Rachel Kurtz

I am traveling with Agape (Dave Scherer) all around the country this fall. I feel so priveledged to be doing this tour again. The last time Dave and the band Lost and Found and I did this tour we raised $50,000 fighting world hunger through ELCA World Hunger Relief. This year I think we might be up over $18,000 so far. It crazy to think I am helping raised funds for people with little to no food or medical care or to support advocacy work to change the systems that people live in. At the same time the ELCA is generously supporting this tour because they want it to be affordable to congregations to bring us in and allow all funds raised to go directly to relief efforts. Because of this gift, I am also making a living through this tour. I am so, so grateful for that too. But I always struggle in life with the question, am I doing enough? Should I be doing more and volunteering more and giving more of my money and time? I struggle under the guilt of good fortune when I encounter others in tragedy or depressed circumstances. We all go through trials and tribulations in life and it seems that some go through it so much more obviously and profoundly than others. It is an uncomfortable paradox for me to live in. The truth is I like stuff. I like to buy stuff. I like having a home and being able to decorate it or buying my kids things that they want but don’t need. I like to eat out. I am not always a good steward of the good things I get. I am glad to be uncomfortable with it, because that produces growth and change and inspiration. I am also just plain uncomfortable with it.
Dave was interviewed for a documentary that will be shown on ABC stations throughout the country this fall…get more details at http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/A-Peace-Of-Bread/127109314030624

I was also singing on it…I know, it’s the life of a rockstar. And all the organizations are incredible that were interviewed.  And it just got me thinking about “enough”. So just for today, I will be more generous with the gifts that God has given me, and hopefully I will keep that up tomorrow, and the next day and on and on. Thank you for taking the time to read and I hope to post the link to the documentary as soon as I have permission. Also you can check out your local listing times through www.divacomunications.com  and badger the stations to make them air it at a decent time…not 2am. So maybe just maybe I can be famous :) because let’s face it fame is really important :)

Thank you for all who have attended the www.citzenstour.com and we will still be touring through mid-December, so come on over to a concert near you.

Make a Difference…I am really really trying to get this to play on my website and I can’t seem to get it. If you know how to do it I will send you an mp3 and you can help me :)

I frequently don’t view myself as much of a guitar player (I do alright live but I usually like to leave the recordings to the professionals) or a song writer. I have written songs, but don’t usually pick up the guitar and play like I used to before I had children or when I was learning the guitar and hanging out with musicians all the time. I have had the pleasure of writing new music lately. The best music for me is the stuff that just comes out of my mouth with a melody and lyrics well on their way. I have written two of my best songs recently while holding my kids and rocking them before bed…Henry doesn’t get rocked anymore just in case you had the mental image of me sitting and rocking a 4 yr old. Nonetheless, I was outside on a beautiful fall day gearing up for the Citizens tour and this song came out of my mouth. I love it. We recorded it the other day and unfortunately I didn’t take the time I needed to with all the pieces, but we are well on our way. I hope you enjoy.
I look forward to taking more time to write again and being creative with the gifts God has given me. I am so gratelful to everyone that has attended the concerts on this tour so far. Please join us if we are going to be in your area. It’s a great cause and a great time with some wonderful new music.

October 20        Good Shepherd                Royal Oak, MI        7pm
October 21         Trinity Lutheran             Battle Creek, MI    7:30pm
October 22        Abiding Christ                  Fairborn, OH         12pm
October 22        Mainstreet Church          Walbridge, OH      7:30pm
October 23        St. Stephens                       Newark, NJ           3:00pm
October 23        Trinity Lutheran             Lansdale, PA           7pm
November 5      Central Lutheran           Winona, MN            7pm
November 12    Camp Cascade                 Portland, OR           TBD
November 13    Our Savior’s                     Everett, WA            7pm
November 18    First Lutheran                 Kearney, NE           8pm
November 19    YMCA of the Rockies     Estes Park, CO        9pm
December 2      Grace Lutheran               Palo Alto, CA           TBD
December 3      Bethel Lutheran              Roseville, CA            7pm
December 4      Christ Lutheran              West Covina, CA      4pm
December 9        Ascension Lutheran      Waukesha, WI          7pm

