Pastor David Tatgenhorst 568 Montgomery Ave 610.525.2396 Resources The pastor recommends Fields of Blood: Religion and the History of Violence, by Karen Armstrong. This fascinating and comprehensive book gives a whole history of the world detailing the complex relationship between religion and violence. Armstrong begins with a nuanced description of how religion defended and excused violence in times when violence was inevitable and necessary. She shows how religion has been an excuse for violence at other times in its history, and just as often been a force which has challenged and mitigated violence over the years. She delves deeply into common misconceptions of Islam as a religion of violence, insisting that terroristic acts performed by Muslims are initiated not by their faith but by a misunderstanding of the teachings and faith tradition. I also learned about how the Islamic empire is unsettled in our day not primarily because its growth, but because of challenges to its earlier dominance in many parts of the world. The descriptions of violence chapter after chapter can be a little depressing, but the completeness of her review of history, makes her description of the relationship between religion and violence seem definitive. Her introduction and conclusion therefore are worth digesting The Spirit Moves into the Neighborhood This long, cool spring has been a bit frustrating for those of us anxious to get outdoors to play and plant, but the daffodils and flowering have been thriving longer than usual. Slowly the weather is catching up to us and May is bound to be a beautiful month of roses and azaleas. May is always one of the most beautiful months of the year, so it s not surprising it also is one of the busiest. We celebrate Mothers Day, Pentecost, the Spring Musicale luncheon, and Memorial Day, each Sunday with its own special flavor. Pentecost Sunday, May 20, is of course, the stand out of all these celebrations. That day will set the tone for the whole season after as we welcome the Holy Spirit into our midst, honoring the ministry that we get to do as people of the Living God. The reason I love that day so much is the combination of recognizing the diversity of God s community and the power of God s Spirit in the middle of all that we are. I have received some questions about why we use Inclusive Language in our service and I plan to address some of those questions on the day when we recognize how much language matters. I put a new bulletin feedback box in the back of the sanctuary to give people an easy way to ask these kinds of questions or to give feedback about songs that you like or that are difficult to sing. I hope you will be patient with me if I can t answer every question or concern to your satisfaction, but I will certainly try to respond. Enjoy these beautiful days and may the Spirit fill you with hope and joy in every part of your particular life ministry.
What Gives Me Hope Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you. - 1 Peter 3:15 Being hopeful (which is not to be confused with being optimistic) in this world is not easy. Hope requires some effort and some practice, but if we put that energy into looking for what gives us hope, we can develop it as a habit, like a muscle memory. What gives you hope this month? Here are things that give me hope this month: A long cool spring that keeps the flowers around for a good long time. The new respect being shown to POWER because of their organization within diverse faith groups. Constant new learning through long term dedicated and committed relationships. The declaration of Colombia s Constitutional Court that the Atrato River basin possesses rights to protection, conservation, maintenance, and restoration, challenging the assumption that nature is property that is right-less under the law (as has been the case with women and enslaved people). https://celdf.org/ 2017/05/press-release-colombiaconstitutional-court-finds-atratoriver-possesses-rights/? utm_source=press Gratitude Thanks to Anne Kybert for organizing our Grace Cafe effort in April (with lots of green beans) and for taking items from the Food Bank to Narberth. Thank you to Carolyn Harmon and to Jim McDermott for their preparation for the April 28th workday, choosing & buying paint and supplies, and preparing the Children s Celebration rooms for painting. Thanks to Pastor Joanne Miles, Jon Cumming, Bill & Charlene Reim, & Tammy Stephens for quickly organizing a Memorial to the Lost display of T-shirts remembering those who lost their lives to gun violence in the Philadelphia area this year. Starting this Saturday there will be 17 shirts on our front lawn symbolizing the number of students killed in Parkland Florida. The names and dates on the T-shirts will be of people shot this year in our region. Thanks to Bill Reim for burnishing the memorial plaque that honors Marjorie Butler and fixing the lectern in the sanctuary. Margie was honored to see the plaque that honors her. Thanks to Lauri Cumming, Cathy Clarke, Cayla Dutkowski, & Keith and Lauren Nunnelee for taking part in the POWER Metro Anti-racism training this month at St. Luke. Thank you to Matthew Phillips-English for creating the empty tomb in our altar area for the Easter season. Thank you to Virginia and Fred Vivino for cutting back the bushes on Easter Sunday. They have come back from the winter storms beautifully. Thanks to Lyn Elliot for making plans for a yard sale for June 2nd. Thanks to Sam England for helping with projection. Thank you to Kiara Jewette for helping with the church s social media presence. May generosity be our watchword! We will share from our plenty. We will give for those in need. We will praise lavishly. We will encourage frequently. We will care passionately. We will love wholeheartedly
