Pastoral Message: “Previews of Coming Attractions” Week of the Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost August 30, 2023
Pastoral Message:
“Previews of Coming Attractions”
Week of the Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost
August 30, 2023
Dear People of God at Faith-La Fe!
As we approach a new program year, I am drawn to offer a preview of “coming attractions,” as it were, which include some new initiatives and some ongoing occasions beyond our usual Sunday gatherings and routines. When all of this commences after Labor Day, I will be entering my second year as the senior member of your pastoral team, for which I give thanks to God and to you. So, as we gear up for more activity in a new season of our life together, here’s a listing and descriptions of what you can expect in the coming weeks and months:
Monthly Healing Liturgies and Wellness Lunch Conversations
This is an initiative that grew out of our Quiet Day on Spirituality and Health several months ago. The plan is to offer an informal Service of the Word for Healing with laying on of hands and anointing with oil on the second Wednesday of each month beginning on September 13. These brief services will begin at 11:30 am immediately after the morning bible study and will take place in the conference room of the church office suite. At about noon, following the healing liturgy, member John Shaw will lead informal conversations over lunch on how best we can support each other in our efforts to nurture our own health and well-being. Participants are asked to bring their own brown bad lunch for these occasions. People find such healing liturgies with prayer and anointing to be very meaningful spiritually. And our own mutual conversation and conversation with each other in supporting each other as we seek wellness in a society that often hinders these very efforts will be life-giving and encouraging. Please plan to join us for these monthly occasions.
Chapel Services for Our Preschool Children Return
A small team of Faith-La Fe members, including me, will begin again the tradition of our offering brief chapel services for the children of our preschool. These occasions will occur on the first and third Wednesdays of each month at 10:00 am and will be about ten minutes long. If you would like to volunteer to lead some of these chapel occasions for our preschool kids, kindly let me know!
Sunday Forums on Social Justice Topics Featuring Outside Speakers
Beginning later this autumn, and in response to members’ expressed interest in social justice concerns, we will be inviting guest speakers to join us at our forums between services every other month to speak on social justice topics of interest to us. Gail Turner and Chris Jacobson are coordinating this effort, and we’ll offer more information about topics and speakers as it becomes available in these pastoral messages and their announcements.
Renewed Intentional Focus on Stewardship
Leaders at Faith-La Fe are participating in a synod-sponsored stewardship training program which will provide the structure for us to return to engaging in an intentional program of stewardship with a focus on growing in our spirit of generosity. You can expect to hear a lot more about this coming initiative, which will be a year-long program once it commences later this fall. It’s been a few years since Faith-La Fe has had a formal stewardship program. A return to intentionality concerning our levels of support for the ministry and mission of our congregation is quite timely given the financial constraints we are currently operating under. Again, watch for more to come.
Faith-La Fe to Host a National Lutheran-Catholic Event in early 2024.
At our recent meeting, the Faith-La Fe Congregation Council voted to accept the invitation to be the host site for what has become a major national ecumenical event celebrating the publication of the report of the most recent round of Catholic-Lutheran dialogue in the United States. Mark your calendars now for Saturday, January 20, 2024, for this special occasion which will begin at 10:00 am and conclude by 1:30. The day’s festivities will include brief presentations by the Lutheran and Catholic co-chairs of the dialogue along with a panel discussion with dialogue members. Following this program, there will be a Service of the Word for promoting Christian unity and then a food reception for participants in our parish hall. Members of Faith-La Fe will be asked to help coordinate the reception features of this celebration. In addition to our local bishops, and representatives of Lutheran and Roman Catholic traditions, our Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton plans to be present for this occasion. This is an exciting opportunity for Faith-La Fe to share in the work of our wider churches as we strive for greater visible Christian unity as we bear witness to the gospel of Christ in and for the world.
Special Midweek Liturgies Continue
Our specially planned midweek liturgies have been well-received and give us the occasion to celebrate different festivals and commemorations while also employing liturgical and musical styles that depart from our usual Sunday routines. This pattern will continue through the remainder of this calendar year and throughout 2024. In our next liturgical year, our midweek liturgies will focus on several of the 12 apostles. Look for listings and descriptions of these occasions in coming versions of this weekly message.
