Weekly E-Herald
1st Sunday In Lent
These forty days called Lent are like no other. It is our opportune time to return to the God who rescues; to receive the gifts of God's grace; to believe with the heart and confess with the mouth the wonder of God's love in Jesus; and to resist temptation at every turn. This is no small pilgrimage on which we have just embarked. It is a struggle Jesus knew. It is a struggle Jesus shares. The nearness of the Lord, in bread and wine, water and word, will uphold and sustain us.
Scripture readings for this Sunday
(click on the link to read):

Time and Change Sunday - March 10th
As we prepare to “spring forward” on next Sunday March 10th, please help the youth support their Compassion International child by bringing in your spare change to church! Souaibou Coulibaly has been sponsored since 2014. He is from Burkina Faso, is 16 years old, and is in the 9th Grade. The youth communicate through letters with Souaibou. 
Please remember on Sunday March 10th to “spring forward” an hour and bring your donations to help support the youth in their ministry to Souaibou on Time and Change Sunday!  
New Members Welcomed
On Sunday we welcomed nine new members to our family of faith here at AdventELC!

Thanks to their shepherds for showing them "the ropes" and we look forward to future worship and ministry with our sisters and brothers in Christ!
Signs of Lent
You are invited on a journey in the season of Lent by way of a midweek series of services based on the concept of road signs. Like signs we see along the roads that tell us what to do, we see signs along the way on our Lenten journey that show us our way forward in Christ.

Midweek Lenten Worship Services began with Ash Wednesday and continues every Wednesday leading up to Holy Week.
Midweek Lenten Soup Suppers Before Services
Our annual, weekly Midweek Lenten Soup Suppers begin on March 13 at 6:30 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall. Have you signed up to help? The sign up sheet is in the Narthex. There will also be a sheet to help with setup and tear down. After dinner, join us in the Sanctuary for a Midweek Lenten service to help us prepare our hearts and minds for the Easter Resurrection Celebration.
Pancake Supper and Talent Show
What a wonderful time we had at our annual Pancake Supper & Talent Show on Sunday! Thank you to everyone who came, performed, helped in the kitchen, and helped with set up and tear down.
A special thanks to our Master of Ceremonies, Matt Pittman for all his hard work to make the night possible!
Miss the fun? Want to see the acts again? Click play above!
Save The Date | April 18 at 7:00pm
Easter Breakfast News
Soon we begin the season of Lent, followed by Holy Week and Easter, as we prepare for this journey please keep in mind your time and talents here at Advent. Pam Kasai has graciously organized the Easter breakfast for many years. We are so grateful for the time she and her family have dedicated to this wonderful event every year.
However, after this Easter, Pam has decided to step aside from this yearly task and Parish Life is looking for other individual(s) to accept this task so that Easter breakfast can continue in the future. It would make the transition easier if someone would assist Pam this year, so they know the logistics and details. If no one is willing to step up we may have no choice but to cancel the Easter breakfast in 2020. If you have further questions or are interested in being a part of this fellowship event, please contact; Pam Kasai or Christy Habermehl .
Easter Flowers
Despite the snow and cold weather Advent is looking forward to the Easter Celebration and the Sanctuary filled with blooms furnished by our Congregation.  The order blanks will be in the Sunday bulletin each week to make it easy to order. This year we have added several items for your possible interest. Place your orders early but before the deadline of March 31.
AdventELC has a ministry focused on praying for you in situations and times of need. If you would like us to pray for you, tell us your need or situation by submitting a prayer request.
What's Going on
in Adult Sunday School
Bonhoeffer Class Concludes
Chris Kiel has been leading us in the history of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German pastor, theologian, and anti-Nazi dissident. Bonhoeffer's writings on Christianity's role in the secular world have become widely influential, and his books The Cost of Discipleship and Life Together have been described as a modern classics.
This week Pastor Layne will lead us in a discussion of the theological implications of Bonhoeffer's insights.
During these 40 days of Lent we’ll be carefully watching for signs along the road. We will follow the road that Jesus took, the road that led him to the cross. We will follow in his steps and pay special attention to the road signs we see along the way. It is important that we not ignore them. They are signs that help us learn about our Lord and his path to the cross for us, and they are signs that we will follow.
This year’s photo challenge is to help you as you’re out and about, look at the signs around you and remember God’s direction in and for your life.
Out and about around town, wanting to show your faith and where you go to get a faith-lift? Looking to support our youth while getting a little something in return? If you answered yes then we have a way you can both at the same time...
AND IT'S ONLY A CLICK AWAY!
Memorial Service for Don Gross
Christian sympathy to the family and friends of Don Gross. Don passed away on March 4. On Saturday, March 30 at 11:00 a.m., there will be a memorial service
for Don Gross at Advent.
A luncheon will follow.
In a divided time, let us be united in prayer
by Pastor Layne
The United Methodist Church called a Special Session of the General Conference over the past weekend and ending on Tuesday. For we folks in the ELCA, this is the equivalent to calling a special Churchwide Assembly, but on a global level. This special General Conference was called for the specific intent of discussing, debating, and voting on the issue concerning human sexuality and to explore options to strengthen church unity.

