ChristCare Small Group Ministry

For those of you who've wondered where I am this week, I'm spending it in St. Louis at an "Equippers Training Course" for ChristCare Group Ministry.
It's only Thursday morning, and my brain is already feeling fairly full of new information - the "Equippers Manual" weighs in at 21.5 pounds when handed over on Monday, and since then we've received at least another pound of hand-outs to add to it. Needless to say, the training, and the system, are comprehensive.
I'm getting excited about starting this program of small group ministry at SOV. I appreciate the fact that it's designed not to be an end in itself, but to serve the mission and ministry of the congregation. At Shepherd of the Valley, our ChristCare groups will be a tool for "making Jesus Christ real in the midst of the city." The goal of this ministry is transformation - that members of small groups will experience transformation in their lives as God works in and through them. The focus is on "The Two Greats." The greatest commandment: love God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself. And the great commission: to go to all nations, baptizing them and teaching them all that Jesus has commanded.
There are 4 activities that will be part of the life of each group: building community and care, Biblical Equipping, prayer and worship, and missional service. Groups are designed to invite and welcome new members, and then to birth new groups. Hard, I think, but so worth it!
Dick and Sharon P., two long-time members of our congregation, are also here getting trained. When we get back the 3 of us will be the SOV Equipper Team, gearing up to start training small group leaders in the fall. We hope to begin small groups in January, 2008.
Feel free to ask us questions!!

African Children's Choir

Okay, I am in St. Louis, MO, at a weeklong conference for "ChristCare Group Ministry" - an in-depth small group ministry that we intend to begin at SOV this fall and winter.
They're working us pretty hard, and there's not a lot of down-time. That said, American Idol was a topic of conversation in the elevator, over lunch, etc.
I have a confession to make: I have never watched even one episode. Not one.
BUT - I got a great email from the SOV Postmaster today. Here it is:

SANJAYA'S GONE.... BUT HEY! If you were dreading the thought of watching
American Idol tonight (Wednesday) without hearing Sanjaya Malakar's beautiful
voice, take heart! The AFRICAN CHILDREN'S CHOIR will be there with a preview of what Shepherd of the Valley can expect when the group appears at our church for
both the 9:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. services on SUNDAY, JUNE 3RD.
AND if you can host a child or two from the choir when they're here, they each need a place to sleep on Saturday evening, June 2nd. Contact Kristie at the SOV office
to let her know your home is available.
More on the choir??? Click Below:
http://www.africanchildrenschoir.org/

What a great ministry! I'm excited to have the kids here! (and glad it's not going to be Sanjaya...)
I'll write more about the conference in the morning...

Surprised by Surprise

It's not been an easy week in the world. No week ever is, if we pause to think about it.
Like a lot of people, I've been following the news of the shooting at Virginia Tech, wondering what all the details are, why it happened, what could have been done to prevent it, and what will happen now, after. There are still a lot of questions.
I've been reflecting on our response, as a media-saturated people, and how much attention this shooting has gotten. Every day thousands of children die of malnutrition and starvation. Every day thousands die of AIDS. Yesterday 171 people were killed by a car bomb in Baghdad. None of these events will receive the media coverage, or generate the outrage, that a single mentally-ill man's actions have provoked.
Why is that? I don't have any definitive answers. Perhaps, though, it's as basic as who we identify ourselves and our neighbors, our community to be. And perhaps our "community" is too small. We know what life on a college campus is like, so we can identify with that - that could have been me, or my child, or my sibling. Does life in a poverty-stricken dusty village an ocean away just take too much imaginative power to relate to?
Few seem that surprised - or pay that much ongoing attention- when there's a suicide bomber in the Middle East.
Few are shocked - or pay that much ongoing attention - to hear that another AIDS orphan died in Africa.
Why are we surprised when violence and tragedy strike a little closer to home? To be honest, I was surprised by all the surprise. We can (and should) be saddened, perhaps angry, and moved by what happened to reach out and comfort those who are grieving and injured, to pray for peace and wholeness and reconciliation. But considering the world we live in, how can we be so surprised?
And what are we going to do about it? I'm not suggesting that we try to become immune to and unmoved by violence, tragedy, and disease - but what would it look like for us to know our brothers and sisters around the world in such a way as to really know the ongoing suffering that surrounds us? To be as saddened by the death of an unknown child in Africa as by the death of a promising young VTech student? To truly enter into the fellowship of Christ's suffering, and then be moved to action...

Looking for Some Good Theology

If you're looking for some good theology, you can find it tomorrow at our church, Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran, 1500 West Maryland (Maryland and 15th Avenue). Dr. Terry Fretheim of Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, one of my all time favorite Old Testament professors, will give three presentations, beginning at 9:00 a.m., and lasting until 2:30 p.m. His overall topic is "God in the Bible and in the Life of the Church," and the titles of his three presentations are "Images of God in the Old Testament and in the Church," "God the Creator," and "God and Suffering." Come to our Chapel, bring $25 (which includes lunch), or make whatever donation you would like.

