Blog – Page 309

The Olive Branch, 122/2/15

December 5, 2015 By Mount Olive Church Leave a Comment

Accent on Worship
Vicar Anna Helgen

Einstein, Spacetime, and God***

Two weeks ago, we celebrated the 100th anniversary of Einstein’s theory of relativity. Without going into the nitty gritty details (because I don’t know them!), Einstein proved in this theory that space and time are not two separate entities. Instead, they’re connected and constitute one unified whole called spacetime. David Tenant, of Doctor Who, explains, “Mass causes spacetime to curve. The natural motion of things is to follow the simplest path through spacetime, but since objects with mass curve spacetime, stuff moves towards the most massive object. That’s what you feel as gravity – it is warped space and time that’s keeping your feet on the ground.” Cool, huh? Here ends this brief physics lesson.

During Advent, we wait in joyful expectation that God comes to us as Emmanuel. It is a
season of waiting and wonder. Einstein’s theory of relativity provided a new way of looking at the universe. In the same way, Advent is a good time to slow down and consider new ways of looking at God. What if God is like spacetime?

Walter Isaacson, author of Einstein: His Life and Universe, calls the theory of relativity the “most beautiful theory in the history of science.” He explains, “It is a mathematical, as well as conceptual masterpiece. It’s something that can be visua-lized as bodies telling space and time how to curve and the curving of space and time telling bodies how to move, and then the math goes with it.”

This is a theory of interconnectedness. Spacetime and mass depend on one another, just like we rely on God and God relies on us. It’s fun to imagine that God, like spacetime, warps, bends, and stretches to enter our lives.And thus God is with us, always, filling our bodies with God’s own space and time, and meeting us where we are.

May this season of Advent fill you with wonder at God’s constant presence in our lives.

***I apologize for any errors regarding Einstein’s theory of relativity. I am no physicist!

Sunday Readings

December 6, 2015: Second Sunday of Advent
Malachi 3:1-4
Psalmody: Luke 1:68-79
Philippians 1:3-11
Luke 3:1-6
______________

December 13, 2015: Third Sunday of Advent
Zephaniah 3:14-20
Psalmody: Isaiah 12:2-6
Philippians 4:4-7
Luke 3:7-18

TRUST Youth: Aliveness Project

Again this year, TRUST Youth will participate in the annual Holiday Baskets activity for The Aliveness Project on Sunday, December 6.

The youth will purchase and wrap gifts to give to families living with AIDS. If you would like to make a cash donation to help purchase Christmas gifts for these families, please contact Julie Manuel at 612-695-6198 or via email to julie.a.manuel@gmail.com.

Get Involved in Climate Change
Minnesota Interfaith Power and Light is one of the newly adopted mission projects for Mount Olive in 2016 as we strive to become involved in climate change advocacy and to be better stewards of our earth and its resources. MNIPL works together with people of faith to educate ourselves, change our practices to be earth friendly, and advocate in the public arena for responsible policy.
If this is a passion of yours, the Missions Committee needs your help and ideas! Contact Judy Hinck via email to judyhinck@gmail.com.

New Members to be Welcomed This Sunday

     Mount Olive will welcome new members and associate members this Sunday, December 6, during the late liturgy.

A welcome brunch will follow the liturgy for new members and for all who would like to be part of the welcome festivities.

Sunday’s Adult Forum
December 6: “Dietrich Bonhoeffer on Vocation,” presented by Lori Brandt Hale, Associate Professor of Religion at Augsburg College, Minneapolis.

Dr. Hale has served as Secretary of the International Bonhoeffer Society. Her book, Bonhoeffer For Armchair Theologians, is published by Westminster John Knox Press.

Staff Christmas Gifts
As is our tradition, this is the time of year that we gather monetary gifts for our terrific church staff. If you would like to contribute, please note “staff gifts” on your check and deposit it in the offering plate on Sunday morning or send it to the church office. Please have the gifts in by Sunday, December 20.

Thanks for your generosity.

National Lutheran Choir Christmas
Festival Concerts: “The Spotless Rose”
Fri., December 11, 2014 (4:30 pm & 8 pm) and
Sat., December 12, 2014 (8pm)
Basilica of Saint Mary, 88 N. 17th St., Minneapolis

Immerse yourself in the beauty and majesty of the Basilica of Saint Mary for the National Lutheran Choir’s signature Christmas Festival Concert. During this busy season of
parties, shopping and rushing around, take time to reflect upon the true meaning of Christmas through sacred song, poetry and readings.

Tickets: $28 Adult, $25 Senior, $10 Student, age 17 and under FREE. For tickets or more information call (888) 747-4589, or visit www.nlca.com.

Images of God: Thursday Bible Study

The second session of Thursday Bible Study is underway and runs through December 17. The study, “Images of God,” is led by Vicar Anna Helgen and explores how we talk about God through the language of image and metaphor. The sessions will reflect on common images of God and
participants will have the opportunity to share a creative presentation of an image of God that speaks to them.

The sessions begin with a light supper at 6:00 p.m.

Fair Trade Sale
The Missions Committee will host a fair trade sale again this year. Purchase beautiful and unique fair trade items made by artisans in developing regions around the world. These items are available from SERRV, a non-profit fair trade organization whose mission is to eradicate poverty wherever it resides by providing opportunity and support to artisans and farmers worldwide.

