Gathering in Grace • Growing in Faith • Going Forth to Serve
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Fifth Sunday of Easter, May 10, 2020
Worship at 10:00am ~ Live-Stream Only
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Altar flowers this Sunday
are given by Linda Knutson,
in loving memory of her mom,
Evelyn Sodergren.
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Karen Daniels on the mighty Holtkamp Pipe Organ provides Sunday's prelude, postlude and hymn accompaniment.
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The Socially Distanced Quartet makes their debut at TLC for Sunday's hymn and song singing.
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Pastor Arthur's inner child has created a project that all kids (yes, adults, too) can construct -- photos requested for next week.
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This Sunday
Join together as a Faith Family in watching the live-stream of Sunday Worship starting at 9:55am.
Resident organist/pianist Karen Daniels recorded her music in the sanctuary this week, along with the quartet
The Socially Distanced Singers
: Jill Reid, Angela Burla, Rob Reid and Scott Knight. The quartet sings hymns and songs where you can also sing along via the lyrics on-screen, including favorites like "Blessed Assurance" and "When Morning Gilds the Skies." They also sing a beautiful lyrical anthem during the Offering "I Have Felt the Touch of God."
Pastor Arthur has something really "constructive" for the children and he'll be preaching the message, too. We welcome Marilyn Erickson, who will be offering her "God Moment" to honor Mother's Day. Hint to our youth... yes, this Sunday is Mother's Day. Need we say more?
~ ~ ~
Okay, we will say more...
Spot the blooper
in this Sunday's service (it's fairly obvious and no, it has nothing to do with masks) and email your finding to:
tlcmedia@tlcmn.com
A drawing will be held, with the winner receiving a $10 gift certificate to McDonald's. We'll post the answer in the next issue of the TLC Weekly.
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Watch the Live-Stream starting at 9:55am Sunday Morning
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Visit
www.tlcgo.live
or click above at the time of broadcast to watch the
live-stream of the service. Programming starts at approximately 9:55am
Also find us on your Smart TV...
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Coffee Hour Every Sunday
We have been having a fun and meaningful time connecting on Sundays via Zoom immediately following the 10:00am live-stream. Please join us this Sunday here:
https://zoom.us/j/9921615891
If you have not used Zoom before, you will need to download the free app when prompted. Bring a coffee and snack and join the fellowship!
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All TLC
in-person
worship services, programming and activities
remain suspended
until further notice.
The TLC
office is closed
until further notice. Staff are working from home, monitoring emails & voice-mails. In addition, they are in the church office sporadically throughout the week accomplishing on-premise tasks. If you call the church office, the auto-attendant will provide instructions on how to reach staff.
For pastoral care concerns, the pastors are readily available by phone, email and social media. We love hearing from you! Please don't hesitate to be in touch!
TLC office phone:
952-884-2364
Main Emails:
Office@tlcmn.com
Pastors@tlcmn.com
Council@tlcmn.com
Pastor Arthur: amurray@tlcmn.com
Pastor Ed: pastored@tlcmn.com
Pastor Grace: gpardunalworth@tlcmn.com
Deacon Renee Jefferson: rjefferson@tlcmn.com
Rob Reid: rreid@tlcmn.com
Marilyn Erickson: merickson@tlcmn.com
Michelle Reber: mreber@tlcmn.com
Other Connection Opportunities
Contact Marilyn
to help call or to receive a call as part of our phone chain ministry: merickson@tlcmn.com
Contact Erin
to find out about the mom’s online support group: epommeranz@hotmail.com
Contact Dan
to find out about the dad’s online support group: danlarkin11@gmail.com
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Watch this space for further announcements!
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Flower Delivery Day
Thursday, May 14
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Thank you for your generous support of our annual flower sale! To comply with COVID-19 social distancing orders per Governor Walz, delivery day on Thursday, May 14th will look different than years past.
- Plants will be ready for pick up between 2-6pm.
- When arriving to pick up your order, please go to a designated spot under the tent, you will be directed to your plants.
- An envelope labeled with your name and total owed will be near your plants. Please, insert payment in the envelope and drop the envelope in a wooden box under the tent. Checks can be made out to TLC-ELC. Exact cash is accepted as we will be unable to make change.
