JULY 22, 2020
THE SUN
7
www.osceolasun.com
WISCONSIN STATE SENATE 10TH DISTRICT Taking action on broadband access
I
like many of you, struggle with the consequences of insufficient broadband access in my home and when I am out in the community. The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare what we already know, high-speed broadband is critical to northwestern Wisconsin’s economy, both during this crisis and as we work to recover. It is not acceptable that so many of us are left behind in this economy because of no fault of our own, but simply because of the lack of access to a basic service in the beautiful part of Wisconsin we call home. As the pandemic took hold this spring, many employers, our local schools, and medical providers all shifted to virtual models to help reduce the impacts of the pandemic. This crisis only highlighted how important this access is to our lives. This is why I am proud to be a voice for northwestern Wisconsin on the Governor’s Taskforce on Broadband Access. State During my time in the Senate I have worked to improve Internet access in Senator our communities. Back in January I Patty Schachtner introduced the Fiber to Farms bill that would have created an incentive for Internet service providers to extend their fiber optic lines to farms across rural Wisconsin. Similarly, the taskforce is charged with researching and recommending policies and initiatives that will meet the state’s broadband goals and needs, promote strategic expansion and adoption around the state, especially in rural areas, and develop solutions with key stakeholders and experts. This effort will result in an annual report to the Governor and the Legislature laying out real, practical solutions to finally get this work done to meet the challenges of our 21st century economy. I hear from people every day about how the lack of access to high speed Internet impacts their lives. Modern rural agriculture depends on the Internet to operate efficiently and connect with markets here in Wisconsin and all over the world. According to the Federal Communications Commission 2020 Broadband Deployment Report, in rural areas of our state 26.7% of Wisconsin residents lack access to at least one broadband service. Investing in rural broadband projects could help close the digital divide, create new jobs, improve our education systems, and open up our local communities to an abundance of new opportunities. I am looking forward to working with a diverse group of stakeholders to research and develop recommendations to expand essential broadband access in Wisconsin. As we begin our work, I encourage you to connect with me to share your views by calling my office at (608) 266-7745 or reach me by email at sen.schachtner@legis.wisconsin. gov.
WEEKLY MEDITATION The storm BY ANTONY MINELL NEW LIFE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY
How’s it going? Though I don’t know your answer to that question, I am fairly confident that the any answer to that question will not be found on chipper lips. The mood that befalls this cultural moment is less “chipper” and more “melancholy-esque” (is that a word?). As I sit and write this article, the clouds I see above me inkle at a foreboding storm. The forecast is written in the clouds. But in some senses the storm has already come. It has been here. But the clouds we sit beneath are not cumulonimbus or stratus. The clouds that have gathered in the most recent torrents have gone by other names. We are on, what we hope to be, the tail end of Covid-19. The effects of which will likely continue for months, if not years. In the wake of Covid-19, the killing of George Floyd has sparked an emotional and national debate that has manifested itself in protests, passion and proliferation. Social media, articles, emails, flickering screens etc. are all noisy gongs filling our lives with a cacophony of opinionated emotional noise. Christian, though I may not have all the answers, I do know where we ought to turn. It is surprising to me how often Christians forget that God’s Word is applicable to every situation. And though we thoroughly often believe that ‘this must be a new situation,’ we must remember that “there is nothing new under the sun” (or clouds). In the midst of God’s Word there is a character that sat under a similar skyline. His was a melancholy soul. He lived during
