Minneapolis – January 2026
The beginning of 2026 has been incredibly full. Today I am writing about the community that has had the greatest impact on me and how I see the world. The Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul are where I’ve called home for more years than any other place on earth. Even though I live in Sioux Falls, South Dakota now, I expect I will be writing a lot about Minneapolis and St. Paul this year.
Read More52 and grateful
I want to note how grateful I am to receive all of your birthday greetings over the weekend. Thanks for reaching out and being connected in a season when so much is becoming disconnected by systems and leaders who seemingly want to keep neighbors from neighborliness.
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From Fear to Faith – 2024
Take a walk with the readings of the book of Acts from Easter and after in 2024 with Pastor Erik Thone (Messiah New Hope Lutheran Church in Sioux Falls, SD) and Joel Pakan… This playlist has 57 songs from pop anthems to show tunes, folk to rock, and features tracks from Owl City, Sara Bareilles, Storyhill, Dan Wilson, Tangled Blue, Godspell, Nina Simone, and many more. Available on Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube Music, and Amazon Music. Enjoy!
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Easter 2024
On Easter Saturday I asked a small group of clergy friends about their indispensible tunes for Easter. The songs in this playlist represent the conversation that followed… special thanks to Rev. Jason Emerson of Dublin, OH and Rev. Sam Houser of Sioux Falls, SD for their contributions.
Read MoreLent 2024 – On the Road Again
40 songs for Lent 2024!
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The Heart of the Matter – Pentecost 2023
As we spring from Easter into a summer of Pentecost here’s a playlist and song-infused sermon for Sunday, May 28, 2023. Turns out that Don Henley, Billie Eilish, Mavis Staples, Amos Lee, Brandi Carlile, and many more have written some great songs on the spirit of confession and forgiveness.
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21 songs for 2021
…here are 21 songs for 2021. These tunes found some time in my ears this past year, some more than others (taking a look at the tunes I listened to the most via Apple Music is really interesting), and all of them speak to my experience of this past year. Do you have some tunes which carried you through? I’d love to hear your list of 21 songs for 2021. Send me your 2021 playlist. Here’s mine…
Read MoreLazy-Faire Readers: session 2 with Anna Madsen
This is a conversation between Rev. Dr. Anna Madsen, author of “I Can Do No Other” and Joel. This is session 2 in a community book reading of Anna’s book. Much of this discussion centers around Martin Luther’s use of “natural law”, how this has influenced our time and where we may make informed and different choices.
Read MoreLazy-Faire Readers: session 1 with Anna Madsen
This is a conversation between Rev. Dr. Anna Madsen, author of “I Can Do No Other” and Joel. This serves as an opening to a community book reading of Anna’s book. In the video we cover parts of the books preface and chapters 1 and 2. This video also includes a new song written and recorded by Aimée and Joel for Reformation Day 2021 which incorporates themes and stories from Anna’s book.
Read MoreLazy-Faire Readers: an introduction
The conversations with Anna over the past month have already sparked some new creativity in me. Here’s my new tune, written over the last week in October and featuring video footage from East Side taken over this past Reformation weekend. Let me know what you think…
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