The Olive Branch, 3/26/12

Accent on Worship

A miracle-working, controversial itinerant from outstate rides into town on a donkey, attracting and stirring up the massive crowds of people who were already streaming in for a major religious festival, as occupying armies report to their leader, “This guy is being called ‘king’ -- and he’s acting like a Jewish king.” This can’t end well.

Jesus’ actions on Palm Sunday would have brought to mind Zechariah 9:9:

Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion!

Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem!

Lo, your king comes to you;

triumphant and victorious is he,

humble and riding on a donkey,

on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

We don’t know much about Pontius Pilate, but we do know that acting like a kingly messiah was not a way to avoid the attention of the Roman authorities. Caesar was king; any challenge to that statement would make a kingly procession end at a cross, not a throne.

No one seeking governmental power would ride toward a cross; the cross was a horrible, humiliating way to die, suffocating from the weight of one’s own body, wracked with pain, naked, alone. That is what Jesus knows will happen, as soon as he tells the disciples to find a colt. The cross is closer with each wave of the palms, each shout of Hosanna.

Yet we, too, voice “Hosanna,” every Sunday, as we sing the “Holy, Holy, Holy,” before communion. Our thanksgiving to God is connected to Christ’s cross.

We look through a lens of faith, and we see that the cross is Christ’s throne. The cross is the victory of God, because Jesus takes our sin and dies. Yet sending anyone to the cross is awful. We know Christ’s cross is our salvation, so we give thanks for it; and the cross also rightly repels us. It should do both.

- Vicar Erik Doughty

Sunday Readings

April 1, 2012 – Sunday of the Passion

Isaiah 50:4-9a + Psalm 31:9-16

Philippians 2:5-11 + Mark 14:1—15:47

April 8, 2012 – Resurrection of Our Lord

Isaiah 25:6-9 + Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24

I Corinthians 15:1-11 + Mark 16:1-8

This Week’s Adult Education

Palm Sunday, April 1, 9:30 a.m.

On Palm Sunday, April 1 (this Sunday) the adult education hour will include two activities:

At the beginning of the hour, Cantor Cherwien will offer a brief introduction to the musical responses for the opening portion of the Easter Vigil.

After that, Donna Neste will facilitate the annual Bread for the World Offering of Letters. Everything that Bread for the World has worked to secure for poor and hungry people over the past thirty years is at risk of being cut by congress - WIC, SNAP (food stamps), tax credits for low income families, international food aid assistance, poverty-focused foreign development, and more. You are invited to learn more about these life-giving issues and voice your concern by writing a letter to your representatives in Washington at adult forum. Everything you need will be available, (information, paper, envelopes, addresses, and even stamps) to help you exercise your God-given gift of citizenship, to do for the least, to do for Jesus.

Holy Week at Mount Olive

Sunday, April 1: Sunday of the Passion

 Holy Eucharist at 8:00 and 10:45 am

Monday, April 2 Monday in Holy Week

 Daily Prayer at 12:00 noon, in the side chapel of the nave, near the columbarium

Tuesday, April 3: Tuesday in Holy Week

 Daily Prayer at 12:00 noon, in the side chapel of the nave, near the columbarium

Wednesday, April 4: Wednesday in Holy Week

 Daily Prayer at 12:00 noon, in the side chapel of the nave, near the columbarium

Thursday, April 5: Maundy Thursday

 Holy Eucharist at 7:00 pm

Friday, April 6: Good Friday

 Stations of the Cross at 12:00 noon

 Adoration of the Cross at 7:00 pm

Saturday, April 7: Holy Saturday

 Lumen Christi, The Easter Vigil, at 8:30 pm, followed by a festive reception

Sunday, April 8: The Resurrection of Our Lord

 Festival Holy Eucharist at 8:00 and 10:45 am

 A youth-sponsored Easter Brunch will be served between liturgies at 9:30 am

Thanks!

Thanks to the dedicated crew that dusted walls and furnishings, polished brass, and scraped wax off the floors in our sanctuary and narthex. Marcella, Daehn, Beth Gaede, Judy Hinck, Peggy Hoeft, Annette Roth, Sandra Pranschke, and Steve Pranschke worked hard to make our worship space glow for the upcoming Holy Week and Easter liturgies.

A Wonderful and Generous Blessing

Earl Juhl grew up on 10th Avenue South, across from Powderhorn Park and only a block or two from Mount Olive. Earl lost his father at age 5, but his mother, sister, and Earl all were lifelong Mount Olive members. A star football player at Minneapolis Central High School, Earl went on to graduate from the University of Minnesota with a degree in engineering. While he spent much of his adult life in Richfield, Earl continued to keep Mount Olive as his church home.

Life for Earl and his wife Denise changed sadly and dramatically in 1996 when they lost their only daughter to cancer. As they coped with this tragedy, they eventually had to decide how to direct their estates after their lifetimes. They decided to divide their assets into equal halves benefiting Denise's Roman Catholic parish and Mount Olive. The result is the largest bequest that our church has ever received--$236,000. Following our bequest sharing agreement, the Church receives one-quarter of this amount and the Mount Olive Foundation receives three-quarters.

Earl Juhl was baptized, confirmed, and committed to eternal life from our church. Both in life and in death, Earl's legacy is his deep love for Mount Olive, both this place and its people.

- Keith Bartz, President

Mount Olive Lutheran Church Foundation

Book Discussion Group

On April 14 the Book Discussion Group will discuss Birth of Venus, by Sarah Dunant. For the meeting on May 12 they will discuss Paths of Glory, by Jeffrey Archer.

Please note this advance announcement: at the meeting on July 14 we will discuss The Way We Live Now, by Anthony Trollope. This advance notice is shared due to the length of the book.

Preserving our Tradition Through Tender Loving Care

If you have been in church during Lent, and entered the nave by the center isle, you have "run into" the font! Not bad imagery when you think about it, that we should "run into" our Baptism regularly! Some of you were baptized in that very font, and from that very bowl.

You may also have noted that our font is in need of some TLC. The original finish is deteriorated; several of the panels are split. It also has some structural issues.

Less obvious to most is that the lectern, after 80 years of service, also needs repairs and refinishing so it can continue to serve us for many years to come.

Thanks to a generous gift from the Mount Olive Lutheran Church Foundation, both these projects can go forward in the next few months. Worship Committee, consulting with the Director of Properties, has been discussing these projects for several months.

Let me emphasize, the plan is not to replace either the font or lectern. They both are beautiful pieces, and part of our heritage. Rather they will be restored and refinished, so that they can continue to serve in worship for years to come.

Here’s a little background on what is planned:

For most of its life, the font was secured to the floor in the area just to the left of the lectern. At one point, it was detached so that it could be made more visible and central in our worship during the Easter Season, All Saint's Sunday, and when used for baptisms. However, the font was never designed to be portable, and it has become somewhat shaky as a result.

Another issue is that baptismal remembrance with asperges has become a meaningful addition to our worship. The original bronze bowl was very difficult to remove so that it could be carried for this rite.

Several years ago, a member of the church provided the larger bowl that has been in use for the past few years. As we considered alternatives for the font, various plans were discussed that involved slightly enlarging the existing font, to bring it into proportion with the larger bowl.

