Grace Lutheran Church & Preschool
Newsletter - April 2022
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17880 E. Covina Blvd. | Covina, CA 91722
Church Office (626) 332-4536 | Preschool (626) 967-5855
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Church Office Hours | Monday & Thursdays | 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Email: Office@GraceCovina.org
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We've now returned to the Sanctuary for Worship! Join us for a blended, in-person service Sundays at 9:30 a.m.
We are streaming Sunday Worship on our Facebook page. If you have any of the symptoms of COVID-19, or have had contact recently with anyone with COVID-19, we ask that you worship safely with us online.
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He is Risen!
Greetings Siblings in Christ,
He is risen indeed! Obviously this article will be available weeks before we celebrate Christ’s resurrection, but the truth and power of the resurrection is something we proclaim and a reality we live into every single day of our lives. And that is a reality for every believer pre and post resurrection for all eternity. Normally this month’s article would be focused on Easter, but this year my focus will be on the second day of what is called the Triduum, otherwise known as Good Friday.
I have always felt a little uneasy with the ‘good’ in Good Friday. It certainly was not a good day for Jesus’ followers, those who witnessed His persecution and execution. From Jesus’ human perspective it most definitely was not a good Friday, but from a divine perspective it was one of the best days. That is hard to imagine or understand and that is part of the tension that exists in that blessed day. Undoubtedly it is a very good day for believers like you and I. I suppose my discomfort resides in the tension that is very much a part of that day.
Christianity focuses much more on the birth and life of Jesus. Sure, we talk about the cross often, but it is usually pretty sterilized, or disconnected, with Jesus’ actual death. The cross makes allusions to His death, but the horrifying details are left unspoken except for on Good Friday when we read the story of Jesus betrayal, arrest, trial and execution. It is not a typical worship service at all. In every other instance our worship services are uplifting, encouraging, comforting, and generally positive. Not this day. It is somber, really somber. We enter in silence, leave in silence and in between are reminded of the cost of our salvation and reminded that we are all co-responsible for what happened to Jesus.
But, we would not have the hallelujahs and empty tomb without the death. Death is what gives us life and that is uncomfortable and filled with tension. In every other instance when humans die it is traumatic and the finality of it is one of the aspects that makes our grief so difficult. The death that Christ died is and was different. It was not the end, it was the beginning for you and I and every other believer. Just as Jesus was raised again to new life we too have the promise of eternal life and a new beginning.
That is the reason we call it Good Friday and that is what the gathering on the Friday before Easter is really all about. It is the painful reminder of how horrific death was for Jesus, the cost of our salvation, that leads to a more profound and life giving HALLELUJAH on Easter morning. There would not be an empty tomb without a bloody cross. For me attending the Good Friday service has always made Easter Sunday that much more powerful and joyous because I experience the full range of emotion that is a byproduct of the tension of the Tridium, or three days. If you have not been in the habit of attending Good Friday services I hope that this article will encourage you to join us that Friday before Easter. If you were or are in the habit of attending Good Friday services then you know what I am talking about. There is no empty tomb without the cross.
Blessings,
Pastor Steve
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Easter Introit:
"Why Do You Look for the Living Among the Dead?"
by Jeffrey M. Saltonstall, Director of Worship & Music
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“The omission of alleluia during Lent goes back at least to the fifth century in the western church. The custom of actually bidding it farewell, however, developed in the Middle Ages. The hymn 'Alleluia, song of gladness' (Evangelical Lutheran Worship #318) contains a translation of an 11th century Latin text that compares an alleluia-less Lent to the exile of the Israelites in Babylon. The text then anticipates the joy of Easter when glad alleluias will return in all their heavenly splendor.”
-ELCA Resource Repository.
In Luke’s telling of the resurrection in chapter twenty-four, the women disciples are on their way to the tomb early in the morning to prepare Christ’s body for burial since they didn’t have time before the Sabbath on day he died. For them, this is the continuation of the worst few days of their lives. In the darkness they find the tomb wide open with two men inside it. Verses 5 and 6a: In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!
It was these two verses that inspired me to write this piece of choral music as either a sending song for an Easter Vigil, or an introit for a Sunrise Service.
The opening piano motive is evocative of a cold, somber morning. Women begin with the phrase, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here. He is not here,” followed by the men repeating the phrase as if a cloud of confusion and fear begins to lift, with all parts joining in “He is not here; he has risen! He has risen! He is risen!” The idea of Christ being risen repeated three times with a variation is both a contrast to Peter’s denial of Jesus, and a call to our Easter proclamation Christ is risen: he is risen indeed!
The only way to truly follow the wonderful news of Christ’s resurrection is to break our liturgical Lenten fast and proclaim ALLELUIA! Polyphonic structure of the alleluia portion is to evoke the sound of church bells ringing out with their individual melodies, coming together to proclaim the good news.
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Report of the Grace-Covina Church Council
March, 2022
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• Receipt of an anonymous donation of $5000 to repair the organ. The amount of the donation not used for the repair will be designated to pay for an organist.
• The church has received $290 in donations for the ELCA’s Good Gifts program.
