Pastors TLC Notes

Ash Wednesday

I am writing this on the eve of Mardi Gras (a.k.a. Fat Tuesday or sometimes called Shrove Tuesday). More than excuse to party in New Orleans or to eat pancakes, this day arose as a way to “prepare” for the Lenten fast. It was a time to get rid of all the fats in the home before the time of giving them up as a Lenten practice.

Yet, Lent is about more than just giving up something (usually chocolate) for 40 days. It is the opportunity to grow in our relationship with God. It is a call to develop new ways of living that help us become the person that God has created us to be.

Yesterday (Feb. 10^th), I asked the congregation to write down the commitment that they are making to Christ. After copying them, they were placed in the offering place as an offering to God. I have made the commitment to pray for each of you as you seek to live them out. (Note: if any would like any specific resources or ideas to help with their commitment, please let me know). If you have not already done so, prayerfully consider making your own Lenten commitment. If you would like me to pray for strength, guidance and help for you in fulfilling this commitment, just send me a note.

Another aspect of my Lenten commitment is to daily provide ideas, reflections and resources around the 7 Faith Practices (see schedule below; will begin on Ash Wed.). Each day of the week will highlight one of the practices. If you would like to receive any or all of these emails, please let me know and I will send them to you. I will be posting them on Trinity’s Facebook page as well.

Reminder: This Wednesday, Feb. 13^th is Ash Wednesday. We will be having services with the imposition of ashes at noon and 7pm. I will also be at the Southeast Train Station on Wednesday morning for commuters who would like to receive ashes (I’ve not determined the time – those of you who commute, what time do you get to the station? Please let me know as soon as possible).

I pray that this time of Lenten discipline may be a time to grow in faith, understanding, and commitment to the One who gives us life and breath and meaning.

Peace in Christ,

Pastor Jen

Faith Practices daily postings

Monday: Study

Tuesday: Pray

Wednesday: Encourage

Thursday: Invite

Friday: Serve

Saturday: Give

Sunday: Worship

Annual Meeting and Survey

Dear Friends in Christ,

I wanted to first of all take the opportunity to remind you about our Annual meeting this Sunday, Jan. 27^th, following our 9am worship service (there will be no 10:45am service this week). Following worship, we will be dedicating the renewal of Shepherd’s Hall. The confirmation class will have their bacon & egg sandwiches available for purchase again. Then we will gather back into Shepherd’s Hall for our meeting.

It is vitally important for you to participate in this meeting! Why?

While some of it may seem routine such as electing council members and approving a budget, these tasks reveal a great deal about what it means for us to be a church. Those who serve as council members are the ones who are called upon to lead us daily and into the future as a community of faith. Our budget is more than numbers but reflects our path for the mission and ministry that has been entrusted to us.

Over the past few years, our budget has been cut just about down to bare bones. What does this say to you about how we are enabled to live out this mission and ministry? What does this say about our future if we continue on this path? Where do we see ourselves in the next five years? What do you think?

At church is a Congregational Health Inventory that you are being asked by the Dream Team to fill out and return at the Annual meeting. This is a tool that is being used to help us assess our strengths and challenges as a congregation. We will also be gathering in small groups to share some of our thoughts around what it means for us to be Trinity Lutheran Church. (Two attachments: 1-page cover sheet and 6-page survey)

This is why we need your presence at the meeting! Our future depends on each of us gathered together, offering our gifts, working side by side, and making a commitment to the mission and ministry that God has set before us.

Will you be there? Will you be a part of God’s future here at Trinity?

May Christ’s Spirit fill us and empower us to be the Church of today!

Peace in Christ,

Pastor Jen

Hear the Good News

When was the last time that you started in the middle to the book and then jumped around between chapters? Other than a favorite that you know by heart, I would guess “never.”

This coming Sunday, we are beginning the Narrative Lectionary (see article in January Trinitarian). From now until Easter, we will be traveling through the Gospel of Luke. While we won’t touch on all the chapters in worship, we will be covering the whole book between our worship services and Bible study gatherings (Wed. pm at 7pm and Thursday afternoon at 1:30; additional times are available upon request).

