The Mirror - Congregational Church of Excelsior
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January
2019
The Mirror
0+The Congregational Church of Excelsior INSIDE THIS ISSUE
www.excelsiorcongregational.org
infoccoe@aol.com (952) 474-5919 From the Pastor 1
Board of Christian Education 3
Board of Deacons 5
From the Pastor
Board of Missions 4
“Auld Lang Syne.” Will someone please tell me what the heck it
Musical Moments 2
means, exactly? (Sounds Gaelic to me, definitely not Polish or
Hungarian! Maybe the Scots need someone from the Upper
Midwest of the good ol’ USA to teach them how to speak English!). For starters, some big-time scholars question whether
Nonetheless, here we are 2019! (Don’t blink…the bad news is that they even existed, since their story only appears in
in a flash, it will be 2020 Matthew’s gospel (it’s reasonable to think that an “event”
as important as this would be mentioned elsewhere, at
But the good news (no pun intended but if it fits…), is that
least in one of the other gospels….but nooooo, as John
Christmas is not quite over yet. You remember how in the “old
Beluschi liked to say). But, for now, let’s put aside our
days”---long, long, gone (auld lang syne) the Christmas season
doubts and say they existed. Next, if the Wise Men were
stretched for twelve days and nights, and every day children
“Magi,” that means they were priests or clergy of some
received only one modest gift (by our standards today, although it
sort---probably from Persia (Iran today), so were
was extravagant to them), each day like an orange, then an apple
Zoroastrians. Zoroastrianism (no relation to Zorro!)
the next, etc. (Yes, that’s where we get one of our favorite
strongly believed that “happenings” (for want of a better
Christmas songs: “On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave
word) on earth often coincided with happenings in the
to me…On the second day of Christmas…).
heavens, which they spent a great deal of time watching,
And do you know why? (I won’t keep you in suspense). It’s because observing changes there as signs of significant
Christian tradition holds that it took the Wise Men twelve days to happenings on earth of which they were not aware or
reach the stable where the newborn Christ child lay to come and were about to occur. They would be the type of holy men
offer their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh (not just random who, if they saw something new in the night sky, would
gifts mind you, but gifts each of which bore their own unique drop everything and set off to find out what it meant.
meaning). Thus the 12th day of Christmas, the day of their visitation, Notice too that Matthew does not tell us how many Wise
has been given its own liturgical name, Epiphany. In fact, the word Men there were. We surmise the number from how many
“epiphany” captures a central duality: 1) light---the Wise Men (were gifts they brought, which means there could have been
they Magi or Kings?) followed the light of the of the brightest star more just standing off in the corner with their hands
in the Eastern sky until it finally led them to the manger; and 2) tucked in their pockets! And to add insult to injury, other
enlightenment - which is what made them wise in the first place, in scholars say it was very unlikely that they were even
that they recognized a savior who was even greater than they, to “Kings,” (and no, they weren’t probably smoking rubber
whom they knew they should go to bow down and worship. That is cigars either!).
why the time leading up to Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent,
Now, if there isn’t much evidence about something in the
is called the Epiphany season, during which time we Christians are
gospels, then it’s only logical to turn to the Old Testament
to emulate like the Wise Men and seek our own enlightenment,
to see what, if anything, is there. Ahhh, in this case there
thus wisdom.
is! It just so happens that the prophets made many
Now comes the fun part (if you are a student of the Bible), and do references to people from other religions and nations
a little detective work to find out more about the three Wise Men. coming to Jerusalem to worship God, some accounts of
1 (Continued on page 2)
The Congregational Church of Excelsior/The Mirror
Pastor, from page 1
which even included hints about the coming of a Messiah. So Matthew’s description of the Wise Men’s visitation falls
naturally in-line with these, except this time it’s for keeps as it features the Messiah. What’s more, Matthew offers their
story (chapter 2) as proof that this baby, the one and only Jesus, is the fulfillment of all the Old Testament prophecies
(it’s a sort of cosmic I told you so). But even before that, Matthew opens his gospel (1:1), with a dreadfully exhaustive
recitation of Jesus’ lineage leading straight back to King David (call it the first ancestry.com). Remember too that
everyone here is a Jew (at least at first) including Jesus himself, so there’s a monster debate going on in the Jewish
world about the Messiah and whether or not Jesus fits the bill. So that makes Jesus’ ancestral chops an important piece
in the solution to this puzzle, which is why Matthew uses it as the opening statement in this never-ending lawyerly
argument (which still rages on today).
