Author Archive: Leesa Bell

Hearth and Home

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HEARTH AND HOME

Let us build a house where love can dwell and all can safely live,

a place where saints and children tell how hearts learn to forgive.

Built of hopes and dreams and visions, rock of faith and vault of grace;

here the love of Christ shall end divisions;

All are welcome, all are welcome,

All are welcome in this place.1

The council and representatives from the transition team had a wonderful retreat at the end of August.  For one activity we broke into three groups.  Each group chose a biblical story it felt Holy Trinity Lutheran Church was living and paired it with a hymn.

One group felt the story of Jesus blessing the children (Mark 10:13-16) best exemplified our community and chose Marty Haugen’s hymn, All Are Welcome as our theme song.  Another group selected the hymn, A Mighty Fortress is Our God, and referenced Ephesians 6:10-18 in which Paul encourages Christians to put on the whole armor of God.  The final group said the story of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) described our community of faith.

There is a common thread.  A Mighty Fortress is our God describes a safe haven, a God who will protect and defend us.  The story of Jesus blessing the children is about welcome and finding a home in the arms of Jesus.  And, the story of the Prodigal Son is a story about coming home to the welcoming and forgiving Father.  All of these stories describe home in some way.

The consistency is fascinating.  One of the findings of the CAT survey is that Holy Trinity is a Hearth and Home congregation.  As a community of faith, we “value structure and stability” and serve “as guardians of honored traditions of the church, as a shelter from the frenetic pace of change in the world.”  We offer a place for people “to come home to”.  This can be a gift to many in our northern Virginia mission context where many are transient.  This is a faith community that has “the expectations and rewards of a family.” These are our strengths.2

Equally striking is that the Bible story illustrating the both the promise and the peril of a Hearth and Home congregation is the story of the Prodigal Son, one of the stories chosen by retreat participants.  The promise, of course, is that like the forgiving and loving father in the story, we will open our arms and our hearts to everyone looking for a home, regardless of their background.   Like the father in the story, we will defy convention to welcome the lost.   We will take whatever risks necessary to share the love of Jesus with the world.

Yet, since Hearth and Home congregations value structure, stability and tradition, the peril is that we can get caught up in judging others and enforcing the rules, much like the elder brother in the story.   We may resist opening our hearts to those who are different, or who bring different gifts to our community, because to do so would mean we would have to change.3

One of the gifts the CAT survey offers is the gift of self-knowledge.  Knowing our strengths and our weaknesses allows us to choose more wisely.   When confronted with a decision we may want to ask ourselves, are we behaving like the loving father?   Or like the elder brother?   Such self-knowledge may help us discern what kind of a home, what kind of a community, God is urging us to become.

Let us build a house where all are named, their songs and visions heard

and loved and treasured, taught and claimed as words within the Word.

Built of tears and cries and laughter, prayer of faith and songs of grace,

let this house proclaim from floor to rafter:

All are welcome, all are welcome,

All are welcome in this place.4

 

Pastor Margrethe

1Marty Haugen, All Are Welcome. Text and music © 1994 GIA Publications, Inc., 7404 S. Mason Ave., Chicago, IL 60638. www.giamusic.com. 800.442.3358. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

2Russell Crabtree, Owl Sight, Magi Press; 1st edition (2012)

3Ibid.

4Marty Haugen, All Are Welcome, op. cit.

Neighbors Helping Neighbors

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Starting Sunday, October 25th, Christmas Stocking kits will be available. The kits are brown bags that contain a Christmas stocking, a list of gift ideas, and directions for filling and returning the stocking to church by Sunday, November 8th. The recipients of the stockings are children from ages 2-12. The Loudoun County Holiday Coalition will distribute the stockings in early December. Unwrapped gifts for infants, teens, seniors, and persons with disabilities are also welcome.

This is Holy Trinity’s tenth year participating in this community outreach program. We hope to exceed 1000 stockings for our total number of stockings donated by Holy Trinity and Little Blessings Preschool since 2006!

If you would prefer, a basket will be available for goodwill donations – we will fill the stocking for you!

Reformation Sunday Review

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We Celebrated Reformation Sunday, October 25

Glorious music was provided by our  ‘B’Orchestra’—Band/Orchestra, including musicians from Holy Trinity and some community friends.

The Combined Men’s and Chancel Choir provided a beautiful rendition of  “Built on a Rock.”

A huge thank you to Nancy Fox, Marcia Merry, and all of the musicians for making our Reformation Sunday a musical celebration!

The Stewardship Question is…

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The Stewardship Question is…

Many, many thanks!  You have been incredibly generous this year.  Your offerings, including your response to our summer appeal and your gifts for our fiftieth anniversary, sustain the vital and life-giving ministries of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church. 

