Accent on Worship

     I am not one to interpret end-times prophecies whether they come out of the Book of Revelations, Daniel, or from the mouth of Jesus in the Gospel for the First Sunday in Advent.  After the tsunamis of Malaysia and Haiti, and the super-storms and droughts that have plagued this planet over the past number of years, if we are to interpret these as end-times occurrences we should be looking for Jesus any day now.  The unrest in so many parts of the world and the recent super-storm that hit New Jersey could have been prophesied by Jesus, “on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves.”  But truth be told, we do not know when Jesus will return and though we were told by Jesus in the Gospel that the kingdom is near when we see these signs, we have also been told by our Lord that no one knows when he is to return, and not to waste too much of our energy speculating about that.  If I have learned anything from the Bible, it is that God’s time-table is not ours.

     The passage from this Sunday’s Gospel reading that I believe we should take to heart is this: “Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down by dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life.” The Gospel is the story of God’s love for us, and the followers of God’s Son, Jesus, are called to love.  Love is more than just tolerating that annoying relative.  It is engaging the powers to do the right thing, to rule with justice and challenge each other to bring peace to our world.  It is looking to ourselves and seeking just and loving ways to live, so that all of God’s creation is welcome to the banquet. When Christians are faithful to that call they love and serve God, they love and serve their neighbor, and they respect God’s creation.  Loving is hard work and it may even be dangerous.  Those who give up their lives for love will be the martyrs who will wash their robes in the blood of the Lamb at the end of time.  When we become followers of Jesus by seeking this way of life, trusting in God for all that we need, we may not change a thing, but our hearts will be ready for the Second Coming of our Lord.

– Donna Pususta Neste  

Sunday’s Adult Education: December 2, 9:30 a.m.

     The Rev. Don Luther will share a presentation on iconography.

Advent Procession
Sunday, December 2, 4:30 p.m.

     Join us for this annual contemplative service of lessons and carols for Advent.  Take time to set apart this season as one of preparation.  Experience prayer, Word, incense, choral music, candles, and hymnody.  Join the procession of those who wait in darkness.

Advent Luncheon for Seniors
Wednesday, December 5

     It’s not too late to RSVP for the Advent Luncheon!  If you are age 65 or over, you are invited!  Simply call the church office as soon as possible to RSVP. Rides will be provided for those who need one. If you need a ride, be sure to mention that when you call.

Special Congregation Meeting to be Held December 16, Noon

     A milestone meeting of the congregation will be held in the Undercroft following the second liturgy on December 16 to receive and approve the work of the Capital Campaign Tithe Task Force.  A total of 30 invitations were sent to not-for-profit organizations based on the recommendations of members/friends of the congregation, Neighborhood Ministries, and Missions committees.  Twenty of these invitations resulted in requests for funding (26 projects totaling $217,560) from the remaining $91,000 of the tithe ($20,000 was already awarded to Lutheran Social Services for their Center for Changing Lives).  After a thorough review of the requests received using the process and criteria endorsed by the congregation, the Task Force recommended the distribution of remaining funds to the vestry who in turns recommends approval by the congregation. Copies of these recommendations are available at church. If you would like to have a copy of the recommendations sent to you, please contact the church office.

     This congregational meeting is the culmination of a tremendous demonstration of generosity and faith and all voters are invited to attend this very important meeting.

Fair Trade Craft Sale

     The Missions committee will be hosting a Fair Trade Craft Sale this Advent.  Purchase beautiful and unique Fair Trade items handmade by disadvantaged artisans in developing regions around the world.  With each purchase, you help artisans maintain steady work and a sustainable income so they can provide for their families.  Lutheran World Relief partners with SERRV, a nonprofit Fair Trade organization, to bring you the LWR Handcraft Project.

     The crafts will be available for purchase after both services on December 2, 9, and 16 (cash and check only).  See the separate attachment/insert to view some of the items that will be for sale.  Fair trade coffee, tea, cocoa, and chocolate from Equal Exchange will also be available.  This is not a fund-raiser, just an opportunity to buy good products for a good cause.  

     New this year, we will also have items available for sale from The Art Shoppe. The Art Shoppe, located in Midtown Global Market, is a local artist collective and micro business venture that Mount Olive helps to support.

Book Discussion Group

     Mount Olive’s Book Discussion group meets on the second Saturday of each month at 10:00 a.m. For the December 8 meeting they will read Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury, and for the January session Caleb’s Crossing, by Geraldine Brooks.

Help Needed!

     Our Sexton, William Pratley, is out for the next couple of weeks recovering from surgery. During his absence, snow removal help may be needed!

     If you are willing to help clear sidewalks and steps at church when needed, please call the church office and let us know. We own a snow blower and several shovels, so we have the tools needed – all we need is a few folks who are willing to use them.