Each Gospel (as well as all the books of the Bible) has something particular to tell us about God and his relationship with his people. Luke lifts up those who are “outsiders” over against those who are “insiders” and salvation as the person of Jesus. These themes, along with others, will be reflected upon throughout this time.

And so – for HOMEWORK – I encourage and challenge you to read all of Luke (or at a minimum, the first 4 chapters). Read it like you would other books. Or read it out loud as a family (there are Bible apps).

Come and hear the Good News of Jesus Christ as told to us by Luke.

Peace,

Pastor Jen

P.S. Let me know if you have any questions.

Longest Night and Christmas Eve & Day

Longest Night

Sharply contrasted with the dancing lights and the colorful packages is the numbing sorrow that many are feeling after last week's horrific shooting in Newtown.

What does it mean to celebrate Christmas in the face of such tragedy or amidst our own struggles in our daily lives - financial worries, loss of jobs, conflicting relationships or the loss of our own loved ones?

It is for such as this that the Christ-child was born. The true light of God shining into the darkness of this world.

Each year in the evening of the Longest Night of the year, we gather in worship to place at the manger all those dark and difficult places in our lives. We come together to name them for ourselves and for others. We lift up the light of Christ that brings hope, healing, comfort and strength to us.

Join us and invite others to come together for this special service of prayer and reflection on Friday, Dec. 21st at 7pm.

Christmas Services

We continue our celebration of the Light of Christ as we gather for our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Services:

Monday, Dec. 24th

4pm Family Service with special music presented by our young people

8 & 11pm Candlelight Service

Tueday, Dec. 25th

10am Christmas Day service

Sunday, Dec. 30th

10am Service of Lessons and Carols

Dream Team Conversations

Join us this Sunday, June 10th, following worship (note: summer worship time changes this week to 9:30am) for a time of conversation, reflection and dreaming about the future mission of Trinity. A newly formed Dream Team has begun conversations about where God is calling us into the future and we want to hear from you as well. We will talk about both the strengths of our congregation as well as the growing edges and challenges. We will be seeking input on ways in which we can help you in your own life of faith as well as ways in which we can reach out in the midst of our community. In addition to this Sunday's conversations, we will also hold similar gatherings on Sundays July 1st and August 5th (also following worship). Other gatherings will be held as well in the Fall. For more information, feel free to contact any of our Dream Team members: Mary Beth Commisso, Charlie Germain, Lynda Kraus, Ralph Rudolph, Michael and Pastor Jen Boyd.

First Day of Spring

It is the first day of Spring! Our last week of BESP activity for the season is this coming week and with Holy Week not far behind, items for Putnam CAP and orders for Easter Lilies are due this coming Sunday.

BREWSTER EMERGENCY SHELTER PARTNERSHIP third week of cooperative ministry will be March 25 to April 1 at the First Baptist Church. We need an overnight host for Tuesday, March 27. Please contact Gail Pease (845) 225-8921 or gpeasesoar@aol.com or Irene Germain (845) 225-4698 or Irene6174@comcast.net.

We also need men’s medium briefs, medium white undershirts, and crew socks. Please place items in the shopping cart labeled BESP. May God bless all your efforts.

EASTER BASKET FOOD COLLECTION—Bags are due in Fellowship Hall on March 25 for distribution from Fellowship Hall on Palm Sunday, April 1st.

Contributions toward food gift certificates are also welcome; please make payable to Trinity Lutheran Church, mark for “Putnam CAP Easter baskets,” and place in offering plate by March 25. For more information, please contact Denise Anderson at 845-803-1345 or DA5654@aol.com.

EASTER LILIES—orders are due this coming Sunday, March 25. Order forms are available at the church or page 6 of the March Trinitarian (available at www.trinitybrewsterny.org) ; $12.00 per plant. Completed forms and checks can be placed in the offering plate or mailed to the church.

Brown Bag Auction & Potluck

Don’t miss an evening of fun, fellowship,
and support of our youth!

BROWN BAG AUCTION & POTLUCK

Saturday, February 11^th, 6:00 PM

Please bring a dish to pass as we share a meal together

then

Stay to bid on MYSTERY ITEMS in brown bags

All proceeds to help fund the youth’s trip to New Orleans for the National Youth Gathering in July.

