MARCH 2016
because of love
A COMMUNITY IN THE MODEL OF CHRIST Contents
CONTENTS 2 SERVING 11 FROM THE PASTOR 3 SHARING 12 NEW BEGINNINGS 4 THANK YOU 13 GOD’S CALL + OUR VISION 5 MILESTONES 14 DEEPENING COMMUNITY 6 SOCIAL JUSTICE 10
Below: The congregation gathers around a fire during last year’s Easter Vigil.
Our community, our calling.
• Katherine Hawks, Pastor • Gretchen Mertes, Pastor • Karen Lee, 11 a.m. Traditional Worship & Music Director • Don Boelter, Parish Administrator • Nancy Oldenkamp, O ce Assistant & Interim Communications Specialist • Jennifer Stock, Publication Designer • Hannah Wetter, Nursery Care Provider
2400 NW 85th St. • Seattle, WA 98117 • 206 783 7900 • www.ourredeemers.net FROM THE PASTOR I decided a long time ago my subject here would be our new congregational theme: Because of God’s love ...Or just, Because of love . But I’m finding it hard to get any traction. Such a big word, “love.” And such an amorphous phrase, “God’s love.” And it’s such a stretch from “God’s love” to my own reasons for doing anything...much less, doing something “because” of God’s love. How can we take it in—God’s love? I find that I can grasp, or be grasped by God’s love only one moment at a time. One interaction at a time. One inspiring quote, one newborn baby, one unexpected kindness, one sinful act forgiven—at a time. One glimpse of nature’s beauty. One courageous stand for justice. One breath of deep peace. One person finding new life...a moment at a time. We can all call to mind and heart such glimpses of grace, eh? What allows us to believe these moments have to do with God’s love, though? What connects the dots of these separate experiences? All God can do is Simple answer: The story of Jesus. His life. His ministries. His give God’s love. compassion. His pain. His death. His resurrection. You see—Love can’t exist in a vacuum. Love isn’t random. —Bro. Roger of Taize Love is always part of a story. And Jesus’ story tells us God is engaged with us and our world—because God loves us. It’s a mystery, this love God has for us. We can’t take it in, but each Holy Week we go as deep as we can into it by way of Jesus’ story. Jesus forcefully reminds us we are already “in relationship” with God. We are beloved. Retracing the events of Jesus’ last days gives us a chance to connect some dots between the huge mystery of God’s grace and our own lives. One moment at a time—Jesus’ passion opens the thorny, convoluted, messy, half dead parts of our inner selves to God... And we find ourselves, even at our lowest and darkest, loved and cherished. We find we can be changed. We can become able to love and serve others. We can be part of God’s love story of bringing the kingdom and healing the world. Enter deeply into the mystery of God’s love for you by taking in as many of the Holy Week services as you can (see page 8). Because of God’s love…
—P K H ( [email protected] ) Artwork by Freepik BECAUSE OF LOVE...NEW BEGINNINGS Everyone can be a part of the 24-hour Good Friday Prayer Vigil Once again we will have a prayer vigil in our sanctuary as a part of our Holy Week observance. During the evening and night, candles on the cross from the Good Friday service will still be burning. Some folks sit by those candles and pray. Inside the prayer chapel, there will be prayer requests, Bible passages, thoughts on prayer, and more candles you can light. Spending an hour in these settings is truly worthwhile and will add meaning to your Easter joy. If you cannot be at the church, you can also pray at home during your hour. The vigil will begin at noon on Good Friday and continue throughout the night until noon on Saturday. To participate, look for the sign up sheet in the lobby. Sign up early so you can get your favorite time period. Another way to participate is by making a prayer request for someone or something important to you. These written requests will be gathered so that they will be remembered in prayer during the vigil. Look for special lavender postcard sized prayer requests cards in the lobby.
