| Welcome | Pastor | Youth and Adult Education |
Coming Up | More Info |
| Directions | Sermons | Youth Group | Calendar | Contact Us |
| Links of Interest | Weekly Bulletin Announcements |
ELCA NEWS DEVOTIONS |
Photo Gallery |
Click to go to Pastor Pat's blog
God’s blessing to you in this time after Epiphany, as we rejoice in the revelation of Jesus—Emanuel--“God with us”! We celebrated a wonderful Epiphany Service on January 6, the twelfth day of Christmas, as we accompanied the Wise Men on their journey to see the baby Jesus. Four of our Sunday School and Confirmation students did a terrific job reading the Epiphany texts, and the choir helped us conclude this Christmas season with a beautiful rendition of “How Far is it to Bethlehem?” We enjoyed the fellowship of the Christian community with the carefully prepared potluck supper which followed the service.
In the weeks after Epiphany, prior to the start of Lent, we focus on the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. In this year B of the lectionary, we learn about Jesus from the Gospel of Mark. We travel with him to his baptism in the Jordan River by cousin John, through his calling of the disciples: Simon Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip and Nathanael. Following the calling of the disciples, we accompany Jesus as he begins his ministry of healing and teaching. We conclude this time after Epiphany by experiencing the impact of Jesus’ transfiguration on the mountain. With the disciples, Peter, James and John, we wonder about the meaning of this glory that comes over Jesus, and like them we puzzle about its impact in our lives. During this time after Epiphany, God is revealed to us in the work of his son Jesus Christ.
During this time prior to the start of Lent, in the deep mid-winter of northern New England, we share in the sense of the community that Christ creates as he carves out his ministry of teaching, healing and feeding. In this winter season, we follow in Christ’s footsteps with our ministry of teaching, feeding and healing. Instruction continues for the children of our Sunday School; our two Confirmation students prepare for their Confirmation in the spring; and three second and third graders prepare for their First Communion which will be held at the Easter Vigil. Adult education opportunities continue with Tuesday Bible study on the Book of Acts, Adult Forum and a small group which is studying the Letter to the Hebrews. We continue to help the hungry in our community by contributing to the Enfield food pantry and supporting social service agencies in our area such as Listen and the Haven. In our ministry of healing, we touch those who are sick and hospitalized, as well as those who are grieving.
As Lent begins with Ash Wednesday, February 22, we move deeper into the experience of walking alongside of Jesus. The practices of praying and feeding the hungry take on even deeper importance in Lent, as almsgiving and prayer are two important Lenten disciplines. Our almsgiving will include a renewed effort at food collection to feed the hungry in Enfield, and the use of Lenten coin boxes for the ELCA World Hunger Global Barnyard. Our Midweek Lenten offerings will be given to the Haven to help both the hungry and homeless in our community. To enhance our prayer life we will again use the practice of sending out daily Lenten devotions, written by members of our community, and we will gather on Wednesday evenings for Soup Suppers followed by a Evening Prayer Service enriched with a time of reflection, prepared by individuals in the CLC community.
Truly God is with us in our life together as a Christian community. In this time after Epiphany and in the start of Lent, may you feel God’s presence in your life.
Report from Bishop’s Convocation
Held: October 26-28, 2011
Each year, Bishop Payne gathers her pastors and other rostered leaders together for a few days in the fall. This event is a combination retreat and information session. This year, Bishop Payne opened the convocation with information from the annual national Bishop’s meeting, the Biennial ELCA Assembly and provided information about the direction of the Synod. Worship services are held each morning and evening, giving pastors a chance to “sit in the pew” and worship at a service which they have not planned. During worship this year, the pastors were given a chance to participate in a healing service and to receive individual forgiveness of sins with laying on of hands.
Since this year is Bishop Payne’s last year in office, she shared her plan for concluding her term, which includes a lot of reflective writing and opportunities to meet one-on-one with pastors. The committee for planning the election of the new Bishop shared information about how the election will take place.
This year’s guest speaker was Pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber, who is the pastor of a start-up mission congregation (House of All Sinners and Saints) in Denver, CO, focused on the emerging church and reaching people under age 40. A few interesting points that she made:
· The Millennial generation does not respond well to marketing attempts. They have been over-marketed to.
· The Millennial generation wants to be part of something that they create. They want to be given responsibility to plan and execute things.
· She believes that the Lutheran tradition has attractive features for millennials—
o Our theology, which values paradox (e.g. being simultaneously a saint and sinner, hearing both Law and Gospel in Biblical passages) is in sync with postmodern thinking
o Our liturgy has the sense of mystery which is important to those under 40
· Her congregation has no standing committees—only “guild” or planning meetings to plan specific events. They have no building. They borrow a worship space from another congregation and meet on Sunday afternoons.
· Worship is from worship folders. When people come in on Sunday, there are folders marked with specific jobs (e.g. reader, communion assistant, prayer leader, usher etc.). Anyone may pick up a marked folder and do that job on that Sunday—no advance commitments necessary.
· Singing is all unaccompanied.
· Worship allows for a 10 minute period of individual reflection at various stations, following the sermon. During this time, people get up and move to a part of the church for activities such as praying, lighting candles, receiving healing or reflecting on imagery that mirrors the text.
· Visual reflections are used each Sunday. Iconography and visual projection of images is an important part of worship.
As always, this time of spending two days with colleagues, participating in worship and listening to new ideas is helpful in keeping me refreshed and up to date.
(Submitted by Pastor Pat Harris)
Pastor’s Home Visits
Beginning in November and continuing well into 2012, I will be beginning another round of pastoral visits to all members of CLC. I first visited members of the congregation when I began my internship year with you during 2004, and then completed another set of visits after you called me as your pastor in 2005. Since I have just completed my sixth year as your pastor, I would like to spend time with you, just listening to you and hearing what is important to you.
Sometime in the next several months, please expect a call from me, attempting to schedule a visit with you at a mutually convenient time. My preference would be to meet you at your home. If, for some reason, that is inconvenient for you, we will arrange to meet at church, or off-site for coffee or tea.
I’ll be doing mostly listening, catching up with you and your family, and hearing what is important to you in our life together as a Christian community. I look forward to spending time with you.
Pastor Pat's Blog
I have set up and begun using a blog, which is an internet based log or journal, hosted on “blogspace.com”. This free tool is yet one more way to communicate with the people of the CLC community and to reach out to others in cyberspace. My blog, which is named “The Pastor’s Musings”, will provide a way for me to share meditations, prayers, devotions and thoughts appropriate to the season of the Church Year. Unlike email messages, which I used for the Advent devotional messages, a blog allows for two- way communication.
You can read my blog by navigating to http://thepastorsmusing.blogspot.com/. Once you are on the blog page, you can both read and respond to my messages. You can add your own thoughts, and others can respond both to me and to any posted comments. If there are any experienced bloggers in the congregation (calling all Youth Group members), I would appreciate any tips on setting up or improving the format of my blog.
Typically I will make posts a few times a month. However, during Lent, I will be using the blog to publish regular Lenten devotional messages. These will be similar in format to the Advent devotional messages, but you will need to access the “blogspace” site to read them. There is also a link from the CLC website (clcenfield.org) to my blog, go to “links” and click on “Pastor Pat’s blog”. I hope that some of my messages will strike a chord for you or help you to come into God’s presence. I pray that the Spirit will also inspire you to add your own comments so that we may share the richness of our devotional lives.