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NEWS & EVENTS
May 8, 2024
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Ascension Picnic & Evening Worship
Join us on Thursday, May 9 for a picnic on the lawn at 6:00 p.m., followed by Holden Evening Prayer at 6:30.
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Plant Sale Details - Two Important Dates
Plant Sale Pick-Up on May 9 - Items that were ordered through the Gertens website will be ready for pick up on Thursday, May 9 at 6:00 p.m. There is a worship service that evening at 7:00, so you can take your plants before the service.
Additional plants will be sold on Sunday, May 19. Use this opportunity to purchase a few more plants for your own home or to buy and donate to the church for use in the gardens here. Financial donations can also be made to help the church purchase items for the gardens.
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Adult Education Forums
Sunday, May 12
Pastor Hank French will lead a two-part study on the topic of Christian Nationalism, an extreme movement trying to reshape American political, economic, and civic life by fusing them with a particular type of “Christian identity.” On May 5 the forum explored the beliefs, goals, ideological commitments, and strategies of Christian nationalism. On May 12, the forum will consider several biblical texts that provide a faith-centered vision of the role of Christianity in the modern world that runs counter to and challenges Christian nationalism. Please join us!
Sunday, May 19
On Sunday, May 19, we will be blessed with an exhibit of the Ehrman Tapestry “Days of Creation” needlepoint series lovingly stitched during the COVID pandemic by members Lu Zibell and Jodi Harpstead. The exhibit will open just after worship and include an Adult Forum on this needlepoint series. Feel free to take your coffee downstairs after worship to see the exhibit and/or stay for the Adult Forum.
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Hymn of the Day for Easter 7 - May 12, 2024
“I Come with Joy” ELW 482
This week we sing about joy! Brian Wren (b.1936) is a late twentieth century hymn writer specializing in inclusive language. You might notice in this hymn that Wren only uses first person singular or plural pronouns (I, me, us) avoiding any binary gender pronouns. His writing always makes his passions clear; the power of language, congregational song, and the practice of public worship, justice, peace, and global equality. Wren wrote this hymn in 1968 for the congregation he was serving in Essex, England. His topic was the meaning of communion. About this hymn, Wren says, “(it) moves from the individual ‘ I come with joy’ (stanzas 1 & 2) to the collective ‘we’ll go with joy’ (stanza 4).”
In today’s gospel from John 17:6-19, Jesus is praying. He is covering a lot of territory in this prayer about lines of relationship between Jesus and God, Jesus and humanity, and God and humanity. Jesus asks God to protect those whom he has protected while he has been here. Jesus knows that he will soon be coming to God and asks God to protect them from the evil one. In verse 13, “But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves.” Therefore, in stanza one, we respond with, “I come with joy, a child of God, forgiven, loved, and free.” In verse 11, Jesus’ petition is “Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.” In stanza three, we respond to that with, “The love that made us, makes us one, and strangers now are friends.” In verse 18, “As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.” And we respond in stanza 4, “Together met, together bound by all that God has done, we’ll go with joy, to give the world the love that makes us one, the love that makes us one.”
The concept of the sum of us all being greater than the many parts; and thus we are all essential elements of the body of Christ is demonstrated by Wren in this hymn moving from Stanza one, “I come.” to stanza five, “we’ll go”. A widely practiced philosophy among African nations is the idea of “UBUNTU”. In this way of thinking your sense of self is shaped by your relationships with other people; summed by the phrase “I am because we are”.. As a human being, your individual personhood is fostered in relation to other people. Ubuntu means believing the common bonds within a group are more important than any individual arguments and divisions within it. "People will debate, disagree, and have tensions around individual differences. However, It is about coming together and building a consensus around what affects the community most beneficially that becomes elevated to the highest priority by each individual. Our community comes together each week and is re-unified by our fellowship, our worship together, singing together, eating together, and celebrating together. Thereby we offer up ourselves in commonality to the cherished unity we share as Lutheran Church of the Resurrection, as ELCA Lutherans in the Synod of St. Paul, MN, and as the ELCA in America and the world. And thus we “go with joy, to give the world the love that makes us one!”
Peace!
Deacon Gary Butler
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Live Stream Issues on May 5
Those who tried to watch the May 5th church service found that it was not live-streamed. It was videoed, however, and now is available to watch on the Resurrection's YouTube page. https://www.youtube.com/@LCRELCA/streams
Pastor Sarah gave a sermon that worth the effort!
