Community Lutheran Church -- Enfield NH

Welcome from our Pastor!

      We are glad that you have found our website and pray that you may be able to join us in person for worship, fellowship and service. Our church is a Lutheran congregation which is part of the larger Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
We are a historic congregation in Enfield, New Hampshire, where we have been the Community Church for over 150 years. We also serve the Lutheran community in the growing Upper Valley—Lake Sunapee area.
     We have several styles of worship to meet the varying needs of our community.
We have a traditional liturgical service at 9:00 AM and a shorter, more informal service at 11:15 AM. Although children are welcome at either service, the 11:15 AM service typically includes a Message for Children incorporated into the Sermon. During the summer months there is one service at 9:30 AM.and during Advent and Lent there are services on Wednesday evenings, typically at 7:00 PM.
     Our mission statement, shown on our homepage, reflects the ways in which God strengthens us through God’s Word and the gifts of Holy Communion and Baptism. It also reveals the importance of our outreach and service in both the community and the world. Our local service includes an Ecumenical Thanksgiving In-Gathering, participation in the community dinners sponsored by our Ecumenical Partner—The Enfield United Methodist Church, and stocking the Enfield Town Food pantry. We also serve the needs of refugees and troubled girls through donations and service at programs run by Lutheran Social Services of Northern New England. Our international outreach includes donations to the ELCA World Hunger Relief and sponsorship of an ELCA nurse in China. Our Sunday School, Vacation Bible School and youth programs serve the young people in our congregation and provide another form of outreach to the community. Our prayer quilt ministry reaches out to those who are grieving or suffering.
     Fellowship is also an important part of ministry to one another. We enjoy activities such as youth group, puzzle parties, pizza/game nights or family movie nights, and women’s and men’s groups.
     We pray that we will have the chance to meet you in person. Your participation in our worship services, or fellowship and outreach activities will enrich our own experiences. If you have any questions, please contact me at pastor@clcenfield.org


     Yours in Christ,
     Pastor Patricia Harris

A letter from Pastor Pat

Dear Community in Christ at CLC,               August 13, 2010
I am writing to you early this month, as John and I are headed off to serve at Camp Calumet.  I will be a Chaplain for a week at the Family Campground, and John will do all kinds of “spousey” things like picking up the lull during Bible studies, meeting people, and participating in the many activities of the campground.  I hope that many of you will have had a chance to visit while I am there.  This camp is an outdoor treasure which has positive impacts for so many people throughout our Synod.  Whether you go there as a child for a week of summer camp, or for an adult program such as kayaking, quilting, or a Men’s weekend, opportunities abound for spiritual enrichment.  Because my son Michael has worked there for so many summers, we have often been the “home away from home” for some of the Calumet staff.  I can’t tell you the number of young people who have told me that Calumet changed their lives by increasing their confidence, showing them their gifts and skills, or helping them to overcome a rough peer situation at home.  In my own case, my call to ministry grew stronger and became more well defined during my family’s visits to Calumet.  If you didn’t visit Calumet while I was there, try to find an opportunity to enjoy this wonderful New England Synod resource.

In a different vein, I would like to share with you John’s and my encounters with the Lutheran church, during our vacation in northern Europe.  We had the opportunity to visit Lutheran churches in Copenhagen, Denmark; Stockholm Sweden; Helsinki Finland; Tallinn, Estonia; and Oslo, Norway.  In most of the churches we were only able to visit, with perhaps a time to sit and pray.  However, in Denmark, we actually had an opportunity to attend worship.  Although the service was in Danish, and we understood almost nothing of what was being said, our hosts thoughtfully provided us with a guide to the service in English!  The music from the pipe organ and talented choir were outstanding. We were welcomed at both the Communion Table and the coffee table following the service!  It was disappointing, however, to realize that in this large Cathedral, on a Sunday, there were only 70 people present at the morning’s one worship service.  This seems to be evidence of the ways in which Europe is leading us in experiencing the impact of the post-Christian era. 

In Estonia, I was surprised to find a Lutheran church that was called the Cathedral of Saint Mary the Virgin.  This church and its Lutheran community have survived both the Nazi and USSR occupation of Estonia in the 20th century, and are now alive and well.  In St. Petersburg, Russia, our tour guide pointed out to us a beautiful Lutheran cathedral; however, when I talked to her about it, I was disappointed to learn that it no longer hosts an active congregation.  To me there is nothing more depressing than a church, which has become a museum. What is at stake in the differences between a church building that has become a museum and one that hosts an active congregation is the survival of the mission of the Christian Church.  A church that is more than a museum is a church that is committed to spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ. 

There were dramatic difference in the architecture of the various Lutheran churches.  The cathedrals in Denmark and especially Sweden were extremely ornate.  In contrast, the cathedral in Finland was almost stark.  It however, sported huge carved statues of Lutheran notables:  Martin Luther, Philip Melanchthon and the Finnish theologian, Mikael Agricola. 

Beyond architectural differences, we found differences in the spirit of the churches we visited.  The Danish church was welcoming, and the worship was spirited, but the 70 people present there on Sunday need our prayers as they try to keep Christ’s mission alive in the city of Copenhagen.  A German Lutheran Church in Stockholm made it clear to the tourists coming to see the artwork and sculptures that it was a live working congregation.  On the side of the church they had posters with pictures of living people, engaged in the life and work of the congregation.  In other churches that we visited, it was often hard to tell if they were active parishes or simply museums of a faith that used to exist. 

Both the European churches and community life at Calumet have something to teach us about our own sense of mission at CLC.  Calumet has few buildings, but the Good News of Jesus Christ is enthusiastically communicated there.  Some of the European churches have beautiful buildings, but there seems to be little life left, and no evidence that the Good News is communicated in any interactive way. (Perhaps the artwork does influence some of the tourists who visit the churches.)  A church that is alive and growing is one in which the mission to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ is well understood, and the hearts and souls of its members are engaged in this work. 

What future do we envision for CLC?????

            Yours in Christ, Pastor Pat