Join the Journey Our annual new member orientation continues to be an excellent time of conversation, questions, and information about Our Redeemer’s and Lutherans as a whole. Not to mention the great snacks! Everyone is welcome to join us on Sundays at 4 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall. The Journey runs until March 20, and culminates in the celebration of the Easter Vigil at 7 p.m. on March 26.
4 The Visitor March 2016 BECAUSE OF LOVE...GOD’S CALL + OUR VISION
The Vision Aligned Building (VAB) team needs your input j SUN, MARCH 13 AFTER THE 2ND SERVICE (12:30 TO 3:30 P.M.) At the congregational meeting on Jan 31, those in Inviting attendance voted overwhelmingly in favor of approving spending on architecture and design fees with Susan Jones People In of atelierjones llc (Seattle). On Sunday, March 13, there will be another important Deepening meeting to get your input. Our architect will be facilitating a discussion to hear your hopes and dreams Community for church are as we move forward with the building goals outlined in the strategic plan. Food will be provided. Transforming If you weren’t able to attend the 1/17, 1/24, or 1/31 congregational meetings and would like copies of the hand Spirituality outs or have any other questions related to the Vision Aligned Building project, please email the VAB team at VAB@ ourredeemers.net .
Our Redeemer’s Lutheran Church 5 BECAUSE OF LOVE...DEEPENING COMMUNITY
Women’s Retreat: The Seasons of a Faith Life j MAY 20–22, ST. ANDREW’S RETREAT HOUSE In baptism God calls us to a daily and life long vocation: loving and serving our neighbors near at hand and far away. The particulars of our vocations are shaped by our gi s, our circumstances, and the seasons of our life. Are you in a season of transition? A fruitful or fallow season? Where might God be calling you...now? Come, let us explore these and other questions together during a time of rest, prayer, reflection, and refreshment. Cost: $260 (room and meals included). A $50 deposit is due at time of registration. Balance is due one week prior to the retreat (May 13). Registration deadline is May 1. Last year, we were able to fund three full scholarships from congregational sources that are not available this year. This year, our budget covers two half scholarships. If you would like to help increase that fund by 5, 50, or a billion dollars so that anyone and everyone in our congregation can attend, please include that donation with your registration check. Any questions? Contact Pastor Gretchen at pastor. [email protected] .
OUR SPEAKER: REV. SUSAN BRIEHL Susan Briehl is a Lutheran pastor called by the Indiana Kentucky Synod to serve the greater church as a teacher, writer, and liturgist. Previously she served with her husband Martin Wells as Executive Director of Holden Village, as campus pastor at Pacific Lutheran University, and as pastor of Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church in Bellingham, WA. She has taught preaching and parish worship at Wartburg Seminary. She has written numerous hymns, worship songs, liturgical texts, and books, including On Our Way: Christian Practices for Living a Whole Life, edited with Dorothy Bass (Upper Room), Holden Prayer around the Cross: A Guide to the Liturgy , with Tom Witt (Augsburg), and, with Marty Haugen, Turn My Heart: A Sacred Journey; Unfailing Light: An Evening Setting of Holy Communion; and Santo: A Bilingual Setting (GIA). She lives in Spokane, WA.
6 The Visitor March 2016 Madonnas book group Our book for March is The Invention of Wings By Sue Monk Kidd. We don’t have a date or hostess yet. Contact Margaret Wetter ([email protected] ) for more information. All women are welcome.
Confirmation Camp j JULY 25–29 Held at Camp Lutherwood on beautiful Lake Sammish, our annual Confirmation Camp is for all youth going into 7th, 8th or 9th grade. Electronics recycling j SAT, MAY 14, 9 A.M.–3 P.M. Support our planet and drop o your used Theology on Tap electronics items for recycling in our parking lot. And...support our youth who are facilitating j MARCH 22, 7 P.M. the event with a donation to the Our Explore your faith by engaging in group Redeemer’s Youth Fund. discussions of timely topics in an informal setting. Alcoholic and non alcoholic beverages available. Prevous subjects have included the intersection of race, class and worship, and the influence of social media. For this month’s topic and meeting place, contact Dave Eicke ([email protected] ).