145 children deepened their faith in Jesus through our Camp Discovery Vacation Bible School. 

Eight of our high school youth felt the Spirit moving at the ELCA Youth Gathering in Detroit. 

We were able to celebrate our fiftieth anniversary in air-conditioned comfort and host a sumptuous lunch! 

The list could go on and on!  Because of you, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church has been able to carry out the ministries to which Christ has called us in 2015.  It is an honor and a privilege to serve such a faithful and generous congregation!

As we look forward to our life together in 2016, I commend the insights of poet Ann Weems on stewardship.  She reframes the stewardship question in a way I find provocative.

PRAYER OF STEWARDSHIP

O Lord, forgive our fears

that so stifle our stewardship .

Forgive our giving in and our giving up

instead of giving ourselves

to Christ’s mission of love.

Remind us that our hope

is in standing up and risking,

in taking our stewardship seriously.

Help us to remember, O Lord, that

the stewardship question is not really,

How much we will give?

The stewardship question is,

How will we spend what we have been given?

We pray that it will be faithfully

and cheerfully.

From Seaching for Shalom. © 1991 Ann Barr Weems.  Used by permission of Westminster John Knox Press. All rights reserved.

As Commitment Sunday, October 11th, approaches, I ask you to consider your personal spending plan for 2016.  How will you spend what God has given you? 

How will you spend on the health and well being of your family?  How will you set aside funds for the future, for retirement or for that rainy day?  How will you pay down any debts you may have incurred?  And how will you spend on the kingdom of God, supporting Christ’s mission of love through Holy Trinity Lutheran Church?

Many people find making a pledge to the church (an annual financial commitment) to be helpful as they develop their budgets.  However, if pledging is not a useful or comfortable tool for you, I encourage you to sit down and write out your own plan for faithful and cheerful spending in 2016.  Check back with your plan in six months.  Are you on track?  Are you spending what God has given you in a faithful and cheerful manner?

May we all be faithful and cheerful spenders!

Pastor Margrethe

Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival

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Join Holy Trinity members on a trip to the Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival at the Clarke County Fair Grounds in Berryville, VA on Saturday, September 26.  Carpool from the church.

From their website (http://www.shenandoahvalleyfiberfestival.com ) :
Celebrate the fiber arts and the many aspects of fiber. Fleeces, art, textiles, yarn, accessories, equipment, classes, demonstrations & more!  Our events, classes and vendors are increasing from now until festival time.

Educational Classes & Demonstrations ~ Visit the Breeds Exhibit
Fleece to Scarf Competition and more ~ Angora & Cashmere Goat & Fiber Shows

$5 Adults; Children under 12 Free; No Pets Please

For more information about this trip, please contact Sandy Phillips: mikephi@verizon.net

Healing Service & Flu Shot Clinic

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On October 18th we will commemorate Luke, writer of the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts. Tradition holds that Luke was a physician who traveled with Paul on his missionary journeys. In honor of Luke’s profession as a healer we will have a time for healing prayers during our worship services.

In addition, we will host a flu shot clinic.

Time: 9:30 – 11:30
Cost: $35.00

Payable by Cash or Check
Medicare Part B Accepted, no charge

Available for Children aged 4 and up, and adults

Questions: Suzanne Belofsky (703) 431-1064

Middle School Confirmation

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The days are growing shorter and the calendar is bursting with scheduled events, and now that the school year is underway, it is time to turn our attention to a new year of confirmation class. Confirmation is part of our middle school ministry and is meant to prepare our middle school students to answer for themselves the questions that were answered by their parents and godparents at the time of their baptism. It is meant to give them a basic structure and vocabulary to speak their faith with honesty and boldness. It is a place to begin to struggle with questions that last a lifetime. This is a challenging assignment, but with the assignment comes the privilege to watch young minds and hearts awaken to the tasks of a lifetime.

This year we are excited to introduce a brand new confirmation curriculum, CoLabOrate. This curriculum allows students to discover the ways the doctrines, traditions, and beliefs of their faith are relevant to their lives. In keeping with current educational best practice, students are encouraged to grapple with their beliefs through challenging questions and collaborative learning. We are asking each family to contribute $30/child to help defray the cost of their child’s materials. Checks can be made payable to HTLC and brought to our first Sunday afternoon class meeting.

This year confirmation classes will meet on Sunday afternoons from 12:15-2:15 p.m. Generally these classes will meet once a month, but please note the exact dates and times on the class schedule. In addition, we are excited to offer two music ensembles for our middle school students: Chime Choir and a new vocal ensemble.

First class meeting: September 20, 2015, 12:15pm

Check out our Middle School Confirmation page for more information and a complete schedule.