- If you would like staff to help transport your plants to your vehicle, we would be happy to do so. We will maintain social distancing rules and will wear masks and gloves.
- If you have questions, please email Renee at fundraising@elc.tlcmn.com or call (952)884-7955.
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It's Those Seemingly “Little” Things
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Do you feel like life as we knew it is getting away from us, bit by bit? I miss some little things....things I am used to doing and can't anymore. Gradually we give up the comfortable routines and accept something different.
Take our going to church, for instance. Do you miss just walking across the parking lot? I've walked across that lot in every kind of bad or good weather since 1965... sometimes hunched over in a parka, or carrying an umbrella, or enjoying sunshine, but always greeting those who would be coming at about the same time.... Choir members usually arrive at least a half-hour before the service starts... time for rehearsal and donning one's robe... Almost every time we walked through the door, Carol Hill would be right there too. It's been a part of our life for all these years. New members would come and go, there'd be a different greeter at the door, but our comfort-level was always the same.
I also miss being able to browse in the church's library. There's so much to choose from, but the doors are not open these days. Would we have to sterilize any book we took home? Spritzing a book with disinfectant would not be good for paper pages.
We know this period of “no services in the church” will pass, but patience is needed. Getting together too soon, and not gradually will cause an even larger problem with that weird virus!
Did you ever think you'd be wearing a mask to go almost anywhere? Why bother with make-up when half the face is hidden behind a rather colorful mask hanging on our ears! Then there's the “getting longer all the time” hair problem. That's a whole “nother” problem.
Let's pray for things to get better soon. God knows about viruses too, so the prayers may not be answered as we'd like... He will give us patience if we ask for it.
May we all stay well, do our best each day and use the patience God will give us.
-Bloomington Bird Lady
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New Plants for the West Side TLC Garden Areas!
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By Karen Daniels
Thanks to Grethe Petersen, Sandy Stookes, Brenda Salem, and Jane Voss, for sharing perennials from their home gardens with TLC. These perennial gardeners spent several hours this week touring each other’s gardens, selecting just the right plants, and then transplanting them from their gardens to the west side garden areas at church. If you are a gardener, you know just how much work this was!
The hope is that these plants will add a pleasing and inviting look to TLC’s main entrance as they bloom at different times from spring to fall every year. Their foliage will also add different shades of green throughout these seasons. As soon as this current cold spell is over, colorful annuals will be added and the two entry pots will be planted.
Bob Dahlof was a great help in clearing and preparing the areas for planting. Thanks to him for that and the continuous upkeep he provides all year long on all of TLC’s landscape.
Even though we are do not physically gather together during these days, we are still the church. May these newly planted areas be a sign that TLC is here for everyone ... providing hope for whatever lies ahead. Watch and be inspired as the beauty of this area develops in the weeks ahead. Flowers can do amazing things, dear friends!
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- complete home haircut
- miss your barber/hairdresser
- donate the savings to your barber or a business/organization of your choice
- post the evidence and challenge 3 friends
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From the left: Boby Hill, Marilyn Rundberg, Bonnie Foley (in Vikings chair), Nadine Grabanski, and Marilyn Erickson.
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The TLC knitters, aka the K3P3 club, have been busy during this time of “sheltering” and “distancing.” This past Thursday they gathered in the west TLC parking lot to enjoy some warm sunshine and knit prayer shawls at a social distance of six-feet. If you or someone you know would like to be wrapped in one of the K3P3 prayer shawls, please contact TLC. They can be picked up in the church office on weekdays.
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WHAT DOES THIS MEAN
FOR US?
-a continuing series-
By Pastor Al Dungan
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I recently read in the daily devotional Christ in Our Home this sentence: “Resurrected life isn’t the same as life before death”.
Now, do we really understand what that means over 2000 years after Jesus’ resurrection from the dead?
I think that sometimes we are too “time focused”. How many of us view the celebration of Easter as just one more day in our yearly calendar? That’s what the world around us does. Easter is just a day to hide eggs and candy that the Easter Bunny has left, wear some fancy new clothes and an Easter bonnet and then “chow down” to a bountiful meal of ham and all the trimmings.
