Accent on Worship

Seeing

You’ve heard it said, “Seeing is believing.” You’ve also heard it said, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe” (Jn. 20:29). The trouble with believing only what we see is that our own sight (our perceptions, evaluations, and understanding) is often skewed, deceptive, and can lead us astray.

This week’s gospel—the story of Jesus healing a man born blind—reveals just how misleading our own sight can be. The Pharisees in the gospel refuse to see Jesus and the man as anything but sinners. The man’s neighbors cannot see passed his status as a blind man who begged. Even the man’s parents are unable to see the beauty of their son’s healing because they are afraid of being associated with Jesus. Everyone’s sight in this story is obstructed by fear for their own security and by pre-conceived notions about God, the Messiah, and the man born blind. How often our own fear or prejudices prevent us from seeing how God is at work and inhibit us from experiencing God’s intent for our lives!

Unlike the Pharisees, the neighbors, and even his own parents, the man born blind does not act out of fear. Instead, he trusts what Jesus says about how to be healed and about who Jesus is. Because he relies on Jesus’ promises, the man who once was blind is the sole person in the story who can really see: he alone recognizes Jesus as the Son of God.

After hearing this, we may ask, “Which group do we belong to, Lord? Are we those who do not see or those who think that we see but will become blind?”

Our fear of judgment prevents us from seeing Jesus—from believing the good news—that Jesus comes to everyone in the gospel and to all of us in order to heal us all from our inability to see as well as from false sight. He comes to us in the preached and written word, in the Eucharist, and through one another so that we might know him, and live in the joy of a relationship with the Triune God. Day by day, in this relationship, Jesus invites us to see ourselves and one another as God sees us—precious, worth healing and love. When we believe this, scales fall from our eyes, fear loses its power, and we are truly healed. That is seeing.

– Vicar Emily Beckering

Sunday Readings

March 30, 2014: Fourth Sunday in Lent
1 Samuel 16:1-13
Psalm 23
Ephesians 5:8-14
John 9:1-41
_____________________

April 6, 2014: Fifth Sunday in Lent
Ezekiel 37:1-14
Psalm 130
Romans 8:6-11
John 11:1-45

Bishop Visits Mount Olive

     We are happy to welcome Bishop Ann Svennungsen, who is bishop of the Minneapolis Area Synod, our synod, to Mount Olive this coming Sunday, March 30, the Fourth Sunday in Lent.    

     The bishop will preach at both liturgies and will do the Adult Forum between liturgies.  This is her first official visit to this congregation since her election in 2012.

This Week’s Adult Forum 

March 30:  A conversation with Bishop Ann Svennungsen, Minneapolis Area Synod.  

Midweek Lenten Worship on Wednesdays
March 12 – April 9

• Noon: Holy Eucharist, followed by soup luncheon
• 7:00 pm: Evening Prayer, preceded by soup supper, beginning at 6:00 p.m.

Notice of Congregation Meeting

     The April Semi-annual congregational meeting will be held after the second liturgy on Sunday, April 6.   Business before the congregation will include election of officers and Vestry members for 2014-2015, annual report of the Mount Olive Foundation, and an update on the Capital Campaign.

     At the April 2013 congregation meeting, the congregation approved a limited capital campaign that would help to put Mount Olive and its many ministries on firm financial footing in 2014 and beyond.  A target of $182,000 was approved to be used for two purposes. The first is to restore funds that the congregation borrowed over a number of years from its restricted accounts (funds given by individuals who designated them for specific purposes); and the second is to create a cash reserve to help cover routine future expenses at times when donations are insufficient.

Vestry Nominees

     At the semi-annual congregation meeting on April 6, the following slate of nominees for Vestry positions will be presented to the congregation for voting.  Nominations may also be made from the floor.

President:  Lora Dundek (second 1-year term)
Vice President:  Robert Gotwalt (first 1-year term)
Secretary:  Peggy Hoeft (second 1-year term)
Treasurer:  Kat Campbell-Johnson (third 1-year term)
Director of Education:  John Holtmeier (filling third year of a vacated 3-year term)
Director of Missions:  Judy Hinck (first 3-year term)
Director of Stewardship:   Donn McClellan (first 3-year term)
Director of Youth:  Amy Thompson (filling third year of a vacated 3-year term)

Luther College Cathedral Choir to Perform at Mount Olive

     The Luther College Cathedral Choir will perform in concert at Mount Olive on April 5, 2014, 7:00 p.m. No tickets are needed, but a freewill offering will be received at the concert.

     The Cathedral Choir, directed by Dr. Jennaya Robison, performs a varied program of sacred music, including choral masterpieces by J.S. Bach, Hassler, and Ralph Vaughan Williams. At the heart of the program is Estonian composer’s Ēriks Ešenvalds’ “Stars” for choir, water-tuned glasses and Tibetan singing bowls. Favorite works by Olaf Christiansen, F. Melius Christiansen, Moses Hogan, Z. Randall Stroope, and others are included in an eclectic program suitable for listeners of all ages.

     The choir is in need of housing for some of their members. If you are able to provide hospitality for choir members, please contact Cantor Cherwien as soon as possible.

Housing Needed!

     Housing is needed for Luther College’s Cathedral Choir, Saturday, April 5.  If you can house two or more students,  PLEASE call the office,  or let Cantor Cherwien know this Sunday or the following Sunday.  He’ll be roaming the church with the clipboard.

     Students will need to be picked up and brought to your home after their concert here at 7:00 pm,   maybe a snack that evening.   Two in a double bed is OK.  After providing breakfast for them, they need to be back at Mount Olive at 7:00 am Sunday the 6th.

     There are 23 hosts needed (four each), so if you can help, please do!

Friendly Callers Meeting

     Mount Olive Friendly Callers will meet this Sunday, March 30, immediately following the first liturgy. This meeting will take place in the Undercroft.

     Please bring the names and numbers of the people you are calling on a regular basis.

Thanks …  
     Many thanks to all who helped with Donna’s retirement party on March 16.
Thanks especially for those who provided assistance with Skype, the video, the photo loop, the decorations, the food, the set-up, the clean-up and all of the other details that helped to make it a joy-filled day for her.

– Carol Austermann

And More Thanks
     I was touched and totally overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and gratitude from the Mount Olive community at my farewell reception on Sunday, March 16!    
     Thank you for all the years of support for the Mount Olive Neighborhood Ministries programs and all the support that you have given to me.  Thank you for all your kind words and the generous parting gifts.  I have never felt so loved and appreciated as I did that day.

– Donna Neste

A Servant Community: Lenten Midweek

  Baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection, the community of the faithful are also bound into the servant role of our Messiah, called to give of ourselves for each other and the world.   Just as the kingdom comes into the world fully when the Son of God sets aside all power and domination and goes to the cross, so too we live out our lives as servant people who are willing to lose all for the sake of the other.

     This Lent in our midweek worship, both at the noon Eucharist and evening Vespers, we will be using Paul’s first letter to Corinth as an entrance into reflection on the servant life of the community of Christ, on what our call means in our life together and our life in the world, on what it is to live in the kingdom of God now.

An Invitation to Confession

     During the season of Lent I am making myself available at some regular times to hear individual confession and to offer absolution to any who desire it.  I will be in the chancel from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. each Monday in Lent, and continuing through the Monday of Holy Week.  If you wish to come for confession, simply come to the altar rail.  There will be a worship book so we can follow the rite together.  If someone is already there, please wait near the back of the nave and when I’m free, come forward.  While waiting, even if I’m free and you want to prepare yourself, praying the psalms in the pew or reading Scripture is worth considering.

