______http://stpaulslutheranchurchmapleridge.org THE EPISTLE Pastor's Column On Tuesday, May 19th a Facebook post was forwarded to Volume 58 Issue 6 June 2015 me, from Congregación Luterana Emaús, or as we know them, ______Emaus Lutheran Church of Lima, Peru. The Facebook post ____ was essentially an announcement or advertisement of their traditional observance of the Vigil of Pentecost, on Saturday, May 23rd. Here is part of their post: ..... from 11:00 pm until 6:00 a.m. The whole family can participate (unborn @ S, Teenagers, Young people and adults). We will spend a very pretty night in the company of all the great family of Emaus. There will be dynamic, songs, prayers and small breaks, so that no one is left asleep. And finally a delicious broth chicken

Is that amazing or what? A few comments need to be made. First of all, it is important to note that they are celebrating the Vigil of Pentecost. From history, we know that Easter and Pentecost were the first two and only feasts of the original Church Year from apostolic times. We also know that the ancient church celebrated a vigil with Easter as early as the second century and with Pentecost universally from the fifth century. We further know that baptisms were also a part of these services, given its promise of resurrection with Christ and gift of the Holy Spirit. Tuesday, June 2–ELW Bible Study, 7:30 pm - Sarolta’s Sunday, June 7 – Church Picnic after Service The Day of Pentecost marked the birthday of the Church, a Wednesday, June 10 – Stewardship Meeting – 7:00 pm very important time in the life of the early church. Of course, Saturday, June 13 – ELW Meeting 10:00 am the church had been celebrating its most important time, that Wednesday, June 17 –Council Meeting 7:30 pm being Easter. The Vigil of Pentecost essentially became that Sunday, June 21 - Father’s Day Luncheon time of saying goodbye to the season of Easter and welcoming ______the Day of Pentecost. The best time to usher in the Day of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church Pentecost was to hold a vigil, much like Easter Vigil when they 12145 Laity Street ushered in Easter Sunday. Maple Ridge, BC V2X 5A7 Tel: 467-4343 So now we see Congregación Luterana Emaús gathering Email: [email protected] from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m.! What a great and exciting time that must be. The whole family will gathering, including those unborn! No one will be allowed to sleep! On top of that, they COUNCIL CORNER – June 2015 will celebrate at the end, with a bowl of chicken broth. The May Council meeting was difficult in trying to balance A bowl of chicken broth! That speaks to me, of their economic circumstances; chicken broth might be the best that having reasonable compassion with being good stewards of they can provide each other. And yet, despite what seems to the congregational funds. First we had a request from be a life of struggle and difficulty and no doubt poverty, they Ascension Lutheran Church in Nelson BC to help then with are prepared to stay up all night to celebrate the Day of rebuilding their church. They sent an appeal out to the entire Pentecost, the arrival of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit Synod after asbestos removal costs set them back dwells with them, bringing life and vitality to their fellowship. considerably, asking for $1000 from each church in B.C. to It is at once both inspiring and humbling. In many ways it help them get on track to at least be able to use their reminds me Naibili Lutheran Church in Tanzania, which I basement. Every present council member contributed to the visited in 2004 during my sabbatical; in the midst of poverty and challenging circumstances, there was time and energy for discussion. Having our own building fund in progress was a big the church, for the spiritual feeding that was necessary to carry part of the issue. We did have money in our capital reserve one through life. fund from last year and it was decided to send Alleluia $500 to

