The Bridge October 23, 2020 - Christ Lutheran Church
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The Bridge
October 23, 2020
Reminder: Reformation Sunday is this Sunday, October 25.
Please wear red!
From Pastor Mary
Dear Church:
Our culture often claims Halloween to Christmas Day as the "holiday
season". Since Halloween has become very popular, it's now folded
into our celebration seasons with Thanksgiving and Christmas. All of these holidays
are actually "holy days" with Christian origins, but we as Lutherans kick-off the
season a little earlier than the culture.
Since Reformation Day is October 31st, we traditionally commemorate it on the
Sunday before this date. That will be Sunday, October 25th this year. All are
encouraged to wear red, the color of the Spirit, to mark the day as you zoom in to
worship.
Reformation Sunday is also the anniversary of the organizing of Christ Lutheran as
an official congregation of the SC Synod of the Lutheran Church in America (one
of the three predecessor bodies of the ELCA). We'll celebrate our 47th anniversary
with our prayers and also with the historical video made for the 40th anniversary.
We'll start this several minutes before worship begins in place of our Gathering
song. Tune in a little early to catch it.
Congregations like ours also celebrate in the Fall season of harvest the stewardship
to which we all are called in baptism. We continue to Build a Culture of Generosity
as the baptized children of God. While many speak of Thanksgiving Day as a time
to think about what they are grateful for, Christians believe gratitude, sincere
gratitude, always creates generosity. Our Stewardship Team has done a great job in
providing us with motivation and inspiration this season. We will conclude our
Stewardship Campaign on November 1st. Be watching and reading what they send
to you. Be reflecting and praying on how God is calling you to be generous. I know
I'm thinking about my giving to my home congregation, but I'm also praying about
how to give to CLC in 2021 as a continuing friend of the congregation.
I hope you'll attend the next Holy Conversation time on Monday, October 26th at
7pm as we converse together about our generosity stories. The Zoom link is below
in the announcement.
Happy Holy Days, everybody!
Christ Lutheran Church Zoom Worship
Sunday, October 25, 2020
10 AM
Join Zoom Meeting
Click below:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85691010897?
pwd=TXhoZTgrWVlGaFFteXMrOEtPSkNmdz09
Meeting ID: 856 9101 0897
Password: loveCLCHHI
You will need the password to access every Zoom meeting.
Click here for the Sunday Bulletin: Sunday, October 25, 2020
Church Services each Sunday at 10:00 am via Zoom technology.
Go to our website: www.clchhi.org to view recordings of
each Sunday's worship services.
Click Here for Today's Bulletin
Holy Conversation for Monday, October 26th at 7pm As our congregation focuses more deeply in October on "Creating a Culture of Generosity", we will have this time to come together to reflect on God's abundance and generosity. And we'll have
opportunity to inspire each other with our experiences of seeing abundance and
generosity in our own lives.
Shared Excitement about our Ministry Together at Christ Lutheran Church
Over the past several weeks we have shown multiple Mission Moment Videos
during our Sunday Zoom worship services, written articles for our Tuesday and
Friday CLC Bridge Newsletters and provided inserts for our Sunday Bulletins. All
have been built on this year's Stewardship theme - "Building a Culture of
Generosity".
The Mission Moment videos that will be shown during each of the next two
Sundays will include snippets of conversations that we had over Zoom with both
long time and more recent members of our congregation. We found all these
conversations very heartwarming, uplifting, and inspiring. Unfortunately, given the
time constraints of our Mission Moment videos, we were forced to select only a
couple of truly short snippets from each of our member conversations. We wish you
could see and hear our entire conversation with each of these members so that you
could fully appreciate the impact that Christ Lutheran Church has had on their
spiritual life and could learn more about these members' desire and willingness to
participate in worship and faith formation, to be fully engaged in our social ministry
and outreach programs, and to support all of our church's ministries such as our
Preschool. We only talked to three couples and one single member, but we are
totally convinced that we could have had remarkably similar conversations with
most of our Christ Lutheran Church members. We all could have told our own,
inspiring stories!
In addition to these Zoom conversations, we asked several of our Council members
to share their excitement about our ministry moving forward. Here is what we heard
from three of them.
"Christ Lutheran is bursting with wonderful energy that I wouldn't have
imagined a year ago. The fact that we have started not one, but two new
outreach programs, the Little Free Pantry and the Lunch Break program since
March, show how much we care about those less fortunate right here in our
community!" Leslie H.
