THE CRIER HOLY CROSS LUTHERAN CHURCH SUMMER 2017

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1 THE CRIER HOLY CROSS LUTHERAN CHURCH SUMMER 2017 From the Pastor As you look at this picture I can imagine an Ahhhhhhhhh escaping your lips! An expression that is always fitting this time of year for us hearty New Englanders. And especially so given how harsh the winter was, and how wet and chilly, for the most part, the spring has been. (It s a brisk 50 degrees as I m writing this!) The prospect of summer right around the corner, with warmer temperatures and maybe even some time spent at the beach, is likely on the minds of many. Along with nicer weather and spending more time outdoors, summer is often a time when people travel. For me personally there is a trip in store to San Diego, where Barbara and I both grew up and where we still have family members. (We also enjoy going to the Del Mar Fairgrounds to see exhibitions ranging from prize cattle, rabbits, and chickens to displays of woodworking, drawing, and photography. The not-so-healthy food is also a guilty pleasure, along with watching and listening to the pitches of those who are hawking kitchen and house ware gadgets!) A second trip this summer will take us to Salem, Oregon to celebrate my mother s 90th birthday. Hopefully we ll also get to see a new grandniece while visiting the Pacific Northwest. Whatever is on your schedule for the upcoming summer months, I hope it will include some times of renewal and refreshment. Whether that happens by going to the beach, spending time with family and friends, travelling, attending a fair, gardening, bicycling, golfing, barbecuing, camping, or any other summertime activity you enjoy. There are plenty of things that demand our time and energy on an ongoing basis, and certainly deserve our attention: going to work, attending school, preparing meals, doing chores, paying bills, running errands, buying groceries, caring for children or grandchildren... the list could go on. All of which are an important part of life, and often provide us with a feeling of accomplishment when we have completed whatever task is at hand. And yet life isn t just about striving, and doing, and getting things done. There also need to be times of renewal, refreshment, relaxation, reflection. And for many, summer provides a prime opportunity for that to happen. The striving and the doing doesn t stop during June, July, and August but it may take place within a somewhat different context. And from our experiences of being renewed and refreshed, we may be reminded that God our heavenly Father wants our life to have a sense of balance. Work... and rest. Busy schedule... and nothing particular on the agenda. Hurry from here to there... and lounge for a while in one place. Accomplish this or that... and just be. I suppose in this mix of life experiences, the practice of one s faith could be viewed as part of the busy-ness rather than as part of the rest and relaxation. We may speak of making time for God in the midst of all our other activities and commitments. The implication being that we must exert significant effort, when it comes to praying, reading the Bible, attending worship, serving those in need. My hope for each of us, though, is that we can grow into a deeper understanding of how God intends the practice of our faith to function in our life. With prayer, Bible study, worship, and service being experienced not as something else I have to do but as a source for renewal and refreshment themselves. As activities that help us to be more energetic, and inspire within us an increased sense of purpose and meaning. Throughout the upcoming summer season may you be richly blessed with times of renewal, refreshment, relaxation, and reflection. In the many different ways that can happen including times of talking with God, reading God s word, worshipping the Lord, and serving Jesus by serving others. Yours in Christ Pastor Rich 1

