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Our Pastor
Pastor Andrew Wendle was born and raised in Madison, WI. The oldest of three, Pastor Andy was gifted with loving parents, grandparents, siblings and extended family and friends. During his college years he served four summers as a camp counselor at Sky Ranch Lutheran Camp. It is there that he met his lovely wife, Linden Kron Wendle, and they were married shortly before entering seminary at Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque, IA.
Together Pastor Andy and Linden served for 10 years in Oregon - Trinity Lutheran in Gresham, OR and Our Redeemer Lutheran and Asbury United Methodist in Hood River, OR - before moving to Somers, MT. Together with their three children they enjoy life in the great northwest. They hike, bike, camp, enjoy Flathead Lake and all that God's bountiful creation has to offer.
Below you will find Pastor Andy's monthly newsletter article written for God's people of Eidsvold Lutheran Church. May it inspire you to faithfulness in God's name as you read and receive this humble offering.
Blessings to you and to yours.
Contact him at: pastorandy2@charter.net
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July 2020
Grace and peace to you in the name of our living and loving Savior, Jesus the Christ.
Well, great minds must think alike! I was thinking of writing this article about a
particular facet of Jesus’ command in Matthew to love our neighbor as ourselves and lo and behold, the Bishop did, too. I’ll let you read her article on the next page, but what I particularly wanted to focus on is one of the more burdensome aspects of this whole COVID-19 world we’re living in – the mask!
I have to admit, wearing a mask over my face is not something I particularly love doing. It is
uncomfortable. I find myself short of breath wearing it. I get warm/hot more easily. I’ve yet to figure out how to drink coffee through one and in general it is just tough. I’m grateful that my sister-in-law, Heather Caudell, made one for me that works quite well but it is still just something I’m not thrilled with on a day to day basis. And I know many of you likely are too. And to be certain, there are those among us that do not have the ability to wear masks because of breathing
difficulties or other health conditions, but I’d argue that the mask is one of the clearest examples in this COVID-19 world of loving our neighbor.
As you likely know, the mask is something we don’t really wear for ourselves. All of the top experts assert that any mask is not so much about protecting the air you breathe but the air others breathe from you. The science has emerged that the way COVID-19 most commonly spreads is by the droplets that come from our mouths when we cough, sneeze, talk, sing, eat, etc. Basically, it can spread anytime we might open our mouths. As you can imagine this gets all the more challenging when we spend more than just a few moments in each other’s company. Incidentally, this is also the logic behind the “six feet of distance” as most droplets from our mouths fall to the ground within six feet of ourselves.
Normally, when we would have a cold or a cough, we could just stay home. However, as you’ve likely heard too, one of the challenging things seems to be the fact that COVID can be spread before you likely have symptoms. And so the mask is really a precautionary move we take against the possibility of spreading something to our neighbor that we may not know we have.
Now you may have heard that masks are only 30% effective. As best as I can determine this comes from an understanding that surgical masks pass 70% of the air a person exhales through the mask and 30% goes around the sides of that kind of mask. I don’t think we need to get that technical however. Simply, for me, I know that wearing a mask reduces the chance that I am going to spread something, however unknowingly it might be, to someone else.
As such, in a time where so much is inviting us to be fearful for our own safety, it is good to know that there is something I can do to love my neighbor as Jesus instructs. And so I’ll put up with getting warm, having to really smile with my eyes to have people know I’m truly smiling at them, and being short of breath too easily because I will know that it isn’t a love for myself that I’m trying to live out, it is a love for you.
Blessings friends and members. Be well.
In Peace,
Pastor Andy
Scheduling note: As mentioned elsewhere in this newsletter, I will be on vacation
Sunday July 5th and 12th. Sadly, we will only have in person worship on those days. Please tune in online to Bethlehem (www.bethluth.org), Our Saviors (www.oursaviorscfalls.org), or another church for an online worship experience.
Grace and peace to you in the name of our living and loving Savior, Jesus the Christ.
Well, great minds must think alike! I was thinking of writing this article about a
particular facet of Jesus’ command in Matthew to love our neighbor as ourselves and lo and behold, the Bishop did, too. I’ll let you read her article on the next page, but what I particularly wanted to focus on is one of the more burdensome aspects of this whole COVID-19 world we’re living in – the mask!
I have to admit, wearing a mask over my face is not something I particularly love doing. It is
uncomfortable. I find myself short of breath wearing it. I get warm/hot more easily. I’ve yet to figure out how to drink coffee through one and in general it is just tough. I’m grateful that my sister-in-law, Heather Caudell, made one for me that works quite well but it is still just something I’m not thrilled with on a day to day basis. And I know many of you likely are too. And to be certain, there are those among us that do not have the ability to wear masks because of breathing
difficulties or other health conditions, but I’d argue that the mask is one of the clearest examples in this COVID-19 world of loving our neighbor.
As you likely know, the mask is something we don’t really wear for ourselves. All of the top experts assert that any mask is not so much about protecting the air you breathe but the air others breathe from you. The science has emerged that the way COVID-19 most commonly spreads is by the droplets that come from our mouths when we cough, sneeze, talk, sing, eat, etc. Basically, it can spread anytime we might open our mouths. As you can imagine this gets all the more challenging when we spend more than just a few moments in each other’s company. Incidentally, this is also the logic behind the “six feet of distance” as most droplets from our mouths fall to the ground within six feet of ourselves.
Normally, when we would have a cold or a cough, we could just stay home. However, as you’ve likely heard too, one of the challenging things seems to be the fact that COVID can be spread before you likely have symptoms. And so the mask is really a precautionary move we take against the possibility of spreading something to our neighbor that we may not know we have.
Now you may have heard that masks are only 30% effective. As best as I can determine this comes from an understanding that surgical masks pass 70% of the air a person exhales through the mask and 30% goes around the sides of that kind of mask. I don’t think we need to get that technical however. Simply, for me, I know that wearing a mask reduces the chance that I am going to spread something, however unknowingly it might be, to someone else.
As such, in a time where so much is inviting us to be fearful for our own safety, it is good to know that there is something I can do to love my neighbor as Jesus instructs. And so I’ll put up with getting warm, having to really smile with my eyes to have people know I’m truly smiling at them, and being short of breath too easily because I will know that it isn’t a love for myself that I’m trying to live out, it is a love for you.
Blessings friends and members. Be well.
In Peace,
Pastor Andy
Scheduling note: As mentioned elsewhere in this newsletter, I will be on vacation
Sunday July 5th and 12th. Sadly, we will only have in person worship on those days. Please tune in online to Bethlehem (www.bethluth.org), Our Saviors (www.oursaviorscfalls.org), or another church for an online worship experience.
