Below I am sharing the letter my father, Pastor Jami Fecher of Gift of Grace Lutheran Church in Seattle, WA sent out to those of us on the Gift of Grace mailing list Wednesday morning. His words spoke powerfully to me and I hope they will to you as well. Please join me in prayer, conversation, and action with and on behalf of our vulnerable neighbors, for the sake of bearing witness to Christ.
Peace,
Pastor Valerie
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Beloved Friends in Christ,
At least half our nation was going to be anxious no matter what the outcome of this presidential election. So today there are many anxious people. Gift of Grace is located in a “blue” state and we are located in the bluest part of this blue state, so there is no doubt many of you are anxious. I am myself. It is understandable.
Keep this firmly in mind: the church of Jesus Christ is not a red church or a blue church or a green church or a democrat church or a republican church or an American church. Our citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:20). This is not a stupid Christian platitude. This is not the Christian way of saying “it's all good" or "it doesn’t really matter." This does NOT mean we disengage from worldly politics. We are absolutely called by God to engage with this world, in every messy, ambiguous facet of it. But, we engage for the sake of others not for our own sake.
Our mission as individual Christians and as a church is to bear witness to Christ regardless of the political climate (2 Timothy 4:2). We do not do this to be right. We do not do it to stay out of harm’s way or keep our heads down. We do it in obedience to the God of love and justice who sides with the vulnerable. The landscape changes but our concern for justice, in power and race relationships, remains equally urgent.
We cannot manage the world, but we can learn to manage ourselves. Self-management is one of the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:23). Each of us can and must engage our neighbors (especially our Christian sisters and brothers) thoughtfully, truthfully and lovingly rather than from a place of anxious reaction (even if one feels anxious). It is our job to keep the main thing the main thing for the sake of the world. We are not confused about the main thing; it is Jesus Christ, our Savior, who died for the justification of the ungodly and who reconciles all creation to God. Our allegiance is to Christ alone. That’s what we mean when we say our citizenship is in heaven.
Peace and power to you from Christ,
Pastor Jami Fecher
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Pastors' Contact Info:
Pastor Valerie
805-776-3377
pastor.valerie.carlson@gmail.com
Office Hours: Tuesdays (11am-1pm) and Thursdays (12:30-3:00pm)
Pastor Dan
805-776-3707
pastor.dcarlson@gmail.com
This Sunday & Nov. 20th: Pastor Jake Parsons will continue the second part of his 3-week series on The Reformation, Luther and Calvin. Please join us for some more great discussion and learning!
CAT meeting has been re-scheduled for Sunday November 20, @ 12:15 pm, in the Bible Room. There were too many conflicts with the congregational bar-b-que, & Thrivent presentation after 2nd service.
Holy Moly Sunday School continues this Sunday: Joseph II. Find out what happens to Joseph after he is removed from the well and sold to Ishmaelite Traders. We will ask and explore-- "What gift from God did Joseph have and who was the ruler of Egypt when Joseph was in the dungeon?"
We appreciate having a full team of teachers and snack chart full for November and December! Thank you!
There is still a need for Children's Church volunteers for the 11:00 service the 2nd, 4th and 5th Sundays.
Contact John Keisler to help! (543-4259 or rebjohn50@hotmail.com)
Life got crazy, so there will be no Brown Bag Lunch this month. Our November meeting would have been on Nov. 11, Veteran’s Day, so my suggestion is, take a veteran out to lunch and be sure and include a hug and a “thank you for your service!”
Don’t miss our December gathering on Friday, Dec. 9, at noon. This will be our annual Swedish Meatball Extravaganza. Authentic Swedish meatballs will be provided. Please plan on bringing something that goes with Swedish meatballs; salad, vegetable, rolls, dessert, whatever. Look for more information to follow. Just mark your calendar and plan to attend with a friend.
Questions? Nancy Priddy, 459-9249
Fall Jar Mix CAT Fundraiser:
Looking for a cute, easy gift idea? Never fear, the youth are here! Back by popular demand, the youth will be selling gift-in-a-jar mixes after services throughout the month of November. For sale this year: mixes for Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies, and, new for 2016, jars of “Merry Minestrone” soup! We have made a batch of each type of jar, so either buy one of those while they last, or place an order to be fulfilled at the beginning of December. The cost is $10 per jar for each mix, and will be used to fund the CAT program, and confirmation and high school trips. Thanks for an action team grant from Thrivent, nearly all of the proceeds go directly to the program!
