Your Weekly E-Newsletter - June 20, 2024

“And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, ‘Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?’” -Mark 4:39-40

Be still! So much of our lives are filled with various trials and distractions that threaten to become so chaotic and noisy that we lose sight of what’s right in front of us. The disciples are on a boat with Jesus, and Jesus sleeping away peacefully. The boat eventually meets up with a terrible storm. The disciples are scared, and who wouldn’t be? Out on the water in a boat, you are vulnerable to whatever comes your way. 

These disciples are seasoned fisherman. They know a bad storm when they see one. Certainly, they’ve even witnessed other fellow fisherman die at the hands of such storms. Fear only begins to scratch the surface of what these men felt. Meanwhile, Jesus is snoozing away. The disciples, filled with terror, call out to Jesus to save them. And he does. He rebukes the winds and calls out, “Peace! Be still!” The wind and the waves obey Jesus’ command. 

We might expect Jesus to go over to his disciples and calm them down, much like a parent does with a child in the middle of the night when said child is awoken by a storm or maybe a nightmare. But that’s not what Jesus does. Instead, he asks them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” Huh? C’mon, Jesus, I’m shaking in my boots right now! Why wouldn’t I be afraid? We can relate at some level. We’ve had moments in our lives as kids and as adults, where we’ve become so afraid of current circumstances, we beg God to have mercy. We might become so paralyzed by fear that it threatens us to lose trust in God that he will get us through whatever it is we’re dealing with. 

Those trials that come our way can become so overwhelming and loud like the wind and crashing waves the disciples experienced that we begin to lose sight of who has the ultimate authority in this life. Jesus can call out with one word and the trials of this life will obey his command. So often we forget that, or we doubt that Jesus has that kind of power. Even though we’ve witnessed it time and again, we wonder if Jesus is sleeping while we’re struggling to survive.

Jesus wasn’t trying to be mean to his disciples. This was his way of reassuring them of who he is, that they don’t need to be afraid because no matter what storm might come our way, Jesus will be there to get us through. And Jesus will get us through the trials and difficulties of our lives

Sola Worship Resource — Weekly Devotional © 2024, Sola Publishing

THANK YOU to al the volunteers who helped at the Calvary Clean Up on Saturday, June 15th. Everything looks so beautiful!

CELEBRATION RINGERS are hosting a Summer Training Choir Session starting June 30 continuing through August 18! This opportunity is open to kids 7+, young people, and folks of all ages. Mini-rehearsals will be held after church for about 10-15 minutes and we will focus on basic technique and accompanying a familiar hymn. Experienced ringers will come alongside to help and demonstrate techniques. If you’ve ever wanted to ring and wondered where to start, seize the opportunity to make a joyful noise!

HEY KIDS! The organist, Nicole, occasionally needs an assistant. Her legs are too short to reach the random chime button (AKA the Zimbelstern). If you can sit by the organ and hit the button when I nod, you’re hired! Additionally, I need someone to turn the page while I’m playing the postlude. Please text me and let me know if your child is willing to volunteer to be the Organist’s Assistant, and I will communicate the days I need help. Thanks so much! 

Save the date for these upcoming services

with special musical guests.

Gail Pike, Handbell Soloist

Sunday, July 7

9:00 a.m. service

Nancy Wittmus' sister Gail is a talented handbell musician and she will be sharing her talents with us during the service on July 7.

You won't believe what one person can do with a table of handbells!

Polka Service

Sunday, July 14

9:00 a.m. service

Chris Dudzik and his dad John will be providing the music for a polka worship on Sunday July 14 at 9 a.m.

It's an uplifting and joyful way to praise God during our liturgy!

Evolving Worship Styles

How do YOU define the term “contemporary” when applied to worship service or worship music? By now, we all realize that the term “contemporary” is a moving target. In the 1980’s when the term became mainstream, it denoted music that was currently created . . . and it still does. However, there are now some very old songs that we still think of as “contemporary,” whereas new “contemporary” songs are being written right now. As we look around at music used in “contemporary” services, we should also realize that the landscape of “contemporary” music is much more populous and diverse now than it has ever been, thanks to many streaming services such as Spotify, Pandora and YouTube. There are multiple genres of “Christian” music as well, and not all music in the “Christian” category is suitable for worship. As noted previously by our Worship Board, we are appropriately cautious about our musical sources, wishing to maintain a consistent confession of doctrine in our church. However, we also seek to be aware of our culture as we look to bring the Gospel to more people. As the years pass, word definitions change and so does musical connotation.

