Bishop s Message. Cross Connection December 2013

Transcription

1 314 S. Spruce Street Spokane, WA All Saints Gather Monthly Newsletter December 2013 Cross Connection December 2013 God s beloved people, This can be a melancholy time of year for me, the change of seasons to dormancy, decay, and December, and it can be an anxious time of year given the workload, the expectations related to the holidays, and another year s passing. The feeling is reflected in a hymn I d not sung before Sunday: How Small our Span of Life, (ELW 636), text by Herman Stuempfle Jr, and set to the well-known tune Kingsfold. Read and absorb these compact lines: How small our span of life, O God, our years from birth till death; a single beat within the heart, the catching of a breath, a drop within the ocean s deep, a grain upon the shore, a flash of light before we sleep to see the sun no more. Perhaps I m vulnerable after a trip to the Gettysburg Battlefield, part of a seminary visit to the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg (LTSG). Mercy! The carnage was horrible and the sacrifice clear. A breathtaking visit in advance of Veteran s Day. Thank God the hymn text writer offers a benevolent (lit. wellwishing ) and ultimate perspective: And yet our speck of life is spanned by your infinity; our tick of time on earth is caught in your eternity. While suns and stars spin endlessly through depths of cosmic space, while aeons roll and ages pass, you hold us in your grace. I think of seeds pregnant with life, held in protective soil, inert for now, but ready to bulge with new growth; suspended and ready. O Christ, you left eternity to plunge in time s swift stream, to share the shortness of our span, our mortal lives redeem. You filled your cross-closed years with love; you loved us to the end and touch us with your risen life that ours may time transcend. Here comes Advent and the anticipation and celebration of divinely-crossed life. Jesus will be with us, not distant or aloof, but an in-the-flesh companion baptized into the Jordan, that is, baptized into the River of Life, into winter s present, our lives, lived in faith of the sun s return. Finally, We thank you, God, for kindling faith that lights our transient years, illumining our pilgrimage through mists of doubt and fears; for hope that sees a life beyond the swiftly passing days; for love, both human and divine, that lifts our hearts to praise. We pray: Lord, kindle our faith so that we bear Light to walk our path, and then for others who do not know what or who to trust in the dark. Sustain us in our fear of the dark to know that buried in life is love enough, love to sustain us and others, love enough to await and receive the Prince of Peace. AMEN We lean in, sing in, this hope! Pastor Martin Wells, Bishop Bishop s Message 1

2 Pastor... Reverend Alan B. Eschenbacher Lay Ministers... All Members of All Saints Congregation Organist... Nisha Coulter Parish Administrator... Teresa Freund Altar Guild Directress... Cora Jelinek Council President... Stacey Winkle Council Vice President... Bryce Eschenbacher Council Secretary... Maynard Ross Church Treasurer... Eleanor Olson Financial Secretary... Cora Jelinek Website... Facebook... allsaintsgather 2013 Advent Schedule Wed. December 4th-Salem Lutheran Church 6:00pm-Soup Supper, 7pm Worship Wed. December 11th-Salem Lutheran Church (All Saints Supplying Soup) 6:00pm-Soup Supper, 7pm Worship Wed. December 18th-Salem Lutheran Church 6:00pm-Soup Supper, 7pm Worship Christmas Eve-Tuesday, Dec. 24th Worship Services 4:30pm-Open House at All Saints Lutheran Church 5:30pm-Worship at All Saints Lutheran Church 9:00pm-Worship at Salem Lutheran Church Christmas Day-Wednesday, Dec. 25th 10am at All Saints 2

3 "People of Christ, living in community, working in partnership, doing the stuff of local ministry" Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same spirit, and there are varieties of service, but the same LORD, and there are varieties of workings, but it is the same GOD who inspires them all in every thing. 1 CORINTHIANS 12:4-6 Love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind... love your neighbor as yourself. MATTHEW 22:37-40 Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the FATHER, and of the SON, and of the HOLY SPIRIT, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you, and remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age. MATTHEW 28:19-20 All Saints Lutheran Church has witnessed God in action in our congregation and in all the world. We seek to proclaim the Gospel that all may know the depth of God s love. We thankfully exercise our abilities, time and material assets in service to our neighbors. 3