Upcoming Saturday Mini-Retreats
In addition to our midweek liturgies, we also will continue our new tradition of offering Saturday quiet days or mini retreats on a variety of topics and themes. Three more of these occasions are scheduled for the remainder of this calendar year and are described in the announcements that follow. And I am now making plans for these Saturday offerings for 2024. Again, look for further word about these occasions incoming messages.
Sunday Forums Between Liturgies Take on a New Focus
Now that we have completed our almost year-long exploration of the movements of the Sunday liturgy at our adult education forums held between services on Sunday, we will shift our focus for those forums to become informal conversations which I will lead concerning the implications of the Sunday readings, sermon, songs and prayers for our ministry and mission in daily life. Several of you have indicated that you appreciate a focus on the practical implications of the gospel and how specifically we may endeavor, individually and communally, to live out Jesus’ call to follow him and to engage in works of mercy and justice in and for the sake of the world. To support these conversations, beginning on Sunday, September 10, I will endeavor to craft each week two discussion questions that can focus and guide our conversations.
Planning will Begin Now for Faith-La Fe’s 80th Anniversary in 2025
Since Faith-La Fe was unable because of the pandemic to celebrate our 75th Anniversary in 2020, our Congregation Council has agreed to begin making plans now for major celebrations of our 80th Anniversary in 2025. I have found in my ministry that celebrating such major congregation milestones is a great way to focus a congregation’s energies for current and future ministries. At their best, anniversary celebrations don’t just look to the past, but build on that strong foundation to look toward the future. Again, wait for further word about coming plans and initiatives in future editions of these messages.
So, you can see that there’s a lot going on at Faith-La Fe which includes some new initiatives that you can look forward to in the coming new program year.
May God in Christ bless our missionary initiatives in the power of the Spirit for the greater glory of God and for the sake of our witness in and for the world.
In Christ Jesus,
Pastor Jonathan Linman
Pastor’s Office Phone Number: 602-265-5860
Email: pastor@faithalive.com
Announcements
God’s Work, Our Hands Sunday on September 10
On Sunday, September 10, Faith-La Fe will share in “God’s Work, Our Hands Sunday,” an annual initiative of ELCA congregations across the country. This year we’ll be part of an effort by Phoenix Lutherans Together and the congregations of the Capital Conference, to gather items to support a ministry of Lutheran Social Services of the Southwest called I-HELP Phoenix, an initiative which provides overnight accommodations to the unhoused. Currently, Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church on Glendale is a site for the I-HELP program, and All Saints’ Church on 7th Street is planning to be a host site. As part of this program, breakfast is provided to guests.
To support the breakfast effort at Our Saviour’s, members of our local congregations are encouraged to bring shelf-stable breakfast foods on September 10, namely: cereal, juice boxes, fruit cups, pop-tarts, mini-doughnuts, etc. Men’s t-shirts (size L-2XL) are also needed. Additionally, and specifically, Faith-La Fe has been asked by the Phoenix Lutherans Together Working Team to donate packages of earplugs – a very helpful item when a number of snoring adults are trying to sleep in the same room!
Our local congregations are also encouraged to have a freezer-meal breakfast casserole making event as part of this “God’s Work, Our Hands” initiative. If anyone from Faith-La Fe is willing to coordinate this food preparation project before September 10, please contact Pastor Linman (pastor@faithalive.com).
Finally, also on “God’s Work, Our Hands Sunday” on September 10, we at Faith-La Fe will revive the tradition of “Noisy Offering” – collecting change, but also quieter dollar bills – to contribute to ELCA Lutheran Disaster Response’s efforts to provide relief to victims of the wildfires on the Hawaiian island of Maui.
Donated items and offerings will be placed in the chancel on September 10th to be blessed during the sending rites of our two services as we do “God’s work with Our Hands” in meeting the needs of those who suffer.