Pray without Ceasing

E-Reflections

Are you praying for Trinity?

About a month ago, I challenged the congregation to pray regularly for the mission and ministry of Trinity. Are you praying? I also asked you to remind/check with me that I am also praying.

So, what are we praying about?

Think about all the different groups, ministries, activities and the like that Trinity is involved in–Sunday School, WELCA, worship, choirs, BESP, Friends of Karen, handbells, and more. Each of these groups is an outlet for the mission of the congregation; each seek to use their gifts to share the love and grace of God.

So, we can pray in general for Trinity and the ways in which God is calling us into the future. We can also pray specifically for the various groups and activities of the congregation (maybe doing this by praying our weekly/monthly calendar). Or possibly in your prayers you think of a new way for us to live out God's mission.

We pray without ceasing (as Paul wrote in I Thessalonians 5:17).

I have a prayer on my wall that I sometimes use as I pray for the congregation–if you would like to use it as well. It is a prayer of St. Benedict.

Gracious and holy God, give us wisdom to perceive you, diligence to seek you, patience to wait for you, eyes to behold you, a heart to meditate on you, and a life to proclaim you; through the power of the Spirit of Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

Peace in Christ,

Pastor Jen

10/25/11

Hurricane Preparedness

Dear all,

Although we don't know yet what to fully expect over the next couple of days, I thought I would be in touch about some aspects of our preparedness.

1) PRAYER: Let us begin and continue our prayers for all those in the hurricane's path. Let us pray...Eternal God, amid all the wind and the rain, the uncertainty and fear, your love is steadfast and your strength never fails. In this time, be to us a sure guardian and rock of strength. Guide those in authority as well as those who protect and care for us, giving them your wisdom; comfort those in distress and grant us courage and hope to face each new day, through Jesus Christ , our Savior and Lord. Amen.

2) WORSHIP: If there is a state of emergency on Sunday, there will NOT be worship. Also, if we decide that we cannot have worship - due to safety, power, etc. - it will be announced on WHUD 100.7 after about 7:30am. Otherwise, coming to worship on Sunday is left to your own discretion - please be safe!

3) SERVICE: As you are able to do so, please keep in touch with one another (congregation members, family, neighbors, etc.) - especially those that may be most vulnerable . If they are in need of assistance and you need direction for that help, please let me or others know so that we can reach out to help as we are able.

Please be prepared and be safe!

Peace in Christ,

Pastor Jen

To contact Pastor Jen, please use her email: revjedyer1@yahoo.com rather than replying to this message.

Churchwide Assembly 2011

The ELCA is now meeting in the Churchwide Assembly in Orlando, FL through this coming Saturday (Aug. 15-20th). They will gather in worship, conversation, decision-making, and business.

Please keep Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson and all the Churchwide Assembly Voting Members and guests in your prayers.

If you would like to experience some of what is going on, go to www.elca.org and click on the link for the Churchwide assembly--you can receive news releases, tweets, and watch living streaming as well as read the various reports. You can also follow them on Facebook.

This is who we are as a Church--experience the witness of our sisters and brothers in Christ.

Peace in Christ,

Pastor Jen

Lazarus, Come Out!

This coming Sunday, we read in the Gospel (John 11:1-45) about how Jesus is moved to sorrow when his friend Lazarus falls ill and dies. Then, in a dramatic scene, he calls his friend out of the tomb and restores him to life. Trinity member Lili Van Zanten wrote this powerful poem a few years ago.

Lazarus

Four days in the cave – already

He was more fish than fisherman

Slimy stinky waiting for the worms

Having survived death

Decomposition was not –

Unwelcome

Morsel by morsel the soil swallowing

Memory and desire

Gauze wound round his face his feet his hands

Anesthetizing

He snuggled like a bulb in my winter garden.

“Lazarus arise!”

A voice in a dream

The voice of him whom he loved!

The soil splits alongside the bricks

In my front yard garden.