I am long overdue to write about an incredible and dare-I-say, life-changing experience I had this summer. I was priviledged to take part in the Luther 500 Festival. http://www.luther500.com/ They are doing it again in 2013 and you REALLY need to go. Germany was fantastic, Lost and Found were fantastic, Alathea was so kind and incredible. I will very briefly say what I will write in detail later. I rode a bike for the first time in 15 years and came home and bought one. I got to sing ALL ALONE in the very empty, very dark, very quiet Castle Church at 2am and sing at the top of my lungs and it was incredible. I got to help lead music in historic churches and buildings in Wittenberg. Martin Luther started the reformation at Castle Church nearly 500 years ago and little old Rachel Kurtz from Cokato, MN got the chance to sing there. I am so grateful. I met wonderful people that were on this adventure and then to top it all off, with the beautiful place, food and fellowship, I got to fly to Paris for two days before going home to my wonderful husband and kids. What an adventure. I look forward to writing more about it. But really really really, you need to consider saving your money and going in 2013. The amount of good food, great lodging, wonderful teaching, good music, history and new friendships you can share is incredible for the price. Plus I will get to be there again. So see you 2013 and if you live in the US please come on out to one of the Citizens with the Saints concerts hosted all over the country with Agape* rapper David Scherer. The dates are on my calendar page…look right. Or you can get more info at www.citizenstour.com

I was sitting on the couch with my niece Mackenzie and my soon-to-be niece Rose Nashca and telling them bedtime stories the other night. Like every kid avoiding bedtime, they were begging for more and more stories. I have found, like many parents and aunties, that anytime you include the child’s name in the story they are enthralled, they really want to know what they will do. With Henry, my 3 1/2 yr old son, whenever I ask him to tell me a story, it starts; there was a little boy named Henry.

I love love love a good story. I love a good book. I love gossip, I admit it, I love a juicy tidbit.

I find myself striking up conversations all the time. My kids will find me completely annoying when they get older, like MOOOOOMMMM can’t we just go to the grocery store and leave, do you HAVE to hear something about the cashier??
Just yesterday I was late for a meeting because the woman at Mills End Fabric store (which is going out of business and man oh man I love a good going out of business sale, I digress) and I started talking and we got on the subject of her 15 yr old grandson. He had been watching his mom teach stamping and card making classes all his life. When he was 10 years old he felt he was ready, he made 5 sample cards for his mom and she loved them and he taught 8 older woman to make these cards. They LOVED him, they loved the class and that wonderful mother allowed him to fairly earn $80 in an hour at the age of 10. AMAZING!! He is now 15 and designing light fixtures and copper earrings. I, of course, ordered a pair. The woman was shocked, but why not support a budding artist?

Like I have said many times, everyone and I mean EVERYONE has a story. Our lives are interesting, some more than others. If we take the time to talk to people, listen and ask questions, we really find out the most interesting things. My life is so much richer for it. The only problem is story retention for me. I have had two people recall stories about me in my 20′s just this last week and I really have no idea what they are talking about. Too bad I didn’t journal.
My friend, Jayanthi, had asked me to tell the story about my childhood house fires (I said it, house fireS) on a number of occasions before I realized we had talked about it before. She just loved how excited I got when the subject randomly (not so randomly) came up. Ask me about it sometime.
So please take some time to ask someone to tell you their story, or share yours with someone else. I have found that everyone is interesting, from the wealthy woman next to me on the plane (which I secretly judged until I got to know her) to the tornado victim in North Minneapolis, to the man at the Home Depot, to the elderly curmudgeon at your church, to the amazing people at the wellness center at my friend’s church. People are interesting and I have found that most people don’t mind talking about themselves, me more than most. We need to know how people manuevered their families, marriages, teenagers, jobs and so on. We want to learn from each other and support each other.

