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Loved by God, Sent to Serve
Grace and peace to you, friends. "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change... The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge." ~Psalm 46:1-2, 7 First and foremost, we continue our Lenten journey in a truly wilderness way moving forward. Let us not lose site of God's faithfulness in the wilderness for the Israelites (on multiple occasions) and God's faithfulness with Jesus in his wilderness after baptism, and through the cross for us. We are persons of faith and that is important. The people you interact with each day will be looking for hope and comfort. Respond in the confidence that God is faithful and goes with you, with all of us, in the corona virus wilderness. Things will look different, faith will be lived out differently, but faith abides and God is good. Your congregational council has determined that the best path forward will be to enact our Phase III plan in order to support the wellness of all in our community. Our three part plan was distributed to your mailboxes at church, via email, social media, and resides on our website here. What does this mean? Well, as the early church adapted to its ability to gather, we, too, have been thinking about the best ways to gather virtually. I have met with the pastors of the Water of Life Conference and chapel leadership for Wartburg Theological Seminary. In what I can only call the Holy Spirit at work for a time such as this, the seminary has received a grant for the study of and development of digital worship. We could not have hoped for a better outcome for our time in the wilderness! We will have a full and robust worship service each week until we are able to gather together again. We have developed a plan for online worship using The Service of the Word. You will be able to click this link on Sunday morning and join the service OR call 646-558-8656 and enter these numbers [887 508 411#] to join the service and listen via telephone. The service will begin 9:00 a.m. For those watching via Zoom online, the words and liturgy will appear for you. We will also have music and a cantor. What about Lenten Midweek services? I will host evening prayer in its spoken form. We will provide the words on screen for your participation. We still plan to have sermons provided by seminary students and based on the Psalms. We will forego the midday prayer service in the hopes that everyone can join in for the evening option at 7:00p.m. Please visit the website for a link to join evening prayer. Social isolation does not mean a lack of community and belonging. Our community will look differently for a time, but it will not be our forever story. Join us online or by phone and let's explore how the Holy Spirit will work through this wilderness time. And one final word. Lord of Life is dependent upon the tithes and offerings of its people. There is perhaps no more important time than this to ensure continuity in our giving. Will you join me in committing to giving as usual during these days? If you currently give online or by auto-deduction, you will not need to do anything different than usual. If you give by check, feel free to mail a check to the church, or consider giving online via our website. The primary communication portal will be our website. Links and updates will be posted there. Confirmation youth and families will need to check there as well. We are looking at doing some creative things with Zoom online. This is a time to embrace hope and not fear. It is God who saves us, who is present with us, and who will guide us through to the other side of this current challenge. I continue to pray for you all. In peace and hope, Pastor Paul
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Dear friends,
We are all well aware of the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The leadership team at Lord of Life has been paying close attention to what is going on, and we have information from medical experts and the county health workers and the State of Iowa. We have developed a congregational response plan with three stages. In the first stage, which we are currently in, we will continue all of our ministry programs. In addition, we will take the following steps:
In the second stage, if a case of the COVID-19 virus is confirmed within our community, our response will increase:
And in the third stage, if there is a confirmed case here at church we will:
Uncertainty creates anxiety. And while we want to be careful to not overreact to what is going on, we also want to be responsible in how we handle this very fluid situation. In the short term, I have two requests for you:
In peace and hope, Pastor Paul Jon Dienst, Council President PS – Now go wash your hands. Ash Wednesday is the Wednesday of the seventh week before Easter and the first day of Lent. The day is named for the practice of imposing ashes, a practice that many Lutheran congregations have found to be a very meaningful part of the Ash Wednesday liturgy. Using ashes as a sign of repentance is an ancient practice, often mentioned in the Bible (e.g., Jonah 3:5-9; Job 42:6; Jeremiah 6:26; Matthew 11:21). The early Christians adopted the use of ashes from Jewish practice as an external mark of penitence. Ashes symbolize several aspects of our human existence:
So I invite you to join us this week, this Ash Wednesday, to remember, reflect, and look ahead to what God is up to. |
Pastor PaulBlogging and believing. Some notes about a life of faith, answers to questions you ask, and musings about leadership in the church. ArchivesCategories |
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