– Pr. Joseph Crippen

Paschal Garden

     Volunteers will be on hand for the next two Sundays (March 30 and April 6) before and between the liturgies to receive your donations to purchase Easter flowers for this year’s Paschal Garden.

Noon Liturgy on Maundy Thursday

     There will be a simple noon Eucharist on Maundy Thursday this year, in addition to the Eucharist at 7:00 p.m.  In the evening will be the full rite beginning the Triduum, including confession and absolution, footwashing, and the stripping of the altar.

     The noon service is offered to accommodate those who have difficulty getting out in the evening, and will include confession and absolution and the Eucharist.

Easter Carry-In Brunch

     There will be a carry-in Easter Brunch between liturgies on Easter morning, April 20.  Bring your favorite Easter treats to share.

Holy Week at Mount Olive

Sunday of the Passion/Palm Sunday, Sunday, April 13
Holy Eucharist, 8 & 10:45 am

Monday-Wednesday of Holy Week, April 14-16
Daily Prayer at Noon, in the side chapel of the nave

Maundy Thursday, April 17
Holy Eucharist at Noon;
Holy Eucharist, with the Washing of Feet, 7:00 p.m.

Good Friday, April 18
Stations of the Cross at Noon;
Adoration of the Cross at 7 pm

Holy Saturday, April 19
Great Vigil of Easter, 8:30 pm, followed by a festive reception

The Resurrection of Our Lord, Sunday, April 20
Festival Eucharist at
8 & 10:45 am

Lenten Centering Prayer Group  

     Sue Ellen Zagrabelny is leading a Centering Prayer group this Lent. The monastic discipline of Centering prayer is an emptying of oneself in prayer in order to be accessible to the Spirit. This Centering Prayer Group will meet at Mount Olive at two different times over a period of 5 weeks:  on Tuesdays after Bible Study, from 1:15 to 1:45 March 4, 11, 18, 25 and April 1; and on Wednesdays, before the Soup Supper at 5:30 to 6:00 on March 12, 9, 19, 26 and April 2. Both sessions will meet in the library.  

Sign Up to Bring Tutoring Snacks

     Check out the snack sign-up sheet for Way to Goals Tutoring in the lower level.  Snacks for approximately 25 youth and tutors are needed on Tuesday evenings through May 27.  Your help is very much appreciated!

Night On the Street

     On Friday night, April 11, Mount Olive and TRUST Youth will again participate in Night On the Street at Plymouth Congregational Church.  Night On the Street is an opportunity for teens to learn about youth homelessness through activities, speakers, and by experiencing what it is like to sleep in a card board box in the parking lot.

     We’ve been asked to raise enough funds to provide one week’s worth of safe housing and supportive services for a homeless youth, $140 (seven days of housing and supportive services).  All donations to A Night On the Street will go to Beacon Interfaith Housing Collaborative, which provides housing and services for homeless youth.  If you would like to make a donation, please contact the church office or Julie Manuel.

March is Minnesota FoodShare Month!

     This is an annual event which is supported by congregations and other religious and civic associations throughout Minnesota to help re-stock Minnesota food shelves.

     Mount Olive has participated every year since it began in 1982.  We encourage you to be extra generous with your food or financial donations for our local food shelf during the month of March.  This drive fills the shelves of 300 food shelves across the state of Minnesota.

     Fifty percent of all food shelf recipients are children.  Twenty percent of all adult recipients are elderly.  More than sixty percent of those adults who use food shelves are the working poor.

     If possible, we encourage you to give funds (using your blue missions envelope, clearly labeled for the food shelf) instead of food donations. Ten dollars given to the food shelf can buy $40 worth of food when purchased by the food shelves.  How-ever, all donations are welcome! If you enjoy shopping for food to donate, please place your food donations in the cart in the cloak room.

Use Your Thrivent Choice Dollars Now

     If you entrust your insurance or investment needs to Thrivent Financial, chances are that you have Thrivent Choice Dollars that you can designate to a qualifying charitable organization.  Why not designate your Choice Dollars to our Mount Olive Foundation.  Doing so costs you nothing and it helps to build our church’s endowment.

     You must designate your 2013 Choice Dollars by March 31, 2014.  Here’s how to do it: call a Member Care representative at 800-THRIVENT (800-847-4836) and when prompted, say, “Thrivent Choice;” or Register and designate your dollars online at www.thrivent.com.

     Don’t leave money on the table.  Put it to work at Mount Olive by acting before March 31 (this coming Monday!).

Life Transitions Support Group

     Caregiver? Chronic Illness?  Loss of home?  Loss of loved one?

     We each encounter a variety of losses throughout our lives.  Have you wished for a familiar place where you could find some reassurance, share your story, discover a simple skill or two that could help in those moments when you feel overwhelmed?

       Beginning May 14, join us for a four-week structured support group at Mount Olive.  Cathy Bosworth will serve as facilitator for this group on Wednesday evenings.  Each week a brief educational component will be offered with time for you to share personally in a confidential, supportive setting.  Vicar Emily Beckering will offer guidance on the Lament Psalms, which we will use as a vehicle for prayer and healing.  Tentatively, the group will meet at 6:30 p.m. in the Youth Room. We will establish a firm meeting time  when we know what works best for those who wish to participate.

     If you are interested in attending, or have questions, please contact Cathy Bosworth (952-949-3679, email marcat8447@yahoo.com) or call the church office.  If three or more people express interest in participating, each will be contacted to confirm the group will meet as planned.

Book Discussion Group’s Upcoming Reads

For their meeting on April 12, The Book Discussion Group will read Elizabeth and Hazel, by David Margolick. For the May 10 meeting they will read, The Small Hand and Dolly, Susan Hill.

From the Church Library

     In other parts of this newsletter, you will find information about the upcoming congregation meeting on Sunday, April 6.    We are happy to announce that we will be having a free books give-away table at this meeting and you are invited to watch for it and to take advantage of this opportunity.

     Someone asked where the books to be given away come from?  One of the ongoing tasks in our main library includes a periodic weeding of books that are removed from our shelves, but still have merit.  Books may be removed for a variety of reasons, such as: age and condition (is there a newer version of that same book with updated information?); shelf space available in each category (our shelving units just aren’t very expandable); plus, we continue to receive quantities of donated books and we have to choose the books that best fill a need in our overall and varied collection, leaving a nice variety of books that will be placed on our give-away table on Sunday, April 6.  By choosing a book (or more) for your own collection, you will be able to have a bit Mount Olive’s library in your own library!

    If there are books left after the congregation meeting, they will be placed on a similar give-away table at the next Community Meal.

     An excellent saying from the writings of John Wesley will close our article this time:  “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you ever can!”

– Leanna Kloempken

Confirmation Class Pictures of Mount Olive Members  

     Pentecost Sunday, June 8, 2014, is also confirmation Sunday. For the days surrounding Pentecost we would like to display photos of the confirmation classes of current members. They will be in the hallway display case. A small sign next to each photo will identify who’s class is shown, and we will have the opportunity to go on a “where’s Waldo” search of each class photo trying to spot the current member.   After several weeks a sign will then be added identifying the location of the member in the photo.