When “CCM” (Christian Contemporary Music—now a dated term) exploded a few decades ago, it was not without detractors. The critics of CCM pointed out that some of the songs were theologically shallow, repetitious, and borrowed too much of their style from “worldly” sources, including a focus on entertainment and spectacle which they termed “performance.” This was a huge contrast to traditional and more “high church” styles of worship music, which were typically performed from the back of the church, sometimes in a choir loft where most, if not all the musicians were beyond the sight of the congregation. As cultural influences ran their course, more churches were built with a new layout—no choir loft, with instruments and singers now located in front where the congregation could see them perform. Calvary’s sanctuary was clearly constructed with the newer concept in mind. There is no getting around the fact that musicians are, in fact, performing, no matter their location. Some performers are more comfortable than others being in front, but the preference in location is really up to the congregation and the committees overseeing worship who must necessarily consider the practicalities of the worship space.

sting forth of new styles of worship music, some of the early criticisms have been taken to heart by those seeking to write new music. Speaking generally, I find much to admire in the contemporary music available to me, including a greater reliance on Scripture as the inspiration—many based upon the Psalms, and a much deeper expression of theological truths. If we were to put on the critic’s spectacles, we could find a few songs in the LBW that are a bit more “lightweight” as well, while still remaining suitable for worship. Not every song must be a doctrinal essay. Sometimes a simple “Praise the Lord” is all that’s needed.



Can a song use personal pronouns and yet still speak for the congregation? Some would argue that the use of “I” and “me” disqualifies a song from corporate worship, such as “Lord, I Need You.” Really, we need look no further than the Book of Psalms that reminds us that “. . . we are his people and the sheep of his pasture” also says in the very next instance, “I will sing of your love and justice . . .” The emphasis on the personal does not necessarily conflict with the plurality of the assembly; it merely acknowledges that God deals with the lot of us on a personal level. Thank Him for His marvelous kindness, and look with love on those who worship with you. Let us preserve our unity in the Spirit.

Hymn suggestions from the congregation are always welcome and we will do our best to incorporate them where they are most suitable to the season of worship. Singing joyfully together is one of the best ways we can celebrate our unity as Christians and create peace on earth.

5th Sunday after Pentecost

June 22-23, 2024

PRESIDING MINISTER: Pastor Jeanette Thorp

ASSISTING MINISTER: Larry Bonier

GUEST MUSICIAN: Chris Dudzik

DEACONS:    

Saturday: Cindy Rooks

Sunday: Pat Foy, Judy Kestly, Ruth Brostowitz, Darlene Louison

ACOLYTE: Jackson Gall

LECTOR: Ruth Brostowitz

CHILDREN'S MESSAGE: Lizzy Dudzik

USHERS: Keith and Karen Pierce

ALTAR GUILD: Marge Tyne and Shirley Brodell

GREETERS:

• Diane Grundman
• Marilyn Hermann
• Everett Lambert

FLOWERS: Ray and Jan Chesner in celebration of their 66th anniversary

FELLOWSHIP TREATS: Fay Heyen

POWERPOINT OPERATORS:

Saturday: Cindy Rooks

Sunday: Jessica Dudzik

LIVESTREAM OPERATOR: Sue Rowe

HYMNS THIS WEEKEND: "When Peace Like A River", "Softly and Tenderly", "Blessed Assurance"

COLLECTING FLOOD BUCKETS AND KITCHEN KITS

Calvary's support of the NALC Disaster Relief continues. Our efforts in June will focus on Kitchen Kits (a new request) and Flood Buckets. Supply lists for each of these are on the table in the Narthex. Calvary will provide the cookbooks for the Kitchen Kits. This could be a great project for families, small groups, friends or individuals.

Let's restock the NALC warehouses! Please return Kitchen Kits and Flood Buckets to the bins beneath the tables in the Narthex by June 30th.