Free Church BBQ! This Sunday!
Join us for a Thrivent Financial-sponsored lunch at 12:30pm on Sunday, November 13th in our park. Funds raised will go towards providing shelter from rain in our MCLC BBQ area. Tasty food will be prepared by Road Kill Grill and Friends. Menu includes tri-tip, BBQ chicken, beans, bread, salads, and dessert.
ONE MORE WEEK TO GIVE!
Let's finish our annual food collection for Eglesia Lutherana Santa Cruz with a bang!
Dates and Items Needed:
Sun. Nov. 13: Juice all flavors
This small Mission Church in Santa Maria serves the farm field workers. When the weather is bad they can't work in the fields so they don't make a salary to feed their families. Mt. Carmel and the other churches in our conference help by stocking their pantry. Included below are their specific requests. We'd like to have the pantry supplied before Thanksgiving Day and your help has always been fabulous, so thank you for joining us again this year.
Please direct questions to Pat Forrest at 541-4799
There’s a briskness in the air and daylight hours are getting shorter, which means Fall is here. With Fall comes Harvest Season - We at Mt. Carmel have a tradition of bringing our “harvest gifts” in the form of our favorite bottle (or two) of red wine to church for Wine Harvest Sunday. Our gifts to God and Mt. Carmel will be used throughout the Church year as we celebrate Christ’s death and resurrection in Holy Communion. This year Wine Harvest Sunday will be November 20th. You will have the opportunity to bring your gifts to the altar as part of the service knowing it will be blessed and shared throughout the year as we partake of our cup of salvation.
Lectors Needed!
We are looking for additional lectors, particularly for the 11:00am service. It's easy to do! The 1st and 2nd readings are provided a few days before the service. The lector schedule is set ahead of time, based on input from the lectors (frequency, specific dates, etc.). The schedule is then adjusted when conflicts arise.
Please contact Wende Dong at slodong6@gmail.com or 541-3094 if you have questions or would like to volunteer.
The Holiday Bus is Coming!
Saturday, Dec. 3, Mt. Carmel will be hosting a bus full of happy, excited children and their chaperones, returning from a visit to their dads at CMC. We will be offering them a chance to relax and play before taking the return trip home, a visit with Santa, complete with gifts, and an opportunity to decorate their own Christmas cookies. This will take many volunteers. Volunteer opportunities include; hosting families during the event, providing cookies to be decorated, help in the kitchen, help with set up/clean up. Please help, so this can be a truly amazing day for these children.
Contact Nancy Priddy, 459-9249. She will also be on the patio, after each service this weekend, taking names and answering questions.
Its time to collect and share our gifts with needy families in Mexico. Instead of toys, we will collect gifts of cash. The money will be given to the children and families in Mexico at a special Sunday service on a date to be determined in December or January. We are holding the date open to accommodate new families who may want to join the fun. If you would like more information, please contact Ryan or Martha Reck in person or email at: justreck@gmail.com.
From now through November 27, a tree in the narthex will hold tags with boys and girls names. Church members and friends are invited to take a tag. Please hang the tag in your home as a reminder to pray for this child, as a member of our Christian family. Also let the tag serve as a reminder to donate ($15 or $20) for this child's Christmas. You may put cash or check (made out to Mt. Carmel) into the church envelopes for the offering. Please note your gift is for “TJ Christmas” on the envelope. At the end of collection, a check will be sent to the church in Mexico and cash gifts will be distributed to the children and their families at the special service.
Thank you for helping make this Christmas a merry one for these families. This gift is often the only one these children will receive. It means so much to the families and children that people in the U.S. care enough to send them a special gift during the Christmas season. What a meaningful way to share our Christian love this Advent.
John Rollefson is delighted to report the recent publication of his new book, Postils for Preaching: Commentaries on the Revised Common Lectionary, Year A. (Subsequent volumes, Year B and Year C are forthcoming in the new year.)
