finished our dinner and cleaned up as quickly as we could. Meanwhile, our prayers go out to the victims of this fire, which had already destroyed over 40 structures and one business as of this morning, and grew rapidly today.

If you're interested in a first-hand report on the fire, the best I've found is the Boundary Waters Blog. Please keep our members and neighbors in your prayers as we deal with fires, evacuations, and lost properties. We are thankful that so far there has been no loss of life.

Installation Service

On Sunday, January 21, 2007 at 4:00 pm Pastor Dennis Schutte was installed as the full-time pastor for Life in Christ Lutheran Church in Grand Marais, MN. Vicar David Dusek preached and Pastor David Schoessow conducted the service and installation.

The installation service was followed by an excellent meal served by the ladies of Life in Christ. Congratulations, Pastor Schutte!

Call Accepted

On Sunday, January 7, Pastor Dennis Schutte announced that he had accepted the call to serve as pastor at Life in Christ Lutheran Church. We wish him God's blessings as he starts this new phase of his ministry here in Cook County.

Pastor Schutte's installation service is set for Sunday, January 21, at 4:00 pm in the Cook County Community Center in Grand Marais.