Celebrate Bach

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Listen to the Concert:  Celebrate Bach

A wonderful concert was held on Sunday, Aug. 2 at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church. The all-Bach program featured flute, brass, pipe organ, harpsichord, string orchestra and choir. Selections included chorales, and the Brandenburg Concerto No. 5.

Performed at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, by members and friends, as a gala tribute for its 50th anniversary.

Holy Trinity 50th BACH Concert

Sailboat Church

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If you have visited churches or cathedrals in the Scandinavian countries you may have see a model ship hanging in the sanctuary or nave. Indeed, the word nave has its origins in the Latin word, navis, meaning ship. Being seafaring peoples, the Scandinavians easily grasped the image of the church as a ship for God’s people.

Sailboat Church by Joan Grey explores this image of the church as a ship. She suggests that there are two models: the rowboat church and the sailboat church. Row- boat churches operate with the assumption that progress depends on their own “strength, wisdom and re- sources.”

In contrast, sailboat churches “focus not on their own situation, resources, or limitations but rather on discerning God’s unfolding will.”  They cannot make the wind blow, but they can seek to catch the wind of the Holy Spirit. In the sailboat church the Holy Spirit provides the wind, the energy, to propel the ship.

“Sailboat churches,” says Grey, “live to partner with the Holy Spirit in what God wants to do for the world.”

We, the people of God, are the sailors. Sailors, of course, need to practice sailing, “a way of life that involves a committed, personal relationship with Jesus.” This involves practicing trust in God. It involves practicing prayer.

I emphasize the verb practice because all too often we reduce our faith to mere intellectual assent. Sailing is not merely agreeing to the idea that the wind exists. Sailing is about getting on the boat and learning how to raise the sails and catch the wind. Likewise, a faith in God is not merely agreement with the idea that God exists. Faith is a dynamic, growing, ever evolving relation- ship with God that involves a commitment to spiritual practice.

Being a sailboat church does not mean that the sun is always shining and the ocean is always calm. All con- gregations encounter stormy seas. Interpersonal conflict, disagreements about priori- ties, and financial challenges are just some of the storms a congregation may face. What distinguishes sailboat churches from other organizations are the skills they use to navigate these troubled waters, a living relationship with Jesus, rooted in prayer and obedience to God’s will.

This transition time is an opportune moment for us as a congregation to examine our model of church. Are we rowing or sailing? What is God’s purpose for us? In what direction are the winds of the Spirit blowing? What do we need to do or change or let go of to catch these winds?

In the months ahead, we will have opportunities to consider God’s purpose for this congregation. We have just finished the Church Assessment Tool (CAT) survey. We will have had an opportunity to hear Pr. Bob Driver- Bishop interpret for us what CAT results tell us about who we are and what sailing skills we may need to de- velop as we seek to sail into God’s future.

In the months ahead we will also face some stormy seas. Yet, these stormy seas can be opportunities for us to practice our sailing skills, deepen our trust in God and strengthen our prayer life.

I truly believe that God has placed this community of faith, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, here in Leesburg, Virginia for a purpose. So let’s discern that purpose, practice those sailing skills, and catch the wind of the Spirit together!

Pastor Margrethe

P.S. You may want to read Sailboat Church this summer. It is an inspirational and hopeful read! It is published by Westminster John Knox Press, but you can also obtain it through other retailers such as Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Christianbook.com, Cokesbury, and the Thoughtful Christian.

Festival Reunion Choirs

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You are invited…

Festival Reunion Choirs 

to sing in celebration of the 

50th anniversary 

of

Holy Trinity Lutheran Church

Sunday, June 14, 2015 

9:30 am Worship Service

All present and former members of the Children’s Choirs  & the Chancel Choirs of Holy Trinity are warmly invited to come and sing with the Festival Reunion Choirs!

Children’s Choir and past Children’s Choir members will sing “Go now in peace” at the conclusion of the worship service.    We will be using Chimes to accompany this musical offering.

Chancel Choir and past Chancel Choir members will be singing a lovely, and easily singable, musical offering.

Pre-Service Rehearsal

7:30 – 8:25 am Coffee meet & greet (Muhlenberg Music Room)

8:30 am Chancel Choir Practice & Festival Orchestra practice (in Sanctuary)

9:00 am Children’s Choir and Reunion Choir practice “Go Now in Peace” (In Multi-Purpose Room, lower level)

9:20 am Children’s Choir and Reunion Choir excused to sit with their families and friends for the Worship Service (we will gather up front during the last hymn)

9:25 am Chancel Choir line-up (in Muhlenberg Music Room)

Kindly spread the word, and plan to sing!  

Contact Nancy Fox or Marcia Merry for more information:

nancyfox@holytrinityleesburg.org

marciamerry@holytrinityleesburg.org