2 MESSAGE FROM A COUNCIL MEMBER by Dave Eglinton Mette and I have loved Maine since we honeymooned in Boothbay Harbor and Bar Harbor in June 62. Neither of us had spent any time here before. Then, Maine became the go-to place for us when we moved to the Northeast. Our three kids were in grade school when they learned to sail during our week long summer stays over a nine year period at a primitive camp resort in the Boothbay Harbor area. Mette and I continue to visit the Boothbay Harbor area on our anniversaries whenever we can as well as on just because times. When we moved closer to Amherst, NH, and then became empty nesters we d pop-over for a day or a short B&B stay. Once while walking our mixed lab Chester before breakfast, I heard a cheery Good Morning! I was happy to return the greeting to retired President George H.W. Bush!! A friendly fella. One April Sunday morning in 97 on impulse I suggested we not go to church but go to Kennebunkport for the day. On arriving we asked a favorite innkeeper if we could park our car in his lot while we strolled the neighborhood and messed around in town. We had often daydreamed of owning a property in the area someday so we d note properties we d pass by on our walks. On this day we saw three that looked like we might be able to afford should they go on the market. After our town visit and lunch, we strolled back toward our car, and there on the lawn of one of the houses was a For Sale sign!! This started a process of exploring our dream for real. The house was in rough shape. And so we called in a house inspector. He threw up his hands in frustration and suggested we contact a contractor familiar with 18 th Century homes. This contractor was not concerned summarizing that the house had been standing for over 200 years and wasn t about to fall down anytime soon. After much negotiation over several months, the house was ours, the problems fixed and here we are have been for 20 years. We feel there was divine guidance in our impromptu excursion that day which set us up to discover and join Holy Cross where His love is so generously shared. MISSION TRIP BRUNCH On Sunday June 4th brunch will be served by the senior high youth who are attending the work camp mission trip. This will be a fund raiser for the work they will be doing in July when they travel to Woonsocket, Rhode Island to paint and do light carpentry repairs on the homes of people in need. The meal will be served following our single service at 9:30 am and will include a free will donation. There will also be a surprise of sorts in terms of entertainment, so don t miss out on a fun time, in support of a very worthy cause! Though signing up ahead of time isn t required, would you please call the church office ( ) or Pastor Rich (pastor@kennebunklutheran.org) if you know you are planning to attend? This will help us estimate how much food to prepare. ADOPT-A-WINDOW As you might imagine the drapes on the windows in Luther Hall have acquired an extra layer of dirt and dust due to the kitchen renovation project. (This is on top of what has accrued over the last 20 years they have been faithfully hanging in their respective windows!) We are asking that people consider adoption in the form of making a contribution of $40 to cover the cost of cleaning the drapes for one of the windows. There are only 11 windows available in all, so please be sure to get one by adding your name to the list on the white board in the Narthex! 2

3 I STILL HAVE HOPE by Donna Simmons This appears to be a year with a late spring and early summer. The temperature remained low confusing the birds, the frogs, the bees, and the blossoms in and out of hibernation. We had little warmth but lots of rain. Then a day or two of summer heat in the 80s and 90s. The black flies were confused too, and for that I am grateful. For most of their three week cycle the breeze and chill kept them down and out of the way. As lovely as the budding trees that blossomed and leafed out were, this past few weeks were a bit confusing. Our temps flip-flopped from low 40s to mid 80s to mid 30s to high 90s and back to mid 30s. My poor frogs laid eggs several times and I was concerned we d never have tadpoles this year. The fly catchers are still sitting on the eggs when in years past at this date they would be desperately chasing down insects to feed their babies. I ve seen only one bee and the blossoms on my fruit trees have come and gone. Last year was a drought. This year is starting off in the opposite direction. The point is that I still have hope for a decent growing season. Our Lord has given us the tools and the gifts to nurture and to grow. The frogs haven t given up. The Birds haven t given up. And I haven t given up. Live in Peace. Help those in need. Thanks be to God. LAND OF LAKES CHOIRBOYS On Thursday June 22, 2017 at 7:30 pm the Land of Lakes Choirboys will be performing a concert at Holy Cross. This is part of a tour the group will be on, and we are very happy to be one of the sites where they will be singing. Please mark the date on your calendar and plan to attend! 3