     If you want to take part and have your confirmation photo in the display case please place your photo in  an envelope and write “To Paul Nixdorf”  and also your name, church and town (and year, if you are willing) in which you were confirmed on the envelope and leave it in the church office.  With the photo please include a note with your name plus a description of where you are located in the photo.  Please submit photos to the office by May 31.

     The display will remain up from the first week in June through early to mid-July. Your photo will then be returned to the envelope you provided and can be picked up at the church office.

Thank you.

– Paul Nixdorf

Accent on Worship

Step In

     Singing in public is truly an amazing thing.

     There are times, however, when it reminds me of high school days when I used to play in a rock band at dances.  We waited with great nervous anticipation for someone to “break the ice” and dance, even though the dance floor was empty.  It would take awhile some times.  We’d offer several songs, sometimes an entire set, before someone would brave the floor.  But we knew that once someone did, the floor would quickly fill up and we’d be set for the rest of the night.  And sometimes, when we’d sense some energy coming from the floor, we’d step on the gas a bit (so to speak) and get them going even more!

     As you may have guessed, I draw a parallel from this “break the ice” dancing syndrome to congregational singing.

     People are very nervous about singing alone, or about feeling like they are being heard by someone else.  This is understandable – our voices are very personal, and we can’t change them in for a new one.  I’ve also known few who actually like their own voices when they hear them.  But when we’re singing together, the good news is that we’re NOT singing solo.  The more we all break the ice and step in, the easier it is for all of us to sing out.  
sing out.

     My predecessor with the National Lutheran Choir, Larry Fleming, once heard all of the voices of one section one at a time.  His response was, “Amazing.  Individually, they sound terrible.  But as a group, it’s magic.”  Indeed, when singing together a new sound is created that involves the contributions of all the individual voices with their different sounds to a new collective that can be magic.

     I’ve been in situations where all I sense is fear.  Everyone half mumbles out of fear that they might stick out if they sing more. I find myself doing the same, and funny thing:  can’t sing much, and certainly not very high because to do so involves “stepping on the gas” a bit with my voice.  And frankly, I’m not too crazy about my own voice either. But I don’t mind singing when there’s company.  In the fear-filled situation, the hymns feel like an obligatory chore rather than the opportunity that they are.

     When we all sing together, there’s nothing like it.  We’re all breaking the ice, we’re all on a limb together, and none of us sticks out.  Then as Cantor, I can sense that, and help us all step on the gas a little more through the use of the organ,  or – equally amazing – let it go unaccompanied, which lets the sound float like clouds of paradise!  When the singing is strong, that is a fantastic sensation!  When it’s weak, we hear fear.

     Public song is amazing! Do us all a favor, and decide to let go and sing in.  The more sound, the more inviting and encouraging it is to the next reluctant participant in song.  So, YOU be the one who breaks the ice.

– Cantor David Cherwien

Sunday Readings

March 23, 2014: Third Sunday in Lent

Exodus 17:1-7
 Psalm 95
Romans 5:1-11
 John 4:5-42
_____________________

March 30, 2014: Third Sunday in Lent

1 Samuel 16:1-13
 Psalm 23
Ephesians 5:8-14
 John 9:1-41

Notice of Congregation Meeting

     The April Semi-annual congregational meeting will be held after the second liturgy on Sunday, April 6.   Business before the congregation will include election of officers and Vestry members for 2014-2015, annual report of the Mount Olive Foundation, and an update on the Capital Campaign.

     At the April 2013 congregation meeting, the congregation approved a limited capital campaign that would help to put Mount Olive and its many ministries on firm financial footing in 2014 and beyond.  A target of $182,000 was approved to be used for two purposes. The first is to restore funds that the congregation borrowed over a number of years from its restricted accounts (funds given by individuals who designated them for specific purposes); and the second is to create a cash reserve to help cover routine future expenses at times when donations are insufficient.

Midweek Lenten Worship on Wednesdays
March 12 – April 9

• Noon: Holy Eucharist, followed by soup luncheon

• 7:00 pm: Evening Prayer, preceded by soup supper, beginning at 6:00 p.m.

A Servant Community: Lenten Midweek

  Baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection, the community of the faithful are also bound into the servant role of our Messiah, called to give of ourselves for each other and the world.   Just as the kingdom comes into the world fully when the Son of God sets aside all power and domination and goes to the cross, so too we live out our lives as servant people who are willing to lose all for the sake of the other.

     This Lent in our midweek worship, both at the noon Eucharist and evening Vespers, we will be using Paul’s first letter to Corinth as an entrance into reflection on the servant life of the community of Christ, on what our call means in our life together and our life in the world, on what it is to live in the kingdom of God now.

This Week’s Forum 

March 23:  “Bringing Faith to Our Civic Life,” presented by Sen. John Marty.  

Lenten Devotional Available Online

     Again this year, Susan Cherwien’s Lenten devotional is also available online. Visit the blog and save it as a favorite, so that it’s easily accessible to you throughout the remainder of the season of Lent.

An Invitation to Confession

     During the season of Lent I am making myself available at some regular times to hear individual confession and to offer absolution to any who desire it.  I will be in the chancel from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. each Monday in Lent, and continuing through the Monday of Holy Week.  If you wish to come for confession, simply come to the altar rail.  There will be a worship book so we can follow the rite together.  If someone is already there, please wait near the back of the nave and when I’m free, come forward.  While waiting, even if I’m free and you want to prepare yourself, praying the psalms in the pew or reading Scripture is worth considering.

– Pr. Joseph Crippen

The Complete Rameau Concerti – This Sunday, March 23, 4 pm

     Sponsored by Mount Olive Music & Fine Arts, Tami Morse, harpsichord, Marc Levine, violin, and Tulio Rondon, viol da gambe, will present a complete performance of the five Harpsichord Concertos of Jean-Philippe Rameau.      

     Virtuoso harpsichordist, Tami Morse, is featured in an exceptional tour de force: a complete performance of the five Harpsichord Concertos of Jean-Philippe Rameau. Unlike the modern concerto requiring a full orchestra, these masterful works, filled with beautiful melodies and exceptional harmonies, are accompanied with perfectly orchestrated baroque violin and viola da gamba parts.
     Join us – and bring a friend!

March is Minnesota FoodShare Month!

     This is an annual event supported by congregations and other religious and civic associations throughout Minnesota.

     Mount Olive has participated every year since it began in 1982.  We encourage you to be extra generous with your food or financial donations for our local food shelf during the month of March.  This drive fills the shelves of 300 food shelves across the state of Minnesota.

     Fifty percent of all food shelf recipients are children.  Twenty percent of all adult recipients are elderly.  More than sixty percent of those adults who use food shelves are the working poor.

     If possible, we encourage you to give funds (using your blue missions envelope, clearly labeled for the food shelf) instead of food donations. Ten dollars given to the food shelf can buy $40 worth of food when purchased by the food shelves.  How-ever, all donations are welcome! If you enjoy shopping for food to donate, please place your food donations in the cart in the cloak room.

Sign Up to Bring Tutoring Snacks

     Check out the snack sign-up sheet for Way to Goals Tutoring in the lower level.  Snacks for approximately 25 youth and tutors are needed on Tuesday evenings through May 27.  Your help is very much appreciated!

Friendly Callers Meeting

     Mount Olive Friendly Callers will meet on Sunday, March 30, immediately following the first liturgy. This meeting will take place in the Undercroft.

     Please bring the names and numbers of the people you are calling on a regular basis.

