Written by Diane E. Shallue, Christ the King Caring for Creation Member
Last Wednesday was the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day. As people of faith we believe that God created the earth and its wonderful diversity of life forms. Nature provides us with oxygen, pollinates crops, produces our food and regulates our weather patterns. Keeping nature diverse and flourishing supports human life yet human activity has altered almost 75 per cent of the earth’s surface. God cares for animals, humans and all of the earth. Psalm 35:6 says, “Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your judgements are like the great deep: you save humans and animals alike, O Lord.” As Easter people, we know that God saves and brings new life. In Revelation 21:5, the one who was seated on the throne said, “See I am making all things new.” Can God renew the earth? Does God want us to help with this task? With the reduction in transportation activities during the Covid-19 lock downs, the atmosphere has cleared in remarkable ways. Scott Collis, an atmospheric scientist at Argonne National Laboratory, said satellite imagery and other atmospheric monitors are already showing a dramatic reduction in pollution. “Over China there was a 50% reduction in things like nitrous oxide and carbon monoxide due to the shutting down of heavy industries and factories,” he said. The decline in air travel is also reducing pollution. It is amazing how quickly the atmosphere has improved. It seems that we humans have a profound effect on our environment. Better air quality is good for all of creation. Yet some aspects of the “Stay at Home” orders are creating more pollution in other ways. People are using more disposable plastic bags, on-line ordering produces more packaging waste, and take-out meals use throw-away containers. In what ways can we be stewards and work with God to care for the earth? Although we can see the resiliency of the atmosphere, earth care remains a challenge for all of us. The Caring for Creation Team at CTK has been working to encourage recycling, reduce energy use, improve water quality, and create pollinator friendly environments. Please join the movement to renew the earth in whatever ways you can.
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Written by KC Gubrud, Director of Operations
Once upon a long-ago Easter, I heard a sermon whose central theme was that we are Easter people living in a Good Friday world. At the time, it was a good, solid Easter message. I would have given it a B+. But in today’s strange world, those prophetic words have changed the way I approach each day. Friends, April 2020 is definitely a Good Friday world. We have pestilence in our world. We are physically isolated. We fear for our families, for our neighbors and for ourselves. And yet, we are Easter people. I’ve been looking for Easter hope in this Good Friday world and I’ve found it. Once I started looking, I see it everywhere. Here’s where I’ve found my Easter hope:
Written by Pastor Sarah Henrich
Years ago someone put a wonderful book by Christine Valters Paintner in my hands. Called The Soul of a Pilgrim, Paintner’s book has eight chapters, each one about a practice for the inner pilgrimage of discovery. She begins with “The Practice of Hearing the Call and Responding,” a kind of listening and response that requires close attention and honesty about how we might hear God’s voice in our lives. When Pastor Peter asked me to step in to help during his sabbatical, I was excited to say yes. After meeting and talking with Pastor John and others on the staff at Christ the King, I looked forward to serving with them, getting to know you all, and being together as we journeyed through Lent to Easter, winter into spring. But none of us anticipated having the corona virus with us as companion on this journey: it has changed so much about our lives, our hopes and expectations. Not being able to be together has diminished our opportunities to worship and learn together, to enjoy each other’s company, and even to care for one another in the ways we have so long done that. My call has changed and so must my response. Christ the King is blessed with a wonderful group of leaders of every kind. They are dedicated to imagining how to be church in this different world, how to care for all the congregation, the neighborhood, and for one another. I am not needed for the kinds of pastoral work we had imagined. Even as Jesus’ disciples could not have foreseen how their callings would change after Easter, even as they walked together into a world where God had brought God’s beloved son back to life and death had lost its ultimate power, so we keep walking into worlds that surprise us and challenge us. Painter’s book has another chapter I really cherish. It is, The Practice of Embracing the Unknown. It does take practice not merely to accept, but to embrace the unknown, doesn’t it? Yet, that is exactly what we are all called to do, not just in this strange season of separation, but as we follow a living God whose ways are not simply our own. I offer blessings and prayers for you as you continue your journey and continue to discern where our risen and living Lord is calling you to be his body in and for a changing world. Written By Pastor John, Associate Pastor
Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Today we begin Holy Week, a sacred time that Christians mark every year to tell again the central mystery of our faith: the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is a worshipful time of celebration, contemplation, and dwelling deeply with God and the entire Christian church around the globe. Of course, I don’t need to say why this year will feel different than the others. We will journey through this most holy time in isolation from one another, without any of the festive worship, candles, Passion drama, and hymns sung together. “Holy Week this year will feel strange,” we say. “It just won’t be the same.” And this is true. But if we listen to the Passion narrative with our COVID-19 ears, we may find that there is space in this sacred story for even the pandemic nightmare we are currently living. Today, Palm Sunday, we communally ritualize the abrupt shift from a large, joyful crowd to a small group huddled behind closed doors to total solitude. Sound familiar? Blood money exchanged in secret. A meal shared in an upper room. Jesus praying at a distance from others in the garden. Peter watching from a distance as Jesus is questioned in the home of Caiaphas. Jesus mocked, abused, and crucified – alone, as others watch from a distance. Two bandits crucified on either side (I imagine them spread at least six feet apart). And finally, a lone body is placed inside a secure tomb, and the door is sealed shut. Holy Week will feel different this year. But perhaps, this year, we will be opened to wrestling with this mystery in a different way, a way that is much closer to how the first disciples of Jesus experienced Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter morning. They were afraid. They were unsure of their future. They were devastated. Sound familiar? Church, may we enter into this time fully, with all of our human fears and frailty and hopes and concerns. Jesus is with us. Pr. John Written by Nate Crary, Director of Worship Chelsey and I lived just south of Bethlehem for about a year (2013-14) while volunteering with the ELCA’s Young Adults in Global Mission (YAGM) program. I remember consistently being overwhelmed by two distinct things at once: (1) never feeling more alone in the world and (2) never feeling time move more slowly. And, for the first time since a summer Amtrak trip out to Seattle with my Aunt Kris and Cousin Augie in 1996, I felt desperately homesick. Being so far away from all of my familiar friends and family (except Chelsey, of course) revealed a new deep need to connect. Long-time relationships, I admit I probably had been taking for granted, all of the sudden really mattered to me and required a different kind of effort to maintain given the difference in time zone and the physical distance between us. I wonder how the church might be experiencing similar feelings right now, as we quarantine ourselves, sheltering in place. I wonder how God might be revealing a deep need to each of the members of Christ’s body during this time of separation throughout the entire world. How might God using physical distance to draw us close together rather than pull us apart? As we continue to regularly gather online for worship and coffee hour on Sundays, completing our Lenten journey and, together, approach Holy Week, let’s lean into God’s invitation into what might be a new Lenten practice: to stay put and draw close. You are exactly where you need to be. Chelsey and Noah listen to Pastor John’s children’s message from our living room on 3/22.
![]() By Amity Lantz, Director of Youth & Family Faith Formation The youth of Christ the King are excited to present this year's Youth Musical, “Hills & Valleys.” Christ the King has a long history of student created, written, and performed faith-based musicals. This year’s musical follows a week in the life of 3 high school students who navigate the hills and valleys in relationships with their friends, with their family, and with God. The story explores the dynamic nature of living a life of faith in a complex world, and gives us a window into how our youth are experiencing faith in their lives right now. After 6 weeks of hard work, and many rehearsals, we headed east to take the musical on tour last weekend and had the pleasure of sharing our story with the congregation at Galilee Lutheran Church in Pewaukee, Wisconsin. We had a wonderful stay at Galilee and are so grateful for their congregation as they welcomed us with open arms and grateful hearts and were fully present to hear the message we are spreading with the musical this year. Staying just outside of Milwaukee, we took full advantage of the chance to explore the city and attend a Milwaukee Bruisers roller derby event, see Mondo Lucha wrestling, visit the Haggerty Art Museum (on the campus of Marquette University), and dine at Safehouse, a spy themed restaurant in downtown. What's YOUR agent name? Join us in supporting the youth of CtK this coming weekend on February 23, at both our Sunday morning services, 8:30 am and 10:30 am, as well as a final evening performance at 5:30 pm. We can't wait to share this message of God's unwavering love with you! Blessings, Amity Lantz Director of Youth & Family Faith Formation ![]() Written by Pastor Peter Hanson Nearly two weeks ago, I quietly observed a milestone in my ministry here at Christ the King: Wednesday, January 15th was the sixth anniversary of my arrival as lead pastor at CtK! There has been so much worth celebrating in our six years together, as well as many things that have raised questions, caused concern, or elicited responses of sadness, confusion, and disappointment. That is the beauty of being in ministry together, that we get to experience both the highs and the lows together, within a faith community created and sustained by God’s grace. As I now enter my seventh year of ministry as your pastor, I am grateful to Christ the King for the opportunity for a three-month sabbatical, which was generously included in my Letter of Call. Coming from the same root word as “sabbath,” a sabbatical offers pastors (and others) the opportunity to step away from the daily obligations of parish life and to engage in a period of intentional exploration and reflection, with a goal of renewing the enthusiasm, vision, and creativity needed to sustain ministry into the future. The dates and overall scope of my proposal were approved by the Executive Committee and Council last spring, and were shared with the CtK community last summer in the Herald. I will begin my sabbatical on Wednesday, February 26, and will return to CtK on Tuesday, May 26. My sabbatical program, as it has been further refined, includes the following:
CtK has budgeted for pastoral coverage during my absence. In addition to the ministry provided by the awesome CtK pastoral, program and administrative staff, we will have an additional full-time pastor joining the ministry team during this time. This pastor will be sharing preaching and worship leadership duties with Pr John, supervising the work of Intern Pepe Demarest and Mission Developer Ana Becerra, and providing pastoral care and some faith formation opportunities in collaboration with others on staff. Look for an announcement with more details about this interim pastor later this week. Once again, I am incredibly grateful for this opportunity, and for the care and generosity this congregation is providing me in making this sabbatical available. I invite your continued prayers for me, for others on staff, for the interim pastor, and for Christ the King as a whole as we enter this time of new, and somewhat unknown possibilities. I promise to hold you all in prayer during this time apart, asking God to bless the current ministries of CtK and to provide insight and discernment for our future ministry as well. Grace and Peace, Pastor Peter Hanson ![]() Monday, January 13th at 6:30 in the Fireside Room. Bret is a songwriter and a songleader based in Minnesota. He writes songs and hymns for groups of ordinary folks to sing together, with lyrics that reflect a commitment to community, peace, care of the earth, social justice. Bret leads singing for community sings, church groups, school groups, and social change movements. He also leads workshops on community singing, songwriting, and songleading. Bret led worship music at Christ the King during the summer a few years back. He has recently written some new songs that he’s interested in sharing with us at CtK. In what we’re envisioning as a “participatory repertoire-sharing event”, Bret will be on hand with song sheets of some of this new music—reflecting themes of peace, justice, ecology, inclusion, and shared abundance. Many are pieces that we might consider using in worship; others are just plain fun to sing (he recently wrote a “rouser,” based on the new mission statement of his home congregation, Our Saviour’s in Minneapolis). A founding member of the nationally acclaimed music group Bread for the Journey, a Minneapolis-based ensemble that travels nationally to teach and lead songs of faith, hope, justice and inclusion from around the world. Bret’s songs are featured on Bread for the Journey’s recordings, including the three-volume “Global Songs, Local Voices” series, which helped broaden the awareness of hymns and songs from around the world, particularly among ELCA congregations. Come learn some new songs to sing in community! No particular experience or expertise necessary! Epiphany (sometimes referred to as “Three Kings Day”) is a Christian festival which celebrates God’s self-revelation to the world in Jesus Christ. The actual feast day itself is today, January 6th, and recalls the Wise Men’s visit to the infant Jesus, bringing their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. The liturgical season celebrated throughout the next six weeks builds on this same theme. From the Maji to Jesus’ baptism to the beginning of his public ministry, this season reveals to the whole world that Jesus is God’s only and beloved child. In this season of Epiphany I am excited to reveal a new liturgy to the congregation—the Misneach Mass. Pronounced MISH-nock, Misneach is a Gaelic word for courage, hopefulness, and a sense of pushing forward through uncertainty. Composer Kathleen Durbin (pictured below) writes: “Misneach Mass is a meditation on the beauty of Christ’s love and mercy for us, today. Together, let us celebrate the joy we have in Christ living in both the uncertainties of this life and the hope of life to come.” This mass is an original setting of the liturgy and contains a new Kyrie, Gloria, Alleluia, Sanctus, Lord’s Prayer and Lamb of God. Though the melodies may be unfamiliar now, the text ought to be very familiar to us. The ELW has ten different settings of the liturgy, but here at CtK we are always looking for new, exciting, quality, singable settings, and I think Kathleen has done an absolutely beautiful job constructing this with these elements in mind. This setting is for piano, guitar, tin whistle, and of course the voice, with optional mandolin and violin to help enhance the Gaelic nature of this setting. As we watch our daylight hours grow longer in this new year, we also focus on bringing the light of Christ into a dark world. I hope that you look forward to learning this beautiful new liturgy and worshiping with us during this season! Fun Fact: In Ireland, Epiphany is also sometimes called ‘Nollaig na mBean’ or Women’s Christmas. Traditionally the women get the day off and men do the housework and cooking! It is becoming more popular and many Irish women now get together on the Sunday nearest Epiphany and have tea and cakes.
The Christ the King Foundation, formed in March 1989, has been making grants for these past 30 years with a mission to support requests for educational, charitable, and missionary projects. Funding for grants is determined by allocating a fixed percentage (currently 5% annually) of the invested asset base. Grants are solicited twice a year, April 1 and October 1, and reviewed for approval by the Board’s nine members within three targeted categories of:
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Christ the King Lutheran Church
1900 7th Street NW New Brighton, MN 55112 Phone: 651-633-4674 Email: [email protected] Office Hours: 9 am - 2 pm Mon - Thurs or by appointment Sunday Schedule Morning Worship at 9:30 am |