Labor Day weekend is fast upon us, and the summer has flown. The start of our church year looms, with Sunday school, choir, Bible study, and a return to the sanctuary upstairs after a summer of air-conditioned comfort in the Social Hall. Have you ever wondered how the work of the church gets done? Sometimes it can almost seem like a miracle. In a way it might be seen in that light, but really it is just people of faith doing small tasks that add up to meaningful ministry.
One definition of “liturgy” is “the work of the people.” If that is so, then a ministry of service in the church is rightly seen as another way of worshiping God. One member of this congregation worships through his service in so many ways that it is challenging to attempt list them all, for fear of leaving something out.
Valmekie Basil is among the first to arrive each Sunday. He is always accompanied by his son, Adi, and at least some of his many nephews, for whom he sets a wonderful example of faith in action. “Val” and his helpers prepare the sanctuary for worship, checking the candles and flowers, arranging the paraments, laying out the communion elements. Then he heads downstairs and sets up the Adult/Older Youth bible study, which he often teaches, bringing a prodigious knowledge of scripture to bear on the task. During worship he is an usher, and serves in his turn as lector and communion assistant. After worship he and his young aides, often joined by Donald and Eleanor Smithy, clean up the sacristy, take care of the flowers, and change the paraments for the next week if necessary.
While I marvel at Valmekie’s devotion to the work of this church, I also see how the spiritual benefits of his ministry of service enrich and deepen his faith journey. There is a quiet joy and peace in his labor, and a calmness that, to paraphrase Francis of Assisi, proclaims the gospel without words.
This is just one example of servant discipleship in our midst. There are many others whose efforts make this congregation “flow.” AND, there are still many areas where additional hands are needed: Sunday morning greeters at the front door; restoring the Social hall after coffee hour; working with the youth group; helping the building committee; maintaining the front of the church… the list is extensive. As we begin a new year this Labor Day weekend, I hope that you will prayerfully consider how you are called to loving service in the ministry and life of this particular expression of the “body of Christ.” However you labor, it will be a blessing to you, and to this church.
Pr. Parsons
NOVEMBER CONCERT BY “FAITHFUL FOLK” TO BENEFIT ELCA GLOBAL BARNYARD
On Friday, November 9th, at 6:30 pm, Faithful Folk (www.faithfulfolk.org) a ministry in music that originated in Christ Lutheran Church, Woodstock, will present a concert at St. John-St. Matthew-Emanuel to raise funds in support of the ELCA Global Barnyard project. The group, founded by members of Katherine Anderson’s family, organizes benefit events to raise awareness and money for important social outreach, such as food pantries, soup kitchens, domestic violence shelters, disaster relief and hunger projects.
A program of the ELCA World Hunger Appeal, Global Barnyard places animals in communities in need around the world. Our gifts will also provide training to new owners so they can sell their animals at a fair price, as well as care to ensure the animals will stay healthy. Animals bring new hope to poor families. More details will appear in the October LINK. Save the date, and please plan to have your entire family attend this special concert.
CONFIRMATION”STANDS” HERE
St. John-St. Matthew-Emanuel has enrolled in the online confirmation program created by Augsburg Fortress, our ELCA publishing house. Herewestandconfirmation.org is a website devoted to providing a confirmation curriculum that is both contemporary and firmly grounded in the traditions of the Lutheran church.
While our enrollment is partly born of necessity - some of our confirmation students have academic or athletic commitments that will necessitate their missing some Sundays - it is also allows us to provide a vastly enriched learning experience for our confirmands. An extensive series of lesson plans and teaching aids are available, and there is a student site where youth can explore their assignments more deeply and communicate with other Lutheran students in a secure, password-protected online environment.
Pastor Parsons will still meet with the confirmation class on Sunday mornings at 9:45, and he has committed to meeting another time in the week with students who cannot make the Sunday sessions. Herewestandconfirmation.org will help to ensure that all the students can be exposed to the same core lessons that will help them make the decision that is the culmination of confirmation: to “continue in the covenant God made with [them] in Holy Baptism” as adult members of the Church.
