By Lori Carlson, Editor
A Haitian pastor who worked closely with Prior Lake church missionaries was killed Friday in a confrontation with burglars in his Port-au-Prince home, Holy Cross Lutheran Church Rev. Robert Nowak confirmed on Monday.

Nowak – president of the Haiti Lutheran Mission Society – had worked with the Rev. Doris Jean Louis during mission trips to Haiti, including the January trip in which the Holy Cross missionaries got caught amidst that country’s Jan. 12 earthquake.

By Lori Carlson, Editor
When John Hamre returned from serving in the Vietnam War, he was afraid to even tell people he was in the Army.

“We were treated pretty badly when we got back,” Hamre recalls.

Though soldiers returning from duty in Iraq haven’t been shunned and disparaged like many soldiers were at the end of America’s combat role in Vietnam, today’s servicemen and women – and their families – are still very much in need of support, said Hamre, a Prior Lake resident whose son, Leif, served in Iraq.

Church of St. Catherine, 4500 220th St. E., Prior Lake, will hold its annual Turkey Bingo at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 1 in the church basement.Cards will be sold for $5 and there is a $1 cover charge. Lunch will be provided to all participants.

The church run by a pastor arrested Tuesday in a St. Paul prostitution sting has released a statement about the incident.

LifePrint Church, led by 35-year-old Rev. John K. Erbele – among 16 “johns” arrested by St. Paul police after responding to an online ad for prostitution – posted a message on its Web site, www.lifeprintchurch.org, asking its congregation to “please pray with us for LifePrint Church, the leaders, staff and especially the Erbele family.

By Josh Chase, Staff Writer

When Sandy Story and her family moved to Prior Lake from Indiana in 1982, the staff and parishioners at the Church of St. Michael did all they could to make her feel welcome. Although she’s retiring this week after 26 years working in the parish office, Story says there’s no way she could leave it all behind.

Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota is calling on church congregations statewide to mobilize volunteer teams to prepare for deployment to the Red River Valley for cleanup and long-term recovery work.

Following a significant natural disaster, Lutheran Social Service works in affected areas over many months, sometimes years, to provide case management and help local residents navigate paperwork, access loans, make decisions about their future and coordinate volunteer teams to rebuild homes over the long-term. Volunteers may be needed for this work in coming weeks.

By Lori Carlson, Editor
When the Task Force for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s Studies on Sexuality made a recommendation on gay and lesbian clergy two weeks ago, Prior Lake was on the map.

That’s because the task force’s chairman, the Rev. Peter Strommen, leads the congregation at Shepherd of the Lake Lutheran Church, one of Prior Lake’s largest churches.

St. Michael’s School will hold a book fair fundraiser for the school and faith formation program with Barnes & Noble Booksellers in Burnsville, 828 W. Cty. Rd. 42, on Saturday, Nov. 15 from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m.

The school and church programs will receive 20-percent in donations from items purchased with vouchers on Nov. 15.

The Church of St. Michael, 16311 Duluth Ave., will celebrate its 100-year anniversary with a centennial mass at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 28. A reception will follow.

The mass will include appearances from former pastors and school principals.

For more information, call the church at (952) 447-2491.