Children of God

Happy 6th Day of Christmas!

We're busy getting those "end of the year" things done here in the CtK office. Good times!!

And like every week, it's sermon preparation time!

Here's the latest comic from Agnus Day, a fun lectionary comic I subscribe to by email. The Gospel reading this Sunday is John 1:10-18.

Enjoy!

Agnus Day appears with the permission of www.agnusday.org

Happy 5th Day of Christmas!

While I was out running a few errands yesterday, the woman ahead of me in the checkout line commented to the checker, "I'm sure glad Christmas is over." I said, "It's not over. Christmas lasts until the 5th of January. Today's just the fourth day of Christmas." Oh how she glared at me...

I hope your celebrations of Christmas continue, even if you're back to work, back on the road, or "back to reality." The incarnation of God is something to celebrate ALL the time. And probably even more necessary when all the glitz of the season is gone. (Yes, they're putting out Valentines at Target).

Just a couple of reminders for this week: We host the Gallatin Valley Interfaith Association Labyrinth Walk on Thursday night, New Year's Eve. An hour for children and families is scheduled from 7-8pm, and then for adults from 8pm-1am. Walking a labyrinth is a great tool for prayer and meditation, particularly as we embark on the journey of a new year and decade.

Also, we're back to our regular worship and Sunday School schedule on Sunday, with services at 8:30 and 11am and Sunday School at 9:45am. Invite your friends and family to join you!

Greeting from Lutheran Campus Ministries in Montana

Another Christmas greeting - from Campus Pastors Tim Spring (MSU) and John Lund (U of M).

Don't forget to invite your friends and family to join you for worship tonight at 6pm or 9pm - and tomorrow morning at 11am.

A blessed Christmas!

Christmas Greetings

Merry Christmas (almost)!
Christmas Eve worship here at CtK will happen at 6pm and 9pm. We also have a service on Christmas Day at 11am. And don't forget there's ONLY ONE SERVICE this Sunday, the 27th, also at 11am.
May God bless us with trust in the presence of Christ this Christmas!

Here's the Christmas message from our Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson.

The First Annual Strike of the "Cookie Ninjas"

We had a great time last night, baking up a storm, getting silly with icing, wrapping plates of cookies and then making stealth deliveries all over town between 11pm and nearly 12:30am. We felt a little bit like spies or ninjas, getting let into very secure buildings after dark. All those night-shift folks who work to keep our community safe and cared for really appreciated the goodies. Way to go CtK youth!

Join us for caroling

If you want to lift your voice in song and bring a little Christmas cheer to patients and staff at Bozeman Deaconess Hospital, join us for a late afternoon of caroling on Saturday, December 19th at 4 p.m.

We will rendezvous at the main entrance (by the cafeteria and chapel) and travel from floor to floor. We plan to carol for one hour.

Weekend Events

It's a big weekend here at CtK...

The kids are gathering for their Christmas Program Rehearsal. And the program is tomorrow morning at 10am! It's going to be great, you don't want to miss it! (Plus, I remember how it was always neat when I was little to see lots of "church-people" at our Sunday School program, besides our parents. If you're in the show your parents pretty much have to show up, but the rest of the grown-ups? That's different. So please come and support our children and youth with your presence!)

One of the annual favorite fellowship events is tonight, the Candlelight Buffet, beginning at 6pm. Cost is $5, to cover the cost of the meant, and after that it's a potluck. Yours truly signed up to bring a dessert - there is baking in my very near future... Even if you didn't sign up, please come! Bring a favorite dish to pass: veggies, bread, dessert, potatoes, whatever. The white elephant gift exchange is always a riot, and the evening's entertainment is always fun, too.

Tomorrow is the Third Sunday of Advent - we'll be lighting three candles on the Advent wreath and hearing more about John the Baptist preparing the way for Jesus. See you in worship!

Earl, this one's for you...

Last Sunday my sermon began with a bit of an introduction to the Gospel according to Luke, since we're just beginning a new liturgical year with the season of Advent and our Gospel for the year is Luke. I know I covered a little more ground than was helpful for some folks - but several people also said they were actually going to go home and READ Luke. Not too bad. It is the longest of the gospels, but it's still only 24 chapters - you can do it!! I also promised to write a blog post with what I shared about Luke's Gospel, so here you go:

The same author who wrote Luke also wrote Acts, so it's not a bad idea to read them together. They were written anonymously, but tradition holds that a Gentile convert to Christianity, a physician named Luke wrote them. Luke was a companion of the apostle Paul (see Colossians 4:14, 2 Timothy 4:11 and Philemon 24) and in parts of Acts the narration shifts from third person to first person plural - "we." These passages are Acts 16:10-17, 20:5-15, 21:1-18 and 27:1-28:16.

The Gospel according to Luke can be outlined broadly in four sections plus the wonderful ending. Chapter 1 - the middle of chapter 4 tells of predictions of births (John and Jesus), the births (John and Jesus) and has people breaking into song all over the place- kind of like a Broadway musical.

The second section, from the middle of chapter 4 through chapter 9 tells about Jesus' ministry in Galilee.

The pivotal verse in Luke is 9:51, when Jesus "set his face to go to Jerusalem." From then on there's no turning back from the cross. Many of our favorite parables and stories about those Jesus came to save - the lost, least, little, last and dead - are told in this section, from 9:51 - to the middle of chapter 19.

From Luke 19:28 to the end of chapter 23 Luke tells about Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem, his last meal, betrayal, arrest, trial and execution.

Good thing the story doesn't end there! Chapter 24 tells about the empty tomb, men in "dazzling clothes," Jesus joining disciples on the road to Emmaus and his ascension into heaven.

Seriously, the best way to "get" the story is to read it! Or find someone to read it to you!

Other things that make this Gospel unique: the geneology of Jesus lets us know that Luke understands Jesus as the savior of ALL people, not just Jews, since he traces Jesus' lineage down to Adam (unlike Matthew, who starts with Abraham and gets to Jesus). In Luke, people call Jesus "Master," a Greek title, not "Rabbi," which means "teacher" in Hebrew.

All those rulers who get listed over and over are meant to help us know WHEN things happened, since there was more than one calendar operating at the time. Some are Roman rulers, some are Jewish political leaders, some are Jewish religious leaders.

