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Dear GLC members and friends,
See you this Sunday (it's mother's day!) for worship! At our 10am service we're welcoming new members - yay! Stick around after worship for fellowship, to welcome and connect with them and each other, and some yummy treats. Bring something (sweet or savory) to share if you'd like! Check out our new members' bios (the first three pages are joining Sunday - the next three are ones from the last group I'm not sure we ever shared!) and look forward to connecting with and welcoming them!
Your help needed - volunteer - for worship roles, coffee time treats, and more for this and the weeks ahead: volunteer for these or other roles here.
We're in-person for worship (8:30 & 10am), and livestreaming (10am)! Click here to read our current covid precautions, in bold/outlined on this chart!
To join the worship service live on Zoom, click here!
Click here for the bulletin and more on our worship page!
10:00 in-person Worship Volunteers sign up!
Upcoming & ways to connect, serve, and grow below (new ones in bold):
- Board game night, 5/25
- Reading Recommendations: "Shameless" book; ELCA teaching on abortion
- Pastoral Sabbatical for 2023
- "Meet your council" fellowship & brunch on 5/15
- Good news - grant awarded!
- Kids' area and new books - a story for you!
- Peek in the bell tower
- Strategic Plan Team - Interested?
- Our GLC 2022 council goal and objectives
- Bible study continues on Tuesday nights
- Ukraine support from Lutherans on the ground
Peace+
Pastor Brett Wilson
(202)830-8996 (cell)
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Plan to join us for a board game night, in person at church on Wednesday, 5/25! Bring a favorite game and/or a snack or dish to share!
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This week's Thursday Reading Recommendations, in light of this week's news:
A book: "Shameless: A New Sexual Reformation" by Nadia Bolz-Weber. A fresh, faithful look at what we may have received culturally and religiously about sex, shame, relationships, and more. It does include Pr. Bolz-Weber's story of her own experience of abortion and a history of how a political movement picked this up as a strategic policy and then changed their theology to suit.
ELCA teaching and resources:
The ELCA Social Statement on Abortion (1991) and related resources is here: https://www.elca.org/.../Faith.../Social-Statements/Abortion
The ELCA Social statement on Faith, Sexism, and Justice (2019) and related resources is here: https://www.elca.org/.../Faith.../Social-Statements/Sexism
Click the image above to hear Pastor Brett's summary and invitation to read. As always, she's always inviting you to share conversation, questions, struggles, your story for pastoral care, and even disagreements.
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"Meet your council" brunch on 5/15!
‘Meet your Council’ brunch – Sunday May 15. Come and enjoy some fellowship while getting to know your leaders and what they (we!) are up to.
The Council would love to learn more about you and share why they are excited for our 2022 plans. See you then!
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Pastoral Sabbatical - what is it - and plans ahead
A pastoral sabbatical is a time when "both congregations and pastors are strengthened by providing opportunities for pastors to step away briefly from the persistent obligations of daily parish life and to engage in a period of renewal and reflection. Renewal periods are not vacations, but times for intentional exploration and reflection, for regaining the enthusiasm and creativity for ministry, for discovering what will make the pastor’s heart sing.” (Lilly Foundation)
Since 2021, our council has been discussing and doing initial planning for a 2023 pastoral sabbatical. ELCA/synod guidelines recommend that a multiple month sabbatical is offered after a pastor's tenure of 5-7 years, designed to renew pastor and congregation for an ongoing healthy relationship together. September 1, 2022 marks five years for Pastor Brett's call here at GLC, and we want to support her in this call. Council is in full support of a pastoral sabbatical and part of our 2022 goals is to strengthen our ministry support so that we can plan on this leave period next summer. Council and Pastor Brett have worked together to apply for a grant through the Lilly Foundation, which if received, will cover all of the costs for enriching renewal experiences for our pastor, plus the congregation's costs and an opportunity for a renewal project for GLC, too. We'll find out in late August if we received the grant, but even if not, we'd like to support this sabbatical ahead.
Questions? We're planning for an info session soon, or come chat with us about it at next week's "Meet your council" brunch after worship!
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 Good news - grant awarded!
Click here to view the video from last week's announcement: Charles Bushman shared good news, that we're an awardee of this year's RiverSmart Communities Grant, with the Anacostia Watershed Society! In the coming months, we'll be collaborating with them to de sign stormwater management projects on our property, that will be integrated with ongoing renovation plans. Click here to view our proposal drawings. This will bring expertise and support to fully fund these projects, and signage will engage and educate the community.
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 Kids' area and new books - even for adults!
Did you know we have a special kids area, right in our sanctuary? We hope littles and parents always feel welcome, and we are glad for the joyful noise of our  littlest Lutherans. We have some new books and toys in here - click here to hear Pastor Brett share one of them - with a message comforting even for us adults!!
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 Peek in the bell tower!
Part of the renovation/historic preservation work will be to remove the metal sheeting currently over the windows/louvers on the bell tower, and return the original structure appearance. John H., Alexis K., and Pastor went  up in the bell tower earlier this week to check out the condition of the louvers.
Here you can see the inside and the old electric chime (there are 8 total) that used to sound from the tower: there was never a bell up there!
Click here to view a video of what we discovered about the condition of the louvers.
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 Strategic Plan Team - Interested?
One of our goals for the year is to clarify our mission and develop a strategic plan! This process will include times for everyone to get involved and add their voice, but we're looking for folks who may be interested in being on the steering team to lead the process! It'll be about a four-five month commitment with regular meeting times (possibly once every couple weeks).
So, if you have a passion for planning, for our congregation, or energy to bring to this process, reach out to Pastor Brett, Abby O., or congregation president Cassandra K. soon!
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GLC Council President Cassandra K. shared our 2022 goal and objectives, during worship on 4/3. This banner now hangs in the back of the sanctuary, to keep us transparent and accountable to our goals!
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Tues. Night Bible study!
Tuesdays at 7:30pm via Zoom! We're reading the book of 1 Samuel: stories about leaders and people, trust and big names of the Bible that maybe we've heard of but would be interested to read: David, Hannah, Saul, Samuel, and more! Here's a couple intro resources for 1 Samuel we'll discuss the first night or you can revisit anytime.
You're invited - and no experience is needed but it's a good way to get to know parts of the Bible and some other GLC people. We meet 7:30-8:30 - Pastor Brett leads, we share open-ended discussion with no homework/read-aheads. Click here to enter the zoom - join us any week you can.
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 Lutheran support on the ground for Ukraine relief
Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR) and Lutheran World Relief are on the ground for Ukraine relief. They're working with partner churches in and nearby countries, and bringing in aid - quilts and kits made by Lutheran churches. Every dollar given toward this crisis to LDR or LWR will go 100% toward aid on the ground. Check out the situation updates/reports from LDR and LWR.
If you're on Facebook, you can follow the Lutheran Church in Ukraine (German Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ukraine) here to receive updates and hold them in prayer, or their English website is here. On their FB page Bishop Shvarts shared in a video a version of this post and request for prayers for peace, a just peace, and for the people of Ukraine.
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