May 2, 2012 10:30AM
Whew! What a crazy April we had! Holy Week observances, Easter celebrations (CHRIST IS RISEN! ALLELUIA!), council members recognized and installed, new members received and welcomed! All Saints truly was busy in April! May can be just as busy as we prepare for communion classes, the ending of the Sunday School year, work days, shifting to our single summer service on Sundays (say that five times fast), and more! There is so much to be excited for at All Saints! The community of faith here is busy indeed. I encourage you to read through this newsletter and see all the exciting things that are coming up for our community of faith this month and into the summer. One wonderful ministry that I would like to lift up that is not mentioned within these pages is that the Social Concerns team has contacted the local free clinic in Mason and has offered to bring them lunch on May 4th. Hopefully this can turn into a wonderful way for the community, not only here at All Saints, but in Mason to say “THANK-YOU” to the wonderful doctors and nurses who volunteer their time and energy to help those in need in our community. If you would like to help, in any way that you can, please contact Connie Vernon or anyone else from the Social Concerns team. Now, as we approach the summer months I know that many of y’all will be going on vacations, journeys, and more. The summer is a wonderful time to spend with family and friends while enjoying the beautiful weather that I am sure we are going to have here in the mid-Michigan area. Many of y’all will ‘go up north’ which is still a weird thing for my family and I to hear since whenever we ‘went north’ we’d come here. To go further north for vacation is quite interesting and hopefully we can join in with the rest of y’all Michiganders in this! However, as many of you go on vacation I wanted to state that even though you may not be present within the community of faith here for those few weeks, the church is still active and present. Being that the church never ‘goes off’ for vacation, there is always that need for funds and gifts to help things run smoothly and efficiently. Summer is also needed time to help individuals within our state and country who need help in keeping their homes from becoming dangerously hot (which is a tremendous problem the further south one travels). There are many ministries that occur in the summer, even here at All Saints as we continue to plan and prepare for Vacation Bible School on June 17th-21st! What I would like for y’all to remember is that All Saints continues to need your support during the summer. This community of faith continues to need your support through prayer, service, and yes – financial giving. I pray that as you go off and experience the beautiful creation that God has allowed us to be stewards of as you travel ‘up north,’ ‘down south,’ or even east and west, that you continually thank God in worship and praise! I also pray that through that thankfulness that you continue to be faithful in your giving of your time, talents, and first fruits (both those that give us nourishment in food and those that help the church continue its ministries and its own mission). As I end this article, I offer to you one of my favorite bible stories about giving which comes from Matthew 17: 24-27: 24 After they arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the temple tax came to Peter and said, "Your teacher pays the double drachma tax, doesn't he?" 25 He said, "Yes." When Peter came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, "What do you think, Simon? From whom do earthly kings collect tolls or taxes– from their sons or from foreigners?" 26 After he said, "From foreigners," Jesus said to him, "Then the sons are free. 27 But so that we don't offend them, go to the lake and throw out a hook. Take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth, you will find a four drachma coin. Take that and give it to them for me and you." Should you go fishing during the summer and find a coin in a fish’s mouth, I hope you are reminded of your own promises to God in your faithful stewardship. God works through each of us, through our hands, our prayers, and our giving in providing care, support, and ministry to all those in God’s creation. Amen and have fun!
May 2, 2012 9:12AM
Grace and peace! It has been quite a busy few weeks for this lil’ ol’ pastor! Going to far off places like Angola, IN for a First Call Event and then commuting back and forth between Mason and DeWitt for a Candidacy Retreat doesn’t give one a whole lot of time to do a whole lot outside of those two events. Needless to say, things are 'slowing’ down a bit, at least before Synod Assembly comes which is just around the corner (May 17-19 in Lansing). Anyways, I have been in watching “Ken Burn’s Baseball” documentary lately because for one, it has been about oh, never, since I have actually taken the time to watch it and two, I absolutely love hearing of these old stories and seeing pictures of baseball’s history in its players, cities, teams, and stadiums. It has been a blast so far! While watching it, it got me thinking… we spend a lot of time remembering past sports heroes. I have heard a lot since moving to Michigan about Al Kaline. As a Rangers fan, I know a lot about Nolan Ryan. All baseball fans remember Cy Young, Christy Mathewson, Babe Ruth, and more! In football, the names of YA Tittle, Jim Brown, Johnny Unitas, Dick Butkus, and more bring fond memories (and debates) to those discussing their past heroes. We 'invoke’ the saints of our sports teams quite often and quite fondly. However, when the words 'saints, 'commemoration,' and 'church' come to mind we (as Christians within the Lutheran tradition of the Body of Christ) have a hard time coming to terms with them. When someone tries to remember or commemorate a saint from the church's history, there is usually at least one person speaking or thinking, “That’s not what WE do! Why are we thinking about these sorts of things?!” We may not ask for the saints to pray for us as other