Dusting and Polishing Day: December 1

     The Altar Guild will host a chancel-cleaning event tomorrow, Saturday, December 1, beginning at 9:00 a.m.  Bring your favorite duster and polishing rags, and help spiff-up our worship space for the Advent season.  Questions?  Contact Tim Lindholm at   timothyjlindholm@aol.com.

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, for $120 you can “buy” a stove for a family in Guatemala that provides a safer and more efficient way of cooking. We have catalogues from different charitable organizations that you can use or you can order from the organizations’ websites.  Some of these organizations are:

• Evangelical Lutheran Church in America  www.elca.org/goodgifts
• Lutheran World Relief
• http://lwrgifts.org/
• Heifer Project International  http://www.heifer.org
• Common Hope  http://commonhopecatalog.myshopify.com/
• Bethania Kids   http://bethaniakids.org/gift-catalog/

2013 Estimates of Giving

     If you haven’t yet returned your Estimate of Giving card for 2013, please do so at your earliest convenience. The box will be near the coatroom for one more week – you can also mail it to the church. Thanks for your help with this!

Church Library News

     This reminder paragraph is more difficult to write because it will seem rather contradictory to you.  Obviously, we have heartily invited our congregation and staff to come in often and use our library resources, however, we have recently noticed a few of our reference books and several of the CD’s missing without cards showing they were checked out properly.  The efficiency of our library ministry depends on each person using and then returning our materials doing so in a reliable and responsible manner.  We ask you to check your homes, cars, tote bags and briefcases for items with a Mount Olive Library (or Crossroads Library) stamp on it and return to us as promptly as possible.  Thanks for your help!

     Welcome to Mary Rose Watson who is our newest volunteer helper, and thanks to Donna Wolsted, who is leaving after serving on our rotating library volunteer staff for two years.  Others who currently help us in this way (you might want to thank them yourselves sometime) are:  Brooke Roegge, Mabel Jackson, Melissa Stone, and Dan Olson.

     I close this time with an interesting quotation from none other than Walter Cronkite:  “Whatever the cost of our libraries, the price is cheap compared to that of an ignorant nation.”

– Leanna Kloempken

You Can Help!
Our Saviour’s Residents

     Sixty five people now have their own apartments after years of homelessness and health problems.  Their limited budgets make it tough for them to afford the necessities to care for their homes.  Brighten their holidays by providing some holiday Cheer (pun intended).

Some suggestions:
• Dish soap
• Laundry soap
• Trash bags
• All-purpose cleaner
• Sponges or towels
• Glass cleaner
• Toilet paper
• Paper towels

Feel free to add additional cleaning supplies or other items:

• Personal hygiene items
• Candy, cookies, snack mixes, cocoa,
or other treats
• Socks, gloves, hats, scarves or slippers

     Gifts can be packaged in any way: a laundry basket, reusable shopping bag, plastic tub, etc.  Feel free to decorate the gift or include a card.  Dollar Stores are great shopping sources.

     Please bring your gifts to Mt. Olive’s coat room no later than December 16. Your usual generous response is anticipated and will be much appreciated.

Accent on Worship

Reading the Signs

     As we near the end of the Church Year, the readings from Scripture assigned for our worship get more and more dire.  Every year there are warnings of the end times, urgings to stay awake, be watchful.  Many of these readings give all sorts of signs to watch which will indicate that the end is near.  We see that in our Gospel for this Sunday, Mark 13:1-8.

     All of Mark 13 is Jesus speaking of these end times.  It’s sometimes called the “Little Apocalypse,” since it reflects the same themes and images of the book of Revelation, which in Greek is “The Apocalypse.”  We only hear these first 8 verses of chapter thirteen this month, but if we could remember back to the First Sunday of Advent last winter, we could recall hearing a large part of the end of the chapter.  So we began the year with signs of the end, and now we end the year with the same.

     There are two problems with signs.  The first is that you need to understand them.  If a sign tells you that you can’t make a U-turn, you need to know what that U shape with a red circle and bar across it means, or it’s useless.  The second problem is that once you understand them, you need to try and follow them, do something with them.  That’s relatively easy with road signs.  Believers have had less luck with the signs Jesus gives.

     Much energy and anxiety has been spent by generation after generation trying to understand the times, and many generations since Jesus’ ascension have thought theirs was the one which would see the end.  Ours is no exception.  The wars, earthquakes and famines Jesus speaks of, nations and kingdoms rising up against each other, these things seem persistently and ominously real in our time.

     That’s not what Jesus would have us do with these signs, however.  He seems to be giving them to us more as comfort and help, words to tell us not to be surprised when these things happen.  Our job, however, is not to predict the date of the end of time, or despair that we are living in the last days.  Our job, as he says at the end of Mark 13, is simply to live our lives ready for his coming.  Live our lives as faithful servants, doing our job, trusting in our Lord’s love and life for us.  We cannot know when our days will end, let alone when the world will.  If our forebears in faith teach us anything it is that we will mostly likely be wrong if we think we know.  But we can know what we are called to do: live faithful lives of love and grace in the midst of whatever evil and good might befall us or the world.