Lenten silent prayer & communion Ground & center your spirit
Thursdays in the Sanctuary at 6 p.m.
Our Redeemer’s Lutheran Church 7 BECAUSE OF LOVE...DEEPENING COMMUNITY
Vacation Bible School j JULY 11–15 Save the dates!
8 The Visitor March 2016 Earthcare Retreat j APRIL 22, 23 & 24, PACIFIC BEACH RECREATION CENTER A weekend dedicated to this Earth that has been entrusted into our care. Engage in discussion and fellowship, and help to save Washington’s Pacific Coast from the harm of marine debris by participating in the Washington Coast Cleanup. Deanna Carter, Tricia Kloth and Gabe Jones at last year's retreat. SCHEDULE
Fri, April 22 Sat, April 23 Sun, April 24 • Check in as early as 4 p.m. • 7:45 a.m.—Breakfast • 8 a.m.—Breakfast • Dinner on your own • 9 a.m. to Noon—Beach • 9 a.m.—Worship • 7 p.m.—Optional movie cleanup* • Check out by 11 a.m. • Lunch on your own** • 2:30 p.m.—Retreat session • 6 p.m.—Dinner
*Please bring boots, appropriate clothing and gloves (required) for picking up trash. **There may be a free barbecue sponsored by Washington CoastSavers; location to be announced.
All meals are bu ets. We have reserved several cottages overlooking the ocean. Each cottage has multiple bedrooms—some with a queen bed; some with two twin beds; some with a set of bunk beds. Unless you have a party of more than seven people, your party will share a cottage with others. We will have supervised activities for children during the Saturday a ernoon retreat session. Families are encouraged to attend!
COST REGISTRATION DEADLINE Scholarships are available! Please do not let Please register by March 18. Sign up forms the cost prevent you from attending. are available at church and on our website. • $125 per adult double occupancy Questions? Please ask a member of the planning • $175 per adult single occupancy team: John ( [email protected] ) & Linda • $100 per child ([email protected] ) Ellingboe, Joshua Liljenstolpe ([email protected] ), Candace Todd Robbins • Maximum per family: $400 ([email protected] ) or Margaret If you wish to reserve an entire cottage or an Wetter ( [email protected] ). RV spot, or purchase meals only, please ask a member of the planning team for costs.
Our Redeemer’s Lutheran Church 9 BECAUSE OF LOVE...SOCIAL JUSTICE
New social justice meetings: Soup and Substance In an e ort to create a well rounded and informed Social Justice sta position at Our Redeemer’s in the very near future, Mark Buening and I are working together to host a series of soup suppers this Lent. You will find sign up sheets in the fellowship hall for a meal with six other Our Redeemer’s members at a host’s home. Intentional conversations will be cultivated on di erent areas of social justice, what our passions are, where folks are already involved both inside and outside our church community, and what areas need additional attention. We are hoping for a wide swath of people to attend, so don’t be shy to sign up. If you have questions, concerns, or would like to host or participate, contact me, Pastor Gretchen, at [email protected]. Hammond House expands and relocates to North Seattle Hammond House, a Compass Housing Alliance women’s shelter, opened the doors of its new facility at Woodland Park United Methodist Church on January 6. The shelter provides a safe, warm place to sleep for homeless women. In its previous location downtown, Hammond House provided 40 beds; the move means an addition of 20 beds—from 14,600 beds a year to 21,900 beds a year for women in crisis. Most women stay much longer than one night. The guests of Hammond House are served dinner when they arrive at 6 p.m., and have the opportunity to take a hot shower and eat breakfast at the shelter the following morning. Case management and support service personnel help visitors address barriers to overcoming homelessness. To finance Hammond House, Compass Housing Alliance received a combination of funds and support from the City of Seattle, United Way of King County, Schultz Miller, Inc., King County DCHS and Lifelong Aids Alliance. For more information, visit www.compasshousingalliance.org .