4 For the guidance of the Holy Spirit in the future of All Saints For Pastor Alan Eschenbacher as he serves All Saints For Bishop Martin Wells and the Synod Staff For ELCA presiding Bishop Elizabeth A. Eaton For Divine Guidance for our Country Brian Dickerson, Craig Davenport, Arlene O Brien, Connie Jelinek, Judy Shoaf, Thomas Stauffer, Jean Vogt, Gus Eschenbacher, Dara Evans, Dave Schaefer, Keith Lambie, Steve Taulbee, John and Sherry Hill, Di Barker, Tim Warner, Pat Furshong, Patty Ployhar, Linda Schaefer, Genghis Kim, The Rosendahl Family, The Johnson Family For our Members in the Military Paul Billings, Ben Coles, Robert Guyton, Aaron Jelinek 4

5 Happy Birthday to You! Happy Birthday to You! Happy Birthday Dear Friend! Happy Birthday to You!! December 4th... Ryan McKinley December 6th... Carla Ross December 7th... Shirley Gambill December 11th... Norman Sanborn December 18th... Darby McKinley December 28th... Don Bryant December 30th... Mark Wasmund December 31st... Kaden Wickert December 18th..John and Sherry Hill ROSENDAHL, Reider Olei (Age 95) Reider Rosendahl was called home November 10, He was born July 24, 1918 in Tuttle, North Dakota to Emilie and Martin Rosendahl. He served in World War II as a medic in the Pacific Arena. He was in the Philippines and then Japan during reconstruction. Reider married Bernice Ingebretson June 27, They moved from North Dakota to Spokane in He worked for the City of Spokane, retiring in Although Reider started out on the shy side, he learned to enjoy entertaining. He played the guitar and harmonica and also sang, all at the same time, even winning a few talent shows. He enjoyed being involved in skits at the Sons of Norway. He loved camping and was a great horseshoe player. He was a member of the Sons of Norway, VFW Post 1474 and All Saints Lutheran Church. Reider was a jack of all trades around the house. He built additions to the home as well as a garage. He also built china closets, stereo cabinets and did other carpentry projects for the family. He also used his skills at his church and at the Sons of Norway, always available to do whatever needed to be done. He was also an ace mechanic and always repaired his own vehicles. The family enjoyed listening to the stories he liked to tell about his early years and watching the various videos he recorded for us. Reider is survived by his wife of 66 years, Bernice; daughters Diane (Bill) Shaw and Carol (Gary) Judd; grandchildren Jeff (Alicechandra) Hazeltine, Scott (Jackie) Hazeltine, Shannon Kane, Eric Ripplinger, Chad (Sheila) Ripplinger and Brandi Austin; twelve great-grandchildren, three great-great-grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his sister, Alma. He will be greatly missed. A memorial service will be held at All Saints Lutheran Church, 314 South Spruce, Spokane on Saturday, November 16th at 11:00am. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to All Saints Lutheran Church or Second Harvest. 5

6 6

7 7

8 will meet 7:00 pm Friday, December 20th at Connie Miles home. Please bring a favorite snack to share. There will be a special congregational meeting Sunday, December 8th to review and approve the All Saints 2014 budget. All who are able please plan to attend. Will meet Wednesday, December 11th at 11am in the fellowship hall at All Saints. Notice!! Lutheran Standard subscription prices have been raised from $7.95 to $8.95 a year. If you get the Lutheran Standard through All Saints bulk subscription it would be very much appreciated if you could make a contribution towards that item. If you no longer want to receive it please notify the office W. Broadway Ave. Spokane, WA HOURS 7am-7pm Weekdays 9am-4pm Sat & Sun INDABA COFFEE West Central's neighborhood coffee shop. Providing excellent coffee and a space to build community since Weekly Events: Tuesdays, 6pm-French Club Saturdays, 10-11am-Live Music We are so very lucky to have such a wonderful church family in All Saints! Thank you so much for the reception and we appreciate all the love and support as we start our new adventure as husband and wife! Love, Mark and Bekah Wasmund 8