     Our Lord is returning.  Until then, with his grace filling and shaping us, we have work to do.  That’s what the signs tell us most clearly.

 – Joseph

Sunday Readings

November 18, 2012 – Time after Pentecost, 33
Daniel 12:1-3 + Psalm 16
Hebrews 10:11-25 + Mark 13:1-8

November 25, 2012 – Christ the King
Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14 + Psalm 93
Revelation 1:4b-8 + John 18:33-37

Thanksgiving Eucharist
Thanksgiving Day, 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!)

     The entire offering received at the Eucharist on Thanksgiving Day will be given to Sabbathani Community Center and Community Emergency Services.  Worshipers are also encouraged to bring non-perishable food items, which will help to feed the hungry in our community.

Sunday’s Adult Education
November 18, 9:30 a.m.

“An Introduction to the Gospel of Luke,” part 2 of a 3-part series, presented by Pastor Crippen.

A Message From ELCA Disaster Response: Hurricane Sandy

     “From the Caribbean to the northern Atlantic coast of the United States, millions of people have evacuated their homes and communities due to Hurricane Sandy. Strong winds and torrential rains have led to flooding and mass destruction. The storm has claimed the lives of at least 84 throughout the United States and the Caribbean.

     The storm sent trees crashing down and left neighborhood streets looking like rivers. While destruction on the Eastern coast is devastating, please also remember the damage of Hurricane Sandy in the Caribbean as millions are feeling the impact of this storm.

     We need your help. The ELCA is a leader in disaster response. Working through our local affiliates and global church partners; we stand ready to respond. Your gifts will help our church meet the immediate needs of those affected by providing food, water and shelter. And we will continue to help for as long as we are needed.”

     Gifts received by Mount Olive will be sent to ELCA Disaster Response. If they are marked “Hurricane Sandy” the ELCA will use 100% of the gift for this disaster. Use the blue missions envelope in your packet (or any envelope) and mark it “Hurricane Sandy.”

     Mount Olive’s Missions Committee has committed $250 of its discretionary funds to hurricane relief.  The committee feels it is important for Mount Olive to support the ELCA’s efforts to stand with those who are suffering because of the hurricane–both nationally and internationally.

Mount Olive in the News

     Mount Olive’s global engagement is featured in the fall edition of Luther Seminary’s Global Vision, the Global Missions Institute’s quarterly newsletter. Mount Olive supports the Global Missions Institute’s work through our mission giving.  The Global Missions Institute adds a crucial international framework to the Lutheran Church. It has also been instrumental in helping Mount Olive connect with international students who are studying at Luther Seminary, particularly around our annual “Taste of…” celebrations.  Read it here.

Book Discussion Group

     Mount Olive’s Book Discussion group meets on the second Saturday of each month at 10:00 a.m. For the December 8 meeting they will read Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury, and for the January session Caleb’s Crossing, by Geraldine Brooks.

Please Note

Church offices will be closed on Friday, November 23 (the day after Thanksgiving).

Help Needed!

     Our Sexton, William Pratley, recently had surgery and is out for several weeks on medical leave. During his absence, snow removal help is needed!

     If you are willing to help clear sidewalks and steps at church when needed, please call the church office and let us know.

     We own a snow blower and several shovels, so we have the tools needed – all we need is a few folks who are willing to use them.

Diabetes Prayer Day

     Diabetes Prayer Day was last Sunday, November 11. Sponsored by the Diabetes Prayer Day organization, all are reminded to keep those suffering with diabetes in prayer, and to pray for its cure.

Advent Procession: Sunday, December 2, 4:30 p.m.
Mount Olive Cantorei, David Cherwien, director and organist

     Join us for this annual contemplative service of lessons and carols for Advent.  Take time to set apart this season as one of preparation.  Experience prayer, Word, incense, choral music, candles, and hymnody.  Join the procession of those who wait in darkness.

A Word of Thanks

     Mount Olive extends a word of thanks to Nicholas Champeau, the guitarist who accompanied the choir on November 11 for their anthem, “When the Poor Ones.” (We received his name too late for inclusion in the bulletin).  Nicholas is a friend of Jon Siess.

https://www.mountolivechurch.org/2012/11/16/1394/

Accent on Worship

Disciplined Love

     Fasting, prayers, almsgiving.  These are among the spiritual disciplines of Lent, mentioned specifically by Jesus (though not in relation to a season of Lent of course) in Matthew 6, and as part of our Ash Wednesday liturgy.  The Church has long seen these activities as not only worthy in and of themselves, but also exercises of the spirit, things which strengthen the faith.