Someone's Reading My Mind

I think someone is reading my mind. Each day someone reads my mind, figures out where I will be traveling that day, and then makes sure that on nearly every road there will be road construction. When I lived in North Dakota we used to joke that our four seasons of the year were fall, winter, spring, and construction. The weather is so beautiful here in Phoenix that you can do construction year around. And we do.

Now, the major construction, which has been going on for some time, and will continue for some time, is the building of a light rail system, which I fully support. But, between that, and all the water main or sewer repair going on in the part of town where I live--well, it seems I am constantly driving through construction, and the patterns of that construction change every day.

Now, I know I am exaggerating, and no one is really reading my mind, but don't we have days when that seems to be the case? Don't we have days when we get a bit paranoid and think the world is out to get us?

The best way to deal with construction is to leave a bit earlier than usual, take a deep breath, pray for patience, and find ways to enjoy the ride, such as listening to a favorite CD or using bluetooth technology on your cell phone to talk to a good friend. Luther once said that he was so busy he had to take time to pray. When we have hectic days, or days where everything seems to be going against us, we would also do well to slow down, take a few deep breaths, pray for patience, and see if there aren't some things we can enjoy during the ride.

GoodSearch.com

Happy 4th day of Easter!
From the April edition of The Bethlehem Star (the newsletter of Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Kalispell, Montana - the last parish I served), I learned about a new internet search engine. Goodsearch.com donates half of its revenue (about one penny per search) to the charity of the searcher's choice. It works like any other search engine, and is powered by Yahoo! I've used it a few times already, with good results.
To start using goodsearch.com, go to the website. You'll see two boxes - the search box, and a box that says "Who do you GoodSearch for?" In this box, simply put in "LDR" and start searching, to benefit Lutheran Diasaster Response. Or you could choose another charity, if you'd like.
A penny for every search may not seem like much, but imagine if 1000 people searched twice a day using goodsearch. Over the course of a year, LDR would receive more than $7000. Goodsearch.com makes it easy to support a wonderful non-profit organization, and all you have to do is something that you already do anyway.

On the Third Day of Easter...

Happy Easter!

Today is the third of the Great Fifty Days of Easter. I love that our biggest days aren't just days but whole seasons - most of the world could use 50 days to think about resurrection and everlasting life, I think. It certainly helps me put things in perspective.

Around here sometimes I hear people say things like "Well, now that Easter's over..." and I want to remind them that it's not over it's just begun! I wonder if people have always been in a hurry to get over a holiday and get on with "regular" life. I know that it happens in the malls and the stores, after all, who buys Christmas decorations on the 27th of December (the 3rd of the 12 days of Christmas?)

I just finally put out Easter decorations at home yesterday - and they'll stay out until the 26th of May (the Day of Pentecost is May 27th this year). I imagine that guests will wonder about the bunny and the flowers a couple of weeks from now, even more so at the beginning of Memorial Day weekend. If it lets me tell the story, so much the better. After all, every Sunday is a "little Easter" - a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus.

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

Happy Resurrection Day!

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

(hopefully you're thinking: "Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!") - That is the joy-and-wonder-filled shout of Christians this morning. Jesus is alive. Even today.

Our sunrise service went well - Phoenix isn't such a bad place at 6am on the church lawn. Outdoor sunrise services are considerably fewer and farther between in Montana. Go figure.

What follows is an Easter message and prayer from Ministry of the Arts - the sisters of the Congregation of St. Joseph.

Happy Resurrection Day!!

"You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen, he is not here."
With these words, the angel spoke to the women who were looking for the body of Jesus in the tomb. The tomb was a liminal place. ("Limina" is the Latin word for threshold, the space betwixt and between, on the edge, on the cusp, pregnant with possibilities.)
Like the women we too are often frightened and bewildered about that space between yesterday and tomorrow, between death and life. But we are uniquely people of God, people of hope.
Liminal space is a spiritual position where we struggle, but where all significant transformation happens. It is when we have left the familiar, but have not yet arrived at the new. It is when we are between our old comfort zone and any possible new way of being. Let us not be persons of the past. let us be informed by the past, but inspired into the future. Jesus goes ahead of us! Let's follow!
PRAYER
"So we are called not only to believe that Christ once rose from the dead, thereby proving that He was God: we are called to EXPERIENCE that Resurrection in our own lives by entering into this dynamic movement, by following Christ who lives in us." (Thomas Merton)
PERSONAL CHALLENGE
Where is Jesus leading you?
Reflection and Challenge by Joann Heinritz, CSJ, Berkeley, CA

Holy Saturday - the day between

It's the day between things, for most Christians. The day between the solemn service ending in darkness and silence on Good Friday and the great joy and celebration of Easter morning. Here at Shepherd of the Valley we had our "Children's Easter Special" this morning - with crafts and games from around the world, all telling the story of Easter.

