Phone (609) 268-0262
Hours:
Tuesday - Friday
8:00 AM - 3:30 PM
Pastor David Stoner
Vice Pastor
(609) 268-0262
Ed Hourihan
Council President
lol_prez@lordlife.us
Debbie Chromeck
Church Secretary
Extension 301
Janell Reich
Adult Ministry
Extension 305
Breanne Tomlinson
Junior & Senior
High
Ministry
Donna Yates
Children, Youth &
Family Ministry
Dennis Yates
Deborah DeMarco
Grace Place
Extension 306
(609) 268-2756
Carolyn & James Cuviello
LifeLines Editors
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Lord of Life
Lutheran Church
are
CANCELLED
.
To stay abreast of the
latest information
available
visit
the
LOL Website.
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We would like to remind you
that you can take part in the joys of
Lord of Life from the comfort of your home. The church's Facebook
page and the YouTube channel
contain
videos of Pastor's sermons from each weekend. Plus, there are photos on the Facebook page reflecting the fun and ministry work that is happening at the church.. To access these easily, the links are provided in the left side
bottom blue box in this publication. They are also provided here:
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Contribution Statements For January 2020 Through April 2020
Normally, the statements would be placed in the congregation member's church mailbox during the first few days of May. This is not possible at this time due to the church building being closed. A plan is in place to mail the statements on or about May 15th.
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From the Council President:
A Farewell Message To Pastor Elijah From The Lord Of Life Council On Behalf Of The Congregation:
Pastor Elijah Mwitanti, you were called as our interim pastor, to proclaim and share God's Word, to baptize new members, to announce God's forgiveness to us, and to preside at our celebrations of the Lord's Supper. With the Gospel you have taught and comforted us in good times and bad. You have been important to our life together in the Church and in our service to this community. You and your family will continue to be in our prayers as God uses you wherever He calls. May you and Kerris have a blessed ministry in the years to come. Thank you and Godspeed on your journeys.
Easter Blessings, Lord of Life Council
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A Post Easter Message From Our NJ Synod Bishop:
Dear Friends,
Alleluia! Christ is Risen! Christ is Risen, indeed! Alleluia!
We are still in the Easter season and will be for several weeks. It is good that we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord for a week of weeks, especially during this pandemic. We need to be reminded of the new life that is ours in the risen Christ.
We have been under stay at home orders for about a month now. For some, this has been an inconvenience. For others, this has been a true hardship and a time of suffering - either because home is not a safe place or because you have no place to call home. Some of you have been staying at home alone and finding it difficult to fight loneliness. Some of you wish for a little more alone time as your household has felt more than full with all the responsibilities of teaching children and maintaining your work schedules.
Some of you have not been able to stay at home because you work essential jobs. Some of you have lost work and are facing financial hardships, Some of you have lost a loved one to COVID19 or to other causes and are now trying to find ways to grieve that don't include the usual rituals we have to help us.
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"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." Heb. 11:1 NRSV
HOPE And FAITH
I feel like I'm on a constant hunt for Hope these days. We have been overwhelmed by changes in lifestyle and reports of more suffering related to the virus pandemic. It seem like many are dispirited and disheartened. And that is dangerous.
The danger of hopelessness is a double danger
. First, hopelessness makes us feel it's useless to take action. It fools us into believing there's nothing we can do, or that our efforts won't make a difference. Once we abandon Hope, there's no stopping the momentum of the unscrupulous who are willing to cooperate with evil in order to get ahead.
The other danger of hopelessness is that we can lose each other. In times of hopelessness, it's easy to get scared of everything and everyone. It's easy to start believing that your neighbor is the problem and that hoarding is a better strategy than generosity. The problem is that when community starts to break down, we lose the most important source of Hope we have: our Faith.
The message of Hope that still blazes bright for me in these hard times is that I am not alone. The important source of Hope is finding Christ in each other and sharing Christ's Love with each other. It is so important to reach out and support each other. I don't have to face the world alone, and I don't have to fix the world alone. When I need Hope, I find it on the faces of others, I find it in their hearts. In our current situation we can reach out to one another by making phone calls, writing emails, and posting on social media. All we need is Hope coupled with our Faith in God.
A Prayer For Strength:
Dear Father in heaven, in these times when so much seems difficult, help us remember that we are not alone. Remind us that kindness, generosity, trust and especially our Faith in you are antidotes to fear. Help us remember that our Hope and our power grow when we are Faithful to our deepest commitments and to each other. May we rise up to do the work of Love again and again. In Christ's name we ask. Amen.
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Collection for the Christian Caring Center
The collection at the entrance way to the FDC/Grace Place of our church building is continuing. Look for the blue container and carefully place the items into it.
A delivery of the donations took place on April 29th, and your gifts were sincerely appreciated and welcomed. Thank you so much! Thank you for your support!