     I’ve been thinking about this with regard to stewardship.  If you haven’t already, you should soon receive a letter from Dennis Bidwell, Stewardship chair, and from me, along with a pledge card for 2013.  In that letter we spoke of the spiritual discipline of pledging.  If you look at the Lenten list, prayer and fasting are easily understandable as spiritual disciplines, even if some of us might not fast on a regular basis ourselves.  But the Church also included almsgiving, the giving of wealth to share with others, to do the ministry of Christ.  In part, it’s because almsgiving is in Matthew 6.  But there may be a deeper understanding behind it.

     The goal of any discipline is to learn a new way, to be shaped or focused or trained or improved to become something more than before.  Whether it’s physical disciplines such as healthy eating and regular exercise, or spiritual disciplines, people commit to do these so that they might be disciplined, discipled, shaped.  Should one decide to fast, for example, it is good to make a commitment to that, if only personally to oneself, so that when the time of fasting is getting long and hunger is pressing, there is that commitment which then supports the original intention.

     So it is or can be with pledging.  We know that we have been richly blessed by God, we know we are called to share our wealth with others to bring the Good News of God’s love to our community and world.  Virtually every member of a congregation will freely give something of what they have to the shared work, whether it’s money or time or abilities.  But when we commit to do this to each other, and perhaps more importantly, to ourselves, we make our giving a discipline, a challenge, a way for us to find deeper spiritual maturity and grow in faith.  As with other disciplines, the act of commitment itself shapes our response and helps us stay with our initial good intentions.

     As we hear of all the volunteer opportunities for people to be involved together here in our mission from God, and as you look at that pledge card sitting on your table or counter, let us all consider what it might mean for us to commit to this discipline.  How might the Spirit work in us faith and life as we practice what we have committed to do?  I pray that we all might be led ever deeper in our willingness to commit and work together to serve God faithfully in this place.

 – Joseph

Sunday Readings

November 11, 2012 – Time after Pentecost, Sunday 32
I Kings 17:8-16 + Psalm 146
Hebrews 9:24-28 + Mark 12:38-44

November 18, 2012 – Time after Pentecost, Sunday 33
Daniel 12:1-3 + Psalm 16
Hebrews 10:11-25 + Mark 13:1-8

Sunday’s Adult Education: 
November 11, 9:30 a.m.

“An Introduction to the Gospel of Luke,” part 1 of a 3-part series, presented by Pastor Crippen.

A Note of Thanks
     A big “Thank you!” goes out to the willing helpers volunteering assistance with the upkeep and cleaning of the Mount Olive building and grounds.  Your gift of time and talent is greatly appreciated during these weeks as we await William’s return.  If more are interested in lending a hand, please see me or Andrew Andersen.

– Brenda Bartz, Properties Director

Volunteer Opportunities Sunday

     Mount Olive would not exist as we know it without its volunteers. Our volunteers bring Christ to the corner of 31st and Chicago in many ways. We serve 3,000 meals a year to those in need. We provide counseling and tutoring to many. We provide thousands of low cost diapers through the Diaper Depot. We contribute time and energy to many neighborhood organizations. We welcome our neighbors to worship with us. All of this is only possible because of our members who volunteer their time and talent to the mission of Mount Olive.

     This Sunday during both coffee hours various representatives of our church’s committees and activities will seek volunteers for our many programs, from acolytes to zealous choir members, the opportunities are many and varied. Come join us, it is a great way to meet your fellow members.

     Some specific jobs looking for volunteers are: acolytes, ushers, servers for Our Savior’s Sunday dinners, sound system monitors for Sunday services, helpers for our twice-monthly community meals and Sunday morning coffee hosts. These are just a few of the opportunities available.

     Also if you have an idea about a new service program you would like to see at Mount Olive, come to talk to me and when can discuss the idea.

– Dennis Bidwell

Mount Olive Music and Fine Arts to Present Alice Parker: 
Sing! Hymns of the Church
This Sunday, November 11, 4:00 p.m.

     The SINGS led by Alice Parker have delighted groups throughout the United States and Canada since she started leading them forty years ago. Started as an introduction to her Writing for Voices classes, the concept grew to include church congregations and choirs, then people of all ages and backgrounds who wish to sing together. Some songs are old favorites, and some are totally unfamiliar. The atmosphere is one of delight in making music together and of ease in creating varied sounds.

     Don’t miss this opportunity to experience the magic of a great mentor of our time! The concert is free and open to the public, and a reception will follow.

A Message From ELCA Disaster Response: Hurricane Sandy

     “From the Caribbean to the northern Atlantic coast of the United States, millions of people have evacuated their homes and communities due to Hurricane Sandy. Strong winds and torrential rains have led to flooding and mass destruction. The storm has claimed the lives of at least 84 throughout the United States and the Caribbean.

