Prayer Connection June 2024

Who do we pray for? What do we pray for? Simple questions, but the answers run deep.

Some days are hectic, and our prayers touch on urgent matters in daily life -- but we are also called to reach beyond our inner circle of family and friends. The Scriptures teach us that we are called to pray for each other, beginning with those we know, and reaching out to all peoples. As we read in I Timothy 2:1-2 (NLT):

“I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity.”

Yes, we are called to enlarge our circle of prayer. God’s heart embraces the whole world!

This past month, the Care in Prayer Team was asked to open the Lord of Grace Annual Congregational Council meeting. The Team Members composed a corporate prayer to open the meeting; each person added a portion to the prayer. As we welcome the new Council members this month, we invite you to add your own requests to this prayer, adapted below, as we continue to pray for each other, our church, and for the world.

Heavenly Father, Lord of Grace,

We pray with hearts filled with gratitude for all who are willing to share their time, talents, and gifts for the betterment of us all.  Give us each a heart of wisdom to hear your voice and guide our discussions so our intentions may align with your will.

We pray for you, Lord, to guide us by your Holy Spirit and to lead us into truth.

We pray for you, Lord, to surround Lord of Grace with your life-changing presence.

We pray for Jesus to build us, strengthen us and grow our faith.

We pray for your blessings, O Lord, for our church leadership; for our Council, for Pastor Lars and his wonderful family, and for all our Ministry Teams,

and we pray for blessings for our Preschool staff and students.

Heavenly Peacemaker, we also expand our prayers, and pray for our local and Federal governments, for peaceful election campaigns, for those who make difficult medical decisions, and for people who are deprived of their rights due to hatred, that they can finally feel safe.

Heavenly Father, thank you for your mercy, grace,  lovingkindness, faithfulness and compassion from generation to generation.

We humbly ask you to watch over our families and friends, our church, our community, and our world in the coming year. Give us your wisdom and understanding, grace and guidance to serve you.

Thank you, Lord, for being in our midst today and every day.

In Jesus' Name we pray,

Amen.

Outreach June 2024

Outreach Team – June 2024 Newsletter Article

Our members include Chris Kollen as lead, Carol Buuck, Phyllis Teager, Patty Clymer, and Janette Carollo.

Laurie Acker has decided to resign from the Outreach Team. She’s not leaving Lord of Grace and will continue to organize the monthly potlucks. Thank you, Laurie, for your assistance this past year!  

We are planning new and exciting projects this coming year. If you’d like more information about becoming a member of Outreach, contact Chris Kollen at lizzykollen@comcast.net or at 520-419-7475.

Continuing Events

Marana Food Bank
The Marana Food Bank would like to request that we collect hygiene items.  They are very low on hygiene items and they are in high demand.  They need shampoo, conditioner, bar soap, toothpaste, deodorant, shaving razors, and mouthwash.

Let’s help our neighbors with these basic needs to make their days brighter.

Donated items can be placed in the wooden cabinet located in the hallway outside the Fellowship Hall.  Please remember that the food bank cannot accept any food items that have been opened/used or expired.  Also, please no glass containers.

If you would like to donate and keep your gift for the needy of Marana, you can send a check to:

MFB-CRC

c/o Sahuarita Food Bank

PO Box 968

Sahuarita, AZ 85629 

Please make checks payable to Marana Food Bank – Community Resource Center or MFB-CRC. You can also donate online at http://mfb-crc.org

Your monetary gift goes a long way.  Every $10 helps provide 50 meals.

Upcoming Events

Roadrunner Elementary – Backpacks and School Supplies Drive

We’ll be having a backpacks and school supplies drive during the month of July. More information will be coming in the July newsletter.

Being in a Denominational Church

Being in a Denominational Church

Pastor’s Column for the June, 2024 newsletter

This month is our annual synod assembly again up in Mesa. I’ll be there June 14-15th to cast votes on resolutions, listen to speakers, and, this year, to vote on who will be the bishop. Our synod, called the Grand Canyon Synod, has been led for the past 6 years by Rev. Deborah Hutterer. Here first term is up and she will be running again.

Holy Communion setup at Love of Christ Lutheran Church, Mesa, AZ

A bishop here can serve two terms, and is elected by “ecclesial ballot”. Basically, everyone at the synod assembly writes a name for who they want to be bishop. It can be any pastor in good standing in the ELCA. They don’t have to live here.  If one person gets 75% or more of the vote they are elected right away. If no one has that much, it goes to a second ballot, or a third, and so on until one person is elected. (I can never remember the exact percentages needed with each round, but the crowd thins each time).

The idea behind it is to reduce the influence of campaigning and leave more room for the Holy Spirit. Some people do, of course, try to get their names out there, and having name recognition in the synod always helps. There has certainly been a tendency to elect bishops from larger urban churches because people know them, but that’s not a hard rule.

All of it will make things more interesting. Synod assemblies, once upon a time, were huge events that went most of a week. People would submit multiple resolutions, followed by loud and contentious debates. Local newspapers would send a press corps. In the 70’s it was the Viet Nam war resolutions, then nuclear war in the 80’s, then in the 90’s and early 2000’s it was same sex marriage and ordination. I remember lines of people cued up to debate pro or con changing the policies, complete with accusations, crying, anger, emotional pleas etc.

Then in 2009 the ELCA approved a social statement on sexuality, along with a policy change for ordination, that allowed same-sex marriage and ordination, and we had more than a few people leave – much as is happening now with the United Methodist Church. Since then, assemblies have been quick, with few resolutions. Part, I’m sure, is the lack of such hot-button issues. But I also suspect people got burned out with the sexuality debates, and after being so stressed with congregational conflicts and then covid battles, nobody wants to debate much.

Bishop Deborah Hutterer of the Grand Canyon Synod of the ELCA

It's all part of being a church in a denomination, which they nickname the “mainline” today. In the 1950’s most people belonged to denominational churches. Now that number has shrunk to a minority. Instead, as you can see in NW Tucson, non-denominational churches have proliferated. They have trendy names that don’t sound particularly religious and are mostly conservative-Baptist in their politics and theology. Lord of Grace is a bit of an outlier in this regard.

There are reasons for the growth-decline trends. Mainline churches have done plenty of resting on past history and getting lazy, but it’s much more than that. I believe one of the biggest drivers towards non-denominationalism is the way people function in community.

Mainline churches are set up like democracies. We have meetings where everyone gets a voice and vote, and we know we won’t always get what we want. Not everyone will like every new initiative or agree with all the items in the budget, but it’s always been assumed that we would stay with our church and  support it even if it didn’t always go our way. And we always understood that democratic process involves meetings, discussions, debates, and time investment. Changes can take time, compromises get made, actions get delayed, but that’s how it works.

Taking a vote at the 2023 Grand Canyon Synod Assembly in Oro Valley, AZ

If you look around our world, participation in organizations is declining across the board. Social groups like Masons or Moose or Elks are shrinking. Non-profits are getting fewer regular volunteers. People are simply less interested in investing the time in process or belonging to groups that require it. Instead, it’s more what we call “vote with your feet”, where if you don’t like it, you just go. You probably don’t lodge a protest or try to talk to anyone before you go; you just leave and look for somewhere else that’s more to your liking.

We do this with restaurants. If I don’t like the food, I’m not going to volunteer to be on a committee to meet weekly for several months with the restaurant owner and chef to develop a new menu, which would then be voted on by the customers. I just leave and try somewhere else. When new ownership comes, I might try it again, see if it’s changed, but I’m not spending my time to fix it.

This attitude carries over to church. Rather than invest in a democratic process to change what you might not like, people are more likely to just move somewhere else.

There is some good in this. I have known people who are so miserable in the church they’re in, constantly fighting things, being angry, blocking, complaining, when they could just go down the road and be content. If I weren’t a pastor, and moved into a new town, I would shop around a little before joining a church. If they taught fundamentalism, creationism, or complementarianism (where women submit to husbands but we say that the obedience is “complementary” to the man’s authority and therefore equal – I guess), or anti LGBTQ sermons, I wouldn’t go. If they gave my kids dirty looks in worship when they talked, I’d move on

On the other hand, it’s hard as a church leader to always stay ahead of everyone’s felt needs and opinions. You try to listen, stay in touch, know what’s going on, but you can’t read minds. It makes church members more like customers, less like family members in community. If we really love each other and care for each other, then leaving will be a last resort, not the immediate go-to. In a community, you’ll make the point of getting involved in the process because you have a commitment to the church. If you’re a customer, it’s commitment until something better comes along.

But I wouldn’t change being in a denomination for the alternative. Yes, I’m biased, but I have seen what happens to churches that leave the ELCA and go independent. They usually do fine for the first few years, then, when the pastor retires or leaves, they struggle to find someone new. Then, there’s an exodus of people who don’t like the new pastor, and the place is dead in a generation. They struggle to outlive the founding pastor’s personality. Mainline churches have more resilience this way.

