THE MACEDONIAN October 2019 Year 2019 Volume10 For those who may not have seen it, below is the article taken from the M a c e d o n i a Times-News. What wonderful history of our church! Evangelical L u t h e r a n By Times-News Posted Sep 21, 2019 at 2:01 AM 421 W. Front St Macedonia Lutheran Church, 421 W. Front St., Burlington, is celebrating its 150th Burlington, NC anniversary this year. 336-227-5554 Its 300-plus members began the festivities with a “vintage” service in June using the 1867 liturgy. The congregation threw a birthday party Aug. 14, the date in 1869 of its INSIDE THIS ISSUE recognition by, and reception into, the N.C. Synod. Message from 150th 1 The church began in 1869 in the area that later became Mayfair Mills, under the Anniversary Committee leadership of Gideon L. Greeson, a teacher in Company Shops. The Synod was Youth Page 2 meeting at that time at Friedens Lutheran Church north of Gibsonville, and Greeson, Augustus Graeber, and Deider Berheim appealed for acceptance of this Olympiad Help Needed 2 group of 39 Lutherans as a new church. At a special session Aug. 14, 1869, at Salem Lutheran Church in Rowan County, the church was received. Council Notes 3 Music at Macedonia 4 & 5 In February 1874, the N.C. Railroad deeded the church 6¾ acres across the tracks. In 1879, the congregation built its first sanctuary, a 36- by 22-foot building. The Care Ministry 6 & 7 congregation turned the building in 1895 to face Front Street, and purchased adjoining property. Christmas Cheer 8 WELCA Fall Gathering 9 Growth spurred planning for a new sanctuary, and in 1909 the congregation moved into the new building, much of which was built by its own members. The first Community Meal 10 Vacation Bible School was held in 1931. Baby Shower 10 The education building was finished in 1954 and is still in use. All activities moved Oktoberfest 10 there in 1962 as the sanctuary deteriorated. Birthdays 10 The present sanctuary was complete by February 1965. It features a stone reredos and an 18-foot cross. The 500-pound bronze bell, struck in 1874, might be the oldest Special Sunday School Program 11 church bell in use in Burlington. Second Sunday Harvest 11 Over the years the church has helped community groups and organizations get started, Special Thank You 11 such as the Celebration Singers, Friendship Center Adult Day Care, Allied Churches of Alamance County and Twin Lakes Community. Boy Scout Troop No. 39, chartered Memorials and Gifts 12 at the church in 1928, is one of the oldest Scout troops in the state. Stephen Ministry 12 The celebration continues this Sunday, Sept. 22 — homecoming — when Family Science Night 13 Bishop Tim Smith of the N.C. Synod, ELCA, will preach at the 10 a.m. worship Service Schedule 14 service. Festivities will conclude Oct. 20 with a percussion and organ concert at 5 p.m. Calendar 15 Staff Information 16 P a g e 2 Dates circled reflect meeting or event. Dates blacked out reflect no meeting scheduled. Youth will meet on the Our youth have been busy this past following dates: month serving a community meal, October 6, 6:00 PM-7:30 PM acolyte training and spending time with October 13, 6:00 PM-7:30 PM each other. We will meet on October 6 October 20, No Meeting as we continue to talk about friendship. On October 13 we will be October 27, 6:00 PM-7:30 PM packing backpacks for the Turrentine Backpack program. There will be no youth on October 20. We will meet on Save The Dates: Oct 27. 2020 If you would like to prepare a meal for our youth one evening and BYG- weekend retreat share in our highs and lows, please contact Jennifer Baker. She for 3-5 graders can be reached at [email protected]. We would love for you Camp Agape to come and spend some time with us. February 7-9 LYO- weekend retreat Science Olympiad Do you love.. for 9-12 graders problem solving? February 21-23 teamwork? engineering? math? BYGer- weekend retreat science? for 6-8 graders helping middle school students? Camp Agape If so, your help is needed with the upcoming Science Olympiad. Please contact Wendy Geise (Science Olympiad March 20-22 coach and TMS science teacher) [email protected] or call 336-570-6150 to speak with her about this exciting opportunity! THE MACEDONIAN Year 2019 Volume10 Page 3 Council Notes October 2019 After the 150th birthday party on August 14, it would be hard to imagine that the 150th Committee could top their previous efforts. Well, they did and then some with the Homecoming Celebration on September 22, 2019! Great worship, music, food, fellowship, and reuniting with old friends only means a GREAT Day! Thanks to all who were involved in providing such a memorable event. Speaking of memorable events, I hope you