Pastoral Message: “Looking Ahead to Saturday Quiet Days in 2023”Week of the Second Sunday after Epiphany January 18, 2023
Dear People of God at Faith-La Fe!
I’ve mentioned on a number of occasions that one of the main things that attracted me to Faith-La Fe to lead and serve as pastor was your stated desire to call a pastor who would shepherd you more deeply into your Christian spiritual journeys. Such a focus in ministry is at the heart of my sense of identity and calling as a pastor.
With all of this in mind, during my sermon this past Sunday, I heralded the importance of taking the time to linger, to dwell, abide, to hang out, if you will, with God in our life together. For such extended periods of abiding with holy things and holy people become fertile soil that God uses to offer to us gifts of epiphanies, of revelations and insights, that deepen our faith and give energy to our calling to proclaim Christ as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
The Quiet Days on Saturdays we’ve begun to enjoy together during the early months of my pastorate at Faith-La Fe are excellent occasions to hang out with God and the means of grace and each other for the sake of our ever-deepening and maturing spirituality. God uses such occasions among us for God’s holy ends in renewing our faith and strengthening our calling and resolve to follow Jesus in loving service to and with our neighbors.
To date, there have been two such Quiet Days. The first served as our Congregation Council annual retreat in the context of which we engaged our campus, conceiving it as a monastery-inspired setting with its courtyard and enclosed walkways surrounded by our main buildings. We explored what this monastic configuration of our campus means for our ministry and mission together. The second such Quiet Day was in early Advent which was the Lutheran Refresher Day focused on Luther’s Small Catechism during which we devotionally and worshipfully engaged the things that Luther wrote about, all the while enjoying holy conversation with each other, which itself God uses to deepen our spirituality and faith.
But here’s what you can look forward to now in the coming months of 2023. I’ve conceived and am planning to lead six Quiet Days on Saturdays throughout 2023. What follows is an outline of plans not yet written in stone, but the commitment to these occasions is solid enough for you to pencil these dates in your calendars.
Saturday, March 18 – a day to explore the intersections between Christian Spirituality and our health, holistically understood. We’ll consider health and wholeness biblically, engaging in some conversational bible study. There will also be time for some gentle, healthy, spiritually-focused exercises (prayer that uses our body), a healthy lunch, and then also a Service of the Word for Healing with laying on of hands and anointing with oil. Claim this day as part of your Lenten discipline.
Saturday, April 29 – an introduction to Lectio Divina, or sacred reading, an approach to prayerfully engaging scripture that emerges from the Benedictine tradition and is increasingly popular today among clergy and lay audiences. I’ve done extensive work on the experiential dynamics of lectio divina, and I’m eager to share insights for your inspiration and edification. We do a modified form of lectio divina during our Wednesday bible studies, but spending the day together will give us occasion to do this prayerful form of bible reading as it is more fully intended.
Saturday, June 3 – a day to more deeply explore the spirituality of preaching, with special focus on how sermons are occasions of spiritual guidance. We’ll also spend some more time on your role as listeners to sermons, and how you can get still more out of preaching for your spiritual edification. We will touch on listening to sermons at next Sunday’s adult forum, but focusing on this topic for a whole Saturday will give us occasion to go still more deeply into the topic. On this day, we’ll also learn some of what Luther had to say about preaching!
Saturday, September 30 – on this day, close to the commemoration of St. Francis of Assisi, we will explore Franciscan Spirituality and what it might mean for Lutherans in ministry and mission in the 21st Century.
Saturday, October 28 – as we approach Reformation Sunday, this will be a day devoted to revealing key features of specifically Lutheran Spirituality, or Christian spirituality with Lutheran accents. We will discover that there’s a lot to draw from in our own tradition to take us ever more deeply into the spiritual life.
Saturday, November 18 – this day will be devoted to spending our time together in our beautiful nave doing “Stations of Our Stained Glass Windows,” a series of visual meditations on our stained-glass windows and the miracles and parables of Jesus they depict. We’ll explore in conversation the bible stories the windows are based on, and then look carefully at the windows to see features of the story which the stained-glass art highlights. Each station will feature a hymn before we move on to the next window.
So, these Quiet Days on Saturdays, and the several special liturgies that we have planned beyond Sunday mornings, along with our weekly bible studies and these weekly messages, and more – all of these occasions and formats give us plenty of opportunity to go deeper with our spiritual lives, allowing me to keep my promise to you to be a pastor who helps shepherd your spirituality.
Plan to join us for some or all of these promising occasions!
For Christ’s sake, and for the sake of our spiritual nourishment that strengthens us for the mission which God entrusts to us to serve the world God loves so much,
Pastor Jonathan Linman
Pastor’s Office Phone Number: 602-265-5860
Email: pastor@faithalive.com
Announcements
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
The week between the commemorations of the Confession of Peter (January 18) and the Conversion of Paul (January 25) has for decades been the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, an octave to give special attention to our call to ecumenism, that is, our work of building greater visible unity among churches. Such ecumenical endeavor is in keeping with Jesus’ prayer in John’s Gospel that his followers would be united as one so that the world might believe that God has sent Jesus to save the world (cf. John 17:20-23).
Join Bishop Hutterer along with other Arizona judicatory heads for the statewide celebration of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (WPCU) 2023. This Prayer Service will be held Friday, January 20, 2023 to celebrate the Annual WPCU, and we are delighted to welcome everyone back to our first in-person gathering in 3 years.
Arizona’s statewide gathering for the celebration will take place at 6:00 p.m. Friday, January 20, 2023, at Phillips Memorial Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, 1401 E. Adams St., Phoenix, AZ 85034.
Interested in Membership at Faith-La Fe?