The handcrafted fair trade items will be available for purchase after each liturgy on December 6, 13, and 20 (cash and check only). See the attachment /insert to view some of the items that will be for sale and to read an artisan’s story. Fair trade coffee, chocolate and other food products from Equal Exchange through Lutheran World Relief’s Coffee Project will also be available.

This is not a fund-raiser, just an opportunity to buy good products for a good cause.

Book Discussion Group Update
Mount Olive’s Book Discussion Group meets on the second Saturday of each month, at 10:00 am in the West Assembly Area at church. All readers are welcome! For the December 12 meeting they will read The Turn of the Screw, by Henry James. For the January 16 meeting they will read, All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr.

Advent Centering Prayer
All are welcome to participate in an opportunity for contemplation during the season of Advent.
Centering prayer will be offered on Wednesday during Advent, from 6-6:30 pm, in the north transept (near the columbarium) prior to Advent Vespers services, beginning December 2.

New to Centering Prayer? Each session begins with a short instruction. A brief reading from the Psalms and the sound of a bell will signal the beginning of a 20-minute period of silent contemplation. The bell will then signal the end of the session which will end with the Lord’s Prayer.

Questions? Call Sue Ellen Zagrabelny at 612-875-7865.

News From the Neighborhood
Anna Scott, Coordinator of Neighborhood Outreach & Ministry

Our Neighborhood
Mount Olive sits on the border between two Minneapolis neighborhoods: Central and Powderhorn. The borders of Central are Lake St. to the North, 35W to the West, 38th St. to the South, and Chicago Ave. on the East. Powderhorn is also Lake St. to the North, Chicago Ave. to the West, 38th St. to the South, and suns over to Cedar Ave. to the East. This puts us in a wonderful spot to positively impact two vibrant communities. Here are a few statistics to help better understand who the people are living here.

                                Powderhorn Park               Central
Population:               8,529 people               8,307 people
Ethnic makeup:        4% American Indian   2.2%
                                 1% Asian           3.6%
                                 13% African American    25.1%
                   26% Latino           44.4%
                      52% White             21.1%
            ** 51.2% speak another language other than English at home

Median Income:        $44,979 (42% below $35,000/y)    $47,505 (37% below $35,000 year)
Housing:                 1,686 Owners                   1,021 Owners
                                1,560 Renters                   1,201 Renters

     We are diverse, multi-generational, and urban.
     What stresses us out: Struggling urban diversity (racial tensions and competition), struggling urban life (more expensive, less safe), struggling black households (avg. income for black family went down last year)
     This is information that gives us better understanding of our neighbors and ourselves. Please pray for our neighborhood (Central and Powderhorn Park) throughout Advent as we continue to seek God’s will in the opportunities we have to be the presence of God and in the presence of God.

Thank you for the continuing donations of food, coats, hats, mittens and scarves. The coats will be distributed here at Mount Olive and also sent over to the Central Lutheran Church Free Store – a great place to send household items, good clothes (large men’s sizes and belts!), etc. The food and offering received at the Thanksgiving Eucharist will go to Sabathani Community Center on 38th and 4th Ave. and to Community Emergency Services (CES) on Franklin and 11th Ave.

Alternative Gift Giving
Are you looking for something different to do this year for Christmas gifts? Take part in a growing tradition by giving gifts that help those in need. The Missions Committee is promoting the idea of alternative gift giving this Christmas. For example, in honor of a loved one, you can buy playground toys for refugee children in Kenya through Lutheran World Relief. We have catalogues from different charitable organizations that you can use or you can order from the organizations’ websites.

Some of these organizations are:
•    Lutheran World Relief:    http://lwrgifts.org
•    Heifer Project International:   http://www.heifer.org
•    Common Hope : http://commonhopecatalog.myshopify.com
•    Bethania Kids:   http://bethaniakids.org/creative-giving-catalog
•    Evangelical Lutheran Church in America: www.elca.org/goodgifts

(We will have ornaments during the fair trade sale that you can use to make a donation).

Youthlink Donations
I am again collecting donations of clothing items and toiletries for homeless teens. The following items are most needed currently by homeless teens who are living on the street; Travel size toiletries, adult sized winter clothing, jackets, coats, men’s jeans, hand and foot warmers, and thinner gloves.
Please leave any donations in the coat room in a bag labeled “Youthlink” by Sunday Dec. 13. If you have any questions, please contact Julie Manuel at julie.a.manuel@gmail.com or 612-695-6198.

Yes, You Can Make a Difference!

Restoration 2015 is mostly going into hibernation, with the approach of winter. Most of the masonry and roof repair is complete. About one-third of the stained glass windows will have new protective glass. Our beautiful church will be safe and sound for the winter. The remaining work will be completed as soon as the arrival of spring allows.

Here’s something you need to know: In the past few months, around $36,000.00 in
“over and above” giving has been contributed toward Restoration 2015. These special gifts make a huge difference. We have budget-ed funds to cover the interest on our building loan, so special gifts like these directly reduce the amount that is borrowed.

If year-end donations are something you are considering, think of making one toward Restoration 2015 also. Be sure to mark your envelope or check with the words “Restoration 2015.”
Thank you!!