"Because 2020 has been truly challenging in all ways, God is making it the
'Year of Vision' for our congregation this fall. The theme of Generosity is
meant to be. God is leading us to reimagine what worship, mission, and faith
formation look like as we struggle to commune together even though
physically isolated. Our call to God's love to steward our resources and care
for each other has sparked a necessity of creativity and it is happening at CLC!
Such an exciting time to be God's church!" Tami K.
"Our road at CLC has not been a smooth, straight road. There have been
bumps and potholes, but we have continued our travels with the help and
participation of every member with God at our side. Onward we will go with
excitement about renovation and service to each other and the community. We
are strong and God is good!" Phyllis R.
Keeping our ministry strong will enable us to dream about an ever-growing ministry
into the future. Take time this week to reflect on the ways in which connection to
our ministry has impacted you and those you know and love in the past year and
start dreaming about what God may be up to here moving forward. And how all
these factors will influence the Generosity that you will show when you complete
your Statement of Intent for 2021 as part of our Stewardship Campaign.
Yours in Christ.
Joyce and John Prange
2021 Stewardship Campaign Co-Chairs
Pastor Mary is with Pastor Mike
Ward, our Stewardship
consultant, at the Rostered
Leaders Conference at
Lutheridge. Mike is cheering us
on at CLC!
-- Paper towel drive is ongoing--
News from the Preschool
Many thanks to all who have donated paper
towels this week! Lots of activities going on
for Halloween....Scary preschool skeletons,
hammering golf tees into pumpkins,
and our very own pumpkin patch!
LOVE FOR ONE ANOTHER BIBLE STUDY
Weekly Bible Study Resumes via Zoom on October 28.
It seems harder and harder these days to remember Jesus
command to "Love one another." It just isn't easy to love some
people. "Love for One Another", an Augsburg Adult Bible
Study, gives us an opportunity to explore how loving one
another can be life-giving, especially when we begin to love
people who are difficult for us to love. Old Testament stories,
Jesus, Paul and the writer of Acts will speak to our questions
about loving one another. Join us as we experience the joy and
peacefulness that comes from loving God and one another, no matter what.
We will meet via Zoom on Wednesdays at 11am, beginning October 14. Study
Guides are available in the church office. Contact Kathy Mork if you plan to attend
or if you have any questions.
CONNECTED NEWS
CONNECTED is helping a refugee and you can too!
THANKS TO ALL who have already
contributed to help Mango to get his
education at the jTech Institute!
He has started his studies and is very proud
about his chosen path of education.
In this picture you see Mango proudly
sporting his uniform with his mom and little
brother.
About Mango:
Mango Kabobo was born in a refugee camp
in Zambia, Africa where he lived for 13
years before he and is family were admitted
to the USA. They have been in
Jacksonville, FL for 5 years now where
Mango graduated from Terry Parker High
School.
With the support and help from his designated mentor from LSS he has researched,
evaluated and applied to the "jtech INSTITUTE" to persue an Automotive
Technology Operational Associates degree and was accepted.
Mango will have to give up his night time job at UPS to be able to concentrate on
his studies but has identified a day time job to support his studies and his family.
He is short about $220 for tuition every month.
His education started September 21, 2020 and will run for 21 months.
LSS is supporting Mango as best as they can!
Any funds we can raise to support Mango will go through our church books as a tax
deductible donation and will then go to LSS Jacksonville, FL. LSS will be
responsible for distributing needed funds to Mango.
If you would like to help, please make your check out to CLC, subject matter
"Mango refugee support".
More information:
jTech-Institude
or contact Silke at Silke at CLC
CONNECTED will continue via Zoom
ZOOM-CONNECTED is working out great
for everyone and we have meaningful, deep,
educational and faith based conversations!
We will meet on October 28, November 4 and
11.
We are tackling the topic of "Racism in the
USA" once again (historically, nowadays, and in
the context of biblical interpretation).
A CONNECTED invite will be sent to everyone
on Mondays with the request to let us know if
you plan to participate! Even though we don"t have to plan a meal, we have to plan
small groups (break-out groups via Zoom).
Please help us by sending a RSVP to our CONNECTED invite or to Silke at
CLC.
Here the log-in:
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87636299009?
pwd=ZnlDNUN5YzZVOHlydXdrV2Ewa1c5dz09
Meeting ID: 876 3629 9009
Passcode: CONNECTED
6+1 Sacred Time small groups have been formed
If you have signed up you will have received an email with
information about your group.
