St. Barnabas is an ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) congregation, known locally for our music and our food. And our youth program. And our friendliness. And our liturgical worship.
We'll do our best to make you welcome - click here for some answers to those nagging questions that make you feel awkward any time you walk into a new place, like What should I wear? or Where's the restroom?
When you visit, please feel free to walk around the building; it can give you a sense of what's going on, and besides, we kind of like the place and enjoy showing it off. Don't worry about wandering into places you "shouldn't go" - there aren't many of them, and they'll be locked. And in the very rare event you walk in on a meeting in progress, you're more likely to just be offered a cup of coffee than anything else.
And speaking of coffee, please join us in the Ministry Center (that's the large room across the narthex from the sanctuary - the smell of coffee and baked goods should help you find it) around Sunday worship - after the first service and before or after the second service; the baked items range from pretty good to absolutely amazing. And we're Lutherans, so there's always a hot cup of coffee waiting for you.
If you decide to stick around, we'll give you a chance to do just about anything you feel led to do. We're a permission giving church - if you see something you think needs doing, then you don't have to work your way through a lot of committees and authorizing bodies; just get a few people to go in with you, and do it. That's what permission giving means to us. We trust your faith.
That's why you may not see or hear about many specific committee assignments, but every Sunday you'll find lots of sign-up sheets at our Welcome Center - that's the long counter in the narthex with all kinds of flyers, information and, well, sign-up sheets. We have book clubs and men's breakfasts and quilters and all kinds of cooks for this and that and women's programs and kids' programs and music programs and art shows and - whatever you want to add to the mix.
We don't believe much in people hanging around, waiting to see where they fit in. You fit in from the start, so just decide what you want to do, and go for it.
From next Sunday's lectionary:
They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an impure spirit cried out, "What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are - the Holy One of God!"
"Be quiet!" said Jesus sternly. "Come out of him!" The impure spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.
The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, "What is this? A new teaching - and with authority! He even gives orders to impure spirits and they obey him." News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee.
- Mark 1:21-28
Sunday, 9:00 am, 10:30 am Saturday, 5:00 pm Thursday, 7:30 am - Morning Prayer
15600 OLD ROCKFORD RD., PLYMOUTH, MN 55446 • MAP • E-MAIL • CHURCH: (763) 553-1239 • SBCA: (763) 553-3083