I could keep going, but have a feeling I could get boring...
I suggest:
1. Read Luke
2. Then read Acts
3. If you don't have a study Bible with good introductions to each book and good foot notes, get one. I use The New Oxford Annotated Bible and The Lutheran Study Bible from Augsburg Fortress. Grant mostly uses the Harper Collins Study Bible.
4. If you're really intrigued, consider a commentary. Pastor Grant and I might be willing to loan you one...
5. Join a Bible study - and if we don't have one that fits your schedule, let me know and we'll start one that will!
6. Check out Enter the Bible, from Luther Seminary. It's a great site to learn more about the Bible generally, and specifc passages more particularly. And if you want to hear some of what we use in sermon preparation, check out Sermon Brainwave, also from Luther Seminary.

Rooted = Blogger of the Day at Pretty Good Lutherans

I just received an email from someone I'd never heard of, who writes a blog I'd never heard of, either: Pretty Good Lutherans. It is "an independent news site of veteran religion reporter Susan Hogan."
I have no idea how she found us, but there we are on the right under "ELCA BLOGGERS." Huh. Maybe I'll check out a few of the other ELCA-types who are writing in the blogosphere...

Lutherans and Scripture

The following article was written by Pastor Mark Gravrock, the Montana Synod Coordinator for the Book of Faith Initiative. I hope it helps you understand how it is we approach the Bible and read it, individually and together. It's also available as a pdf file if you'd like to download it.

How's your reading of the Gospel of Luke going?

Lutherans and Scripture by Mark Gravrock

As Lutherans read the Bible, we read with some important basic convictions:

• We are convinced that Scripture is God’s living, active Word.
• We are convinced that Jesus is the center of God’s living, active Word.
• We are convinced that the Holy Spirit is at work, both in inspiring the Word in the first place, and in helping us to hear and interpret it in ways appropriate to our lives today.
• We are convinced that God was involved in Israel’s story and the church’s story, and continues to be involved in our story today.

Here are some aspects of how Lutherans read the Bible, based on those convictions:
( Much of what follows is based on Mark Allan Powell’s and Diane Jacobson’s chapters in Jacobson, Powell, and Olson, Opening the Book of Faith: Lutheran Insights for Bible Study (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2008). Other paragraphs are my own formulations.)

Divine and Human: God seems to love to use earthly vehicles for carrying and conveying God’s own power and grace: Jesus himself is fully human and fully God. The sacraments use ordinary water, bread, and wine as vehicles of grace. The Bible is like that, too – fully human and fully God’s word. As a collection of human writings, it bears the marks of time, place, and personality, and can be studied with the aid of any tools appropriate for literature. As God’s own word, it is faithful, reliable, and trustworthy, and calls for our reverence, our commitment, and our obedience.

The Right Word for the Right Time: God’s word is contextual. While God’s purposes and plans are eternal, God also knows which message to speak for each season. This is because God is in real relationship with us, and knows what word we need at any given time. For example, the book of Amos is almost all judgment, because that’s the message Israel needed to hear in his day. Later, however, when God’s people were captive in exile, judgment was not what they need to hear; instead, God’s word for them was "Comfort, comfort my people" (Isa 40).

Historical Reading: Because God is involved with real people in real historical moments, and always knows the right message to speak for each season, we care about history as we read. Place and time make a difference in the Bible.

Change and Movement in Scripture: Again, God’s purposes for us are eternal. But because God is working with flesh‐and‐blood people in our concrete settings, God knows how to lead us at each moment in history. For example, when God commanded Abraham to sacrifice Isaac (Gen 22), the command may have felt horrible, but child sacrifice was not unusual in Abraham and Sarah’s culture. Later on, God makes it clear that human sacrifice is abhorrent, and God forbids it.

Change in God’s Law: By the same token, we can observe changes in God’s law as time goes on. Some examples: In Exod 21, male and female slaves are to be treated differently, but later Deut 15 insists that they be treated alike. In Deut 23.1 castrated men are banned from the worshipping assembly, but God reverses this in Isa 56.3‐5. In Mark 7.18‐20, Jesus cancels the food laws of Lev 11. Why are these changes important? They once again signal that God is in relationship with us, knows what his people are facing, and responds accordingly. That’s good news.

Jesus the Center: All scripture is inspired by God, and profitable for God’s purposes (2 Tim 3.16). At the same time, Lutherans believe that Scripture has a center: Jesus Christ. What Christ has done changes where we stand with God. For example, while Paul insists that the law is holy and good (Rom 7.12), he also announces that in Christ we are longer under the law (Gal 3.23 – 4.7, 5.16‐26).

Christ‐Centered Reading: "What Shows Forth Christ": In the Bible, all roads lead finally to Jesus. Because Lutherans see Christ as the center of Scripture, as we read any portion of the Bible we are listening for whatever reveals Christ, leads us to Christ, puts us in mind of Christ, or shows us our need of Christ.

Law and Gospel: Lutherans hear God’s voice in two modes throughout Scripture. Both modes are important. "Law" is God’s voice which accuses us, judges us, calls us to account, and makes us realized that we need a savior. "Gospel" is God’s voice that saves us, comforts us, forgives us, and declares steadfast love to us. We listen always for both voices as we read the Bible.

Devotional Reading: There are many different devotional approaches to Bible reading. What they have in common is the expectation that the Bible is God’s living, active word, and that the Holy Spirit encounters us in the text of Scripture as we approach in faith and trust. We read the Bible – both individually and together – expecting to hear the voices of law and gospel, and expecting to meet Jesus Christ.

The Plain Meaning of the Text: After centuries of elaborate and often fanciful interpretation of the Bible, Martin Luther came to insist that the basis for our interpretation is always "the plain meaning of the text." Passages are to be understood in the sense that would have seemed obvious to their original readers (p. 37). The plain meaning will usually depend on what kind of literature a given passage is: The "plain meaning" of biblical poetry will be different from the "plain meaning" of biblical history, and the "plain meaning" of a parable will be something different yet.

Literary Reading: Because the "plain meaning" of the text depends on what sort of literature each passage is, we learn about different kinds of literature in the Bible, and pay attention to the type of literature as we read and study.

A Community of Readers: Public Interpretation: Scripture does speak to us individually as we read and study it. The Holy Spirit uses the text of Scripture to address our individual lives. One problem, however, is that we are fallible people, and what we think we’re hearing in the Bible can easily be skewed. We need each other. We need the Holy Spirit operating in the whole Body of Christ to be sure that we are hearing God’s Word accurately. The personal, individual messages we find in the Bible ought finally to be in harmony with what the whole community of faith is hearing.

Scripture Interprets Scripture: We’ve seen throughout history how people can make the Bible say whatever they want: Just pick the right verses in isolation, and you can support just about any position. But Scripture is contextual, and one of its most important contexts is itself. That means that as we read Scripture we seek to read each verse in its own context, and in context of the flow of all of Scripture. In this way the crystal‐clear passages of Scripture will help us with the verses that are more difficult to understand, and we will come to understand each part of the Bible in the flow of God’s overall purposes.