(Additional information is available on the church's website. For the link:
CLICK HERE)
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Hear Ye, Hear Ye! Tellers Needed!
Lord of Life is in need of Tellers. Typically a teller works in a team of 3-4 people and teams rotate so that each team does one weekend a month.
No experience is necessary, and training will be provided.
For more information or to join the team, please contact
Carol Ebersberger, Lord of Life Church Financial Secretary, by emailing her. A link to her email is below.
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The Penny Miller Sewing Academy And The Hope Alive Clinic
In 2009, our congregation member Penny Miller was part of a 25-person medical team sent to Haiti to provide support. This was the beginning of Penny's relationship with the Haitian people and with the Hope Alive Clinic.
During her initial time in Haiti, Penny noticed that when needed clothing was distributed, the Christian women would only accept skirts and would not wear pants. She was compelled to do something and called on members of Lord of Life Lutheran Church to assist in making skirts that she would bring to Haiti.
After the earthquake of January 2010, she returned to Haiti with 185 skirts which were distributed at the Hope Alive Clinic. But was there a more permanent solution? Teaching the Haitian people to sew was her answer, and the Penny Miller Sewing Academy was founded.
The Academy began in space provided by the Clinic, but now operates out of its own building. There is one teacher for the 12 to 14 students who spend a full year at the Academy and then graduate.
Lord Of Lutheran Church has supported the academy in many ways over the years and continues to do so today. There have been skirts made, donations of materials for sewing kits (scissors, needles, pins, thread, etc.), and there have been outright cash donations from church members and funds raised from a variety of things like the sale of potato bags.
Penny continues to provide nursing help to the Hope Alive Clinic when she travels to Haiti. This past fall, the director of the clinic, Renaud Civil, gave a presentation to us during our church services. The COVID-19 virus pandemic has created difficult times in Haiti. We welcome you to read his letter. Click on the link below to access it.
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Grace Place Preschool Registrations
Although the Grace Place Preschool is not in session due to COVID-19, we are still accepting registrations for the 2020-21 school year. Please email Deborah DeMarco at
director@graceplacenj.com for a registration form. At this time, we will not be hosting any tours. An email link is below. Thank you!
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Augsburg Press Discount
Augsburg Press, the official publisher of the ELCA, is offering special savings and free shipping on select items. Use the following code when placing an order:
ATHOME
To view the catalog, click on the link below.
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Behind The Scenes:
Buildings And Grounds
The church and the land on which it sits does not take care of itself. With the leadership of staff member Dennis Yates and Council VP Craig Baechler, we are assured that when we arrive at the church and the grounds around it, all is well maintained and safe. As a staff member, Dennis is the primary overseer and coordinator for tasks related to: keeping the building clean, having repairs done in timely fashion, the parking lot snow plowing in the winter, and the needed grooming of the outside property areas. Dennis does not do all the work by himself. There are the hired contractors for jobs that cannot be handled in-house, but, also, he relies heavily on church member volunteers.
Steve Vorwerk takes care of mower maintenance. Steve and Ed Hourihan are the "regulars" who help with mowing the lawn. Jim Ebensberger mows the water runoff area. Kirsten and Harry Granfors bring the trash and recycling to the street for pick up, and Austin O'Brien has donated landscaping cleaning in the front of the church building. Keith Lehrner has helped Dennis on a number of jobs at the church as well. There have been numerous other volunteers assisting during our clean up days.
Due to current restrictions regarding the virus, some usual activities cannot be scheduled like our spring clean-up day.
There is a Job Jar bulletin board in the church narthex where you will be able to sign up for lawn mowing once our schedule is back to normal and our building reopens.
Dennis greatly appreciates the volunteer help, but it is vital that he coordinates it. If you want to join in and get involved with needed tasks, contact Dennis. Please do not begin a project without consulting with him. We have some safety procedures that must be followed, and he will make sure that this happens. He will be excited to welcome you aboard!
Dennis may be contacted by using his email. A link is below.
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From The Editors:
Reminder About Amazon Smile
The online shopping website, Amazon, has created a special website, Amazon Smile, which will donate a half of one percent of your purchases to a designated charity. Lord Of Life is enrolled in this program. If you shop at Amazon, you can designate our church to be a recipient of their donation. Click on the link below to get instructions as to how you can designate our church to receive this benefit.
Remember, use the website,
smile.amazon.com, when shopping in order for our church to receive this donation.
Hopefully, A Perfect Ending!
We thought we would end with an anthem that our choir has sung. It is not a recording of our choir, but it is one that was part of the Easter season anthem selections in the past. Enjoy!
(LifeLines is published on the first and third Friday of each month. Please submit articles for upcoming editions of the LifeLines by the Monday prior to the issue date. To contact the LifeLines editors by email, click on the following link:
lifelines@lordlife.us
)
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