Mt. Carmel Lutheran Church

1701 Fredericks Street
San Luis Obispo, CA 93405
(805) 544-2133

Sunday Services:
8:45am Traditional
11:00am Contemporary

Summer Services (June 17-September 9):
9:30am Contemporary/Traditional Worship (music styles will alternate)

Office Hours: 8:30am - 3:00pm weekdays

Hello Beloveds of God,

Summer is in full swing now and you know what that means: VBS!!! Our theme this year is Renew and is focused on the parable of the sower. This is an exciting curriculum change from the past as Renew is published by Augsburg Fortress, the Lutheran Publishing House! We give thanks to God for the chance to support and participate in the creation of Lutheran curriculum for Vacation Bible School!

Vacation Bible School at Mt. Carmel will run 9am-2pm Monday, July 30- Friday, August 3 and will culminate on Sunday, August 5 with our VBS themed worship service. At that service all of Mt. Carmel will have the opportunity to engage in Bible study, music, and even crafts from VBS! Worship will happen at our usual time and will have communion as usual but there will be a Bible study in place of the sermon and the congregation will be invited to try their hands at one of the crafts from the week. It will be a wonderful, interactive (but stationary, so mobility concerns are not an issue) worship event and I hope you all will be there to celebrate God’s love for all of God’s creation and explore what God is saying to you in the parable of the sower!

In addition, like many of you, our family is going on vacation this summer! I will be on vacation with family in CO July 19-25 so I will not have office hours during that time and I will be unavailable for all but emergencies. That being said, PLEASE call or email if you or someone you love has an injury or illness. It is important to me to be able to pray with and for you all and I welcome communication about those things at all times. In my absence, John Rollefson will preach and preside.

Though many of us are traveling this summer and it is hard to be together each week, we remain the body of Christ together and for that I am deeply grateful. I hope also that this prayer, which we can be praying together even when we are apart, will strengthen the bonds between us this summer. This prayer is adapted by Bill Huebsch:
Jesus, thank you for Summer.
Thank you for light and warmth.
Thank you for the sun.
Thank you for the gifts of nature and for the annual cycles and seasons.
Today, give us that grace again, to see you as the Creator, the One who lifts us up to be with you forever, even now. Amen.

Peace,
Pastor Valerie

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

Council Minutes

Turning West Info

Pride in the Plaza!

Thank you to everyone who helped with Mt. Carmel’s booth and who attended the event. Your support is deeply appreciated by us and the greater SLO community. If you had to miss it, there will be another opportunity next year, and the year after that, and the year after that, and the year after that…!

Donate to Proclaim!

We have a bunch of leftover baked goods that you all made for Pride in the Plaza. They will be in the Narthex this Sunday. Please take one or more and leave a donation for Proclaim. Information on the organization will also be available. If you are not at church on Sunday, but would still like to contribute, you can contact the church office.

Thank You!

You’re Invited
ContemPLATE Brunch Potluck

This is your opportunity to discuss assumptions and expectations about Mt Carmel Lutheran Church. As you may remember Turning West prepared an Organizational Audit report identifying issues that we are struggling with at Mt Carmel Lutheran Church. Two issues identified by many people were the amount of time spent in the church office by the pastors, and the pastors’ children in their workplace.

The Guiding Coalition has been successfully working through these issues in a safe and productive environment. So now the Guiding Coalition would like to have input from the rest of the congregation. Also this is an opportunity to experience talking through issues in a new, healthier and productive way.

On Sunday July 15^th there will be brunch after church. A second meeting will be held the following Sunday July 22^nd for those that cannot attend the July 15^th brunch. Members of the Guiding Coalition will lead small groups of people during brunch so everyone can discuss their perspectives. The discussion is not about finding a solution but understanding the perspectives and interests underlying these assumptions about pastors. All information will be tabulated and shared as a report to council, whose job it will be to make any decisions.

The Guiding Coalition Members, who will help facilitate discussions are as follows: Jessica Bell, Claudia Coughran, Suzanne Gorter Kathy Gremel, Bob Grosse, John Keisler, Marge O’Neill, Sherri Parkinson, Marshall Pihl, Glenn Priddy, Burke Towle, and Cassidy Williams.

If you are able, please bring food to add to our brunch (egg dishes, fruit, or bread). Drinks will be provided.

