Off to College Milestone Celebration

Meet Kerri Hardy Zietlow. She shares about a milestone celebration she designed to use with her family in their home for her son as they were sending him off to college. “Oh my. I just wanted to tell you what a wonderful evening we had sending our son off to college with a milestone celebration at home. We opened with prayer. I shared his faith formation story (highlights from baptism to confirmation). His sister read his confirmation verse (Isaiah 40:30-31). We gave him a watch and his dad read the verses from Psalm 121 as we told him we’d enjoyed “watching him grow” and that “God would continue to watch over him.” Read more

A Taking Milestones Ministry Home Story from Robin Souhrada

Bethlehem Lutheran in Cedar Falls, IA has a ministry of Blessings and Milestones that helps us mark life transitions, important parts of our daily lives and recognize the presence of God in our lives. Some of our members have their own blessing bowl and milestone pebbles set at home. Jennifer Holden has hers out on a coffee table as a daily reminder of the blessings in her life.

One day her friend Desiree was visiting. She and Jenn looked at the blessing bowl and milestone pebbles. Desiree wanted to make her own milestone blessing pebbles to take home. Read more

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Susan Peterson, Zion Lutheran:  A Renewed Relationship

I was the Chris Ed Director at Chisago Lake Lutheran Church in Center City MN for 8 1/2 years. There, I was introduced to Milestones Ministry, With the encouragement and support of our pastors and an enthusiastic Christian Ed committee, we were able to go from the traditional Lutheran 4 (Baptism, Bibles, First Communion and Confirmation) to a fully functioning Milestone journey representing every year from Birth to 6th grade.  To this day, the Faithchests at Chisago Lake Lutheran are beautifully hand crafted and comparable to none!   When I left Chisago in 2009, all Milestones were alive and thriving. Read more

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From a Congregational Intern:  Devotion and Prayer in the Home

A program staff member and her husband were part of a congregation that went through training to practice the faith in congregation and home using the Four Keys in Taking Faith Home and Milestones Ministry. The couple was more than a little resistant to some of the suggestions in worship, including turning to your neighbor during worship and blessing them.  Read more

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Pastor Gary Hedding, Bethlehem Lutheran Church:  Taking Faith Home

Gwen and Max are members of Bethlehem Lutheran Church. They are in their early 70’s, and they are enjoying their children and grandchildren in their retirement. They didn’t imagine that Milestones Ministry would have much of an impact on their lives. The impression for many of their generation was that their milestones in life were behind them, especially because many of the Milestones and Blessings seemed to fit families with children at home. Read more

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Gloria Anderson, Milestones Ministry Team, Roseville, MN: Monsters in the Closet                                                                   

“David and I were having devotions using Taking Faith Home with our 3 young granddaughters. The scripture that we read was from Mark 6:45 – 52, the story of Jesus walking on water and the fearful response of the disciples. We were answering one of the questions, “What are you afraid of?”. One granddaughter answered, “I’m too afraid to tell you.” After others shared their responses she said,“I’m afraid of witches when I close my eyes at night.” The discussion allowed us to give her comfort knowing that she is never alone. Jesus is always with her.”

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Tara Ulrich, Diaconal Minister, First Lutheran Church, Minot, ND

“Faith milestones are a vital part of ministry in our church. They are a great way to reach out to those homes and families beyond the church walls. At the last congregation I served, many of our new families came in through our Milestones Ministry program because someone within the congregation invited them.”

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Pastor Mark Asleson, of Dilworth Church, shares his congregation’s experiences with Milestones Ministry.

“One of the most powerful parts of our Milestones Ministry program (that our congregation has been a part of for many years) is when parents come to me and say, ‘Thank you, Pastor. When I come with my child to church, I’m no longer a spectator but I am participant. Thank you!’”

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Stephanie Pasch, Mount Olive, Rochester, MN

“We did a Milestones Ministry event revolving around the Small Catechism. We had some time together (parents, third and fourth graders) where we talked about Martin Luther and then we led into his intentions for the Small Catechism (used by families in the home). We handed out copies of the Small Catechism to all students.”

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  Greg Williams of Grace Church, Hendersonville, NC 

Beginning Confirmation Milestone

“Prior to our sixth grade students beginning confirmation ministry, each student and their parents are visited by one of the pastors or the youth director. Ideally, the visit is in the home. The purpose of the visit is to learn about the faith activities of the family and to invite/encourage the parents to be participants in the faith education of their child during the confirmation ministry. We also share specifically some of the activities we encourage to help parents discuss faith at home with their student.”

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Denise Broveak, Pastor, St. Paul’s Church, Humboldt, SD

“Our congregation introduced the Blessing of the Backpacks milestone for the first time last fall. It was the first time for our congregation and for our local elementary school.”