Lame Deer, MT
Northern Cheyenne Reservation
In 1876 the Sioux and Cheyenne people joined together at the Little Big Horn River in southeastern Montana to defeat General George Custer and the 7th Cavalry. About 20 miles east of this historic site is the Northern Cheyenne Reservation, home to about 4,000 Cheyenne people. It is on the reservation where Circle of Life Lutheran Church is located in the small community of Muddy Cluster and where Rev. Dennis Bauer serves the Cheyenne people.
Most recently, Pastor Bauer has been mentoring Park Timber, a Northern Cheyenne man, who has entered the EIIT Program through Concordia Seminary in St. Louis. Park is in his final year of training for ordination at Concordia Seminary-St. Louis. He is scheduled to be ordained in Spring 2011.
Congregational activities include the Sunday worship service, adult and children's Sunday School, an active program for senior and junior high youth and a Christian support group. In all of these, Pastor Bauer and Park seek to develop experiences using Northern Cheyenne culture and tradition. They also lead retreats and youth camping programs to Bear Butte, a mountain in South Dakota near the Black Hills which the traditional Cheyenne people consider consecrated.