I am not sure why I hadn’t really noticed, or why things have been standing out to me so much more lately. I have been traveling without my kids this month and maybe it’s given me more time to visit and then reflect. I am amazed by the Lutheran church. I love love love the theology (what I know of it) and all the work towards neighborhoods, nationally and internationally is really intentional and incredible. Some of you know I was not actually raised Lutheran. I was baptised Catholic as a baby (Thank you Grandma Kurtz for your influence there). I was raised mainly in the New Life Assembly of God church in my home town of Cokato, MN. I had Lutheran friends growing up and remember especially my friends Andrea and Leah going to a national youth gathering and local ones too. If you would have asked us in high school if it were more likely for them to become Pentecostal or me, Lutheran, we would have agreed I would not be a Lutheran. God had other plans. I went to AFLBS ( The Association Free Lutheran Bible School) and finally really started hearing about grace in a way I hadn’t understood before. For instance, I can not do anything to make God love me more. I can not in any way earn my salvation with good behaviour, service or otherwise and I can not make God love me any less. Should I sin all the more that grace may abound, may it never be!!
Through my years as a camp staffer and youth director, I worked in various Lutheran settings, and now I am hooked. I love the Lutheran’s and the Lutheran theology and I am proud to consider myself a Lutheran ( with the Holy Ghost :) Even though my Grandparents were Lutheran, I don’t feel I really got the history of it or understood Lutheran culture. That brings us to today.

I spent the weekend in Racine, WI. I met wonderful people!! I participated in a Lutheran Revival!! Right up my alley!
We were in a BEAUTIFUL building. The sanctuary at Our Saviour’s is HUGE. I was struck by it and imagined the pride of the congregation when it was built in the 1950′s. The Lutheran church as I understand it, was at it’s heyday in the 50′s and 60′s. Huge churches were built and filled every Sunday. There was Ladies Aid and social circles galore. Young families were there, older generations were there and everyone was having baby Lutherans, it was booming. Fast forward 50 years. There are many churches that are still booming. But everyone that I have talked to is concerned about the future of the Lutheran church in one way or another. I will speak specifically of my friend, Pastor Tracy’s church, knowing there are MANY types of churches all around. Her church is worshiping about 70 people on an average week. They are doing so many things to reach out to their transformed neighborhood. They are trying to be relevant to the neighborhood while maintaining their distinct Lutheran heritage. They actually made the decision as a church to GO BIG or go home. They are willing to use some of the church capital funds to add a staff person of color to better relate and serve their community. They are still searching, please pray for them. It’s really amazing!! I am so impressed and even more so as I looked out at the congregation on Sunday morning when I sang before quickly heading to the airport. Many congregants had white hair. They had likely been there when that gorgeous church was built. They have given countless hours of service and dollars to the church. They want to welcome ALL people. I am certain there are fears on how that will look. I can’t imagine what it would feel like to know what you had given to the church even when their babies were young and see some of the hard-working volunteers today and many of the people that are just too busy to give to the church. I feel like many in my generation feel like….well we hired you to do the job Pastor, now do it! I know many of the older members remember when they spent multiple days per week at the church in various capacities. Their kids were expected to be part of that service. I was convicted frankly, of how little I help with my church, Humblewalk in St Paul. I tend to excuse myself because I am 25 minutes from church, but there are many dedicated volunteers that spent time doing outreach and caring for the church and it’s members. The Lutheran church understands it needs to change and transition with the times and neighborhoods and some are digging in their heels and living on an endowment and thinking they are doing outreach. One reason I love Humblewalk (and wished it was in my neighborhood) is because they are open, loving, preach the gospel and are doing very practical things to live and serve their neighborhood. I love it.
One of the things that I am going to take away from this last 2 weeks is a commitment to serve more. I want to bring my kids along and teach them to give and be part of the creative process of your church. I won’t always succeed, but hey I am Lutheran and there is grace for that :)