ANOTHER great Advent Link

I just came across this great web site, The Crafty Crow, which has a bunch of super neat Advent Calendar ideas. We're only 5 days into December - it's not too late! And while The Crafty Crow calls itself a "children's craft collective," there are several projects on this site that look like fun to me. And it looks like they're celebrating Advent, one day at a time.

Enjoy!

Advent Links

Here are some interesting blog posts to check out during this season of Advent:

Last year, The House for All Sinners and Saints made a beautiful icon out of store ads for Christmas shopping. Check it out in the archives of Sarcastic Lutheran:

A beautiful blog by Jan Richardson, The Advent Door. I return to this nearly every day to help keep me grounded during the days of Advent.

A blogging friend of mine from seminary linked to this post from One Hand Clapping, which is quite thought provoking.

A post on Sustainable Holidays from The Non-Consumer Advocate. This blog is one of my favorites, because it helps me remember that my primary identity is NOT as consumer (despite what the world around me might say).

A post with haunting art, from faith as a way of life, the blog of Chris Schare, Luther Seminary professor (and one time member of CtK!!)

A podcast from Common Good Radio on faithful parenting amidst the pressures of the holiday season.

Enjoy!

Bozeman Christmas Stroll '09

Tomorrow is Saturday (wahoo!) and also the day of the annual Bozeman Christmas Stroll. CtK won't have a booth this year, but we WILL have strolling carolers... If you'd like to join the crew of carolers, meet in front of the Baxter Hotel at 6pm. Sheet music/lyrics will be provided, and depending on the weather we'll sing for 30-45 minutes or so as we stroll along Main Street. It's going to be tons of fun, you don't want to miss it!
The Christmas Stroll runs from 4:30-7:30pm, and there will be lots of opportunities to buy tasty dinner treats from one of over 30 non-profit food vendors, see Santa Claus, and check out the ginger bread house contest. For more information, check out www.downtownbozeman.org
Don't forget your hats and gloves - we'll see you there!

Advent Prayer

We gathered here at CtK last night for the first of three Wednesday evening soup suppers and services of Evening Prayer (the next two are December 9th & 16th, with dinner at 6pm and worship at 7pm). We use Holden Evening Prayer, a setting of the ancient vespers service, written by Marty Haugen. It is much loved, and quite beautiful. One of my favorite lines comes from his paraphrase of Mary's song, the Magnificat: "You have cast the mighty down from your thrones, and uplifted the humble of heart, You have filled the hungry with wondrous things, and left the wealthy no part."

It always makes me stop to think how it is that it is good news, and for whom it is good news. If you are one of the wealthy ones, I think it's pretty hard to hear - NO PART? And let's be honest, we are the wealthy ones. About this time of year, each year, I log on to the Global Rich List, a great site where you type in your annual income and it tells you how you compare to the rest of the world - talk about eye opening.
Here are some current examples: if you make $20,000 a year you are in the top 11.16% richest people in the WORLD.

If you make $30,000 a year you're in the top 7.16%.
If you make $40,000 - 3.17%.

$50,000 - 0.98% - among the richest 1% in the world.

Something to think about during this season of "I want...," "Gimme," and general over consumption in our culture.

The CtK staff put the ornaments on our Giving Trees yesterday - the good news is that all of the families in Family Promise had already been "adopted," so we're getting a little more creative, trying to meet some future needs for Family Promise (things like gift cards to Target, Wal-Mart, gas cards, games for use at their Day House and here at CtK) and current needs for Love, INC's Linen Closet (blankets) and Personal Care Pantry (everything from shampoo to deodorant to dish soap and laundry detergent). There are also a few ornaments listing needs we have here at CtK - coffee, copy paper, etc..

I know it's not as fun to go buy a 3 pack of Secret deoderant or a $25 gas card as it is to buy a winter jacket or teddy bear for a 3 year old named Tommy, but ALL of those gifts are needed.

Together we really do make a huge difference in our community.

Keeping Advent - and Christmas

Pastor Mark Morgenstern, pastor of Atonement Lutheran Church in Billings, Montana, included the following letter to the congregation in their December newsletter. While I don't always manage to read even a fraction of the newsletters from other congregations that come across our desks here at CtK, I do try to skim at least some of them.
Much like Pastor Mark, I get frustrated by the commercialism of the season in our country, and by the strange defensiveness that some of our brothers and sisters in Christ display during the days before Christmas. I, for one, need to be reminded to slow down and wait, watch and prepare for Christ's coming - not just as a baby, but today, and at the end of time. People get ready! Jesus is coming!

From Pastor Mark (whose wife, Maryann has a non-congregational call):
Last week Pastor Maryann shared an e-mail that she received at work. It was a poem to the meter of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. While I don't remember much of the poem, the writer moans and groans about how the government, the politicians, the ACLU. the public schools, the department stores and all those who promote political correctness are taking Christmas away from "US." I am assuming that the "US" are the good religious Christians in America. My intial reaction was to simply write this poem off as not worthy of my attention. The more I thought about it, however, the more frustrated I became with the author's point of view. You see, I don't think anyone can take Christmas away from us.
I've written before about Christmastime that my family usually refers to me as Scrooge because I get pretty cynical when it comes to the commercialization of Christmas. I must admit my alarm two days before Halloween when I was looking at Halloween stuff in Wal-Mart and heard the speaker system in the store playing Christmas music. This year I've gotten pretty sarcastic about the fact that retailers are so worried about the economy that they are moving Black Friday (you know, the Friday after Thanksgiving Day - the biggest shopping day of the year) up a week so as to try and make more profit. Who knows, before too long maybe Black Friday and Halloween will be celebrated as one big buying and begging day on the thirty-first of October! See, I told you I'm pretty sarcastic! But seriously, nobody can take Christmas away from us. We can only give it away when we give in to all the pressure to turn Christmas into the economic savior and allow the hubbub of the separation of Church and State get to us.
For example, we may not be allowed to sing religious Christmas carols at the school Christmas pageant, but no one can keep us from singing religious carols at home in the shower or at the dinner table, in our cars as we drive around town and look at the Christmas lights, or out on a mountain trail hunting for a Christmas tree. The big "box stores" (I won't mention any names) may tell their employees to say "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas," but no one
can keep us from replying to them with a cheerful "Merry Christmas!" We could even add a "Jesus loves you!" and we won't get arrested. Removing the creche from the lawn of the County Courthouse can't keep us from making a place for the baby Jesus in our hearts or in our homes. They (whoever they are) cannot take Christmas away from us.
Advent, the last two days of November this year, and the first 24 days of December are the time for us who strive to follow Jesus as his disciples, to get ready to celebrate his birth again. We can use these days as a time to fill our lives and our homes with the good news that God loves us so much that God came among us in Jesus so that we might know and experience God's forgiveness and love and live with the assurance of eternal life. We can use these days to read again the story of Jesus' birth in the gospels of Luke and Matthew. We can sing our carols at home around the dinner table. We can find ways to give of ourselves (as God has given God's self to us) rather than allow the culture around us to deceive us into thinking that spending more money on a gift means more love. As we seek to fill the 26 days of Advent with Jesus, we will come to Christmas moring blessed and we will have kept Christmas well!
God's blessings to you all - and Merry Christmas! Jesus loves you - that's what it's really all about.

