ALL WORSHIP SERVICES SUSPENDED
UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
Dear TLC Family,
These are interesting times, aren’t they? No sooner have we prepared for one scenario, the information changes.
In the light of today’s announcement from the governor, we feel that the faithful move at this moment is to suspend Sunday and Wednesday worship gatherings until further notice. Livestream will continue to be offered.
The governor’s words were echoed moments later in a message from our own Bishop Ann Svennungsen who reminds us that: “
our call to love God and neighbor
is the calling that guides us. In love for the neighbor, we take this threat with utmost seriousness. In love for the neighbor, we look to the best medical and social science to guide our decisions. And, in love for the neighbor, we recognize the preciousness of every neighbor, both near and far.” Therefore, Bishop Ann states, “it is essential that our sanctuaries be safe spaces for those who enter.”
Because we do not feel that we can guarantee the safety of all who enter at this time (specifically with the the advisory to keep 6 feet distance between people), beginning this Sunday, our services will be live streamed only until further notice. Please join us at 10am online at
www.tlcmn.com/live
for worship and this year’s annual Reconciling in Christ Sunday. We suggest you prepare your own wine/juice and bread so that you may participate in communion from your home.
Please watch early next week for an announcement regarding arrangements for Wednesday Lenten worship and other programming.
TLC is a community that shares ministry together. The Moravian Daily text for this morning contained this verse “Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” Gal. 6:2. During these unpredictable times, may we take inspiration from this text. How can we “show up” for one another even without being physically present? I truly believe that God will lead us through this time and draw us even more closely together in love and mutual service.
May the peace of Christ be with you,
Pastor Arthur (on behalf of Pastor Ed, Intern Pastor Grace, and the TLC Staff and Council)
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Gathering in Grace • Growing in Faith • Going Forth to Serve
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Reconciling in Christ Sunday
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Altar flowers this Sunday are given Judy and Elroy Verplank
in honor of their 43rd wedding anniversary.
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Accommodations throughout the church for those with disabilities.
Wireless hearing assist devices available for worship services.
Closed Captioning available with on-demand playback (not live) of worship services.
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Nursery available at both services.
Parent/children's Pray-Ground available in the Sanctuary during worship.
Hospitality & Social Activities from 9-11:30am in the Narthex and Fellowship Hall
the time of the service to watch it on your media device.
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On your Smart TV or phone app, access YouTube and search for Broadcast30.
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By Intern Pastor
Grace Pardun Alworth
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On RIC Sunday, we deliberately celebrate the beautiful diversity of God’s creation- namely our queer siblings.
[1] For all of time, humans have been very scared of people who are different than they are. It’s a defense mechanism. “If you are different than what my group says you should be, then you are a threat to my group and the way I understand reality,” they seem to say. The problem is that the group decides what is acceptable by looking at the majority and then kicking out the minority if they don’t assimilate. Along these lines, Christians have been afraid of queer people for quite a while.
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Queer people don’t fit the mold of what the Christian patriarchy has sold us. The Christian patriarchy told us that women exist to make babies to continue the man’s legacy. But what if that woman would rather be with another woman? That’s now two women that a man cannot have at his disposal! Or, what if that man can’t tell what gender that person is? How can he decide if he can have sex with them? If we don’t follow the correct order and structure set out before us by the people in charge, how will they know who they can oppress?
RIC Sunday is the active choice to march against that kind of thinking. We rally together and we repeat these promises to each other: “I will never leave you nor forsake you. You are beautifully, wonderfully, fearfully made in the image of God. God made you this way and I celebrate that you are here.” Together, we celebrate and name the beauty in the diversity of creation.
RIC Sunday is also a time for us to reflect on how much more work we need to do as a community to be truly welcoming. We repent of our heteronormative assumptions
[2]
and we remember and mourn those who have been cast out, abused, and died because of their identity. The radical hospitality that we are called to as a RIC congregation is one that will seek out ways to create a safe place: to change our language to be inclusive, to be loud and proud about our affirmations,
[3]
and to advocate for the most vulnerable in our community here within our walls and in our neighborhood.