I have had the privilege of visiting northwestern North Dakota 3 times in the last 6 months. I am currently in Stanley, ND population 1,300-ish. There has been a major cultural and life-style shift in this area in the last 3 years as the oil industry has boomed. I didn’t pay that much attention to it until this current visit when I have been able to see first-hand (both on land and by air) the changes it’s made to the landscape and more importantly to communities. I can give you a very limited history and description. There is a TON of oil under the earth here in the wide open spaces of North Dakota and into Montana. There has been oil drilling here for years, but they could only drill straight down, limiting drastically the amount of oil that could be taken from the earth. As I understand it, there is a new technology called fracking (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fracking) where they send high pressure water down into  the 2 mile deep hole and they can now drill sideways into the Bakken layer two miles in a number of directions and they get tons of oil, millions and millions and millions of dollars worth. So now sleepy little towns in the middle of NOWHERE are inundated with oil workers and some of their families and more semis then they know what to do with. The roads are tore up, the schools are overcrowded, there is dirt everywhere and there are people that now “sort of” transplants. The workers rarely have the space, housing or time to move their families here and so they work and then go home for a while. There are local families that once were united that are fighting over all this money that is pouring in and people that own the land but not the mineral rights and it’s just plain messy.

I had the privilege of flying from one small town to another with my new friend, Danny. (Some pictures below) We talked about how this is impacting people and he said “Imagine being an 80 year old Norwegian or Swede that has lived here his whole life and farmed. Now he is making millions. What is he going to do with all that money at 80?? He just wants to go fishing.” As we flew over the wide open countryside, the view was littered with oil wells over a pretty sparse landscape. The fields were dotted with farms. I can’t imagine living in such solitude and all of a sudden there are hundreds of people where once there was fifty. There are “man camps” along the highways and country roads. This is essentially big metal trailers attached to one another in rows.  Housing prices have skyrocketed because there is nowhere to put all these people and not enough town folks to keep the Hardee’s open with all the new business.  People are conflicted. They chose to live in a place where you know everyone and you are known. Where once you sat in the diner and knew EVERYONE that was there, you may know half or less. It takes all the longer to get a famous Whirl-a-whip in Stanley (the original Blizzard)

I love traveling and getting a chance to experience regions of the US differently then a tourist. I get to stay with families and hear their stories firsthand. I pray that these people can learn how to navigate these new changes and challlenges. I hope they can continue to  love their neighbor and share the wealth and celebrate the blessings of not having to strive so hard. I hope those shop and store owners that are having to work so much harder to keep up with the demands can find the balance and get some rest. I hope they can drink in some of the blessed peace and quiet this part of the country provides and maybe just go fishing. 

By the way, I felt like a totally rock star getting to fly from one gig to another, with my own personal pilot/ tour guide!

Thank you to everyone that has EVER provided me with the hospitality of a good meal, a warm bed or a ride in a car or airplane. My life is so rich for all the people I have experienced along the way!

BIG BIG things on the horizon. After the complete and somewhat short-lived (I will never really get over it) let down of  not getting even to the next phase of being NBC’s the VOICE and not becoming and huge rock and roll star. I looked at my life and felt really really grateful and continued living the stellar life I was already living and found out more incredible news.

Agape (aka David Scherer) with the help of the ELCA National Youth gathering and I are going on a wonderful fall tour to raise money alongside ELCA World Hunger relief. We are doing concerts and events ALL OVER the United States of America. The dates are being confirmed and you will hear much more about this in the future. I was hugely pregnant the last time we did a tour like this with Agape and Lost and Found and we helped raise $50,000 for World Hunger!!! Then I had Lucy, win-win! The fundraising efforts this year are focusing on erradicating malria related deaths. Again, I will much more about this as info becomes available.

