May 2010
Central Lutheran Church

                  925 North Forest St., Bellingham, WA 98225

                  phone: (360) 734-7180 fax: (360) 734-0788

                  www.centrallutheran.net; email, office@centrallutheran.net

                  120 years of faith in the heart of Bellingham

                

Pastor's Letter

Grace and peace to
All the saints-and-sinners
Of Central Lutheran Church!

Greetings in Christ!

Celebrating together in grace we nurture faith, proclaim hope, and share love.

Celebrating: More than intellectual acknowledgement or simple recognition, celebrating is observance by endorsing and embracing the personal and collective implications and conclusions. Celebrating is being fully engaged by participating with all our strength, heart, mind, and soul.

Together: Church is the function of Christ’s Holy Spirit working in the gathered people of God. Church is never a solo event and solo events are never church. Together means being the gathered people who are united in purpose, diverse in gifts, strong in forgiveness and acceptance, who by design respect and employ their talents and skills to accomplished Jesus’ mission. Together is accepting and sharing the responsibilities of the mission; it is never ignoring or abdicating Christ’s call to service.

In Grace: Grace is the action of God; God’s inherent nature of Love is active by creating, redeeming, and sanctifying because of who God is. God’s grace is perfect—nothing is stronger. God’s grace is hidden in, and found through all the cosmos, yet is most highly revealed in Jesus Christ. Grace is demonstrated, perfected, and proclaimed to all through the life, death, resurrection, ascension, and return of Jesus. Faithfulness, our living in God’s grace is a gift, a balance between mercy and righteousness—it calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth.

We: This statement is our response to God’s grace; it is our purpose for being a church, our individual pledge to our Lord, to each other, and to ourselves—to be united in working toward the fulfillment of God’s will and ways which are revealed in the scriptures, practiced by the church for ages as a good and seemly expression of our gratitude. It is not that we have come to perfection but that we strive to actively be on the pilgrimage of giving our all to God. We celebrate that we are simultaneously saints (forgiven) and sinners (in need of forgiveness), that we are free in God’s love to be the children of God.

Nurture faith: We are an evangelical collection of seekers, believers, and saints; dedicated to proclaiming, claiming, and inviting the good news of God’s love so that all creation may experience and know of God’s love. Teaching and preaching, praying and praising, worship and service—all these and more are the means we employ to help all people discover and grow in response to God’s love for them.

Proclaim hope: We are forward—looking in our understanding of God’s work on earth today and in spite of the temptations and tribulations of this anxious time, we believe that God is at work in the world and that ultimately all may come to know the reign of God in their hearts and the peace of God in the world. We do not diminish the huge task before the church or think we can do this by sheer human power—but celebrating that God has chosen to work primarily through the church we invest our best efforts inviting all to join in the work of the church.

And share love: We are busy about sharing the love of God in the language and terms of all who are in need of God’s love—including ourselves. Whether through service or charity or fellowship or prayer or worship or whatever gift, talent, skill, or concern God has spirited in us—we offer ourselves and vessels, disciples, and fellow human beings that God may bless our efforts so that all may come to know and have the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit.

This is the proposed STATEMENT of Central Lutheran Church. It is a mission statement; it is a vision statement; it is a purpose statement; it can be our slogan, or motto, or even battle cry. It is intended to be simple enough in structure that all may memorize it, know it, live it, proclaim it. It is packed deeply and richly with the biblical and confessional foundation of the evangelical Lutheran church.

It is one thing more, and most importantly…it is an invitation. It is an invitation to all who enter into this sanctuary—past, present, and future—to be a part of this ministry. As we begin anew to define and focus our efforts and ministry, we invite you to put the grace of God first in front of all hurts, grudges, and failures of ourselves and others, and we invite you to join with us by celebrating in grace we nurture faith, proclaim home, and share love.

If you would like to talk about this letter, or anything else, please give me a call, and let’s get together.