The delegates passed The Traditional Plan 438 to 384 which affirms the church’s current bans on ordaining LGBTQ clergy and officiating at or hosting same-sex marriage.

No matter how you feel and discern your position on the question of the compatibility of LGBTQ+ sexuality with Christian teachings and faith, the voicing and voting on this issue has brought heartbreak for our United Methodist sisters and brothers. As we in the ELCA witnessed for the past decade, dating back our own vote in 2009, the United Methodist Church now faces division. On both sides of the question, there is hurt, tears, and mourning that the church they love, the church that has encouraged them this far in their journey with Christ is at the point where a split seems inevitable.

I call us all to prayer for our United Methodist sisters and brothers, to help them bear the pain, and to not abandon them as they sort the pieces out of what this means, whether they are rejoicing or grieving.

As an ELCA congregation it is important to note that the United Methodist Church is one of our full communion partners. It’s our call to be church to them as they grieve the split of their denominational home.

Below is a pastoral letter from our Presiding Bishop, Rev. Elizabeth Eaton, with the ELCA response to the UMC decision.


Serving the Savior with you,

 Reverend Aaron Layne
Pastor
ELCA Presiding Bishop
Pastoral Letter on UMC decision
2/27/2019 6:00:00 PM

Dear Church,

This morning at worship in the Churchwide Office we sang;

God, when human bonds are broken, and we lack the love or skill
To restore the hope of healing, give us grace and make us still…
Give us faith to be more faithful, give us hope to be more true,
Give us love to go on learning: God, encourage and renew. (ELW 603)

These words speak to many aspects of our current world. Today they resonate especially with our continuing prayers for our full communion partner, The United Methodist Church (UMC), and, as they call themselves, for all "the people called Methodists."

Yesterday the 2019 General Conference, the UMC's highest legislative body, voted to affirm the church's current prohibitions of "ordaining LGBTQ clergy and officiating at or hosting same-sex marriage." (You can read about this decision at  www.umnews.org .) This special General Conference had been called for this issue only; in the end, delegates turned away from a plan recommended by their Council of Bishops, which allowed for diversity in local practice, to embrace instead this "Traditional Plan."

Many of you today are asking the good Lutheran question, "What does this mean?" The implications of the decisions of the General Conference are not yet fully apparent: the Judicial Council must review controversial provisions later this year, and in any case the rippling consequences for ecclesial life will take much longer to work themselves out. Yet it seems clear that the conclusion of this process has not brought the greater unity for which so many longed.

What we can say with certainty is that as the UMC takes its next steps, we in the ELCA will continue to walk with our full communion partner. We treasure the joyful memories of the Churchwide Assembly in 2009, where we voted unanimously to enter this relationship, and we are grateful also for the common witness, deepened friendships, and shared ministries which have been the fruits of this decision. This relationship, and our commitment, have become woven into who we are as this church. Our life together as churches is a shared life together in Christ. 

We remember also that the same 2009 Assembly decided to open the way for those in same-gender relationships to serve as pastors. This week, as we watched the impassioned debates on the plenary floor in St. Louis, we recognized that these costly struggles are familiar from our own recent history, and acknowledge that some amongst us have experienced re-traumatization. In our present experience also, we have not fully grown into the commitments we have made. Yet, though a controversial decision at the time, our 2009 action has brought strength and blessings for our life and mission beyond what we could have imagined a decade ago. This church treasures the faithful ministries of those rostered leaders who help us witness to God's love and invitation for all people. Their ministries are integral to who we are as this church. 

I ask this church, then, to continue by the side of the UMC, exchanging gifts and sharing burdens. In particular, we pray for them in their continued efforts faithfully to be church in the contexts we share. As we pray for them, we pray also for this church: may we be faithful to the calling to which we have been called, willing to confess our shortcomings and to trust in the healing, challenge and surprise of the Spirit of God, who calls us always forward.

In Christ,

The Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton
Presiding Bishop