Thank you for being an RIC church. I would not be your intern pastor if you had not made that commitment five years ago. You have welcomed me here and I cannot wait to see who else will come through these open, affirming, and celebrating doors!
What do the letters mean?
The beauty about the rainbow is that you get to choose how you identify and how you interpret the titles. LGBTQIA+ refers to terms that people can use to describe the ways they relate to themselves and others. But generally speaking, this is what these terms mean:
L
esbian: women who are attracted to women
G
ay: men who are attracted to men
B
isexual: people who are attracted to the same and different genders from their own gender.
T
ransgender: people whose gender differs from their sex assigned at birth
Q
ueer: people who are not heterosexual or cisgender. This term is also used interchangeably with “LGBTQIA” to denote the whole community.
I
ntersex: people with bodies that fall outside of the strict male/female binary
A
sexual/
A
romantic or “Ace”: people who do not experience sexual attraction or romantic feelings.
Cisgender: your culturally accepted expressed gender matches your assigned sex at birth.
[1]
Using “siblings” rather than “brothers and sisters” is inclusive for nonbinary (not limited to male or female genders) people. “Queer” has been used in the past to be derogatory. The LGBTQIA+ community is reclaiming it and is now using it to refer to people outside of the confines of hetero/homosexuality and the gender binary. Sometimes it is used as shorthand to refer to the LGBTQIA+ community.
[2]
Defaulting to just thinking in terms of male/female relationships. A heternormative assumption would be that my spouse is male. He is male, but assuming I was married to a male person is the heternormative assumption because I am female and present as female.
[3]
This is why I have a rainbow on my nametag.
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YOU CAN WATCH THIS NOW, EVERY DAY, 24 HOURS A DAY
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"On the air" right now!
Visit
tlcgo.live
to watch TLC programming 24 hours a day all year long. The stream includes our weekly calendar, the previous Sunday's sermon, Wednesday's Lenten service, the Bubble Wrap incident, various promotions, ELCA news, youth and kids music videos, the ELCA Gathering 2021, and now for Easter, an old-time movie matinee.
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Recording Artist Amy Courts
Soloing at Sunday Services
[Will be part of the live-stream coverage]
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Amy Courts is a wife, mom, singer-songwriter, prolific writer, and seminarian based in Minneapolis. After living in Nashville for eight years in the early 2000s where she independently released two records and toured nationally with Jennifer Knapp and Derek Webb, among others, her family moved in 2011 to North Minneapolis. In 2018, she and her husband Paul released their debut collaborative record, Fireworks on Ferris Wheels.
Amy also performs in a number of Twin Cities based bands, including with world-renowned guitarist Billy McLaughlin as part of Simple Gifts,
along with leading worship and attending Luther Seminary full time where she is completing her Master of Divinity. As a bisexual queer woman living and working in North Minneapolis, Amy is committed to living out loud for racial and gender justice, equity, and the building of Beloved Community.
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Click on images below for a pdf of the Church Council Meeting Minutes and/or Treasurer's Report for February 2020
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Surprises 'Neath the Melted Snow
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What happened to the snow? Temps in the 40 to 60 range meant it would soon disappear...well, almost. March is the month we often have huge snowfalls, so don't get too happy just yet.
If your back yard is like ours, what's left is not pretty. We always have a real evergreen for Christmas, so when January comes, out goes the tree, into a small snow pile, and the birds can hide in the branches. Not this year. We did put it out in a very small pile of snow that did not last, and the tree promptly fell over! Sooo, there it lies, brown and dead looking. Also under the snow that covers the area of eight bird feeders, lie about four square yards of seed husks and mud. Today four squirels are foraging for anything they can find. I have yet to see one find edibles previously hidden out in the grass. I wonder if they are disappointed or feel stupid for working so hard in the fall and then not being able to retrieve anything? All the leaves that did not get raked very well have not disappeared over winter either. The maple leaves refused to fall in a timely fashion and there they are! Stay tuned, they may be covered over again this month.
Today I saw the first chipmunk, who must have awakened from hibernation yesterday. Yes, they can be kind of pesky and find their way into the garage where the bird seed is stored, but being an animal lover, I was glad to look out back on the deck railing and see the little guy, waiting for me to bring out some shelled nuts...or anything at all. Lately I envy the animal kingdom for not having to hear about “Coronavirus.”