And while we’re at it, what exactly did the prophets say about the coming Messiah, and about how to tell who it is (“to
separate the pretenders from the contenders,” as Mohammed Ali used to say)? The prophets wee clear that the true
Messiah would descend from the house of David. Moreover, he would be born in the same town as David, Bethlehem.
So, for emphasis, Matthew includes having the Wise Men stop to talk to King Herod, thus setting up the fulfillment of
another important prophetic detail, which is that because the Wise Men did not return to tell Herod who the child was
and where to find him, Herod then orders that all male children under the age of two to be killed. This forces Joseph to
take Jesus and Mary, and the rest of the family, and flee to Egypt, thus filling one of the main prophecies that the
Messiah would come out of Egypt.
Whew! That said, throughout the course of history, the story of the Wise Men has been the subject of more variations,
distortions, and interpretations than almost any other story in the Bible. From early on, authors, play writes, and
composers have taken great liberty with Matthew’s account. The number of Wise Men being established at three comes
from one such imaginative work, while the idea that there were four or more comes from another. Even the gifts given
to baby Jesus have been interpreted to have meanings, which foreshadow the tragic events of his life. Sadly, the net
effect of most of these speculations has been to raise doubts in the minds of many people about the story’s veracity.
So we have to look with the eye of faith past all these obstacles to get to the core of Matthew’s intent, which was to
show how the birth of Jesus---the true Messiah, was just as foretold by none other than the real prophets---heavy hitters
all, and so is definitive---end of story. He wanted to make an airtight case for faith---that Jesus was the unequivocal
Messiah as predicted by prophecies, which proved to be true, such that even holy men from other lands and religions
knew, were authentic since they came to bow down before him in all humility. As Matthew would say, what more do you
need...You can’t argue with that.
With the Greatest of Hope in the New Year,
Rev Tom
Musical Moments
Blessings to all in this new month of January in the New Year! I'm reminded on this first day of the year (writing on Jan.
1st) the words from Jeremiah (Lam. 3:22-23): "God's mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning". As I
see pictures of the horrors happening to our world's children - starving bodies, separation from parents - I think of the
perilous journey of Jesus into our world and how he changed it! God help us to be shaken by the "revolutionary nature of
who the infant was" to do our work for peace, good will for all people now! What adventures will the humble Christ Child
lead us to in 2019?
God be with us in thought, words/music, and deed. Lydia
p.s. Loving thanks to each of you for the bonus check and your many gifts of kindness at Christmas.
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The Congregational Church of Excelsior/The Mirror
Board of Christian Education
Happy New Year from the Christian Education Board! We'd like to thank everyone involved with the Dec. 16 Christmas
program.
The Sunday School, Chancel Choir and Bell Choir presented "Twas the Night Before" by Rachel Olson. Youth participants
included Hailey Hougham, Logan Hougham, Katherine Kregness, Noah Kregness, Porter Kregness, Max Krueger, Sully
Krueger, Violet Tudor, Amelia Wennerstrom and Charlie Wennerstrom.
Thanks to all for sharing the Christmas message with everyone in such a beautiful way!
Upcoming events include Kick It in January. Watch your emails for details!
Blessings,
Chair Janet Holler, Carley Kregness and Karla Wennerstrom
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The Congregational Church of Excelsior/The Mirror
Board of Missions
Happy New Year from the Missions Board! Thanks to your
continued generosity, we closed out the year with lots of
thoughtful giving that will be described in the annual report,
including December gifts—Christmas Fund, Target gift cards
for Tree House kids, Noisy Offering for Simpson, ICA "entrée
foods," and Mitten Tree items for Sharing and Caring Hands.
We hope you have the good feeling that comes with helping
others in so many ways.