Please contact Silke at CLC of you want to be part of this
group.
Sarah DeMaria's mother, Leora Horst
Steve Bassford
Victims of recent wildfires and hurricanes
Our nation living with many blessings and much strife
Nan Stafford
Nancy McCleskey's sister, Cyndie
Connie Simon
George Wallis (father of Kathy Mork)--
who tested positive for COVID and has been moved
to isolation.
THE BELLS ARE RINGIN'!!
The bells are back! On Tuesday, October
20th, the CLC Bell Choir members met to
have a "Polishing Party" and make our
beautiful bells look like new again. In
addition, we are reorganized and
practicing for Thanksgiving and Advent.
Look for us during the Sunday services
on the 22nd and 29th of November. Many
thanks to: Jennifer Brown, Suzy
Makalous, Jodi Winslow, Tami
Kuhlmann, Alice Graeb, Wendy Dickes,
Paulette Stefanik, and Elsa Felten. We
would love to have new members! Please
email Susie Fidler at ksfid@hotmail.com.
if you would like to play with us! Join us
for our next rehearsal Wednesday,
October 28th at 4:00 p.m. in Heinrich
Hall.
Since we're still doing "home church" for
now and since learning the faith and living
the faith have always been a home activity,
we want to help you have some resources
in your home. So here's a little Fall Book
Fair for us at CLC. If you let us know that you would like to order one or more of
these items (remember them as possible Christmas gifts, too) by October 23rd, we'll
put in the order and let you know when they are here. Please email or call Linda in
the church office to order. When they arrive, you will need to pick them up and give
a check to the church to cover the costs.
Families Celebrate Advent & Christmas 2020-21
Families Celebrate Advent & Christmas is a colorful deck of cards
that is full of rituals, prayers and reflections. Endlessly flexible for
busy schedules, you can create a new after-meal ritual, use them as
decorations, or carry them on the go. Explore the entire season from
Advent to Christmas through Epiphany. These make a great gift for
families in your congregation!
$9.99
Evangelical Lutheran Worship, Pew Edition
This is our ELCA Worship Book and Hymnal. It has many
resources to support congregational and home worship life.
$24.50
Living Lutheran
Living Lutheran, the new magazine of the ELCA, offers news
and stories that illuminate Christ's presence in the world. This is
our denominational magazine and is a great way to stay
connected to other congregations and the churchwide expression.
$19.95 per year
Spark Story Bible Devotions for Kids
Spark Story Bible Devotions for Kids takes kids on a journey
through 100 of the most well-known Bible stories with questions for
reflection, key verses, prayers, and family activity ideas.
$14.99
Spark Story Bible Psalm Book: Prayers and Poems for
Kids
In The Spark Story Bible Psalm Book, fifty beloved psalms are
rewritten in child-friendly language, accompanied bythe classic
artwork of Peter Grosshauser, illustrator of The Spark Story Bible.
$14.99Spark Story Bible: Sunday School Edition
The Spark Story Bible brings God's Word to life through colorful art
and rich retelling of 150 of the most popular Bible stories.
$21.49
Lutheran Study Bible (Paperback)
Lutheran Study Bible features the NRSV translation as well as
introductions, notes, and articles written by over sixty Lutheran
pastors and teaching...
$24.99
Note: Some of these resources are available as gift editions,
hardbacks, and e-books. If you want to shop on your own, please
google search for 1517 Media and take a look!
Construction is well
underway both outside and
inside Christ Lutheran.
Here are some pictures
from this week's activities.
Outside work in front of the church entranceWorking on clearing the front lawn. Looking through the Sanctuary entrance
through the Narthex.
Sanctuary hallway work. Choir area renovation work underway.
THE CHURCH CALENDARSunday, October 25 10 am Service-Reformation Sunday
6:00 to 8:00 pm Youth Campfire
Monday, October 26 7:00 pm Holy Conversation on Generosity
Tuesday, October 27 10 am Staff Meeting
Wednesday, October 28 4:00 pm Handbells Practice, Heinrichs Hall
6:00 pm CONNECTED
Thursday, October 29 9:30 am Trunk or Treat in Preschool
4:30 pm Confirmation Class
Sunday, November 1 10:00 am Service of the Word and Meal (via Zoom)
Followed by "Coffee Hour" conversation
Church Office Hours: Monday - Thursday: 8 :30 a.m. - 4 p.m.
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