We've come a long way

Our son Brent, 7, announced one morning that he wants to be a pastor when he grows up. That night when his dad got home, Brent told him the same thing. As they sat on Brent’s bed discussing the possibility of becoming a pastor, Brent told his dad that he thought his favorite thing would be baptizing babies. Then he looked up at his dad and, in all seriousness, asked, “Can boys be pastors?” (Our pastor is female.)

Liz Buech
Bryant, Iowa

“Maybe we could get more interest in the youth choir if we held auditions. Just find three judges named Paula, Randy and Simon.”

Before going to Sunday school at Zion Lutheran Church, Luckey, Ohio, I reminded my children that Pastor Jeanne (English) wouldn’t be preaching today. I explained that her husband would be our guest pastor. My 8-year-old son, Brennan, said, “Oh, you mean Mr. Jeanne!”

Vicki Seifert
Pemberville, Ohio

Good timing

In the silence just before the communion hymn began, we could hear the subdued tones of a telephone ringing in the church office. The organist then began to play the hymn Softly and Tenderly Jesus Is Calling.

Elmer E. Burrall
Weirsdale, Fla.

Our worship service at St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church, Loganton, Pa., begins at 9 a.m. One Sunday just as our pastor said “Amen” to his opening prayer, my Radio Shack “talking watch” announced loudly and clearly: “Boing! It is now 9 o’clock a.m.” The pastor was quick to reply, “Lester, your watch is slow this morning.”

Lester G. Keckner
Lock Haven, Pa.

“And during the wedding, make like you know us really well. My grandmother would eat that up.”

A few measures into the prelude, the handbell musicians weren’t playing together. The director stopped them and apologized to the congregation, saying they would start over from the beginning. After the successful completion of the prelude, the pastor spoke words of welcome and then said, “Don’t worry, when I make a mistake in the sermon, I won’t start over from the beginning.”

David Rasmussen
Garden City, Ga.

Good answer

During a children’s sermon about believing, we found out there is more to getting to heaven than justification through grace. The question was: “What do you have to do to go to heaven?” One of the young boys piped up quickly: “Die!”

Rachel Nelson
Akron, N.Y.

I left my 11-year-old son home one evening while I went to my older daughter’s school concert. He called me five times while I was driving home, frightened because a thunderstorm was brewing. When I got home I sat in bed with him and snuggled. He said, “Mom, I think after God got done making thunder and lightning, that’s when he decided he needed to make mamas.”

Paige Fiedler
Johnston, Iowa