9 It s that time of year again, There is a need for personal size tarps, blankets and sleeping bags, Please bring your donations to the All Saints Church office. On Thursday, December 5th we will meet at 7:00 p.m. to decorate All Saints Lutheran for Christmas. Bring your favorite dessert to share. We will provide hot chocolate and coffee. There will be arts and crafts activities for the kids to make decorations for a smaller tree in the fellowship hall. We hope to see you all there as we prepare our church for this special season. 9

10 SPEAR News and Notes Exciting news for SPEAR! With the help of a very generous donation, we have been able to purchase the little house and lot right next door to the SPEAR Center. The gentleman who lived there was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident several years ago and he lived there in the little house by himself. Sheryl, SPEAR s Coordinator, checked up on him regularly as did the firemen from the station just up the street on Magnolia. We have been in touch with the family for years and when he died, we again offered to buy the lot and house. We signed the papers and got the key in the week of November 12 th. Plans in discussion have included a playground for our kids and maybe a strip of community garden so the kids can learn how to grow some of their own food. We are very excited about the possibilities and we are also very grateful for the gift that allowed us to buy the little house and lot. We have a connection with Storehouse.org in the Palouse who have been involved with other food programs in Spokane and have offered to come take out doors, cabinets and anything else they might be able to salvage for their other projects. We will keep you all informed as the project moves forward. The purchase and demolition of Brian s house has not in any way been a set-back to our kitchen project. The winter time will be a good time for us to complete the plans, investigate the permitting process and to start some serious fundraising for the real kitchen. With the kitchen in place, we will be able to do our neighborhood holiday dinners like we did for so many years as part of Grace Lutheran Church. Grace Lutheran s legacy lives on in service to the families in the neighborhood. SPEAR Wish List: The usual things: dish detergent, laundry detergent, paper goods, hygiene items especially conditioner, and feminine hygiene supplies, razors and shaving cream these things are always needed. Food stamps don t purchase these. Food items for this time of the year are soups, chili, stew and good warming food. Cornbread and biscuit mixes would go well with these also. Also coming up are our annual Thanksgiving and Christmas activities. We provide a complete Thanksgiving dinner ready to prepare to each family we are serving between 15 and 18 families at this time. For Christmas, we gather little gift items the kids can choose and wrap for their family members, so if you can help us with any of these, your generosity would be so appreciated and would make the holiday very special for our kids and their families. SPEAR needs you! We have room for a couple more Board members and we are looking for some help with our building project both fundraising and help with permits and physical labor when we can move forward with that project. In the meantime, prayers for the SPEAR program are always appreciated. The expansion not only includes the new kitchen a real kitchen but possibly chances to offer cooking classes to the neighborhood to help them use the foodstuffs that come our way. And if we can get a community garden going, we could also have canning parties! If you are a gardener and have a heart for kids, let us know. We would love to have you join our team! On behalf of the SPEAR Board of Trustees and our staff and kids, we wish you all a Blessed Holiday Season. For more information on how you can help SPEAR, please contact Claudia Holtz at , or choltz.spear@gmail.com. 10