How are you keeping the season of Advent this year? More tomorrow on ways to celebrate this season...

Our Lord says "Go!"

Last week Pastor Lindean shared a meditation at our weekly staff meeting on Matthew 28:16-20.

That passage from the Gospel according to St. Matthew is commonly known as "The Great Commission." In it, Jesus commands his disciples to "make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."

The following poem by the late teacher and theologian Gerhard Frost is unflinching in repeating the words of Jesus.

Our Lord Says, "Go!"

Our Lord says, "Go!"

and we take an opinion poll

or take another survey.

Our Lord says "Go!"

and we rewrite constitutions

and study bylaws.

Our Lord says "Go!"

and we fill out forms

in triplicate and blue and green.

Our Lord says, "Go!"

and we reorganize

what we just overorganized.

Our Lord says, "Go!"

and we volunteer for committees

or join discussion groups.

We know the words, but we don't dare.

We don't say yes, we don't say no, we temporize.

we don't refuse, we procrastinate

all with the rhetoric of love.

Our Lord still says, "Go!"

Video Message from Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson

Here's a brand new video from our Presiding Bishop. Hope you enjoy it!

Turkeys for the Food Bank

Did you see this article in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle yesterday? The Gallatin Valley Food Bank is in need of A LOT of turkeys. They estimate that they'll give out close to 2500 Thanksgiving food boxes this year, substantially more than last year. If you're out and about and buying a turkey for your family, consider buying one for the food bank, too!

Another great way to support the food bank this month is Huffing for Stuffing on Thanksgiving Day. There will be a Kid's Run at 8:10am, a 10K beginning at 9:00am and a 5K starting at 9:15am. All of the races start and finish at the Museum of the Rockies, and all of the proceeds from the events benefit the food bank ($21,600 was donated last year). Even if you don't want to run or walk, they need volunteers. Check it out!

Of course you can always give to the food bank through the congregation, with donated food or with funds (you can write a check to CtK and put food bank in the memo line and we'll make sure the $$ gets to the food bank for you).

Together we make a difference in the lives of hungry people!

Commitment Sunday

This coming Sunday, November 15th, is Commitment Sunday at CtK. I know commitment is a four letter word in some folks' vocabulary, but certainly not in a Christian's. We are people of a committed God, a God who sent his Son all the way to a scandalous death on a cross for our sake, and who sets us free to be committed to God and to each other in love.

And so you are invited to participate this Sunday, as a worshiper, a steward, a minister, a part of the fellowship of this community, a student of the Bible; participate as a baptized child of God committed to your own life of faith, to the life of this community, and to the sharing of God's love in the world. After all, that sharing is what we really are about. That's why we do the whole "Estimate of Giving" thing, so that the gifts we give as individuals and families are intentional and proportional, not just after thoughts.

We'll be giving thanks for all of our gifts on Sunday, the tangibles and the intangibles. We will be blessing the Operation Shoe Box boxes, Lutheran World Relief school kits, the shampoo purchased with this year's Sunday School offerings, and the quilts made by our quilters. We will be giving God thanks for the resources for our lives and asking God to make us generous as we work for the good of all God's children.

And in good Lutheran fashion, there will be a POTLUCK! Brunch will be served from 9:45-10:45am in the social hall; pancakes, sausages, juice and coffee will be provided. Bring one of your favorite breakfast dishes to share if you can, if you can't, just come and eat!

Middle School Retreat - PHOTOS!

Our middle school confirmation class had a retreat in the middle of October. You can check out some additional of the pictures from the event at the Lutheran Youth in Service blog.

MSU Lutheran Campus Ministry Update

Tim Spring, our campus pastor at MSU, sends occasional updates to students and those of us on the LSF (Lutheran Student Foundation) Board. Students are the target audience, of course, but since campus ministry is OUR ministry, I thought you might like an update on some of the latest from the Christus Collegium. Here's the latest update.

Also there is at least one MSU student who regularly participates in worship here at CtK who won't be able to go home for Thanksgiving due to his work schedule. Anybody planning an early Thanksgiving feast (he has to be at work at 4pm Thanksgiving Day) and willing to set an extra place and extend some Christian hospitality to a brother in Christ? Let me know!

Enjoy the snow today, and please remember to pray for all those who have to be out on the roads, especially those whose job it is to help us all stay safe.

Hate Free BoZone March & Rally

In response to recent white-supremacist activity by "The Creativity Movement" that has targeted the university community, local schools, and people of color, Bozeman United, a nonpartisan coalition of concerned citizens and organizations, will hold a march and rally THIS SUNDAY, November 1st. YOU ARE INVITED TO JOIN THE RALLY!!
Participants should assemble at 2:00pm at the corner of 8th and Cleveland (MSU campus) and will then march down 8th to Main Street for a rally at Willson School. You might consider parking downtown and then walking up to campus for the beginning of the rally.
Feel free to make signs or posters using the artwork above (designed by Brickhouse Creative - David Thompson, Abby McMillen, and Jessica Burch). And get the word out!

This is a great opportunity for those of us who follow Jesus to witness to the creation of ALL people in God's image.

Reformation Sunday

Reformation Day is always October 31st (the day Luther nailed the 95 theses to the castle church door in Wittenberg in 1517). We CELEBRATE Reformation Sunday on the last Sunday of October every year, which is THIS Sunday, October 25th.
Remember to wear red to worship as we celebrate not only the beginning of the Reformation almost 500 years ago, but also the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit in the church today.

