Hide and Seek in Advent and Other Considerations….
Advent is upon us, with Christmas just around the corner, and that means new things are unfolding. First, in this Advent Season we take up the theme of “Playing Hide ‘N’ Seek with God.” The question we will be posing—as we await what Titus calls “the grace of God appearing” in the babe in the manger—is: Where in life does it feel like God is absent or hiding? And, where do we find God revealed, just when we thought he was far away? This is the very real experience of Christians throughout the church’s history—from St. Paul with his thorn in his flesh, to St. John of the Cross’s “dark night of the soul,” to Mother Teresa’s quest to find God in the face of the poorest of the poor in India. I hope that you will come along on this Advent journey—in which we discover that the God we thought was far away, has been born right into our midst. And in Other Important News… As many of you know, our own Matt Byrd, Intergenerational Minister extraordinaire, is also a candidate for ordained ministry in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. So far, that preparation has involved Matt doing on-line courses while being employed full-time here at Calvary. He has also taken two weeks both in January and in June of the past two years to do on-campus classes as Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota. In the Fall of 2015, Matt Byrd will be on internship as a candidate for ordained ministry. His candidacy committee has yet to decide whether Matt can properly develop in his pastoral identity by serving his internship at Calvary. That being the case—regardless of whether Matt is able to serve his internship at Calvary or will need to serve elsewhere—Calvary needs to have a plan for staffing next Fall. In early December, the Management Team will propose to the Council the possibility of staffing this upcoming year by employing an Intern Pastor. Interns are pastors in training. They are candidates for Word and Sacrament ministry—learning to preach and preside in worship, teach, administrate, visit people in hospital and at home, and engage in the various other ministries in the congregation’s life. Interns are not yet licensed to preside at the Lord’s Supper, but have been trained theologically and practically to begin to assume the responsibilities of a pastor. What responsibilities come with hosting an Intern? Hosting an Intern is not only about having a capable lay leader working with the congregation and staff. It is also about making Calvary a fertile learning environment where a student of theology can begin to put her/his seminary instruction into practice. Internship congregations are expected to provide an Internship Committee that regularly supports, encourages, and oversees the ministry of the Intern. That committee works in tandem with the congregation’s ordained pastor (that’s me) to supervise the Intern’s growth as a minister. And even before the intern arrives, the council and pastor will need to intentionally develop an effective Internship Committee that is ready to guide the Intern effectively. Timeline.… The timeline for preparing to be an Internship Site will further give you a sense of preparations that will be required of Calvary—should the congregation choose to move forward with this proposal: 1) January 31, 2015: Final day for congregation to apply to Luther Seminary to become an Internship Site; 2) February 16 to March 6, Internship Supervisors hold Placement Interviews with potential candidates, 3) mid-April, placement is completed and the congregation is notified of who their intern will be. Financial considerations…. Every congregation who hosts an Intern is expected to pay that person a monthly stipend; provide adequate housing and health insurance; reimburse various work expenses; and cover other related administration fees. All told, the Internship cost will amount to no more than what we have budgeted for the Intergenerational Minister’s package. Reconfiguring the role of Intergenerational Minister. This brings me to the most complicated issue about hosting an Intern. If, on December 9, the Council decides to recommend that we become an Internship Site and, if, on January 25, the Congregation votes to approve this proposal at our Annual Meeting, then in September 2015 Calvary will experience a serious transition in its Intergenerational Ministry. Either we will shape the Internship position to reflect our Long-Range Plan priority to serve families and young adults, or we will reconfigure my responsibilities and develop the Intern’s list of responsibilities to accommodate the priorities we have for Intergenerational Ministry. Until we get further into the Internship Process, and consult with the Seminary, we will not know which of these options will be preferable or possible. I know this is a lot of information to take in at once, so please consider participating in the following activities in response to this proposal:
Thank you for your love for Christ, your support of the staff who serves you, and your care for the ministry that we do at Calvary. Your partner in ministry and faith, Pastor Lori A. Cornell
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The theme for Calvary’s 60th Anniversary is “Celebrate 60! Together We Serve.” On Sunday, November 23rd, we will begin the day of celebration at 9:30 a.m. with an organ concert by Tony Willing. At 10:00 a.m., the entire Calvary family will gather in the Sanctuary for a Festival Worship Service. Following the service, we will head over to the Social Hall for a catered luncheon.