The Rev. Barbara Lundblad writes in a cover blurb, "If you can read only one new book for this lectionary cycle, Postils for Preaching will not disappoint you." John himself describes his intention in writing as "to dip into a lifetime of that exegetical and homiletical 'bag of tricks' as Jesus himself obliquely recommended when he noted how "every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old" (Matt 13:52).
While intended for preachers, the book is easily accessible to all and provides a nice entree to the appointed readings for each Sunday and special day of the church year.
John will have copies for sale at $15 each available at Mt. Carmel in these coming weeks or the book can be ordered at the publisher's website, wipfandstock.com or on amazon.com for $27.95 plus shipping.
Week Ten Match Ups!
To the Pastors, Deacons, and People of the Southwest California Synod, ELCA, from Bishop Guy Erwin:
Dear friends, grace to you and peace in the Lord Jesus Christ!
A long, painful, and divisive presidential campaign has come to its inevitable end. Its outcome is certain to have excited and pleased some, and deeply, bitterly disappointed others-as indeed either outcome would have done. It should also be said that even within our church's congregations our spirits were sharply divided over this choice, almost certainly more so than many of us realized. We may look around ourselves at worship this Sunday and wonder how those next to us in the pews voted - even though California was less divided than the nation as a whole. We live in a sharply polarized nation, and there is no denying that division.
But now the election is over, and the work of living together-and governing the nation-goes forward. The two candidates themselves attempted to move beyond bitterness in the gracious words they addressed to each other after the outcome was clear. The peaceful transfer of power begins, as the outgoing president prepares to hand over the reins to the incoming one. But real and painful divisions in our society persist and may have been deepened by this election's outcome. Certainly the pain of those on the losing side is acute and will linger for a long time.
What can I say to you, as a Christian speaking to Christians, about what I saw in this campaign and what might lie ahead for us all? What can I say to you as your bishop, when you do not all agree with each other, or perhaps even with me? The best I can do is to call us-together-back to the faith we all profess, to the church into which we were all baptized, and in which we are all members of the Body of Christ. I call on each of us to remember and recommit ourselves to the unity in Christ that can transcend our differences, and to pray for each other-and to pray for peace and unity and understanding in our church and in our nation. We must also pray for the governing authorities, now and to come, that they may govern justly and for the well-being of all in society.
Pray for peace and unity-and keep working for justice. The commitment to love and serve our neighbor that Jesus taught us in the Great Commandment is not altered by a shift in the political winds. Nothing that was true or good or right on the day before this election has changed a whit on the day after-and this would have been true no matter who won. We may-we must-hold our political leaders to the standards and principles we ourselves hold, whether or not we voted for those leaders. It's harder to do this when in opposition, but even more urgent then to do so.
Protest injustice wherever you find it, whether those in power agree or not. We must protect the vulnerable and help those who need us: victims of racism, systemic and personal; victims of sexism, of sexual violence, gun violence, and bullying; victims of prejudice against foreigners, refugees, and those of other faiths; victims of homophobia and transphobia; and all those endangered by the fear or ignorance of others. These are our neighbors, and if our political leaders don't share our care for them, our responsibility to work for justice on their behalf just increases. We must use our talents, our voices, our resources, and even our bodies to continue to stand up for those who need us most.
One other thing seems clear to me: we must help the fearful in our communities see that the anxiety they may feel about their own uncertain futures is not relieved by scapegoating others or by indulging in conspiracy theories. But to do this we have to really listen to and truly hear those fears. The church should be a safe place for people to share what they feel in honesty and without fear of personal rejection. Even those captive to fear and prejudice are our neighbors, and need our help for their fears to be allayed. Churches in particular are magnets for the anxious, and for those seeking simple certainties in a complex, confusing world. So we have much to do; it is slow work; but it is part of our discipleship to care also for those neighbors whose fear distorts their trust.
So pray for peace; act for justice; show compassion for the fearful: Jesus calls us to follow him whether the path is smooth or stony. For many, it got much stonier on Tuesday. But holding on to each other as best we can, we can continue to move forward in faith. Confident that we serve a God whose justice is greater then human laws, whose providence sweeps away human schemes, and whose love is stronger than death, we must live in hope into the future God is preparing for us.
I ask you to keep me in prayers-as you are in mine-and I offer you my blessing in the name of our mighty and merciful God, our Savior Jesus Christ, and the ever-sustaining Holy Spirit. Amen.
