Centering. Community. Where we explore the promise of God for all, working towards a transforming, nur turing, life-giving communit y.

Transcription

1 Centering NEWS OF CENTRAL LUTHERAN MINNEAPOLIS Community Where we explore the promise of God for all, working towards a transforming, nur turing, life-giving communit y. SPRING 2018

2 community PASTOR MELISSA POHLMAN Restoration Center The Restoration Center is a drop-in center for people in downtown Minneapolis experiencing homelessness and poverty. Services include: emergency rental assistance, employment services, clothing, meals, worship, Bible study, support groups, and more! The Augsburg Central Health Commons, which provides basic medical services, is a collaboration with Augsburg University. Free Store Hours Monday: 9:30 to 11:00 a.m.; 12:30 to 2:00 p.m. Tuesday: 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Wednesday: 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Thursday: 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Donate Donations of clothing (especially men s), towels, sheets, small household items, jackets, hats, luggage, backpacks, new socks and underwear, as well as other items are needed. We always need paper bags with handles! Donations may be brought to any worship service and/ or the triple-wide trailer in the south end of the parking lot during the hours above. Financial contributions are also appreciated. On a Wednesday night in January in a bar called J s Down Under, I looked down the table to see Sherry, Frank, Nicolas and Bishop Ann. All four of them were deep in conversation and occasionally erupted in laughter. Some of the people at that end of the table had experienced homelessness in their lives, and some of those people never have worried about where they would sleep. All of them were gathered together for a retreat with more than 30 other leaders in the Minneapolis Area Synod to learn how to organize our power as communities to fulfill God s mission. It was a powerful way to spend most of a week together. Our group was made up of Heading Home Central Team members and folks from Street Voices of Change. Our time away forming community will shape us for a long time. As I travel through this life I am constantly amazed at all the ways we form community. As God s people are created amazingly diverse, so too are the ways we come together to care for one another. This is true for our community at Central too. Often when we talk about community ministry at Central we are quick to point to all the ways we care for people though the work of the Free Store and the community meal. The community that is created among the people who work in and who shop in the Free Store is beautiful and rich. The community created over the meals in the sanctuary feed more than our bellies. So too is community created among the Garden Ministry Team as they water the beautiful landscaping and as they plan for our future. Community is formed and nurtured when the circles gather and when the Peace with Justice Forums challenge. Looking ahead to this spring, how can you form and be formed in community through Central? On March 4 after the late service, join Mayor Jacob Frey to learn more about the plans our city has to preserve and protect and produce affordable housing so that all people may have a place to call home. DCEH Director Joe Kreisman will moderate. Join Street Voices of Change and the Heading Home Central Team for Homeless Day on the Hill on Tuesday, March 6. We will provide a bus and all the training and coordinating for you to visit your state legislators. Stay tuned to the Spirit for how to sign up. Once a month after the late service, the Peace with Justice Ministry Team offers a time of hearing from a speaker and a time of small table discussion and a time of action planning. They invite some amazing people. Plan on joining them. Shape the community you create here at Central every time you gather. Do you know the people around you during worship, or at coffee hour, or at a meeting, or during a meal? Be brave and introduce yourself. I meet new people every day! Engage in the strategic planning process as we discern how God is calling us to create community anew in a new space. 2 It is a blessing to be a part of the larger community God is creating at Central and a guest of so many of the smaller communities you all create in our midst.

3 formation Looking toward spring is exciting for us in the Formation and Care Cluster. There are celebrations and summer plans in the works. There are continuing programs that build our connectedness and sense of belonging here at Central Lutheran Church. There is the anticipation of a new mission-forward building that will launch us into our 100th year on the corner of 3rd and 12th later this year. And in the midst of it all, God is at work in, through and under each of us as we continue to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with the people of our community. We have had a great year in Sunday school gathering in the lower narthex each Sunday. As we moved all of the Sunday school furniture and supplies to the lower level last summer, it seemed that we were in for a year of inconvenience and discomfort. But what we have experienced has been joy and togetherness. Looking ahead, we plan to finish the year with a great gift of song for the congregation. The children will sing on Pentecost Sunday this May in worship a great moment to celebrate all we have learned this year. In June, July and August, we will spend one Sunday a month in Vacation Bible School with our Sunday school students. Watch for those dates in the Spirit later this spring. Confirmation Sunday will be here before we know it. Eight of our 8th grade students will affirm their faith in worship on April 29. Like last year, we will gather with church and formation leaders on the Saturday night before confirmation to celebrate this faith milestone in the life of our students. Later this summer, the confirmation students are traveling to Christikon one of our great ELCA camps located in the mountains of Montana. This year is an ELCA National Youth Gathering year so 15 Central students and three adults will travel to Houston, Texas, for five days of learning, service and worship. We will gather with 35,000 other students and their leaders from cities and towns across the country. There will be music and speakers and lives will be changed by what we see and experience in Houston. Adult Bible study continues on Wednesday afternoons and evenings. Our Young Adults Group continues to meet monthly as do the OWLS and we are planning to receive new members in March. PASTOR STEPHANIE FRIESEN Important Dates Confirmation dinner and rehearsal April 28 Confirmation Sunday April 29 Last day of Sunday school May 20 National Youth Gathering - June 26 to July 2 Middle school camp - July 9 to July 17 Wednesday Evening Bible Study During Lent Wednesdays, 6:00 p.m. On Wednesday evenings in Lent, beginning on February 21, pastors will lead a study of the 10 Commandments at 6:00 p.m., followed by 15-minute Lenten Evening Prayer at 7:00 p.m. You can attend the study and evening prayer or just come for the 15-minute evening prayer time. We are working on plans to expand our ministry to include more lay leadership and participation. We have a wonderful team of folks who regularly make visits and take communion to some of our shut-ins. We would like to expand these opportunities. Watch the Spirit for an invitation to participate in this new ministry opportunity. Each month the pastors from Central visit folks from Apple Valley to Blaine from Wayzata to Woodbury bringing greetings and news and words of comfort from Central Lutheran. We are blessed to be a blessing to the people we visit throughout the year. It is my great delight to be one of your pastors and to walk alongside you in this life of faith. 3