A thought for you, from volume 26 of Luther's Works:
Let us thank God, therefore, that we have been delivered from this monster of uncertainty and that now we can believe for a certainty that the Holy Spirit is crying and issuing that sigh too deep for words in our hearts. And this is our foundation: The Gospel commands us to look, not at our own good deeds or perfection, but at God himself as he promises, and at Christ himself the Mediator. [God] says: 'I am giving my own Son into death, so that by his blood he might redeem you from sin and death.' 'Here I cannot have any doubts unless I want to deny God altogether. And this is why our theology is certain: It snatches us away from ourselves ... so that we do not depend on our own strength, conscience, experience, person or works but depend ... on the promise and truth of God, which cannot deceive.'

Photos from the 2009 Cardboard Box City

First, it was COLD! I am very thankful to have a warm, dry and comfortable place to sleep each night.

Second, THANKS - to everyone who donated money to Family Promise and to the folks who came down to check out the Parade of Boxes. It was nice to see so many folks there.

Third, THANKS - to Susie Siemsen, who remembered her camera and took a bunch of fantastic pictures. Here's a sampling:

Sleeping in a Box

Tonight is the 3rd Annual Cardboard Box City to raise funds for Family Promise of Gallatin Valley. While it's too late to register and sleep in your own box in Bogert Park, it's not too late to do something about homelessness right here close to home.

Come and check out the Parade of Boxes from 7:00-8:00pm tonight at Bogert Park. Donate to Family Promise. Get trained as a Family Promise Volunteer (Paula Beehler, CtK's Family Promise Coordinator, will be at the Cardboard Box City and would LOVE to hear you want to volunteer). Learn about the causes of homelessness here in Bozeman and around the US and world. Pray for those who are homeless; and pray for those who serve them.

See you at the park!

WARNING!

*This blog may contain photos and language that some will find offensive.

The old hatred is in our midst again.

A news article in the September 29th edition of the Bozeman Daily Chroncile reports that White Supremist groups are once again on the rise here in Montana.

Racist literature is being distributed through out Bozeman. Some pamphlets are being left at the library and at area businesses.

Lies are being told about our current president, fueled by fear and rage over the current economic situtation.

I take offense at the young man featured in the photograph for this blog. The language on his shirt causes my stomach to heave and my face to burn red.

Whatever side you fall on politically (and our political environment is becoming increasingly polarized) this act of "free speech" is really an act of hate speech.

Children learn to hate from their parents, and from the adults around them.

I commend you to make a commitment not to speak words of hate.

In our order for baptism there is a section of the service where we ask baptism candidates or their parents and sponsors these words "Do you renounce the forces of evil, the devil, and all his empty promises?"

We hope candidates, parents, and sponsors cry out "We do!"

When someone is attacked, whether its our president Barak Obama, or any other person of color, we all are demeaned, belittled, and made less than fully human.

A wise old Christian taught me when "you speak words of hate you are speaking against what God has created and has made in God's image."

When a Jewish synagogue was vandalized in 1994 in Eugene, OR I stood with 100 of my fellow citizens in solidarity with that community of faith. Collectively, we renounced racial hatred in our midst.

Let us once again, renounce the forces of evil, the devil, and all his empty promises.

And let's speak of God's love for a broken world.

Rising to the Challenge

We are close. We are SO close.

Every August-September Christ the King collects boxes of cereal to help hungry people who visit the Gallatin County Food Bank.

Last year we collected 200 boxes within two months.

This year we are SO close in meeting that total, and exceeding it.

Last year, Christ the King gave over $5800 to the ELCA World Hunger Appeal.
As of August 31,2009 we have collected over $4800. We are within $1000 of matching last year's total. I am confident we can surpass it.

You as a congregation have been so generous in your gifts of food and money to support hunger programs both here in Bozeman and globally.

Friends, we are SO close. Keep up the good work, for the sake of the hungry in our midst.

Online course at Harvard

One of my professors at Luther Seminary has posted a link to an online course on world religions being taught by Diana Eck (of Harvard Divinity School) through Harvard's Extension School. Her first lecture is available for free, and it's quite interesting. In the last several minutes of the lecture she goes over the reading assignments for the course, and I'm planning to write them all down and start working my way through those materials I haven't read before. Let me know if you'd like a book/study group to work through some of them together.
Eck (who was born in Bozeman) is also the author of Encountering God: From Bozeman to Banaras.

Walk a Walk that does more than Talk

Mark Sunday, October 18th 1:45 p.m. on your calendars.

On that day, plan to join fellow advocates who wish to stop local and global hunger by walking the 22nd annual Bozeman CROP Walk.

The CROP Walk will start at the Gallatin County Food Bank, located on 602 Bond Street in Bozeman. The path for the walk will meander through city parks and neighborhoods. The distance walked is equivalent to the distance walked by many hungry people across the globe in search of food for themselves and their families. Imagine walking 10 kilometers every day in search of food.

The proceeds from the walk will be used locally and around the world to alleviate hunger.
Church World Service (CWS) is an ecumenical agency supported by many churches. The Gallatin County Food Bank, Headwaters Area Food Bank, Loaves and Fishes and the Belgrade Ministerial Association have been supported in the past by the area CROP Walk.

Last year’s CROP Walk raised $15,700. Our own Robert Nolan raised $271 through donations. Christ the King sponsored seven walkers last year. I bet we can recruit ten walkers this year.

The funds raised this year will be administered by Church World Service, but 25% will be used to support local hunger relief.

And our local agencies need the support and help! The Gallatin County Food Bank has seen an increase of 30% for food basket requests over last year.

If you are interested in walking on the 2009 Bozeman CROP Walk or making a donation, please contact me, Pastor Grant.

In the meantime, get in shape for the walk that does more than talk about hunger.

New issue of "Bold Cafe"

There's a new issue of Bold Cafe - the zine for young women of the ELCA (though I think everyone could enjoy reading it). This month's stories are all about transitions, and the link is here.

On Sunday August 9th I shared a table grace that I learned from Pastor Lindean.
A number of Christ the King members and friends have asked for a copy.

Your wish is my command…..

Come Lord Jesus, be our guest, and let these gifts to us be blessed.

Blessed be God, who is our bread. May all the world be clothed and fed.

Amen!

Blessings, as you gather around the table to give thanks.

In Christ,
Pastor Grant

Staying in Touch with the Churchwide Assembly - the MT Synod Blog

We received this email from the Montana Synod office earlier today. Please do keep our Churchwide Assembly in your prayers as they meet next week.