Consideration of this alternative ended abruptly at the meeting when we passed the original bronze bowl around for careful examination. Looking into the dry bowl, Dave Cherwien exclaimed, "look at the rings"! Indeed, the various water levels that had been maintained over the decades had left pronounced rings in the bowl. David was quick to draw the comparison to the rings that record the life of a tree. From that point, discussions centered on repairing, refurbishing, and refinishing the font, utilizing the original bowl.

Briefly, the structure of the font will be repaired, including the cracked panels. A discreet bit of molding added around the bottom will improve the stability of the font, as it is no longer attached to the floor. An ornate cover was originally part of the design. For years, the font has been typically left open and filled with water. Without the cover, the top looks a little “unfinished.” A molding replicating the existing will be added to the top edge enhancing the appearance when the cover is off. There will also be a provision to make the bowl portable for asperges. The cover will be restored to match the base as well, to preserve the integrity of the original design.

Because of the excellent work done by St. Paul Fabricating in creating the Columbarium, they will be entrusted with doing this work as well.

As always, the worship committee appreciates your thoughts and comments. While we appreciate your conversation, please don't trust our memories to accurately bring your comments to the group for discussion. Please take a moment to drop us an email, or hand us a note.

- Al Bipes Director of Worship

Church Library News Announcing New Library Open Hours

After careful and prayerful deliberation, we have decided to alter slightly the hours that the Louise Schroedel Memorial Library is open for the congregation's use. As you know, our library committee members who staff the library on Sunday mornings and do a variety of other maintenance and processing procedures during the week, are all volunteers. We have been trying to keep the library open all Sunday mornings, however, it is because we value the generosity and stewardship of those volunteers that we hope to utilize their time in a more efficient and protective manner. Therefore, effective immediately, the library will be open from 9:15-10:45 a.m. for the upcoming Sundays in April and May. Once the congregation is on the summer worship schedule, the library will be open from 9:00-9:30 and again on either side of the liturgy, from 10:30-11:00 a.m.

I assure you we are not trying to discourage your use of our library; but rather to encourage you to increase your library usage during the new announced open hours. We will try to be responsive to "other than normal open hour needs" for specific library usage. In that case, let me know or leave a note with Cha in the church office, and we will try and be helpful.

Because there are newer members in our congregation, I would like to acquaint you with the location of our main library, which is at the very end of the north corridor, past the church offices. If it seems like a very long way, we would like to advise you that there are two passageways to reach the library from the East Assembly room, where you receive coffee and refreshments on Sunday mornings.

There is an attractive and fun commercial on TV for a feline product that ends with a lilting jingle "feed the senses." Maybe it is because I am the Grandma of two family cats, but seeing this commercial makes me smile every time I hear it and perhaps most of you do too. It recently made me stop, even if only for a few seconds, to offer a quick prayer of thanks for the gift of my senses. If you don't remember, the five senses are -- smell, taste, sight, hearing and touch. For someone who loves to read and is working with our church library ministry, however, the gift of sight is very, very extra special to me. I know the gift of our senses is generally taken for granted by most of us, but let's not let this be the "norm" any longer. Join me and put it at the top of your prayer list, whether it is something you access every day or every week!

In closing, the following quote from Eugene Rand is timely: "We would have to live more than a thousand years to experience first hand what we can experience in a lifetime of reading!"

- Leanna Kloempken

All Will Know Me

The desire of God is that all people would know God and live in God’s ways of love; but today God also owns a desire to forgive us all we have done wrong.  It is Jesus in whom we find the fulfillment of this covenant, and from whom we are given the ability to live in it ourselves.


Pr. Joseph G. Crippen, Fifth Sunday in Lent, year B; texts: Jeremiah 31:31-34; John 12:20-33; Psalm 119:9-16

Sisters and brothers, grace to you, and peace in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen

Jeremiah delivers two statements from the LORD God today which beautifully summarize what I would argue the Bible claims is God’s saving plan for humanity and the whole world.  “ ‘No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the LORD,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,’ says the LORD.”  That’s the first one.  The second is this: “I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.”

All will know me, says the LORD God.  And I will forgive them and forget all they’ve done.  These two themes flow through the entirety of the Scriptures, even the Old Testament, where we too often assume God’s goals and intent for us to be different.  Our Lenten Sunday journey through some of God’s covenant promises this year has been guided and shaped by these two desires of God, that all the people of the world know and love God, and therefore know and live by God’s laws of life; and that our failure so to live will not be held against us.

It is this “new” covenant Jeremiah declares which is the one God believes will finally accomplish these goals.  It should come as no surprise to us that the Church from the beginning has read the life and work of our Lord Jesus Christ as the fulfillment and completion of God’s part of this new covenant, that these goals are accomplished in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.  But perhaps it would be worth our while to seek that understanding ourselves, to explore this ultimate answer God imagines to address the broken relationship between the people of this earth and the Triune God who made all things.

A remarkable thing about God in the Scriptures is this relentless desire for covenant relationship with us, in spite of our repeated breaking of these covenants.

Each and every covenant we’ve seen this Lent, and every other one God makes with humanity, has been broken consistently.  In these words from Jeremiah, the LORD God even comments on that, that this new covenant is not like the one at Sinai, “the covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD.”  Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob struggled to keep their part of God’s covenant relationship.  David struggled to be faithful, in spite of God’s promised everlasting covenant and great blessing.  The people of Israel broke the Sinai covenant, as we heard a couple weeks ago, in a little over a month, and that was just the start of their unfaithfulness.

Yet again and again God forgives, calls the people to renewed faithfulness through the prophets, and then offers a new relationship agreement.  If the Triune God were a friend of ours, we’d be advising a little more guarded approach: don’t make yourself so vulnerable, they’re only going to hurt you, reject you, and break your laws again.  And yet God persists, and this “new” covenant in Jeremiah is God’s ultimate attempt to make a covenant relationship that will stick, that will re-shape humanity, that will not be broken.  Where all people, small to great, will know the Lord so well, and have God’s law written on their hearts, that all live in love of God and neighbor.

And built into this covenant for the first time, is a promise of forgiveness and forgetfulness on God’s part.  That seems to be a key element, that this time God’s planning an agreement which anticipates our failure, our breaking our side of it.

What makes the covenant truly stick, however, is its fulfillment in Jesus.  Everything we claim about Jesus anchors this new covenant to who he is and what he does:
An incarnate Son of God, as John reminds, can truly make the Father’s heart known to us.
A teaching Master, as Jesus was, can truly show us God’s laws in such a way that they become inscribed in our hearts.
And a saving Lord, as the crucified and risen Jesus Christ is, can in forgiving and restoring not only take away our failure but empower us to live into our covenant relationship.

So that means the first things Jesus is to do for us is to make God known to us fully, and write God’s will on our hearts.

Let’s not underestimate the gift of knowing the heart of God.  Without Jesus, there is no way we could understand this Scriptural desire of God to live with us in relationship, no way we could fully know God.

It’s dangerous to make sweeping statements, but I have yet to encounter another faith which so powerfully clings to a forgiving Deity.  Human beings throughout history have imagined lots of gods, or one God, and have ascribed all sorts of personalities and demands and actions to their deities.  These gods are sometimes kind, sometimes capricious, sometimes good, sometimes wicked.  But they all have laws, demands.  And those demands, if not met, result in punishment.  For centuries tragedy, disaster, suffering, illness, loss, grief, all could ultimately be laid at the foot of whatever deity one followed.  You sin, your god punishes.  You suffer, you must have done something wrong.