If you have any questions, please contact Judy Sayas or Paula Altman from the Mission & Outreach Committee.

NALC International Mission

through the World Mission Prayer League

The World Mission Prayer League (WMPL) is an official ministry partner of the NALC. WMPL grew out of a God-given burden to pray for the unreached interiors of Africa, Asia, and Latin America in the 1930’s. A band of students, pastors and friends in the Minneapolis area joined together in prayer that the Lord of the harvest would send laborers into his harvest.

WMPL says of itself … we are committed to pray, as Jesus commands his followers in Matthew 9:38 – “Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”  We are a … community of men and women who are committed to prayer - the “working method” of our mission. 

The World Mission Prayer League exists to see that populations with limited or no access to the Gospel experience the love of Christ and that believers and communities of believers in the Americas and elsewhere engage in active and collaborative participation in living out their roles in the great commission.

Our Mission of the Month offerings will:



1. Directly support the work of the World Mission Prayer League;
2. Support a “Ministry Fund” for our missionaries and support for orphans whose parents died of COVID.

We hope you will learn more about WMPL – their website is www.wmpl.org, and generously support the mission work Calvary does in India through this wonderful Lutheran ministry.

To support this important Mission of the Month, you may include it in your weekly offering envelope (designate donation next to Mission of the Month) or select the donation as "Mission of the Month" in your online giving.

Women's Book Group

Monday, September 9, 2024

12:30 - 2:00 p.m.

Media Room



"A Fever in the Heartland"

The Roaring Twenties--the Jazz Age--has been characterized as a time of Gatsby frivolity. But it was also the height of the uniquely American hate group, the Ku Klux Klan. Their domain was not the old Confederacy, but the Heartland and the West. They hated Blacks, Jews, Catholics and immigrants in equal measure, and took radical steps to keep these people from the American promise. And the man who set in motion their takeover of great swaths of America was a charismatic charlatan named D.C. Stephenson.

Stephenson was a magnetic presence whose life story changed with every telling. Within two years of his arrival in Indiana, he’d become the Grand Dragon of the state and the architect of the strategy that brought the group out of the shadows – their message endorsed from the pulpits of local churches, spread at family picnics and town celebrations. Judges, prosecutors, ministers, governors and senators across the country all proudly proclaimed their membership. But at the peak of his influence, it was a seemingly powerless woman – Madge Oberholtzer – who would reveal his secret cruelties, and whose deathbed testimony finally brought the Klan to their knees.

"A Fever in the Heartland" marries a propulsive drama to a powerful and page-turning reckoning with one of the darkest threads in American history.

Copies of the book are available in the church office. If you'd like to borrow one, please sign it out on the sheet next to the books.

If you watch our services via the Live Stream, please take a minute to let us know. There is now a link called "Online Worship Attendance" on the page where you access each week's service.

We appreciate your taking the time to complete this each week. It helps us know that our Live Stream is being viewed.

Just a reminder that contributions to the NALC's 20/20 Vision Campaign need to be designated as "NALC" either on your giving envelope or on your check. If you have any questions, please contact Cindy Rooks at finance@calvarylc.com.

Your 2024 Board of Deacons

Front row (l-r) Lenny Graffin, Sue Rowe, Darlene Louison, Joanne Schultz, George Sedivec

Back row (l-r); Ed Ramthun, Judy Kestly, Andy Foy, Pat Foy, Ruth Brostowitz and Bill Graffin.

Not pictured: Everett Lambert

We invite you to provide

Hospitality Treats on Sunday

We invite you to stay after worship on Sunday mornings and enjoy fellowship time and a treat/cup of coffee in Fellowship Hall.

If you'd like to provide treats (donuts, bagels, etc.) for Sunday hospitality time, there is a sheet on the bulletin board in Fellowship Hall. You may bring the treats (six dozen) and drop them off in the kitchen, or simply add a “P” behind your name, pay $30 to the church office and the treats will be purchased for you. 

The sign up sheet is posted on the bulletin board.  Thank you for your support!

CALVARY LUTHERAN CHURCH www.calvarylc.com

Regular office hours are Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. - noon 262.786.4010

Questions or comments? Email Sue Rowe at communications@calvarylc.com