Known By Name Collective

06/05/2026

Pastor Sommer is at Synod Assembly and will be unavailable until Saturday evening.

Known By Name Collective was honored by the Assembly today in recognition of being a New Community. What a surprise!

Feeling extremely blessed and thankful. We also honored Trinity Lutheran Church-The Jordan for their closure after many many many years as a congregation and their generous contribution to Known By Name Collective to get us running!

The baptismal font at Synod Assembly this year was the font given to us by Trinity upon their closure.

06/01/2026

Happy Pride Month! 🌈

This month, we celebrate the beauty, resilience, courage, and absolute joy of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.

We celebrate every person who learned to love themselves after being told they shouldn't, especially by the church.

We celebrate every parent who chose love over fear by learning and understanding, and those who are still trying.

We celebrate all of the allies in our world who continuously keep showing up!

We celebrate all of the elders who came before us, paved the way for us to be where we are- especially the ones who never got to be their authentic selves in the world or made it to see gay marriage become legalized.

Every young person who are still discovering that who they are is not a mistake, but a gift if this world. You are worthy, you are beloved, you make this world a significantly better place!

At Known By Name Collective, we truly believe that God's goodness is reflected in the absolute breathtaking diversity of God's creation. We believe that every person is worthy of belonging, dignity, and love. We believe that no one is beyond the reach of grace, because grace was never meant to be scarce.

Most of all, we know that Pride Month has far more nuance than simply being proud of who you are. It is resilience, both loud and silent. It is the constant fight of trying to have the same rights as everyone else. It's about celebrating the ability to exist as you are in a world that tells you they don't want to see it. It isn't the "sin of Pride", it is literal survival.

As we begin Pride Month, we offer this prayer:

Holy Love,

Thank you for the countless ways your image shines through your people.

Thank you for q***r joy, for chosen family, for resilience, for laughter, for courage, and for communities that help us remember we are not alone.

For those celebrating openly, may this month be filled with delight.

For those still searching for safety, may they find people who honor their humanity by welcoming them into arms open with love that has no asterisks.

For those carrying wounds from faith communities, may they encounter gentleness instead of judgment, curiosity instead of fear, and love that asks nothing of them except to come as they are- their authentic selves.

Remind us that we do not have to earn our belovedness.

Remind us that nothing can separate us from your love.

Give us the courage to build communities where all people can flourish, where every story is treated as sacred and heard, and where your welcome is made visible in the world.

Guide us all to be people who celebrate what you celebrate: life, love, justice, mercy, and belonging.

Let it be so.

Happy Pride Month. You are known. You are beloved. You belong. This world is a far better place simply because you exist within it.

06/01/2026

(A day late but here it is!)

Question of the Week:

05/31/2026

You've all been waiting so patiently for this- thank you! Excited to announce our FIRST Religious Trauma Informed Worship Service.

June 7th at 6:00 p.m.

A little information about our worship space, liturgy, and services:

*Pastor Sommer doesn't wear a collar during worship. They will wear a stole.

*This space is in a parsonage that is shared with an art collective. It's literally in a living room! This means there are no pews, no crosses, no religious symbolism you might see in a sanctuary.

*This is meant to be a sensory safe space. We will have floor pillows if chairs are difficult, books for children, coloring books for both adults and children, fidgets galore. We might have an acoustic guitar for some songs, and a keyboard. No organ.

*We have tote bags for kids with little ribbons, crayons, coloring books, books, and more. In our space, kids can have joy :) We know church can be boring for young ones. If we do have enough children for it- we would LOVE to start afternoon Sunday Learning.

*Unfortunately right now, the space we have is not wheelchair accessible. Pr. Sommer is looking for ways to hold park services once month and also toss in some "nature" services. Until we are able to find a weekly space that is as affordable (we are not currently paying for the space we have- just sharing it) this is what we have.

*The liturgy will look a little...okay a LOT different than traditional liturgy. We understand that words like "prayer" can be difficult, even "amen". So Pr. Sommer has creatively named the parts of worship to keep it's liturgical integrity, but keep it safe for everyone.

*We will offer communion each week. This is an invitation and not a "must" for those who attend our services. If you would rather have a prayer or a blessing instead of communion? Just let Pr. Sommer know. All are welcome to the table whether you are ready to have the holy meal, or you're not ready for that step just yet. It doesn't matter if it has been 10 years or two weeks. You. Are. Invited.

*For ANY part of the service, if it doesn't feel good in your body and you need to step away? That is okay. More than okay. There is no judgement during worship. If traditional prayer still feels bad? We have a prayer bowl instead- you can always take a moment, write a prayer on a piece of dissolving paper, and hand it to God through the water.

*Our digital service is for all. It doesn't matter if you are in the Fox Valley or Germany. This is a more casual service, very little music, shorter message and a time where you can slip your prayers into the chat during our time of prayer. For now, communion will not be offered.

If you are interested in having your child baptized, having a first communion, if YOU are interested in getting baptized, married, or would like "Lutheran Education"- please let Pr. Sommer know.

You can email them at [email protected]

05/23/2026

QOTW: What fictional character would absolutely thrive in q***r community potlucks? And what dish would they bring?

(We cannot WAIT to see these answers :) )

05/21/2026

Read our latest Substack post, "Performance is Not a Worship Requirement"!

Make sure to subscribe :)

Come as you are, stay as you feel comfortable.

05/21/2026

Drumroll please!

The winner of the Meme This contest from Sommer's Ordination photo is Emily Long!

You have won a free Pride Flag! Congratulations!

If this is something you had a blast doing, maybe we will do more of these. :)

05/19/2026

Okay community! Let's get engagement on this page going and have a little fun!

Pastor Sommer got ordained and installed yesterday as Pastor of Known By Name Collective. There was literal thunder, lightning, and this is the moment it was acclaimed that they are an official Rev.

(These are sobs of joy, promise!)

Laughter is the best medicine and I invite you to meme this. Funniest one wins a free pride flag!

And go!

(Picture compliments of Pastor Connie Weiss :) )