Seventh Sunday of Easter – May 16, 2021

Dear People of God,

Have your worship bulletin, Celebrate and Holy Communion elements ready, so we can join our spirits as we offer ourselves to God.

Pastor Jim will offer a song on guitar that has been a part of his life since he was confirmed at Good Shepherd Lutheran in San Diego, by Pastor Theodore O. Danitschek in 1980. It is a song that continues to express the prayer of Jesus we hear in the Gospel Reading today: “That they may be one as we are one.”  By devoting our lives to seeking to ever becoming more like the One sent to us from God we do our part in fulfilling Jesus’ prayer.  What does that look like in your life? How well do you know the ways and message of Jesus Christ so that you can be one with God’s Word for the world? 

The hymns are from Easter Sunday, so sing out loud with Pastor Jim as we celebrate the Risen Christ – the God of new and eternal life!

The following Sunday, May 23rd (Pentecost), we will gather in-person outdoors in our parking lot at 10am for a livestreamed worship service. I encourage everyone to wear something red to celebrate the color of the day – a sign of the Holy Spirit among us.

It is also a significant day for our church as little 5 yr. old Ila, who attended our preschool and whose Great-grandmother & Great-grandfather were some of the first residents of St. Stephen’s Senior Housing, will be baptized. This is the first baptism of someone from our preschool since it opened eight years ago, and the first from a family from St. Stephen’s Senior Housing. Thanks be to God!

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Sixth Sunday of Easter

Edited Version

This 6th Sunday of Easter, May 9th, we will gather in-person outdoors in our parking lot for worship. Holy Communion will be provided. Please wear a mask and bring your own chair. We will gather for a physically distanced fellowship time immediately following outdoors  for those who would like to. I encourage us to stay a little while and greet one another as we begin to slowly return to some of our regular practices. Coffee and goodies will not be provided just yet.

We will also be announcing the election of a new Bishop for the 190 congregations of our Sierra Pacific Synod, who will serve for the next 6 years. Please keep this election in your prayers as Barbara Rice, Kent Madsen and myself will be attending the first-ever virtual online Synod Assembly that began Thursday May 6 and ended Saturday May 8.

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Fifth Sunday of Easter – May 2, 2021

Here is the recorded service in our sanctuary for worship this 5th Sunday of Easter. We will be singing a new Easter song as the Hymn of the Day.

Print off the attached bulletin and be ready to sing and pray with Pastor Jim and Gary. Please have some bread and fruit of the vine ready for Holy Communion this Sunday.

Next Sunday May 9 (Mother’s Day) at 10 am, we will offer an outdoor/livestream worship service with Holy Communion. You can participate in the livestream by going to our website at 10 am.

Beginning in May and continuing through August, on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of the month at 10 am, there will be an outdoor, live-streamed worship service. The recording of that service will be available after 5pm on our website. Sundays: May 9, 23 / June 13, 27 / July 11, 25 / August 8,22. All other Sundays will be recorded on Fridays at 11am. and posted to our website by Sunday morning.

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Fourth Sunday of Easter – April 25, 2021

Dear Friends,

This Sunday, April 25th, we gather virtually for a very special worship service led by Lutherans Restoring Creation – an advocacy group of our larger church, the ELCA. The service is posted here on our web site. The bulletin for worship is posted here as well.

I hope you will look forward to participating with Lutheran Christians all over the country as we are fortunate to have this very creative opportunity to worship God as the Creator of all life.  It will also connect us to the whole world as this Sunday coincides with the observance of Earth Day where we are lifting up our calling to be caretakers of God’s good creation.

Here is the link to the website for LRC: www.lutheransrestoringcreation.org.  I encourage you to visit their website so that you can find more resources to help fulfill our work of being good stewards of all that God has made.

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Third Sunday of Easter – April 18, 2021

Edited Version

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

We participate in worship on the 3rd Sunday of Easter on April 18 at 10 am in the church parking lot. Holy Communion will be offered. You may participate through the livestream offered here.  If you can’t make it at 10am, the recording of this worship service will be available by 5pm on Sunday evening.

Print off the attached bulletin and Celebrate, so you are ready to sing & pray with your faith community!

Beginning this Sunday a designated “Fellowship Area” will be offered to encourage us to stay after the service and catch up, meet someone new and just be a little social! So plan to stay a little longer with your mask on and join Pastor Jim as we try to move back into some of our familiar practices that make up our church. Unfortunately, no refreshments will be served yet.

Also, if you are able to come early on the days we have outdoor worship at 10am, we can always use help setting up. Come anywhere between 9am and 9:30am.  

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