Luther College Cathedral Choir to Perform at Mount Olive

     The Luther College Cathedral Choir will perform in concert April 5, 2014, 7:00 p.m. at Mount Olive Lutheran Church, 3045 Chicago Avenue S, Minneapolis, MN. No tickets are needed, but a freewill offering will be received at the concert.

     The Cathedral Choir, directed by Dr. Jennaya Robison, performs a varied program of sacred music. The concert program will include choral masterpieces by J.S. Bach, Hassler, and Ralph Vaughan Williams. At the heart of the program is Estonian composer’s Ēriks Ešenvalds’ “Stars” for choir, water-tuned glasses and Tibetan singing bowls. Favorite works by Olaf Christiansen, F. Melius Christiansen, Moses Hogan, Z. Randall Stroope, and others are included in an eclectic program suitable for listeners of all ages.

     The choir is in need of housing for some of their members. If you are able to provide hospitality for choir members, please contact Cantor Cherwien as soon as possible.

Housing Needed!

     Housing is needed for Luther College’s Cathedral Choir, Saturday, April 5.  If you can house two or more students,  PLEASE call the office,  or let Cantor Cherwien know this Sunday or the following Sunday.  He’ll be roaming the church with the clipboard.

     Students will need to be picked up and brought to your home after their concert here at 7:00 pm,   maybe a snack that evening.   Two in a double bed is OK.  After providing breakfast for them, they need to be back at Mount Olive at 7:00 am Sunday the 6th.

     There are 23 hosts needed (four each), so if you can help, please do!

Holy Week at Mount Olive

Sunday of the Passion/Palm Sunday
Sunday, April 13
Holy Eucharist, 8 & 10:45 am

Monday-Wednesday of Holy Week,
April 14-16
Daily Prayer at Noon, in the side chapel of the nave

Maundy Thursday, April 17
Holy Eucharist at Noon
Holy Eucharist, with the Washing of Feet, 7:00 p.m.

Good Friday, April 18
Stations of the Cross at Noon
Adoration of the Cross at 7 pm

Holy Saturday, April 19
Great Vigil of Easter, 8:30 pm, followed by a festive reception

The Resurrection of Our Lord
Sunday, April 20
Festival Eucharist at
8 & 10:45 am

Lenten Centering Prayer Group

     Sue Ellen Zagrabelny, Mount Olive member and an oblate or lay associate at Holy Wisdom Monastery in Middleton, WI is hosting a Centering Prayer group this Lent. Centering prayer, a monastic discipline at the monastery, is an emptying of oneself in prayer in order to be accessible to the Spirit. This Centering Prayer Group will be offered at Mount Olive at two different times over a period of 5 weeks:  on Tuesdays, the group will meet after Bible Study, from 1:15 to 1:45 March 4, 11, 18, 25 and April 1.  On Wednesdays, the group will meet before the Lenten Supper at 5:30 to 6:00 on March 12, 9, 19, 26 and April 2. Both sessions will meet in the library.    

     If you have questions, please contact Sue Ellen Zagrabelny at 815-997-6020 or via email to skatzny@yahoo.com

Way to Goals Thanks!

It has been a wonderful ride as your Coordinator of Neighborhood Ministries all these years and I would like to express my deepest gratitude to all those who have supported Neighborhood Ministries with their finances, their volunteer efforts, and their prayers.

I usually thank all those who have supported the Way to Goals Tutoring in May. However, I will not be here at the end of the season, so I would like to thank them at this time.  Thank you to all the tutors, for their dedication and time given to the students:    Vicar Emily Beckering, Yevette Berard, Diane Brown, Peter Bunge, Patsy Holtmier, Joe Kane, Greicia Pedroso, Catherine Pususta, and Amy Thompson.

Thanks also to all those who have supplied us with snacks: Gail Nielsen, Judy Graves, Naomi Peterson, and Dennis Bidwell.

– Donna Neste

Another Word of Thanks

     Thanks to Sedona and Austin Crosby for adding some festive spirit at the community meal on March 15, by making green decorated rice crispy treats to serve!

     If you are interested in volunteering for the 3rd Saturday community meal please talk with Kat or Gretchen Campbell-Johnson or Kathy Thurston for opportunities.

Wanted: Confirmation Class Photos of Mount Olive’s Members     

     Pentecost Sunday, June 8, 2014, is also confirmation Sunday. For the days surrounding Pentecost we would like to display photos of the confirmation classes of current members. They will be in the hallway display case. A small sign next to each photo will identify who’s class is shown, and we will have the opportunity to go on a “where’s Waldo” search of each class photo trying to spot the current member.   After several weeks a sign will then be added identifying the location of the member in the photo.

     If you want to take part and have your confirmation photo in the display case please place your photo in  an envelope and write “To Paul Nixdorf”  and also your name, church and town (and year, if you are willing) in which you were confirmed on the envelope and leave it in the church office.  With the photo please include a note with your name plus a description of where you are located in the photo.  Please submit photos to the office by May 31.

     The display will remain up from the first week in June through early to mid-July. Your photo will then be returned to the envelope you provided and can be picked up at the church office.

Thank you.

– Paul Nixdorf

Upcoming Reads

For their meeting on April 12, the Book Discussion Group will read Elizabeth and Hazel, by David Margolick.    For the May 10 meeting, they will read, The Small Hand and Dolly, by Susan Hill.

Accent on Worship

      “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him,” said Jesus to Nicodemus in the Gospel for the Second Sunday in Lent.
   
     That is what Jesus was all about.  He was a healer, one who restored and spoke the truth to those who benefited by wounding, withholding and tearing apart.  That is what Christ’s Church should be about and (though we fail at times) often it is.  It has been a body to come to for comfort, one that works to heal and make whole, one that does not ask, “what’s wrong with you?’ but “what happened in your life that is in need of healing?”

And that is why the congregation that belongs to the beautiful brick church on the corner of 31st and Chicago hired me almost 30 years ago.

     Being followers of Jesus, they saw all the pain and need in the community.  They needed someone to organize their efforts as healers, and they were so ahead of their time.  I wasn’t even the first person to hold that position when I came in the mid-eighties.  Mount Olive congregation was reaching out to the community with someone at the head of an organized effort since the early 1970s.

     As I leave you, I want to thank you with my deepest gratitude for giving me the gratitude, for giving me the opportunity to serve this neighborhood in the name of Jesus.  It has been a tremendous honor and I will hold you in my heart for as long as I live.  You are truly blessed to be so close to opportunities to serve, to restore, and to heal.  I have witnessed the outpouring of your compassion to those in need, and your willingness to be a part of the salvation of the world as followers of Jesus, as the precious children of God that you are.

     Thank you for everything.
– Donna Pususta Neste

Sunday Readings

March 16, 2014: Second Sunday in Lent
 Genesis 12:1-4a
 Psalm 121
 Romans 4:1-5, 13-17
 John 3:1-17
_____________________

March 23, 2014: Third Sunday in Lent
Exodus 17:1-7
Psalm 95
Romans 5:1-11
John 4:5-42

This Week’s Adult Forum

March 16: “From Earth, to Eden, to Ground: The Opening Chapters of the Book of Genesis” (part 4 of a 4-part series), presented by Scholar-in-Residence, Prof. Earl Schwartz of Hamline University.  