Minneapolis Area Interfaith Initiative December Program
MAII holds monthly educational programs at the Southdale Library. All who are interested in inter-faith dialogue and relations are welcome to attend.

Their next program is this Sunday, December 6, at 2 pm. It will be held in the Ethel Berry Room of the Southdale Library, 7001 York Ave. S. in Edina. The program is free of charge.
This month’s program, “Interfaith Landscape in the Twin Cities,” will be presented by The Rev. Dr. Tom Duke.

Rev. Duke is the founder of Saint Paul Interfaith Network (SPIN), former Executive Director of the Saint Paul Area Council of Churches (now Interfaith Action of Greater Saint Paul), and former pastor of Bethlehem Lutheran Church in the Midway in St. Paul. Rev. Duke will discuss the history of interfaith relations in the Twin Cities, ways that faiths have worked together, the current situation and thoughts for the future.

Presented by MAII (Minneapolis Area Interfaith Initiative).

Strong and Light Hearts

November 29, 2015 By moadmin Leave a Comment

God’s Incarnation in our reality, as one of us, whom we meet in Jesus, helps us face reality as it is, and gives us the grace and love and strength to live in it and make a difference.

Pr. Joseph G. Crippen
First Sunday of Advent, year C
texts: Luke 21:25-36; 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13

Sisters and brothers in Christ, grace to you, and peace in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

It’s enough to make us crawl under the pews and hide.

Are you tired of this yet? We’ve heard intense words of Jesus from Holy Week for a month, and it’s getting heavy. Especially the apocalyptic. Two weeks ago it was “wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes.” Last week Jesus faced execution. Now it’s signs in the sun, moon, stars, and on the earth. Confusing things will happen, Jesus says, causing people to “faint from fear and foreboding.”

The Gospels are supposed to be Good News. How much more of this can we stand?

But we might have already been under the pews before this. On Thanksgiving, my mother-in-law was in the kitchen and said, “Did you hear the news?” Without thinking, I said, “No, and I don’t want to. I’d like this to be a news-free day.” I don’t know what she meant to share. I just knew I didn’t want to hear it.

Because it just gets worse and worse, doesn’t it? Jesus’ words, heavy and fearsome as they are, barely cover the dread we get by checking the news. Since last Sunday we’ve got at least two more shootings: white supremacists in North Minneapolis shooting into a peaceful protest, someone in Colorado shooting up a Planned Parenthood clinic. By next Sunday surely something else horrible will have happened.

Maybe you could scoot over and make room for me under the pew. We could make a snug little place and hide from this world that intrudes even into the words of our Savior, so that even in here we can’t pretend to be safe, quiet, at peace.

Well, it may be hard to believe, but Jesus’ honesty is actually good news.

In Advent we prepare to celebrate once more the Incarnation of the Triune God into the world. Into our reality.

This is where our salvation begins: God enters our reality, as it is, names it for what it is, and joins our lives, our flesh. It is the death and resurrection of the Son of God that reveals the end of the powers of evil and death that bind us and this world. But it is this coming among us in the flesh that makes that possible. The true God, whom we meet in this Jesus, claims our reality and owns it.

Too often we want religion to insulate us from what’s going on in the world. We want to hide our head in the sand and pretend all is well, and we want God to support that.

The Son of God always does the opposite, from his birth on. Jesus speaks the truth about the world as it is, not as we wish it, and he honestly warns us that things will be hard.

We might not want to hear it. But if we’re going to follow a Lord who can actually save us, I’d rather follow the one who knows the score, who is aware of the suffering and evil of this world, who lives in it with us, than one who paints a rosy picture that I want to see but that isn’t true.

Facing the truth about this world makes our hearts heavy. So Jesus warns us to be on guard for that, and shows us a different way to live.

First, he challenges us not to be so weighed down at heart about the evil and suffering of this world that we live in dissipation.

That is, that we avoid facing reality by wasting our lives, frittering away our time, spending our resources on things that don’t last.

Jesus tells us to guard against avoiding the pain of reality by letting life and opportunity sift through our fingers like sand, pursuing a materialistic culture’s dreams instead of God’s dreams.

Second, Jesus warns us not to be so weighed down at heart that we fall into drunkenness.

To be on guard against seeking things that numb us to the pain of our reality and the reality of the world. Jesus could have said “addiction,” because there are so many things we humans can be addicted to as we self-treat our pain: alcohol, drugs, money, sex, gambling, work, and more. Treating our weighty hearts with false cures that only get us into worse difficulty.

A. E. Housman wrote, “Ale, man, ale’s the stuff to drink / For fellows whom it hurts to think: / Look into the pewter pot / To see the world as the world’s not.” [1] That’s what Jesus warns us against, preferring that we face the hurt it takes to think and see the world as it is.

Third, Jesus tells us to be on guard against being weighed down in heart with worry over this life.

Jesus warns us not to wallow in fear, freeze in our anxiety. This third way is probably most honest, since it sees the truth of the world. But when we worry and are afraid, we get so heavy in heart we are no better off than on the other paths. Jesus would rather we faced reality, not be stuck in it.

But these three warnings are only part of the gift. Only by truly seeing reality as it is can we also deal with it, even overcome it. So Jesus’ last word is the heart of our hope: “Pray,” he says. Pray for the strength to deal with these things.