See you in church,
Pastor Tim

FRAMEWORK FOR THE PRAYERS

At the conclusion of the first part of the service of Holy Communion, prayers are offered in response to the proclamation of the Word of God. They are the beginning of a mission to make God’s love real in the world. The same concerns which prompt the prayers, commit those who pray them to further action. The prayers are to be inclusive in scope and include not just the immediate concerns of the congregation nor of the church but the needs of the whole world. Since the formulation of the prayers are not specified, they must be prepared for each service. The preparation of the prayers is no less important than the preparation of the sermon. The language proper to petition, intercession, and thanksgiving should prevail. Care must be taken to keep the prayers corporate in character and spirit so that all may include their personal petitions without reservation. People must not be forced to pray for things they do not feel or believe. Cf LBW Manual on the Liturgy. This is the current framework offered to our assisting ministers for their use or adaptation; it changes a bit every Sunday. It is here offered to the congregation for daily prayer. PT

With the whole people of God in Christ Jesus, let us pray for the church, those in need, and all of God’s Creation:

We give you thanks and praise for your great gift of grace revealed through the life, death, and resurrection of your son Jesus. Grant us the wisdom and faith to live Jesus mission of serving others that we would be signs of your great love for all: LORD IN YOUR MERCY…hear our prayer.

We pray for the youngest members and friends of this congregation: Bless them as they grow in knowledge of your love and help them to learn the lessons of faith and service. Be with them in their adventures, keep them safe, and empower their parents and teachers to be models of faith. LORD IN YOUR MERCY…hear our prayer.

We pray for the mission of your church within these walls and throughout the world, for Bishop Mark and Bishop Chris, all who serve within and through this congregation; help us to serve you with all faithfulness, that all the world may see and find the faith, hope, and love promised through the mystery and life of Jesus. LORD IN YOUR MERCY…hear our prayer.

We pray for those who gather here this morning. Enlighten our lives with the words of scripture and the cheerfulness of fellowship. We pray for those who can not be here, those who are shut in or those who shut themselves out. Bring them hope and grace and gather us again as one people united by Jesus Christ. LORD IN YOUR MERCY…hear our prayer.

We pray for the leaders of our nation, state, county, and cities during these anxious times; guide them in justice and truth, and give them the wisdom to help foster hope for all people. LORD IN YOUR MERCY…hear our prayer.

We pray for our service men and women, sent throughout the world to wage peace in warring places and aid to places of natural disaster. Help them to be successful in bringing calm to troubled lands, and keep them safe while in harms way. Guide them with courage and justice, help them to quickly complete their mission, and bring them home safe. LORD IN YOUR MERCY…hear our prayer.

We pray for peace in our world, more than the quieting of guns and bombs and voices of hate, we pray for the peace of heart that comes from knowing Jesus as Lord and Savior and pray that love for God would lead all people to love and respect their neighbors. LORD IN YOUR MERCY…hear our prayer.

We pray for those in the hospital, nursing homes, and who are recovering at home. Especially…. LORD IN YOUR MERCY…hear our prayer.

We pray for those who know the loss of a love one, [especially …] LORD IN YOUR MERCY…hear our prayer.

Hear now our prayers, offered aloud or in the quiet of our hearts….

Into you hands, gracious God, we commend all for whom we pray, trusting in your mercy, through Jesus Christ our Savior….

[Amen] or [Who taught us to pray…Our Father….]

Mail box

Pastor Tim and Bob!
Thank you so much for allowing the Washington Virtual Academy High School student to use your wonderful church facilities for our State High School Proficiency Exam. You are most gracious!
Sincerely, WAVA Students and Teachers.

Central Lutheran Church
I want to thank Ruth Circle for the flowers they brought me at my recent Hospital stay. They brightened my day! Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers.
Janice Millman

To the Anonymous Donor of the Dishwasher:
What a wonderful gift it is for Central to be able to use the dishwasher and know that it will do the job that it is expected to do. It has been a struggle to use the one we have had for over 50 years and it is time to put it to rest.
We purchased the first dishwasher back in the 50’s. The Ladies Aid researched what was available and desired the one we have had. They didn’t have enough money so they had a rummage sale. The price of the dishwasher was going up and they were never able to get the amount of money that was needed even though we had rummage sale after rummage sale, cake walks or anything that would enable them to get the dishwasher.
The price of the dishwasher continued to go up, so finally the Ladies Aid purchased it and took care of the finances later.
So it is with many, many thanks to this donor and it will be appreciated for a long time.
Sincerely, in Christ
Norma Bruget.