I also like having a bit of a buffer on things with the synod office. You can’t just fire a pastor with a council vote (I like that, of course). You can’t just sell land. You can’t just leave the denomination (without a lengthy process). You can’t just do a lot of things. There’s a process to keep the most extreme actions from being done quickly, and force people to take time to debate and discuss it. Things done in the heat of the moment are rarely done wisely.

So we will see how this synod assembly goes. I am the designated photographer, so I get to get up from the table and walk around to take pictures. (You can see my photos from 2023 here). I will be more excited at some speakers than others. I will enjoy catching up with colleagues, and hearing some news, and know that I’m a part of something bigger than just one church, and that we can do a lot of these things we do better when we live in community. I will enjoy watching the balloting process for a new (returning?) bishop. I will also surely get frustrated at some opinions voiced, some statements made, some things other churches are doing that I disagree with. But I am a part of a community, we are a part of a community, and we don’t walk out on each other without really taking time to turn over stones first.

Peace,

Pastor Lars

Teacher Appreciation

Teacher Appreciation

The preschool week of May 6th through May 10th is designated as Teacher Appreciation week.

Our preschool teachers are very special women.  In the bios in the newsletter, we have read how much the teachers love what they are doing.  Besides the basics of a preschool learning curriculum, they give the children a warm, accepting place to learn about Jesus and the wonderful world we have.

Did you know Lord of Grace Preschool has been rated the third best child care center in Marana in 2024?  That was published in the Northwest Explorer News recently.   So the reason our preschool has such a good rating is by the votes of parents (and possibly grandparents) in our neighborhood.  And that is totally due to our great teachers. 

From the Preschool Advisory Board, we thank our Director, America Trujillo, and the eleven teachers we have on staff.   We ask God’s blessings for them and their students.

Candy Borstad

Of Spirits and Trees and a Richer Life in Nature

Last July, while on sabbatical, I had the fortune of visiting the old Viking burial mounds, and the 1000 year old church, at Old Uppsala in Sweden. In Viking days, it was the seat of kings and a place of religious ceremonies and celebrations. The early missionaries, after the kings had converted to Christianity, built the first church on what they believed was a “pagan temple” or a sort of “pagan cathedral” – a symbolic replacing of the old with the new. You can still see the church, rebuilt a couple times because of fires, which is a working parish church with Sunday services.

The Viking burial mounds at Old Uppsala, Sweden

Of course, as you tour the area you read on the displays that modern archaeology and historical research has not been able to back up the claims of the missionaries that the place was a center of animal sacrifices, nor did it have a sort of “pagan cathedral”. They have found none of the mass collections of bones where they were supposed to be, nor did Viking religion even have cathedrals and temples.

Those medieval bishops can be somewhat forgiven for not understanding the nature of Scandinavian paganism; it was such a different worldview from theirs - an enchanted universe where everything in creation had spirits and powers and meanings. The gods were not particularly caring, just powerful. Thor and Odin would never talk about “abiding in love”, just a lot about bravery and war. It lacked centralization – so people practiced sacrifices all over the country, at different times, without a central organization or priesthood. Yes, some were closer to the gods, or knew more, or had more visions, but nobody got certified. Each chieftain practiced in each place as he saw fit.

Old Uppsala Church, built on the site of a former Viking building, probably a long house.

What was believed to be a “pagan temple” was probably just a “Long House” that would have hosted festivals (read: drinking and gift-giving parties), sheltered people at times, and been a community gathering space. It was where the king would hold court, so putting the church there, surrounded by the mounds of buried long ships and treasures, was symbolic that Christianity was the new central theme in town.

Having studied some of the history of my pagan ancestors, both Irish and Swedish, it intrigues me to see young generations romanticizing the old ways. If you listened to the neo-pagan memes, you would think it was some sort of egalitarian utopia of spirituality and nature connection. In fact, the Vikings could be very violent and practiced slavery. They had kings, rigid social classes, and an economy dependent on plunder. But the part that the neo-pagans do get right is that the universe was not separated from the gods and the spirits, but intimately connected to them.

Inside the church in Old Uppsala.

It's that sense of connection that they’re longing for, more so than Odin and Thor and Loki. That’s why they’re best called “neo-pagans”, because they practice a highly edited and cherry-picked version of the old religion that keeps the nature and skips the slavery, plundering, and hierarchies.

But it wasn’t Christianity that killed the connection with nature or the spirit world. If you went back to medieval Europe, people very much believed spirits, both good and bad, inhabited everything. The rain, the crops, the trees, were all full of them. Angels and demons roamed everywhere, and visions and dreams were still considered messages from God. Where you got in trouble with the church was if you tried to summon those nature spirits for power over others with curses; that was witchcraft (and, yes, a good deal of those accusations were totally bogus and just about property disputes and such). But the world was still very much an enchanted place full of divinity and power.

What broke that connection was the Enlightenment and the advent of modern science. They taught that miracles don’t happen, God doesn’t heal things, angels are fantasy, demons are nonsense, and if God exists, he’s outside the world, never interacting. This forced scientists to explore nature and not fall back on “the gods made it happen” every time they couldn’t answer the question. But it also made nature meaningless, spirit-less, just molecules arranged through natural selection and physics. Just things.

And when nature became just things, we became separated from it, and could now trash it or exploit it without feeling bad. There’s no “essence” or “spirit” in that redwood. It’s just cells – cells that can make me a good profit if I chop it up. There’s no “meaning” to the wetland, so let’s just drain it and build another 5,000 houses, etc. etc.

Seeing the destruction of nature, and feeling the disconnect, a lot of people are asking if something was lost when we took the spirituality out of the world. Are we killing off a part of our selves, and our experience of life, when we see everything as meaningless material objects?

This certainly goes against the experience we all have when we are in nature, and we talk about the effect it has on us, and how we feel refreshed and healed being in it in ways that can’t be explained with just molecules. A lot of modern Americans sense this, and know that there must be more out there than a cold world of particles, but they don’t want to get involved in church, so they call themselves “spiritual but not religious”. It’s a sort of “take the parts of religion you want without the commitment or beliefs or community or practices or expectations”. It’s having the connection with a world of meaning and value and spirits, without doing anything or believing anything. Or you can call it “neo paganism” and have essentially the same thing.

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When I was going through seminary in the 1990’s we would debate how to get the people back in church. The families were led by baby boomers who probably had some church connection and believed in God, but found the organization “boring” and “irrelevant”. In came the “seeker-sensitive” churches to make it “fun” and “relevant” with music and lights and sermons about daily life. There was a lot of excess, and some good corrective. Many places were boring and took people’s attendance for granted and gave sermons about esoteric points of doctrine and a lot of sin and hell. So the seeker-sensitive model was supposed to be the solution to evangelism problems, and so contemporary worships were started and life-groups that focused on specific felt-needs and sermons series’ about things like marriage and finances. And some of it worked, and a lot of good came out of it – including a lot of good music.

But the decline in church attendance and belief in God continued.

Now, I believe, we’re in a new phase where the problem is not that church isn’t relevant; it’s that the church is seen as moving you away from nature and experience, and obsessing with life after death. People are longing for connection with the divine, and to find experiences of transcendence, and are asking questions about meaning and value. It’s just that churches bought into the enlightenment ideas that God was not present in the world, but was outside it, in heaven. God was not filling us with dreams and visions, but telling us what vices to avoid, what words not to say, what clothes not to wear, what substances not to inhale, and promising us a place in the other world after we die.

The churches turned their eyes to the beyond nature, while the culture turned their eyes back in.

So our struggle today is not so much about style or packaging or marketing. Those things matter, but only with people who already believe and are shopping for a new church. It’s about bringing God back into the experience of life and nature today. It’s not about teaching how to prevent sin, but bringing back the enchantment with the world where the divine is seen and felt and heard in the world. It’s about finding a richer, fuller, more meaningful, more spiritual life today. It’s about getting more joy and more healing and more presence now.

So a better question to pose is: how do we structure our church and community life in such a way that we help people experience God, find more richness and meaning, more connection to the divine, more spiritual encounter, more living?

Our role needs to be more as guides to experiencing a fuller life through Jesus, not denying life today for a better one later.

I believe that when we become a place, a community, that disciples and guides people to that experience, we will have a better future as a church.

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The labyrinth from the prayer retreat on April 20th. It’s an ancient spiritual practice that is even built into the floors of some of the medieval cathedrals. The idea is that walking in the pattern focuses the soul on the Holy Spirit, and allows for greater encounter with God. Many of us do, in fact, prayer better moving than sitting still.

What about Lord of Grace?

I got thinking about all this as I reflected on the April 20th prayer retreat that our Prayer Ministry put on. I intentionally stayed out of it, for a couple reasons. First, the leaders are plenty capable and don’t need my input. Secondly, I didn’t want the presence of THE PASTOR to cause people to defer to me, rather than embracing their own experience of the Holy Spirit. Encountering God is not something reserved for professionals, but something for everyone. I want to empower that.