4 generosity Generosity and Global Mission Central has a long and generous history of global mission connection and support. The Global Mission Ministry Team has a number of updates to share and an invitation connected to one of Central s historic partnerships. As a reminder, read the Global Mission Core Values that inform global mission through Central Lutheran listed in the left column. PASTOR PETER NYCKLEMOE Global Mission Core Values The Global Mission Ministry Team understands the core values for this work in three specific areas, which also highlights the partnerships: 1. Developing global mission leaders: Young Adults in Global Mission through the ELCA and China Service Ventures 2. Health care and wholeness: South Sudan Mission and the new Women s Health Clinic in Juba, South Sudan, Lutheran Health Care Bangladesh and Lutheran World Relief Quilting 3. Bible translation and literacy work: Wycliff Bible Translation support for Follingstads and Gaultneys Accompaniment as Guide to Global Mission The ELCA has long been a leader in global mission through the lens of accompaniment. We walk together as people of faith with all partners. Both sides bring faith, learning and something to offer to the table. The primary and central word is relationship. All global mission work is about creating and sustaining mutual relationships. While we have much to offer to each global mission partnership, they have just as much (and many times much more) to offer to us. The model of accompaniment is our guide, and with that model it is essential to go and be with our partners and to have them travel and come and be with us. Relationships are only sustained by communication and connections that are regularly offered and enjoyed. Re-connecting with Lutheran Health Care Bangladesh: mission trip planned for November 2018 With accompaniment as our guide, it is apparent to the Global Mission Ministry Team that the partnership with Lutheran Health Care Bangladesh is in dire need of re-energizing. The partnership with South Sudan is taking shape, the relationship with the Young Adults in Global Mission is running, Lutheran World Relief Quilting continues, and the Follingstads and Gaultneys have been with us a number of times in the past years. It is our relationship with Lutheran Health Care Bangladesh that needs to be re-energized. A mission trip to Bangladesh is being planned for November Pastor Melissa and Pastor Stephanie are leading the trip, and there is room for another 4-6 people who would like to be a part of this work. A first meeting will be offered in March. Watch the Spirit for more details. If you are interested, contact Pastor Melissa or Pastor Stephanie by or catch them after worship to express your interest, ask your questions and see if this trip might be right for you. 4 Thank you for your support and prayers for the global mission partnerships that we are called to tend and to celebrate.

5 generosity Gratitude for Your Generosity Thank you for your generosity. Your faithfulness lived through the generous gifts of your time, talents and financial support empower the ministry and mission we are called to as Central Lutheran Church. The Faith and Finance Ministry Team is at work on developing a year-round initiative for our shared stewardship life. They are also working on ways to make our giving easier, like the option to text your financial gift while in worship. It is a great time to be the church together, thank you for your faith and generosity. Building Renewal Update As of the writing of this article Jorgensen Construction is at work pouring the foundations and footings for the new facility. By the time you receive this Centering edition the structural work will have begun and the outline of the facility will be taking shape. Most of the work to this point has been in the lower level, so beyond our sight as we gather for worship each week. As winter slowly turns to spring we will now begin to see things taking shape each week as we gather. The open, information meetings on January were well attended. Extra copies of the PowerPoint are available if you would like a copy. We will offer another open, information meeting cycle after Easter to continue good, transparent communication on this amazing project. The outline of the building is taking shape. You can see most of the work has been done in the basement. 5