Pentecost: Living Into What Really Matters May 6, 2018 Sixth Sunday of Easter, Holy Communion To Live a Resurrection Life- An Eternal Love is the conclusion of our Easter sermon series. This has been a profound sermon series for me as your pastor. John Wesley spoke about preaching until he believed. Preaching about living a resurrection life has been a way for me to trust the message of Jesus in a deeper way - or at least being able to talk about it honestly and directly. On this last Sunday of Easter, I will talk about what I have learned as a conclusion to the series. We will receive Holy Communion this Sunday by intinction. Our communion offering will go to the Sjøgren s Syndrome Foundation. The Men s LIFE group will meet at 8 am for breakfast this morning. In the afternoon we invite the congregation to take part in Heeding God's Call Gun Violence Awareness activities beginning 4:00 pm at Bethel AME Church in Bryn Mawr, followed by a walk to Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church. Read: Psalm 98, John 15:9-17 May 13, 2018 Mothers Day On Mothers Day Pastor David and Pastor Joanne will offer a joint sermon reflecting on our personal experiences with mothers and mothering - David from the experience of this being the first Mothers Day since his mother died, Joanne from the experience of being a daughter and aunt, but not a mother in a culture which idolizes that experience. The point is that each woman has a different experience relating to Mothers Day and motherhood and we respect each one s experience. The sermon is titled, In Memory of Her, recalling the experience of the woman who anoints Jesus before his death. Jesus promises that we will always recall what she did with reverence - and we do, but her name has been lost to history. Read: Acts 1:15-17, 21-26; Mark 14: 3-9 May 20, 2018 Day of Pentecost; Spring Musicale Pentecost is a church holiday when we celebrate the ministry of all disciples and the Holy Spirit which blesses all God s people in mission and ministry. The service includes a variety of church members speaking in different languages. The sermon, Language Matters, introduces a whole summer series of sermons on what matters to us as Christians. On this Sunday we will focus on language and why respecting the diversity of expression in the world matters. Also we will note some of the changes in language we have made in our worship, like why we say humanity instead of mankind and sometimes even Abba instead of Father. After church today, we will have a potluck luncheon in Lurwick Hall after which we will have music from the musical Annie featuring members of Matthew s theater troupe. Choir members will also sing some
of their favorite secular music and children and adults are invited to sing, perform, or introduce your particular talent to the congregation. Read: Psalm 104:24-34, 35b, Acts 2: 1-21 rejects? Read: Psalm 23, John 10:11-18 May 27, 2018 Trinity Sunday; Memorial Day Have you ever moved to a new school or a new location and found that you could recreate yourself and start fresh? Jesus invites Nicodemus to such an experience of the Spirit in our reading this Sunday. We will have a guest preacher this Sunday as we kick off the summer season. Read: Isaiah 6:1-8; John 3:1-17 Items Needed for Narberth Food Bank: Canned fruit, Healthy cereals, Canned chicken, Spaghetti sauce, Canned ravioli, Canned beef stew, Toothpaste: not travel size, Bar soap: bath size
A Prayer from Rev. John Pritchard: You make us, O God, for each other, for love, for joy. You breathe in us, give us one another, invite us to live and celebrate together. You call us now, together, to feast on your presence and rejoice in your love. And so, with all we are, we give you thanks, praising you for your life that flows between us, for your Spirit that weaves us together, for the joy we share, of life, of life shared, of life good. We praise you, and we ask you to set us free from all that holds us back, all that keeps us from joy together. Free us from our restraint; free us from our guardedness; free us from the tyranny of worry and self-concern that will not let us lose ourselves in the grace of now together. Free us to be present, together, to celebrate, together, to know your presence flowing between us. Free us into praise. Amen. Planning Your Will? Keep St. Luke Ministries Alive for Decades Name St. Luke in your will as a beneficiary of your investment account. Don t forget to fill out the Five Wishes form to act as your living will. Find our online donation site at www.stlukebrynmawr.org. The first time you make a gift, you input your routing information from your bank account, and after that you can make gifts any time you want without a checkbook or credit card! Thanks for your generosity to St. Luke ministries. Questions? Talk to Jim McDermott or Rick Hellberg
