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Mount Olive Lutheran Church

Friday, June 1, 2012

The Olive Branch, 5/29/12


Accent on Worship

     Once upon a time I found myself in Poland.  While on one hand I was having a “roots” experience (my grandfather emigrated from Poland when he was 6 years old), I was lost with regard to the language.  Reading the signage all around, all I saw were long words – mostly consonants – without a clue as to what they meant.  The thought, “I’d like to buy a vowel” did occur to me.  Few people spoke English, most of the communication happened by speaking German which many of them knew.  Otherwise, I had no idea what was being said.

     While there on a Sunday we attended a Lutheran service.  Most of the time I did not know what was being said, but at one point I suddenly knew exactly what was being said, as I recognized the melody to All Glory Be to God on High (Allein Gott in der höh sei ehre).  If ever I experienced music as a universal language, that was the moment. I could then participate consciously.

     Many European Lutherans have sung that melody since Luther’s time – 500 years!  I remembered it well from the time I lived in Germany.  German Lutherans in North America might remember it as well.  This melody, along with several other hymns formed a vernacular setting of the songs of the ordinary which could then be sung by the congregation.  The other hymns include Kyrie, God Father (ELW 409),  The Nicene Creed (ELW 411),  the Sanctus (Isaiah in a Vision Did of Old,  ELW 868),  and Lamb of God,  (ELW 357, or 196).

     It warmed my heart to hear this melody sung in Polish.

     This Sunday we will use several of these “golden oldies” since they are very Trinitarian: – Kyrie, God Father,  All Glory Be to God on High,  We All Believe in One True God,  and Isaiah in a Vision Did of Old at their respective places in the liturgy.  Through their use, we are connecting ourselves with 500 years of tradition.  Perhaps even more, since some of these are adaptations of Gregorian Chant, which may be adaptations of Hebrew chant!

     For me, that makes these hymns time-less.  It makes them universal or global.  I imagine saints of old in our midst (the “hosts of heaven”) singing along, thinking “I remember this one”.  And I imagine someone from Poland joining us this Sunday, knowing exactly what we’re singing when they hear these melodies familiar to them.

     How connected and inclusive is that?

     Let them all find us singing our hearts out.

- Cantor David Cherwien



Sunday Readings

June 3, 2012 – The Holy Trinity
Isaiah 6:1-8 + Psalm 29
Romans 8:12-17 + John 3:1-17

June 10, 2012 – Time After Pentecost 10B 
Genesis 3:8-15 + Psalm 130
2 Corinthians 4:13—5:1 + Mark 3:20-35



Bach Cantata Vespers, 
with Cantata No. 75
Die Elenden sollen essen
Sunday, June 10, 2012 - 4:00 p.m.



Summer Worship Schedule

     From now through Labor Day weekend, Mount Olive worships on summer schedule: one liturgy each Sunday morning at 9:30 a.m. We return to the regular (2 liturgy) schedule beginning Sunday, September 9.



Wanted: A Few Good Men or Women

     This summer Jobs After School will take place from Monday, July 2 – Friday, August 10 (with the 4th of July off.)  We are in need of a few volunteers to help pick up 3 or 4 youth, supervise them on a job, and bring them home one day a week, during those 7 weeks. The summer jobs take about 1-2 hours. We will hold an orientation lunch and meeting at noon on Tue., June 26 and an organizational meeting with the youth and parents at 1:30 p.m. on Thur., June 28.

     You may pick your day and your hours, morning or afternoon.  If you will be on vacation one or two of those weeks, we can cover that time for you.  For more information, please call Donna @ 612-827-5919.



Meet the Artists!

     During the Education Hour on Sunday, June 17, you will have the opportunity to meet artists from The Art Shoppe and to view some of their work.

     Mount Olive sponsors the Art Shoppe jointly with A Minnesota Without Poverty and the Jewish Community Relations Council.  By establishing an entrepreneurship, the artists are able to show and sell their work with the goal of overcoming poverty and becoming financially independent.

     Several from Mount Olive will soon begin volunteering at the shop.  If anyone else is interested, please speak to a Neighborhood Committee member.  The shop is located in the Midtown Global Market.

     The artists are grateful for your support and are eager to meet you! We believe that you will be impressed with the quality of their work. So come enjoy meeting the artists, hearing their stories and viewing their work.  Art work they display will be available for purchase.



Summer Benefit Concert

      A Minnesota Without Poverty is pleased to present a summer benefit concert, “2020: Enough For All.” This event will benefit the efforts of A Minnesota Without Poverty. The concert will be held on Monday, June 25 from 7-9 p.m. at the Capri Theater, 2027 W. Broadway, Minneapolis. Featured at this benefit performance will be Regina Marie Williams, T. Mychael Rambo, Thomasina Petrus, and others. Ticket price is $33 each and are available by visiting www.mnwithoutpoverty.org.



Book Discussion Group


     Mount Olive’s Book Discussion group regularly meets on the second Saturday of each month at 10:00 a.m. The book they are reading for the coming months are:

June 16: (postponed one week due to Bach Tage): Let the Great World Spin, by Colum McCann
July 14: The Way We Live Now, by Anthony Trollope.



Walk Against Weapons

     If you think our nation spends too much in funds and human lives on military madness and weapons, the Walk Against Weapons is the perfect opportunity to express this opinion and to raise funds for Women Against Military Madness (WAMM). They will sponsor a Walk Against Weapons on Saturday June 2, beginning at 10:30 a.m. The check-in point will be at Baker’s Square Restaurant, 928 Prairie Center Dr. in Eden Prairie.  This is a highly visible three mile walk encircling Eden Prairie Center and ending at Alliant Techsystems, Minnesota's largest employer of weapons production. This walk is a fund raiser for Women Against Military Madness in which pledges will be solicited by the walkers.  All checks are to be made payable to WAMM.