     The storm sent trees crashing down and left neighborhood streets looking like rivers. While destruction on the Eastern coast is devastating, please also remember the damage of Hurricane Sandy in the Caribbean as millions are feeling the impact of this storm.

     We need your help. The ELCA is a leader in disaster response. Working through our local affiliates and global church partners; we stand ready to respond. Your gifts will help our church meet the immediate needs of those affected by providing food, water and shelter. And we will continue to help for as long as we are needed.”

     Gifts received by Mount Olive will be sent to ELCA Disaster Response. If they are marked “Hurricane Sandy” the ELCA will use 100% of the gift for this disaster. Use the blue missions envelope in your packet (or any envelope) and mark it “Hurricane Sandy.”

     Thank you!

Fair Trade Craft Sale

     The Missions committee will be hosting a Fair Trade Craft Sale in December.  We will have a variety of items available for purchase handmade by disadvantaged artisans in developing regions.  You can preview items online at this web address: http://www.serrv.org/category/consignment and if there is anything in particular you would like us to order for you, we can do that and hold it in your name for you to purchase during the sale.  Please send the item number and quantity you would like to Lisa Ruff at jklmruff@msn.com or call her at 651-636-4762 by Wednesday, November 7.  This is not a fund-raiser, just an opportunity to buy good products for a good cause.  

Church Library News

    Thank you very much to Marcella Daehn for the special gift book, The Saint John’s Bible (Gospels and Acts), which is currently on display in our library.  Using tools and materials employed by scribes for thousands of years, Donald Jackson and an international team of artists and scholars embarked on a monumental 7 year journey: to create the first handwritten and illuminated Bible commissioned since the invention of the printing press.  Combining the most widely-used English translation of the Bible, with original artwork that reflects cultures from around the world, The Saint John’s Bible is an inspiring interfaith undertaking that speaks to the heart of many religious traditions.  This volume is one of seven, including Pentateuch, Historical Books, Wisdom Literature, Psalms, Prophets, Gospels and Acts and Letters and Revelations.  This is not a book to be checked out in the normal way (it is a rather large and heavy book to handle), but rather to be viewed and enjoyed as you come to our library, even several times, to view and savor its loveliness whenever your time allows.

      We close with this special quotation from Archibald MacLeish: “What is more important in a library than anything else — than everything else — is the fact that it exists!”

 – Leanna Kloempken

Book Discussion Group

     Mount Olive’s Book Discussion group meets on the second Saturday of each month at 10:00 a.m. For the November 10 meeting they will read, Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray, and for December 8 they will read Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury.

Thanksgiving Eucharist
Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 25
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!)
     The entire offering received at the Eucharist on Thanksgiving Day, November 25, will be given to Sabbathani Community Center and Community Emergency Services.  Worshipers are also encouraged to bring non-perishable food items, which will help to feed the hungry in our community.

Every Church A Peace Church 

     The next regular bi-monthly potluck supper meeting will be on Monday, November 12, 6:30 p.m., at Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church (5426 12th Ave. S., in Minneapolis; 612-824-3455;   http://www.olpmn.org).

     The topic of discussion at this meeting will be “St. Martin or Constantine? A Veterans for Peace Perspective on Two Conflicting Visions of the Church’s Place in War.”

     Larry Johnson and Steve McKeown, of Veterans for Peace Chapter 27, will discuss the conflicting 4th century visions of Constantine and of St. Martin of Tours, and how this moved the early Christians away from the absolute refusal of warfare due to Jesus’ teachings of nonviolence.  

Please Note

Church offices will be closed on Friday, November 23 (the day after Thanksgiving).

Accent on Worship

     The Gospel and the first and second readings from Isaiah and Revelation for All Saints Sunday are resurrection stories.  In the first and second readings, visions are given to the prophet and to John about the end of time, but truly it is about all the saints and the re-creation of our planet. The scenes given in these passages are joyous with people from every nation celebrating together.  Isaiah writes that death will be swallowed up by our Lord and it will be no more.  There will be no more suffering.  Revelation speaks of a new heaven and new earth and God will come to us and dwell with us.  The Gospel gives us a foretaste of life everlasting by raising Lazarus from the dead.

     I have had many resurrection experiences in my life time.  These were times when I felt hopeless in certain situations.  I would continue to pray about them, but not out of hope for a good outcome. You would think that I would learn something about the power of prayer.  Sometimes I couldn’t even pray, things seemed so bad, and I would ask the Holy Spirit to pray for me.  Somehow, that high school classmate I was fervently praying for, whose lungs and bones were full of cancer responded to a new treatment at the Mayo Clinic and is cancer free today.  Somehow, my mother, who took up lots of my prayer time recently, defied all odds. After spending eight days in the ICU on a respirator she pulled through to the amazement of her doctors, and lived.  And somehow, my son’s dear, dear second mother in Honduras, who I prayed for with every fiber of my being, was connected with a doctor who will do her heart surgery (which she will die without) for no cost.  These are some of the latest resurrections in my life.  Every person, who has ever prayed for a miracle could tell of  one or more resurrection experiences in their lives, also.  These events are as much of a Godly intervention as the raising of Lazarus. Our God is in our lives and we don’t have to wait for the end of time to experience the new.

