Reflections – The Parson's Parlor

Cowboy Church and Community

Published on September 4, 2025 by Karolee LarsonLeave a comment

Last weekend I attended Cowboy Church. It was a brief service that was held as part of the opening ceremony at one of my husband’s mounted shooting events.

The participants, including the preacher who is a real life cowboy, were in their saddles. After a quick prayer and song, the typical “we are all sinners in need of Jesus” sermon was preached. While it was expected, I did like how he used both the Samaritan Woman and Nathaniel under the tree to show how all kinds of people need Jesus.

After asking us where we’d go if we died today (by being hit by a truck), the service ended with a call to accept Christ before the ceremony moved onto the national anthem and a brief business meeting.

It was during the meeting, when the VP shared about a recent horse event he attended, that I heard the gospel truly preached. Without intending it to be a sermon, this cowboy talked about how the community of mounted shooters supported him during a low point in his journey. Their encouraging words lifted his faith to be able to carry on and finish the race.

Our personal faith is important, but living out that faith in community is equally important for our salvation, because it isn’t a one-time decision but a lifelong journey of learning how to love God and love neighbor. With undeserved grace, God calls us into his kingdom family. We respond in thankfulness and then strive as the church to reflect the triune God to the world. An individual faith cannot reflect a trinitarian God, who by God’s very nature is a community of love.

I have no qualms with the Cowboy Preacher’s message. He did a great job, but my reformed covenant understanding of theology really appreciated how the VP’s message of community made the whole service complete.

Grace and peace,

Parson Larson, 2025

Baptisms!

Published on August 27, 2025August 27, 2025 by Karolee LarsonLeave a comment

I love baptisms!

I used to love baptisms back in the day when I only understood them as a personal commitment to follow Jesus, but now I love them even more with my newfound Reformed understanding.

Baptisms represent so much more than a personal faith. When we are baptized, the Holy Spirit seals us into God’s covenantal family. An adult baptism, for example, is like a contract to be part of a family, whereas an infant baptism demonstrates God’s amazing grace bestowed upon someone who has done nothing to deserve mercy.

With this complete understanding of baptism, our faith becomes so much more than personal. It becomes a communal faith, which better explains how we are created in the image of a triune God, who is made up of three co-equal persons in a relationship of love.

This is good news! It means that we don’t have to travel alone on our personal journeys of faith. It means that together we reflect God’s image of love to a weary and broken world, and we all know how desperately the world needs to see love in this crazy environment.

This summer has been full of baptisms for me. I had the joy of baptizing two adults and two children in a local river, and then I was blessed to witness the baptism of two children — one in Ireland and one in another state. How cool is that? Six new members reflecting the image of God to the world.

And it’s all because of God’s amazing grace.

Grace and peace,

Parson Larson, 2025

Pilgrimage to Ireland

Published on August 24, 2025August 27, 2025 by Karolee LarsonLeave a comment

Life has been pretty insane since my last post, and I’m glad to report that it’s all been a crazy good busy.

One highlight was my trip to Ireland last June. I traveled as part of a Celtic Spiritual Pilgrimage where we made stops in Dublin, Glendalough, Belfast, and Inis Mór.

It was a whirlwind trip which I am still processing. Most pics, unfortunately, remain unedited on my camera. Church life, school papers, and family time has taken priority.

Someday, I want to return to spend a little more time in a few of the places I visited and also to discover the roots of my Irish heritage. Ireland is such a beautiful country with a rich history and tradition. One needs to spend more than a week to fully appreciate the significance of this magical place.

But home is also a place of beauty and wonder, which we often miss as we long for greener pastures. So as I reflect upon Ireland, I need to remember that inner longing I had to go home.

But then, aren’t we all filled with a longing to be home? Our hope lies in knowing Jesus will one day return to fulfill that longing. In the meantime, we can look for signs of the kingdom, and Ireland is definitely one of them.

Grace and peace,

Parson Larson, 2025

Grand Canyon – Grand Creation

Published on June 30, 2023August 27, 2025 by Karolee LarsonLeave a comment

I used to believe that people who did not subscribe to a literal six-day creation theory were at best misguided Christians, and at worst unbelievers. My tendency to read scripture literally led me to believe scientific explanations of how creation aligned with the first two chapters of Genesis. This creationist explanation made more sense to me than an evolutionary idea where a large explosion could produce an ordered creation.

What I failed to notice was that the same people who asked the evolutionists how they could be so certain in their defense of an evolutionary theory of creation were the same people who defended their creation theory with absolute certainty. While criticizing the evolutionists tendency to make theories sound like facts, creationists did not waver from their own notions of how God created the universe. A grand chasm was formed between intelligent people on both sides of an unwinnable argument.

The intention of the original author of Genesis never entered my mind prior to my seminary studies. The ancient readers cared less about how creation was formed and more about who formed creation. Genesis was written to defend the Creator God of the Israelite nation against the pagan gods of other tribes. In essence, they were saying, “Your god is lord over water? Oh, that’s cute. Our God created the sea out of the deep chaos and placed the untamable beasts which you fear in it.” The Genesis narrative teaches us who is responsible for creation and the psalmists teach us how to worship the God of creation. “O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” (Psalm 8:1).

I no longer ascribe to any theory of how God created the heavens and the earth. How could any of us possibly know for certainty what happened? Instead, I look around and see the beauty of creation and am led to praise God. I am also led to care more about what happens to creation.

The tranquil beauty of the Grand Canyon gives me hope. The God of creation is also the God of redemption. All things will be made new (Revelation 21:5), and we are called to participate in this redeeming work while awaiting Christ’s return. With this understanding, I have learned to care a little more deeply about the earth and I try to make choices which reflect that care. I can’t do much on my own, but thankfully, God’s idea of participation is one which involves community. Small choices made by many people do make an impact.

The Grand Canyon is definitely a place of wonder which inspires awe and worship of God, but creation is all around us. Do we see God’s hand in the places where we live? Do we notice the small wonders around us? Are we inspired to care more about the ecosystems which surround us?

Embracing the who of creation over the how of creation gives me hope. I no longer need to ascribe to a specific theory to justify my faith. I can simply believe that the God who freely creates such a beautiful place is also the God who freely bestows grace and redeems brokenness.

Grace and peace,

Parson Larson, 2023