You are Blessed

I’m writing on a day when the number of new Covid-19 cases in the Corridor are higher than any single day except Aug. 24th, when the number of TV ads, texts, and phone calls related to the coming election seem never-ending, and when it’s not exactly hard to feel anxious!

It seems to me that people of faith need to take both their civic responsibility and their role in keeping their neighbor safe seriously. We are not a private church, but a public one. As such, it’s imperative that each of us make a conscious effort to use our voice and vote to help determine the values and direction of our country and world as a whole. In Luther’s explanation of the commandments not to kill, steal, or bear false witness, he emphasized the need to refrain from such temptations and the need to help our neighbor keep or protect their lives, basic life needs, and reputations. While issues are often complex, those mandates seem to be quite clear, no matter where you find yourself on the social or political spectrum. In other words, “Vote” if you haven’t already!

As we strive to make an engaging indoor livestream worship experience a reality at Holy Trinity and to help nearly 30 young people grow in their faith through our ministry of confirmation, I find myself with a whole new respect for hospital staff as they face swelling hospitalizations and for teachers as they attempt to share and encourage thinking in these days of pandemic. I am grateful for and concerned for health care workers who, in many cases, have been striving to stay ahead of the curve, even while facing short-term furloughs and financial pressures. If I get tired and impatient about wearing a mask, I can only imagine how they feel about doing so – long before and after a pandemic.

I see and hear amazing stories of teachers working hard over the summer to make virtual learning meaningful and effective. I see them scrambling to learn far more new tools, learning platforms, and portals than I’ve had to learn. I am humbled by an awareness of how many have had to change gears completely as COVID numbers and classroom populations evolve. Many find themselves required to serve not just in their own classrooms, but in several classrooms. Many are doing so with significant risks to their own families and key relationships.

We continue our focus on “Abundance” and cautiously hope to launch our first indoor live-streamed worship service this Sunday at 9:00 a.m. The service will include less than a dozen staff, musicians, and tech volunteers on site, We will practice distancing and utilizing masks and extra ventilation to keep the environment as safe as possible. We’ve been able to overcome a host of technical obstacles in preparation for this event, but are still “getting our land legs” when it comes to practicing tech team communication and roles. Bear with us as we encounter lessons along the way; we’ll use each experience to improve the livestream in coming weeks. Volunteers for some roles are still needed. Shoot me a note if you’d like to serve as a video or audio assistant!

Our pre-recorded worship will still be available on-demand via the website on Sunday morning.

Hope that you can be present with us this weekend in whatever way you can!

Pastor Tim

If the Son Makes You Free

Sisters and brothers in Christ,

This weekend, we kick off our fall stewardship emphasis with Pastor Dirk Stadtlander bringing us the Good News of Jesus Christ. Pastor Dirk is the pastor for the synod ministry at the Anamosa State Prison. If you listen to our Gospel from John 8:31-36 (the appointed reading for Reformation Sunday), you will hear the words “If the Son has set you free, you will be free indeed.” Those last words are the name of the prison ministry our congregation helps support: FreeIndeed.

As we look at Reformation Sunday, it is wholly right and proper that we look to prison ministry as a metaphor for our own lives. We confess in one of our confessions that we are “captive to sin and cannot free ourselves.” The men at Anamosa State Prison (https://seiasynod.org/ministries/prisonministry/) and other men and women incarcerated at prisons scattered throughout Iowa are captive to sins as well as the state and cannot free themselves. We, like the inmates, are trying to reform our lives that we may walk in God’s kingdom and walk rightly with our brothers and sisters in society.

Thanks be to God that Jesus came to set us free from the bonds of death. Thanks be to God that our Church and congregations in other denominations believe in the importance of bringing God’s healing grace to those in prison. As Isaiah said, “I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness … to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.” (Isaiah 42:6-7). Pastor Dirk helps us do just that by proclaiming the Good News of reformation in what would be a dark place spiritually for many.

As you contemplate how God is reforming your lives into faithful service in his creation, pray that God will continue to stir the hearts and minds of men and women incarcerated and imprisoned as they reform their lives to rejoin us in society.

Instructions for Holy Communion at Home during a Time of Isolation

This Sunday, as we gather virtually for worshipping online, we are going to re-introduce an alternative celebration of Holy Communion. When we gather to share the sacrament, we recall the “Words of Institution” – the words that tell the story of its origin in four different Scripture accounts.

We believe that God has the power to transcend our “safe distancing” and still forgive sins and grant salvation. This Sunday and  over coming weeks, we will mostly be sharing of the Sacrament of Holy Communion within the home and encourage you to share it in a dignified manner.

If you live alone, know that Christ is still present with you. If you live with others, invite them to partake with you. If you do not wish to receive Communion in this way and would rather wait until we are gathered physically again, we understand. We trust Christ has promised to present with us through the Word, through worship, and the virtual community we find at this time.

For sharing the sacrament, you will need the words below, bread (or another grain-based food), and wine (or grape juice). If you don’t have these items, anything you do have available will suffice.

What to say (The Words of Institution): The presiding pastor will consecrate the elements, reminding us via video that:

“In the night in which he was betrayed, our Lord Jesus took bread, and gave thanks; broke it, and gave it to his disciples saying, ‘Take and eat; this is my body, given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me.’ Again, after supper, he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it for all to drink, saying: ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood, shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin.   Do this for the remembrance of me.”

Taking the bread, you then say to yourself (if alone) or the person you are Communing: The body of Christ, given for you. Then, taking the wine or juice, say to the person you are Communing: The blood of Christ, shed for you. After a pause in the recorded service, the presiding pastor will say the blessing: “The body and blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ bless you and keep you always in God’s grace.”

Remember that one need not partake of both the bread and wine – either one on its own constitutes participation in sharing these gifts of God! We have books and video resources in our library that help explain Holy Communion to young children if you wish to expand their grasp and understanding. Feel free to reach out to your pastors if you’d like to use them!

Your brother in Christ,

Pastor Tim