Yet for all that, the Hebrews had hints that things were different.  That there was a true God transcending all these other gods, who had reached out to them.  And they heard words of grace amidst the judgment from God.

They heard God call them into covenant relationship.

They heard God tell them, through the prophet Isaiah, that tragedies and suffering were realities of life, but the promise was that God would be with them throughout, holding and strengthening them.

And they heard the promise of forgiveness.

It is Jesus, born to this family, who fully fleshed out both literally and in our understanding the deep truth about God.  That God’s love for us and for the world, as we heard last week, is so profound God’s desire is to save all.  That God is love.  This is not something human beings intuit, ever.

Yet Jesus showed the heart of the Father to us as love, forgiving, unconditional love, even to the point of dying and rising.  We all can know God, from small to great, because of what Jesus revealed about who God is for us and for the world.

But he also was the one to do the writing Jeremiah speaks of, writing God’s law into our hearts.  We broke the Sinai covenant, as God says, so in the new covenant, it would be planted within us.  So Jesus takes the law and makes it all encompassing and life giving at the same time.

He takes a perfectly good commandment against murder and says it applies to hate and anger as well.
He takes a perfectly good commandment against adultery and says it applies even to our thoughts.  He takes a perfectly good human standard – love your friends and hate your enemies – and says our life will be known by our love for our enemies.

He raises a standard – love of God and love of neighbor – that is at once simple and easy to understand and perilously difficult to accomplish.  What he does in his teaching is radicalize the law of God to apply to every moment of our lives and every thought of our minds and every inclination of our hearts.

He removes all loopholes: God’s expectations of us are complete, and have no exceptions.  He makes it clear that there can be no gaming of the system.  God wants all of us, all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, all our strength.  So even the ones who truly seemed to keep God’s law of Sinai, the Pharisees, were strongly rebuked by Jesus, because they kept the letter of the law but dodged through the loopholes, and missed the spirit of the law.

But Jesus’ radicalized teaching of the law also has a couple gifts for us.  First, by coming in person and living this way he is preaching, he modeled for us its possibility, he showed us what a life lived in love of God and neighbor could look like.  There’s no finding loopholes, but it’s a life of grace and love.

And in so doing, he planted in our hearts a desire to be like him.  To live in such full and unloopholed love, to have God’s law – which we discover is life and joy and grace to us as the psalmist again today says – to have God’s law so written on our hearts that we are reshaped into new people.

Even so, this new standard of Jesus’, this law written on our hearts, would destroy us if not for the other thing Jesus did to fulfill the covenant promised in Jeremiah.

It is his unconditional forgiveness and grace, shown throughout his teachings but made real and permanent and transformative of us all by his death and resurrection, which makes God’s promise complete and this new covenant the ultimate answer.

What God seems to have finally understood in becoming one of us, and even in this promise of Jeremiah, is that our path to fulfilling the covenant relationship lies through God’s forgiving grace, not God’s vengeful wrath.  The promise in verse 34 of Jeremiah today, fulfilled by the incarnate Son offering forgiveness and life on the cross even to his killers, is the ultimate answer God finds to the regret of the flood.  “When I am lifted up,” Jesus says, “I will draw all people to myself.”

If God cannot win us back by destroying us, and God cannot force us to obey his laws and the covenants made, God can finally forgive us.  Love us enough that we are shaped by that love.  And in so doing, give us a model for restoration and reconciliation with our neighbor that will make the command to love our neighbor also possible.

Jesus’ unconditional grace and forgiveness won at the cross not only makes it possible for us to be right with God, to be restored when we break God’s covenant.  It makes our keeping of the covenant possible, too.  So we learn and are brought into love of God with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength by God’s forgiving love which teaches us that God’s heart is inclined to us and will not let us go.  And we become lovers of God.  And we learn and are brought into love of neighbor by living the same kind of reconciling, forgiving ways, loving each other into love.

Looking at the state of things, we could argue that this covenant hasn’t worked, perhaps we even might fear sometimes that it is doomed, it has no chance.

But in fact, we know it has worked, and it is working.  In our lives, in the lives of faithful people everywhere, God’s healing love is making an impact, and people are learning to know God, and trust in God’s grace and forgiveness even as they seek to live in love of God and neighbor.  If even some of our fellow Christians haven’t understood this, and still preach an exclusionary God who rains wrath on those who don’t believe or those who fail, we know that the Son of God has revealed to us the truth, and will reveal it to them.  And we know that God’s powerful covenant of love and grace is the only hope for our lives and the life of the world.

And so we live in hope, even as the Spirit our Lord Jesus sent us continues to write God’s will into our hearts and the forgiveness Jesus offers us continues to lead us to new paths of love, just as God has desired all along.

In the name of Jesus, Amen

The Olive Branch, 3/19/12

Accent on Worship

It is always a great loss when people of tremendous compassion and power are taken from us. I will never forget the death of Paul Wellstone, his wife Sheila, his daughter and a number of his staff in that tragic plane crash on October 25, 2004. On March 24, 1980, Archbishop Oscar Romero was slain in San Salvador by right-wing forces while saying Mass. I was a college student on April 4, 1968, when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated and it shook me to the core. Their deaths, and the untimely deaths of all heroes of peace and justice, are tragic on many levels.

At those times, I felt that life would never be the same. Who could replace such out-spoken champions for the poor and oppressed? Who could replace the powerful voice of Wellstone in the U.S. Senate, for the poor and the powerless? Who could replace the cries of the oppressed spoken through the voices of Archbishop Romero and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.? But as tragic as these events were, I learned that their blood cried from the ground and spoke of injustice as loudly as their voices. For in their deaths seeds were planted which brought forth a harvest of great abundance. In Senator Wellstone’s death came a harvest of renewed activism throughout the nation for better candidates through Wellstone Action. In Archbishop Romero’s death came a harvest of awareness in the American people about what was going on with our neighbors to the south and a movement for the U.S. to stop arming El Salvador and help them come to a negotiated peace. The abundant harvest of the passing of the Civil Rights Bill and all its ramifications, though passed before his death, came out of the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whose presence continued to threaten the forces of injustice and is the undying spirit of civil rights in this nation.

Despite the harvest of righteousness that came out of the deaths of all those named above, none can compare with the death of Jesus. In the Gospel of John for the Fifth Sunday in Lent, Jesus speaks of the fruit that will be born as a result of his death. “Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” Jesus was given to us to show us the path of peace and though he was handed over to the forces of evil, he did not resist, because his death became their powerful defeat. The end of Jesus’ earthly life, marked the beginning of salvation for the world.

- Donna Pususta Neste



Palms and Paschal Garden

Donations for Passion Sunday palms and the Easter paschal garden will be received for one more Sunday, March 25. Members of the Worship Committee will be available after each liturgy on those dates to receive your contribution. Checks should be made payable to “Mount Olive Women.”



“A Very Present Help”
Midweek Lent at Mount Olive

For the Wednesday Lenten services this year we will focus on the presence of God in our lives, specifically the places where God’s healing grace is offered. We’ll be using as our starting point a section of Luther’s Smalcald Articles (from the Lutheran confessions) in which he describes the ways God’s grace and forgiveness are given us in concrete and knowable places.