Midweek Lenten Worship on Wednesdays, March 12 – April 9

•  Noon: Holy Eucharist, followed by soup luncheon
•  7:00 pm: Evening Prayer, preceded by soup supper, beginning at 6:00 p.m.

Farewell Celebration: This Sunday

This Friday, March 14, will be Donna Neste’s last day as our Neighborhood Ministries Coordinator.  Donna has served God and Mount Olive admirably for many decades and it’s time to bid her a fond farewell. There will be a meal and celebration after the second liturgy this Sunday, March 16.

Soup-Makers Needed!

     Soup makers are needed to provide soup and bread for our midweek Lenten meals. Soup and bread for the lunch following Wednesday midday Eucharist should feed 40-50 people, and for the supper before Wednesday Evening Prayer, we need soup and bread for about 10-12 people.

     If you can help by signing up to bring a meal (or two!), the sign up chart will be on the refreshment table at coffee hour on Sundays.

Lenten Devotional Books

     Copies of Susan Cherwien’s Journey Into Lent 2014 are available in the narthex and in the church office, for your devotional use during this Lenten season.

     Again this year, the devotional is also available online. Visit the blog and save it as a favorite, so that it’s easily accessible to you throughout the season of Lent.

An Invitation to Confession

     During the season of Lent I am making myself available at some regular times to hear individual confession and to offer absolution to any who desire it.  I will be in the chancel from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. each Monday in Lent, and continuing through the Monday of Holy Week.  If you wish to come for confession, simply come to the altar rail.  There will be a worship book so we can follow the rite together.  If someone is already there, please wait near the back of the nave and when I’m free, come forward.  While waiting, even if I’m free and you want to prepare yourself, praying the psalms in the pew or reading Scripture is worth considering.

– Pr. Joseph Crippen

March is Minnesota FoodShare Month!

     This is an annual event is supported by congregations and other religious and civic associations throughout Minnesota.

     Mount Olive has participated every year since it began in 1982.  We encourage you to be extra generous with your food or financial donations for our local food shelf during the month of March.  This drive fills the shelves of 300 food shelves across the state of Minnesota.

     Fifty percent of all food shelf recipients are children.  Twenty percent of all adult recipients are elderly.  More than sixty percent of those adults who use food shelves are the working poor.

     If possible, we encourage you to give funds (using your blue missions envelope, clearly labeled for the food shelf) instead of food donations. Ten dollars given to the food shelf can buy $40 worth of food when purchased by the food shelves.  How-ever, all donations are welcome! If you enjoy shopping for food to donate, please place your food donations in the cart in the cloak room.

Wanted: Confirmation Class Photos of Mount Olive’s Members   

     Pentecost Sunday, June 8, 2014, is also confirmation Sunday. For the days surrounding Pentecost we would like to display photos of the confirmation classes of current members. They will be in the hallway display case. A small sign next to each photo will identify who’s class is shown, and we will have the opportunity to go on a “where’s Waldo” search of each class photo trying to spot the current member.   After several weeks a sign will then be added identifying the location of the member in the photo.

     If you want to take part and have your confirmation photo in the display case please place your photo in  an envelope and write “To Paul Nixdorf”  and also your name, church and town (and year, if you are willing) in which you were confirmed on the envelope and leave it in the church office.  With the photo please include a note with your name plus a description of where you are located in the photo.  Please submit photos to the office by May 31.

     The display will remain up from the first week in June through early to mid-July. Your photo will then be returned to the envelope you provided and can be picked up at the church office.
Thank you.

– Paul Nixdorf

Book Discussion Upcoming Reads

For their meeting on April 12, the Book Discussion Group will read Elizabeth and Hazel, by David Margolick. For the May 10 meeting, they will read, The Small Hand and Dolly, by Susan Hill.

A Servant Community: Lenten Midweek

  Baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection, the community of the faithful are also bound into the servant role of our Messiah, called to give of ourselves for each other and the world.   Just as the kingdom comes into the world fully when the Son of God sets aside all power and domination and goes to the cross, so too we live out our lives as servant people who are willing to lose all for the sake of the other.

     This Lent in our midweek worship, both at the noon Eucharist and evening Vespers, we will be using Paul’s first letter to Corinth as an entrance into reflection on the servant life of the community of Christ, on what our call means in our life together and our life in the world, on what it is to live in the kingdom of God now.

Lenten Worship on Wednesdays: Eucharist at noon, followed by soup and bread lunch.  Soup and bread supper will be served at 6:00 p.m., followed by Vespers at 7:00 p.m.

Church Library News

     Thanks to Susan Cherwien for her wonderful gift to the Mount Olive community of a special book of Lenten devotions.  Awaiting your perusal is a further display of Lenten books in our main library, including:

     Portraits of the Christ (Messages for Lent and Easter), by John  McCollister, editor
    The Lord’s Prayer and the Lord’s Passion, by Paul G. Lessmann
    The Grace of the Passion, by Olive Wyon
    The Scandal of Lent (Themes for Lenten Preachings in the Gospel of John), by Robert Kysar
    A Cross to Glory (Lenten Sermons), by Alton F. Wedel
    Followers of the Cross (Messages for Lent and Easter), by Harry N. Huxhold
    Cross Words (Sermons and Dramas for Lent), by Kent Poovey
    Come, Lord Jesus, Come Quickly (Lenten Meditations), by Constance F. Parvey
    The Man Who Died for Me (Meditations on the Death and Resurrection of Our Lord),
                    by Herbert Lockyer
    A Book of Easter (with daily devotions), by Paul M. Lindberg
    Come to Easter, by Anna Laura and Edward Gebhard
    The Splendor of Easter, compiled and edited by Floyd W. Thatcher
   We Call This Friday Good (Meditations based on the 7 last words of  Christ), edited by Howard G.                            Hegaman
    The Ascension of Our Lord, by Peter Toon

    Last time our article mentioned a newer bookmark (these are always available to take for free) which listed suggestions for “What Good Readers Do” and to complete,  the reverse side mentions “Hints for Choosing a Book You’ll Enjoy” such as:

        Pick a genre (mystery, fantasy, history, etc.) you like,
        Read the description on the book’s cover,
        Be sure the topic interests you,
        Make sure the reading level is right for you,
        Select a book by an author you like,
        Choose a book from a series you enjoy,
        Talk to someone who has read the book,
      Ask a librarian or teacher to recommend a book.

– Leanna Kloempken

Friendly Callers Meeting

     Mount Olive Friendly Callers will meet on Sunday, March 30, immediately following the first liturgy. This meeting will take place in the Undercroft. Please bring the names and numbers of the people you are calling on a regular basis.

The Complete Rameau Concerti

     Sponsored by Mount Olive Music & Fine Arts, Tami Morse, harpsichord, Marc Levine, violin, and Tulio Rondon, viol da gambe, will present a complete performance of the five Harpsichord Concertos of Jean-Philippe Rameau.  The concert will be held on Sunday, March 23, at 4 pm.

     Plan to come – and bring a friend!

Luther College Cathedral Choir to Perform at Mount Olive

     The Luther College Cathedral Choir will perform in concert April 5, 2014, 7:00 p.m. at Mount Olive Lutheran Church, 3045 Chicago Avenue S, Minneapolis, MN. No tickets are needed, but a freewill offering will be received at the concert.

