Reflecting Christ's Light from Our Doorsteps to the Ends of the Earth
Make plans to attend our first Blessing of the Animals Service on
Saturday, October 5, beginning at 8:30 AM on the back patio.
Pets of all kinds are welcome to be part of this ancient Christian tradition—as long as they are on leashes or in appropriate carriers. If you cannot transport your pet, you may bring a picture. Light refreshments will be served. This is a wonderful opportunity to invite friends and neighbors to our church.
Happy New Year! Yes, I mean it. Even though the calendar celebrates the New Year on January 1, we operate with several other calendars around the church. The Church Year begins with the First Sunday of Advent. Our Program Year begins July 1. And because many of you are connected to the school calendar, we operate with one of those too. That’s the New Year I’m talking about here. Get ready because things are about to start happening around the church. As Angie used to say about this time of year, “The church is coming alive.”
Sunday School begins this Sunday, September 8. We will have four children’s classes using the new Faith Weaver Now program. There will be a new Parents’ Class meeting in the Parish Hall following the same Faith Weaver Now curriculum. So parents, after you drop your children off in their classrooms, come on upstairs for a study of your own! Godly Play, a children’s worship experience, also returns this Sunday in the second service. Please pray for the Sunday School teachers, Godly Play leaders, and children as they explore the central stories of our faith.
The Adult Elective Series begins a new year of monthly courses this Sunday too. We are very fortunate that Eureka College students Zane Ridings and Colton Lott will be our leaders in September. Check out the related article in this edition of The Visitor for more information.
It will be a full, busy week. Angie’s right, the church is about to come alive!
P. S. A gentle reminder: Please remember that on Sundays, Heidi is simply a church member growing and worshipping with her family. If you need to “talk business” with her, please wait for Monday morning or send her an email. (Full disclosure: I’ve been guilty of talking shop with her too on Sundays, so this reminder is for me as well.)
I found these back-to-school prayers on a website called ConcordPastor.blogspot.com, and thought they were lovely. I hope you enjoy them and use them. There are prayers for students to use, prayers for parents and grandparents to use, and prayers for teachers to use. If you are none of these things, please just spend this week in prayer for our teachers, staff, and students in District 140 as they begin a new school year.
A Student’s Prayer:
Dear God, help me remember that you’re always by my side at school and all day long. Help me be the best student I can be, using all the gifts and talents you’ve given me. Help me study well and often—especially when I don’t feel like studying at all! Help me finish all my homework – on time. Help me listen to my teachers and coaches.
Help me play fair and play safely. Help me be honest when I’m tempted to cheat. Help me always tell the truth. Help me be kind to everyone at school and to treat others as I’d want them to treat me. Help me make good friends, and help me be a good friend to others. Help me know how I can help others and to ask for help when I need it myself.
Help me love and respect, trust and appreciate my parents—and to be honest with them.
Help me remember that you’re with me always, Lord, and that you’ll never leave my side. Amen.
A Parent’s/Grandparent’s Prayer:
Dear God, as my children leave for school, I pray that you will keep them in your care. Send your Spirit to open their minds to all that is true and beautiful and good. Help them to see the gifts and talents you have given them and to use them well. Help them to grow in knowledge and wisdom. Help them to be kind to others, and lead others be kind to them. Give their teachers patience and understanding, and help them teach what is just and true. Send your angels to guide and guard my children and to keep them from all harm. Open their young hearts to your presence, and enfold them in your peace and protection. Hold them in the palm of your hand, and bring them home safely at day’s end. Amen.
A Teacher’s Prayer:
Dear God, a new school year has begun, and my classroom door is now open to the students you’ve assigned to my care. Open my mind and heart to each of them and especially to the ones who will challenge me the most. Help me challenge my students, all of them, to study, to learn, to grow in knowledge, and even a little wisdom. Help me remember, Lord, how young my students are: give me patience to help them grow up and insight to know the help they need. Help me to understand that sometimes my students may not understand me: may I be clear in the things I say and do, and in how I say and do them. My students don’t know the burdens and worries my heart brings to the classroom, so help me remember, Lord, how anxious and heavy my students’ hearts may be. Keep me from favoring any particular students, except for those who most need my help. Let my decisions in the classroom be fair and just, honest and true. Send your Spirit to fill me with gifts of knowledge and understanding, counsel and wisdom. Open my mind and heart to my students’ parents, especially those who will challenge me the most. Help me challenge parents to challenge their children to study, to learn and to grow. Help me to teach as you would, Lord: help me be understanding when I need to be firm, gentle in all things, and patient until the last bell rings. Amen.