And Paul tells us what Jesus means.

Paul believes we have all we need from God to endure and thrive in a frightening reality.

Jesus said, don’t let your hearts get heavy. Paul says that the Lord will make us increase and abound in love for one another and for all. Jesus said, pray for strength so you can stand in those days. Paul says that God will so strengthen our hearts in holiness that we will be blameless before God when Jesus, the Son, comes.

So this is our hope: the Spirit fills our hearts with love for each other and for all. When we live in love in a world filled with pain and suffering we are a sign of hope to come. A heart filled to abounding is a light heart, and it’s how we can both find light and be light in a darkening world.

And this is our hope: the Spirit strengthens our hearts in holiness. We think of what we can and can’t do in this world, and we fear. We follow those three paths Jesus warned us against. Being Christ, being holy, is to be set apart as God’s light in the world. Even in community that can feel pretty isolated in an evil world. So our hearts are strengthened for this path of holiness.

It’s good, though, that we begin Advent today. Advent teaches us much about waiting and anticipating. About leaving our hiding places.

Watching the pregnancy of Mary as we once again anticipate celebrating her Son’s birth reminds us that we are in a time of pregnancy. Grace and life in Christ will be born into the world, are being born. But we’re still in the time where we can’t always see how it will be. So sometimes we want to hide in fear.

Like pregnancy, there is much pain associated with the birth of these things, too. So we try to avoid that reality rather than face it.

But the One whom we follow on this path sees all that pain and evil and knows how to deal with it. Has dealt with it. Which means we and all God’s children will not be overcome. The healing of Christ is coming into this world.

So for now, we do as we are told. We pray – for love, for strength. And we wait.

In the name of Jesus. Amen

[1] A. E. Housman, A Shropshire Lad (1896), LXII: “Terence, this is stupid stuff,” lines 23-26.

Consider the Lilies

November 26, 2015 By moadmin Leave a Comment

Jesus teaches us that there is a creational rhythm that undergirds our life together. We have all we need within ourselves because God created us this way. With God’s help, we can embody this rhythm and live as the creatures God created us to be.

Vicar Anna Helgen
Day of Thanksgiving, year B
texts: Matthew 6:25-34

Sisters and brothers in Christ, grace to you and peace, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

“So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” These words have always meant a lot to me, even before I knew it. Back in 9th grade, I picked this verse as my confirmation verse. I don’t remember what my confirmation class did with these verses, other than including them in the stoles we made out of felt and puff paint, but I know that this verse was meaningful to me. It comforted me as a teenager, and even more so now.

I’ve always been a worrier. In 5th grade I was a part of a synchronized swimming community group. As I held my breath under water and flailed my legs in the air, I’d sob with worry that my mom would forget to pick me up. A few years later, I’d worry about leaving my family for my first week away at summer camp. Now I worry about lots of things. I worry about the weather when I’m on a canoe trip, constantly assessing the clouds in the sky to see if any look ominous. I worry about my family–about their health and their happiness. And I worry about my life, too. That I can find balance and peace. That I can maintain connections with friends as they move to new places. That everything will work out.

Worry gets in the way. It lingers in our brains and tricks us into focusing on something that does not demand the attention we eventually give it. We worry about real problems, but also potential problems, creating worst-case scenarios so that we’re prepared for whatever might come our way. Ultimately, though, worry separates us from others. It hinders our relationships with God and with each other so that all we are left with is ourselves and our worry. If you’ve been there before, you know it is not a good place to be.

In our gospel reading today, Jesus tells those gathered around him not to worry about anything–not life, not food, not drink, not clothing. While these may not be our specific concerns and worries, I think we can still learn a lot from our friend Jesus.

“Look at the birds of the air,” Jesus says, “Consider the lilies of the field.” Jesus invites us to see nature, to really see these creatures as they live in the world. The birds don’t stockpile their food; they receive what God gives them. Likewise the lilies don’t obsess about what they’ll look like in the future; instead they grow and bloom into beautiful creations. Jesus points us to creation because creatures like birds and lilies live without worry. They live as God created them to be!

When I worked as a canoe guide at Wilderness Canoe Base near the Boundary Waters, I learned to worry about the weather. I say learn because I didn’t know going into this job that the weather would be one of my daily concerns. I didn’t know how much space it would take up in my brain or how it would keep me from enjoying the experience of the wilderness. I came to be known as the guide who always went on trail when it was raining. And with the rain came wind, thunder, lightning, and, you got it: worry. Before I’d leave for five days in the wilderness, my friend Emma, another guide at camp, would reassure me, “Anna. You can do this. You are a canoe guide.”

Well, there I was. On another trip. Six youth, one high school volunteer from camp named Rachel, whom I used to babysit, an adult advisor, and me: Canoe Guide Anna. We arrived at a very large lake, Lake Gabimichigami. It was over a mile across and we needed to paddle to the other side to get to our next portage. Per usual, it was raining. And windy. And there were huge waves. Huge. Our canoes were already beginning to fill with water. My worry took over. I couldn’t think. I felt sick. My brain went to those worst case scenarios… My campers will surely capsize and end up in the water. Our sleeping bags and tents will be soaked. We’ll never get warm. I won’t be able to start a fire. And so on.