Here are images from Calvary's first 60 years: For in Christ Jesus...the only thing that counts is faith working through love. Galatians 5:6
The church is an odd business. It doesn’t produce a tangible product that you can see, put a price on, or take home with you —like you would from a retail store. The church is more like a personal fitness trainer or a voice coach. With enough training, and the student’s own commitment and practice, the student becomes the product that embodies the coach’s efforts. This Fall the church is training us in Stewardship. God is inviting us to consider how we will do what we believe. The simple definition is this: “Stewardship is everything I do after I say, ‘I believe.’” The way Paul puts it in our theme from Galatians is: “The only thing that counts is faith working through love.” The way Stewardship will be defined practically at Calvary is that you will be asked to consider how you will spend your Time, how you will use your Talents, and how you might share your Treasures (your money) with this ministry. Please take the time to reflect on your Stewardship prayerfully and intentionally—it will shape who you are. When you share your Time, Talents, and Treasures thoughtfully you are changed for the better. Your Stewardship doesn’t just change you though, it also shapes the congregation and those newcomers who join us. As we see each other contributing to the ministry at Calvary, gathering and serving in diverse and real ways, we are encouraged; we want to be present for each other, and each of us benefits from our fellowship. For all of you are one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28 This year we are also asking you to consider an additional step in your Stewardship by contributing to a Capital Campaign. Within the next year or so we need to replace our roof. Have you seen that roof? It is massive, it is a unique architectural structure, and it is old. We need our roof to keep us dry so our ministries (faith working through love) can continue. We also will need some new furnaces soon—so rather than ask for your help to fund the roof alone, we are asking you to help pay for the furnaces while we are at it. And, since we are asking, we might as well tackle our lighting issue—particularly in the Sanctuary. It’s not just your failing eye sight—it’s dark in there! I have a hard time being able to read the gospel lesson from the pulpit or seeing the words when I preside at Communion. I know the lighting is equally deficient in the pews. We need to fix this—not only for our own ease in worship, but for all those folks that we want to see come through the doors and stay. To make these changes possible we need to ask each other to go above and beyond our yearly Stewardship commitment. As one member put it, “I’m on a shoe-string budget. But the truth is, I can find some expenditure that I could do without each week: A latte, a magazine, something I can give up to contribute to this campaign.” For my part, I’m thinking about how I might decrease the “impulse buys” in my life; what would be good to give up (a candy bar or magazine at the checkout stand, Coke Zero--oh, that one hurts!, less meat in my diet), and how I might increase my overall giving percentage to the church through this campaign. So I invite you, as I invite myself, to think about what you can contribute to our “Warm, Dry, and Welcome...All” campaign. Pastor Lori A. Cornell "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” Ecclesiastes 3:1
I love summer! I love spending more time outdoors than in. I love getting all sweaty hiking or running or working in the yard, and then jumping into a cool shower or a refreshingly cold lake. I love summer deluges of rain and thunderstorms followed by cool nights. I love sleeping under a single sheet with no blankets and waking to the early morning sun. I don’t know about you, but I may have to be dragged kicking and creaming into my fall clothes. You may have to tap me on the shoulder and invite me out of my summer daydreams to join you in the realities of fall. But what great activities we have in store for you this fall… Day of Service On Saturday, September 6, we head into our fall season with a day at the Federal Way Farmer’s Market. We will be handing out water bottles with the Calvary logo on them, inviting families to join us for worship and learning, and providing school supplies and comfort kits to kids for school. The band will play, puppets will be performing, and your hospitality and support will make it a great day. Coming Attractions Let the forums begin! On September 7, leaders from the congregation will give you a preview of upcoming events for the fall—namely, stewardship and the annual financial plan for 2015, the beginnings of a capital campaign, and our 60th Anniversary celebrations. Come learn more about Calvary’s mission and vision. Creating Welcome On September 14, we begin a series on how to be more intentional about welcoming newcomers: “Creating Welcome” is the theme for this three-week forum series. We will talk, walk through practical exercises to raise our awareness of how to welcome, and hear from a panel of people who have experienced welcome here at Calvary. Love and Marriage Dovetailing on our “Welcome” series, we will be discussing Marriage in the October Adult Forum. The Marriage Policy Task Force, which convened last spring to facilitate conversations within the congregation about Calvary’s marriage policy, will help us begin to make sense of what it means to be a Lutheran congregation in a state in which same-sex marriage is legal. Currently, our congregation has no set policy about gay marriage. Our special guest for this conversation will be Bishop Rick Jaech, who will join us to preach, and will lead the October 19 Forum. And the Band Plays On Our own Tony Willing and his Portage Fill Big Band will headline Calvary’s Anniversary Outreach Fundraiser for Reach Out on Saturday, October 25. We are inviting friends and members of the Federal Way community to join us in raising funds to benefit our winter homeless shelters and celebrate our 60th Anniversary with a lot of big band music and swing dancing. (Oh, come on, you know you want to!) Save some room and collect your pennies, because the Dessert Auction that night will feature delicious, sometimes-sophisticated creations by our own members, friends, and a few local businesses. Yum! So invite friends; ask people you work with or work out with; heck, welcome some strangers—and join us for this celebration. Can’t wait to get my swing on! Okay, maybe fall will be easier to adjust to than I’d anticipated. I’m getting excited already. (But now that I’m done writing this article, it’s time to dream of white sand beaches and tropical fish for a few more days…) Looking forward to getting back in season with you. Your sister in Christ, Rev. Lori A. Cornell Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” Matthew 9:37-38
We are blessed that we belong to a community and a fellowship of believers who can freely join together on Sunday mornings to praise God and to hear the promise of salvation proclaimed to us in Word and sacrament. But what about those people who have never darkened our door? How do we share the life-changing message of hope and peace that we have come to know so well? What if I don’t feel comfortable talking about my faith? I have heard someone recently describe the act of public witness as one of becoming a “Gospel Ninja.” Think about it, ninjas blend in to their surroundings. They don’t draw undue attention to themselves because they have a mission to complete. They train themselves to be ready for any situation. They are able to slip in and out without anyone noticing. Yet they leave an indelible impression with their presence and their actions. Imagine if we took this mentality into our public ministry. Blending in with the people we live and work beside, we would stealthily offer kindness and patience to those we encounter; providing a listening ear to the person sitting next to us on the bus; giving a little more generous tip to the harried server at the busy restaurant; offering to pray for an acquaintance or even a stranger who shares a fear or concern with us. We don’t have to stand on the street corner with a bullhorn or picket signs that proclaim our faith. We can quietly and powerfully witness to our community and our families by being people who live out what we talk about in church on Sunday mornings. The power of the gospel is most evident when it is transformed from empty words into tangible actions. It’s harvest time. There are plenty of people in Federal Way and Western Washington who are in need of some good news. |
Rev. Lori A. Cornell
Calvary's Pastor Jake Schumacher
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March 2017
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