The prayer wall from 2023 Advent services. Meant to imitate the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem where people roll up and squeeze their prayers, here we do the same thing with colored paper and a mesh of plastic chicken wire from Tractor Supply. Either way we make the encounter of God and selves through our actions, bringing our prayers in person, to put our whole selves into the experience.

Then I heard the reports of all the people, the speakers, the prayers, the people giving me testimonials of how it changed them – it just warmed my heart. This is exactly the kind of things that we need as people – time to experience the Spirit today. In fact, people came from outside our congregation just to be a part. The spiritual hunger is real. The marketing trick is letting people know that this is the place you can find it; you don’t need to return to Odin and Thor or the Fairies Of The Trees And Bogs to find it.

In all we do, I hope we can have great experiences that make life richer and fuller and more divine. Whether that’s in just getting some joy out of line dancing or throwing balls at community days, sharing our pains and concerns in small groups, delving into art or creative projects, or just getting lost in the music. It’s what guides so much of what I’m always trying to do.

I have in my head a slogan, or tagline, of “Lord of Grace: finding the richness of the experience of Jesus in the life today” – something like that. It’s unofficial, but helps guide where I believe God is calling us today - to find him in the world and make a fuller life. It is what Jesus said,

“I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” - John 10:10

Peace,

Pastor Lars

Outreach May 2024

Outreach Team – May 2024 Newsletter Article

Our members include Chris Kollen as lead, Carol Buuck, Phyllis Teager, Patty Clymer, Laurie Acker, and Janette Carollo.

The Outreach Team would like to welcome Janette Carollo to our team! We’re looking forward to having you join us!

We are planning new and exciting projects this coming year. If you’d like more information about becoming a member of Outreach, contact Chris Kollen at lizzykollen@comcast.net or at 520-419-7475.

Continuing Events

Marana Food Bank
The Marana Food Bank would like to request that we collect instant rice, mac and cheese, spaghetti sauce (please no glass), pasta, peanut butter, and jelly.

Let’s help our neighbors have a wonderful spring with a fuller pantry.

Donated items can be placed in the wooden cabinet located in the hallway outside the Fellowship Hall.  Please remember that the food bank cannot accept any food items that have been opened/used or expired.  Also, please no glass containers.

If you would like to donate and keep your gift for the needy of Marana, you can send a check to:

MFB-CRC

c/o Sahuarita Food Bank

PO Box 968

Sahuarita, AZ 85629 

Please make checks payable to Marana Food Bank – Community Resource Center or MFB-CRC. You can also donate online at http://mfb-crc.org Your monetary gift goes a long way.  Every $10 helps provide 50 meals.

Upcoming Events

Roadrunner Elementary – Backpacks and School Supplies Drive

We’ll be having a backpacks and school supplies drive during the month of July. More information will be coming in the June newsletter.

Past Events

Butler’s Pantry

The Lord of Grace Outreach Team collected personal hygiene items for Butler’s Pantry to support our friends at Roadrunner Elementary during the month of April. Thank you so much for supporting this ongoing outreach in our community!

Several members of the congregation, Patty Clymer, Gail Nicewander, Darlene Paul, and Chris Kollen prepared a dinner for the Sister Jose Women’s Center Supper Club on Friday March 29, 2024. We prepared lasagna, salad, bread, and dessert. The women were very appreciative and loved the lasagna. It was a wonderful experience and we’re hoping to continue this service on a regular basis. Thank you!

Prayer Connection May 2024

Psalm 107: 1

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; His love endures forever.”

Often my private prayers include the phrase “Your love endures forever”.  Apparently, it is a phrase that is in my heart because I say it a lot.  One night when unable to return to sleep, I started thinking of all the ways my Lord has saved me from harm or calamity.  Starting from earliest memories….being butted my goats did not give me serious harm….and then on, being irresponsible once or twice while a teenager.  You understand.  Anyway, thanks be to God, I am here at my computer!  His love endures forever. 

There was a devotional I read a few weeks ago that had the idea of being thankful for 5 things every week.  I usually start daily prayers with being grateful to God.  This article suggested looking at a week.  I suppose this is a good way to be, you could be thankful for the progress of a project at work or the healing of someone you had prayed for.  So I suggest to you, this week look back and find five things in your life to be grateful for.  “His love endures forever.”

Please know that the Lord of Grace Prayer team continue to pray over all prayer petitions sent our way, including the requests entered in the prayer journal in the Narthex.  The Team will also continue to offer individual prayer times after each worship service on the 4th Sunday of each month.  We strongly believe in the power of prayer and that a continual connection with our God will keep us all closer to Him.  Remember, God can bring the peace you seek.  Seek Him in prayer.

Prayer Connection April 2024

“Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,’ declares the LORD.’” –  Jeremiah 29:12-13.

I find comfort in prayer.  Knowing I can share my concerns, fears and joy with God gives me such a sense of peace and freedom.  He is always available to listen and knows what I mean to say even when I feel it isn’t coming out exactly the way I wish it to.  During my journey into learning more about prayer, I have learned some amazing things about the nature of prayer.  Prayer can happen at any time.  We don’t need to wait for a specific time or place.  We don’t need special words.  We can pray while doing our daily activities; while walking, exercising, or driving (just don’t close your eyes!)  Prayers can be short or long, complex or simple.  Sometimes just a cry of “Help me” is all we need to say.  God knows the rest; he knows our hearts.  He is there and hears our every word.

Please know that the Lord of Grace Prayer Team continues to pray over all prayer petitions sent our way, including the requests entered in the prayer journal in the narthex. The Team will also continue to offer individual prayer times after each worship service on the 4th Sunday of each month. We strongly believe in the power of prayer and that a continual connection with our God will keep us all closer to Him. Remember, God can bring the peace you seek. Seek Him in prayer.

Outreach April 2024

Outreach Team – April 2024 Newsletter Article

Our members include Chris Kollen as lead, Carol Buuck, Phyllis Teager, Patty Clymer, and Laurie Acker.

We are planning new and exciting projects this coming year. If you’d like more information about becoming a member of Outreach, contact Chris Kollen at lizzykollen@comcast.net or at 520-419-7475.

Upcoming Events

Butler’s Pantry

The Lord of Grace Outreach Team will be collecting personal hygiene items for Butler’s Pantry to support our friends at Roadrunner Elementary during the month of April. Items needed include the following: toothpaste, shampoo, bodywash, soap: both bar and liquid, deodorant, feminine hygiene products.  There will be a white basket labeled Butler’s Pantry in the narthex to drop your donations in!  Thank you so much for supporting this ongoing outreach in our community!

As I write this article for the newsletter, later today (Friday March 29th) we will be preparing dinner for the women at Sister José Women’s Center (1050 S Park Ave. in Tucson). We will be serving lasagna, bread, salad and dessert. See next month’s newsletter for an update!

Continuing Events

Marana Food Bank
The Marana Food Bank would like to request that we continue to collect hygiene items this month as they are really needed.  The most needed items are:  toothpaste, toothbrushes, mouthwash, dental floss, chapstick, shampoo, conditioner, bar soap, deodorant, feminine pads, and razors. Let’s help our neighbors have access to these essential items.

Donated items can be placed in the wooden cabinet located in the hallway outside the Fellowship Hall.  Please remember that the food bank cannot accept any food items that have been opened/used or expired.  Also, please no glass containers.

If you would like to donate and keep your gift for the needy of Marana, you can send a check to:

MFB-CRC

c/o Sahuarita Food Bank

PO Box 968

Sahuarita, AZ 85629 

Please make checks payable to Marana Food Bank – Community Resource Center or MFB-CRC. You can also donate online at http://mfb-crc.org

Your monetary gift goes a long way.  Every $10 helps provide 50 meals.

Past Events

Lutheran World Relief Baby Care Kits

We completed our first drive for Lutheran World Relief and it was a big success. We assembled the baby care kits together at the March Community Day event and mailed them to the LWR warehouse in St. Paul where they’ll be distributed to countries in need. Thanks to everyone for making this a big success!

Lutheran World Relief Baby Care Kits

Thanks to everyone for making this a big success!

Christ and Culture - April Pastor's Column

In the last four years I’ve done several different online videos to increase the reach of our church – everything from short expositions on the Psalms, to online meditations, to reviews of ELCA social statements and Biblical criticism. It’s been a bit of a hit and miss in terms of getting views and responses. Mostly miss. The algorithms that control YouTube and Facebook are unforgiving, and tend to reward the more controversial or sensational videos, which is clearly not me. That said, one series I did last year on Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s ideas on secular society and “religionless Christianity” took off. They’re the most viewed (the first one has over 5400) and the source of most of the new subscriptions to the Lord of Grace YouTube channel. I didn’t anticipate this, but it makes sense. Evangelicals have been working hard to appropriate Bonhoeffer, a Lutheran/Reformed pastor from Germany, and revise the narrative so that he becomes the doctrinally conservative evangelical who dared to stand up to Hitler where the wishy-washy liberals did nothing. Of course, that’s not correct, for many reasons, enough to warrant a 12-part series. But their sudden interest drove traffic to the sight, and I got a lot of emails, and even phone calls, from people responding, most thanking me for clarifying and calling out the appropriation.

