Augustana member Keith Cooper was killed in an act of senseless violence a couple of weeks ago. On Saturday, people gathered for visitation and on Monday we held a funeral service for Keith, attended by more than a hundred of his friends and relatives. His ashes were scattered in the Augustana memorial garden and a plaque will be installed.
The funeral was livestreamed and you may view the recording here. You may read Pastor Goede’s sermon here, where she expands on St. Paul’s metaphor of clay jars:
Because God has given us this treasure, when the clay jar is broken, we aren’t left to think, this is all I had and all I was, this is all I was worth, and now it’s just over. No, in the life and death of Jesus, God has made promises to us. When our clay jar is broken, we redeem the value of our relationship with God, made known to us in Jesus Christ. We find that new life becomes eternal, much more than and beyond our clay jar.
Augustana Lutheran Church of Hyde Park 
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