     Even as we may long for that final triumphant return of Jesus, who will bring a new heaven and a new earth, we see the work of God unfolding every day.  And that is what makes us all saints.

– Donna Pususta Neste

 Come Early to Worship on All Saints Sunday  

As in past years, members are invited to arrive early for worship this Sunday to light candles in memory of loved ones as a part of our All Saints observance.  Votive candles will be set at the font and the columbarium, and someone will be there to assist worshippers.  This will be an extended time of prayer and vigil before the liturgy begins, during which the Cantorei will also be singing.

Sunday’s Adult Education, November 4, 9:30 a.m.

 All Saints

     On the Feast of All Saints, This Sunday, November 4, we remember and celebrate those who have preceded us in the Faith and now “from their labors rest.” We recite their names at liturgy; we light votives in their memory. In the Adult Forum that day, we’ll have a chance to walk among some of them. There will be a display of icons of some of our forebears in the faith. We will reflect briefly on the meaning of “sainthood” and of their portrayal in icons. And then we’ll be free to view the icons, walking among the saints of old (any maybe not-so-long-ago), venerating them as we see fit.

     If you have an icon that you would like to set among others, we welcome and encourage you to do so. Please, if you bring an icon for display, help us: Bring only icons of persons, not events. Put your name on the back of the icon lest it go astray. And identify the icon: Who is it? If the person is relatively unknown, why is that person memorable? Note that we do not require that you bring hand-painted or hand-written icons. Most of us can’t afford those.

Sunday Readings

November 4, 2012 – All Saints Sunday
Isaiah 25:6-9 + Psalm 24
Revelation 21:1-6a + John 11:32-44

November 11, 2012 – Time after Pentecost, Sunday 32
I Kings 17:8-16 + Psalm 146
Hebrews 9:24-28 + Mark 12:38-44

Mount Olive Music and Fine Arts to Present Alice Parker
“Sing! Hymns of the Church”
Sunday, November 11, 4:00 p.m.

     The SINGS led by Alice Parker have delighted groups throughout the United States and Canada since she started leading them forty years ago.
     Don’t miss this opportunity to experience the magic of a great mentor of our time! The concert is free and open to the public, and a reception will follow.

Book Discussion Group

     Mount Olive’s Book Discussion group meets on the second Saturday of each month at 10:00 a.m. For the November 10 meeting they will read, Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray, and for December 8 they will read Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury.

National Lutheran Choir Presents “The Call” 
with Milwaukee Choral Artists

     The National Lutheran Choir and special guest ensemble, Milwaukee Choral Artists, will co-present a hymn festival entitled, “The Call,” to mark All Saints.

     For tickets visit www.nlca.com or call 612-722-2301.

Saturday, November 3, 2012 – 7 pm
St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church
Mahtomedi, MN

Sunday, November 4, 2012 – 4 pm
St. Bartholomew’s Catholic Church
Wayzata, MN.

Volunteer Opportunity Day

     On Sunday, November 11, during both coffee hours, various Mount Olive organizations and committees will be seeking to sign up volunteers for their activities. Save the date on your calendar and look for more information in next week’s edition of The Olive Branch.

A Message From ELCA Disaster Response
Hurricane Sandy

     “From the Caribbean to the northern Atlantic coast of the United States, millions of people have evacuated their homes and communities due to Hurricane Sandy. Strong winds and torrential rains have led to flooding and mass destruction. The storm has claimed the lives of at least 84 throughout the United States and the Caribbean.

     The storm sent trees crashing down and left neighborhood streets looking like rivers. While destruction on the Eastern coast is devastating, please also remember the damage of Hurricane Sandy in the Caribbean as millions are feeling the impact of this storm.

     We need your help. The ELCA is a leader in disaster response. Working through our local affiliates and global church partners; we stand ready to respond. Your gifts will help our church meet the immediate needs of those affected by providing food, water and shelter. And we will continue to help for as long as we are needed.”

     Gifts received by Mount Olive will be sent to ELCA Disaster Response. If they are marked “Hurricane Sandy” the ELCA will use 100% of the gift for this disaster. Use the blue missions envelope in your packet (or any envelope) and mark it “Hurricane Sandy.”

     Thank you!