     If you would like more information about participating or would just like to make a pledge, please contact Donna Neste at 612-827-5919.



Bach Tage – There’s Still Room!

     June 9 and 10 are the dates for this sixth Bach Tage weekend at Mount Olive. Many of you have participated in the past, or have come to the Saturday afternoon concert or the cantata vespers on Sunday afternoon.

     There is still room for additional participants! If you would like to join with other Bach-lovers to learn and sing BWV 75, Die Elenden sollen essen, register now!
Brochures with schedule and registration forms are in the narthex at church.

     The two concerts during Bach Tage are free of charge and open to the public – invite your friends!

Saturday, June 9, 4:30 p.m. All-Bach Recital
Sonata in g for Oboe and Harpsichord (BWV 1030b), Stanley King, oboe; Arthur Halbardier, harpsichord
Toccata & Fugue in d (“Dorian”) BWV 538) Cantor David Cherwien, organ

Sunday, June 10, 4:00 p.m. Evening Prayer
Cantata BWV 75, Die Elenden sollen essen, and Motet BWV 118, O Jesu Christ, meines Lebens Licht, Kathy Romey, conductor, with soloists and orchestra

     Plan to be part of Bach Tage VI, June 9 and 10.



The Bargain Box

     Each August, Mount Olive Neighborhood Ministries sponsors The Bargain Box, an affordable way for neighborhood families to obtain good quality clothing (new and gently used) for children of all ages to wear as they return to school in the fall. This year, the Bargain Box will be on August 4, from 8-11:30 a.m.

     You can help by donating new or gently used children’s clothes or money to purchase clothes (please include “Bargain Box” in the memo line of your gift), before August 4.
     If you have any questions about Bargain Box, please contact Irene Campbell at 651-230-3927.



Walker Methodist Update

      On Sunday evening, Walker Community Methodist Church had a catastrophic fire which destroyed their entire building, and injured five Minneapolis firefighters.  Walker is our neighbor to the east eight blocks on 31st Street.  On Monday morning the congregation and community met at Spirit of the Lakes (another Methodist congregation), and Vicar Doughty and congregational president Adam Krueger attended on behalf of Mount Olive.  At this time we don’t know what needs the congregation will have that we can meet, but through conversations Adam led with Vestry and staff on Monday, we’ve offered to help with office space and equipment use, help with their community meals, and if needed, worship space.  There are a number of Methodist congregations who have also offered similar things, so the next weeks will determine how the neighborhood will help.  Please keep the people of Walker in your prayers.



Library News
     We are always happy to have browsers come into the library to look at our special displays or to search for a particular book or an author's latest, however, we have seldom had someone ask to find or use our special reference materials.  Therefore, we would like to feature some of the fine materials that make up the bulk of that section and invite you to come in soon to check into everything yourselves:

Luther's Works -- 52 volume set, plus Table Talk, Liturgy and Hymns and Index
New Interpreter's Bible ( 9 volumes)
Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible (4 volumes)
The New Oxford Dictionary of the Bible
The Encyclopedia of the Lutheran Church (3 volumes)
Peake's Commentary of the Bible
Harper's Bible Commentary
Bibles --- The New Oxford, the New English Bible, The Amplified Bible, Today’s Parallel Bible, The Harper Study Bible, The Jerusalem Bible, the New Testament in Four Versions, Good News for Modern Man, The New Testament in Modern English, and The Sacred Sixty-Six. 

      Other reference items include: Halley’s Bible Handbook, Encyclopedia of Bible Life, Eerdman’s Handbook to the History of Christianity, Atlas of the Christian Church, The Golden Bible Atlas, Pictorial Bible Atlas, ABCs of the Bible, Atlas of the Biblical World, The Complete Gospels, Augsburg Commentary on the New Testament (13 volumes), and Hymnal Companion to Evangelical Lutheran Worship.

     If summer's somewhat shorter open hours for the library make it difficult for you to find time for use of our reference materials, please let me know directly or leave a message in the church office and we can arrange for our library door to be opened for your use sometime during the week.

     To close this article, a worthy quotation:  "The library is an arena of possibility, opening both a window into the soul and a door onto the world." (Rita Dover)

- Leanna Kloempken



A Note from Our Vicar

     THANK YOU to Mount Olive for taking me to my first Festival of Homiletics in Atlanta.  I was able to hear a lot of different styles of preaching, listen to good lectures on various preaching-related topics, and meet a whole bunch of good people.  Several of us with Mount Olive history (Pr. Crippen, me, and several former vicars and pastors) met for conversation; that was great!  Since the Festival of Homiletics happens yearly, I'm hoping to get there next year in Nashville, too, and perhaps I will be among the many Mount Olive folks there.  Thanks again!

     A word of clarification:  In my most recent sermon, I mentioned I would be preaching four more times during my vicarage.  HOWEVER, I will still be here until my last Sunday, August 12!  Some folks thought I was leaving in four weeks, and that is not the case.  I will be around for the summer too; fear not!

-Vicar Erik Doughty



Thank You, Way to Goals Tutors

Thank you to our tutors for making Way to Goals a very special year!  Your dedication and faithfulness is most appreciated.  Thanks to Yvette Berard, Emily Boldischar, Diane Brown, Peter Bunge, Vicar Erik Doughty, Sierra Parham, Catherine Pususta, and Amy Thompson.

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