11 West Central Festival of the Arts 2013 Watch. Wait. Hope. Prepare. These words surround the weeks of Advent. Joy, birth, anticipation and reflection also characterize the season that leads up to celebrating the Incarnation of Christ. We at Salem are marking this time in a special way this year: we are filling our building with art! Last fall, we hosted the first ever Festival of the Arts in West Central. It was just one spectacular week. This year, we would like to take more time to really enjoy the artwork and lift up the many kinds of creativity happening around our city. From December 4-22, Salem Lutheran Church will host concerts, poetry readings, lectures on art history and more. Our space will transform into a reflective gallery, full of images. Come by for one of the events, to see some amazing artwork, or to purchase locally made items direct from artists. As we pray in Advent: Come! 1425 W. Broadway Ave Spokane, WA or Info@TheBookParlor.com Can t make it in to the store? Shop on our website and enter coupon code Small to receive 15% off your entire order. Coupon code is valid through 12/02/

12 FOR December 1, 2013 Greeters/Ushers... Roger Bagby & Wally Phillipson Altar Guild... Verna Bagby, Dee Priest & Brianne Hill Coffee Hour... Marie Voss, Camilla Phillipson, Eleanor Olson FOR December 8, 2013 Greeters/Ushers... Jim & Shirley Chaffins Altar Guild... Di Barker & Katie Coffee Hour... The Ross Family FOR December 11, 2013 FOR December 15, 2013 Soup Supper... Dean Treichel, Laurel Eschenbacher & Camilla Phillipson Greeters/Ushers... Pat & Bobbie Furshong Altar Guild... Dave & Cora Jelinek Coffee Hour... Jerry Jacholkowski & Mark Lane FOR December 22, 2013 FOR Christmas Eve December 24, 2013 FOR Christmas Day December 25, 2013 Greeters/Ushers... Harry & Mavis Michael Altar Guild... Tamie Evers & The McKinley Family Coffee Hour... Joanne Brockway & Betty Renford Greeters/Ushers... Jerry Jacholkowski & Maynard Ross Altar Guild... Dave & Cora Jelinek Greeters/Ushers... Tamie Evers FOR December 29, 2013 Greeters/Ushers... John Holzendorf & Erik Hill Altar Guild... Verna Bagby, Dee Priest & Brianne Hill Coffee Hour... Dean Treichel, Nelma Johnson, Dee Priest December consists of all three Worship Groups 12 Thank you to all the Worship Groups. You have done a wonder job all year!

13 Sunday December 1st 1st Sunday of Advent Isaiah 2:1-5/Psalm 122/Romans 13:11-14/Matthew 24:36-44 Monday December 2nd: Psalm 124/Genesis 8:1-19/Romans 6:1-11 Tuesday December 3rd: Psalm 124/Genesis 9:1-17/Hebrews 11:32-40 Wednesday December 4th: Psalm 124/Isaiah 54:1-10/Matthew 24:23-35 Thursday December 5th: Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19/Isaiah 4:2-6/Acts 1:12-17, Friday December 6th: Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19/Isaiah 30:19-26/Acts 13:16-25 Saturday December 7th: Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19/Isaiah 40:1-11/John 1:19-28 Sunday December 8th 2nd Sunday of Advent Isaiah 11:1-10/Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19/ Romans 15:4-13/Matthew 3:1-12 Monday December 9th: Psalm 21/Isaiah 24:1-16a/1 Thessalonians 4:1-12 Tuesday December 10th: Psalm 21/Isaiah 41:14-20/Romans 15:14-21 Wednesday December 11th: Psalm 21/Genesis 15:1-18/Matthew 12:33-37 Thursday December 12th: Psalm 146:5-10/Ruth 1:6-18/2 Peter 3:1-10 Friday December 13th: Psalm 146:5-10/Ruth 4:13-17/2 Peter 3:11-18 Saturday December 14th: Psalm 146:5-10/Ruth 4:13-17/2 Peter 3:11-18 Sunday December 15th 3rd Sunday of Advent Isaiah35:1-10/Psalm 146:5-10 or Luke 1:46b-55/James 5:7-10/Matthew 11:2-11 Monday December 16th: Psalm 42/Isaiah 29:17-24/Acts 5:12-16 Tuesday December 17th: Psalm 42/Ezekiel 47:1-12/Jude Wednesday December 18th: Psalm 42/Zechariah 8:1-17/Matthew 8:14-17, Thursday December 19th: Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19/2 Samuel 7:1-17/Galatians 3:23-29 Friday December 20th: Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19/2 Samuel 7:18-22/Galatians 4:1-7 Saturday December 21st: Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19/2 Samuel 7:23-29/John 3:31-36 Sunday December 22nd 4th Sunday of Advent Isaiah 7:10-16/Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19/ Romans 1:1-7/Matthew 1:18-25 Monday December 23rd: Luke 1:46b-55/2 Samuel 7:18, 23-29/Galatians 3:6-14 Tuesday December 24th: Nativity of our Lord, Christmas Eve: Isaiah 9:2-7/Psalm 96/ Titus 2:11-14/Luke 2:1-14 [15-20] Wednesday December 25th: Nativity of our Lord Christmas Day: Thursday December 26th: Psalm 148/Wisdom 4:7-15/Acts 7:59 8:8 Friday December 27th: Psalm 148/Proverbs 8:22-31/1 John 5:1-12 Saturday December 28th: Psalm 148/Isaiah 49:13-23/Matthew 18:1-14 Sunday December 29th 1st Sunday of Christmas Isaiah 63:7-9/Psalm 148/Hebrews 2:10-18/Matthew 2:13-23 Monday December 30th: Psalm 20/Isaiah 26:1-9/2 Corinthians 4:16-18 Tuesday December 31st: Psalm 20/1 Kings 3:5-14/John 8:

14 14 Unless otherwise noted, ASLC Office is open 9:00am-3:30pm Monday-Friday Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 9am Bible Study 10:30am All Saints Worship w/comm 11:45am Coffee Time 9:30am Russian Church 1 6:30pm Al West Bible Study 8pm Addicts in Action 2 7-9pm STEP Alumni Group 3 6pm Advent Service at Salem Lutheran 6:30pm Martial Arts 7pm Al West Bible Study 4 8am-Noon Homeless Coalition 7pm Christmas Decorating At All Saints (see pg 10) 5 Pr. Alan s Day Off 9pm AA Meeting 6 5pm Al West Christmas Event 7 9am Bible Study 10:30am All Saints Worship w/comm 11:45am Coffee Time Cong. Budget Meeting 9:30am Russian Church 8 6:30pm Al West Bible Study 8pm Addicts in Action 9 6:30pm Council Meeting 5pm Community Dinner 10 11am House Church Bible Studies 6pm Advent Service at Salem Lutheran 11 6:30pm Martial Arts 7pm Al West Bible Study NW Harvest 9am Quilters 12 Pr. Alan s Day Off 7pm All Saints Sinners@ Connie Miles Home 9pm AA Meeting 13 8am-4pm Passages Christmas Event 14 9am Bible Study 10:30am All Saints Worship w/comm 11:45am Coffee Time 9:30am Russian Church 15 6:30pm Al West Bible Study 8pm Addicts in Action 16 5pm Community Dinner :30am-3:30pm New Horizon Christmas Event 6pm Advent Service at Salem Lutheran 6:30pm Martial Arts 7pm Al West Bible Study 9am Quilters 19 Pr. Alan s Day Off 9pm AA Meeting am Bible Study 10:30am All Saints Worship w/comm 11:45am Coffee Time Worship Group 2 9:30am Russian Church Newsletter Submissions Due Today 6:30pm Al West Bible Study 7pm Addicts in Action 5:30pm Christmas Eve Service at All Saints 9pm Christmas Eve Service At Salem Lutheran 24 10am Christmas Day All Saints Christmas Day Office Closed 25 9am Quilters 26 Pr. Alan s Day Off 9pm AA Meeting am Bible Study 10:30am All Saints Worship w/comm 11:45am Coffee Time 29 6:30pm Al West Bible Study January 1, 2014 Office Closed Midweek Advent services. Dec 4, 11 and 18 5:30pm All Saints 9pm Salem See Page 2 9:30am Russian Church 8pm Addicts in Action