6 music 6 DEACON CANTOR MARK SEDIO Worship at Central during Holy Week and Easter Passion/Palm Sunday March 24 - Holy Communion at 5:00 p.m.; focus on the Palm Sunday story March 25 - Holy Communion at 8:30 and 10:30 a.m.; Procession with palms around the building; The Passion according to Matthew follows The Great Three Days Maundy Thursday Holy Communion - March 29, 12:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. Good Friday Adoration of the Crucified - March 30, 12:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. Great Vigil of Easter Holy Saturday, March 31, 7:00 p.m. (no 5:00 p.m. service) Resurrection of Our Lord Sunday, April 1 First Light Devotions in the Columbarium at 7:30 a.m. Holy Communion at 8:30 and 10:30 a.m. Continental breakfast at 7:30 and 9:30 a.m. All services are live-streamed on our website. Greetings from your Deacon Cantor! I m sorry what? might be your legitimate response. When the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America was formed in 1988 it established three rosters: Pastors, Deaconesses and Associates in Ministry. In 1993 a roster of Diaconal Ministers was added. These rostered leaders that include chaplains, therapists, musicians and cantors, seminary faculty, administrators, social workers are called through the ELCA to serve congregations or other officially called ministries. At the Churchwide Assembly in 2016 the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America voted to combine three rosters of lay leaders diaconal ministers, deaconesses and associates in ministry into one overarching and inclusive category that of deacon. Thus, all of us who have been serving in so many different fields are now a part of one unified roster known as Ministers of Word and Service. The other roster of the ELCA (pastors) continues to be known as Ministers of Word and Sacrament. The ministry of the diaconate (deacons) has been recognized by churches throughout history and around the world. The earliest deacon in the Bible was Stephen. Some denominations the Episcopal Church, for example clearly defines the three levels of those who are set apart for ministry: deacons, priests (pastors) and bishops. An ecumenical group under the auspices of the World Council of Churches spent much time studying this three tiered order. This study resulted in Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry also known as the Lima Document (1982) which positively confirmed many aspects of this ecclesiastical structure. In the ELCA the role of the deacon is to empower, equip and encourage the people of God for worship and daily life. This may be done by specialized service (as a counselor, social worker, Christian educator), as a church administrator or as a cantor (the historic Lutheran term for one who has been called to serve in the area of music). The ministry is understood to be distinct from, alongside, and in mutual complementarity with the ministries of pastors. Deacons who are involved in worship are often identified by a diagonal stole that is worn from the shoulder to the waist across the chest. On the three or four Sundays when I serve as assisting minister (usually in the summer when the choir is on recess) you ll likely see me wearing one of our deaconal stoles that match our other clergy s vestments (pastoral stole, chasuble, etc.). What difference does all this make? For me, my call as deacon cantor to Central is, above all, relational something between me and all of you. It is my pledge to do the best possible work in planning worship (selecting preludes, postludes, hymns, choral music) in cooperation with my clergy colleagues to make worship a meaningful unified whole in which the gospel is proclaimed in word and song. Additionally it is practicing, honing conducting skills, composing, arranging, creating. The German word Gebrauchsmusik sums it up: music that not only stands on its own, but is composed and rehearsed for a very special purpose. The purpose here is to glorify our gracious God and proclaim God s Word of love to all the world. Soli Deo gloria!

7 March 3/4 The cleansing of the temple Lent 3 Reading: John 2:13-22 March 10/11 Reading: John 3:14-21 The lifting up of the Son of Man Lent 4; daylight savings begins Worship Life March May 2018 March 17/18 The grain of wheat dying in the earth March 24/25 The passion and death of Jesus March 31/April 1 Resurrection of our Lord Lent 5 Passion/Palm Sunday Easter begins; Saturday Easter Vigil at 7:00 p.m. Reading: John 12:20-33 Reading: Mark 14:1-15:47 Reading: John Mark 16:1-8 April 7/8 Beholding the wounds of the risen Christ Easter 2 April 14/15 Eating with the risen Christ Easter 3 April 21/22 Christ the good shepherd Easter 4 Reading: John 20:19-31 Reading: Luke 24:36b-48 Reading: John 10:11-18 April 28/29 Beholding the wounds of the risen Christ May 5/6 Christ the friend and lover May 12/13 Christ the Shepherd Easter 5; confirmation Easter 6; healing Easter 7; Ascension of our Lord Reading: John 15:1-8 Reading: John 15:9-17 Reading: John 17:6-19 May 19/20 Christ sends the Spirit of truth May 26/27 Entering the reign of God Pentecost The Holy Trinity Reading: John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15 Reading: John 3:1-17 7

8 CENTRAL LUTHERAN 333 South 12th Street Minneapolis, MN Presorted First-Class Mail U.S. Postage PAID Twin Cities, MN Permit No Center Our Lives in Faith This publication follows the way God calls us to center our lives in faith. We center in worship, lifelong faith formation, community and generosity. Each of these mission areas invites us to ways we personally center as well as how we center as a congregation. By centering, by deep listening to God, by lives shaped by daily prayer and in the ancient ways congregations grow in love and care for all, we will explore the promise of God for all. Generosity Worship Exploring the promise of God for all Cover Photo The cover photo is a collage of our exploring the promise of God through advocacy, care of the earth, caring for the neighbor, fellowship, food service and public safety. Community Lifelong Faith Formation Exploring the promise of God for all CENTRAL LUTHERAN 333 South 12th Street Minneapolis, MN centralmpls.org CENTERING A quarterly publication of Central Lutheran. Questions or comments may be directed to the editor, Sara Masters at smasters@centralmpls.org Member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America and the Downtown Congregations to End Homelessness