4 ROGER S REFLECTIONS: When Very Good is Not Enough By Roger Rotvig I may have opened a Pandora s Box last month with my reflections on the two records of the creation of man. In the first (Gen.1:26-31), God creates man in His own image, male and female he created them. Then God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good and was the end of the 6th day. The Pandora s Box comes in that immediately after this very good creation story, the second record of creation begins and it exposes a creation that is anything but very good. Beginning with chapter 3, the Genesis record has the only prohibition placed on Adam and Eve to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (note: it was not an apple tree). This is followed by the first murder, Cain killing his brother, Abel, and hundreds of years later, a heavenly imposed flood to wipe it all out and start over with those who survived with Noah. Even that new start did not go well with Noah s drunkenness and his cursing an entire people, the descendants of his grandson Canaan. The final incident of this record of the creation ends with the Tower of Babel (Gen.11:4-9) where God supposedly limits mankind s abilities by separating them into various races and with various languages. How do we deal with these two creation accounts, one describing it as very good and the other showing manifold problems? To answer that we have to look at how the Old Testament came to be in it s written form. It is safe to say that the stories we have were passed on by means of oral tradition. It was recited in the camps and told to the children in the tents. Once in the Holy Land of Israel, the people settled in two general areas, the tribes of Joseph in the north and the tribes of Judah in the south. Jerusalem and the temple was located in the south and in their Temple life they were prone to use the oral tradition now recorded in first chapter of Genesis, God doing all of His word in an orderly and beautiful manner. The northern tribes of Joseph were more rural in their orientation and were attracted more to the oral tradition that showed all the imperfections of creation. Oral tradition began to be displaced with an official written record after the Babylonian captivity of most of the northern tribes in about 600 BC. Their return to Israel was mostly complete by 515 BC. This event caused the religious leadership to begin the process of committing the oral tradition to a written record so that it would not be lost in another captivity or the like. When the writers dealt with the problem of two creation stories, they chose to include both records, rather than choose one and lose the other. Thus, we have our two creation stories. One in Gen.1:1-2:3 and the other from Gen.2:4 and following. PAINTING CREW A Painting Crew is being sought to put a nice fresh coat of paint on Luther Hall, to go along with the soon-to-be newly renovated kitchen, and the soon-to-be new tile flooring and carpeting that will be installed. If this is a project you might be able to help with, would you please call the church office ( ) or add your name to the list on the white board in the Narthex. Once we know who our work crew will be, we can check with everyone to figure out what time frame works best to get the job accomplished. Thanks! 4

5 STEWARDSHIP SUNDAY, EVERY SUNDAY, EVERY DAY What I am going to write about today will be stating the obvious. So why do it? Because sometimes the obvious gets over looked! On April 30th Pastor Rich gave a very interesting and splendid Children s Message. He asked for the children to come forward and when they were seated he took from his magic blue bag a single piece of spaghetti and a small washer. He put the washer on the noodle strand and it bend slightly, but did not break. He then took a wrench and put that on the single noodle and, of course, it broke! He reached in his bag and took a whole hand full of spaghetti; at least enough for four servings, and put the wrench over the end of that batch of spaghetti, and of course, the strands did not break. So, to state the obvious, it takes many together, working together, to lift a load. All one has to do is look in our weekly Holy Cross bulletin to see how this works. Many helping hands turn out to make crafts for our Annual Blueberry festival. Collectively so many pledged together in our Capital Campaign of Restoring Renewing Rejoicing to make our new kitchen a reality in the works. Together, so many contributed items for the Tag Sale and helped set it up and then bought many of those treasures. Together, many helped with spring cleanup. How many helped make the Friendship Lunches successful, or The Bean Suppers, or the pot lucks, which are all so good? Many hands chipped in to help all these to be reality for good. All our members and friends together, making their weekly, monthly or annual contributions, help the church in its work. Even outside the church, in the community, it is the powers of many that make things happen. Drivers for Meals on Wheels, Hospice volunteers, Safe Families for Children volunteers, United Fund contributions from so many; and farther away, Doctors without Borders; these are the success of many, working together, making things for good happen. So, look in the mirror and count yourself one of those pieces of spaghetti that collectively make things work. It s called STEWARDSHIP. Carl Graves PS We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give Winston Churchill BLESSING OF GRADUATES A Blessing of the Graduates will take place during the 9:30 a.m. worship service on Sunday June 4th. We are very happy to be celebrating the accomplishments of Paige Krampetz, Tim Moyer, and Sarah Strange! Sunday June 4th is Pentecost Sunday. The color for the day is red, so please wear red if you have it in your wardrobe! 5