The midweek schedule is Eucharist at 12:00 noon, followed by a soup lunch at 1:00 p.m. In the evening, there will be a soup supper at 6:00 p.m., and Evening Prayer at 7:00 p.m. The preaching at the noon Eucharist will be based on our theme, and the same meditation will be shared during the evening soup supper, with opportunity for further conversation at the meal. Note: If you normally come to Evening Prayer in Lent but don’t come early for the supper, you’ll miss the conversation; consider coming early and concluding the evening with Evening Prayer.



March is Minnesota FoodShare Month!

Bring non-perishable food donations any Sunday during March and place them in the grocery cart in the cloak room. The goal this year is to collect a total of 12 million combined dollars and pounds of food from congregations, businesses, and individuals throughout Minnesota. This amount will stock food shelves around the state with more than half the food distribution needed annually. And remember, food shelves can stretch donations of cash further than donations of food, because of their access to discount products and programs. So your cash donations go much farther! If you would like to make a cash donation, make your check out to Mount Olive and in the memo line write "MN FoodShare," and place it in the offering plate.



Keep Us In the Loop!

Are you moving? Do you have a new phone number or email address? Don’t forget to call or drop a note to the church office and let us know! Our directory of members and friends is published about twice each month, and so updates are always being made. Thanks for helping us keep contact information as current as possible.



Altar Guild Cleaning Day

Mount Olive Altar Guild members will clean our chancel on Saturday, March 24, beginning at 9:00 a.m. Extra hands are always welcome as we prepare for the upcoming Holy Week and Easter liturgies. We usually work two to three hours, but workers stay as long as they're able. If you have questions, contact Beth Gaede (bethgaede@comcast.net or 715-531-0098).



Vestry Update, 3-12-12

The Vestry met on Monday, March 12, and reviewed several different points of progress across all of the committees. Updates on the Capital Campaign Tithe and Visioning Process were first on the agenda. Currently the Capital Campaign Tithe Committee is working to determine how the remaining tithe will be distributed. They have received many good suggestions so far and will meet again in April to continue the discussion. Andrew Andersen and Diana Hellerman have agreed to work with Adam Krueger and Pastor Crippen to further develop the Visioning Process that will be rolled out this spring and summer to the congregation.

The Aesthetics Committee submitted its first report for Vestry review. In it they outlined some projects that they noted on their walk-through of the building. The committee hopes to be able to organize the list and develop more detailed information for each potential project.

On the past two Sundays, the Nominating Committee has met to discuss potential nominees for the open Vestry positions. They anticipate a full slate of candidates prior to the next Vestry meeting and the semi-annual Congregational Meeting being held in April.

In other committee reports, Andrew Andersen thanked the Vestry members for helping to welcome the new members into the congregation and also for helping to initiate conversations with visitors. With as many visitors that come each Sunday, we want to continue to offer a welcoming environment of hospitality. To aid with this, Adam Krueger encouraged everyone to wear their nametags.

Cantor Cherwien reported that he has been busy with the Cantorei, the NLC, and with helping Annie Becker Peterson and Diana Hellerman teaching the Godly Play children music to sing on March 25 and May 20.

Please note that the semi-annual Congregational meeting will be held on Sunday, April 22 at noon.

The next Vestry meeting will be on April 16, 2012 at 7:00 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Lisa Nordeen



Book Discussion Group

On April 14 the Book Discussion Group will discuss Birth of Venus, by Sarah Dunant. For the meeting on May 12 they will discuss Paths of Glory, by Jeffrey Archer.

Please note this advance announcement: at the meeting on July 14 we will discuss The Way We Live Now, by Anthony Trollope. This advance notice is shared due to the length of the book.



Organ Recital to be Held March 25

Organist Ken Cowan will present an organ recital at Mount Olive on Sunday, March 25, at 4:00 p.m.

Praised for his dazzling artistry, impeccable technique, and imaginative programming by audiences and critics alike, Ken Cowan maintains a rigorous performing schedule which takes him to major concert venues across the U.S., Canada and Europe. Mr. Cowan is Assistant Professor of Organ at Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton, NJ, where he was awarded the 2008 Rider University Distinguished Teaching Award.

Included in the program will be:

• Sonata No. 4 in B-flat (Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy)
• “The Soul of the Lake,” Op. 96 No. 1, from Pastels from the Lake of Constance
  (Sigfrid Karg-Elert )
• “Prelude to Act III,” from Lohengrin (Richard Wagner)
• Prelude and Fugue in g minor, Op. 7, No. 3 (Marcel Dupré)
• Prelude and Fugue in e minor, BWV 548 (Johann Sebastian Bach)
• “Danse Macabre” (Camille Saint-Saëns)
• Fantasy on the Chorale “How Brightly Shines the Morning Star”, Op. 40 No. 1 (Max Reger)

This event is sponsored by Mount Olive Music & Fine Arts.



Holy Week at Mount Olive

Sunday, April 1: Sunday of the Passion
Holy Eucharist at 8:00 and 10:45 am

Monday, April 2 Monday in Holy Week
Daily Prayer at 12:00 noon, in the side chapel of the nave, near the columbarium

Tuesday, April 3: Tuesday in Holy Week
Daily Prayer at 12:00 noon, in the side chapel of the nave, near the columbarium

Wednesday, April 4: Wednesday in Holy Week
Daily Prayer at 12:00 noon, in the side chapel of the nave, near the columbarium

Thursday, April 5: Maundy Thursday
Holy Eucharist, with Washing of Feet at 7:00 pm

Friday, April 6: Good Friday
Stations of the Cross at 12:00 noon
Adoration of the Cross at 7:00 pm

Saturday, April 7: Holy Saturday
Lumen Christi, The Easter Vigil, at 8:30 pm, followed by a festive reception

Sunday, April 8: The Resurrection of Our Lord
Festival Holy Eucharist at 8:00 and 10:45 am
A youth-sponsored Easter Brunch will be served between liturgies at 9:30 am

Lifted High

Mistrust of God: that is the problem, then and now.  We grumble and we sin, but we look to the cross and find salvation there in Christ's healing love for the whole world and for us.


Vicar Erik Doughty, Fourth Sunday in Lent, year B; texts: Numbers 21:4-9; John 3:14-21

A Lenten sermon, in eight words:

Wilderness.
Grumbling.
Biting.
Repenting.
Lifting.
Looking.
Trusting.
Living.

The text for today is one of the stranger stories in our Bible.  The people of Israel have been freed from slavery by God, led by Moses.  They have left Egypt, but are not yet in the promised land.  At many points along their journey in the wilderness outside Egypt, God has provided food and water for them.  At many points along their journey, God has defeated those who wished to harm them.  They have been saved and fed and re-saved and re-fed time after time.

And the people also have messed up.  They have broken the commandments God gave them to live by, time after time; they have not trusted God; and each time there are unpleasant consequences; and they repent; or Moses prays and reminds God that the neighbors will find out if God destroys his people Israel-- and God keeps covenant with the people.

This time the people speak not just against Moses and Aaron, but against Moses and God.  They do not speak with God, they speak at God, against God.  They begin grumbling about how there’s no food (and, by the way, the food is miserable and we hate it).  And God hears their complaint.  According to the text, God sends seraphim – serpents of fire – or, in the NRSV, poisonous snakes – and they bite many people, and many people die.

The people realize, during the snake crisis, that they’ve messed up.  And, by the way, they’re not fond of snakes (or of seraphim, I guess) and would rather live than die.  They convince Moses to pray for them; and God tells Moses to create a bronze serpent, lift it up on a pole, and have the people look at it.  So the people trust what God has said; they look where they are told to look.  That allows them to live, although they’ve been bitten.  The snakes, however, do not vanish in a puff of divine smoke; the snakes stick around.