 So I thought I’d try another series based on the thoughts of another old theologian (the kind I know best) that seemed strangely timely: H. Richard Niebuhr. He wrote more about sociology issues, such as how denominations were more about economic class and ethnicity than theology, but also about culture, as in, “Christ and Culture” from 1951.  It’s a short, accessible, classic that lines most of the shelves of pastors a couple generations back. In it, he details six different ways people have construed the relationship of Christ to culture. They run the gambit from being opposed (Christ Against Culture) to syncretistic (Christ of Culture) to the Christ and Culture in Paradox of St. Paul and Martin Luther. Look for them on the church YouTube and Facebook pages, Thursday mornings at 10am

H. Richard Niebuhr

This series is proving far more difficult to produce than Bonhoeffer, precisely because Niebuhr engages the both-ands and back-and-forths of a relationship that is messy and often ill-defined for most of us. Is Jesus the fulfiller of culture? Does Jesus make culture better? Should we build a Christian Culture? Does the culture have things to teach us? Or is that “caving to culture”?

I will confess that what has driven my interest in the topic is two things. The first is the 2009 vote in the ELCA to create a new social statement on human sexuality. We know well how it led to losses and battles, with a common refrain being that we, the ELCA, had “caved to culture” and were letting it dictate our beliefs, not the Bible. The refrain then went out from those wanting to gain members from ELCA churches, “Come to our church. We believe in the Bible”. I thought we believed in Jesus, and the Bible taught us about him? But I get what they’re saying: The ELCA doesn’t take literally the passages we take literally so they are giving in and letting secular, liberal, modern society dictate beliefs.

And it’s a legitimate concern that I don’t brush off lightly. Just because an idea is new, popular, gaining momentum, promoted in universities, doesn’t necessarily mean the church should adapt it. On the other hand, it doesn’t mean we should necessarily reject it - that’s reactionary. And wasn’t one of the complaints about Jesus from the priests that he was teaching people not to obey the traditions and corrupting the youth? Wasn’t reacting to change and trying to shut it down part of why Jesus was killed? Should we not learn that sometimes God calls prophets into our midst to challenge and revise our stances?

Or, better yet, how do we even know that the stances we have really are Gospel, and not themselves culture?

The second concern is the growing talk I hear about America being a “Christian nation” and the need to restore Christianity to the government. This isn’t new. I’ve heard about how removing prayer from public schools was the cause of drugs and debauchery in kids for years. I’ve even heard it said that if we taught Bible in schools we’d prevent school shootings. This desire for a sort of religious nationalism betrays the anxieties of Christians who watch the kids and grandkids quit church, and watch comedians mock the Bible, and worry about the future of the faith in a culture that varies from indifferent to hostile to mocking. It’s understandable, but a little reactionary. Christianity has grown, and does grow, in cultures hostile to it. There are ways. Chinese and Iranian Christians do it with no help from their governments. We don’t need to make a Christian culture to make a Christian church.

 I read a book by a Chinese Australian Evangelical. It was about evangelism. He’s not a liberal, by any means, and proudly wears the evangelical label. One point really sat with me: in Asia and Australia evangelicals support gun control and government health care. Vast majorities. And they read the same Bible. And they play the same praise songs. And they talk about marriage as one-man-one-woman and believe in substitutionary atonement and literal miracles etc. etc. Yet, on these two issues, they take a different stance. Could it be that we are taking things from our culture and mixing them with the Gospel? Since the Asian churches are growing, maybe we should listen to their wisdom.

 But it gets back to the issue of being aware of the ways we incorporate beliefs from our culture into our worldview as Christians without taking the time and effort to critically examine whether or not they are really Gospel and really reflect Jesus. To be a little both-sider-ist, on the leftist extreme there are still Christians who tout Karl Marx’s views as fundamentally Christian and solid in theory, but that were just ruined by bad apples (Stalin, Mao, etc.). They’re few, but the idea of communist Jesus has not died. Most liberal Christians have been more focused on reform efforts like unions, workers rights, opposing racism, and the environment than collectivizing the means of production. But those who went full communist also incorporated into their Christian worldview things that were not the Gospel.

So it gets really complicated, really fast.

 Which is why we need to take a few weeks to go back and forth and examine the different positions, and take a critical look at ourselves and what we believe and practice, and see what parts of our stances are really Gospel, before jumping out and declaring that we are not caving to culture, when what we really mean is “those Christians are caving to culture”. How often does  “Christ is counter-cultural” really mean “Christ is counter their-culture”?

None of us are pure Christians. To be so would imply that we own nothing, give away everything, love all enemies, serve the poor, and get martyred for opposing state oppression. Few of us rise to Jesus’ level of love and sacrifice. Just admitting our mixed-ness with the culture is good, if only to be humbling and less reactionary or judgmental.

Part of what I have seen as my mission here, or mission in ministry in general, is to help us all have a more reflective, self-aware, critical-thinking, experiential, kind of faith. I want us to have the examined faith, the faith that has put itself to the test and still sees the power and hand of God in life. I don’t want us to be unreflective and afraid to look in the mirror and wonder why we believe what we do. I don’t want us to be scared to see the flaws in our own arguments, or the limits of our knowledge. I don’t see my job as purely to reassure certainties and provide the comfort of absolutes.

I know the examined faith life is hard, and not always a pleasant journey. It doesn’t feel good to realize you’ve been following something just because you were taught that, and not because you have tested it and owned it. It’s hard to think that my views are culturally conditioned, even my views on God, and know that I would probably see Jesus differently if I’d grown up elsewhere. But I would not want to go back to the unexamined faith. I want to be like Jesus, who both upheld and reformed the laws of his people. 

I’ve done a few of these studies already on Thursday mornings. They’re still on YouTube and Facebook. I worry that I ramble going back and forth to cover the complexity of the topic. But it’s been fun. I hope you’ll  check them out, and that they’ll help you on your journey of being a Christian in this American/Arizonan culture today.

God Bless,

Pastor Lars

An Announcement about Announcements by Pastor Lars

As I’m sure you’ve noticed these past couple months, the narthex has undergone some transformation. This is the first time since 2013 that it’s been changed. Back then we added the leather/fake leather seating and the brown carpet. The intention was to make a lobby area, like at hotels, with big, comfortable seats, almost like a living room, as well as to absorb sound in a room with a chronic echo.

As the years went by, things got added, until the room became filled. We had book shelves, rows of extra chairs, occasional sign-up tables, etc. It all contributed to a cluttered and somewhat disorganized look.

One of the goals of the worship committee in the strategic plan was to redesign the narthex to be more welcoming for visitors and guests to the church. So a team was created, and so we came up with new plans. The room was going to serve two primary purposs:

1) welcome visitors and make them feel comfortable,

2) facilitate fellowship, conversation, and relationship building after the 10:30am contemporary service.

The first is obvious; people often judge you on first impressions, and lowering anxiety for visitors helps our growth. The second comes from the fact that people rarely make the turn into the fellowship hall, after the second service, for fellowship – like they do after the early service. We’ve had refreshments and coffee outside, which has helped, but the weather isn’t always conducive to that.

But, we had to figure out how to balance those needs with the operations of the church and our ministries. We collect things for local kids, charities, mission projects. We have things that require sign-ups (such as the Maundy Thursday Agape Meal). These are also important. And while online sign-ups and recruiting are the way of the future, responses to those attempts here have been slow. The paper still is king.

So we cleared out all sorts of stuff, removing some things completely and relocating others, such as the Marana Food Bank donation cabinet – which is in the hallway to the fellowship hall. I’m still looking for a good home for the oak memorial book table that sat in the corner by the front door for 22 years. We will still record the names of memorial gifts in it, and keep it in the office, but felt it was not needed there.

The room then looked empty as we started filling it back in with new furniture which, surprise surprise, did not come immediately. I am hoping we’ll have all the chairs and things on back order set up by summer.

The narthex team deliberately wanted to go with a modern look, with a bit of a younger appeal. Hence the tall tables for putting your coffee and refreshments on while you stand and chat, the modern furniture, and hopefully some new coffee supplies.

For sign-ups, I have found that when we put up a table in the narthex right where people come out it blocks off 3/4 of the narthex to fellowship. People rarely walk around a sign-up or recruitment table to converse. Instead, they keep going out the door. Our solution, then, is the large sign-up table now by the windows to the sanctuary. The Rev. Paul Hammar made it out of old pew wood. It stands high to be easy to sign and read standing, and is prominent enough to be seen, yet not in the way of traffic. From now on, all sign-ups will need to be on that table, or outside on the patio if you need a full table. This clears up the old credenza to be the “welcome table” that focuses just on things for visitors (and the credit card machine until we remove it this summer).

It’s always a balance between the needs of the church and the need to welcome. We need people to sign up, and we need visitors to not feel like they’re being recruited the second they walk in the door. I think we have a good one, and it will get better as we continue to live into and make adjustments.

