We had a wonderful afternoon at Bachman's this year. We raised over $1600 for the Work and Worship Progams. This will provide money for operations, bus passes and a new effort in employment programing. We had 13 silent auction baskets with everything thing from a breakfast basket to jams to mystery books. We had wonderful music from Geri Conant. There was a Faiere garden presentation by Bachmans.

Thank you to all the volunteers who put in 89 hours of volunteer time to gift wrap at Barnes and Noble at the Galleria. We raised 1142.00 which was 42% above our goal of $800. This is enough to fund one Loaves and
Fishes site for the year. This makes a great start for the Angel's Wings program for 2012. We hope to add another Loaves and Fishes site this year.

Check out our Facebook page. Work and Worship Institute. In January you can discuss "Back to Work" by Bill Clinton. In February we will be looking at "Lincoln on Leadership" by Donald T. Phillips.

We distribute bus passes and tokens through Bloomington Loaves and Fishes, FathersFIRST!, and St. Stephen's jobs program.

I have just finished listening to the book Faith of the American Soldier. I checked the book out at the Minneapolis Public Library. It gives a great look into the faith life of soldiers serving in Iraq. These young men and women face a daily life that is unimaginable for most of us. They must do a very difficult job in a highly stressful enviroment. They are very limited culturally (no alchohol, no dating locals) There will not be any "war brides" like WWII in this war. Many have turned to faith to help them make sense of the enviromnent they are living in and the job they are doing.

The Garage Sale last week was a great success. Thank you to the people who donated goods and volunteered to help. A special thanks to Tim's brother,Susan, Bonnie and Kathryn. We will be able to fund 13 bus passes from this effort.

Yes!

I went to Solomon's Porch this Sunday. (December 17th) It started at 5:00 p.m. I was greeted by a room full of old couchs and recliners. The shape of the room was definitely church shaped. I chose a lime green couch. It just felt like a lime green night. Doug (the leader) came over and introduced himself. During the service there were several points, in between songs, when the kids left and during communion to mill around and talk to other people. The sermon was on the first chapter of the gospel of John.

Over the years I spent at seminary I felt a growing awareness that there was a great opportunity in connecting the business world I came from and the church world I was entering. As I worked with other non-profit organizations, I too thought of an organization that could facilitate connecting faith based organizations and corporations. In Hebrew the word for work and worship has the same root. Work life was not in a separate compartment from worship life. The organization would focus on work and worship. At first I relegated the idea to the trash bin labeled "Another of Sara's Crazy Ideas".