10 The Visitor March 2016 BECAUSE OF LOVE...SERVING
Faith Formation position: hiring update You’ve been hearing about our work to fill our Faith Formation position. Maybe you’re asking yourself, what does a Faith Formation coordinator do? The short answer is they lead our ministries for the first third of life: children, youth, and young adults (for more details, we would be happy to share the job description with you). Our search process is taking longer than we expected. The Faith Formation Team brought a candidate out to Seattle last month for an in person interview. Many of you met Amanda, and while we found her to be bright and congenial, a er much thought, prayer, and conversation, we discerned that she was not the ideal fit for Our Redeemer’s. Steven Rystrom In order to give the team a break, and make sure that this vital ministry is well cared for in the mean time, we have o ered an interim position to Steven Rystrom in a part time capacity. Steven has spent a great deal of time at Camp Lutherwood working with kids, and leading their adventure course curriculum. I’m excited that he will be helping us out, and giving the Faith Formation Team a little breathing room as we prepare to begin the search again. We are anticipating re posting the position and beginning interviews again a er Easter. Thank you for your patience with this process! Peace,
—P G
Our Redeemer’s Lutheran Church 11 BECAUSE OF LOVE...SHARING
Our Redeemer’s Annual Auction That"s Amore!
j SAT, MAY 14TH AT 5 P.M. (NOTE CHANGE OF DATE) EASY MONKEY TAPHOUSE, 17537 15TH AVE NE, SHORELINE, WA 98115 Join us for our eleventh annual auction supporting the ministries of Our Redeemer’s. A great evening is being planned! Bring a friend (or two)—this is a wonderful way to introduce new people to our church community. Tickets will be available for purchase online in April, at a cost of $50 per person. There are many ways to support the auction. We need donations of appetizers to pass around during cocktail hour, wine, beer and dessert for the Dessert Dash. We also need items for the live auction.Usually these are experiences—boat rides, sailing trips, dinner at your home— your imagination and generosity are welcome! Tickets to sporting events, the theater, and the symphony are also well received. Please submit information about auction items to Jodi Somm at [email protected] , and contact Pastor Gretchen at [email protected] to volunteer. Thank you!
12 The Visitor March 2016 BECAUSE OF LOVE...THANK YOU
Send Visitor submissions to Nancy OldenKamp at o ce@ ourredeemers.net
Miguel and Maria's Helping Hands Thanks to the entire congregation of Our Redeemers, Boeing Medical and two friends named Martha Gibson Wolfe and Paula Hastala we raised $1300.00. I am awed by all of your generosity. I never knew when we asked for help that this would happen. I learned a tremendous amount about letting people help throughout this project. The children and the Tulalip community will benefit greatly by your generosity. I hope to share more about this experience a er the clothes are delivered. My son Miguel, Paula, and Martha are going to deliver the clothes with me. Stay tuned for more information soon about this project.
