Mount of the Holy Cross Lutheran Church
The Season of Advent, December 2009 Newsletter
Mt. of the Holy Cross Lutheran Church
P.O. Box 1103
Vail, CO 81658
970-476-6610 phone 970-476-3347 fax
(Email) mtholy@vail.net (website) www.mountholy.com
A MESSAGE FROM PASTOR SCOTT ~
Lent begins on February 17th with our joint Ash Wednesday worship service with our sisters and brothers from the Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration. Lent ends at midnight on April 3rd, Easter Eve, also called Holy Saturday.
People sometimes ask, what is Lent? The English word lent stems from an Anglo-Saxon word for springtime (which is hard to imagine right now as I look out my office window at the snow piled high on the banks of Gore Creek), and is related to the English word, lengthen (as in the lengthening of days which takes place in the spring). For Christians, Lent is that penitential period of time preceding Easter.
Early Christians felt that the magnitude of the Easter celebration called for special preparation. As early as the second century, many Christians observed several days of fasting as a part of that preparation. Over the course of the next few centuries, those “several days” stretched to forty days, becoming, in time, the accepted length of the Lenten season. From the earliest years of the Christian tradition, Sunday’s were considered days of the resurrection, and not included in the forty days of Lent. Hence the oft quoted description of Lent as forty lean days, crossed by six Sundays, beginning in ashes and ending in new life.
Lent is, above all else, a time for us to grow in our spiritual lives. It is a time for us to reflect on our faith journey and to repent where necessary, that is, to turn away from whatever is hindering our relationship with God, ourselves and our neighbors. It is a time for us to improve our communication with God by setting aside special times devoted to prayer, study and worship. Above all, the Lenten season is holy time, time to recalibrate and return to the Living Water that makes life so rich and abundant.
As we enter soon into the season of Lent, I want to share a brief reflection entitled: And That’s What Lent is All About. It speaks to the common need we all share.
We drive ourselves so hard these days, in the busy rush of our lives,
We race our emotional motors, and burn out our inner bearings,
We ask “Why?” and seek the Way of Inner Peace.
And that’s what Lent is all about.
Time to slow the motors down ~ and read the message of the cross road.
The Risen Christ, himself the Way of ~Life, calls to our hurried hearts:
“Slow down ~ and live. The life you save may be your own.”
This call is not to just “give up” some chosen thing for Lent,
But for a new adventure ~ in giving and forgiving.
Daily to give to God some time in prayer, learning more of God’s Word.
Daily to give to someone else, a thoughtful deed of love.
Lent thus becomes a time for a Spiritual Tune-Up.
Our worn-out wills rebuilt in love,
The sludge of our souls removed,
Each spirit feels the fine hand-tuning of it maker.
And that’s what Lent is all about!
And may God walk with you as you journey through these Lenten days, beloved,
Pastor Scott
Opportunity for our church to serve a need
in our Community
Super Soup Night!
Thursday, March 11th, 5:30 pm
Vail Interfaith Chapel, lower level
Please bring a dish to share: soup, salad, bread, dessert
Call Joyce Wilson (476-2528) or Sandy Roberts (926-3079) and let them know what you would like to bring.
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We are Grateful
For Our
Council Members!
Thank you to retiring President, Led Gardner, for his service and dedication to our church during the past transitional years. Also thanks to Bob Kenney, Treasurer, for his skills and help during these tough economic times, as well as Judy Donnalley, for organizing our social activities! We also thank Mike Blakslee for agreeing to another term.
2010 Council Members are . . .
Rivers Jardis, President
Doug Gray, Vice-President
Jen Burger, Secretary
Trish French, Treasurer
Chris Heiden
Mike Blakslee
Laurie Mullen
Don Donnalley
SPIRITUAL STRUGGLES WORKSHOP
Do you struggle with reconciling your faith with the way you live your life? Do you carry emotional baggage from your upbringing or your own church experiences that keep you from living the life of faith you desire? Do you find it impossible to reconcile your concept of God with the presence of evil in this world? Are you angry at God?
