The Resurrection Connection | | |
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The Lutheran Church of the Resurrection
A Reconciling in Christ Congregation
in the Saint Paul Area Synod of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
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Spring 2025
In this Issue:
What's in Worship
Pastor's Corner
What We've Been Up To
New Members
From the ELCA
From the Saint Paul Area
Synod
Links
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The Season After Pentecost
The summer brings back “ordinary” time in the flow of the church year. The last festival of Holy Trinity serves as a hinge-point between the sparkly season of Easter through Pentecost and an extended time of Sundays without festivals. However, this is not an idle time or a break from gospel celebration. Rather, the liturgical color turns to green as a sign of sprouting and growing faith in the resurrection life in Christ. Our paraments often include visual representations of growth such as vegetation, vines, or trees bearing fruit, just as that same growth and fruiting happens in the natural world of the northern hemisphere.
This summer you'll notice new green paraments celebrating our value of welcome and inclusion for all people, through Reconciling in Christ and Pride.
As we turn to a more continuous reading of the Gospel of Luke for this season, we pick up the narrative of Jesus’ life in mid-ministry at the height of his teaching, storytelling, and healing. There is a little bit of everything in mid-Luke, with some well-known passages to experience again: the sending out of the disciples, the parable of the good Samaritan, Jesus visiting Mary and Martha, and instruction on prayer. These snapshots of Jesus’ ministry highlight various facets of discipleship practice: welcome, hospitality, listening, praying, peacemaking, rejoicing, and more.
(Adapted from sundaysandseasons.com)
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Calendar
Check out the on-line calendar for up-to-date activity information! Click the button below.
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Beloved of God,
The St. Paul Area Synod Assembly, under the theme, Called to Invite, met May 16-17. Dr. Lois Malcolm, The Olin and Amanda Fjelstad Reigstad Chair of Systematic Theology at Luther Seminary, was the keynote speaker. Her speech answered the questions, "Why evangelism? Why now?" She began: Why focus on evangelism now, especially given recent events in our nation and world? In this talk, I will deconstruct false ideas and practices related to the “e-word” and make the case for why it is so crucial that we now — as Saint Paul Area Synod congregations — respond to the Spirit’s work among us to announce boldly and embody for and with our neighbors God’s liberating “good news” (Isaiah 61) and reconciling work in Christ (2 Corinthians 5).
With infectious enthusiasm, she talked about the need to reclaim the word "evangelical" and to live into the specific way ELCA congregations and individuals are called to evangelize. Our inspiration is from Jesus' "Inaugural Speech" in Luke 4 which quotes Isaiah 61:1-4. To paraphrase: The spirit of God is upon us to bring good news to the oppressed, bind up the brokenhearted, proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners, proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the Day of the Lord's justice, to comfort all who mourn. We will be called oaks of righteousness and will repair the ruined cities. continued below...
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The Greek word for good news is the root word for evangelism. And so, the Spirit empowers us to proclaim the good news which is entirely wrapped up in liberty, release, justice, and comfort. It stands in the gap, Dr. Malcolm reminded us, of the false diametric opposites into which our society would like to separate us. And therefore, we are called into faith which is neither tribalism nor universalism, love which seeks reconciliation not power or retribution, and hope which is neither despair nor a utopian ideal.
If you would like to know more about the Synod Assembly you can click here.
In Christ, Pastor Sarah
| | Intergenerational Art activity: Tree of Life | | Pancake Breakfast Fundraiser for Emmet D. Williams School | | Shrove Sunday; Easter Vigil Reception | | Worship, Music and the Arts | | | Worship; Hymn Festival; Minnesota Boychoir | | |
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Welcome New Members
Jackie Anderson is a Minnesota native, born in Mountain Lake, then lived in Fairmount with her three sisters and one brother and 1 bathroom. The family moved to Roseville, where Jackie graduated from Kellogg high school. She attended St. Cloud State, then married and gave birth to 2 sons. Jackie’s sons are both married and live nearby, along with her two granddaughters and one grandson.
After her divorce she continued her education at Century college and the U of M. She began work for State Farm insurance companies where she traveled all over the Midwest, staying several months in each location. Jackie retired in 2018 after 45 years with the same company.
Jackie comes to Resurrection at the invitation of Nancy Nelson with whom she shares some of her favorite activities, curling, canoeing, golfing, snowshoeing or anything outdoors in nature.
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Shirley Hollenkamp and her husband, Edward, lived near the church for a number of years. They are the parents of a son and daughter. Shirley began coming to the ukele group at church and then to the church services when she and her husband could no longer drive. Unfortunately, because of health issues, they have moved to an assisted living facility in Stillwater. We will miss seeing her at church.
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Deborah and Luther Stave moved to Roseville in the past six months, having lived in Fargo, N.D. most recently. Deborah retired from serving a two-point parish in N.D. and Luther was driving a truck before moving to this area. In the past Luther was a nursing home administrator and they have lived in Wisconsin and New Mexico before their time in North Dakota. They have two children, a married daughter in Fargo and a son in Minneapolis.
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Presiding Bishop Eaton's 2025 Synod Assembly Message
“We are on this journey accompanied by, led by God, and we will go into new places and into new forms, but always God is with us and the gospel will be preached and lived and heard in the world.” In her video message to our synod assembly, Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton reminds us that we are pilgrim people. Watch Bishop Eaton's video here.
| | News from the Saint Paul Area Synod | | | |
From the Bishop:
Nothing Ever Just Happens
This year's assembly worship service was a joyful experience of music, scripture, Holy Communion and the word from preacher Bishop Patricia Lull. Here's an excerpt:
Friends, we are in a season of focus on each one of us being an inviter for others to discover what God is about in the world today. You know as well as I do, that we no longer live in the world in which I – and many of you – were baptized. We have heard the testimony of Pastor Miguel Gomez-Acosta and how an unplanned encounter can be an opportunity to share God’s love with a broken-hearted person. We have heard Professor Lois Malcolm unpack what it means to unbind the chains that hold people captive. Both have told us that we are but the vessel the Holy Spirit uses and who we are – the stories of our lives – are all we need to be able to say to another person “come with me”… “come and see.”
Nothing ever just happens. Have you figured that out in your life? Behind the ordinariness of our lives is the rich fabric of the lives of those before us and around us. It’s a single woman, who takes on the care of her brother’s three children. It’s a high school freshman, who is the answer to prayer when she says to a new classmate, “Come to church with me.” It’s the people who cross the sanctuary to introduce themselves to a man they do not know, and who later make room at the coffee hour for him to sit with them. No big deal – no sermon, no angry words of judgment — simply God’s good news for all being made known. God’s love for all. God’s mercy and care for all. God’s fierce commitment to justice and compassion for all.
Read Bishop Lull's full sermon here.
| | Links to Sunday morning worship services are on our website prior to each service. Or go to the LCR YouTube page to livestream. | | |
Wednesday Morning Prayer
Join us each Wednesday at 8 am on Zoom for Scripture, prayer, learning, and delightful discussion!
Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/91793468392
Or call: 312-626-6799
Meeting ID: 917 9346 8392
Email or call Pastor Sarah with any questions:
pastorsarah@lcr-elca.org
| | Taking Faith Home is a weekly Bible study and prayer resource developed for individuals, families, and friends to use during the week. It offers suggested readings, a hymn, questions to consider, and a ritual to engage our whole lives in faith practices. find out more by clicking below. | | Want to check out the upcoming readings and some related artwork? Click the button below to go to Vanderbilt Divinity Library's Revised Common Lectionary website. | | | | |