Now, we might say “God doesn’t work that way, God doesn’t send snakes to kill people!”  And we might be right.  It is entirely possible that God didn’t send the snakes; but in any case, the people were reminded, in crisis, that God was their God; and that, when they had repented – returned to God’s ways  –  in the past, God had saved them.  God is in the business of life and salvation.  God’s promise to be their God was trustworthy.  God’s anger is not infinite.  God’s ultimate judgement is mercy.  God’s mercy endures forever.

Something like the Israelites, we, too, are on a journey.  Choose whichever one you want; two possibilities are the journey through Lent and the journey through life.  Either way we have not yet reached the fulness of the promises made us, and the destination remains ahead.

How’s your journey going?  Are you grumbling yet?  Against whom  –  at whom, instead of with whom  –  are you speaking?  What do you detest?  Is it something God is providing?

Pastor Crippen has preached about God choosing to work in nonviolent ways.  And I would not think we are likely to be set upon by either seraphim or serpents, even when we grumble during our journey.  It is often the case, though, that we turn to God only when we’ve exhausted our other options, or when there is a crisis.  Perhaps we can learn from the experience of the Israelites to turn to God prior to crisis.

And there is something in this story about the relatedness of the problem and the solution which God provides.  The problem of the Israelites is twofold:  biting serpents, and also the people’s mistrust of God  –  we recall from Genesis the serpent there, which sowed those seeds of mistrust.  And the related solution is (a) trust God; and (b) look at the serpent which has been lifted up.

This same bronze serpent on the pole is destroyed in Hezekiah’s reforms as he cleaned idols out of the temple, about 150 years after today’s reading takes place.  So we, in our trouble, in our need of wholeness, can’t look to a serpent on a pole; and anyway, serpents are not our problem.

No, but our problem IS distrust of God, the same as it always has been.  And our problem is our limited, finite humanity.  We do not trust but we DO fear all the changes of life.  We fall down in our tasks; we fall down into death.

But God is rich in mercy.  God has been calling after us to turn to God’s way.  And when we did not turn, God planted Jesus Christ  –  fully divine, fully human  –  in our bumbling, grumbling path to be one of us, to call us to return to relationship with God; to show us the love of God.  And for all that, we decided we were threatened and we crucified Jesus.  WE lifted HIM up on the cross and decided that was the end.

And God speaks and says yes, look at the cross-- that WAS the end.  The end of death’s sting, the end of sin’s power, the end of fear’s hold on you.  That was the end of all that keeps us from healing, from living as whole human beings.

And it was the beginning of our ability to live, even as bumbling, grumbling humans, as sinner-SAINTS, alive in baptismal grace.  In looking to the awful cross and seeing Christ there; in looking at the worst humanity can do and seeing God at work even there, continuing to love and save us, we live under the cross’s new reality:  There is no place God is not; there no crisis in which God cannot work; there is nothing we can be or do that puts us outside God’s active love.

So we lift up the cross; and we look toward it, not toward our own limited selves.  We trust God, who comes to us in Christ; who guides us through, walks with us through whatever wilderness we are in.  And Christ draws us up to him, lifting us from our sin, lifting us from our failures, lifting us even from the grave into a life of service and grace; we live as servants of the crucified, to spread Christ’s love in the world.  There is more of the journey to go, and there is nothing to fear  –  not snakes, not life in this world; not even death  –  because we look at the cross lifted high, and Christ is loving  and saving the whole cosmos there, loving and saving every one of us.

The cross is lifted high, for all.  The cross is lifted high  –  for you.

The Olive Branch, 3/12/12

Accent on Worship

Called by Name

I’ve been singing in the National Lutheran Choir this year, which has been a real joy. We recently took a four day tour to Phoenix, filled with rehearsals and concerts. We sang at four Phoenix-area Lutheran churches, and I noticed something interesting at the three where we interacted with congregational members. Virtually everyone was wearing a congregational name-tag. Now, I expect that congregations in that area are accustomed to having many guests on any given Sunday, but I was still surprised to see almost universal usage of the congregation’s name tags.

Monday night at the Vestry meeting we heard from Andrew Andersen’s evangelism report that for the past three months or so between 10 and 18 guests have been at worship with us at the second liturgy each week. He also reported that when he speaks to them, almost to a person they mention our hospitality, how welcome they feel, and how gracious it is that people come up to them and greet them. This is wonderful. I frequently hear stories of Mount Olive folks helping guests with worship books during the liturgy, and making sure they feel at home. At some point in our history as a community of faith, this congregation developed a culture of welcome and hospitality that is a gift and a blessing to those who worship with us.

But we don’t like to wear our name-tags. Now, it may be that this is simply an oversight, that people don’t remember to put theirs on when they come. When I first arrived, the Vestry or the Call Committee asked people to wear their name-tags for awhile so I could get to know folks. Many did, but there were still plenty on the racks. It may be that some have concerns aboutr them. It may also be that many of us don’t see the need. But I am reminded of a bishop who told me of a day he spent nearly two hours driving around the countryside back roads looking for a congregation who had no signs or direction markers anywhere. When he finally arrived on a gravel road in the middle of the prairie, he asked why they didn’t have some signs near the main highway, or marking turns on side roads. “Everyone who needs to be here knows where it is,” he was told. I doubt that is what keeps our name-tags on the shelf, but I find it a helpful thought. No, the people who already know us don’t need to see a name. But might regularly wearing name-tags deepen our hospitality which is already a part of our common life? Might there be people who would welcome a little assistance with our names? Paul Nixdorf has put together a lovely pictorial display in the hallway of the nearly 50 people who have joined the congregation in the past year and a half. I hope you see those faces and learn those names. But how might these sisters and brothers better know who we are? Might your name-tag be a gracious gift to them?

I wonder if we are able to take this time as a time to change our culture and start wearing name-tags regularly, for the sake of the other. My friends who worship at a Phoenix church were wearing theirs, and I asked how they remembered. One of them keeps his in his car, and puts it on as he comes in. I don’t know what would help each of you. But I do invite us to consider whether this could be another way for us to be welcoming and gracious in the name of the Triune God who has called all of us by name in baptism. Maybe it’s time to help others call us by name as well.

In Jesus’ name,
Joseph


Sunday Readings

March 18, 2012 – Fourth Sunday in Lent
Numbers 21:4-9 + Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22
Ephesians 2:1-10 + John 3:14-21

March 25, 2012 – Fifth Sunday in Lent
Jeremiah 31:31-34 + Psalm 51:1-12
Hebrews 5:5-10 + John 12:20-33




Midweek Lenten Worship
Wednesdays during Lent
Holy Eucharist at Noon, followed by soup luncheon
Evening Prayer at 7 p.m., preceded by soup supper and Lenten discussion beginning at 6 pm.



Palms and Paschal Garden

Donations for Passion Sunday palms and the Easter paschal garden will be received on Sunday, March 18 and Sunday, March 25. Members of the Worship Committee will be available after each liturgy on those dates to receive your contribution. Checks should be made payable to “Mount Olive Women”.



