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St. Sylvesters Lutheran Church

11/1/2015

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As calm as I try to appear there are many things that make me nervous. Preaching is not usually one of these things, but this week was different. This week I was to preach All Saints Sunday in Kimberley, South Africa. This was a congregation I did not know at all, in a country I'd been in for six days, and Afrikaans was their primary language. I was more than a little nervous.
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Pr. Matthys has been at St. Sylvesters Lutheran Church for twenty-one years and he greeted me like a long lost friend. He then asked if I would baptize the two children for the morning.
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Every person I met extended remarkable hospitality. A wonderful woman agreed to sit with me and guide me through the Afrikaans parts of the service. I may have been nervous leading up to the service, but by the time we began I was not thinking about myself at all. Some parts of the liturgy I understood and other parts I did my best to keep up. Each element was sung and spoken and danced with joy and grace. I was as faithful a preacher as I could be, but the people of Saint Sylvesters communicated God's love more eloquently than anything I said all day.
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(I assume my sermon was okay because my wonderful guide gave me a couple of pieces of candy when I returned from the pulpit.)

Will Sappington
Pr. Will Sappington
Peace Lutheran Church
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  • Home
  • Faith Formation
    • Faith Formation
    • Lay Pastoral Associates
    • NRIT >
      • Jessica Crist Scholarship Fund
  • Montana Synod Information
    • Montana Synod Information
    • About
    • Staff
    • Directories
    • Changing Climate Taskforce
    • Stewardship and Mission Support
    • Synod Council
    • Gift Policy
    • Clusters
    • Staff Blogs >
      • Laurie Jungling - From the Bishop Blog
    • Ecuminical & Interfaith Partners
    • Partner Ministries >
      • WELCA News
    • ELCA >
      • ELCA Statements
  • Congregations
    • Congregations
    • Future Church
    • Transitions
    • For Congregations
    • Disaster Response Resources
    • Constitution
    • Sexual Misconduct Policies
  • Leaders
    • Leaders
    • Coaching in the Montana Synod
    • For Rostered Leaders
  • News & Events
    • News & Events
    • 2022 News Archive
    • 50-40-10 Women's Ordination Anniversaries
    • Events Calendar
    • Archive >
      • 2021 News Archive
      • From the Bishop Blog - Jessica Crist
      • Synod Assembly Archive
      • Quincentenary
      • South Africa 2015
      • Bolivia Recap Blog
    • Multimedia
  • Contact Us