Cori Johnson leads worship for members of Gethsemane Lutheran Church, Wallace, Mich., on a bus bound for Han- cock, Mich.
nating, hoping and praying,” Johnson said. “We figured out how to have communion in spill-proof containers. We packed sack lunches. One of our members, Bud Light, rewrote the lyrics to ‘On the Road Again’ for pre- lude music.”
Surprise! W
Michigan congregations love a good bus ride By Julie B. Sevig
hen the congregations Cori Johnson serves hear the words “installation service,” they immedi- ately think “bus.”
It’s no wonder. When she was installed as pastor of Gethsemane (Wallace) and St. Stephen (Stephenson) Lutheran churches in Michigan last year, the service of installation was split between the two. “We began the service at Gethsemane and did the whole service through the part where the pastor gets the charges by the font, pulpit and altar,” Johnson said. “Then we recessed everybody out, loaded some on a bus we had rented for the occasion, and had the rest follow in cars [to St. Stephen]. We had a police escort. Then we restarted the installation service there.” A year later, many of those same members hopped
another bus to surprise a son of the Gethsemane congre- gation, D.J. Rasner, at his installation. Rasner was being installed as pastor of Gloria Dei Lutheran, Hancock, near the top of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and in another time zone from his home church, also in the U.P.
So on June 3, St. Stephen held its regular service at 9 a.m., and Gethsemane worshiped at its regular time of 10:30—on a bus moving northwest for about a three- hour ride. “You’re crazy!” was the first thing out of Ras- ner’s mouth when he saw the bus and realized what his home congregation had done. “We did fundraising and sign-up sheets, much coordi-
The bus riders/worshipers confessed and were absolved of their sins, heard Scripture, sang songs from Fortune Lake Lutheran Camp, and “I’m quite certain we made history by reciting the Athanasian Creed on a bus. It was the Sunday of the Holy Trinity, after all,” Johnson said.
“There was an additional ELCA congregation wor- shiping in Norway and Quinnesec that Sunday,” Johnson said, adding that Gethsemane worshiped as it rolled through Iron Mountain, Merriman, Granite Bluff, Rand- ville, Sagola, Channing, Silver Lake, Witch Lake, Hum- boldt Township and South Republic. And when they arrived in the parking lot of Gloria
Dei, Tom Lindblad was the first one off the bus to greet a surprised Rasner, his former confirmation student. “So my churches hear the words ‘installation service’
and immediately think ‘bus,’ ” Johnson said. Sevig is a section editor of The Lutheran.
‘On the Bus with Cori’ (To the tune of “On the Road Again”)
On the bus with Cori. Like a band of gypsies we go down the highway. One big congregation,
insisting that the world keeps turning God’s way. That’s our way.
On the bus with Cori. Just can’t wait to get off this bus with Cori. The life I love is eatin’ casseroles with my friends. And I can’t wait to get on the bus again.
Visit www. gsslutheran. org for full lyr- ics and photos.
August 2012 17
ALVIN ETELAMAKI
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52