If you would like to take a virtual tour of the site, go to http://herewestandconfirmation.org/tour.jsp
SAVE THE DATE FOR SENIOR CENTER PARTY
Prospect Hill Senior Services Center will host a fundraiser on Saturday, October 13th in the Social Hall from 5 - 9 pm. There will be music, dancing, raffles and a full meal. Come in costume and you might win an “awesome” prize! $20 adults, $5 children. Call 718-499-9574 for information and reservations.
ATTENDANCE REPORT FOR JULY AND AUGUST
Average attendance: 44
St. John-St. Matthew-Emanuel is ordering the new hymnal of the ELCA, Evangelical Lutheran Worship (see related article). The ELW is more comprehensive than any previous resource – yet it is the same size as the Lutheran Book of Worship. It represents the full breadth of the church’s tradition and liturgical innovation while retaining much that is familiar (and it is red!).
On All Saints’ Day, November 4th, we will formally dedicate the new hymnals, and celebrate Holy Communion utilizing one of the 10(!) liturgies contained in ELW.
It is the hope of the congregation that the purchase of our new hymnals will be supported by the memorial donations of our members. A dedicatory bookplate (similar to the box below) may be placed in a hymnal in memory or honor of a family member or loved one. We already have commitments providing for more than 30 hymnals.
The price for each ELW hymnal is $20.00. Please use this form and place it in the collection plate on Sunday, or mail it to the church office. Make checks payable to St. John-St. Matthew-Emanuel, and write “hymnal” in the memo line.
The deadline to place bookplates for November 4th is Monday, October 29th.
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THIS BOOK OF WORSHIP
WAS PRESENTED BY
____________________________________________
IN HONOR/MEMORY (CIRCLE ONE) OF
HONOR / MEMORY _______________________________
HONOR / MEMORY _______________________________
HONOR / MEMORY _______________________________
HONOR / MEMORY _______________________________
HONOR / MEMORY _______________________________
HONOR / MEMORY _______________________________
HONOR / MEMORY _______________________________
____ hymnals @ $20 each Total enclosed $___________
The Tenth Biennial Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) was held Aug. 6-11, 2007, at Navy Pier, Chicago. 1,069 voting members participated. A brief, partial summary of actions:
The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, 60, was elected to serve a second six-year term as presiding bishop. Hanson fell two votes short of being re-elected on the first or nominating ballot. His second term begins Nov. 1. David D. Swartling, 60, a Seattle attorney, was elected to a six-year term as ELCA secretary. Swartling will succeed the Rev. Lowell G. Almen, who has been secretary since the ELCA was formed in 1987. Almen announced last year he would not seek a fifth term and will leave office Oct. 31.
Assembly Encourages Restraint in Discipline of Congregations, Leaders
The Churchwide Assembly made no changes to ELCA standards for professional leaders, declining proposals that suggested specific policy changes. By a vote of 538 to 431, the assembly asked its synods and bishops to “refrain from or demonstrate restraint in disciplining” people and congregations that call otherwise-qualified candidates in mutual, chaste and faithful committed same-gender relationships, and it called for restraint in disciplining rostered leaders in committed same-gender relationships. The proposal was adopted as a substitute for a recommendation of the Memorials Committee. The Task Force for ELCA Studies on Sexuality is currently developing a social statement on human sexuality for consideration by the 2009 Churchwide Assembly. Voting members referred to the task force several memorials regarding same-sex blessings, ELCA clergy standards and other matters. The assembly added an amendment to its referral on clergy standards, directing the task force to “specifically address and make recommendations to the 2009 Churchwide Assembly on changes to any policies that preclude practicing homosexual persons from the rosters of this church.”