To read of the Vigil of Pentecost that will be held by assist. Congregación Luterana Emaús gives me great joy and I hope and pray that it will be a blessing to all of them. Also, I hope Other big issues stemmed from Personnel committee and pray that after they post pictures of their vigil, their recommendations in regards to the way we pay our staff for experience and their example of discipleship might be an statutory holidays. It was decided to pay all our hourly staff inspiration and blessing to us. for 12 stat holidays. The personnel committee was also asked Peace, Pastor Roland to do a salary review for the secretary position. Another issue arising was Easter Sunday services and breakfast. This year’s breakfast was well attended, while the FLOWER OPPORTUNITIES services had fairly modest turnouts. The idea of going to one service on Easter was one that the council had consensus July 19, July 26, August 2, would be one good for the entire congregation to decide at August 16 and August 30. next year’s AGM. Celebrate the memory of a loved John one or a special occasion with flowers that add beauty to our worship! Evangelical Lutheran Women Raise the Roof Campaign Thanks to ELW for getting through a busy, busy Spring. At this writing, approximately two months into the year's "Raise We hosted an informative Adult Children Aging Parents the Roof" campaign, we are at about $2,000.00 "received" and Event. Mother/Daughter Banquet where never was there $3,000.00 "committed" -- a great start but still a long way to go so much laughter and fun. We helped with memorial reach our goal of $30,000 A quick glance at the "chart" will give services and St. Paul’s events. you the "Picture". There will undoubtedly be more green "tiles" by the time you read this. With your generosity 24 Hygiene Kits, 6 Sewing Kits, 25 Baby Bundles, and 20 Pneumonia Vests were sent to Because of your realization that this is a necessary expenditure, I Baling Day. know together we will come through in the end and we will reach our goal of $30,000. ELW recognized Helen with ELW's recognition pin for 2015. Thank you Helen for your contributions and At our Ad Hoc Meeting on May 3rd, we "pencilled" in several fun dedication to ELW and St Paul's Lutheran Church. fundraising events to be held throughout the year starting with, the Father's Day Hamburger BBQ on June 21st. Look for details to

follow. We welcome any potential Fundraising suggestions. ELW June Strawberry Fest meeting: Join us on June 13, 2015 at 10:00am in the Fellowship Hall for our June To keep the giving count on track, please mark your contributions Strawberry Fest. We'll have the business meeting, for "the Roof" on the line of your giving envelopes which says Fellowship and Strawberries. Please bring an item for "OTHER", and do go "above and beyond" by making your roof the Friends in Need Foodbank. Children will be out of contribution in addition to, your regular giving. school soon. Items with protein are always needed. Also, it might be a fun idea to start a Loonie- ELW Bible Study: June 2, 2015, 7:30 pm at Sarolta Twoonie St. Paul's Roof jar at home. Labels are house. All are welcome. available for just this purpose, so be sure to pick one up in the Fellowship Hall after church. Either Have a restful summer with family and friends. myself or another member of Council will be happy to give you one! Every little bit helps and Love is the kindness of generous ways, adds up quicker than you might think! Love is the comfort that soothes our days, Love is the greatness of blessings to give, In closing I would just like to thank everyone who has already Love is a beautiful way to live. financially supported this campaign, has come by the table to talk to me, offered suggestions, or are working on their plan to Emily Matthews participate.

God's Love Shines Through You With prayerful intention and knowing your hand is leading us dear Lord, we go forth in faith. Respectfully submitted by Laura Thank you, Dick

Choir Notes for June

We Had our last choir practice for the season May 21 and enjoyed a snack together after a short practice. We have had a good Spring session and look forward to September 10th as start up for the fall session unless otherwise noted.

We will enjoy the summer off. However , We would welcome either instrumental or voice solos, duets or ensembles for summer Sundays. To pick your Sunday phone either Barbara or Sharlyn . St Paul’s Sunday School May each day find you with a song in your June 2015 heart, Barbara MC Thank you to all our Sunday School staff for another productive year!

Your commitment to the children and youth of St Paul’s is greatly appreciated and I pray you all have a wonderful summer! Please keep our teachers in your prayers:

Bob Kellie Dick Dawn The following is a cursory list of monthly themes that we Shawna will introduce:

**Note: Children and youth will be all given special fund- Volunteerism in the community Volunteerism in the congregation raising “boxes” to assist in the Raise The Roof Campaign. Stewardship of creation These will be provided over the month of June and again Stewardship of money, tithing, percentage giving in September. Canadian Lutheran World Relief (CLWR) Justice issues Sunday School begins again, September 13th! The following two examples will give you an idea of how we will celebrate our year of grateful living on a monthly basis:

September: Stewardship of Creation Upcoming Street Ministry Dates theme introduced on Sunday, September 6, 2015 th Friday, June 19 October: Stewardship of money (Tithing month) theme introduced on Sunday, October 4, 2015

A YEAR OF GRATEFUL LIVING! Once again, we hope to make this a fun and creative year in which we can celebrate the totality of stewardship, that we St. Paul’s has a Stewardship Committee (Charrise, Linda, Sarolta might be co-creators with God, living out God’s reign of justice & Pastor Roland); this group has been working hard this spring to and gentleness. develop a stewardship program for the year that we hope will be fun, creative and not just focused on money!