Sung Evening Prayer on Holy Cross Day, September 14
Rooted in the traditions of monastic spirituality, Evening Prayer is one of the church’s most beautiful liturgies, especially when it is sung. So, plan to join us beginning at 7:00 pm on Thursday, September 14 on Holy Cross Day, when we commemorate the healing mysteries of our salvation accomplished for us on the cross of Christ. The musical setting for this liturgy follows that which is provided in our principal liturgical resource, Evangelical Lutheran Worship. Hymns and other canticles for that evening will be taken from plainsong chant traditions. And not unlike our routine on Good Friday, there will be occasioned to offer worshipful devotion before the cross – another promising occasion of transcendent liturgical spirituality.
First Communion Classes
Pastora Veronica will begin offering First Communion classes this coming Sunday between services. Should you have a grandchild or other kids in your family or among your friends who desire such instruction, please contact Pastora Veronica. These classes will be offered in English.
COUNCIL SUMMARY- AUGUST 2023
Pastor Jonathan and Pastora Veronica continue their involvement in ministries outside of Faith-La Fe by attending the ELCA Rostered Ministers Gathering held here in Phoenix in July and attending a Stewardship for All Seasons training sessions.
Pastora Veronica performed her first baptism on July 9!
Stewardship/Giving:
9:00 $100,109.97 year-to-date (budget is $130,800).
11:00 $11,997.00 year-to-date (budget is $6000).
Council engaged in a brainstorming session to generate ideas to help with our financial situation.
Planning for replacement of carpeting in Parish Hall is in the works. Test runs under way for possible options for replacement.
In other building news: watch for word of a Fatih Place work day on October 7 (details to be announced). An audit of our whole campus was completed by APS which will result in recommendations for how we can be more energy efficient. This report is due to us soon.
There will be a national Lutheran-Catholic ecumenical event held at Faith on January 20, 2024.
To support victims of the wildfires in Hawaii, we’ll be having a Noisy Offering/Change for Change again offering on September 10.
For Those Who Have Keys to Access to Our Facilities…
Please take care to check all doors before you leave the premises to make certain that they are locked. We have a great number of doors which lead to the outside, each one of them being a security risk. Thus, we need constant vigilance to make certain our buildings are locked and secure. Also, remember if you are coming to the campus to do any sort of work other than scheduled services. Please remember to check in with Logan, the Office Administrator, at the office. His office hours are Monday -Friday 9am- 1pm. After hours/weekends. Feel free to text/email him at 413-241-0243 Info@faithalive.com. We always want to make sure that there are no overlapping schedules as well as, if anything happens or any issues arise, he is to be aware of what is going on, around campus.
Celebrating Our Preschool’s 40th Anniversary
On Sunday afternoon, October 1 from 2:00 – 5:00, our Faith Lutheran Preschool will celebrate its 40th Anniversary. Current students and their families, alumni, staff and members of the congregation are invited to join in the festivities, details about which will be included in future announcements. But mark your calendars now and plan to join us for this important celebration in the life of our preschool and our congregation.
Autumn Rummage Sale
Mark your calendars because the date has been set! Faith/La Fe will be holding its next rummage sale on Saturday, October 21. You may bring your donations beginning Sunday, August 20. Please coordinate larger and weekday drop-offs with Carly Chamberlain at 269-267-4899. For any other questions about the upcoming sale, please contact Carly and/or Jan Hulin.
Mark Your Calendars Now for Upcoming Special Worship Services
Further details about the following special occasions for worship is forthcoming, but please note these special liturgies now in your calendars!
September 14 at 7:00 pm + Holy Cross Day, Evensong
November 1 at 7:00 pm + All Saints’ Day, Holy Communion
Upcoming Saturday Quiet Days at Faith-La Fe in 2023
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 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.
The excitement is building! With just over two months to go before the Just Love Gathering kicks off, now is the time to prepare for in-kind giving.
Providing in-kind support for the people of our host city is always a major component of any triennial gathering. It will be true in Phoenix too. There are three primary ways to support in-kind giving: through quilts, knitted knockers, and particular items needed by local service agencies. Check out the full details at https://www.womenoftheelca.org/new-triennial-event-page/inkind and download the fact sheet. A copy of the fact sheet is attached for your convenience. Make copies of the fact sheet and invite the women of your congregational unit to contribute. Why stop there? Invite your whole congregation! Invite your family and neighbors!