Please Join the ContemPLATE Brunch.
You’re Input is Crucial!

Laura Krueger and Dave Wilcox are delighted to invite everyone in our beloved church family to attend the occasion of our wedding and informal dessert reception.

We will marry at 2pm on Saturday, August 4, 2018 at Mt. Carmel. Children and your guest are welcome.
Please let Laura know if you are able to attend by 7/18/18 at laurasalazar67@gmail.com
or by text or call to 805-458-6012.
Absolutely NO gifts, please.

Central Coast Queer Archive Project

The Queer Archive Project needs your help!
For SLO Pride 2018, we’re celebrating the ways that queer and trans folk have found love, support, and strength together on the Central Coast, but we can’t do it without you!
Follow the link to find out how you can help.

The Central Coast Queer Archive Project (CCQAP) is a collaborative, community-based, volunteer effort tasked with documenting LGBTQ+ individuals’ experiences of the California central coast region.

The CCQAP values diversity, inclusivity, and intersectionality as important methodological principles; while our project explicitly focuses on the lives of queer and trans people, we recognize that desires, intimacies, and kinship networks often take unpredictable forms. In addition, we recognize that notions of identity as static and self-contained often fail to account for the multiple and complex power relations that shape both individual and collective existence. Therefore, we seek to include not only the lives of queer and trans people, but also those of other gender non-conforming people and sexual minorities who may not immediately recognize themselves amongst other LGBTQ+ identities.

Stewardship Message

Suppose that God allowed you to have one wish. Without limit, you could have anything you desire. You could have unlimited wealth. You could have perfect health and live 1,000 years — or more. You could — like Solomon — have great wisdom. Whatever you want, you may have it. But you only get one wish. What would you choose?

Sad to say, many people would choose great wealth and material possessions. Unfortunately, that would not be a good choice. Listen to the counsel of God as expressed in this contemporary translation of Proverbs 27:20 through Solomon, one of the richest people who ever lived — “The eyes of man are never satisfied.” The behavior and attitude which always wants more has a name: Greed, and it demonstrates itself in our lives as though we were at an auction. If we have $5, we want $10; if we have $10, we want $20; if we have $20 we want $30. Solomon went on to say in Ecclesiastes 5:10, “The lover of money will not be satisfied with money; nor the lover of wealth, with gain.”

A better choice would be to ask for God’s perspective on life and all that life entails. When we see life as God does, we realize that everything belongs to God, that we are just managers and stewards, and that only what is done for God will endure for eternity. When we have God’s perspective, we will be able to say with the Apostle Paul, “ . . . I have learned to be content with whatever I have.”

When we have God’s perspective, we will accept with a spirit of peace and restfulness whatever is entrusted to us. And when we have God’s perspective, we will put into practice the truth of Hebrews 13:5 — “Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have; for he has said, ‘I will never leave you or forsake you.’”

Brown Bag?

It is Summer...
Since this is such a busy time of year and so many of us are off, trying to find some sun, I have decided not to plan a Brown Bag event for July. Your homework...have a great time with family friends and report back in August!
We will be meeting and August and I am looking at a great speaker, so stay tuned to Vistas, Newsletter, bulletin for information.
See you in August.
Questions/ ideas? Nancy Priddy 459-9249

Regarding the Church Library:

All Library material has been moved from the Bible room and placed on the bookshelves in Quist Hall. Now we would like to receive some feedback from you regarding the focus of the collection. Right now we have a variety of material, most of which does not get used. My (Jackie’s) thought would be to update the collection with more current subjects, subjects related to our mission statement, small interest groups, and community concerns and of course children’s material. This would include non-fiction and some fiction, DVDs and maybe a small bulletin board for our upcoming events or articles of interest. But first, we would like to hear your thoughts on what you would like to see and borrow from our library?
Please speak to or send a message to:
Jackie Kinsey kinsey648@yahoo.com or
Jack Senter jckssite@gmail.com

The Christ in Our Home Devotion Books for the summer quarter are available in the Narthex. Please help yourself to either the regular or large print edition to take to friends who may be unable to attend church.

Copyright Â© 2016 MT. CARMEL, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:
1701 FREDERICKS ST., SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA 93405

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Mt. Carmel Lutheran Church · 1701 Fredericks St. · San Luis Obispo, CA 93405 · USA