With the help of Rachel, the one I used to babysit, I was pulled from my anxiety and soon figured out how to deal with the task at hand. She reminded me that I was a canoe guide, that I had been trained for this, and that I had the resources within myself to get through this situation. I realized I didn’t need to worry; I could instead act and carry out my responsibilities as Canoe Guide Anna. We got our four canoes together along the water’s edge, hopped out of our boats, and walked them along the shoreline to our next portage. It took forever and I’m sure we covered way more than a mile in distance, but it worked, and no one swamped their canoe. We survived.

I still return to the Boundary Waters. And I still worry. But little by little, I have come to see the weather as simply a part of God’s creation, living the only way it knows how, releasing energy into the atmosphere as it was designed to do. And it certainly helps to go with some trusted companions on the journey, those friends who can bring you back to reality and remind you that you’ve done this before.

As Jesus invites us to look to creation to manage our worry, we are led back to our Creator, to God who provides all that we need so that we can live the way God wants for us to live and as the creatures God created us to be. I find comfort that there is a Creator behind all this–a Creator who brought all into being and guides us in our efforts to be who God made us to be. A God who cares about relationship. Not only does this comfort me in times of creational chaos, but also in my daily life.

Sometimes we might need a friend to bring us out of our own anxiety and worry and to remind us of our gifts. Sometimes it happens through prayer and other practices that lead us back into relationship with God. When worry is out of the picture, we’re able to tend to our relationships with others and especially with God. Jesus teaches us today that there is a creational rhythm that undergirds our life together. We have all we need within ourselves because God created us this way, and with God’s help, we can embody this rhythm and live as the creatures God created us to be. God made us for this life.

This leads us to rejoice. Without worry, we can celebrate each day, live completely in each moment, embrace who we are fully, and give thanks to our Creator. By rejoicing we give thanks to God: for relationship, for life, for creation, for all that is good.

Today is a good day to rejoice. It’s Thanksgiving! It’s a day to be thankful and to live in gratitude for the gifts God gives us. I am especially thankful for a warm bed, a loving family, friends who remind us of our gifts, and creatures that teach us how to live fully as God intends for us to live.

So look at the birds of the air today. Or consider the lilies of the field. And then, be glad and rejoice! For God has done great things!

Amen.

The Olive Branch, 11/25/15

November 25, 2015 By Mount Olive Church Leave a Comment

Accent on Worship

Growing up, the holidays were a chaos of packing away food, making sure everything was brought along, each kid had a coat and two matching shoes, and, usually late, we would arrive into the warmth of the rest of our families’ jumbling hospitality. At grandma and grandpa’s house, a big, long, mix-match of tables was streamed together and set to serve a most wonderful meal. The kids, as I was, were always at our appropriate table way on the end- the kid table. It was fine, but I felt kind of separate, as if being at the adult table was a rite of passage or a privilege that I couldn’t fathom making it to. Even as a young adult I was resigned to hang out with my cool cousins at our kid table because there was still no room.

Little did I know what making it to that table would cost. It would cost others their ability to be there and fill those seats. Maybe my brother couldn’t make it home, so we missed him, and that seat was a bit less cozy in his absence. Or, unfortunately as life goes, you lose those whose places are permanently established in memory, and the space they leave behind is unfillable. My grandparents have passed away now, and Thanksgiving is no longer at their home. I would fit at the adult table, but it no longer means what it used to. There was always a cost to being at the table. Only a few could fit, and the rest had to wait until there was space.

This is not so with God’s table! It goes on and on forever. There is always room and everyone is served, and loved, and cared for. Can you even imagine? For you and I, stuck in a world of finite space and confined by limited resources, we can hardly even comprehend what that table means. God wants us all at the table. Every last one of us can share in this eternal meal of peace and fraternity and thanksgiving. There are no worries of the day, and no fears of tomorrow, and the cranberries never run out.

There is no kids table way on the end or special circles that separate us. God’s table is set, prepared, and bountiful for each one of us.

Now that’s a dinner I won’t show up late for!
Praise be to God.

– Anna Scott

Thanksgiving Day Eucharist: Thursday, Nov. 26, 10:00 a.m.
Bring non-perishable food items to help re-stock local food shelves. Monetary donations are especially welcome (for every $1 donated, food shelf personnel are able to buy about $9 worth of food!)

As has been our custom for a number of years, the entire offering received at the Eucharist on Thanksgiving Day will be divided between Sabbathani Community Center and Community Emergency Services food shelves.

Advent Procession
Sunday, November 29
4:00 pm

TRUST Youth: Aliveness Project

Again this year, TRUST Youth will participate in the annual Holiday Baskets activity for The Aliveness Project on Sunday, December 6.

New Member Welcome – Note Date Change!

Mount Olive will welcome new members and associate members on Sunday, December 6, during the second liturgy (please note change of date!). If you are interested in becoming a member or associate member, please contact the office via e-mail to welcome@mountolivechurch.org or by phone, 612-827-5919. You may also contact Pastor Crippen at church, or Andrew Andersen (763-607-1689).

A welcome brunch will follow the liturgy for new members and for all who would like to be part of the welcome festivities.

Sunday’s Adult Forum

November 29: “Who We Are, Where We Are,” presented by
Coordinator of Neighborhood Outreach & Ministry, Anna Scott.