traditions might, but I think it’s good practice to look back on the saints of the church with the same fondness as we do our past sports heroes. The church, and yes the LUTHERAN church, commemorates the saints. We, as the church, remember fondly the lives and sacrifices of our brothers and sisters in the faith, who have given us examples of what humility looks like, discipleship can mean, and what serving can and does mean for those following the way of Christ – looking to the cross that ushered in God’s love to the world. For example, today, May 2, is the commemoration of Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria in 373 CE. Athanasius was best remembered for defending the teaching that Christ was fully God against those who taught otherwise, Athanasius was an influential church leader around the time of the Council of Nicea. He was banished from Alexandria five times for his forthright views. He helped the church in deciding what books should be considered in the canonical scripture. He helped fight against the Arian position that denied the full divinity of Christ (and thus was born the Athanasian Creed). On Friday we will commemorate the mother of Augustine, Monica. There are of course 'newer’ saints who we commemorate too, like Harriet Tubman (March 10), Dietrich Bonhoeffer, (April 9), and Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15). The church is full of men and women (and events!) that help us to see God’s presence throughout our history. We can look to the saints for inspiration and at times guidance. When we pray, we can pray to God to help us to be a voice of truth and justice like the Reverend Dr. King, we can ask God to help us speak about our faith as astutely and creatively as Thomas Aquianas (January 28), or to help us see where we can better serve the poor and be more like Birgitta of Sweden (July 23). There are numerous celebrations and commemorations that we as Lutherans can look to for support and inspiration. But, most of all, we can look at these commemorations and see God’s presence in and among the faithful. Those faithful who stood up to oppression, those faithful who served all in need, those faithful that wrote beautiful poems which we sing each and every Sunday morning, those faithful that followed Christ to the best of their abilities. It is good to commemorate the saints and remember them fondly for their service to God. Amen!
April 10, 2012 10:24AM
The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him. (Psalm 28:7 ESV) It is Easter, truly the most important time of year in the life of the church. It is here during Easter where we come together and sing (with gusto) ALLELUIA! It is during Easter that we shout, “HE IS RISEN!” It is here during Easter that we thank God for the gift of love shown on the cross and realized in the resurrection and empty tomb! As many of y’all know, I really enjoy singing. I love singing our hymns in worship, intoning the psalms and Kyrie, and listening to the music and talent of our choir. I have always loved singing. In fact, my favorite movies growing up were Disney animated movies like Aladdin and The Lion King so you can imagine that my love for singing was not just relegated to ‘church stuff.’ Even as a camp counselor I loved to sing all the crazy songs to get campers laughing and also singing those beautiful ‘mountain-top’ songs that make you feel that God is truly present with you. Singing is one of our oldest and fondest ways to give praise to God. The Lutheran tradition of the Church is full of great singers, hymn-writers, and musicians. Martin Luther wrote many hymns (the most famous being “A Mighty Fortress”) and loved to sing as well. Sometimes I love to close my eyes and listen to the Lord’s faithful during worship as they sing (hint-hint the Lord’s faithful is Y’ALL). Singing is wonderful. As I would tell youth at camp or in confirmation during my internship year, God hears glorious noise when it is offered up in praise. What I mean by this is that when you ‘let loose’ and allow yourself to sing in praise to God through the psalms or hymns at worship (or even in your car as you’re driving home) no matter how others hear you, God hears a glorious noise. One of my good friends in seminary (who is now a pastor in Massachusetts) loves to sing. He sings with gusto, with forte! The only ‘problem’ is that my friend cannot carry a tune. When he sings he sounds like a dying cat suffering from the yips. It really is horrible, but my friend doesn’t care. He isn’t going to join the choir (he knows his limits and the tolerance of others) but he enjoys singing (even badly) to praise the God who created him and the world, who saved him and all of creation, through the gift of love in Jesus Christ and the victory over death upon the Cross. I pray and I hope that we at All Saints can live our lives with such gusto! That we can enter into worship and sing our God-filled hearts out during worship. Not worrying about what others might think or say, but focus totally on lifting up our voices to our One Lord who has given us salvation through grace. Where in our lives are we ‘timid’ with our faith and praise because of what others might think or say? It may be in our singing during worship, it may be saying (yelling) an ‘AMEN!’ after hearing a wonderful speech, prayer, or sermon. It may be standing back and being ‘a part’ of the crowd as vulgar language or humor is used to beat/break down an individual or group (whether they are present or not). Easter, and all seasons, is a time where we as the Body of Christ stand up and praise God – WITH GUSTO – in song, music, actions, and words for all that has been given to the world through Jesus Christ! Do not be afraid or too timid to let your voice be heard. Join your voice to the harmony of Christ’s church because what you sing is a glorious noise to God! Christ is risen! Alleluia! He is risen indeed!
Address:
720 W. South Street
Mason, MI 48854
Telephone: +1 517 676 2610
FAX: +1 517 676 5857
E-mail: office@allsaintsmason.org
Website: www.allsaintsmason.org