From frozen earth emerging

From cozy death cocoons

A dozen yellow crocus

Reluctant resurrections

For Christ’s sake

Leave me alone! The sunlight

Hurts my eyes. I have known

April brilliance but it doesn’t end there

More likely blight or drought

The clipper or the worm…

Arise!

A voice in a dream

The voice of him whom I love!

God how I’d love to pull up the covers

And go back to sleep

But he rolls away the boulder

And I try again

Stumbling blindly from the cave

My gauze wrapped feet

Hopping toward the light

Tripping balancing blooming

I reach for the sun

Lili Van Zanten

DON'T FORGET--SPRING CLEAN-UP IS THIS SATURDAY, APRIL 9, 8 AM-2 PM AND INCLUDES LUNCH

Earthquake in Japan and Pacific Tsunami

Please go to this link and see the bulletin insert this coming Sunday about ELCA's response to the earthquake in Japan and Pacific tsunami.

http://www.elca.org/Our-Faith-In-Action/Responding-to-the-World/Disaster-Response/Ongoing-Responses/Japan-Earthquake-and-Pacific-Tsunami.aspx

Marked by Ashes

I've been wanting to be more deliberate about sending out weekly e-notes with reflections and the like (just like I keep meaning to blog), so I thought it might make a good Lenten discipline that could continue on through the year.

I will be sharing my own reflections, quotes and words from other people and places that I have been reading as well as a pertinent announcement or two (though most of those you will find in the Trinitarian and weekly bulletin).

If you have anything that you would like to share, please send it along to me (revjedyer1@yahoo.com).

Also available is the Lent 2011 Daily Devotional with reflections from members of the congregation. In addition (because food is always a good thing), there is Join us at the Table, a booklet of stories and meals from the ELCA World Hunger program.

Finally, each week (beginning 3/15), there are 3 different opportunitiies to join in a book study Reclaiming the 'C' Word: Daring to be Church Again by Kelly Fryer. Groups will be meeting Tuesdays (7:30pm) at the Icken's in Mahopac; Wednesdays (7pm) and Thursdays (9:30am) at Church. Please join us for these conversations of faith.

And Don't Forget to change your clocks this weekend - Spring Forward One hour!

Peace in Christ, Pastor Jen

Here is a reflection that I'd like to share today from Walter Bruggermann:

Marked by ashes

Ruler of the Night, Guarantor of the day . . .

This day - a gift from you.

This day - like none other you have ever given, or we have ever received.

This Wednesday dazzles us with gift and newness and possibility.

This Wednesday burdens us with the tasks of the day, for we are already halfway home

halfway back to committees and memos,

halfway back to calls and appointments,

halfway on to next Sunday,

halfway back, half frazzled, half expectant,

half turned toward you, half rather not.

This Wednesday is a long way from Ash Wednesday,

but all our Wednesdays are marked by ashes -

we begin this day with that taste of ash in our mouth:

of failed hope and broken promises,

of forgotten children and frightened women,

we ourselves are ashes to ashes, dust to dust;

we can taste our mortality as we roll the ash around on our tongues.

We are able to ponder our ashness with

some confidence, only because our every Wednesday of ashes

anticipates your Easter victory over that dry, flaky taste of death.

On this Wednesday, we submit our ashen way to you -

you Easter parade of newness.

Before the sun sets, take our Wednesday and Easter us,

Easter us to joy and energy and courage and freedom;

Easter us that we may be fearless for your truth.

Come here and Easter our Wednesday with

mercy and justice and peace and generosity.

We pray as we wait for the Risen One who comes soon.

Walter Brueggemann

We remember in prayer

TODAY WE REMEMBER IN PRAYER Danielle D. Bell, who passed from this life and entered the Church triumphant on February 12th. Danielle, age 33, was the daughter of Peter Bell and stepdaughter of Laurie Bell.

Visitation will be at Beecher Funeral Home in Brewster, New York (845-279-3615) on Tuesday, February 15th, from 4:00 to 8:00 PM. A service will be held at the funeral home on that day at 7:00 PM.

Keep in your prayers

Please keep in your prayers Harper Tortorella and his parents Lynn & Chris Tortorella. The Tortorellas are friends of Sue Kaufman. Harper is a newborn who was fine at birth, but has since had seizures.