Tending the Family of God

This week in this city and throughout this country, family and friends will gather at table for a Thanksgiving meal. If someone expected at that table isn’t there, people will notice and people will act.
Every week we in this congregation gather at table for a thanksgiving meal. We call it Eucharist. If someone expected at this table isn’t here, will we notice? Will we act?

National Lutheran Choir Christmas Festival Concerts: “The Spotless Rose”
Fri., December 11, 2014 (4:30 pm & 8 pm) and
Sat., December 12, 2014 (8 pm)
Basilica of Saint Mary, 88 N. 17th St., Minneapolis

Tickets: $28 Adult, $25 Senior, $10 Student, age 17
and under FREE. For tickets or more information
call (888) 747-4589, or visit www.nlca.com.

Images of God: Thursday Bible Study

The second session of Thursday Bible Study is underway and runs through December 17 (excluding Thanksgiving Day). The study, “Images of God,” is led by Vicar Anna Helgen and
explores how we talk about God through the language of image and metaphor. The sessions will reflect on common images of God and participants will have the opportunity to share a creative presentation of an image of God that speaks to them.

The sessions begin with a light supper at 6:00 p.m. All are welcome.

Mark your calendars!

The Missions Committee will host its annual Fair Trade Craft Sale on Sundays, December 6, 13 and 20. Items from SERRV, a nonprofit Fair Trade organization will be available for purchase after both services. Fair trade coffee, chocolate and other food products from Equal Exchange through Lutheran World Relief’s Coffee Project will also be available. Plan now to stop and do a little Christmas shopping!

Get Involved in Climate Change

Minnesota Interfaith Power and Light is one of the newly adopted mission projects for Mount Olive in 2016 as we strive to become involved in climate change advocacy and to be better stewards of our earth and its resources. MNIPL works together with people of faith to educate ourselves, change our practices to be earth friendly, and advocate in the public arena for responsible policy.

If this is a passion of yours, the Missions Committee needs your help and ideas. Contact Judy Hinck via email to judyhinck@gmail.com, leave a note in the church office, or come to the Missions Committee meeting on Tuesday, December 1, at 7:00 p.m.

Book Discussion Group Update

Mount Olive’s Book Discussion Group meets on the second Saturday of each month, at 10:00 am in the West Assembly Area at church. All readers are welcome! For the December 12 meeting they will read The Turn of the Screw, by Henry James. For the January 16 meeting they will read, All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr.

Advent Centering Prayer

All are welcome to participate in an opportunity for contempla-tion during the season of Advent.

Centering prayer will be offered on Wednesday during Advent, from 6-6:30 pm, in the north transept (near the columbarium) prior to Advent Vespers services, beginning December 2.

Staff Christmas Gifts

As is our tradition, this is the time of year that we gather monetary gifts for our terrific church staff. If you would like to contribute, please note “staff gifts” on your check and deposit it in the offering plate on Sunday morning or send it to the church office. Please have the gifts in by Sunday, December 20.

Thanks for your generosity.

News From the Neighborhood
Anna Scott, Coordinator of Neighborhood Outreach & Ministry

Tis the season!
As we approach Advent and prepare for Christmas, please consider ways to give beyond gifts, showing love around the community. There are many ways that Mount Olive partners with its surrounding organizations and churches to support good work being done. Here are a few ways to show Christ’s love in our neighborhood!

1) Bring a gift of food (or cash) on Thanksgiving Day or any day to be delivered to CES or Sabathani. Much needed items include: 5 lb. bag of sugar, 5 lb. bag of flour, cooking oil, canned chicken or tuna, soups, baked beans, pasta, white rice, jam, pancake mix, or hygiene items.

2) Coats, hats, mittens, scarves oh my! There is a coat donation area by the little kitchen,
and a box for any hats, mittens or scarves to keep bodies warm through the winter.

3) Give a home basket to a resident in Our Saviour’s Transitional Housing. Their 100 Permanent Supportive Housing residents (73 men, 27 women) have all gained their own apartments after years of homelessness and health problems. The residents’ limited budgets make it tough for them to afford many essential items to really make their house a home. Brighten their holidays and ease their budgets by providing a festive gift basket! Please note that we serve primarily men and no children. You may choose what to include, but we suggest items such as:
• Kitchenware (including cooking & eating) • Shower curtains and liners • Mini desk fans
• Basic tools • Throw blankets and pillows • Towel and full bed sheet sets • Headphones • Household décor items such as picture frames • Calendars or day planners • Clock radio • Socks, gloves, hats, scarves, or slippers

*For an extra special gift basket, you might also include: • Gift Cards for Target or Cub Foods/Rainbow • Personal hygiene items • Candy, cookies, snack mixes, cocoa, coffee, tea, or other treats • Costume jewelry, make-up, or wallets

Gifts can be packaged in any way: a laundry basket, reusable shopping bag, gift bag, plastic tub, etc. Consider a foldable personal shopping cart for an extra special gift! Feel free to decorate the gift or include a card. ***Can be dropped off in hallway by the coats/kitchen

3) Your TIME. Deliver for Meals on Wheels, help sort and distribute holiday meals for
Community Emergency Services or find a local neighborhood group that needs extra hands and love. If you’re interested and want more specifics, please contact Anna Scott at the office or by email to neighborhood@mountolivechurch.org.