Dear Sisters and Brothers in the Montana Synod,
The ELCA Churchwide Assembly starts on Monday, August 17. I have asked our Synod to join the Presiding Bishop's call for 50 Days of Prayer preceding the Assembly, and I am grateful that so many of you have participated. I ask you to continue your prayers for the Churchwide Assembly, the Montana Synod's Voting members, and the whole Church throughout the 7 days of the Assembly, and afterwards.
A Churchwide Assembly is many things. It is the highest legislative body of the denomination. It is an opportunity for people from all across the church to get together and pray with one another, learn from one another, work with one another. It is a time to hear from the ministries in which this church is engaged--from disaster relief and refugee resettlement, to early childhood education, to global mission. It is a time when carefully thought out documents and proposals are debated and revised. And it is a time when new ideas come forward and sometimes bear fruit.
At this upcoming Churchwide Assembly, human sexuality is one of the issues being discussed. We will consider a social statement on human sexuality and vote on whether or not to adopt it. That is how these things happen in our denomination--not top-down. Voting members at a previous Churchwide Assembly asked to have a social statement on human sexuality, and voting members at this assembly will vote on whether or not to adopt it as policy. (If you have not read it, you can find it online at http://www.elca.org/.) And voting members will also consider proposals to change the ELCA's standards for rostered ministers. (Again, if you have not read the proposals, do so.) If you look in the newspapers or on TV for news of the assembly, they will probably only report on these issues.
But the Churchwide Assembly is so much more. We will be considering a full-communion agreement with the United Methodist Church. This could have real impact in Montana. After Lutherans, Methodists are the largest Protestant group in Montana. A full-communion agreement with United Methodists could help both our denominations serve our communities better, through sharing. We will be considering the Lutheran Malaria Initiative, an ambitious program dedicated to tackling one of the most prevalant and preventable diseases in the world. We will adopt a budget, elect members of boards and committees, worship, pray, study, and so much more.
I am asking the 12 voting members from our Synod to be available to clusters and congregations to give reports and reflections on the Churchwide Assembly. Invite them! Thank them. Listen to them.
There are ways to keep in touch with what is happening at the Churchwide Assembly. I will be doing a daily blog from the assembly. You can find it at http://montanasynod.org/blogs/blog2.php.
And the ELCA will be providing streaming video of the Assembly as well. http://www.elca.org/livevideo. Below are a whole host of links for assembly materials.
Feel free to contact the Synod Office if you need additional information or assistance.
Thank you for your prayers and your support. It is good to be the church together. And we will continue to be the church together, embracing our differences in God's expansive love.

Your partner in Christ,

Jessica Crist, Bishop


Here are some URL shortcuts for the 2009 Churchwide Assembly Web pages.

2009 Churchwide Assembly links:
* Assembly main page: http://www.elca.org/assembly

* Blessing and Sending for CWA09 participants: http://www.elca.org/assembly/blessing

* Live Web stream: http://www.elca.org/livevideo

* Memorials Report: http://www.elca.org/assembly/memorials

* Multimedia section: http://www.elca.org/assembly/multimedia
CWA09 blog: http://blogs.elca.org/assembly
ELCA Twitter stream: http://twitter.com/ELCA
ELCA Facebook page: http://facebook.com/Lutherans
* Pre-Assembly Report (includes all reports and memorials): http://www.elca.org/assembly/report

* Schedule: http://www.elca.org/assembly/schedule

* Summary of Actions: http://www.elca.org/assembly/voting

* Voting Results (when the assembly starts rolling): http://www.elca.org/assembly/actions


Other relevant links:
You can find an alphabetical listing of topics with URL shortcuts at A-Z Index. But here are a few highlights:

* ELCA News Service: http://www.elca.org/news

* ELCA Studies on Sexuality: http://www.elca.org/faithfuljourney

* Lutheran Malaria Initiative: http://www.elca.org/malaria

* HIV and AIDS: http://www.elca.org/aids

* Full Communion partners: http://www.elca.org/fullcommunion

* Justice for Women: http://www.elca.org/justiceforwomen

Mary, the Mother of our Lord

I don't travel to Europe in mid August. You can never find an accomodation around August 15th.

Europeans travel during the month of August. For people who still practice the faith, there is a reason why they travel during the middle of the month.

August 15th is the day the Christian Church remembers Mary, the Mother our Lord.

I would like to share with you the words attributed to Mary from the Gospel according to Luke.

I will let the words speak for themselves.

Happy travels during these warm August days.

And may the world God created be a better place because of what God has done for Mary and for the whole human race.

Luke 1:46-55

Mary’s Song of Praise
46 And Mary* said,‘My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, 48for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; 49for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. 50His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. 51He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. 52He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; 53he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. 54He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, 55according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.’

A collection of prayers

Recently I was asked to make a presentation to my fellow chaplains at Bozeman Deaconess Hospital about the spiritual practices of Buddhism. There is a Buddhist temple in Bozeman and chances are at some point, a Buddhist may become a patient at the hospital and request spiritual care.

We try to honor everyone who comes to Bozeman Deaconess for treatment, and we try to honor their "spiritual journey," whatever it may be.

I have a collection of prayers called "The Oxford Book of Prayers." It contains prayers from the Western Christian Church, as well as other faith traditions including Buddhism. I use prayers from this book as I make my rounds at the hospital. Many patients draw comfort from prayer, especially when it is sensitive to their faith journey.

The collection of prayers has enriched my own prayer life, at home and in my community of faith-Christ the King Lutheran Church.

Here is a prayer from the "Oxford Book of Prayer."

A Buddhist Litany for Peace

As we are together, praying for peace, let us be truly with each other.
silence
Let us pay attention to our breathing.
silence
Let us be relaxed in our bodies and our minds.
silence
Let us return to ourselves and become wholly ourselves. Let us maintain
a half smile on our face.
silence
Let us be aware of the the source of being common to us all and to all living
things.
silence
Evoking the presence of the Great Compassion, let us fill our hearts with our own compassion-toward ourselves and towards all living things.
silence
Let us pray that all living beings realize that they are all brothers and sisters, all nourished from the same source of life.
silence
Let us pray that we ourselves cease to be the cause of suffering to each other.
silence
let us plead with ourselves to live in a way which will not deprive oth3er living beings of air, water, food, shelter, or the chances to live.
silence
With humility, with awareness of the existence of life, and of the sufferings that arwe going on around us, let us pray for the establishment of peace in our hearts and on earth.
Amen.

Asking Why

According to my parents, like lots of kids I asked a lot of questions when I was younger. And I still do. I love it when long-held questions find new answers. In this case, the question is "What's up with teenagers?"
One stab at an answer comes from John Medina, one of my professors at the University of Washington. (He's also very active at University Presbyterian Church in Seattle, and was always one of my favorite speakers).
Prof. Medina is still doing tons of research and consulting, and now has a book and blog as well, both called Brain Rules. His latest blog entry is the first of two articles on adolescent brain development and psychopathologies. If you can get past some of the big words (I read several sentences twice) it's pretty interesting stuff!