     The Cathedral Choir, directed by Dr. Jennaya Robison, performs a varied program of sacred music. Composed of nearly 90 select singers drawn from the college’s sophomore class, its membership reflects a wide range of academic disciplines. The concert program will include choral masterpieces by J.S. Bach, Hassler, and Ralph Vaughan Williams. At the heart of the program is Estonian composer’s Ēriks Ešenvalds’ “Stars” for choir, water-tuned glasses and Tibetan singing bowls. Favorite works by Olaf Christiansen, F. Melius Christiansen, Moses Hogan, Z. Randall Stroope, and others are included in an eclectic program suitable for listeners of all ages.

     The choir is in need of housing for some of their members. If you are able to provide hospitality for choir members, please contact Cantor Cherwien as soon as possible.

Lenten Centering Prayer Group  

     Sue Ellen Zagrabelny, Mount Olive member and an oblate or lay associate at Holy Wisdom Monastery in Middleton, WI is hosting a Centering Prayer group this Lent. Centering prayer, a monastic discipline at the monastery, is an emptying of oneself in prayer in order to be accessible to the Spirit. This Centering Prayer Group will be offered at Mount Olive at two different times over a period of 5 weeks:  on Tuesdays, the group will meet after Bible Study, from 1:15 to 1:45 March 4, 11, 18, 25 and April 1.  On Wednesdays, the group will meet before the Lenten Supper at 5:30 to 6:00 on March 12, 9, 19, 26 and April 2. Both sessions will meet in the library.

     If you have questions, please contact Sue Ellen Zagrabelny at 815-997-6020 or via email to skatzny@yahoo.com

Adult Forum Videos

    The four-part adult forum series with Dr. Earl Schwartz is being recorded on video and will soon be available to view online using a new Mount Olive Lutheran Church private channel on YouTube.

     Establishing that secure channel, uploading our videos, and ensuring that accessibility for Mount Olive members is easy is requiring a bit more time than originally thought.

     The project is well underway and our team of experts will hopefully soon have the process working smoothly. Once that occurs, we will send a link out to the entire Mount Olive community so that you can begin viewing this first series of videos and many more in the future.

Holy Week at Mount Olive

Sunday of the Passion/Palm Sunday, Sunday, April 13
Holy Eucharist, 8 & 10:45 am

Monday-Wednesday of Holy Week, April 14-16
Daily Prayer at Noon, in the side chapel of the nave

Maundy Thursday, April 17
Holy Eucharist at Noon
Holy Eucharist, with the Washing of Feet, 7:00 p.m.

Good Friday, April 18
Stations of the Cross at Noon
Adoration of the Cross at 7 pm

Holy Saturday, April 19
Great Vigil of Easter, 8:30 pm, followed by a festive reception

The Resurrection of Our Lord, Sunday, April 20
Festival Eucharist at 8 & 10:45 am

Accent on Worship

Remember that you are Dust

     We begin this Holy season with the imposition of ashes: a vivid, tangible reminder of our mortality, our need for repentance, and our need for God’s grace.

     Ashes have long served this purpose for the people of God. When lamenting, ancient Israelites would fast, wear sackcloth, and put ashes on their heads to show their sorrow and contrition. We, along with Adam, Eve, and the people Israel, are to name our sin honestly and remember: “You are dust and to dust you shall return.”

     This ritual forces us to face what we can avoid so easily in our culture. In a society where we are told that we can medicate away our pain, overcome any flaw through self-help books, and will or work ourselves into perfection, we can easily deceive ourselves about the urgency of our condition. These ashes, by contrast, point us to the realities of our sin, our brokenness, our inevitable death.

     The ashen cross does not allow us to deny that we have failed to live as God intended: it’s as plain as the cross on our face.

     The very shape of this mark, however, also points us to the one who hung on the cross, to the one who lives beyond the grave.

     Both of these truths are marked on us so that we do not lose sight of either: what we have done/left undone and what God has done for us. Just as we are called to honestly acknowledge our sin, we are shown that our God has already fully dealt with it. We are pointed again beyond ourselves to the one who “is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love,” created human life from dust, gives a garland instead of ashes (Is. 61:3), makes crucifixion yield to resurrection, and brings life out of the ashes of death.

     So as we remember that we are dust and to dust we shall return, we are also reminded just what the Triune God can do with dust and ashes.

– Vicar Emily Beckering

Sunday Readings

March 9, 2014: First Sunday in Lent
 Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7
 Psalm 32
Romans 5:12-19
 Matthew 4:1-11
_____________________

March 16, 2014: Second Sunday in Lent
 Genesis 12:1-4a
 Psalm 121
Romans 4:1-5, 13-17
 John 3:1-17

This Week’s Adult Forum 

March 9: “From Earth, to Eden, to Ground: The Opening Chapters of the Book of Genesis” (part 3 of a 4-part series), presented by Scholar-in-Residence, Prof. Earl Schwartz of Hamline University.  

Midweek Lenten Worship on Wednesdays
March 12 – April 9

• Noon: Holy Eucharist, followed by soup luncheon
• 7:00 pm: Evening Prayer, preceded by soup supper, beginning at 6:00 p.m.

An Invitation to Confession

     During the season of Lent I am making myself available at some regular times to hear individual confession and to offer absolution to any who desire it.  I will be in the chancel from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. each Monday, starting March 10, and continuing through the Monday of Holy Week.  If you wish to come for confession, simply come to the altar rail.  There will be a worship book so we can follow the rite together.  If someone is already there, please wait near the back of the nave and when I’m free, come forward.  While waiting, even if I’m free and you want to prepare yourself, praying the psalms in the pew or reading Scripture is worth considering.

  Martin Luther, in the Small Catechism, says this about individual confession: “Before God one is to acknowledge the guilt for all sins, even those of which we are not aware, as we do in the Lord’s Prayer.  However, before the pastor we are to confess only those sins of which we have knowledge and which trouble us.”  (The Small Catechism is printed in our worship book, ELW, in the back; the part where Luther speaks of confession is on p. 1165.)  The value of this practice for Luther was the gift of being able to be honest before another about all sin that troubles us, that one might truly hear the absolution God gives.

  Though Luther was in favor of individual confession continuing, it has fallen out of practice in many Lutheran communities over the centuries since the Reformation.  However, our worship books have retained an order for this because of the wisdom in recognizing that at times people have need of a deeper assurance of their forgiveness which can come from a fuller, more open confession of sin.  My hope in the times I’ve scheduled it is that it might permit both those who are still working full time and those who are retired to have opportunity.  If you are not able to come at any of these times and would desire confession, I am always available as your pastor for that ministry, and not just in Lent.  Please just ask and we’ll set up an appointment.

  You, the people of God at Mount Olive, have called me as your pastor that I might hear your confession and declare God’s forgiveness.  It is my hope in offering these opportunities, in addition to any corporate confession we are accustomed to make in our liturgies, that I might thereby continue to be faithful to this call and in service to you, my sisters and brothers.

– Pr. Joseph Crippen

Pictorial Directory Update

By now you should have received word that Mount Olive’s online pictorial directory is available on a secure page on our website.  Instructions were sent last week via email for signing up to gain access to this page. This can be done at any time.

For those who requested a paper copy of the directory, they are now available for pick up in the church office.

A Farewell Celebration

March 14 will be Donna Neste’s last day as our Neighborhood Ministries Coordinator.  Donna has served God and Mount Olive admirably for many decades and it’s time to bid her a fond farewell. There will be a meal and celebration after the second liturgy on Sunday, March 16.

Soup-Makers Needed!