days of great hardship and pain. He is known, colloquially, as the weeping prophet. Upon the pages of his writing, one can almost see the blur of his tear stained penmanship. But his message is crystal clear. As Jeremiah ministered, he watched Judah, his beloved country, drifted away from their Lord. He watched what would have been extremely (and frustratingly) depressing for any of us. Under his leadership and ministry, God’s people abandoned the Lord. Despite his best attempts at convincing the people to turn back to the Lord, the people ran headlong towards the sin they loved so much (their lovers – as Hosea calls them). In response to his message, Jeremiah received intense persecution. He was pursued and literally hunted by almost everyone in Israel. In some moments he was reduced to hiding in caves. In other moments he was caught and thrown into wells – left to drown, starve or to be buried alive. In the end, tradition tells us that Jeremiah, having found refuge inside an hollow tree, was sawn in two. But before he died within that tree, what was his response to what was happening around him? In response to arrogance, national pride, extravagant sin and horrendous behavior, what was his message? At the moment of greatest agony, anxiety and pain, Jeremiah wrote the book of Lamentations (on the pages therein, you can almost see and smell the smoke of Jerusalem as it rises to stain rain clouds in the sky). As Jeremiah sat in lamentation, his lamentation looked vastly different than the lamentations we see surfacing around us. As Jeremiah, the weeping
prophet, wrote the book of Lamentations he brings a word of clarity for anyone whose heart aches and is in despair. In the midst of such hardship, Jeremiah writes these words, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, says my soul, therefore I will hope in him” (Lamentations 3:22-23). Instead of trying to correct the abhorrent behavior of the people, he proclaims a message of hope. This seems counterproductive, but, in reality, this is the message that needs to be heard. In lamentation, Jeremiah does what we should do – he proclaims, to a broken world, that our only hope is in the Lord. Whose mercy do we really need? Jeremiah knew that the main issue was not Babylon. His clear call, in the midst of the storm, was to proclaim the mercy and steadfast love of the Lord. He wanted the world to know that the Lord is faithful. That the Lord is merciful. And that any hope for a broken nation is found only in the Lord. He knew that the only hope worth proclaiming in such darkness was hope in the Lord. The message we must be proclaiming today is no different. The storm is here, but we (any and everyone) can hope in the Lord. But our hope is better than even Jeremiah knew. Our hope, though killed upon a tree, rose again – He is alive and reigning at the right hand of the Father! Christian, proclaim the steadfast love of the risen and reigning Lord to a hopeless world. Hoping with you in Him!!
CHURCH LISTINGS Following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control, all gatherings of 10 or more are being curtailed. Please call to see if church services are being held in some capacity. ALLIANCE CHURCH OF THE VALLEY 1259 Hwy. 35 South, St. Croix Falls 715-483-1100 www.stcroixalliance.com Lead Pastor Jeff Naegelen Co-Lead Pastor Chris Folkestad ———————— ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY CATHOLIC CHURCH East Farmington Rev. Joseph Madanu ———————— BETHANY LUTHERAN Star Prairie Pastor Dan Pennington (715) 248-3730 blcsp@frontiernet.net ———————— BETHESDA LUTHERAN LCMC 1947 110th Ave. Dresser Sand Lake 715-755-2562 www.bethesdalutheran.ws Pastor Peter Rimmereid Associate Pastor Scott Adkins ———————— CEDARBEND CHURCH P.O. BOX 414, Osceola Matt Hayton connect@cedarbendchurch.com