Thank you for the many ways which you’ve shown love and care for one another and your neighbors this year. Whether a smile, a bag of diapers, a check, some towels, an extra coat. It is all a blessing.

Conference on Liturgy Update

Each January since 2003, Mount Olive has hosted an annual conference on liturgy. We are currently in the process of re-tooling, perhaps re-shaping, and most certainly, re-energizing this conference. We’ve initiated an evaluation process that will look at many things including what kinds of topics will serve as themes, and what time of year might best enable participation for this valuable conference. We’ll consider many facets in that process, and will send a survey to past participants to gather input from them.

As a result, this coming year we are temporarily putting the conference on hold, meaning that this coming January (of 2016), we will not be hosting the event.

While this may be disappointing to some of us, it in no way demonstrates a diminished value – in fact, quite the opposite. We’re confident that when we resume, it will be even better!

Let us pray for one another: a pastoral word (part 1)

Sisters and brothers,

In this community of faith we take seriously and joyfully the privilege and burden of carrying one another and the world in prayer before Almighty God. From time to time questions arise about this: Can we do this better, more faithfully? What information should we share? In the next three issues of the Olive Branch I’ll talk about these issues and perhaps inspire further dialogue.

To help us, we keep a printed prayer list in Sunday’s service folder and the weekly Olive Branch. Many use this list in their daily prayer. However, often names are placed here and left for years, or whose circumstances even I or the vicar don’t know, and the length of the list might in fact inhibit some from praying it. Please note, though: the length of the list is not an issue. It should be as long as it needs to be. The question is whether it can be improved as a tool to help us as we seek to hold others in prayer.

The Congregational Care group and I have a plan. In the next few weeks, Sue Ellen Zagrabelny, of the care group, will call the members on this list who have submitted names of non-members, and ask for information to be shared with the vicar and me. The questions are: 1. Is this person still in need of the congregation’s daily prayer? 2. What in particular are we praying for (so that as your pastor I at least can know what is going on with them)? 3. Can their situation be shared beyond the pastor and vicar? 4. May we give their name to the prayer chain? These questions will also be asked of any new prayer requests, to keep up to date. The vicar and I will take care of the Mount Olive members on the list and make sure that list is still current.

We’ll also make a couple changes in how we list names. First, we’ll keep prayer requests on the list for three weeks and then remove them, unless we’re told otherwise. This will help keep the list as timely and current as possible. Second, we’ll split the list into two sections, those shorter term requests, and more chronic, long-term requests.

Next week, I’ll talk about the question of confidentiality and the needs of our sisters and brothers. In all this, I invite your participation in this dialogue in conversation, thought, and prayer.

In the love of Christ,

– Joseph

Alternative Gift Giving

Are you looking for something different to do this year for Christmas gifts? Take part in a growing tradition by giving gifts that help those in need. The Missions Committee is promoting the idea of alternative gift giving this Christmas. For example, in honor of a loved one, you can buy playground toys for refugee children in Kenya through Lutheran World Relief. We have catalogues from different charitable organizations that you can use or you can order from the organizations’ websites.

Some of these organizations are:

• Lutheran World Relief: http://lwrgifts.org

• Heifer Project International: http://www.heifer.org

• Common Hope : http://commonhopecatalog.myshopify.com

• Bethania Kids: http://bethaniakids.org/creative-giving-catalog

• Evangelical Lutheran Church in America: www.elca.org/goodgifts
(We will have ornaments during the fair trade sale that you can use to make a donation).

My Followers Would Know

November 22, 2015 By moadmin Leave a Comment

Healing and hope for the world begins when the followers of the Christ, ruler of the universe, follow him, stand as he does, offering themselves to others for the sake of love.

Pr. Joseph G. Crippen
Christ the King, the Last Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary 34 B
text: John 18:33-37

Sisters and brothers in Christ, grace to you, and peace in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Who’s really in charge here?

A provincial governor, with the authority of a global empire, sits on a chair across from a standing, half-naked, exhausted man. Is this prisoner a revolutionary to be feared? People say he thinks he’s a king.

The prisoner does seem in charge. Jesus shows calm confidence, certain about who he is. He may not look like a king. But he has more authority than the other one.

Jesus is also strangely confident in his followers. Pilate asks if Jesus is a king; he says he isn’t like worldly kings. If he were, Jesus says, his followers would fight to defend him. “My followers know the kind of king I am. That’s why they’re letting this happen. They know my voice, and they follow me.”

Forgive us if we wince. We know what his disciples were doing, and it wasn’t because they understood Jesus’ true kingship. They were running in fear. We know ourselves, too, and we’re pretty sure Christ’s confidence is also misplaced in us. We don’t really understand Christ’s way of ruling the universe, and we aren’t very good at following Christ’s voice.

But we also know that, regardless of who’s really in charge of this world, it’s a terrible mess.

“You will hear of wars and rumors of wars,” Jesus said last week. Don’t we know it.