“A Very Present Help”
Midweek Lent at Mount Olive

For the Wednesday Lenten services this year we will focus on the presence of God in our lives, specifically the places where God’s healing grace is offered. We’ll be using as our starting point a section of Luther’s Smalcald Articles (from the Lutheran confessions) in which he describes the ways God’s grace and forgiveness are given us in concrete and knowable places.

The midweek schedule is Eucharist at 12:00 noon, followed by a soup lunch at 1:00 p.m. In the evening, there will be a soup supper at 6:00 p.m., and Evening Prayer at 7:00 p.m. The preaching at the noon Eucharist will be based on our theme, and the same meditation will be shared during the evening soup supper, with opportunity for further conversation at the meal. Note: If you normally come to Evening Prayer in Lent but don’t come early for the supper, you’ll miss the conversation; consider coming early and concluding the evening with Evening Prayer.



Taste of Chile Thanks

A big thank you to everyone who volunteered their time to cook, decorate, and support "Taste of Chile." We will provide a more detailed report on the event for the Olive Branch soon. Until then, thank you to everyone for your openness, willingness to learn, and your support for our partnerships in our neighborhood and throughout
the world.


Altar Guild Cleaning Day

Mount Olive Altar Guild members will clean our chancel on Saturday, March 24, beginning at 9:00 a.m. Extra hands are always welcome as we prepare for the upcoming Holy Week and Easter liturgies. We usually work two to three hours, but workers stay as long as they're able. If you have questions, please contact Beth Gaede (bethgaede [at]comcast [dot]net.



March is Minnesota FoodShare Month!

Bring non-perishable food donations any Sunday during March and place them in the grocery cart in the cloak room. The goal this year is to collect a total of 12 million combined dollars and pounds of food from congregations, businesses, and individuals throughout Minnesota. This amount will stock food shelves around the state with more than half the food distribution needed annually. And remember, food shelves can stretch donations of cash further than donations of food, because of their access to discount products and programs. So your cash donations go much farther! If you would like to make a cash donation, make your check out to Mount Olive and in the memo line write "MN FoodShare," and place it in the offering plate.



Book Discussion Group

On April 14 the Book Discussion Group will discuss Birth of Venus, by Sarah Dunant. For the meeting on May 12 they will discuss Paths of Glory, by Jeffrey Archer.

Please note this special advance announcement: at the meeting on July 14 we will discuss The Way We Live Now, by Anthony Trollope. This advance notice is shared due to the length of the book.



Organ Recital to be Held March 25

Organist Ken Cowan will present an organ recital at Mount Olive on Sunday, March 25, at 4:00 p.m. He will present works by Bach, Dupre, Wagner, and Karg-Elert.
Praised for his dazzling artistry, impeccable technique, and imaginative programming by audiences and critics alike, Ken Cowan maintains a rigorous performing schedule which takes him to major concert venues across the U.S., Canada and Europe. Mr. Cowan is Assistant Professor of Organ at Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton, NJ, where he was awarded the 2008 Rider University Distinguished Teaching Award.

This event is sponsored by Mount Olive Music & Fine Arts.

The Gift of Boundaries

There is joy and life and light in following God’s laws, we sing in Psalm 19.  Finding such delight in God’s law is about understanding the loving guidance and care God is showing in living in this covenanted relationship of chosenness and grace.


Pr. Joseph G. Crippen, Third Sunday in Lent, year B; texts: Exodus 20:1-17; Psalm 19

Sisters and brothers, grace to you, and peace in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen

By the time Moses and the people of Israel arrived at Mount Sinai, he had done a fair amount of talking to the LORD God and reporting to the people what God said.  The people, in turn, had done a fair amount of complaining every time a setback or difficulty faced them in the wilderness, even after they’d witnessed God bringing them out of slavery already, and even though Moses, with God’s help, led them through each difficulty.  At Mount Sinai, then, and perhaps because of their complaining, God invites the whole people of Israel to hear the voice of the LORD themselves and the covenant promise which was coming.  Moses instructs them to clean and purify themselves for three days, and then they all gather outside a boundary surrounding the mountain.  When the LORD God actually speaks, the writers of Exodus record that it was a blast of trumpet so loud the people trembled, thick smoke billowed up like from a furnace, and the whole mountain “shook violently.”  In this setting, the Ten Commandments, the reading we just heard, were given.

Well, the people couldn’t abide it.  They were terrified, and told Moses that from here on out it was perfectly fine if he did all the talking with God, and then could share it with them.  They were so frightened of God, they wanted nothing to do with direct contact with God any more.  Let the intermediary Moses handle it all.

Of course, their fear only lasted so long as the trumpet and earthquake did.  When Moses then went up the mountain and stayed for 40 days, receiving the law of God, the people grew restless and made a golden calf to worship instead of the LORD God.  This covenant we hear this morning was broken in a little over a month.

What seems significant in this story is the question of the quality and extent of relationship.  Clearly by this point in the life of Israel, only a few people like Moses feel a closeness to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  God is other, frightening, threatening, and if conversation is desired it’s only to request help, often miraculous, in times of difficulty.  This isn’t much of a relationship.  It’s an immature life, one lived blaming a supernatural “other” for all problems, but also treating that “other,” the true God, as the Great School Principal in the Sky who gives laws and not much else, and who is feared, but behind whose back all sorts of shenanigans can be attempted.

This cannot be what the Triune God hoped for after the flood.  This doesn’t sound at all like the psalmist of Psalm 19, whose words we sang today, words describing delight and joy and life in God’s laws.  And this isn’t at all like the relationship God began with Abraham and Sarah.

Last week we heard the covenant God made with Abraham and Sarah, which was in fact a covenant relationship.

This does make sense after the flood – if God wants to bring back the people of the earth, start small.  Choose a family, and begin a relationship.  It seems that the call of Abraham and Sarah is God’s beginning attempt at another plan for dealing with our lack of love for God and each other, our wickedness.  And it benefits both parties to the covenant.

For God, the benefit seems to be relationship, the point of bringing us back.  God gets people to love and to be loved by in return.  The way the LORD speaks to Abraham, like a friend, is the same conversational shared life that the Bible says existed in the beginning.  We can’t begin to understand why God wants this, but it seems clear that he does.

For us, it’s more obvious: this relationship with God is a huge blessing, given our sinfulness, and leads to our being a blessing to the world.  Rather than living in ignorance and fear, Abraham and Sarah and their family learn an intimate, close relationship with the God who created all.  They are chosen for this reason.

But they’re chosen to spread this good news to the world, to be a blessing to all.  Through their family.  And eventually that means God will need to teach a way of life to this family that is a blessing to them and to the world.  So 400 years later, God speaks to them at Sinai.

This, then is the gift of Sinai: God has a way of life which will lead to life for the people.  And that will in turn bless the other peoples of the world.  That the people of this family of Israel can’t appreciate that, and see this as set of laws imposed which they are free to break, but that they also can criticize the LORD God whenever they suffer, that is a tragedy.  And it’s one which repeats to this day.  We’ll get to that.  But first, let’s look at the gift of these commandments.

What we can understand if we look carefully at God’s intent according to the Scriptures, is that the reiteration of the covenant relationship at Sinai is a deepening of the relationship: here the LORD God helps us to abundant life.

And once again, it begins on God’s side: I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.  God’s covenant with Noah is absolute promise not to destroy with flood again.  God’s covenant with Abraham and Sarah is God’s promise to make them a great nation and bless them, and the world through them.  And now once more, God gives grace and hope first, before any commandments.  “I am the One who brought you out of slavery.”