SUNDAY: Worship, 10:30 a.m. at Osceola High School Auditorium. CHRIST LUTHERAN CHURCH 150 Fifth Street Marine on St. Croix, Minn. Pastor Joel Martin 651-433-3222 ———————— EL SALEM/TWIN FALLS CHRISTIAN CENTER Six miles east of Dresser on Co. Rd. F, 1751 100th Ave. Pastor Darryl R. Olson 715-755-3113 ———————— EUREKA BAPTIST CHURCH 2393 210th Ave., St. Croix Falls Pastor Seth Brickley 715-483-9464 ———————— FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH 661A West Street Taylors Falls, MN 55084 651-465-6792 www.firstbaptisttaylorsfalls.com Dr. Kevin Schumann, Pastor ———————— FIRST EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN 561 Chestnut St. Taylors Falls, Minn. ———————— FIRST PRESBYTERIAN 719 Nevada St. St. Croix Falls Reverend David Maghakian 715-483-3550 (office) ———————— GRACE CHURCH – OSCEOLA Pastor Mark Barlow 722 Seminole Ave. Osceola 715-417-0752 ————————
GRACE BEREAN FELLOWSHIP 421 4th Street, Centuria Duane Gallentine, Pastor 715-755-2523 FRIDAY and SUNDAY KJV Bible Study/Fellowship ———————— GRACE LUTHERAN CHURCH Nye Area/Wisconsin Synod 2098 70th Avenue Pastor Nile Merseth ———————— HOLY CROSS ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN CHURCH Meeting at Zion Lutheran Church 28005 Old Towne Road Chisago Lakes, Minn. 651-260-5100 www.holyx.net Fr. Bill Neumann, pastor ———————— HOLY TRINITY ORTHODOX CHURCH 523 First Street, Clayton 715-948-2203 Father Christopher Wojcik ———————— HOPE EVANGELICAL FREE CHURCH 933 248th Street, one mile north of Osceola on Highway 35 Pastor Nate Roschen 715-294-2112 • www.hefc.org ———————— JOURNEY CHURCH 131 Broadway, Amery www.journeychurch.city office@journeychurch.city 715-268-2223 ———————— NEW LIFE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY Non-denominational
201 State Hwy. 35, Dresser Pastor Tony Minell, 715-417-1982 galatiansii20@yahoo.com Church office: 715-417-0945 ———————— OSCEOLA COMMUNITY CHURCH 2492 Education Drive, Osceola Larry Mederich www.occnow.org ———————— OSCEOLA MEDICAL CENTER SPIRITUAL CARE 2600 65th Avenue, Osceola https: myomc.org/wellness/ spiritual-care 715-294-2111 Chapel open daily for meditation. ———————— OSCEOLA UNITED METHODIST CHURCH 306 River Street, Osceola P.O. Box 447 Pastor Jack Starr 715-755-2275 osceolaunitedmethodistchurch@gmail.com ———————— PEACE LUTHERAN CHURCH (ELCA), 2355 Clark Rd., Dresser 715-755-2515• plcdresser.org Pastor Melissa Carmack Find us on Facebook! peace@centurytel.net ———————— PRAIRIEVIEW COVENANT CHURCH OF NEW RICHMOND 1396 210th Ave. 2 miles north of New Richmond on Hwy. 65 Pastor Rudy King 715-248-0600 ———————— REDEEMER EVANGELICAL
LUTHERAN CHURCH Wisconsin Synod Corner of Adams & Louisiana St. Croix Falls Rev. Timothy Blauert 715-483-3401 ———————— RIVER VALLEY CHRISTIAN CHURCH LIGHTHOUSE 1289 160th Street St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin 715-483-5378 Pastor Jonah Fetzer ———————— ST. ANNE PARISH 139 Church Hill Road Somerset, WI 54025 715-247-3310 Rev. Joseph Madanu ———————— ST. CROIX FALLS UNITED METHODIST CHURCH Upper St. Croix Parish 300 North Adams Street St. Croix Falls 715-483-9494 churches@centurytel.net umstcroixfallswolfcreek.org Pastor Ran Yoo Pastor Kooko Kim ———————— ST. CROIX UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST FELLOWSHIP 201 N. Adams, St. Croix Falls www.scuuf.org Rev. Kelli Clement ———————— ST. FRANCIS XAVIER CATHOLIC CHURCH Franconia, MN 651-465-7345 www.stfrancisfranconia.org Fr. John Drees
———————— ST. JOSEPH’S CATHOLIC Osceola Rev. Joseph Madanu 715-294-2243 ———————— ST. JOSEPH’S CATHOLIC 490 Bench Street Taylors Falls, Minnesota 651-465-7345 www.stjosephtaylorsfalls.org Fr. John Drees ———————— SHEPHERD OF THE VALLEY LUTHERAN CHURCH MISSOURI SYNOD 140 Madison Street St. Croix Falls Pastor Mark Schoen 715-483-1186 ———————— TRINITY EV. LUTHERAN CHURCH (WELS) 300 Seminole Ave., (Ct H M) Osceola 715-294-2828 • www.trinityosceola.com Pastor David Rosenow (920-645-7526) ———————— TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH OF GARFIELD 1578 85th Ave., Amery Pastor Lori Peper 715-268-9577 ———————— WEST IMMANUEL LUTHERAN (ELCA), 447 180th St., Osceola www.westimmanuel.org Interim Pastor Matt Saarem SUNDAY: ———————— WORD OF LIFE FELLOWSHIP Cliff Bjork, (651) 465-7373 366 Bench St., Taylors Falls, Minn. ————————
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