are planning to attend our final 150th celebration with a performance on October 20 at 5:00 pm. Our Director of Music, Sam Meares has been able to secure a very respected organ and percussion concert. Because of its quality and uniqueness, it is in high demand. I think it took Sam over 3 years to bring this event to Burlington and Macedonia. Because of the important role of music to our congregation, this will be a very fitting way to conclude our 150th celebrations. During the past year, we have been busy interviewing members that have come to Macedonia over the past 3 years. We were interested in what Macedonia could do to make visitors feel more welcome. While reviews were mostly favorable, the one consistent improvement noted was a visitor’s ability to find their way around our facility. Wayfinding was not clear and hard to navigate between parking and our two buildings. Developing new signage was set as one of the priorities of the Council this year. A signage group, headed by Grover Moore, was given the task. Their finding was presented and approved by Council at our September 12 meeting. Soon you will see new directional signage at the entrances as well as wayfinding signs in the Educational building and Sanctuary. Many thanks to the group for their hard work in this effort. October is traditional “Budget” month for the Finance Committee and the Council. The work accomplished will be presented at our congregational meeting on November 10, 2019. The proposed budget is a glimpse of the ministry that our congregation will provide in 2020. When you receive a copy later in the month, I hope you will take the time to pray for our congregation. And as you study the budget you will ask “How can I be involved in the ministry proposed, both in terms of talent, time, and treasure? Can I do just a little more?” This congregation has been successful for 150 years because of God’s love and blessing, and the commitment and stewardship of our members. 2020 will be no different. God Bless, Charlie Harris Page 4 ORGANIZED RHYTHM Sunday, October 20, 2019 at 5:00 PM Macedonia Lutheran Church, 421 West Front Street, Burlington, NC Clive Driskill-Smith, Organist Joseph Gramley, Percussionist A Gala Reception follows in Luther Hall Since the fall of 2004, concert audiences across the United States have been brought to their feet by a pairing of musical personalities as improbable and winning as Organized Rhythm’s combination of the pipe organ and percussion. British organist Clive Driskill-Smith, trained at Eton and Oxford, whose solo performances in England and America have earned him recognition as one of his generation’s star organists, is wry and reserved—until he lets loose an astonishing battery of effects at the keyboard. He’s complemented in Organized Rhythm by the athletic movement of Joseph Gramley, a physically towering Oregon native whose own crowd-pleasing solo concerts and work with Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble have made him one of the leading multi-percussionists performing today. This powerful and harmonious duo presents what has been described as “…an exciting two-hour musical adventure, [offering] startling clear insight into what makes a live performance good, and why good live performances are important for us...passion, technical mastery, and precision...two young musicians doing what they clearly love--making music, not just for themselves, but for us as well." (The Granite State News, Wolfeboro NH) Trumpet and organ: it’s been done before. Flute and organ: it’s been done before. But the “mini-orchestra” pairing of organ and percussion remains a rarity, making Organized Rhythm the only full-time, or at least fully-active, duo of its kind anywhere in the world. The Organized Rhythm duo takes every opportunity to deeply explore the lyrical and powerful tonal aspects of thunderous and dulcet wood and metal organ pipes married to the visceral, arresting, and delicate aspects of a wide array of percussion instruments from around the world through a collection of new works as well as transcriptions of recognizable classical compositions. Their repertoire spans from the music of J.S. Bach and Camille Saint-Saens to that of Aaron Copland and celebrated and innovative 21st century composer Nico Muhly, with the duo’s adaptation of Gustav Holst’s The Planets being their signature, and most frequently requested, performance piece. Listeners to the duo’s first CD recording, Beaming Music, will hear cymbals and drums breaking through the full organ’s sound as satisfyingly as any trumpet, and the duo has found balances in which even the soft bars of the marimba meld seamlessly with the organ’s softest registers.