Every TV channel carries all the details about how many new cases, where they are located, deaths in nursing homes, and how testing is not done quickly enough. When all we had in Minnesota was one case of the virus, we all listened anyway. Time to repeat our hand-washing regimens over and over... and pray for a swift end to pandemic viruses. At least China is seeing improvement, and if it started there, and is now receding, give thanks.
I will repeat my yearly warning to those of you who think it's time to put away the
shovels and snow blowers; plus all those stocking caps, mittens and boots! Don't do it. Each year someone jumps the gun, and then it snows again and again....etc.
This Sunday is “Reconciling in Christ” Sunday—One of the best ideas of our time.
Blessings to all of you this Lenten Season.
-Bloomington Bird Lady
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Thrivent Financial will be offering a series of educational workshops designed to help participants take steps to improve their financial well-being. The workshops incorporate Christian values with timely financial topics. This Sunday there will be a survey form included in the bulletins asking you select three workshops you would most likely attend. Please fill it out and return to the Thrivent table in the Narthex attended by representative, Durk Peterson.
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WHAT DOES THIS MEAN
FOR US?
-a continuing series-
By Pastor Al Dungan
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The Gospel
According to
Matthew
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Just about everyone loves a good story and Matthew is a great story teller. Like two of the other gospels (Old Anglo-Saxon: god-spel=good news) Mark and Luke, Matthew gives us as near a biographical recall of Jesus of Nazareth as we have in Scripture. And, like any really good story, it has continued down through the ages to be told and retold to the Family of Faith.
This gospel was probably written around AD 80-90 to the Jewish community in Jerusalem and Judea. Why do we know this? It’s because 1) in Chapter 1 there is a very detailed genealogy that traces the family history of Jesus from Abraham (the fore-parent of the people of Israel) to his father Joseph and 2) because the stories had particular meaning for the Jewish followers of Jesus at that time. It was, in a manner of speaking, a “hook” on which they could hang the group of sayings, parables, healing miracles and other memories they had of the one they called Lord and Christ (christos [Greek]=messiah [Hebrew]=the anointed one of God, who was to bring Israel to greatness again, although in a much different way than what they had anticipated).
The disciple, Matthew, may or may not have been the actual writer; but whoever he was, he was deeply steeped in the stories that were a part of that segment of the Christian community. And, like Luke who wanted to set down an accurate accounting of the life of Jesus for Gentile Christians, Matthew wanted to do the same thing for the Jewish Christian community.
This story has all the good elements of any story that wears well over the years: suspense (what will Joseph do with the woman to whom he is engaged who is pregnant before they are married—and this is not his child?!!); dreams of angels (who are God’s messengers) on two separate occasions that give Joseph guidance; arrival of exotic strangers bearing regal gifts for the child; more suspense (the attempted murder of the child by a jealous king); a major struggle with the powers of evil (the wilderness event); major teachings of the child become an adult (the Sermon on the Mount) and on and on weaving a great story of the faith that has touched millions of lives over the ages.
And, then, the greatest part of the story reaches a climax in the betrayal, trial, beating, crucifixion and death of this man which seemed like the end of a particularly meaningful life that had so touched others.
BUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE! And we’ll talk about that next time.
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SORRY,
SUSPENDED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.
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TLC/VEAP UPDATE:
Every year TLC participates in the Minnesota FoodShare's March Campaign that brings together community organizations, businesses, and faith communities to help stock nearly 300 food shelves statewide. VEAP's goal is to provide over 1 million meals to people who live, work and go to school in our neighborhoods and communities. In addition to collecting food, every $1.00 donated to VEAP provides enough food for a family to make 6 meals. TLC has already
raised over $159 from the 'noisy offering' and over $500 from Pancakes with a Purpose.
This Sunday the Confirmation kids will be collecting food donations around the TLC neighborhood. Thanks to so many of you for your generous giving. AND how fortunate are we to have Dolores and Paul serving up such a delicious breakfast each month on our Pancakes-with-a-Purpose-Sunday's. We are grateful!