This also applies to the subject of pastoral announcements at the beginning of the service. We need to welcome visitors, make people feel at home in the church, let them know about fellowship and prayer concerns and things that would be of immediate concern for people new to the church. At the same time, we do need people to volunteer for things like clean-up day. What to do?

I have, lately, leaned more and more towards trying to keep the verbal announcements short. It’s easier in the summer than spring. When a lot is going on, every group wants me to mention their project. Sometimes if I forget, I get blamed for the lack of attendance. But I have to balance that with visitors being overwhelmed with information and things-we-want-you-to-do. People’s attention spans are also not great, and more than the first three or four announcements and most have tuned out or will forget. So I have been trying to mention things only the Sunday before, and keep it to all-church events. I don’t mention when confirmation class is that night, or each committee meeting, those you have to find in the newsletter and on the church calendar. I do mention special services, all church events, and outreach projects. I think it makes a good impression on visitors to see us doing a lot for the poor and needy.

So if I don’t mention your activity a lot, or try to push it off to later, it’s not because I’m trying to squash anyone’s ministry. It’s that I want visitors to get the best possible first impression, and come back again. If they don’t, we won’t have people to do ministry. But it’s nothing personal.

As for the slides before service….

Each slide is custom-made and runs on the screen (wall) and online on a loop of 15 seconds. This is to get as many slides across people’s eyes, especially online, where we only have 5 minutes of livestream before the service starts. We can be a bit more flexible with how long we run them, and run things a few weeks ahead if we want. I still try not to have too many, so people tune out.  Again, these are mostly for big events and projects, or special church-year and liturgical things, such as a new sermon series, feast day, or special services coming up. Because of the short time run, they need to be like billboards, with very few words and obvious graphics. Small fonts, lots of text, complex images, low color contrast, will be hard to see and read. Think what you see on the way to Phoenix: three or four words max and a picture.

Newsletter..

Of course, if everyone read the emailed newsletter and took out their calendars and entered all the church events they were interested in for the month at the beginning of each month, then I wouldn’t have to announce much of anything. But that’s not how it works. Nonetheless, we have even more flexibility in this publication, as content volume is unlimited. We can put in as many articles as we want. If they’re one paragraph or less, the whole thing usually goes in the email. If it’s longer, we post the full article on the news blog of the church web site, where we can be as long as we want. I do this, rather than publish the full article in the email, so the scrolling does not get so long people stop halfway down. This way people can scroll through the email, and if it piques their attention, they can click the “read more” which takes them to the web site full article.

I make one exception to this: church business. For example, the council minutes, constitutional changes, financial documents – basically all the “how the sausage is made” stuff that’s necessary and important but a big turn-off to a lot of people who disdain “church politics”. While I could respond that every organization everywhere has politics, and every one of them has debates about money and control, somehow in churches it’s a real visitor-chaser-awayer. I also don’t feel those things belong on the web site, for people completely detached from the church to grab, download, and repost out of context. The whole world does not need to know salary information, even in the aggregate with no names. So these sort of internal documents I have put in .pdf form to be read by the people getting the email. Yes, they could forward or publicly post it; I can’t control that. But we don’t need to put it out there in a world full of internet trolls.

Our strategies are sure to keep changing as technology and culture keep changing. I appreciate everyone’s patience as we keep trying new things and adapting. It’s my hope that we can continue to put our best foot forward for people visiting the church, while at the same time staying active in our ministries.

Pastor Lars

An Announcement about Announcements by Pastor Lars

As I’m sure you’ve noticed these past couple months, the narthex has undergone some transformation. This is the first time since 2013 that it’s been changed. Back then we added the leather/fake leather seating and the brown carpet. The intention was to make a lobby area, like at hotels, with big, comfortable seats, almost like a living room, as well as to absorb sound in a room with a chronic echo.

As the years went by, things got added, until the room became filled. We had book shelves, rows of extra chairs, occasional sign-up tables, etc. It all contributed to a cluttered and somewhat disorganized look.

One of the goals of the worship committee in the strategic plan was to redesign the narthex to be more welcoming for visitors and guests to the church. So a team was created, and so we came up with new plans. The room was going to serve two primary purposs:

1) welcome visitors and make them feel comfortable,

2) facilitate fellowship, conversation, and relationship building after the 10:30am contemporary service.

The first is obvious; people often judge you on first impressions, and lowering anxiety for visitors helps our growth. The second comes from the fact that people rarely make the turn into the fellowship hall, after the second service, for fellowship – like they do after the early service. We’ve had refreshments and coffee outside, which has helped, but the weather isn’t always conducive to that.

But, we had to figure out how to balance those needs with the operations of the church and our ministries. We collect things for local kids, charities, mission projects. We have things that require sign-ups (such as the Maundy Thursday Agape Meal). These are also important. And while online sign-ups and recruiting are the way of the future, responses to those attempts here have been slow. The paper still is king.

So we cleared out all sorts of stuff, removing some things completely and relocating others, such as the Marana Food Bank donation cabinet – which is in the hallway to the fellowship hall. I’m still looking for a good home for the oak memorial book table that sat in the corner by the front door for 22 years. We will still record the names of memorial gifts in it, and keep it in the office, but felt it was not needed there.

The room then looked empty as we started filling it back in with new furniture which, surprise surprise, did not come immediately. I am hoping we’ll have all the chairs and things on back order set up by summer.

The narthex team deliberately wanted to go with a modern look, with a bit of a younger appeal. Hence the tall tables for putting your coffee and refreshments on while you stand and chat, the modern furniture, and hopefully some new coffee supplies.

For sign-ups, I have found that when we put up a table in the narthex right where people come out it blocks off 3/4 of the narthex to fellowship. People rarely walk around a sign-up or recruitment table to converse. Instead, they keep going out the door. Our solution, then, is the large sign-up table now by the windows to the sanctuary. The Rev. Paul Hammar made it out of old pew wood. It stands high to be easy to sign and read standing, and is prominent enough to be seen, yet not in the way of traffic. From now on, all sign-ups will need to be on that table, or outside on the patio if you need a full table. This clears up the old credenza to be the “welcome table” that focuses just on things for visitors (and the credit card machine until we remove it this summer).

It’s always a balance between the needs of the church and the need to welcome. We need people to sign up, and we need visitors to not feel like they’re being recruited the second they walk in the door. I think we have a good one, and it will get better as we continue to live into and make adjustments.

This also applies to the subject of pastoral announcements at the beginning of the service. We need to welcome visitors, make people feel at home in the church, let them know about fellowship and prayer concerns and things that would be of immediate concern for people new to the church. At the same time, we do need people to volunteer for things like clean-up day. What to do?

I have, lately, leaned more and more towards trying to keep the verbal announcements short. It’s easier in the summer than spring. When a lot is going on, every group and every events wants me to mention their project. Sometimes if I forget, I get blamed for the lack of attendance. But I have to balance that with visitors being overwhelmed with information and things-we-want-you-to-do. People’s attention spans are also not great, and more than the first three or four announcements and most have tuned out or will forget. So I have been trying to mention things only the Sunday before, and keep it to all-church events. So I don’t mention when confirmation class is that night, or each committee meeting. Those you have to find in the newsletter and on the church calendar. I do mention special services, all church events, and outreach projects. I think it makes a good impression on visitors to see us doing a lot for the poor and needy.

So if I don’t mention your activity a lot, or try to push it off to later, it’s not because I’m trying to squash anyone’s ministry. It’s that I want visitors to get the best possible first impression, and come back again. If they don’t, we won’t have people to do ministry. But it’s nothing personal.

As for the slides before service….

Each slide is custom-made and runs on the screen (wall) and online on a loop of 15 seconds. This is to get as many slides across people’s eyes, especially online, where we only have 5 minutes of livestream before the service starts. We can be a bit more flexible with how long we run them, and run things a few weeks ahead if we want. I still try not to have too many, so people tune out.  Again, these are mostly for big events and projects, or special church-year and liturgical things, such as a new sermon series, feast day, or special services coming up. Because of the short time run, they need to be like billboards, with very few words and obvious graphics. Small fonts, lots of text, complex images, low color contrast, will be hard to see and read. Think what you see on the way to Phoenix: three or four words max and a picture.

Newsletter..

Of course, if everyone read the emailed newsletter and took out their calendars and entered all the church events they were interested in for the month at the beginning of each month, then I wouldn’t have to announce much of anything. But that’s not how it works. Nonetheless, we have a even more flexibility in this publication, as content volume is unlimited. We can put in as many articles as we want. If they’re one paragraph or less, the whole thing usually goes in the email. If it’s longer, we post the full article on the news blog of the church web site, where we can be as long as we want. I do this, rather than publish the full article in the email, so the scrolling does not get so long people stop halfway down. This way people can scroll through the email, and if it piques their attention, they can click the “read more” which takes them to the web site full article.