     Soup makers are needed to provide soup and bread for our midweek Lenten meals. Soup and bread for the lunch following Wednesday midday Eucharist should feed 40-50 people, and for the supper before Wednesday Evening Prayer, we need soup and bread for about 10-12 people.

     If you can help by signing up to bring a meal (or two!), the sign up chart will be on the refreshment table at coffee hour on Sundays.

2014 Lenten Devotional Books

     Copies of Susan Cherwien’s  Journey Into Lent 2014 are available in the narthex and in the church office, for your devotional use this Lent.

     Again this year, the devotional is also available online. Visit the blog and save it as a favorite, so that it’s easily accessible to you throughout the season of Lent.

March is Minnesota FoodShare Month!

     Donate cash or groceries to the local food shelf during Minnesota FoodShare month in March! A donation of money more than doubles the amount of food available to food shelves, because food shelves can purchase food at discounted prices.  If you choose to give in this way, make your check payable to Mount Olive and write Food Shelf on the memo line. If you prefer to donation non-perishable groceries, they may be brought to the cart in the coat room.

Introducing our new Interim Neighborhood Ministries Coordinator

     The Vestry is pleased to announce that we have hired Ms. Connie Toavs (pronounced “Taves” with a long A sound) as our new interim Neighborhood Ministries Coordinator.

     Connie began her work with Donna Neste this week and will take over after Donna’s last day on March 14.

     Connie is retired from a long career working in a variety of affordable housing initiatives at both the federal and local level.   In the words of her resume, her work has focused on:  Low income (affordable) Housing … with significant experience working directly with families living in public housing, with community agencies, and with public housing residents in the development of collaborations and partnerships to meet the evolving needs of public housing residents; always with a consistent emphasis on building self-sufficiency and resident leadership and always in an urban setting with great diversity of race, culture, age, language and abilities.

     Connie is a long-time active member of Holy Nativity Lutheran Church (ELCA) in New Hope.

     The search committee was impressed with her ability to articulate how her Christian faith has informed her life and work.   Connie will join us frequently on Sunday mornings, including this coming Sunday.

     Please seek her out to welcome her and get to know her!

Centering Prayer Group to Meet During Lent

Sue Ellen Zagrabelny, Mount Olive member and an oblate or lay associate at Holy Wisdom Monastery in Middleton, WI is hosting a Centering Prayer group this Lent. Centering prayer, a monastic discipline at the monastery, is an emptying of oneself in prayer in order to be accessible to the Spirit. This Centering Prayer Group will be offered at Mount Olive at two different times over a period of 5 weeks:  on Tuesdays, the group will meet after Bible Study, from 1:15 to 1:45 March 4, 11, 18, 25 and April 1.  On Wednesdays, the group will meet before the Lenten Supper at 5:30 to 6:00 on March 12, 9, 19, 26 and April 2. Both sessions will meet in the library.
   
     If you have questions, please contact Sue Ellen Zagrabelny at 815-997-6020 or via email to skatzny@yahoo.com

Every Church a Peace Church

     The next regular bimonthly potluck supper meeting will be on Monday, March 10, at 6:30 p.m. at St. Stephen Lutheran Church, 8400 France Ave. S. in Bloomington (952-831-4746, www.ststephen.net).

  The speaker for this meeting is Pr. Gwin Pratt.  Pratt is the senior pastor at St. Luke Presbyterian Church in Wayzata. Pr. Pratt will lead a discussion entitled, “Why Should Christians Care about Climate Change?”  The issue of global climate change is of immense importance. The health and economic well-being of literally billions of human beings is at stake.

  It is our hope that many skeptics on ALL sides of this matter will come and join in this discussion.

A Note of Thanks

     A heartfelt word of thanks is extended to all the coffee hosts for January and February.

     These folks helped to make our time of coffee and conversa- tion following Sunday liturgies possible – and more enjoyable!

Joy Obadiaru
Connie & John Marty
Marlene & Jim Sorenson
Mary Crippen and family
Walt & Judy Hinck
Audrey, John and Eleanor  
     Crippen
Paul Odlaug
Gail Neilsen
Lora & Allen Dundek
Sandra & Steve Pranschke
William Pratley & Deb
     Rodock
Donn & Bonnie McLellan
the Missions Committee
Carla Manuel

The Complete Rameau Concerti
Sunday, March 23, 2014, 4 pm
Mount Olive Lutheran Church

     Sponsored by Mount Olive Music & Fine Arts, Tami Morse, harpsichord, Marc Levine, violin, and Tulio Rondon, viol da gambe, will present a complete performance of the five Harpsichord Concertos of Jean-Philippe Rameau.

Spring Ahead!

Daylight Savings Time begins this Sunday, March 9. Don’t forget to set your clocks accordingly!

Upcoming Reads

For their meeting on March 8, the Book Discussion Group will read Howards End, by E. M. Forster, and for April 12 they will read Elizabeth and Hazel, by David Margolick.

Adult Forum Earl Schwartz Videos

The four-part adult forum series with Earl Schwartz is being recorded on video and will soon be available to view online using a new Mount Olive Lutheran Church private channel on YouTube. Establishing that secure channel, uploading our videos, and making sure that accessibility for the Mount Olive community is easy, is requiring a bit more time than originally thought. The project is well underway and our team of experts hope to have the process working smoothly soon. Once that occurs we will send a link out to the entire congregation so you can begin viewing this first series of videos and many more in the future.

Accent on Worship

Alleluia, farewell

Hallelujah – praise ye the LORD.  Literally, “all of you, praise Yahweh.”  That’s what the Hebrew word Hallelujah means – “all of you praise the one who is named I AM WHO WILL BE”.  It’s such a short word that urges so much.  Latin didn’t pronounce it with or write the initial “h” so we also say, after the Latin, “Alleluia.”  Praise the Lord.

And this is the last Sunday for a long time that we will be able to say it.  For centuries it has been the practice of the Church to forego the singing or saying of Alleluia during the Lenten season.  We put aside the word of praise of almighty God that is so important to our worship, and we focus on our repentance.

It’s so helpful that our last day of Alleluia for a time is the Sunday of Transfiguration.  In some parts of the Western Church, namely among the Roman Catholics, Transfiguration is celebrated during the summer.  But our tradition places it here, the Sunday before Lent, and what is most helpful is that the experience of Jesus on the mountain of Transfiguration and what happened after is imitated by our singing Alleluia Sunday and then putting it aside.

Our Lenten discipline of setting aside Alleluia also reminds us of this truth: it’s often very hard to find a way to praise God in a difficult, painful, confusing, and often hostile world.  The psalmist in exile in Babylon said it this way in Psalm 137:  “On the willows there we hung up our harps, for how could we sing the LORD’s song, Yahweh’s song, in a foreign land?”  That, indeed, is often our question, isn’t it?  The reason we’re so enamored of Transfiguration, of this scene on the mountaintop, is that we can go long stretches of life without such beautiful inspiration, such wonderful confirmation of our faith.  The reason Peter wants to make tents for the three amazing personages is that he wants that moment to last.  And it never does.

Even so, we will leave the mountain, leave our Alleluias, for a time, that we might enter the wilderness of this world with our Lord.  We will set aside our fullest celebration for these forty days as we consider our lives and need for repentance.  We will take the song up again, yes.  We will once more learn to sing the Lord’s song in a strange land.  For now though, after Sunday, we will listen for a different song, that the Spirit might continue to shape us into children of God through this journey, this discipline.