And if we look at these commandments in that light, they’re not a list of “don’t do this.”  Martin Luther understood this.  They’re a description of what abundant life lived in love of God and love of neighbor looks like.  Why else would Jesus say those two things sum up all God’s commandments?

In the Small Catechism, Luther not only explains what is forbidden by each commandment, but what life-giving action, what abundance will result if we live by them.  He gives positive guidance suggestions based on each commandment.  And he shows us that he understands them as gift.

So look at what that might mean.

“You shall not murder.”  Fine.  We understand.  Jesus ups the ante and says that even hating another breaks this commandment.  Well, that’s much harder to keep.  Luther agrees, but also sees the gift: what if we took care of all the physical and mental and spiritual needs of our neighbor?  What if this isn’t a minimum don’t but a maximum do?  What might our lives together be like if we held this as our standard with each other?

Or, “you shall not commit adultery.”  Fine.  We understand.  And again, Jesus ups the ante and says that even thinking about being unfaithful is being unfaithful.  Again, much harder to keep.  And again, Luther agrees, but also envisions this as gift, that we look at each other’s covenantal relationships, life-long committed lives lived in promise to God and each other, and we honor them, support them, pray for them.  What would our lives together be like if this is how we treated each other’s relationships?

In fact, the way the Hebrew is written, it suggests this approach.  All these commandments are translated, “you shall not.”  But they could just as easily be translated, “you will not.”  In that perspective, these commandments describe a life lived in love with God and each other where we are so shaped and molded by it that we don’t do these things, they’re just not in us.  “If you live with me,” says God, “you won’t do these things.”  The implication is that it just wouldn’t be how we live.

When the Triune God comes in person, as the Son of God living among us, that Son, Jesus, says his purpose is that we might have life, and have it abundantly.  Had we simply lived in the Sinai covenant, we’d have had it already.  This Jesus knows.  And this is far beyond our scope this morning, but we know this as well: that Jesus came to help us live into this ancient covenant, to embody this kind of love of God and neighbor with the help of the Spirit.  And with the grace of forgiveness.  Not because we obey out of fear of punishment.  Rather, because we see these commands for what they are: God’s way of life, rich, abundant, good life.

What we might consider, then, is growing up.  Maturing.  Becoming full partners in this covenantal relationship.

As children, we say, “you’re not the boss of me.”  We hate following rules.  The words of the psalmist are far from us.  It’s all about avoiding rules, getting by.  We’re like the people at Sinai, ready to make a golden calf as soon as God’s back is turned for too long.  We see law, rules, as burden.

But if you’ve ever had to teach children, and guide them, you know the truth: these rules, these laws are all for their benefit, for their abundant life.  What Jesus tells us about God and us we already know with the guiding of children.

And so maturing in faith is living into, growing up into, this covenant relationship with God to the point where with the psalmist we delight in God’s law.  No longer cowering at the foot of the mountain – and perpetuating the idea that God’s a bad guy just out to spoil our fun – we stand confident in the love of God Jesus has made known to us, and we begin to delight in God’s law.  To see it, as the psalmist does, as something that rejoices the heart.  Gives wisdom to the simple.  Gives light to the eyes.  And is sweeter than honey straight from the comb.

Law and gospel become two sides of the same gift, just different ways of looking at it.  The only reason we need the grace of God is that we break God’s law and do incredible damage to each other and to our relationship with God.  We ruin our lives and others’.  Grace heals and restores us back to the point where we can once more take up God’s gracious gift of boundaries and guidance and find abundant life again.  In other words, if you get kicked out of the swimming pool for pushing people in, and then by grace are invited back into the pool, you’ll still want to find the abundant life of not pushing others in (or being pushed yourself), a life where you can, with everyone else, enjoy the fun of the pool.

This covenant of grace and commands is life to us.  It is gift.

Just as we know children need to learn boundaries so that they can have healthy, happy, whole adult lives, we rejoice in these boundaries, these commands, that God gives.  They are the gift of abundant life that happens when we live in relationship with the God who loves us.  With the help of the Spirit of God, we can learn their joys and delights just as well as the psalmist, and find the abundant life God has hoped for the world all along.  And then we can invite others into this joy and light ourselves, for our life with God only gets richer by the sharing.

In the name of Jesus.  Amen

Accent on Worship

“I’m going to try to make it…”

Have you heard that from people you know responding to the issue of whether or not they’ll be at an event? Wow. Talk about non-committal. To me it comes off as, “I don’t really want to be there but am having difficulty being honest about that.” Although maybe it’s absolute truth: they have a totally unreliable car and never know if it will get them where they need to go (yeah, that’s it…). Hearing this from others has not only helped me to not use that phrase, it’s reminded
me that there are times when I need to put self aside, and go to something that someone hopes I’ll be there for. It might be meaningful for them if I’m there. Then I discover it was also meaningful for me.

I think of that during Lent – and especially Holy Week. We go out of our way to be here extra times. Do we say to God, “I’ll try to make it…”?

Where do we WANT to be? Where do we NEED to be?

There are times when we can fall into a mindset of “I’ve got to take care of myself” as our lives get more and more filled with places to be, people to see, commitments to fulfill, etc. And we think that bowing out and staying home might be the best thing for us.

Well, maybe that is, in fact, the right thing. Or not. Lent is a good time to re-align our planets. Is there so much on the docket that the things that are really important to us get the short shrift? Loved ones? Our souls? God?

I remember a situation when a student responded to my suggestion that he practice a bit more. He burst into tears: “Practicing is what I WANT to do, but my mother has me signed up in various groups and activities all week and I can’t get to the organ!” (In defense of his mother, she was dealing with the sudden loss of her husband and the father of her son and was struggling
with being a single parent). But there was something I learned there. He wanted to spend time practicing but was giving his time to things that were not important to him. A bit of schedule pruning might be what the soul needs.

Every Lent I think about this as we add a midweek service. At first I think it would be a burden to add one more thing – but then as we pray Evening Prayer, I’m drawn to a completely different place. I become quieted and re-aligned. It’s definitely what the soul needs to be doing. It’s a chance to “be still and know that God is God.”

Lent is a time for us to re-evaluate what it means for us to live as baptized children of God. What is important? Where do we WANT to be? And more importantly, where do we NEED to be?

I look forward to our being together where I suspect we know we need to be in the next weeks.

- Cantor David Cherwien



Sunday Readings

March 11, 2012 – Third Sunday in Lent
Exodus 20:1-17 + Psalm 19
I Corinthians 1:18-25 + John 2:13-22

March 18, 2012 – Fourth Sunday in Lent
Numbers 21:4-9 + Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22
Ephesians 2:1-10 + John 3:14-21



Midweek Lenten Worship
Wednesdays during Lent

Holy Eucharist at Noon, followed by soup luncheon
Evening Prayer at 7 p.m., preceded by soup supper and Lenten discussion
beginning at 6 pm.



“A Very Present Help”
Midweek Lent at Mount Olive

For the Wednesday Lenten services this year we will focus on the presence of God in our lives,
specifically the places where God’s healing grace is offered. We’ll be using as our starting point a section of Luther’s Smalcald Articles (from the Lutheran confessions) in which he describes the ways God’s grace and forgiveness are given us in concrete and knowable places.