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Youth Fundraisers
The young people in our congregation are busy! Our high school students meet weekly to connect, reflect, and examine their faith. Some are involved in advanced instruction in church music and performance at Lutheran Summer Music. Others experience Bible study, chapel, games, and fun at Camp WAPO. Along with weekly Sunday school classes, the preschool and elementary kids have opportunities to get together and enjoy themselves, with older kids and adults at an annual late-over and other activities. And this year five high school kids are going to attend the ELCA Youth Gathering in New Orleans!
To support all of these activities, the Youth and Education committee is going to hold several fundraisers in the coming months. Below is a list of coming events! We hope you will be able to join us as we work together to help the kids as they grow in faith!
Sunday, May 19 Caramel Rolls!
Enjoy delicious homemade caramel rolls after church! Just the smell will draw you in!
Sundays, June 9, 16, 23, and 30
We will start our sales of “stock certificates” in a fundraiser we’re calling Take Stock in our Youth.” More details to come!
June Car Wash
Details to be determined...
Questions? Contact Sue Hendrickson, Terra Swisher, Jason Koering, or Rebecca Sauer
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May Mission of the Month – Cherish All Children
Dear friends at Lutheran Church of the Resurrection,
We thank you for being one of our strong partners, committed to keeping children and youth safe from sexual exploitation and trafficking, and supporting their growth into healthy relationships.
Our work continues to evolve, and your support helps us move into new ways of supporting youth and families in our communities.
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Online sextortion of boys, girls and non-binary youth is a significantly growing crime that youth and families can prevent if aware and educated. The FBI, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and Department of Homeland Security issued a national public safety alert urging parents and caregivers to intervene.
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Cherish All Children hosted an online Education Event “Protecting Youth from Online Sextortion” during National Human Trafficking Prevention month. We encourage you to watch the recording and share the resources available.
- Sextortion is a form of child sexual exploitation where children are manipulated into sending a sexual image or video, then threatened and blackmailed by a person who demands additional sexual content, activity, or money from the child. What begins as an online friendship or romantic relationship quickly changes into a scary and desperate situation for the child.
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This crime can be prevented and we are committed to supporting young people and families with your help.
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Our Safe and Healthy Relationships Youth Guide is now available in Spanish! We’ll be reaching more faith communities in the United States and just returned from Guatemala to share this resource with our ELCA partner churches there.
- Save the dates for our annual Cherish All Children hybrid 5K June 7-9!
Your donations help us to reach more churches and communities to engage in this work together for the safety of all God’s children. Visit our website for all our resources and connect with us at info@cherishallchildren.org.
Blessings & Peace to you!
Joy McElroy
Cherish All Children Executive Director
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The Saint Paul Area Synod’s 2024 Synod Assembly
The Assembly will be held May 10-11 at St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church in Mahtomedi. With a theme of “Called to Show Up,” we will explore what it means to show up for each other, to show up in the neighborhoods where we live, and to show up as people of faith in contexts where our presence is both expected and unexpected. The assembly features poet, author and spoken word performer Joe Davis.
Friday, May 10 – 5 p.m. Mission Fair | 7 p.m. Hymn Festival & Worship Service
open to all; no registration necessary, just show up!
Saturday, May 11 – 8:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Synod Business Meeting, open only to those registered as voting members, advisors or guests.
During the assembly we will worship together, consider resolutions, elect people to leadership roles and experience being part of a wider church.
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Spring Activities at Emmet D. Williams School
Our friends at EDW have invited the LCR community to join them for their Book Fair on Wednesday, May 15 from 10-4:30, and on Thursday, May 16 from 8-11 and 3:30-4:30 in the Media Center. Shop for your favorite books while supporting EDW (2% of the sales goes directly to benefit the school.)
The Emmet D. Williams Spring Fling will be held on Friday, May 17 from 5-7:30 p.m. rain or shine. Many fun activities, opportunities to participate in fund raisers, food trucks, and games for all ages. The Book Fair and the Spring Fling offer chances to purchase raffle tickets for $2 each ticket with the prize of at least $125 awarded. (Drawing held at 7:20 p.m. on May 17. Winner need not be present.)
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