This evening is the Easter Vigil - a service that isn't "done big" in the Western US, at least not among the Lutherans I've known. I have a feeling that if we didn't have a weekly Saturday evening service, we wouldn't be having an Easter Vigil at all. So, it will be small and understated. We'll read 5 lessons from Scripture, to hear how God has loved and led his people throughout their history. We will pray, and sing hymns, and celebrate the Lord's Supper. And then we will end with an Alleluia! Finally! (I do miss the alleluias during Lent).

Tomorrow is THE BIG DAY - complete with an outside sunrise service at 6am, and jubilant services inside at 8, 9:30 and 11am. As I write there are youth next door in the kitchen making cinnamon rolls to serve tomorrow morning (yes, I am hoping to sample one this afternoon - you know, quality control).

It is my prayer that all might hear God's love and good news for them tonight and tomorrow. Christ is alive. Death doesn't win.

Good Friday

God who has adorned the whole earth with flowers is crowned with thorns. --- Byzantine liturgy

It is Good Friday, a day that so many struggle to call "good." I have had conversations with parishioners this week who tell me they don't come to worship on Good Friday. It's too intense. Too personal. Full of too much guilt about the ongoing role each of us plays in the injustice and suffering in the world. I understand the sentiment, but resist the urge to let any of us off that hook too easily. Just once a year it is good to be reminded of our sin, individual and corporate, and what it took for us to be forgiven.

And can it be that I should gain

An interest in the Savior's blood?

Died he for me, who caused his pain?

For me, who him to death pursued?
Amazing love! how can it be

That thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

'Tis mystery all! The Immortal dies!

Who can explore his strange design?

In vain the firstborn seraph tries

To sound the depths of love divine.

'Tis mercy all! let earth adore,

Let angel minds inquire no more.

He left his Father's throne above -

So free, so infinite his grace-

Emptied himself of all but love,

And bled for Adam's helpless race.

'Tis mercy all, immense and free;

For, O my God, it found out me!

---Charles Wesley, Eighteenth century

Maundy Thursday

It's already the Thursday of Holy Week - Maundy Thursday, from mandatum - commandment. Jesus has indeed given us a new commandment - one that after some 2000 years we still aren't that great at keeping, most of the time.

"I give you a new commandment, that you love one another just as I have loved you." (John 13:34)



It is hard to remember this mandate to love is a gift. To us, for us.

Jesus come, my feet are dirty. You have become a servant for my sake, so fill your basin with water; come, wash my feet. I know that I am bold in saying this, but your own words have made me fearful: "If I do not wash your feet, you will have no companionship with me." Wash my feet, then, so that I may be your companion!
But what am I saying: "Wash my feet"? Peter could say these words, for all that needed washing were his feet. For the rest, he was completely clean. I must be made clean with that other washing of which you said: "I hve a baptism with which I must be baptized."
--- Origen, Third Century

Old Lutheran at it again

Old Lutheran is the Center for Lutheran Pride (but not too proud). They sell all sorts of Lutheran-themed items - from a set of T-shirts in liturgical colors with a clergy collar on the front, to Martin Luther bobble-heads, and now - the Sermon Survival drink.
They crack me up.


REV Energy: Sermon Survival Drink
Are you worried about staying awake in church the week after Easter? We know that by the time Easter weekend is over, the average Lutheran will have heard approximately 3.7 sermons (the number listened to is a different matter). Given the fact that Easter Sunday is arguably a high point in the Christian church year, what is left for next Sunday? We have the solution for any Sunday you aren't exactly sure how you are going to make it through one more sermon. Whether you are sitting in the pew or preparing to preach, REV Energy Drink is for you. REV is loaded with sugar, caffeine and other sermon-enhancing ingredients like glucuronolactone and inositol. If you are preaching, drink one can before church and your sermon is guaranteed not to drag. But just in case, keep an extra can in the pulpit. Each can includes recommended dosages for listening to, writing or giving a sermon. Place your order today for REV Energy Drink--just in time for the 1st Sunday after Easter. NOTICE: Please use this and other Old Lutheran products in moderation.

Cafe - Stirring the Spirit Within

The Women of the ELCA have a great webzine - "Cafe." It targets younger women, though most of its articles apply to women of all ages, and men, too.
The latest edition just came out, and talks about stress.

I hope you are having a blessed Holy Week. It always fascinates me how this week, when we tell and hear the foundation stories of our faith and remember the life-death-resurrection of Christ, can also go by just like any other week.
How can we observe these days as sacred time when the world around us just keeps spinning? I always listen to Bach's St. Matthew Passion, which helps a little - connecting this Holy Week to last year's - and next year's, too.
How do you mark these days, observe, and remember?