The midweek schedule, beginning on Wednesday, Feb. 29, is Eucharist at 12:00 noon, followed by a soup lunch at 1:00 p.m. In the evening, there will be a soup supper at 6:00 p.m., and Evening Prayer at 7:00 p.m.

The preaching at the noon Eucharist will be based on our theme, and the same meditation will be shared during the evening soup supper, with opportunity for further conversation at the meal. Note: If you normally come to Evening Prayer in Lent but don’t come early for the supper, you’ll miss the conversation; consider coming early and concluding the evening with Evening Prayer.



Calling all Mount Olive Knitters and Crocheters!

If you knit or crochet and and enjoy the company of others while you work, please join us on the second Sunday afternoon of each month. We will have a yarn working bee from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. and our next one will be Sunday, March 11. Bring your own project or work for one of our charities. At the moment we are working on warm winter wear for Our Saviour’s Shelter (and English Learning Program students.) Or maybe you have a prayer shawl project in the works
and you just want some company while you get it done. We'll also have extra yarn, needles and hooks, so if you want to learn how to knit or crochet or start a new project, just come as you are and we'll help you get started. Call Cha Posz or Kate Sterner if you have questions.
Mount Olive Yarn Working Bee, second Sunday of each month, 1:30-3:30 p.m. Join us!



Book Discussion Group

For the meeting this Saturday, March 10, the Book Discussion Group will discuss A Passage to India, by E. M. Forster. For the April 14 meeting, they will read, The Birth of Venus, by Sarah Dunant.



March is Minnesota FoodShare Month!

Once again Mount Olive congregation is invited to participate in Minnesota FoodShare Month. Bring your non-perishable food donations any Sunday during the month of March and place them in the grocery cart in the cloak room. The goal this year is to collect a total of 12 million combined dollars and pounds of food from congregations, businesses, and individuals throughout Minnesota. This amount will stock food shelves around the state with more than half the food
distribution needed annually. And remember, food shelves can stretch donations of cash further than donations of food, because of their access to discount products and programs. So your cash donations go much farther! If you would like to make a cash donation, make your check out to Mount Olive and in the memo line write "MN FoodShare," and place it in the offering plate.



Foundation’s Annual Gift to the Church

Mount Olive Lutheran Church Foundation recently made its 2011 annual gift to the Church in
the amount of $21,553.83. This sum represents the largest gift that the Foundation has given to the Church. The Foundation’s Board of Directors recommended that these funds be apportioned as follows:

Bach Tage - $3,500.00
Baptismal Font and Lectern Restoration- $4,500.00
Conference on Liturgy - $2,500.00
Defibrillator and Cabinet - $2,000.00
Lutheran World Relief Fair Trade Project - $500.00
Neighborhood Ministries - $5,000.00
Office Technology - $2,000.00
Worship Space Projects (Lighting, T Coil Loop, Reredos) - $1,553.83
Total: $21,553.83

Over its history, the Foundation has given more than $250,000 to the Church. In the past ten years, our endowment has grown from $234,000 to $690,000 thanks to the generosity of many. Given the continued growth of our endowment, we look forward to fostering Mount Olive’s mission in even greater ways.

-Keith Bartz, President



Every Church a Peace Church

The next ECAPC Bimonthly Potluck Supper Meeting will be held on Monday, March 12, beginning at 6:30 p.m. at St. Luke Presbyterian Church, 3121 Groveland School Road, Minnetonka 55391 (952- 473-7378 http://stluke.mn). The program begins at about 7 pm and will feature a presentation by Sen. John Marty, "Move to Amend: Working for Justice in
an Unjust World."

"Move to Amend" is the effort to remove special interest money from the political process (corporations are not persons). John Marty is a Minnesota State Senator (SD-54). He has authored numerous consumer protection, government ethics and environmental initiatives. He is an outspoken leader in the fight to remove special interest money from the political process.
For more information visit the website: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MnECAPC.


Church Library News

Our Louise Schroedel Memorial Library has been the recipient recently of numerous new (or slightly used) worthy books given as outright donations or else given as memorial gifts and we would like you to come in soon to check out two new displays, as well as some helpful and timely Lenten reading.

Donations from Nancy Flatgard:
Three Cups of Tea (One Man's Mission to Promote Peace One School at a Time), by
Greg Mortenson and David O'Kelin
Tears of a Warrior - A family's story of combat and living with Post Traumatic Stress Disorders, by Janet Seahorn and E. Anthony. (One of the first books available
on this important topic!)
Walking Together Through Illness (12 steps for caregivers and care receivers), by Wanda
Scott Bledsoe and Milt Bledsoe
Grievers Ask (Answers to Questions About Death and Loss), by Harold Ivan Smith
Tear Soup - A recipe for healing after loss, by Chuck DeKlyen and Pat Schweibert
Grace All Around Us: Embracing God's Promise in Tragedy and Loss, by Stephen Paul
Bouman
We Were Going to Have a Baby But We Had An Angel Instead, by Pat Schweibert
Mama’s Going to Heaven Soon, by Kathe Martin Copeland
If Nathan Were Here, by Mary Bahr and Pat Schweibert
God, I’ve Gotta Talk to You (Prayers for Children), by Anne Jennings and Walter
Wangerin, Jr.
It’s Hard Not to Worry, (Stories for Children About Poverty) by John M. Barrett; also,
Celebrating the Musical Heritage of the Lutheran Church - an audio CD collection
(not yet available for loan)

Donations from Bonnie McLellan:
Constantine’s Sword (The Church and the Jews-- a History), by James Carroll
Ornament of the World (How Muslims, Jews and Christians Created a Culture of
Tolerance in Medieval Spain), by Maria Rosa Menocal
The Cloister Walk, by Kathleen Norris

Donation from Lora Dundek:
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (the story of a poor black tobacco farmer whose
cells, taken without her knowledge, became an important tool in medicine), by Rebecca
Skloot

Book donations given as memorial gifts from Leanna Kloempken:
Devotions From the Heart (100 Reflections on the Way God's Love Keeps Us Growing), by
Pamela Kennedy -- given in memory of LaVern Olson
The Bible’s Most Fascinating People (Stories from the Old and New Testaments), by R.P.
Nettlehorst -- given in memory of John Clawson

Two new books for the Church, Health, and Social Activities category also given by Leanna Kloempken
Conquering Heart Attacks and Strokes: Your 10 Step Self-Defense Plan
Stopping Diabetes in its Tracks, by Richard Laliberta (see disclaimer in each of these two
books).

Other Books Donated:
Pastor and People (Making Mutual Ministry Work) by Laurie J. Hanson and Ivy M.
Palmer
Generous People (How to Encourage Vital Stewardship), by Eugene Grimm and Herb
Miller, eds.
Practicing Our Faith, by Dorothy C. Bass, ed.
The Wisdom and Witness of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, by Wayne W. Floyd.
Hymnal Companion to Evangelical Worship, by Paul Westermeyer -- an accessible one-volume manual that gives the context, origins, and character of all 650 hymn texts in Evangelical Lutheran Worship, together with their tunes (over 530 of them).

Special thanks to all those donors who helped make our church library ministry more current and effective! As is my custom, I will close this time with an Irish blessing from Angelsonearth.com: "May God grant you always -- A sunbeam to warm you, a moonbeam to charm you, a sheltering Angel so nothing can harm you, Laughter to cheer you, faithful friends near you, and whenever you pray, Heaven to hear you."

- Leanna Kloempken