If you or anyone you know is curious about learning more about Faith-La Fe Church toward perhaps becoming a member of our congregation, kindly reach out to either Pastor Linman or Pastor Veronica. They are more than eager to engage you in conversation for your discernment. We are planning to receive new members at our Easter Vigil this year on Saturday evening, April 8 at 7:00 pm.
Rummage Sale
We are now accepting donations for Faith's Rummage Sale. You may bring smaller items to the church office M-Th, 9:30am to 12:30pm, or contact Carly at carly.c.chamberlain@gmail.com. Then join us to shop on Saturday, January 28 from 8am to 1pm! We are offering a 10% discount per shopper for donations of brand-new men's or women's socks and underwear for Native American Urban Ministry.
Two Annual Meetings on Sunday, January 29! A Feast of Riches!
Plan now to join us between our liturgies on January 29 for this important work of our whole congregation. One brief meeting will focus on calling Pastor Veronica ¾ time instead of ½ time, because we have received additional grants from the synod to make this added time possible. Then in another meeting, to begin immediately after we conclude the call meeting, we will devote our attention to passing our budget for 2023.
Lutheran Day at the Legislature + Monday, January 30 @ 9:30 - 11:30
Wesley Bolin Plaza
Legislative appointments are between 10:45 - 1:45; Bishop's invocation and introduction on the House and Senate floors is approx. 1:00
PLEASE REGISTER using this link ~ It's extremely helpful to know in advance what district you're in when we're making legislative appointments.
Plans are still underway, but we've invited House Speaker Ben Toma and Senate Minority Leader Raquel Terán to speak, in addition to Bishop Deborah Hutterer and Connie Phillips of Lutheran Social Services of the Southwest and our coalition partners. Check-in is at 9:30, remarks begin at 10:00; your legislative visits begin approx. 10:45 ~ details to follow. There are 5 legislative appointments already set, and more to come.
Lutherans and friends of Lutherans from across the state will gather at the Arizona Capitol in Wesley Bolin Plaza for a day of advocacy on Monday, January 30, 2023 from 9:30 am - 11:30 am to learn, to witness, and to voice our common needs in the public square, activating our faith in love.
Meet your legislators, meet congregational LAMA liaisons, meet your LAMA policy council, and meet other Lutherans across Arizona who share a common belief that we are called through our baptismal covenant “…to strive for justice and peace in all the earth.”
Invitation to a Special Lenten Discipline: Campus-wide Property Inventory
Pastor Linman is interested in convening a small group of interested members to make an inventory of items located in rooms and closets throughout the buildings on our property in the service of assessing and discerning what we may be called to keep and what we may want to free ourselves of for other homes. Consider this an effort toward some major spring cleaning. Better yet, let’s claim this as a communal Lenten discipline for this year! For this proposed work is also a spiritual exercise in that we are always invited to examine our places of abode – at home and at church – and to consider what we might be purged of for greater simplicity and purity of life. Some of our spaces are cluttered with things we may not ever use again. Being free of clutter in our homes and church makes for good mental and spiritual health – and it makes our spaces more hospitable and inviting to our guests and others who use our building. If you are interested in being part of the small team which explores our buildings and rooms making a list of things we may no longer need, please make yourself known to Pastor Linman.
Mardi Gras returns to Faith-La Fe this year!
Please join us in Parish Hall on February 21 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. for a Pancake Supper. John and Suzanne Johnstonbaugh will be cooking pancakes, scrambled eggs and sausage links served with syrup, sugar free syrup, butter, salsa and catsup. There will be coffee and hot water for tea or hot chocolate. A free will offering will be taken in support of Faith’s General Fund.
Mark Your Calendars Now for Upcoming Worship Services
Further detail about the following special occasions for worship is forthcoming, but please note these special liturgies now in your calendars!
February 2 at 7:00 pm + Presentation of Our Lord, Holy Communion and Blessing of Candles
February 22 + Ash Wednesday, Imposition of Ashes at Noon, and Holy Communion with Imposition of Ashes at 7:00 pm
March 1 + Midweek Soup Supper (6:30 pm) and Lenten Service (7:00 pm)
(George Herbert, Hymnwriter, 1633)
March 8 + Midweek Soup Supper and Lenten Service
(Perpetua and Felicity and Companions, Martyrs at Carthage, 202, transferred)
March 15 + Midweek Soup Supper and Lenten Service
(Patrick, Bishop, Missionary to Ireland, 461, transferred)
March 22 + Midweek Soup Supper and Lenten Service
(Jonathan Edwards, Teacher, Missionary to American Indians, 1758)
March 25 at 10:00 am + Annunciation of Our Lord, Holy Communion
March 29 + Midweek Soup Supper and Lenten Service
(Hans Nielson Hauge, Renewer of the Church, 1824)
April 2 at 9:00 and 11:00 am + Sunday of the Passion/Palm Sunday
April 6 at 7:00 pm + Maundy Thursday, Holy Communion, Foot Washing, Stripping of the Altar
April 7 + Good Friday: Noon, Stations of the Cross, and 7:00 pm, Liturgy
April 8 at 7:00 + Vigil of Easter with Reception of New Members
April 9 at 9:00 and 11:00 am + Resurrection of Our Lord/Easter Day
May 18 at 7:00 pm + Ascension of Our Lord, Holy Communion
May 28 at 9:00 and 11:00 am + Day of Pentecost
May 31 at 7:00 pm + Visit of Mary to Elizabeth, Holy Communion
July 22 at 10:00 am + Mary Magdalene, Apostle, Morning Prayer
August 15 at 7:00 pm + Mary, Mother of Our Lord, Holy Communion
September 14 at 7:00 pm + Holy Cross Day, Evensong
November 1 at 7:00 pm + All Saints’ Day, Holy Communion