Join a group of people to discuss these questions confidentially and without judgment. Led by Dr. Randy Simmonds, pastoral psychotherapist and ordained minister, you can explore these questions and move forward in your spiritual journey.
Please email or call Director Elizabeth Myers by the end of January if you are interested. Workshops will begin in February. Let her know if you are able to meet during the day or only in the evenings and if you are willing, describe your faith background or area of particular interest so we can form groups of like-minded individuals. These 6-week workshops will run for 1 ½ hours at a time. Cost will be $180 for the entire workshop.
emyers@samaritan-vail.org 970-926-8558
Samaritan Center Mission Statement
We provide emotional healing, guidance and support through spiritually-integrated counseling and education.
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Please Pray For . . .
Loved ones of Loretta Frank of Fontanelle, Iowa who died Feb. 15th. Loretta was the Grandmother of Laurie Mullen (member).
US Military - Metcalfs
Loved Ones of Gilbert Regalado. He died unexpectedly last Friday. Leaves behind his wife, Lisa, and their four daughters. Joyce & Jim Nielsen
Loved Ones of Ben Larson - a student at Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa, he died from the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti. Emily Ewing
Loved Ones of Jim Niketh – died yesterday from aggressive form of brain cancer. Jerry Landeck’s x-brother-in-law/Local
Emily Ewing – a mission worker in Slovakia. Pray for a safe and productive mission. Member/Niq
Thomas Walsh –Local Teenager with Cancer.
Andrew Claymon & Family – Local Teenager with Cancer. He was told in January he had a couple months to live.
Prayer requests can be made by calling (476-6610) or emailing the church office (mtholy@vail.net),
or on the “Who’s Who in the Pew” on Sunday mornings.
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ABOUT THE NEWSLETTERS . . .
In an effort to save money, the newsletters will be sent out by email only. If you would like a hard copy, please let Kim Law know.
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DONATION SUMMARY
January 2010
Budget $20,000 Actual $21,312 Good News $1,312
TESTING FOR 2010 CENSUS JOBS GOING ON NOW!
CALL 866-861-2010 TO SIGN UP!
Most census jobs will start in March-April 2010 and will be part- to full-time, lasting a few weeks to several months. These will be flex-time jobs....you determine your schedule...and will pay $16 per hour + 55cents a mile to Eagle County residents. Any additional information can be obtained from the phone # above or by going to 2010census.gov.
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Challenge Donation
During the Pat Hamilton & Peter Vavra Christmas Concert Dec. 22nd, Fr. Brooks Keith, on behalf of the congregation of the Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration through their Mission & Outreach fund, made a donation of $8,000 to benefit the Vail Valley Salvation Army and challenged the community to match this donation. It was the hope of the Episcopal congregation that with the generous support of the community we would even exceed a match of the initial $8,000 from Transfiguration.
We have, as of this time, received some pledges toward this goal from generous donors in the community and have hopes that we will still receive additional donations to help meet and exceed the initial challenge.
At pesent the Salvation Army is spending on average $16,000 to $20,000 per month in order to provide food and meet emergency needs for families in our community who have fallen on hard times. Additionally we were especially hard hit with the purchase of food for over 1200 hundred Thanksgiving and Christmas food baskets and toys for the unadopted families in the Adopt-a-Family program.
Happy New Year!
Tsu Wolin-Brown
Vail Valley Salvation Army
If you’d like to be part of the matching donation to the Salvation Army, please make a check out to “Mt. of the Holy Cross Lutheran Church” and put “Salvation Army” in the memo line.
Thank you!
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This summer’s daycamp date has been changed to July to help with scheduling for another church. So, Daycamp this summer will be July 12-16 at the Chapel at Beaver Creek.
As of Thanksgiving, summer camps are about 1/3 full. Soo, get those registration forms in the mail or go on-line at www.rainbowtrail.org!