My dear friend, Jayanthi Kyle (of  Black Audience fame) and I are both musicians and moms. Through the help of a MN Arts Council grant, our families are developing a fun, action-packed, quality, high energy, romping-good-time, children’s show. We will be offering free shows at North Minneapolis, and Northeast Minneapolis parks this summer. And this fall will put on the first ever children’s show at either First Ave or 7th st entry. If we get all the people we know and all the people they know and then some more people, we will actually be able to put it on in the big room. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE buy tickets and tell all your friends and come on over when the time comes. I will be posting details as we finalize dates. The group (at my suggestion) is called Jayanthi Kyle and the Crybabies. I am a crybaby and so I felt it only fitting. Michael May and Robin Kyle (son of Paul Kyle who wrote all the incredible music on my cd Come Ye Sinners) are also crybabies…a lot less crying and a whole lot more big  baby! Seriously, don’t you want to bring your kids to First Ave for music, puppet shows, fun and foolishness and get some organic apple juice and Annie’s snacks with all the other hipster parent’s??

If you have a suggestion or comment or question on either of these big happenings go directly to facebook, do not pass go, do not collect $200. http://www.facebook.com/rachelkurtzmay also please look at the calendar link on the side of this entry and please come on over to a concert near you!

If you really want to see what this kids show is all about and want to bring us to your church, you can hire us!! If you think, hey I think Jayanthi Kyle and the Crybabies need to come and play at the HUGE birthday party for my 5 year old, call us 651.470.8028. If you have a women’s retreat or youth event where you want Rachel Kurtz to come and bring the magic. Again, call me! If you want to complain, how about you email me rachel@rachelkurtz.com or write me a letter 1716 Victory Memorial Pkwy Minneapolis, MN 55412.

Have a wonderful Spring day (come back sun, we miss you!) and Happy Easter!

Rachel Kurtz

I get annoyed and fearful every year before I start my taxes. As a self-employed person, I have way too much to keep track of, but here we are, fast approaching April and I need to get my butt in gear. So to waste a little more of your time, I will post a new family picture and say “Happy belated daylight savings time.”

So I have never been good at waiting for something that I really want. I wasn’t good at waiting to hear whether or not I got to sing at the ELCA national gatherings, I wasn’t good at waiting to find out what part I got in the high school fall musical. I wasn’t good at waiting for my first kiss. (at the ripe old age of 21) I REALLY wasn’t good at waiting for Michael May to ask me to marry him. As a person, I LOVE instant gratification. I love to eat what I want, when I want. I love to buy what I want when I want, I love to rip up carpet when I want, whether or not we have the money to buy the flooring needed to cover the floor once I destroyed it. I am fortunate to have a husband that can balance that out. He is unfazed, unruffled. He is ok just sitting back and living in the moment and not spazzing about things he can’t control….mostly. He has since talked to me about our dating period and all the times I cried and wanted to control the ONE situation the I wasn’t in charge of in my life. I would plead with him to give me a clue as to when he thought we might get married. All the while the ring was waiting in the back room. He knew we just needed to date and get to know each other because as soon as he proposed, we would no longer just date, we would be planning a wedding. Correction, I would be obsessing and planning a wedding. There was more then one occassion that he wanted to go into his room and get the ring and toss it on my lap in frustration for not trusting him. But he didn’t and he asked me to marry him anyways. He got me out the deal, so a few tears for a life time of fun with Rachel Kurtz is not a terrible trade-off (not a word Nate Houge).

I am still not very good at waiting. I think the worst is waiting to go into labor. When I was pregnant with both of my kids, I fretted and tossed and turned more then one night wondering when this bundle would arrive. I am thankful for today. I am thankful for my health, my home, my ministry, my kids, my husband. I am thankful for chocolate, and sunshine, for being able-bodied enough to pick up toys and shovel huge amounts of snow. I am thankful for my incredible friends, the ability to make money, for my mom and dad. I am thankful the opportunity to serve someone other then myself. I am thankful for all the things I can learn in the waiting period. I am thankful for Michael May and his patience with me as I learn the art of waiting.

Day two...callbacks and fake lashes!

Alas, I was not chosen to go on. I will continue to wonder perodically why I wasn’t picked and I can’t wait to watch this season start April 26th. This consumed all my time thinking about it and now I am home and present and accounted for.