In the name of Jesus,

– Joseph

Sunday Readings

 March 2, 2014: Transfiguration of Our Lord
 Exodus 24:12-18
 Psalm 2
2 Peter 1:16-21
 Matthew 17:1-9
_____________________
March 9, 2014: First Sunday in Lent
 Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7
 Psalm 32
Romans 5:12-19
 Matthew 4:1-11

This Week’s Adult Forum 

March 2: “From Earth, to Eden, to Ground: The Opening Chapters of the Book of Genesis,” part 2 of a 4-part series, presented by Scholar-in-Residence, Prof. Earl Schwartz of Hamline University.  

Lent Begins Next Week

     Wednesday, March 5 is Ash Wednesday. Holy Eucharist with the Imposition of Ashes will be celebrated at Noon and at 7:00 p.m. that day.

     During the season of Lent, midweek worship will be held on Wednesdays: Holy Eucharist at Noon and Evening Prayer at 7:00 p.m.

     A soup luncheon will follow the Noon liturgies, and a soup supper will precede Evening Prayer, beginning at 6:00 p.m.

Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper

     The Shrove Tuesday pancake supper will be held on Tuesday, March 4, from 6 to 6:45 pm.  Everyone is invited for an evening of pancakes, costumes, games and fun. At 6:45 pm we will observe the burning of the palms for the Ash Wednesday ashes.  Bring your dried palms from last year and leave them in the basket in the narthex.  Kids can wear costumes, and adults can dress festively in any way they choose!

     Help is needed from people 6th grade to 12th grade to assist with the pancake races.  If you are able to come and help with this event, please call or email Beth Sawyer at 651-434-0666 or mikebethsawyer78@gmail.com.  If you would like to help decorate the church basement on March 4 during the day, please also call Beth Sawyer to let her know.

Bring In Your Palms

  If you have a palm branch from last year’s Palm Sunday liturgies, please bring it to church. Last year’s palms will be burned following the Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper to make the ashes for Ash Wednesday liturgies.

Palm branches may be placed in the large labeled basket in the narthex.

Thursday Evening Bible Study Session Postponed and Rescheduled

The final session in the current Thursday Evening Bible Study was cancelled last week, due to inclement weather. That session has been rescheduled for Thursday, March 6, 6:00 p.m. in the Chapel Lounge, beginning with a light supper.

Lent Procession to be held Sunday, March 9, 4:00 p.m.

     All are welcome to this contemplative service of lessons and hymns for Lent. This service is offered as an opportunity to withdraw from the busyness of life to pray, sing, listen, smell, and to fully enter in to the season of Lent, a time to renew our lives as baptized children of God.

2014 Lenten Devotional Books

     Susan Cherwien has prepared another Lenten devotional booklet for our use during this upcoming season of Lent.

     Copies of Journey Into Lent 2014 are available in the narthex and in the church office. Pick yours up soon! If you need a copy to be mailed to you, just contact the church office.

     Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, March 5.

Centering Prayer Group to begin March 4

     Hello, my name is Sue Ellen Zagrabelny and I am a member of Mount Olive and an oblate or lay associate at Holy Wisdom Monastery in Middleton, WI. One of the monastic disciplines practiced at the monastery is centering prayer, an emptying of oneself in prayer in order to be accessible to the Spirit. A Centering Prayer Group will be offered at Mount Olive at two different times over a period of 5 weeks.

     A brief introduction of Centering Prayer will be provided and written material about the discipline will be made available.

     On Tuesday, the group will meet after Bible Study, from 1:15 to 1:45 March 4, 11, 18, 25 and April 1.  On Wednesday, the group will meet before the Lenten Supper at 5:30 to 6:00 on March 12, 9, 19, 26 and April 2. Both sessions will meet in the library.

     If you have questions, please contact Sue Ellen Zagrabelny at 815-997-6020 or via email to skatzny@yahoo.com. Please join me in this meaningful discipline of Lent.

A Farewell Celebration

     March 14 will be Donna Neste’s last day as our Neighborhood Ministries Coordinator.  Donna has served God and Mount Olive admirably for many decades and it’s time to bid her a fond farewell. We invite members of the congregation to donate to a gift in Donna’s honor. Please make checks payable to Mount Olive Lutheran Church (be sure to designate them “Donna’s Gift”), and bring or mail them to the church office by Friday, March 7. There will be a meal and celebration after the second liturgy on Sunday, March 16.  For questions, contact Carol Austermann or Kathy Thurston.

Friendly Calling Program

     Mount Olive began a Friendly Calling Program last May.  There are currently about 15 people called on a regular basis by trained Friendly Callers to offer companionship and support. We need another caller to complement the current group.  If you are interested in making one or two calls on a regular basis and are willing to attend a brief training session, please contact Sue Ellen Zagrabelny at 815-997-6020 or by email to skatzny@yahoo.com.

To the Wearers of Albs

     Please sign your name and list your alb number on the chart provided on the inside of the alb closet door! We need to know which albs receive the most use to assure that we have enough of them in the appropriate sizes. Thanks for your help!

– Carol Austermann

New Event Tables

     Perhaps you have noticed the new event tables in the Chapel Lounge! These were purchased to help provide a place for people to set their refreshments on while they are visiting at coffee hour.

     Thanks to the awesome and generous members who contributed toward the purchase of all 12 tables, we did not need to use money from the budget for them. So many thanks to them for their generosity, and to Gary Pagel, who did the research and found the tables online.

     I am sure these tables will be well-used at coffee hour and in other fellowship activities.

– Gail Nielsen

Bread for the World Workshop

     One of three annual Bread for the World workshops will be held at Mount Olive this year this Sunday March 2, beginning 1:00 p.m.  A light lunch will be served in the Undercroft after the late liturgy for those who plan to stay for the workshop.  If you plan to attend please call Donna Neste at church so that the servers can plan accordingly.  More information about the workshop is written below.  There are also brochures available on the Neighborhood Ministries bulletin board directly below the stairs by Donna’s office.

Sign Up For Coffee!

     The coffee time following each Sunday liturgy is a great time to meet new friends and to enjoy conversation with friends already made. Coffee hosts make this happen and we need folks to sign up on the new sign up board. If you would like to host but want to serve with another person, contact Carla Manuel at 612-521-3952 or see her at coffee most any Sunday morning. Thanks from Carla and the Congregational Care Hospitality Team.

Lost Sheep, Lost Coin, Lost Banner

     In the parables, the shepherd finds the sheep and the woman finds the coin, however, the Neighborhood Ministries Committee has been unable to find Mount Olive’s banner for the May Day Parade. Have you seen it? It was last seen at church in its labeled bag, which is about 40 inches long. The banner is 36×120 inches, and has our name and church logo on it.
     This May, Mount Olive’s neighborhood celebrates the 40th anniversary of the May Day Parade. With our banner or without it, we plan to walk, wave flags, cheer, picnic, and have fun at this year’s May Day Parade. Plan now to join us!

Luther College Cathedral Choir Coming to Mount Olive  
   
     The Luther College Cathedral Choir (90 singers!) will  perform a tour concert here at Mount Olive on Saturday evening,  April 5, 7:00 pm.

     We will be looking for hosts to house these young singers,  so watch for detailed information about how you can help.  It is a large number of students to host, but it’s our turn, and I’m sure we can be successful helping them get warm rest and hospitality for that night!

– Cantor Cherwien