Lutheran Disaster Response is working on the ground in Eastern Europe with Lutheran World Federation, member churches, and humanitarian partners to distribute supplies, food, medicine, bedding and psychosocial and pastoral care to refugees and internally displaced people, most of whom are women and children.
• The Pre-School has hired a new teacher, Ms. Lea, for the two-year old class.
• The Pre-School had a tree removed from their playground as it was hollow and infested with bees.
• The ACTION Food Pantry will be re-opening the first week in April, and will resume distribution Thursdays from 12 noon - 4:00 p.m.
The pantry will be participating in this year's Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive, and needs volunteers on Saturday, May 14 from 2:00 to 8:00 p.m. and May 15 from 12:00 to 5:00 p.m.
Brenda Noriega
Council President
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April 3, 2022
5th Sunday in Lent
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Joshua 5:9-12
Psalm 32
2 Corinthians 5:16-21
Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32
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April 10, 2022
Palm Sunday
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Psalm 34: 2-7
Zechariah 9:9-10
Philippians 2:5-11
Luke 19:28-40
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April 17, 2022
Easter Sunday
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Acts 10:34-43
Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24
1 Corinthians 15:19-26
Luke 24:1-12
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April 24. 2022
2nd Sunday of Easter
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Acts 5:27-32
Psalm 118:14-29
Revelation 1:4-8
John 20:19-31
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Marty Spradley | April 8
Milo McCabe | April 13
Suzanne Banks | April 17
Wendy Snyder | April 19
Lauren Varela | April 23
Duke Turner| April 24
Tara Biddle | April 26
Johna Stienstra | April 29
James Hernandez | April 29
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We are missing the Memorial Book that was kept in the display cabinet in the church narthex. If you have any idea where it's got to, please contact the church office. |
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Dierk & Adrianna Biggs
April 17
Dave & Jenny Brown
April 17
Donald & Vicki Jacobs
April 25
Bill & Carolyn Wengel
April 27
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Let us know
- If we don’t have your birthday or anniversary listed
- If you have a special announcement
- If someone in your family is sick or in the hospital
- If you move or change your telephone number
- If you feel the church can assist you in any way
- If you would like a paper copy of the newsletter mailed to you
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10th Annual Bonhoeffer Festival |
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Thursday May 12
Good Shepherd Lutheran, Claremont
12:30 - 4:30 p.m.
In-person and online
Guest Speaker: Dr Reggie Williams, author of Bonhoeffer’s Black Jesus
Panel Discussion/Q & A with Rev. Lara Martin and Rev. Rene Martin, led by Rev. Dr. Thomas Johnson
Reception/Table Talk at Good Shepherd Fellowship Hall
Cost: Free (donations are welcome)
RSVP to Tjohnson@cst.edu10th Annual Bonhoeffer Festival
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The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry – Psalm 34:15
Please pray for those with medical needs, including: Gil and Yolanda Erro, Linda Dalton, Charlene Lisberg and Debbie, Rick Turner, Sheila Ludwig, Kurt and Debbie VonRice, Bud Peterson, Carolyn Wengel, Nolan, Herb Westerfield, Patrick Putnam, Noa Buhler, John, Sharon Kost, Rose Marie Quesada, Cindy Skolaski, Deanna Kellogg, Shannon Troop, Jaxon Turner, Art James, Beverly Smith, Dakota Garske, Fern Hastings, Jan Sieber, Robert Boomsma, Robert Larsen, Trina Clay, Walter Hoke, Cody Umpleby, Connie Brown, the Davidson Family, Jamie Wilcots, Joan and Lee Juneau, Kari Watson, Ken Gillingham, Mike Spangler, Pam Elparin, Ed McGee, Sarah Encabo, and victims of COVID-19.
Please pray for others in need of prayer, including: the family and friends of Marie Dabbs, Tricia Henderson, Rocio Orozco, and our Grace neighbors.
Please pray for the men and women currently serving in the military, who are bravely protecting us and our country, including: Andrew Ranabarger (Marine Corps), Cole Elliot (Marine Corps), Nathaniel Morgan (Army), and Christian Van Allen (Navy), and Phillip Beserra (Air Force).
Please pray for all victims of natural disasters.
Please pray for those who are being faced with grief, and all who know violence and hate.
Please pray for our Grace Lutheran Church Congregation and partners in ministry.
Please pray for the teachers and children of our preschool and infant care program, and for the teachers and students of Ben Lomond Elementary School, our school districts, and all schools, that they and their families will be safe.
Please pray for hospital staff, all medical personnel and first responders, those in essential services, and the leaders of our world, state, country, and local governments.
Please pray for the ACTION Food Pantry, the clients that they serve, and all those in need.
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President | Brenda Noriega
Vice President | Johna Stienstra
Secretary | Diana Alley
Treasurer | Robert Ordonez
Members-at-Large
Cindy Skolaski | Dave Brown | Nancy Adzovich | Judy McGee
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STAY CONNECTED TO GRACE-COVINA |
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www.gracecovina.org | office@gracecovina.org | (626) 332 - 4536 |
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