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Dear Friends,
As I’m typing away, the minutes are counting down to our first summer Club 56 gathering. What is Club 56 you may ask? It is a ministry that is designed especially for our youth who are in 5th and 6th grades. It has been a long road to launch a new ministry, then press the pause button for a year, and then reach out to a new group that is already 50% different than a year ago. There are about 35 students in this combo group! So, my heart is full with anticipation on what could happen in the lives of our youth as they will hear about a loving God, a forgiving Savior, and an inspiring Spirit. How will they look at the world and the issues that we face today and tomorrow?
Over the summer months, the Lancasters will have 5 out of 6 adult children move or continue to live out-of-the-area; 4 of them live out of the state. I did this same thing at their same age! What were my parents thinking as we packed up with enthusiasm and moved on and out? I wonder now, do my own children fully comprehend just how proud I am to be their mother at the same time my heart hurts with their absence? I am thankful, deeply thankful, for the summers after summers that our family vacation was decorating the church for VBS at all hours of the night. Or the years after years our family life included an active and engaged life with God and with the church in worship and family ministry.
I did not say perfect attendance! I said, we were active and engaged. The church wasn’t a building; rather, it felt like our second home with the bumps and hiccups of any household.
As my adult children have entered into this amazing season of life and the life of our growing family, I find myself leaning into the Hebrew passage, known as the Shema, that guided my heart and maybe it will provide you comfort as well as motivation from Deuteronomy Chapter 6:4-9.
4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
Plan to gather this weekend for worship in several different ways:
Meet in-person at either 8:30 or 9:45 a.m.
Meet on Facebook Live at 8:30 a.m.
Watch on our webpage a recorded version of the 8:30 in-person service.
We welcome Pastor Ron Schardt as our special guest pastor this Sunday. Pastor Schardt is a thoughtful colleague, former seminary professor, as well as a missionary and resource leader for the ELCA. He is also a member of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church and we are glad to share our time together. He will begin a new Men’s Small Group on Thursday evenings, beginning June 17 at 7:00 p.m. at The Patio at Holy Trinity.
Blessings to you and your household,
Pastor Katie
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