I make one exception to this: church business. For example, the council minutes, constitutional changes, financial documents – basically all the “how the sausage is made” stuff that’s necessary and important but a big turn-off to a lot of people who disdain “church politics”. While I could respond that every organization everywhere has politics, and every one of them has debates about money and control, somehow in churches it’s a real visitor-chaser-awayer. I also don’t feel those things belong on the web site, for people completely detached from the church to grab, download, and repost out of context. The whole world does not need to know salary information, even in the aggregate with no names. So these sort of internal documents I have put in .pdf form to be downloaded and read by the people getting the email. Yes, they could forward or publicly post it; I can’t control that. But we don’t need to put it out there in a world full of internet trolls.

Our strategies are sure to keep changing as technology and culture keep changing. I appreciate everyone’s patience as we keep trying new things and adapting. It’s my hope that we can continue to put our best foot forward for people visiting the church, while at the same time staying active in our ministries.

Pastor Lars

Our Strategic Plan One Year In - Pastor's Column

It’s been about a year since we finished up the structure of our strategic plan, and we’ve been filling it in more and more as we go. The intention was always that it would be a living document, and that we’d update it as needed, and revisit it often. Our goals, just to review, were to create a new mission statement for Lord of Grace, then have ministry groups meet and pray and brainstorm ways they could implement that mission. So our team met and we came up with this statement:

Love God

Open Our Hearts and Minds

Live Graciously Towards All

So far we’ve been moving along with these. Let me share a few of the accomplishments.

Property brought back the semi-annual clean-up days. I’ve always enjoyed the fellowship as much as the brush cutting. Out next one is March 16th, and we’re doing the pews and chairs inside as well as the grass and brush outside.

Worship started work on the narthex. The last time we did much was back in 2012 when we got a special donation and bought the couches and leather arm chairs. In 2013 the carpet was added to the middle, and since then it’s been a somewhat unintentional collection spot. This time a team met and looked at things like function, values, goals. The team wanted to make the room useful, not just as a hallway, but as a welcome center for visitors on Sundays and a fellowship space after service. Yes, we have the big fellowship hall, but experience shows that after the 10:30am service, we don’t make that left turn.

So the first step was to remove all the things we weren’t going to use. This included the couches, the memorial book stand, the fake ficas, the book shelves that were in my office, then the conference room, then the hallway, then the narthex, and now they’re back where they started. As you can see, the room is pretty empty right now, because the new furniture hasn’t been purchased yet.  The plan is to add some new chairs for seating, some side tables for coffee, a new coffee bar, a designated sign-up table, a shelf for books on prayer and health resources, and some things for children’s ministry. These will be purchased as we go, because the funds from the capital campaign are used up. If you’re interested in contributing to a part of the new narthex, just let me know. Here’s the things on our wish list:

L-shaped sign-in table. Kind of like a “welcome desk” you’d see in places, but big enough for clip boards.

Coffee Bar. Small cabinets on wheels for coffee supplies and refreshments. Primarily for after the second service.

Air Pods. Coffee shop grade brewers that will go in the kitchen, used for both services, and have removeable caraffes to go in the narthex after the second service - or any other event.

Area Rug. The current one is from 2013. We’d like to get one of equal or bigger size, with color.

Acoustical panels for the walls. Custom-made in shapes to mimic the rock wall in the sanctuary. Fabric on batting on a wood frame.

The panels are to deal with the sound problem. The original building committee put in $7/foot (in 2002 money) tile in the narthex for durability, I learned from an original member of the church building committee. . This means we don’t have to replace carpet from coffee spills, but the room echoes so you could do Gregorian chant with ease. The couches and center rug mitigated, but with the high ceiling and the rest of the tile, only somewhat. So the team has a plan to put up homemade sound panels on the walls for both color and echo reduction. Eventually, we’d like to get a new center rug with color as well.

Outreach has been super busy going over all the different projects we did as a church and seeing if we wanted to try some new things and retire some old. Just look in the narthex to see the multiplicity of things they’re spearheading.

A big one I’d like to highlight is the partnership with Roadrunner Elementary. The school is often forgotten, being on the west end of the district. It has a good portion of kids with low income, and we’ve stepped up with drives at Christmas and volunteering with their resource center.

Youth and Family has also jump-started some things. As I’ve written about many times, it’s hard for a church our size to field traditional “youth groups”. They require a critical mass of kids the same age, who also get along well, and a lot of staff/volunteer time. On top of that, they are not proven to be the most effective at keeping kids involved in the faith after graduation, in spite of the popularity they have with parents who are church-shopping. Parental faith witness, adults who know kids and care when they show up, the church being there for them in crisis, and getting involved in leadership all make way more difference than age-segregated youth groups.

That said, our focus has shifted back the old “Family Fellowship Sundays”, now called Community Days, we used to do them monthly after the second service, until Covid came. Now they’re back with a bit more organization, including often a theme and specific activities for after eating. It’s taking the little family church potluck and putting some steroids on it. Given that intergenerational witness is the most effective, I love the concept, and they’ve been well attended. We’ll keep these going at least through the school year, and review for fall 2024.

I met with the preschool teachers and our director, America Trujillo, to set goals for their ministry. It’s been a back and forth over the years how we define what it means to be a “church” preschool, as opposed to just a secular one that uses the building. Since there is no one prototype, I decided to have the teachers work on answering this question themselves, and, of course, they came up with far better ideas than I could have. Look for some new art and decorations, some things added to worship, some special drives for the community, and ways for us, as a congregation, to help out.

Of course, all these things are just a sampling, and they happen in addition to the regular work of ministry here at Lord of Grace.

Reflecting on the whole process, I always come back to the slogan about working smarter, not harder. There was a time, mostly in the 80’s and 90’s, when you could grow a church by adding buildings and adding programs. In fact, the more the merrier. People would see either how busy you were, and assume that as an indicator of quality, or would see a program for people “like them” – whatever that means – and find a connection to join. Really big churches still operate this way, because they have finances for large staffs to run things on an ongoing basis. For the rest of us, which is probably 99% of US churches, we run on volunteers and tight budgets. And, as the years go by, we are all finding that the supply of “labor” is not getting any bigger. Fewer people go to church, and those who do are often either busy with kids and family, or wish to retire from regular committee work. So we have to do more with less. It can be disheartening, if you’re trying to keep up with the big place down the road that always seems to have the giant youth group that does whitewater rafting and Christian rock concerts every month. But it’s the relationships, the connections, the spiritual practices, the community being community for each other and the world that has the biggest impact. That we can do by:

Doing what we do better, nor necessarily more.

Making a point to get to know who we’re worshiping with, learning each others’ names and asking each other, honestly, about how life is going 

Pray together and support one another in time of need

Invite people to worship and invite people to join us in our service projects

Get involved in, and support one another, in spiritual practices that help people experience Christ.

Christianity is growing through conversion in large parts of the world, in countries with little money and in churches that are small and meet underground. Programs are not why Chinese churches are getting bigger. We can step back, take a deep breath, and see the gifts we have and the impact we can make by working smarter, and more spirit-led, with what God has given us, and get off the treadmill of trying to compete with laser shows and adventure camps.

The new stations of the cross images

12 posters of stations will be set up around the sanctuary from 11am-1pm and you can soak them in at your own pace. At night the images will be on the screen with the worship liturgy.

On that note, this month is Lent, and Holy Week, and Easter. We get it all. Lots and lots of opportunities to worship, pray, reflect, and come closer to God. Worship is something we do well, and a great way to encounter God and one another. So whatever you volunteer in, I’ll personally invite you to join us at the Lent services on Wednesdays, where we contemplate, reflect, and discuss Bible stories about the disciple Peter. We even get original music by Stuart Oliver, composed just for our services. They’re casual and interactive, and you get wine and cheese after (we’re going full Episcopalian for Lent).

Then comes the agape meal for Maundy Thursday, and a new format for Stations of the Cross. We’re adding an 11am-1pm walk through the stations on your own in the sanctuary. The stations are on posterboard, and you’ll have a chance to go around and write and look and pray over each one at your own pace. At night will be a full worship service, with music and sermon and the pounding of nails.

So many ways to step back, breathe deep, and let the Holy Spirit soak in. What happens next happens next, and God will show the way.

Peace,

Pastor Lars

Lord of Grace Health Information Team March 2024

The Lord of Grace Health Information Team will be offering a presentation on CPR training on March 17th at 2:00pm by Wanda Moore.  This will be a participatory event and will be held in the Fellowship Hall. 

Any one of us could be put in a situation that requires CPR and being able to save a person’s life is an incredible gift.  This training will be available to anyone interested.  A sign-up sheet will be available in the Narthex. 

Outreach March 2024

Outreach Team – March 2024 Newsletter Article

Our members include Chris Kollen as lead, Carol Buuck, Phyllis Teager, Patty Clymer, and Laurie Acker.

We are planning new and exciting projects this coming year. If you’d like more information about becoming a member of Outreach, contact Chris Kollen at lizzykollen@comcast.net or at 520-419-7475.

