News

Teddy Bear Ministry started at Metigoshe

By Scott Wagar

01/21/2014

One can say that angels come in many different shapes and sizes in our world, and presently at Metigoshe Lutheran Church they are taking the shape and size of teddy bears, which are being sent out to individuals in need of love and care as a reminder of God’s love for them.

“Metigoshe Lutheran Church recently launched a Teddy Bear Ministry,” said Pastor Carol Wendel of Metigoshe Lutheran Church. “Inspired by a Thrivent magazine article about this type of ministry in Florida, one of Metigoshe’s folks decided to order teddy bears and see what would happened.

Each Sunday a number of bears are set on chairs before worship. People sitting close to the bears are encouraged to bring them forward for a blessing during communion,” Wendel continued to say.

“After worship, people who choose may take a bear to share with or send to someone who could use a reminder of God’s love and care.”

Wendel added that each teddy bear comes with a sign that is attached to the stuffed animal which states, “This bear has been among the congregation of Metigoshe Lutheran Church. It has heard the word read, prayers, prayed, praises sung and sermons preached. It has been loved by Metigoshe Lutheran and has soaked in God’s love. Now it comes to you with blessings of worship and love.”

Over the weeks, congregational members have given out 14 teddy bears to individuals in the area, out of state to Minnesota and Wisconsin and all the way across the Pacific Ocean to Japan.

“Metigoshe is excited to see how far God’s love will reach and how many lives will be touched through our Teddy Bear Ministry,” Wendel said. “The bears go to anyone who has a need as a reminder of God’s love and care, whether young, old or in between.

“Reasons could be illness, depression, recent death of a loved one, difficult family or living situation,” Wendel said. “It’s totally up to the discretion of our folks as to why they send a bear and to whom.”

Wendel stated that she is thrilled to start this mission.

“I am totally excited about this new and fairly unique way of outreach to folks both near to home and far away,” she said. “I believe that our ministry is for all people and I’m constantly encouraging my folks to think outside the box in ways of relating with and sharing our blessings with others.”