Christian Stewardship refers to the responsibility that Christians have in maintaining and using wisely the gifts that God has Bernd Kaufmann bestowed. God wishes human beings to be God’s collaborators in Memorial Bursary the work of creation, redemption and sanctification. This collaboration includes a wide range of efforts that draw upon our Is awarded to a student who is pursuing post-secondary education. individual and corporate time, talent and treasure. Preference given to students planning studies in Bible/religious We are putting together a year-long stewardship emphasis education/Church work, but is open to any Post-secondary student. entitled, “A Year of Grateful Living.” To apply, please write a letter stating: On the first Sunday of each month, we will introduce the stewardship theme for the month. We will mark this theme in our 1. Current education and/or work status. worship by handing out a coloured ribbon to visually remind you of 2. Intended course of studies & school planning to attend. the stewardship theme. Scripture readings, sermons, temple talks, 3. Church & community involvement. table talks in the fellowship hall after worship and additional visual 4. Brief statement outlining how the award would help achieve aids will all contribute to the stewardship theme. educational goals.  engaging God’s mission in our neighbourhoods with simple Deadline to apply is July 31, 2015 experiments,  reflecting on the outcomes of these experiments, learning from them, and devising new mission experiments. Glenwood Elementary Hot Lunch Program St. Paul’s already has some individuals who are willing Our last meal for the school year will be Tuesday to be a part of our Guiding Team, but we need MORE TEAM June 16. A signup sheet will be available on the PLAYERS. If you would like to learn more about this Narthex counter. exciting initiative, please talk to Pastor Roland!

Thanks to all our supporters and volunteers over the More information is available on the website: past school year. We have provided lunch once a http://themissionalnetwork.com/ month to approximately 25 very appreciative students. Videos are available to describe the process at: http://bcsynod.org/renewal-redevelopment-2/

Join St. Paul’s Guiding Team! St. Paul’s is registered to enter a process of Renewal and Redevelopment, with a number of other Lutheran Church Drainage Project congregations in the British Columbia Synod. We need to form a Guiding Team in order to take advantage of this wonderful initiative. Where does all that rainwater go? The initiative invites congregations into a process of It should be draining away into the catch basins & exploring new ways of seeing God’s Spirit working in the sewer but for a number of years, it has just been pooling church and our neighbourhoods, listening for how God is on the roof and overflowing on the ground because of inviting us to join in this work, and developing skills and stopped-up drains! Imagine that! experimenting with new ways of being active in Christ’s Our friend Mike, of Helping Hands Services has mission together. offered to undertake a major overhaul of the drainage People who form our Guiding Team will be invited on a system around the church. Doing this BEFORE we go to journey of: the expense of replacing the flat roof will alleviate the  disciplined reflection on the scriptures’ call to discipleship, problem of water sitting on that flat surface and prolong  drawing out and collecting stories about the ways in which the life of the roof – when we get to it! God has brought their congregation abundant life in the past So…. Over the next few weeks & into the summer, and is equipping it for mission now, you will see existing drains & parts of the parking lot  exploring the neighbourhoods where our churches are located being dug up to lay pipes to drain the water into the catch and the neighbourhoods in which we live, basin in the middle of the parking lot outside the back door. Two new catch basins are also to be installed to help drain all that water away into the city sewers. All possible safety measures will be taken and disruption of normal activities at the Church kept to a minimum but please bear with Mike & his crew as they take on this tremendous project which is long overdue.

A Message from your Admin Committee