 Marana Food Bank
The Marana Food Bank would like to request that we collect hygiene items this month.  The most needed items are:  toothpaste, toothbrushes, mouthwash, dental floss, Chapstick, shampoo, conditioner, bar soap, deodorant, feminine pads, and razors.

Let’s help our neighbors have access to these essential items.

Donated items can be placed in the wooden cabinet located in the hallway outside the Fellowship Hall.  Please remember that the food bank cannot accept any food items that have been opened/used or expired.  Also, please no glass containers.

If you would like to donate and keep your gift for the needy of Marana, you can send a check to:

MFB-CRC

c/o Sahuarita Food Bank

PO Box 968

Sahuarita, AZ 85629 

Please make checks payable to Marana Food Bank – Community Resource Center or MFB-CRC.  You can also donate online at mfb-crc.org.

Your monetary gift goes a long way.  Every $10 helps provide 50 meals.        

Past Events

Feed My Starving Children

Thank you to everyone who volunteered to pack food for Feed My Starving Children on February 10th, from 8:00AM to 10:00AM at Oro Valley Church of the Nazarene. Here are some photos from our day of volunteering. Most of the volunteers from LOG were at the same packing table. They packed 540 bags, or 15 boxes, way to go! Thank you to everyone who volunteered and helped make the day a big success!

Baby Care Kits

We completed our first drive for Lutheran World Relief and it was a big success. We’ll assemble the baby care kits together at the next monthly Community Day event on March 3rd and mail them to the LWR warehouse in St. Paul where they’ll be distributed to countries in need. Thanks to everyone for making this a big success!  

Upcoming Activities

We will be preparing a dinner for the women at Sister José Women’s Center (1050 S Park Ave. in Tucson) on Friday, March 29th. The food must be prepared there (they have a commercial kitchen) or prepared in a commercial kitchen. We plan on having lasagna (from Costco), bread, salad and dessert. The meal needs to be served at 5:30pm and they have asked us to join the women at the meal. There will be a sign-up sheet starting March 3rd. We’re looking for up to 4 people to volunteer. We will probably carpool from church. Thank you!

Continuing Activities

Butler’s Pantry - Looking for a few volunteers!

We are looking for a few more eager members to join our group. Lord of Grace volunteers are needed to work a Monday evening or a Saturday morning or a work day (to sort and organize donations) each month.  We travel out in teams and usually carpool from church. We will also be collecting specific items throughout the year. If you are interested in helping volunteer with this ongoing outreach project please give Phyllis Teager a call or email at 520-906-1837 or pteager3@comcast.net. You can also check out the volunteer sign-up schedule and pictures of the pantry on the bulletin board near the fellowship hall.

Prayer Connection March 2024

This year, February 14th marks two special days in the year: Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Season of Lent. As we combine these two traditions, we are reminded of the love of God for us, and for each other:

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35)

Lord of Grace, as we draw close to you in prayer this Lenten Season, open our eyes to see your heart of love all around us, and guide us to share your love with those you place in our paths and lives. Amen.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America offers many resources to support us as we seek to pray more deeply in all situations in our lives! “The Prayers and Blessings For Daily Use” offers prayers for mornings, evenings, workdays and school days; table prayers (including those who eat alone); prayers for times of conflict, crisis and disaster; health of body and soul; those experiencing affliction, trouble, bereavement; those suffering from addiction; the chronically ill and caregivers, support teams and health care providers; recovery from sickness; the unemployed; those who live alone; and prayers attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, Catherine of Siena, Julian Norwich, and Martin Luther.

We close with one of the prayers from this ELCA resource:

Almighty God, your love never fails, and you can turn the shadow of death into daybreak. Help us to receive your word with believing hearts, so that, confident in your promises, we may have hope and be lifted out of sorrow into the joy and peace of your presence; through Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord. Amen.

Link to The Prayers and Blessings For Daily Use: https://download.elca.org/ELCA%20Resource%20Repository/DailyPrayer_PrayersBlessings.pdf 

Please know that the Lord of Grace Prayer Team continues to pray over all prayer petitions sent our way, including the requests entered in the prayer journal in the narthex. The Team will also continue to offer individual prayer times after each worship service on the 4th Sunday of each month. We strongly believe in the power of prayer and that a continual connection with our God will keep us all closer to Him. Remember, God can bring the peace you seek. Seek Him in prayer.

‘Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving.’ Colossians 4:2

Prayer is on my mind and in my heart as we enter the season of Lent this year.

I have also been thinking about models in my life who have encouraged me in my prayer life. The person who comes to my mind is Betty, a ninety-seven year old friend and mentor who attended the church we went to when we arrived in Tucson and lived on the east side. I spent every Wednesday morning with Betty and others praying for the life of our church. Betty took prayer seriously and was devoted to her practice of praying for each person listed in her prayer journal every day. She often would check in with me to see how things were going with someone I had asked her to pray for. Betty also kept a gratitude journal and encouraged me to do the same. She said that her gratitudes kept her encouraged in her daily prayer life.

I have decided to add a practice of writing down my gratitudes in my journal during Lent this year. Like Betty, I will appreciate the encouragement.

Dear Lord,

Thank you for my prayer partners at Lord of Grace and all of those who have come before who have encouraged me in my prayer life. May I be of encouragement to others as they have been to me.                              

  In the precious name of Jesus I pray, Amen

Please know that the Lord of Grace Prayer Team continues to pray over all prayer petitions sent our way, including the requests entered in the prayer journal in the narthex. The Team will also continue to offer individual prayer times after each worship service on the 4th Sunday of each month. We strongly believe in the power of prayer and that a continual connection with our God will keep us all closer to Him. Remember, God can bring the peace you seek. Seek Him in prayer.

New Sanctuary Mural

The capital campaign for the church is almost over. Over $290,000 was raised, and this bought the church a whole list of much-needed repairs and upgrades. This includes:

• exterior paint

• mural on the outside wall of the fellowship hall by the playground

• replace roof underlayment

• new air conditioners for the narthex/nursery and sanctuary

• livestreaming equipment

• floor tiles for classrooms, fellowship hall

• repaint the fellowship hall

• new keyboard for the band

• and the sanctuary…..

This last piece came in last, and included a whole list of things:

• new carpet

• repainting walls

• new lights - sconses, stage lights, lights for the stone wall

• build-out of the altar area into a stage-like platform

• pews shortened and made moveable

• mural on the back wall

• replace the audio system (coming this spring)

I feel the need to list it all because it’s so impressive what we’ve been able to do with the generosity of the congregation. While the church is, and always will be, the people, and the building is just a tool we use, it’s important to keep the building in good shape and not kick the can down the road on repairs. Things never get cheaper. It’s also important to think about how your building communicates your mission, your values.

With a big mural outside, and now one in the sanctuary, we convey art, creativity, life, color. We tell people that faith is dynamic and exciting, and invite people in to explore and experience.

So this last piece, the sanctuary mural, came out of the planning process for the whole room. As you may remember, last year a team was gathered to come up with proposals for refreshing and upgrading the worship space. We looked at values, mood, function. We asked questions about what kind of things we would need in the future, so we could leave the next generation in the best place. We came up with ideas like: family, community, creativity, Jesus, welcome. We wanted it to be warm and flexible, to do creative worship and have options for different uses - hence the pews that can be moved. Everything was decided to accomplish our goals and convey our values, not to fit any particular personal preferences of the team members.

In this process the idea came up putting some sort of art on the big back wall. It just sat there empty, with nothing but livestreaming cameras and a big row of organ speakers. Initially, the plan was for a strip of Bible stories along the bottom of that wall, just above the bulkhead and the doors - much like cathedrals have a strip of carvings on the railing of the balcony. But then someone asked simply, “why not the whole wall?” Made sense.

We contacted local Tucson artist Michael Schultz to do the mural. He’s a veteran graffiti artist, and was a leader in Open Space Church before it closed after Covid. Having done church murals in Las Vegas and South Tucson, he was well-skilled for a job this size.

The vision was to do something modern, non-literal, and also tell some of the story of the Bible. This has three parts:

On the left: Jesus healing the woman who touches his cloak.

Middle: all the people coming together at the resurrection

Right: the women appearing at the empty tomb

Artist Michael Schultz with the finished mural

My own preference is always to keep church art a little abstract, a little modern, so we don’t start to take the image too literally and start thinking this is “how it actually looked”. We don’t know what it “really looked like” and can only make a best historical guess. But the truth of the scriptures is about more than the events, it’s about the experience people had of Jesus, and still do. It’s about how the Spirit shows you meanings in it, and the power that comes from that. So I wanted something that would both tell a story, and at the same time draw you in and get you thinking and imagining.

The splash of color is intentional, both to give it life and to contrast with the brown-blue theme of the building. It’s a highlight on your way out of worship.

In case you’re wondering, it was done with Kobra low pressure and Molotow spray paint, along with some Molotow art markers.

