As long as the earth endures,
seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease. Genesis 8:22 For me, June always marks the beginning of summer. Spring has brought us out of our winter homes, stretching our legs to get out and enjoy a little more sunshine. We see flowers bloom and nature rejuvenate around us. And all of this gets more vibrant as we turn from Spring into Summer. The weeks and months ahead are sure to be filled with even longer days, more sunshine, biking, playing, swimming, eating ice cream and watermelon, enjoying fireworks, as well as the many family traditions you may have. My favorite part of summer has always been spending late nights around a fire with friends and family. Sitting around and listening to the crackle of fire on wood, roasting the perfect marshmallow to make into a s’more, and talking about anything and everything were always the best nights — those nights when the moon is full and the stars are bright, when the air is cool and crisp and filled with the smell of the smoke from the firewood. I clearly remember talking to my friends about their relationships, their futures, and about God. Summer is a time when we celebrate in the wonder of creation and the joy that sunshine brings. It is a time when we are renewed with life and energy. We remember what it is like to be adventurers. After the doldrums of winter, after the rains and the grey, summer is time to celebrate the new life that we are given. Just as the earth is reborn yearly from winter into spring and summer, we are reborn in Christ. He has taken away the earthly doldrums of our sinful selves, and given us the sunshine and green grass of a life of freedom and forgiveness. My hope is that, in this summertime, when school is out and activities reign, that we can all have time with one other – with our friends, with our families, with our peers – that allow us to be open and honest and allow us to wonder about those big questions that we have. And that we continue to look around in amazement at God’s creation and remember that just as nature is renewed, we are continuously renewed by Christ’s grace and forgiveness. May this summer bring you joy, rest, and wonderment. Grace and peace, Intern Pastor Carrie Smisek
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We must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body's growth in building itself up in love. Ephesians 4:15b-16 ~Rev. Lori A. Cornell
We must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body's growth in building itself up in love. ~ Ephesians 4:15b-16 Wait, So What is the Intern Doing?
“And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Hebrews 10:24-25 Since we are all new to this whole internship process, I thought I would take this opportunity to tell you all a bit more about my internship project that will be starting very soon. The object of an internship project is for the intern to find a need in the congregation and shape a project around that need. This could take very many forms, from projects about stewardship to discussions about the health of the congregation, etc. It took me a long time to think of a project for Calvary because there are already so many great things happening here! After a few months, however, I realized that while there are many opportunities for fellowship and community for people who are retired, such as Lunch Bunch, Senior Lutheran Outings, and various Bible studies during the week. There are also opportunities for our youth to get involved, with meeting together on Sunday mornings and through FLY events. Even young adults have monthly gatherings. However, there does not seem to be much going on for people in between young adults and retired age. And while I would love to start a project that could include everyone in the congregation, so I could hang out with all of you more, I realize the need for this age group to have an opportunity to get together and form community. I realized this especially after having a few conversations with some women in the congregation. So, I have decided to start a group for women starting in their thirties and going up through pre-retirement age to come together as a community to grow together in fellowship and in faith. Now, I know that you are all rather busy, and it seemed like adding a book to read on top of everything else would be more of a burden than I wanted to place on anyone. So, each time we meet, we will be discussing shorter works that will be made available to you. I hope that you find this helpful. More information will be coming very soon. If you have more questions about this project, the internship process in general, or anything else, feel free to come talk to me at any time. Remember that I am especially available at my coffee shop office hours, held every Thursday from 10:00-12:00 P.M. at Poverty Bay Café, 1108 S. 322nd Pl., Federal Way 98003. Grace and peace, Intern Pastor Carrie Smisek So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Romans 6:11
I have always wished that I could serve a congregation that has a full-immersion baptismal font in the entrance of the church. You know, like a full on, up-to-your-waist font, with a fountain that gurgles, built with elegant stone that says “this is a really significant and symbolic piece of furniture in this sanctuary—pay attention.” A font that is unavoidable, and that you actually have to notice before you enter the rest of the worship space. A baptistery that says, “Do not pass go, do not collect $200.” Or maybe, better, “This is the way in (to life in Christ).” I want a full-immersion baptismal font, not because I think that immersion is necessary or even superior to sprinkling. No, it’s the symbolism that intrigues me. In the early church, baptismal fonts were always built as pools.Whether the font was in the shape of a circle, square, or a cross, whether it was raised or dug into the ground, the candidate stood at least waist-deep in the water with the pastor and was plunged into the water “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” The baptismal candidate descended down into the basin from the entrance to the sanctuary, meeting the baptizer in the deepest part of the water, then only after baptism stepped out of the water, into the sanctuary—symbolizing his or her entrance into the community of faith. During this season of Lent you will find our modest baptismal fonts poised at the opening to our worship spaces. They are there to catch your attention, and make you stop and wonder. Each week the fonts will be filled with symbols for the Gospel stories. Sand for wilderness. Branches and eggs for God gathering us in. Horseshoe nails and blossoms for suffering and hope. Why those symbols in the font? Because it is through the font that we enter into faith, that we enter into our daily life. By the time you read these words, we will be three-fifths of the way through the Sundays of Lent. We have been privileged to hear from Sandy and Keith Klungness, Bobbi McClain, and Dwight Otto; in the next two weeks we will hear from Mike Ragan and Janet Freeman-Daily. By the time we reach Holy Week, each of these people will have told us about what their baptism means for their daily life—how they see God at work moving with them and inspiring them to be present and active in the world. At Sunday Forum, we are having a conversation between the Gospel passages for Sundays and our own lives. We are practicing recognizing how our life of faith calls us to die to sin and be made alive in Christ. As Luther says in the Small Catechism: “[Baptism] signifies that the old person in us … is to be drowned and die through daily sorrow for sin and through repentance, and on the other hand that daily a new person is to ... rise up to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.” Consider joining the conversation. On Wednesday nights during Vespers we are doing a prayer practice called the Examen, considering how we have experienced God in the past week, and how we might seek God’s guidance in the next week. In prayer and in worship we are practicing dying and rising in Christ. Finally, all of our attention to baptism brings us to the Easter Vigil and the celebration of the resurrection. In the early church Lent was a time when candidates for baptism entered into an intensive period of preparation before Easter. That preparation culminated at the Vigil, where the candidate promised to live among God’s faithful people, hear God’s word and share in the Lord’s supper, follow Christ’s example in word and deed, and seek justice and peace, in the world. We will affirm the same commitments at our Easter Vigil—and in those commitments we will experience dying and rising. May God who takes us on this blessed journey, give us confidence that we will rise in Christ to the joy of Easter. Your sister, Lori, Pastor Lori Cornell |
Rev. Lori A. Cornell
Calvary's Pastor Jake Schumacher
Intern Pastor Archives
March 2017
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