—M M
Our Redeemer’s Lutheran Church 13 MILESTONES
March Birthdays
Marcia Cayton 1 Sam Johnson 12 Gillian Knight 24 Max Germann 1 Adam Frantz 14 Brian Kreshel 25 Sissel Peterson 1 Kirsten Longaker 14 Greg Moore 25 Addi Mertes 3 Elizabeth Buening 17 Diana Myers 25 Latife Neu 3 Nancy Paulson 17 Raisa Loboda 27 Kyra Ege 4 Nathan Richmond 17 Mary Peters 27 Dave Osborn 4 Patsy Baker 18 Dave Skar 27 Julie Vannoy 4 Ashley Dougherty 18 Marilyn McKenzie 28 Jolyn Mason 5 Colin Johnson 18 Bill Anderson 29 Ada Meyer 5 Jonathan Shekhar 18 Ella Kleiss 29 Kelly Ohm 6 Earl Ecklund 19 JD Forssen 31 Orv Anderson 7 Lainie Malone 19 Jack Kleiss 31 Evan DeTurk 8 Sean Hendricks 20 Owen Watkins 29 Joseph Gibson 8 Jim Arnold 21 Bill Mattson 9 Josh Miles 21 Russ Oberg 9 Tom Bernard 22 Daylight Saving Thelma Hoveland 10 Derek Brown 22 Mary Simpson 10 Paul Ingram 23 Time begins at Nikki Bruzzichesi 12 Sammy Ellis 24 2 a.m. on Sun, March 13
14 The Visitor March 2016 MARCH LENTEN THEME ~ Bulletin announcements are due by noon on Wednesdays ( [email protected] )~ Because Newsletter articles are due by the first Friday of each month ([email protected] ) Of Love
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
1 2 7:00am MenÕs 3 1:30pm Staff 4 5 Breakfast Meeting 1:30pm Folders 9:00am (Original Pancake House) 5:30pm Earth Care (Library) Traditional 10:30am Bible Study Team Meeting Worship Team SAINT PETER 6:00pm Lenten Mtg. 6:00pm Middle School Centering Prayer Choir 7:00pm ~ Informal 6:30pm Jr. Choir Music 7:00pm Adult Choir Ensemble Rehearsal
6 4 th Sunday in Lent 7 8 9 Weekly Announcements 10 10:00am Staff 11 12 9:00am Informal Worship/KidÕs Due Meeting 1:30pm ~ Folders 9:00am Finance Church Pastor HawksÕ 9:00am Exec. (Library) (Library) Team Room 10 10:00am Looking @ the Lessons Sabbath Committee Mtg 6:00pm Lenten 1:30PM Animate 10:00 Confirmation Workshop 9:00am-noon 10:30am Bible Study Centering Prayer Practices (House 10:09am High School SAINT PETER Group ) Conversations Quilters 6:00pm Middle School 7:00pm ~ Informal 10:10am 6 th Grade Connect (Rm. Choir Music 10) 6:30pm Jr. Choir Ensemble Rehearsal 11:00am Traditional Worship 7:00pm Adult Choir (Fellowship Hall) 3:00pm Bell Choir Rehearsal 4:00pm The Journey
13 FOOD BANK SUNDAY/ 5th Sunday 14 15 16 Weekly Announcements 17 18 19 in Lent Pastor HawksÕ Due 1:30pm Folders Retreat 9:00am Informal Worship/Family Sabbath 6:30 Church 10:30am Bible Study 9:00am Road2Housing (Library) Continued Sabbath 9:00am-noon Council Bible SAINT PETER Mtg 10:00am Looking @ the Lessons Quilters Study & 6:00pm Middle School 1:30pm Staff Meeting 7:00pm Overnight 10:09 High School Conversations Choir 6:00pm Lenten Elementary Retreat th ------Meeting 10:10am 6 Grade Connect Class (Library) 6:30pm Jr. Choir Centering Prayer at Camp Lutherwood 11:00am Traditional Worship ------7:00pm Adult Choir 7:00pm ~ Informal 3:00pm Bell Choir & Orchestra SUNDAY 3/13 Music Rehearsal 12:15pm Ensemble Rehearsal 4:00pm The Journey Vision-Aligned 7:15pm Lectio Divina (Library) Building (VAB) 8:00pm Compline Service Congregational Input Meeting 2400 NW 85th Street NON-PROFIT ORG Seattle, WA 98117 www.ourredeemers.net US POSTAGE PAID 206 783 7900 SEATTLE, WA PERMIT #587
return service requested
WEEKLY SUNDAY WORSHIP 9 a.m. & 11 a.m. Kid’s Church at 9 a.m. Compline 8 p.m. on the 2nd Sunday of the month
This Easter season, sign up...
• To attend the Maundy Thursday soup supper • To participate in the 24-Hour Prayer vigil (page 4) • To make a prayer request for the Vigil (page 4) • To make a donation for Spring flowers to honor a loved one (see special envelopes at worship)