Pastor Lars

New Things for the New Year - Pastor's Column February 2024

This last month has been a month of planning for me, and for the church at large. Now that I’m back from the sabbatical and have had some time to catch up on everything, there’s now more energy to look forward. Christmas was wonderful, and the Advent series on “How does a weary world rejoice” was really enjoyable. I enjoyed the art to complement the words of the liturgy, as well as the special night time services, the healing service and the longest night – both of which are still on YouTube. For a long time I’ve felt that we limit ourselves in our connection with God when it’s only words and songs. So many of us, especially in our time, learn as much through visuals as anything. To be able to convey new ideas about the Bible stories, that aren’t only from me, with my limitations, expands everyone’s experience of the season.

So, along those lines we will be doing something similar for Lent. It’s starting early this year; February 14th is Ash Wednesday. Our ashes will have to compete with Italian dinners. But, to make it easier to do both, I’ve added a shorter noon service this year.

Still, we have a great program for Lent called “Wandering Heart” by sanctifiedart. It’s the same outfit that gave us “Weary World”. It all revolves around Peter the disciple and his struggles with Jesus and his teachings. The visuals are striking, and I love the concept of making Lent about exploring the harder parts of Jesus. Peter certainly did. Mid-week services will still go on Wednesdays, much like last year, with visuals, meditatation and open-mic discussion (followed by fellowship in the narthex).

Speaking of that, changes are coming there. One of the goals of the worship committee in the strategic plan is to redesign the narthex. Over the years it’s become a bit of a collection space, with more things than we really need there. It’s ground zero for first-time visitors to encounter our church, and needs to be as welcoming as possible. So, we formed a small team to look into how to make it both more welcoming and more useful. Lots of ideas to be unrolled in stages. The first step was to clean it out, remove old stuff, and start refilling it from there. We have plans to put in a coffee bar, permanent sign-up table, a re-vamped welcome center, and acoustic tiling on the walls to dampen sound. Some other things might come too, money allowing.

Other things are coming as well. The mural on the back wall of the sanctuary is going to get started as soon as we get all the paint. A general design was approved by the council for Michael Schultz, who has painted numerous Lutheran church murals (see Reformation Las Vegas, Holy Spirit Las Vegas, San Juan Bautista and San Juan Bautista). It’s going to cover the entire back wall, and will depict, in a creative and modern way, the following three Bible stories:

Mark 9:14-27 - Jesus heals a young boy who is possessed by an evil spirit and who cannot speak

Mark 5:25-24 - Jesus heals a woman who for 12 years is suffering from a hemorrhage.

John 20:11-18 - Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene as she weeps outside the empty tomb

Other things in the sanctuary are getting finished up – such as getting a second step built, new banner stands, a conductor stand, kneelers, and more. Give a big thanks to my dad, Rev. Paul Hammar, for building all this stuff for us out of the wood from the pews we took out. The audio system is also going to get some reworking so we don’t have problems with buzzing or interference anymore.

So much is going on in the church, the list could go on. At a time when many churches are struggling with decline, we have held steady. Worship attendance is down from before Covid, like almost every church, but has moved up in the last few months. 2023 was better than 2022. And the generosity of this church continues to amaze me. Our general offerings for 2023 came in at $17,211.85 above what we budgeted. I can’t thank you all enough. This puts us in a strong position going into the new year, with resources to keep moving forward instead of having to make cuts. All we do depends on your contributions.

The Honor Guard ceremony this month in the fellowship hall.

In more good news, we welcomed back Boy Scout Troop 219 to Lord of Grace. We’ve sponsored Pack 219 cub scouts for years, and did the troop as well when the church was younger (some time before I came). They’ve been at another church and are now re-chartered at Lord of Grace and will be meeting and having events here. I’m excited to open the doors to the community more. You may see their trailer by the electrical box in the parking lot. We have several Eagle scout projects here as well, so scouting has been a tradition of ours for a while.

Making the Advent lanterns for the Advent tree

And, of course, I have to give a plug for the return of our monthly family fellowship lunches after the 10:30am service. We did these pot luck, once a month, for a while before Covid. Now we’re back with intergenerational activities, food, and things for youth. These will keep going the first Sunday of the month until summer, and you’re all invited. It’s a great chance for us to be a big family, meet or catch up with people, and build connections between adults and kids.

So much is going on at our church, new people and new life and deep spiritual growth opportunities. Things are humming because of your time and support.

Pastor Lars

Lord of Grace Health Information Team

We would like to announce that the new Lord of Grace Health Information Team has recently been developed to provide health presentations to our congregation, as well as lists of resources for many areas of health concerns.   This team consists of Dorothy Green, Darlene Paul, Dianna Repp, and Cindy Stein.

Our first presentation is scheduled for February 18th at 9:30am in the Fellowship Hall.  We have a speaker coming to talk about Advance Directives.  If you have not already thought about or completed documents for your healthcare wishes, please come join us to find out more information. This is available to anyone interested.

Our second presentation is scheduled for March 17th at 2:00pm in the Fellowship Hall.  We will have a speaker and trainer coming to teach CPR.  As you know, any one of us could be in a situation where CPR is needed because someone’s life is in danger.  This is available to anyone interested.  A goodwill donation will be encouraged.

Work on the resource list is just beginning, and this will take some time to put together, but we hope to include helpful information and contacts in the following areas:

Hospice Agencies                           Divorce Care

            Funeral Homes                                Family Counseling

            Grief Support Groups                    Addiction Treatment

            Care Managers & Caregivers       Suicide Counseling

Outreach February 2024

Outreach Team – February 2024 Newsletter Article

Our members include Chris Kollen as lead, Carol Buuck, Phyllis Teager, Patty Clymer, and Laurie Acker.

We are planning new and exciting projects this coming year. If you’d like more information about becoming a member of Outreach, contact Chris Kollen at lizzykollen@comcast.net or at 520-419-7475.

Marana Community Food Bank

The Marana Food Bank would like to request that we collect pasta, spaghetti sauce (not in glass), cereal, crackers, mashed potatoes, canned tuna or chicken, and canned fruits.

Let’s help re-stock the shelves after the holidays so they can continue to serve our neighbors.

Donated food can be placed in the wooden cabinet located in the Narthex.  Please remember that the food bank cannot accept any food items that has been opened/used or expired.  Also, please no glass  containers.

If you would like to donate and keep your gift for the needy of Marana, you can send a check to:

MFB-CRC

c/o Sahuarita Food Bank

PO Box 968

Sahuarita, AZ 85629 

Please make checks payable to Marana Food Bank – Community Resource Center or MFB-CRC.

You can also donate online at mfb-crc.org.

Your monetary gift goes a long way.  Every $10 helps provide 50 meals.

Continuing Activities

Butler’s Pantry - Looking for a few volunteers!

As a response to the Lord of Grace Strategic Plan and mission statement, the Outreach

Team decided to be intentional about serving those in our surrounding community. That

is how our partnership with Roadrunner Elementary was born. One of the ways we

support them is with donations and volunteer support at their wonderful community

resource center, Butler’s Pantry! The pantry has been open for a little over 6 months now serving children and families in this special community.  A big THANK YOU to the team of LOG folks who have been helping make this resource center a reality for Roadrunner School.

We are looking for a few more eager members to join our group. Lord of Grace

volunteers are needed to work a Monday evening or a Saturday morning or a work day

(to sort and organize donations) each month.  We travel out in teams and usually

carpool from church. We will also be collecting specific items throughout the year. If

you are interested in helping volunteer with this ongoing outreach project please give

Phyllis Teager a call or email at 520-906-1837 or pteager3@comcast.net. You can also

check out the volunteer sign-up schedule and pictures of the pantry on the bulletin

board near the fellowship hall.

Upcoming Activities

Feed My Starving Children

Thank you to everyone who signed up to work packing food for Feed My Starving Children on February 10th, from 8:00AM to 10:00AM at Oro Valley Church of the Nazarene. You should receive an email from Oro Valley Church of the Nazarene as the event gets closer. If you missed the deadline to sign-up, you still can! You’ll need to go to the following website, https://ovcn.church/fmsc/ to sign-up. If you want to volunteer the same time as other volunteers from Lord of Grace, make sure you select the same date and time. Thank you!

Baby Care Kits

Lutheran World Relief is one of the agencies we chose for our international involvement (in addition to Feed My Starving Children) as we realigned some of our Outreach activities to be in line with the Lord of Grace strategic plan and mission statement.  Lutheran World Relief has several ways to get involved as hands-on service. These include holding drives to collect kits – personal hygiene kits, baby care kits, school supplies kits, and fabric kits; or make quilts. Once the items for the kits are collected and assembled, they are sent to one of the LWR warehouses for processing and shipping overseas. They distribute care kits and quilts to 14 countries in Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Europe. We’ve decided to hold our first drive for LWR Baby Care Kits and have as a goal 10 baby care kits. The Baby Care Kits drive will run from February 4th-February 25th. We’ll assemble the kits together and send them the beginning of March. We plan on having a display with tags, sign-up sheet, and a flyer after both services on February 4th.