Fair Trade Craft Sale

     The Missions committee will be hosting a Fair Trade Craft Sale in December.  We will have a variety of items available for purchase handmade by disadvantaged artisans in developing regions.  You can preview items at http://www.serrv.org/category/consignment and if there is anything in particular you would like us to order for you, we can do that and hold it in your name for you to purchase during the sale.  Please send the item number and quantity you would like to Lisa Ruff at jklmruff@msn.com or call her at 651-636-4762 by Wednesday, November 7.  This is not a fund-raiser, just an opportunity to buy good products for a good cause.  

Accent on Worship

Who’s going to do what at your funeral?

     I find it interesting to learn things about human nature and behavior outside the church.  So often we can learn what true needs might be.  We can also learn that what we might perceive as needs may only compound them.  Often it’s amusing to watch people at airports.  The “hoverers” that begin lining up 30 minutes before seating begins, or the traveler who thinks getting angry with the agent is going to be helpful.

     Issues around death are especially fascinating.   One observation of the secular world becomes clear:  at the time of grief ritual is needed.  Piles of flowers will be placed at the site of a death.  Groups will gather holding candles for what they call “a vigil.”  No mention is ever made of God – but clearly, ritual is there.  They need to do something!  Mark Sedio and I were walking near Liberty Park, Philadelphia, and saw a huge group of people wearing tie-dyed shirts,  holding candles, and singing stanza 1 of “Amazing Grace” over and over again.  Mark said, “Jerry Garcia must have died!”  And that is exactly what had happened.  Those people needed ritual, they needed a song that they understood to be religious.  The only one they knew was stanza 1 of Amazing Grace, so over and over, that is what they sang.

     Many of you have thought through “plans” for your funerals.  But who’s going to do what at your funeral?  Secular society in the past 50 years has done a great job of instilling the notion that “it” is all about “us.”  Remembering the deceased and honoring them becomes the focus.  This can and is a big part of a funeral event, as is providing comfort and support for the grieving family.  There is a vital place for this in the visitation, wake, at the funeral lunch – but what of the liturgy itself?

     As people of God, we have the tools to do something meaningful and deep at our funerals.  What is that?  To whom is it directed?  Who is to do it?  We, in the church, have answers to those questions:  We do what we do as family:  Word and Sacrament.  We approach God (not ourselves).  The Gospel is preached (not so much a life history) to a gathering of people who are in a unique place and need to hear the Gospel,  and “with all the choirs of angels, with the church on earth and the hosts of heaven” we eat the family meal,  and sing the unending hymn WITH them.  But what is that song?

     Unfortunately, in my couple of years of being involved in funeral services, plans get made by people who won’t be there (they are the ones who have died).  Even if the family picks “favorites” of the deceased, will the others present at the service be able to enter in?  Perhaps.  Perhaps not.

     On one occasion, a family wanted the song “The Little Brown Church.”  I had never heard of it before; neither had the congregation.  And the family was indignant about that (perhaps projecting a little grief which isn’t a bad thing).  Of course, I was able to find it,  and we included it,  but few sang because only the family knew it and they were not able to sing at that service through their tears.  What did that do?  I felt bad for them, and did not feel very pastoral in that situation.

     Recently we had a funeral service where we had been given a list of hymns from Florence Peterson to “consider” for her funeral.  Since it was made up of hymns sung regularly at Mount Olive, we were able to take that list and build a deeply meaningful funeral liturgy.  Most could sing – and if needed, for the family on their behalf.

     This Sunday in the adult forum, I will present some new things to think about as we consider funerals – including why we, the people of God in this place, should be there for funerals whether we knew the person or not.  (Come to find out why).

-Cantor David Cherwien

Sunday’s Adult Education

Sunday, October 28, 9:30 a.m.
     This week our forum will be “Lux Aeterna: Music for Funerals,”   presented by Cantor Cherwien.

Congregation Meeting This Sunday

     The semi-annual meeting of Mount Olive congregation will be held this Sunday, October 28, following the second liturgy (beginning at approximately 12:15 p.m.).  The main purpose of this meeting will be to approve a budget for 2013, and to consider several constitutional and bylaw amendments the Vestry is recommending to the congregation.  These amendments were included with the last two issues of The Olive Branch, and are also available in the narthex at church. Copies of the proposed budget are also available with the amendments. All voting members of Mount Olive are encouraged to attend.

Ordination

     Former Mount Olive Vicar Leslie Mahraun will be ordained into the Ministry of Word and Sacrament this Saturday, October 27, at 2:00 p.m. at St. John Lutheran Church in Fargo, ND.  She has accepted a call to serve St. John as Associate Pastor. Also Vicar Neal Cannon’s brother Paul will be ordained on Sunday in Illinois.  Please remember Leslie and Paul in your prayers.

Prayer Shawl Group

     The Prayer Shawl Group gathers for knitting and crocheting, coffee, and conversation on the first Saturday of the month.   We meet at Blue Ox Coffee Company, 3740 Chicago Ave. S.  Please join us on Saturday, November 3, from 1 – 3 pm.   Don’t be shy — even if you do not know how to knit or crochet, come anyway!  Members of the group are happy to teach knitting or crocheting to beginners.