6 THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! TAG SALE THANK YOU to everyone who helped with the church yard sale this year! There were a great many people who worked very hard under the capable leadership of Barbara Horner to make this year s sale a great success. Thanks to everyone who helped set up for the sale, run the sale, and clean up afterwards. Thanks to all who donated items, and to all who purchased items. The proceeds from the sale totaled around $1,500! BAKE SALE THANK YOU as well to all who supported the bake sale that ran concurrently with the yard sale. The number of donated baked goods was awesome; to go along with those that had been baked by the youth who are going on the work camp mission trip. Quite a lot was sold on the Saturday of the yard sale, and everything else was purchased the next day when people came to Sunday services. A total of $310 was raised to support the work camp trip coming up in July! SPRING CLEAN UP! The Trustees would like to thank everyone who turned out to help with the spring clean up despite the rain. Your help is greatly appreciated!! 6

7 BLUEBERRY FESTIVAL CRAFT DAY The next craft day is scheduled for June 17th. Please plan on attending this day of creativity and fellowship! There are jobs for everyone, whether you are an experienced sewer or not. Please come join in the fun! PARENTS PRAYER GROUP The Parent's Prayer group meets the first Monday of every month in Lord Street House. From 4:30 to 5:30 we will share prayer concerns and pray together. From 5:30 to 6:00, we will devote time to fellowship and book discussion. (The book we are reading is The Power of a Praying Parent and copies are available.) We pray for all children of all ages and all stages - please join us! SHARE THE BOUNTY The kitchen renovations are continuing therefore the June Bean Supper will also be canceled. We are hopeful we will be serving the July Bean Supper on July 1st! Please keep this project in your prayers! FRIENDSHIP LUNCH The Friendship Lunch for June will also be canceled. We are hoping to resume again on Monday, July 10th! JOKE OF THE MONTH Submitted by Jack Bates Adult Forum One Sunday morning Pastor Rich advised his congregation. Next week I plan to preach about the sin of lying. In preparation for my message, I want you all to read Mark 17. The following Sunday, Pastor asked for a show of hands from those who had read Mark 17. Every hand went up. Pastor Rich smiled and announced, Well, Mark has only sixteen chapters. I will now proceed with my sermon on the sin of lying. ******************* When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life, for your strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason to give thanks, the fault lies in yourself. Tecumseh, Chief of the Shawnee 7

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11 FAMILY & FRIENDS WHO NEED OUR PRAYERS: Jim Keating Matthew Lauren Michael Griffin Dean Smith Jolene Barb Warner Jan Conway Lisa Trey and Gianna Daniel and Gordon Devon Bill Kenney Lori Gagnon Alice Lailer Elaine Simmons Diana Breitenfield Michael Sharen Moessner Jessica Rosado A prayer of thanksgiving for God s healing power in the life of: Devon, Vi Stephens We commend into God s care the spirit of those who have died recently: Muriel (Irene Eaton s sister) SERVING US IN JUNE AND JULY WORSHIP ASSISTANTS ALTAR GUILD June 9:30 am Irene Eaton Roger Anderson or Sharon McGary TBA July 9:30 am Donna Simmons Mary Bates or Sharon McGary USHERS June TBA July Roger Rotvig CRIER PUBLICATION INFO: To get pertinent information out to our members and friends in a timely fashion, The Crier is published the last full week of each month. In order for us to use this publishing schedule, we have a firm deadline for submissions. The firm deadline for the August Crier is Sunday, July 23rd. Please send all articles to Julie Clapp at juliane@julianemarie.com or leave them in the church office. 11

12 THE CRIER SUMMER 2017 Holy Cross Lutheran Church 2 Lord Street Kennebunk, ME Reverend Richard A. Horner, Pastor Worship Schedule May 28th through Labor Day: 9:30 am: Modern and Traditional Lutheran Liturgy* *Holy Communion served at all services I come to the garden alone, While the dew is still on the roses, And the voice I hear falling on my ear The Son of God discloses. And He walks with me, and He talks with me, And He tells me I am His own; And the joy we share as we tarry there, None other has ever known. Charles A Miles,