FLBC

Wnat to learn more about Flathead Lutheran Bible Camp? Check out their website. Watch this video (yes, it's a couple of years old, but it's all still true)!! Maybe next summer we can have a CtK group head to family camp all together?!

Sent to Serve

Here is the final Daily Update for VBS this year. It has been a wonderful week, with great children, amazing volunteers and fantastic staff from Flathead Lutheran Bible Camp.

Thanks again to everyone who has made "Love to Serve" possible. And be sure to check back, we'll try to get photos posted here sooner than later!

Saved to Serve

Here's yesterday's VBS update. It was another great day, and we had a fabulous time at the VBS Songfest and Ice Cream Social last night. There were about a hundred people here (maybe more - with all the kids hyped up on sugar they were moving too fast to be counted...) and the build your own sundae bar was a complete success! Just about everything you'd ever want to put on your ice cream was there... I was too busy eating to take a picture.

Best of New Orleans.com

Check out this article on Best of New Orleans.com - all about the great impact the ELCA National Youth Gathering had on the city.

Called to Serve

Day three of VBS was another fabulous day! We learned that God calls us ALL to serve - even young kids like Samuel - and that God calls us where we are, often through the people around us. Here's today's VBS Daily Update.
Don't forget, tomorrow is the ICE CREAM SOCIAL and VBS SONGFEST! We'll gather at 6:30pm to hear some great VBS songs and hear from our FLBC counselors, then eat ice cream! The ice cream will be provided, please bring your family's favorite topping to share!

Created to Serve

We are ALL created by God, for God, and for relationship with each other. Today at VBS the kids heard the creation story and learned that ALL of us are important and have a part to play in God's world; ALL of us can serve. It doesn't matter how old you are, how big (or small) you are, how much you know or where you've been: God can use YOU to make a difference in the world. Not a bad thing to start learning at age 3. Or age 93, for that matter.
VBS continues to be a huge success, thanks to so many fabulous volunteers giving so freely of their time, energy and faith. This week simply wouldn't work without them!
Here's the VBS Daily Update for today. We're hoping to get pictures of each age group taken before the week is out. In today's edition: the 5th & 6th grade group.
Love to Serve!

And We're OFF!

Today was the first day of our 2009 Vacation Bible School. There are 79 children in attendance!

Needless to say, it's a little busy and occasionally on the chaotic side...

If you're available to help out sometime this week, please send me an email and let me know!

This is our daily VBS newsletter, which goes home with parents so they know what we've been up to all day. (It might take a little while to load - be patient!!) Enjoy!

LIVE VIDEO from the Youth Gathering

Have you ever wondered just what it must be like in the Superdome with 37,000 Lutheran teenagers and their chaperones? What music are they singing during worship? Who's speaking?

Now you can see for yourself! Go to the ELCA Youth Gathering page or straight to the Live Video Stream page to watch the mass gatherings live! You need to get to the Video Stream page 30 minutes or so early in order to be able to watch for sure, so I'd aim for about 5:30-6:00pm mountain time... (I tried to get on last night about half way through the opening night and couldn't log on).

Enjoy!!

VOTE NOW at the ELCA Video Contest

Today is the last day to vote for CtK's video in the ELCA video contest. Click here to register/log in to vote.
And here's our video!:

Front Page News

The ELCA National Youth Gathering is front page news in New Orleans today. You can read The Times-Picayune coverage of the Gathering under the headline LIFTING, LOVING, LEARNING: Lutheran youths, 37,000 strong, come to New Orleans to help rebuild city and open themselves to a spirit of service larger than themselves.

Please remember to keep the 4 youth and 2 adults from CtK in your prayers this week - and don't forget to check out the Bozeman/Billings youth blog about the Gathering!

Letter from Bishop Jessica Crist

This letter arrived in our office last week, a little too late for the July newsletter. I read it aloud at the beginning of worship on Sunday, per the bishop's request. Please do keep the whole church in your prayers! LBC


"Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot would say, 'Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,' that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear would say, 'Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,' that would not make it any less a part of the body... Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it." 1 Corinthians 12:14-16, 27.

June 29, 2009
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
In fifty days the ELCA Churchwide Assembly will begin. Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson has called the church to 50 days of prayer preceding the Assembly, and I invite you as well. During these fifty days there will be a lot of preparation for the Assembly. Worship will be planned, resolutions will be fine-tuend, guest speakers will be confirmed, meetings will take place. But what happens in Minnesota is not all we are as a church.
In the next fifty days, the work of the church goes on. Weekly worship will take place in congregations large and small, rural and urban. Food banks will provide food for the hungry. Nursing homes will care for the elderly. In the next fifty days, new missionaries such as Josh and Susie Magyar will have their initial training and orientation. Outdoor ministries and camps will proclaim the Gosepl to campers young and old. Campus pastors will prepare for the opening of school in the fall. In the next fifty days, Vacation Bible Schools will stretch congregations and young people to find new ways to hear and tell the old, old story. "Jesus, Justice and Jazz" will engage tens of thousands of teenagers in a church that is bigger than all of us. In the next fifty days, Lutheran Disaster Relief will respond to crises, Lutheran Social Services will create forever families. In the next fifty days we will be the Church in many places, and in many ways.
Paul's image of the church as the Body of Christ is meaningful for us, especially as he reminds us how much we need each other. I ask you, in the next fifty days, and beyond, to pray for the whole church, to seek wisdom for the whole church, and to seek the unity of the whole church. I ask you to listen to one another, especially those with whom you disagree, and not to jump to conclusions about what the Church may or may not do in Minneapolis in August.
At the end of our Synod Assembly, when two pastors who had been on opposite sides of the sexuality debates read a joint resolution of mutual trust and harmony, it was a powerful moment, and the assembly concurred. I shared that moment with other ELCA Bishops, and one used it as a "snapshot of new creation," in his closing sermon at their Synod Assembly.
Friends, let us work together on being that new creation, by God's grace, proclaiming the Good News to all creation. "Now you are the body of Christ, and individually members of it."
You are in my prayers.

In Christ,
Bishop Jessica Crist

Pastoral Letter from Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson

July 1, 2009

Dear colleagues in ministry,

As we approach the churchwide assembly, I am thankful for the thoughtful and respectful discussion at synod assemblies of the proposed social statement on human sexuality and the ministry policy recommendations. I am mindful, however, that we remain a church body that is not of one mind about these decisions, and that these continuing differences have raised concerns among some about whether we are headed toward a church-dividing decision.