From all of Central to Mitchell Weatherill:
Thank you so much for the beautiful bench that you built and installed by the front entry way. It is a great reflection of this congregation’s goal to be a welcoming place and dresses up the front door. Thank you also for considering and making your participation at Central part of your culminating project. You are a witness to all of us.
For Central Lutheran Church,
Pastor Tim

Ballot for Rescheduled Annual Voters Meeting (May 23rd , 2010, 9:45am)

Nominations (FOR 2011)

*President: Diane Ecker
*Vice President:
*Secretary:
*Treasurer: Gary Moon
*Financial Secretary: Wendy Galasso 2010/2
Council Position 1
Council Position 2
Council Position 3

*Executives are elected for 1 year terms up to three times, except Treasuer who may be elected continually. Council Positions are elected “at large” and organize committee chairs at July meeting. Self-nominations (volunteers) are welcome. We have five available nominations, please consider being a part of the church council.

Continuing Council Members Dick Little 2008/1 Carol Reppun 2010/2 Judy Senf 2008/1

From Pastor Tim: My Thoughts about the ELCA, Lutheran CORE, Word Alone, and the North American Lutheran Church

What are we going to do? Worship with humility, offering to God our thankful hearts for the gift of grace, faith, and call to service! With the passage of the sexuality statement by the ELCA, many congregations like Central find themselves caught between a rock and a hard place. It is not news that I’m one of the traditional type theologians. When I interviewed at Central, one of the specific questions I was asked was whether I was one of those WordAlone types or the opposite of those WordAlone types. It seemed like a pretty straightforward question and I gave it a straightforward answer: I’m a WordAlone type. Okay? Not news.

What it means to me to be a WordAlone type is that I am a confessional, biblical, traditional Lutheran. It also means that I am not a fundamentalist; while I’m very orthodox, I am also a modern liberal scientific theologian. It is not that I do not understand and do not use the scientific approach to biblical study; it is that I do fully understand and do fully use the scientific approach to biblical study. I also understand the philosophical presuppositions to my liberal education—as well as both the logic and the consequences of the mistakes of those who do not understand or acknowledge their own philosophical presuppositions. It is because of these parts of my mental process that I believe some of the most recent decisions of the ELCA are closer to theological disasters than they are to good theology.

That being said: I love my church. I love my church enough to chastise it when in error, to challenge its leaders, and to openly disagree with its policies and social teaching/opinion statements. I also love the work it is doing in our community, our state, our nation, and around the world. Lutheranism is synonymous with Christian faith around the world. Outside of this country, Lutheranism’s work is understood as a powerful evangelism. I’ll not easily or quickly leave this church. That is why I have been a part of the WordAlone movement since it first came into existence. WordAlone has changed radically since its first days. Its newest expression is Lutheran Core (although most of the people in it will need another year or so to figure that out and merge the groups’ administrations). What WordAlone has discovered is that the ELCA structure is flawed in that its three inter-dependent expressions are not inter-accountable. There is a huge disconnect between congregations and synods, and between congregations and the national church. As such, the national church is not responsive to congregations needs.

There is also a proposed North American Lutheran Church. The intent is that it will essentially look and hopefully function like a fixed ELCA, having three inter-dependent and inter-accountable expressions, being congregationally based, with congregationally based representative delegates at all expressions. As nice as that all sounds, I want to caution anyone about hopes or fears of changing national denominations. In my short career I have seen a couple of these “new” churches start with high expectations, only to become very sectarian splinter groups. I don’t think that is a healthy place to be. I cannot predict what will be best for this congregation two years from now. Right now, it seems that our saber rattling is part of a much larger chorus, and that is a good thing. But the NALC will need to have a track record before we can take a serious look at it as a congregation.

So what are we going to do? What we actually can do right now, and what we should be doing no matter what else is happening: worship with humility; offer to God our thankful hearts for the gift of grace, faith, and call to service…in Jesus’ name; and get really good at it.

Updated on May 3, 2010

© 2010, Central Lutheran Church