Stories at Sunset is an amazing ministry idea implemented at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Twin Falls, Idaho. Think of it like a drive-in experience, but with book reading instead of watching a movie.
The concept was brought to Immanuel’s Church Board of Education in early 2023 from Emilie Carlson, the Associate Principal of the Immanuel Lutheran School (she was the 5th grade teacher at that time). She had a friend who implemented this at her church, and Emilie thought it would be something that we could do here at Immanuel. The idea being, once per week during the summer, we could gather in the evening — around sunset and during the beginning of bedtime routines — to read a bedtime story to children and their families. Families would pull up in their vehicle (or walk up and sit and listen on the grassy area). Children were welcome to come in their pajamas and receive a copy of the evening’s book. Then, at the appointed time, a reader would begin reading the story that would be broadcast over the car radio on the set frequency. In the vehicles, parents and children would gather to follow along while the book was read. Different people would read the stories each week, be it the pastor, principal, teachers, or other interested volunteers from the Board of Education and Immanuel in general.
After the evening’s reading, families would be invited to come out of their cars to receive a light snack (water, milk, cookies, Rice Krispies Treats, etc.) and another book for each child to take home. The additional books would be out on a table where children could browse the selection, which typically consisted of lightly used donated books, new books from bookstores, as well as perhaps Arch Books and other children’s books from Concordia Publishing House.
In the beginning, members of the Board were great encouragers of this event. We knew we would have to invest in some technical/electronic equipment in order to set a frequency to read over and have it cast to the cars; Board member Jason Quale, whose family has owned Quale’s Electronics in Twin Falls for many years, was instrumental in getting us what we needed and helping us run this program.
Board member Bonnie Rast took care of a large majority of the task of ordering of books, organizing them, and keeping record of what we had. Board members Yvonne Reinke, Beth Reinke, Lois Anderson — plus Pastor Sedlmayr and I (Deaconess Amanda Mumm) — would look over and approve the proposed weekly titles for each summer, in addition to the other books offered that children could grab after the weekly story was over.
That first year, about 10-15 vehicles showed up each Wednesday night for the six weeks of the program. It was so well received and the Board members had such a great time hosting that the church decided Stories at Sunset would have a special reading in December for Christmas and again in the spring for Easter. Then, once again, it would run for six weeks of the summer in 2024.
That second year saw tremendous growth! It also continued to be a great way for Immanuel to connect with families at the church, school, and child development center. This was about the time the surrounding neighborhood, which otherwise wasn’t associated with Immanuel, began to notice and started showing up for this program!
We talked about this event and advertised it in our church as well as within our school and child development center. Pastor Sedlmayr served as a reader, and that was especially fun for his own grandson to see and experience! Lois Anderson brought some neighbor boys whom she has become an honorary grandmother to. I was able to bring my own children and invited friends, so we were able to have a casual playdate leading up to the event. It is thanks to Stories at Sunset that I was able to kickstart an additional group for families with young children called Water for the Sheep, which typically gathers once each month for a playdate, devotion for parents, and Bible Story and songs for the children.
We held special Stories at Sunset events in Christmas 2024 and Easter 2025. Stories at Sunset just wrapped up its third summer a couple of weeks ago, and the attendance grew once again! This was the largest summer yet. Thanks be to God for the ability to gather together in this way!
This year, our Church Board of Education went through a transition, as some of the members who were very influential in beginning this ministry have gone off the Board after many years of faithful service. But two new members, who attended this event with their children and began worshipping at Immanuel, have been a blessing to our Board as they are able to serve and tell friends and family. Another Board member also joined after first participating in this event with her granddaughter and great-grandson.
We are so very thankful that Mrs. Emilie Carlson brought this idea of Stories at Sunset to our attention when she did. As you can see, it has been a blessing to those we serve as well as to the volunteers who work behind the scenes. Thanks be to God for this ministry opportunity — and it is my prayer that we may be able to continue on in this way for years to come!
Click here to watch the Six Mission Minutes video for even more info about this ministry!