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MARCH
Minnesota Food Share Campaign
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"Bottom Piano"
ELC Photographer: Nora, 8 years old
Nora was interested in the foot pedals of the organ. She said that these looked like a piano that was on the floor. She purposely included the foot pedal and all of the knobs because she thought they were cool. She doesn't know how someone can play with their feet.
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Do you ever need an extra prayer for yourself, a loved one, or a dear friend? TLC has a prayer team that prays often for members, their families and friends of the congregation. Send your prayer requests to [email protected] or on the
TLC website here
, or write your request on the yellow Life@TLC insert included in the bulletin each Sunday. These prayer needs are sent on to the Prayer Team and kept confidential – just between you, the pray-ers, and God. If you would like to be a member of the prayer team, please sign up on the yellow Life@TLC bulletin insert.
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5:30pm
Community Meal 5:30-6:00pm.Sloppy Joes $5.00 suggested donation.
6:30-7:00pm
Lenten service with Communion & Holden Evening Prayer.
7:00pm
ConfirmationWomen of the Bible - studyChancel Choir PracticeWoodwind Rehearsal
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Chicken Breast
Supreme
Serves 6-8
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- 6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 pinch paprika, or to taste
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
- ⅓ cup milk
- 2 tablespoons minced onion
- ½ cup processed cheese (such as Velveeta®), diced
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 (4.5 ounce) can sliced mushrooms, drained and chopped
- ⅔ cup sour cream
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Step 1
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 2-quart casserole dish.
Step 2
Sprinkle the chicken breasts with salt, pepper, and paprika. Melt butter in a large skillet and brown the chicken breasts well on both sides, about 5 minutes per side. Lay the chicken breasts into the bottom of the prepared casserole dish.
Step 3
In a saucepan over medium-low heat, mix together the mushroom soup, milk, onion, processed cheese, Worcestershire sauce, and mushrooms. Allow the mixture to heat until the cheese melts, but do not boil. Stir to thoroughly combine; mix in the sour cream until smooth. Pour the sauce over the chicken breasts in the dish and cover with foil.
Step 4
Bake in the preheated oven until the chicken is tender and the juices run clear, about 45 minutes. Uncover, baste with sauce, and bake 30 more minutes, basting occasionally.
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Back Issues of the TLC Weekly
including this issue (Today!)
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[CLICK HERE]
to visit the TLC web page where you can choose to read from the past 16 months of weekly E-newsletters from Transfiguration Lutheran Church. This is also a great way to share TLC Weekly with those that don't receive it in email. Tell them to visit
tlcmn.com/tlcweekly
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Also, there are a limited number of TLC Weekly's in hard copy at the TLC Welcome desk next to the Chapel.
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ELECTRONIC GIVING HELPS SUPPORT TLC
It’s important to know that we can depend on financial support from TLC members. Electronic giving is fast, secure, and reduces administrative costs, allowing more of every dollar to support the important work we are called to do. You can give anytime, anywhere to specific funds with our GivePlus Mobile app (free from the app store). You can also schedule and manage recurring donations by visiting our website and clicking on TLC ONLINE GIVING icon at the bottom of any page, or
[Click Here] to start the process, or contact the church office.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROSITY!
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Picture for illustration purpose only.
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ALTAR FLOWERS
ORDER ONLINE
FOR 2020
See the chart online or stop in
at the church office to order.
The TLC website has an online form to order Chancel/Altar Flowers for any Sunday in 2020.
Click Here to access the form now
, or visit
www.tlcmn.com
later and look for the "Purchase Altar Flowers" button at the bottom of any page.
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Free Subscriptions, sign up to be a volunteer, request care ministry and more!
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Subscribe a friend to this newsletter, TLC Weekly, or subscribe yourself and others to the TLC publication, Transcripts. Interested in TLC membership? Sunday school? Our renowned TLC music program, volunteering and more are choices on this easy online TLC Request Form. Just
[Click Here]
or the "Sign Me Up" button on the left.
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A Reconciling in Christ Congregation
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A Culture of Diversity and Inclusion
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