Global political tension is unbelievably high, and no one in charge knows what to do. Few military options can contain ISIS, if any, and that’s only one horror. No corners of this world are untouched by terrorism, destruction, oppression, murder. Violence against the most vulnerable, women, children, elderly, minorities, doesn’t take a day off. Our city is in turmoil, as many have been, over another suspicious death of an unarmed black person at the hands of authorities. It’s hard to look anywhere and not see intractable, violent, and terrifying problems.

Meanwhile, in our country Christ’s followers seem just fine with fighting and violence. People seeking the U.S. presidency gain in the polls by outdoing each other in bigotry, hatred, disregard for the poor and vulnerable, suspicion of the stranger, often in Christ’s name. When one leading candidate seemed willing to call for a national registry for all Muslims, before he realized it might sound a little too like Germany and the Jews in the 1930s, we know we’re in no position to help the rest of the world. We’re an election away from real repression and increased violence and correspondingly worse terror and fear throughout the world. And Christ’s followers are leading the way.

It’s clear Pilate’s still in charge here. Rule by military might and keeping the peace by violence worked for Rome, until they couldn’t contain what they created. It’s worked for the modern world, too, if by “worked” we mean at least some could live in peace. But the terror and evil our way of life has engendered in this world is coming to birth, and likely can’t be contained. We have the world we have made, and we don’t like it.

But despairing at what’s happening in the world distracts us from this reality: we don’t follow Christ our King very well.

We focus all our attention and concern on the huge issues “out there,” perhaps because that won’t affect our own decisions too much. We decry those “other Christians” as if we aren’t also at fault, as if we hear Christ’s voice well.

Every problem on the world stage appears in our daily lives. Following Pilate’s way, or our way, or Christ’s way is a choice we make with every moment, every breath. What will you do with that person who offends you? How will you react to that one who treats you badly? Or the one who ignores you, shuns you, shames you? Or who angers you? Disappoints you? Betrays you? Or who hates you? Misunderstands you? Disagrees with you?

And how will you be to others? Will you delight to prove you’re right and they’re wrong? Will you bully people to do what you want, or passively manipulate people to do your will? Will you run over people you disregard, or shut people you don’t approve of out of your life, or ignore people that don’t meet your standards? Will you make decisions based on your preconceptions and prejudices instead of taking the time to learn and consider why you feel a certain way? Will you act immaturely because you don’t get your way? Will you act however you want to act, whatever the cost to others?

What does a follower of Christ Jesus the King choose to do in those situations that is different than a follower of Pilate and his cohorts?

Who’s really in charge here? That’s the question.

Who do we let say to us, “That’s not how you should act?” Who justifies our behavior? This matters, because the only way anything changes in Pilate’s world is when people stop following Pilate, are changed by God and start following a different way. When one person commits to nonviolence as a way of life, when one person chooses a way of peace and reconciliation with another who has harmed them, when one person says, “I’m not in charge, and the world isn’t, Christ my King is.”

The problems that plague our world have few solutions in the short-term. But if more of Christ’s followers started hearing Christ’s voice, changing their behavior, following the path of vulnerability and loss, in the long-term real change will happen.

So because it has to start with each of us, in this Eucharist we practice this hard path, we practice our following.

After we’ve heard God’s voice in the Word, and before we eat together at Christ’s table of forgiveness, we practice and learn.

First, always, Christ gives us peace.

Then, remarkably, we turn to one another, one at a time, take each other’s hand, look each other in the eye and honestly, lovingly, truthfully, offer the same blessing of Christ’s peace.

So we practice for the path of Christ our King. You can’t hold a weapon in a hand you’re placing in another’s. When we greet each other this way in this place, it’s more than convention, more than “hello.” It is a holy moment where we follow our King’s voice and say there is no animosity between us and the other, only the peace of Christ. Even those whom we might have problems with, or fear, or whom we feel dislike us. It’s a vulnerable moment where nothing is protecting us, yet the peace of Christ binds us.

Following the voice of Christ our King in the world looks the same. The peace of Christ shapes our actions, our love, our self-giving. We can’t speak of the problems of the world and ignore the person next to us. So we follow Christ’s voice, not our own, not Pilate’s, and reach out in peace.

It’s scary. That’s why we practice here, to learn how to be vulnerable and open and honest with others, as our true King is. That’s also why we need to stay next to that prisoner standing before the throne.

Christ’s confidence before Pilate is ours to claim.

We just take our other hand, the one not holding another person’s, reach up, and take Christ’s hand in ours.

See him before Pilate, knowing what was coming, unafraid. That’s the hand to hold if we’re going to follow our King in self-giving, vulnerable love in Pilate’s world. We hold each other’s hands and the hands of everyone we meet in love and peace as we walk our path together. But we also walk beside Christ our King, holding that hand with all our might.

Then Christ’s confidence and peace of mind and heart become ours. We can do this path with the strength of our King. We begin to hear Christ’s voice and follow, and the healing of this world we’ve so badly damaged begins.

And let’s keep in mind the other thing Jesus seems confident about.

Hear the pride as Christ talks about us to Pilate: “My followers know my voice, they follow me. They know my kingdom is not like this world’s. I trust them.”

It doesn’t matter if we think Christ’s confidence in us is misplaced. This is the One, the true God, whose death and resurrection have begun the transforming of the whole cosmos. The One in whom all things live and move and have their being.

Who are we to say that Christ our King is wrong about us?

In the name of Jesus. Amen