December 2004

God Jul, alle sammen!!
By Magne A. Hatlevik, Congregational Council President

This Christmas we at Mindekirken have so may things to celebrate and be happy about. Plans were going well for our big 2004 Treasure Chest sale in November. But, we had been struggling for months without a usable parking lot and everyone was worried about parking woes on Saturday. Then almost like magic a newly paved parking lot arrived the day before the event. Thank you so much to the City-County Federal Credit Union for coming through for us! The parking lot looks great and we had a great Treasure Chest sale. At the peak of the sale we had 96 cars parked in the lot.

In October, Mindekirken sponsored a very successful Leiv Eriksson International Festival. Due to many donations over the last years, the festival ended with healthy finances. I believe Pastor Dale is writing about this somewhere else, but the LEIF steering committee has approved a substantial donation to a long overdue church organ repair project at Mindekirken. In the not too far future, we will celebrate with a church organ that sounds great.

As I am writing this article, the annual November Lutefisk Dinner is just about sold out. This year we will serve more Lutefisk dinners than ever before. We all know that this is another important tradition at Mindekirken. Thanks to all of you volunteers that make this dinner possible year after year.

As the Christmas season is approaching I know that there are many great events to look forward to. Traditional events like the Santa Lucia Pageant on December 12^th and the special Christmas Eve service at 4pm on December 24^th are my personal favorites.

Life is good at Mindekirken. Yet this Christmas season let us for a moment turn our thoughts to those in our community that are not as fortunate. Let’s keep them in our thoughts and prayers that they too have something to celebrate and be happy about. Let us pray for peace and tranquillity on earth. Merry Christmas to you all and very happy New Year too.

The Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church ·  924 E. 21st St, Minneapolis, MN 55404-2952 ·  (612)874-0716