“Book of Faith” Initiative Affirmed
The assembly endorsed “Book of Faith: Lutherans Read the Bible,” a five-year initiative to promote study of the Bible. A companion recommendation gave specific suggestions for ways to “invite and encourage all members, expressions, institutions and partners of this church to commit themselves regularly and increasingly to hearing, reading, studying, sharing and being formed by God’s Word.”
The assembly adopted several other proposals—among them were:
+ Evangelical Lutheran Worship was “received with thanksgiving” as this church’s primary worship resource. Released in 2006, about 725,000 volumes of the book have been distributed. (see related article)
+ Called for a churchwide strategy for responding to HIV and AIDS to build on and deepen current denominational engagement with the pandemic in the U.S. and around the world. The ELCA committed $1 million to be used for the strategy’s implementation. The assembly asked the Church Council to consider committing up to $1 million more for implementation of the strategy.
+ The assembly said Lutherans should study the situation in Darfur, Sudan, and advocate to federal officials on behalf of Darfur, a place where the U.S. government has called the mass killing “genocide.” The action praised the presiding bishop for the efforts he and the LWF have made to address the situation in Darfur.
+ Voting members declared their opposition to “any escalation of the war” in Iraq and asked this church to call on the U.S. government to “take immediate and comprehensive steps to end the violence and establish a peaceful, stable, and just society in that country.” They urged the ELCA to engage in “moral deliberation about the situation in Iraq,” urged concern for military personnel and their families, and asked ELCA members to make their views known to members of Congress.
+ The assembly called on the ELCA to recommit to this church’s strategy for engagement in Israel and Palestine, including a call for economic initiatives. Awareness-building, accompaniment and advocacy activities are components of the ELCA strategy, adopted by the Church Council in 2005, and the ELCA “Peace Not Walls: Stand for Justice in the Holy Land” campaign that the 2005 Churchwide Assembly adopted.
We have formally begun our sponsorship of the Hinderlie family - Andrew, Barbara, Michael and Kristian - ELCA missionaries in Madagascar. As the year continues we will feature updates and newsletters from the Hinderlies, and will regularly lift up their ministry in our prayers and worship. The Sunday school will include a regular focus on their activities, and learn more about missionary work in general and especially in east Africa. On the Hinderlies’ home page you can see lots of pictures and read past newsletters.
The latest issue of The Link includes a page on the Hinderlies’ ministry and background, including their birthdays, anniversary, email and “snail” mail addresses. Please keep them in prayer as we begin our journey of accompaniment with their ministry.
Birthdays
1 - Al Jiminez
1 - Katherine Sundstrom
4 - William Geiger
5 - Mary Fasano
5 - Zane Groom
5- Jared Hoglung
8 - Angelica Alvarado
8 - Jessica Liese
12 - Wolfgard Herrard
13 - David Dumais
18 - Nils Axen
19 - Pool Davi Basil
19 - Naomi Lancia
20 - Robert Comas
20 - Jeanne Somers
22 - Volana Rakotomihamina
25 - Helene Theresa Boegeman
Anniversaries
5 - Brit Geiger & Mary Sue Lindley
6 - Kathleen Ruen & Edward McAdams
26 - Andrew Giddings & Kristin Mensing
28 - Nick & Mary Fasano
If your name, or that of someone you know, is not included in the Birthdays, Anniversaries or Memorials, please contact the church office so that we may correct the omission.
September 2th
Proverbs 25: 6-7, Psalm 112, Hebrews 13: 1-8, 15-16, Luke 14: 1, 7-14
September 9th
Deuteronomy 30: 15-20, Psalm 1, Philemon 1-21, Luke 14: 25-33
September 16th
Exodus 32: 7-14, Psalm 51: 1-10, 1 Timothy 1: 12-17, Luke 15: 1-10
September 23th
Amos 8: 4-7, Psalm 113, 1 Timothy 2: 1-7, Luke 16: 1-13
September 30th
Amos 6: 1a, 4-7, Psalm 146, 1 Timothy 6: 6-19, Luke 16: 19-31