Our ICA theme for January is OIL—cooking oil, olive oil, skin warm feeling as well as warm food. Thanks to those
oil, hair oil, Pam, etc. This should be a fun one, and the items who participated.
tend to be heavy, so we'll get lots of weight credit! Best wishes for 2019 from your Missions Board,
In November, we gave funds for 14 Thanksgiving turkeys Marty Swain (chair), Sharon Graef, Mark Krueger,
and dinner fixings for ICA clients, providing families with a Ross Rogney
TreeHouse Supper
On January 15, we will serve our first TreeHouse supper of 2019. It's
a fun and rewarding way for us to work together for a couple of
hours and bring a tasty and nourishing meal to a group of teens
living in difficult circumstances. There's no experience necessary! If
you'd like to participate on January 15, there's a sign-up sheet on
the bulletin board by the church office. Sign up to either:
do prep in our church kitchen at 1 pm Tuesday, Jan. 15. OR
do final prep, serve and cleanup at Excelsior Covenant
Church, 5:30 to 7:30 pm
Questions...call Val Stuessi, 612-532-5040 or vbstuessi@gmail.com
Invitation to Serve
Please consider sharing your time and talent as a member of one of the CCOE's boards
or committees. There are possible openings in several areas. Please consider trying a new
committee this year. We are particularly in need of members for the Board of Trustees, Board
of Deacons and Board of Finance, so please let me know if you'd like to learn more about
serving! Sign up if you are interested or contact Karla Wennerstrom at 612-616-
6701 or karlawennerstrom@gmail.com if you have questions. Thanks for your consideration!
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The Congregational Church of Excelsior/The Mirror
Board of Deacons “Begin…Again”
“I am learning:
The Advent Season in our church was filled with the beauty
of the sanctuary decorated for the season, the music and To let go, thinking I am in control,
wonder of the Christmas pageant, and the love and joy To see the beauty in hope and change,
shared among friends. To feel the joy of surrender and faith,
With the beginning of the new year we look forward to a To enjoy a life with fewer distractions,
new beginning for all of us and special events in our church. To know silence is essential to growth
The first Sunday of the month, January 6, is Epiphany, the Above all else, to know the love of God is
second Sunday, January 13, features the music of CODA, behind all things.”
and the third Sunday, January 20, will be “Memorial —Pat Wade Nicholson
Sunday,” remembering the lives of those we’ve lost.
Your Board of Deacons,
Let’s look to the new year with the thoughts of this poem in Sally Deke, chair; Nancy Benson, Julie Boden, Betty
our minds and hearts. Kuechle, Jo Marquardt, Val Stuessi, Judy Wise
CODA
10 a.m. - Sunday, January 13
CODA is a saxophone/keyboard duet consisting of Scott
Dorff on soprano, alto, and tenor saxophones, and Malcolm
Anderson on piano & keyboard.
CODA is a very versatile group, performing in a diversity of
venues.
CODA has released five recordings, and their music has
touched the lives of thousands of people. They continue to
compose and arrange music weekly, striving to make each
individual performance both pleasurable and entertaining for
their audiences.
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The Congregational Church of Excelsior/The Mirror
Sunday, January 20 will be our annual
Memorial Sunday. If you would like a
departed loved one to be included in the
remembrance service, please call or email the
church office at infoccoe@aol.com no later
than Wednesday, January 16 with their
name(s).
West Suburban Grief Coalition
www.westsuburbangriefmn.org
Our church supports the West Suburban Grief Coalition. Many have found their programs to be helpful
in dealing with the grieving process. The meetings are held from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. on Thursdays.
Refreshments and registration start at 4:00 p.m. The location rotates among area churches.
The winterl meetings will be held at St. Bartholomew Catholic Faith Community, 630 East
Wayzata BLVD, Wayzata, MN 55391 (952-473-6601). Our coordinator for this group is Kathy
Sherwood.
January 3rd
“Grief and the New Year”
presented by Audrey Grosmann
January 10th
“Journey Following Wife’s Death”
presented by Dr. Jim Bauldus, Psychologist, Central MN Mental Health Center
January 17th
“Grief vs. Depression”
presented by Renee Compo
January 24th
“Journey Following Daughter’s Death”
presented by Stu Walker
January 31st
“Being Grief Stuck”
presented by Dale Swan, Spiritual Care Coordinator, Fairview
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The Congregational Church of Excelsior/The Mirror
7
The
The Congregational Church
Congregational Church of Excelsior
of Excelsior/The Mirror
471 Third Street
Excelsior, MN 55331
952-474-5919
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