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But for those who claim to follow Jesus, Easter is a day like no other in the history of the world. It is the day that separates the power of death over our lives from the power of eternal life.
From that first “Easter day” until now, in the Year of our Lord 2020, those who claim to follow Jesus know that this day is different from any other day; because this day, this EASTER DAY, impacts all of the others, before, now and in the future.
Resurrected life, for us, is definitely not the same as life before death. And the beauty of it all is, is that we can live, are living, that resurrected life right now. It’s not something that we have to wait for until we die, as I was taught in Sunday school.
Jesus said, “The Kingdom of Heaven is in your midst (or…is within you).” For me that means that each day is an Easter Day in which I can live out the command of Jesus who said, “Love all others as I have loved you”. That means for me: feeding the hungry, healing the sick, freeing the prisoner and welcoming the stranger. And that has taken on a very special meaning for me during this time of COVID-19. It has taken on a very “existential” meaning for me which means that it is a very real thing for me here and now.
This is how EASTER IS FOREVER for me. I hope and I pray that this is also what it is for you.
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Do you ever need an extra prayer for yourself, a loved one, or a dear friend? TLC has a prayer team that prays often for members, their families and friends of the congregation. Send your prayer requests to
merickson@tlcmn.com
or on the
TLC website here.
Your prayer needs are sent on to the Prayer Team and kept confidential – just between you, the pray-ers, and God. If you would like to be a member of the prayer team, please sign up on the yellow Life@TLC bulletin insert.
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What You'll Need:
- 2 (9 inch) deep dish frozen pie crusts
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped green bell pepper
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 1 (4.5 ounce) can mushrooms, drained and chopped
- 6 eggs
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 8 ounces shredded Monterey Jack cheese
- 8 ounces shredded Swiss cheese
- 12 ounces cooked ham, chopped
- ½ teaspoon vinegar
- ⅛ teaspoon dried tarragon
- 1 pinch garlic powder
- 1 pinch ground nutmeg
- 1 pinch dried parsley
- salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Step 1
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and pre-bake crusts for 10 minutes. Set aside to cool on racks.
Step 2
In a large skillet, saute green pepper, onion and mushrooms until onions are soft and translucent. Remove from heat and set aside.
Step 3
In a large bowl, mix eggs and cream together. Stir in the shredded Jack and Swiss cheese, chopped ham and sauteed vegetables. Stir in vinegar and season with tarragon, garlic powder, nutmeg, parsley, salt and pepper. Divide filling into the 2 baked pie crusts.
Step 4
Bake in the preheated oven for 55 to 60 minutes, or until filling is set and crusts are golden brown.
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Tapestry: An inclusive community of faith, humbly sharing the love of Jesus with all people, and working together for the healing and restoration of the world t
hat God loves so much.
Ways Tapestry shares the love of Jesus through:
Music
: Our musicians play for our bilingual worship services, of course, and they also lead worship and share joy through their Latin and jazz rhythms at many of our partner congregations.
Education
: We began with a trial run last winter and now our Spanish and English as a Second Language (ESL) classes are becoming more and more popular. We learn language and we share our cultures and learn from each other. We learn, laugh, eat and grow together in community. We even received our first non-church grant from the Richfield Foundation to support these classes!
Food
: We have so many wonderful cooks! We share meals after worship and during special events we host such as
Dia de Muertos (Day of the Dead)
and a benefit worship we hosted where we raised more than $10,000 for disaster relief in Mexico and Puerto Rico. We believe the Spirit is leading us to new places through our food ministry and we look forward to new opportunities on the horizon.
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PAID AMERICORPS POSITIONS AT VEAP
VEAP is currently recruiting candidates for 2 different paid AmeriCorps opportunities:
- 2020-2021 AmeriCorps Community Outreach & Engagement Coordinator VISTA position (full-time, 12 month position, flexible start date)
- Five MN AmeriCorps Emergency Response positions (35 hours per week, June 8 to August 15) – Applications due May 20
AmeriCorps Community Outreach & Engagement Coordinator VISTA
We are looking for a passionate leader who will spark hope and support stability for people living in poverty. This person will shape the future of VEAP by diversifying our volunteer corps and deepening partnerships with multicultural communities.