Deadline is November 1

     All Mount Olive worship assistants are reminded that they should submit their work or school scheduling needs for the first quarter of 2013 as soon as possible. If you have special scheduling circumstances from Jan.-March, 2013, please contact Peggy Hoeft (peggyrf70@gmail.com) by November 1.

All Saints

     On the Feast of All Saints, 4 November, we remember and celebrate those who have preceded us in the Faith and now “from their labors rest.” We recite their names; we light votives in their honor. And in the Adult Forum that day, we’ll have a chance to walk among some of them. There will be a display of icons of some of our forebears in the faith. We will reflect briefly on the meaning of “sainthood” and of their portrayal in icons. And then we’ll be free to view the icons, walking among the saints of old (any maybe not-so-long-ago), venerating them as we see fit.

     If you have an icon that you would like to set among others, we welcome and encourage you to do so. Please, if you bring an icon for display, help us: Bring only icons of persons, not events. Put your name on the back of the icon lest it go astray. And identify the icon: Who is it? If the person is relatively unknown, why is that person memorable? Note that we do not require that you bring hand-painted or –written icons. Most of us can’t afford those.

Church Library News

     Our library is the recipient of a new gift book, given in memory of Florence Peterson, and we bring it to your attention now because it is so timely for what is happening in our nation’s political scene just now.  The new book is entitled The American Presidents: Biographies of the Chief Executives from George Washington through Barack Obama, by David C. Whitney (Revised and Updated 11th Edition by Robin Vaughn Whitney).

      This is a remarkable resource illuminating the lives, times and legacies of the men who have shaped the office of our nation’s Presidents.   A very interesting and informative read, regardless of whether it is done before or after the upcoming election.  Find it on display in our library this very Sunday.

     We close with the following quotation from Rita Dove: “The library is an arena of possibility, opening both a window into the soul and a door onto the world.”  

– Leanna Kloempken

Book Discussion Group

     Mount Olive’s Book Discussion group meets on the second Saturday of each month at 10:00 a.m. For the November 10 meeting they will read, Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray, and for December 8 they will read Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury.

Dobson Organ Dedication

     Mount Olive’s own Lynn Dobson is busy building the new Pipe Organ for the Chapel at Merton College, in Oxford England, as we speak.

     This is his first instrument on foreign soil and we rejoice with him in this project.  A contingent from Mount Olive has been invited to attend the dedication of this new organ which will be in late April of 2014.  There are a very limited number of spaces open for this trip. If you are interested in joining this happy band of travelers, please contact Tom Olsen for the details. Tom can be reached at 952-929-9781 or any Sunday morning at coffee hour.

National Lutheran Choir Presents “The Call” with Milwaukee Choral Artists

     The National Lutheran Choir and special guest ensemble, Milwaukee Choral Artists, will co-present a hymn festival entitled, “The Call,” to mark All Saints.

     For tickets visit www.nlca.com or call 612-722-2301.

Saturday, November 3, 2012 – 7 pm
St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church
Mahtomedi, MN

Sunday, November 4, 2012 – 4 pm
St. Bartholomew’s Catholic Church
Wayzata, MN.

October Vestry Update, 10-15-12

     The October 15 Vestry meeting was a productive session.  Conversation continued in regards to the Capital Campaign Tithe.  The final tithe amount will be listed as $91,000 and the task force is meeting to determine the recipients of the grants being distributed from these monies.  An update will be given at the Semi-Annual Congregational Meeting.

     The Vestry invites the entire Mount Olive congregation to attend a discussion about the proposed State Constitution Amendments on October 22.  Respectful conversation from a faith perspective will be led by President Adam Krueger and other members of the Vestry.

     Minimal changes were made to the 2013 Budget during a short discussion.  The 2013 Mount Olive Budget will be presented at a preview meeting following the second liturgy on Sunday, October 21.  Voting on the 2013 Budget will take place at the Semi-Annual Congregational meeting following the second liturgy on Sunday, October 28.

     New members were approved during the Vestry meeting, as were new committee appointments.  It was agreed that it is great to see so many new members becoming active participants in a variety of ways.  Sunday, November 11 will be Volunteer Opportunity Sunday where all members can learn more about the opportunities available to serve the Mount Olive community.  It will also be the Sunday where we think about our stewardship of our wealth and consider our pledges for 2013 to the work God has called us to do together.

     Director reports included information on the planning of upcoming events such as the Fair Trade Christmas sale and the “Taste of…” dinner.  There are also new items on the Wish List (list located in church office) so members are encouraged to see if there are any that they could assist in purchasing.

Respectfully submitted,
Lisa Nordeen