CALLING ALL HOARDERS! Ready to de-clutter your space? Donate those treasures to the St. Luke Yard Sale! SAVE THE DATE Saturday, June 2, 10 am - 2 pm Inside Lurwick Hall & Outdoors if the sun shines We'll be holding a bake sale as well as the yard sale, with all proceeds going to St. Luke -- it's the painless way to give to your favorite church. Volunteers will be needed to help: set up Sat. morning clean up Sat. afternoon oversee sale tables during the sale bake goodies to be sold (gluten-full or gluten-free) organize our treasures the day before (Fri., June 1) use social media to advertise the sale make signs to post in the front yard of the church and lots more I haven't thought of yet... So go ahead and tackle your closets, basements and attics. and feel twice as good about doing it! Give your stuff new life with a new owner If you would like to volunteer or to offer suggestions, please email Lyn Elliott at otto47@hotmail.com or leave me a message at 610-525-1820. Thanks for helping to make this a success!
We Are Easter People Why I Love Easter & St Luke UMC A Reflection on Easter 2017 By: Lisa Hellberg One never expects to be so moved during a Maundy Thursday service, yet this year Easter and the true meaning of Easter came to me in a fresh new way.in a way that was unexpected and yet so beautiful that I will cherish it for a long time! During the end of the Maundy Thursday service, something very special happened when we were stripping the church of all its vestments crosses, altar pieces, and fabrics to prepare for Easter. Pastor David explained, in the olden days of long ago people did this to thoroughly clean the church before Easter Sunday. As the years have passed, I have always considered this a very very symbolic way to reflect the varying deep emotions of sadness, grief, sorrow, and guilt that Jesus was betrayed and was killed by humans much like ourselves. This beautiful, spiritual, innocent man suffered and died a terrible death by humans who felt threatened by his power and message of love. reflects this sad and empty time. As The stripping of the church As we were placing the holy objects at the back of the church, a young child innocently asked, Why are we taking things out of the church? The answer that was offered was We have to clean up before Easter and these next 2 days are very sad because Jesus died a long time ago. He was killed and things feel sad and dark in these next few days. With a thoughtful look, the child returned to the pews as the service was over. Moments later, she was sobbing tears of sadness, joined by another young person that was crying because of the sad Easter song Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?. These young people appeared inconsolable as they wept. Ah, such love and innocence and raw emotions shown by these young ladies! These two young people, who are not complacent about this sad time; who are not used to hearing this same story over so many years that it no longer evokes deeper feelings They are struck by the sadness of what happened to our Jesus! They showed the freedom and beauty to shed tears, to cry in sadness, to sob in their families embrace as the seriousness and grief of Jesus death really struck them. That is beautiful and so real.no matter who is watching, no matter what people think. How refreshing and honest is this youthful response from their heart! And when Pastor David and others were attempting to comfort the youngest child, a fellow adult member of our church quietly moved closer to the crying child and offered these few words that seemed to be the only comfort to her: Ahhh, yes. This is a very sad time when we cry because Jesus dies. Others are crying too. I cry, she cries (pointing to other adults there). We are all sad right now. Just remember something very important Jesus is very much the same as those butterflies on your dress. Before that butterfly can live, he is a small caterpillar worm first, that makes a cocoon and stays inside that cocoon for a long time. Everyone thinks he is dead, but many days later, he breaks open his
cocoon and comes out alive as a beautiful butterfly that flies away. will be happy and know that Jesus is back with us, like a butterfly. On Easter Sunday, in a few days, we Well, THAT was my Easter Sermon early! Thank you very much! I am so thankful for this church, the children of this place (who are the purest reminders of how to live), for the insightful, caring adult members, and for Easter which reminds us that we are all SO LOVED by our God, no matter what! ~~ lash