- Serve full-time for 12 months, flexible start date 2020
- Hold part-time outside employment and participate in part-time coursework during service with approval from your supervisor
- Receive a pre-tax monthly living allowance of $944 during service
- Option of $1,800 post-service stipend or $6,095 education award after completing your year of service
- Relocation assistance is available for members moving more than 50 miles to serve
- As an AmeriCorps VISTA you will receive your certification in volunteer leadership, attend professional development opportunities, learn about the evolving field of volunteer engagement, and network with local and national leaders in this field.
For more information or to start the application process for this Community Outreach & Engagement Coordinator VISTA position, contact Courtney Flug at
courtneyf@veap.org
or 952.955.8325.
MN AmeriCorps Emergency Response positions
This summer, VEAP is excited to be a part of the AmeriCorps Emergency Response Initiative! This new, statewide program has been created to help meet the urgent and emerging community needs related to COVID-19. VEAP has the opportunity to hire 5 people to assist with our core operations including: 2 with our food pantry team to assist with warehouse and distribution duties; 2 with our social services team to assist with general duties to support client assistance; and 1 with our volunteer department to assist with volunteer engagement and scheduling. The positions are 35 hours a week from June 8 - August 15 and also include:
- A stipend of $650 every two weeks
- Individual health insurance (monthly premium 100% paid)
- An additional $1,289.95 for tuition or student loans
With a tight turnaround on the Emergency Response positions, time is of the essence. In order to begin serving in June,
candidates need to apply by May 20
. To learn more or apply, please visit
bit.ly/MNResponse
.
If you have any questions or are interested in learning more about these opportunities, contact Courtney Flug at
courtneyf@veap.org
or 952.955.8325.
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Back Issues of the TLC Weekly
including this issue (Today!)
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[CLICK HERE]
to visit the TLC web page where you can choose to read from the past 16 months of weekly E-newsletters from Transfiguration Lutheran Church. This is also a great way to share TLC Weekly with those that don't receive it in email. Tell them to visit
tlcmn.com/tlcweekly
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ELECTRONIC GIVING HELPS SUPPORT TLC
It’s important to know that we can depend on financial support from TLC members. Electronic giving is fast, secure, and reduces administrative costs, allowing more of every dollar to support the important work we are called to do. You can give anytime, anywhere to specific funds with our GivePlus Mobile app (free from the app store). You can also schedule and manage recurring donations by visiting our website and clicking on TLC ONLINE GIVING icon at the bottom of any page, or
[Click Here] to start the process, or contact the church office.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROSITY!
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Please help?
The Coronavirus has clearly upset life in Minnesota and around the world. As you know, even TLC is feeling the impact. Our church services and meetings are all on hold for now and only staff is left in the building, but our mission continues. Without the ability to gather for worship, we have no offering baskets being circulated to collect weekly offerings. In the mean time, bills still have to be paid and we need the continued financial support of our members.
If you normally submit your offering in the offering baskets during service, we ask you to mail your offering to TLC at your normal interval while services are suspended.
If you haven’t done so already, please consider signing up for automated giving through the Online Giving link at the top of every page on our website
www.tlcmn.com
.
Or click here to begin your donation.
This easy to set up program allows you to schedule your offering payments at an interval convenient for you so your support is given whether you can make it to service or not - and whether we are able to hold services or not!
We realize that some of you may have suffered loss of your job or income during his crisis and are unable to fulfill our offering pledge at this time. If this is the case with you, please let us know and we will keep your in our prayers.
Like other crisis’ before it, the Corona virus will eventually pass and our lives will return to near normal. It’s times like these that can really test our faith. Take care of each other and yourself. We will get through this together. And, please don’t forget to support TLC in the mean time.
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Free Subscriptions, sign up to be a volunteer, request care ministry and more!
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Subscribe a friend to this newsletter, TLC Weekly, or subscribe yourself and others to the TLC publication, Transcripts. Interested in TLC membership? Sunday school? Our renowned TLC music program, volunteering and more are choices on this easy online TLC Request Form. Just
[Click Here]
or the "Sign Me Up" button on the left.
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A Reconciling in Christ Congregation
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A Culture of Diversity and Inclusion
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