The dust is flying again around the church. Just when we thought we were done with construction, a few projects are now underway. The new sign out front is coming along nicely. And inside the building, there are a few changes as well. In case you’re wondering, here’s what is going on.
As you may remember, we have been working on plans to secure our building during the school day. Now that the plans are becoming a reality, I thought you might like to know what that means for your day-to-day church use during the week. The Parish Hall doors and new back door will remain unlocked during business hours like normal. That will not change. If you want to come to the church office and those are the doors you normally use, keep on doing what you’ve been doing.
The change comes in with the handicap accessible door between the Education and Parish Hall buildings. That door will be secured during school/business hours. If you need to enter the church building through that door because of accessibility issues, there will be an intercom that will connect you directly to Heidi. Just push the talk button, and she will be able to let you into the building.
Another change is a new interior door that will be installed between the Education and Parish Hall buildings. You may have noticed that the doorway has been widened to accommodate the new door. During the school day, if you are coming from the Education building toward the church office, just push the door open. If, however, you are coming from the office and want to get into the Education Building during the school day, you will need an access key fob to operate the door. Board and staff members will be issued a fob. If you do not have one, Heidi or I will be happy to let you into the Education Building.
You may be wondering why the fuss, why all the changes? The changes will keep the Nursery School portion of our building secure during the school day. It is simply a precaution in this era when parents expect their children to be cared for in controlled-access buildings. Of all the schools, preschools, and day care centers in Eureka, we are the last to install such a system.
Of course there will be wrinkles as we all get used to the new system, but I think the transition will go very smoothly on the whole. If you have any questions or concerns, please call me or come by. One more note: all of the above pertains to school/business hours only. You will not see a change on Sundays because the building will be open as normal. We are aiming to be finished with this work by the time the Nursery School begins for the fall.
When I was in college, I had the honor of visiting Normandy, France where the Allied landing took place on June 6, 1944. I’ve been thinking about that lately, as our own Wendy Rush is traveling there this week. It was one of the most moving experiences of my entire life. First we went to the Visitor’s Center at Arromanches. While the exhibits were helpful and meaningful, what was truly amazing were the remains of the artificial harbor created for the Allied ships still out there in the water. They are ghostly but impressive reminders of the enormous war effort.
After touring the Visitor’s Center, we made our way up the hillside to the bunkers used by the German machine gunners. What you’ve always seen in movies is true. The Germans had all the advantages—except for surprise, of course. The bunkers have a commanding view of the entire beachfront. I ran my hand through the tracks on the floor where the guns could swivel for a near-180º assault. How did anyone survive the landing?
By far, the most sacred part of the day was our visit to the Normandy American Cemetery. This piece of earth overlooking Omaha Beach is officially American soil. The French people gave it to the United States in gratitude for our role in liberating their country from the Nazis. It felt different just walking through the gates. Of course at first we were fixated on the little touches of home—we were twenty-year-old kids, after all. After spending a week in Paris with six more to go in France, this little piece of America was a welcome respite. The American flag was flying, the guides spoke English, the signs were in English, the water fountain worked, and the bathrooms were American-style. (I don’t mean to be shallow here, but oh, the bliss!) I think our teacher was a little disappointed in our attitude at first, but she needn’t have worried. The power of that place soon turned our goofing off into silent reverence.
The cemetery looks much like a smaller version of Arlington National Cemetery. Rows and rows of white crosses, with an occasional Star of David to mark the graves of Jewish servicemen. We just walked and walked down the rows—not talking, just reading the grave markers, one after another after another. I remember thinking, “These men died here. Just below from where we are standing. This cliff may have been the last thing they saw.” The experience took my breath away. I have always found cemeteries to be such peaceful places; the Normandy American Cemetery is no different in that respect. But what makes it stand apart is the blood—blood spilled on that very soil, blood spilled for the deliverance of millions. After awhile, I couldn’t even walk anymore. The power of that place stopped me, stilled me. I just stood there with the sea breezes flowing past me.
I just stood there looking out over the English Channel in humbled awe. The courage. The determination. The sacrifice. May we be worthy.