I am writing to express my shared, heartfelt commitment to the church’s unity, and, even more, my deep confidence that this unity will not be lost. For this reason please join me in reflecting on the unity of Christ’s church that is the foundation both for our life together in the ELCA and our relationships with other Christians throughout the world.

The unity of Christ’s church is God’s daily work through the Holy Spirit calling, gathering, enlightening and sanctifying us with the gospel. Sometimes, when I hear concerns about division in the ELCA, I worry that they express a fear that unity depends on the actions of church leaders or assemblies. Our unity, however, comes to us because God gives it freely and undeservedly in Jesus Christ. Although everyone in leadership shares responsibility for stewarding our unity in Christ, it will not be won or lost at the churchwide assembly in a plenary session vote. Rather, it will be received as a gracious gift from God when the assembly is gathered each noon by the Word and Sacrament through which God gives us unity, making us one in Jesus Christ.

We hold in common this confession that God makes us one in Jesus Christ, but it is not making this confession that makes us one. Rather, because God unites us to Jesus Christ in Baptism we are also united to each other in one body that transcends any other difference. Paul states this clearly. “For in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ” (Galatians 3:26-27).

A marvelous insight into this unity was made recently during a Bible study as members of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Executive Committee took turns reading Paul’s familiar words about the body of Christ in their own languages. The differences were fascinating. Several read, “all the members of the body, though many, are one body” (1 Corinthians 12:12). Others read, “all the members of the body, being many, are one body.” Our Bible study leader suggested that “though many” implies that our “many-ness” (that is, our diversity or differences) is a problem that compromises the unity of the body of Christ. But, “being many” within the Body of Christ implies that diversity is unity’s strength, not its weakness. The witness of Scripture is that both unity and diversity are God’s gifts. There is one Spirit, one Baptism, one faith, one Lord of us all, but a variety of gifts and callings are given for the sake of the gospel and the common good.

God’s gift of unity in Christ informs our life and witness together in the community of Christ’s church. Rather than approach the assembly apprehensively, I invite you to see it as an opportunity for faith-filled witness to the larger human family that struggles with division and yearns for healing and wholeness that is real and true. We live in a polarized culture that equates unity with uniformity and sees differences as a reason for division. This moment, and our witness as a church body in the midst of it, deserves something better from us. We have the opportunity to offer the witness of our unity in Christ—diverse, filled with different-ness and differences, broken in sin, and yet united and whole in Christ. This moment deserves the witness of a community that finds and trusts its unity in Christ alone, engages one another with respect, and seeks a communal discernment of the Spirit’s leading.

In recent weeks I have been re-reading Bonhoeffer’s Life Together where he writes, “God already has laid the only foundation of our community, because God has united us in one body with other Christians in Jesus Christ long before we entered into common life with them.” He says that other Christians who may be different and yet live by God’s call, forgiveness, and promise are a gift and a reason to give thanks. He continues with this remarkable insight about all of us and the unifying power of Christ’s forgiveness:
Even when sin and misunderstanding burden the common life, is not the one who sins still a person with whom I too stand under the Word of Christ? Will not another Christian’s sin be an occasion for me ever anew to give thanks that both of us may live in the forgiving love of God in Jesus Christ? Therefore, will not the very moment of great disillusionment with my brother or sister be incomparably wholesome for me because it so thoroughly teaches me that both of us can never live by our own words and deeds, but only by that one Word and deed that really binds us together, the forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ? (Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works, vol. 5, pp. 36-37.)

Some may question why I am writing and wonder if this letter is advocating for a particular position on the questions before the churchwide assembly. It is not. Rather, it is an honest expression of my conviction that the Gospel of Jesus Christ, God’s mission for the life of the world, and the members of this church deserve this witness from us: In Christ we are members of one body serving God’s mission for the life of the world.

As we approach the Assembly, I invite you to join me in confident hope, grounded in Christ, where we meet one another not in our agreements or disagreements, but at the foot of the cross. We meet as we hear the Word, confess our faith, receive Christ’s presence in bread and wine, sing our praises to God, make our offerings, and then go in peace, to share the Good News, remember the poor and serve the Lord.

God is faithful. Christ is with us. By the power of the Spirit we are one in him. “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:31)

In God’s grace,
The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, Presiding Bishop
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

An Invitation

This video was sent last September, as an invitation to the National Youth Gathering. Though the registration deadline has come and gone, it's still a good introduction to what the Gathering is about.

New Youth Blog

There's another CtK blog! It's Lutheran Youth in Service, and its beginning its life as a blog with updates on the 2009 ELCA National Youth Gathering in New Orleans (and preparations for the Gathering).
Be sure to check it often come the last half of July - CtK youth will be posting regularly from the road, their college tour, and the Gathering in New Orleans!

Video Contest

Were in you worship this past Sunday? If so, keep Davin, the little boy who was baptized, in your prayers this week. If not - you missed a great Sunday - and you can still keep all those baptized in our congregation in your prayers.
After worship on Sunday the filming began for CtK's entry in the ELCA's video contest. Using the ELCA's new tag line: "God's work. Our hands." our congregational video will be highlighting our ministry with Family Promise. Once the contest entry deadline is here, there will be online voting for a favorite. The top ten will then be evaluated by judges, and the winning congregation will receive a $5000 ministry grant!
Want to learn more about the contest (including how you could win a $2500 individual prize)? Watch the video below, or click here:



And if you decide to enter the contest yourself, let us know - we'd love to see your work!

Change the World

The 2009 ELCA National Youth Gathering will be in New Orleans at the end of July. Four youth and two staff members from Christ the King will be among the thousands of folks gathered to worship, learn and serve.
There are many ways to support the Gathering. You can help our youth raise funds for their trip by having your car washed in the Albertsons parking lot this Saturday morning (beginning at 10am) or buying stock in their trip. Each share of stock costs $25 - the dividends include access to their trip blog while they're in New Orleans, a postcard and souvenir from New Orleans, and a ticket to the share-holders' meeting and dinner on the 31st of July. Contact Steph, our Director of Family and Youth Ministry or the Church Office for more information about these opportunities.

Another way to support the whole Youth Gathering is to donate funds for the service projects the youth will do in New Orleans. This on-line giving opportunity allows us to purchase the items youth will use during their service experiences in New Orleans. The best part is that the items will remain in New Orleans when ELCA youth leave - things like school supplies, household maintenance items and tools, trees and grass. Check it out!