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Mission Bell A monthly newsletter of Holy Love Lutheran Church, Rocky Mountain Synod, ELCA
March
2016
In This Issue: 1 - From Pastor Matthew, Holy Love’s Mission Statement 2 - Office Hours, Thank you, Weekly E-mail 3 - Theology Pub, Social Networking, Adult Education, Sunday School, Women’s Bible Study 4 - Lenten Soup Suppers and Holden Evening Prayer, Holy Week, Palm Sunday Prayer Walk, Worship Assistants 5 - Youth and Family - HS Community Night, First Communion Instruction, Palm Sunday Pancake Breakfast, Easter Egg Hunt, Worship Assistants, Sunday School Devotionals, 6 - Holy Love Retreat, Summer Camp Registration, Help Wanted, 9Health Fair 7 - St. Swisem’s Day 8 - St. Swisem’s Day continued 9 - Calendar 10 - AMEXTRA, by Judi Vogel 11 - AMEXTRA continued 12 - Preschool News 13 - Preschool News and Fundraiser, Stewardship, Council 14 - Because of You 15 - Birthdays, Prayers 16 - Church Council, Staff Contact info
Mission Statement
Holy Love Evangelical Lutheran Church is
committed to proclaiming and living the Good News
of God's love in Jesus Christ as we gather for worship and study and scatter for witness and service to our
neighbors.
People of God at Holy Love,
I have to tell you – I love the way we embody community together. Sure, in worship on Sunday mornings, we sit together and pray together and sing together and breathe together and eat together. But, while worship is the most important thing we do as Christian community, there’s so much more to how you (the people of God at Holy Love) embody community.
In fact, the ways that happens in this congregation seem to me to be too numerous to completely articulate, so I’ll mention just one; and it’s one that I’m having a lot of fun with these days.
We’ve started a series in Adult Sunday School looking at the Social Statements and Social Messages adopted by our denomination, the ELCA. Now, I have to admit, rereading the previous sentence sounds pretty boring … like the Sunday School hour is a snoozer.
However, you’ve made it anything but boring so far, and I anticipate more of the same. Because here’s what I’ve seen this community do. I’ve seen you drink coffee together, without regard for who you happen to be sitting or standing with. I’ve seen you sit at tables together in a mostly random pattern (we don’t tend to cluster together with only the people we like … we’ll sit with anyone). I’ve seen and heard you disagree with each other about a wide variety of topics – but the disagreement has, without exception, been respectful and without malice. I’ve seen you, after expressing disagreement, talk with each other as if you had never found any difference of opinion.
In short, I’ve seen you recognizing one another as brothers and sisters in Christ, bound together not by political affiliation or opinion, but by faith and trust in God.
We will continue these conversations through the Spring, perhaps through the Summer, and probably into the Fall. I’m excited for the opportunity we have to explore the places where our faith meets our life beyond the church; and I’m most excited that we get to make those explorations together within this faithful and faith-filled community.
Thank you for embodying Christ for each other, and thank you for allowing me to serve as your pastor.
~ pr. m
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Pastor Matthew is available for emergencies any day at any time, and is available by appointment at any time between Tuesday morning and Sunday evening. In the event of a pastoral emergency, please call Pr. Matthew directly (720.301.9411). To make an appointment, you can call the church office (303.693.1162), call or text Pr. Matthew's phone (720.301.9411), send an e-mail ([email protected]), or send Pr. Matthew a facebook message (facebook.com/hikerrev). In addition, this is when you’re pretty likely, but not guaranteed, to find Pr. Matthew in the office:
Tuesdays - 12 - 4pm
(6pm w/later mtgs.) Thursdays - 10am - 2pm
Fridays - 10 am - 2pm
Jennifer is usually in the office the following days:
Tuesday - Thursday - 10am - 3pm
She will also have meetings away from the office from time to time. Jennifer works from home and checks her e-mail and will get back to you as needed. Jennifer’s e-mail is [email protected]. If you need to schedule an appointment or get a hold of her in an emergency, her cell phone (call or text) is 719.660.4022.
Keely is usually in the office:
Tuesday - Friday, 9am - 1pm.
She also works from home and checks e-mail and voicemail regularly. She will get back to you as needed. Keely’s email is [email protected].
Keely will be out of the office Good Friday, 3/25 - the week after Easter. She will return to the
office on Tuesday, 4/5.
Thank you for the cards, well-wishes, prayers and offers to help following my surgery. Georgia Lee and I feel blessed to be a part of such a caring family. --
Jim Laird
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Thank you to the volunteers who spent a morning preparing and serving breakfast at the Aurora
Ronald McDonald house. The residents were pleased to be served a hot breakfast and it felt good to
support these people in their time of need. Thank you to the volunteers - Brenda & George Pease,
Laura Flynn, Julie Hansen, Sue & Earl Weihe, Pam Engel, Lisa Harman, Alan Schmuck, and Peggy &
Bob Apmann. Thrivent Financial provided funds to purchase the food and paper goods.
If you are interested in organizing a meal, contact Peggy Apmann for more information.
303-693-1802 or [email protected] -----------------------
Thank you to The Holy Love Knit Wits for your contribution to the mitten tree! We collected 200
items from family and friends of Holy Love Preschool and Kindergarten!
Mission Bell
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Mission Bell
Theology Pub Pr. Matthew will lead a theology discussion with the group and their beverage of choice. There is also great pizza to eat.
Where: Lubo’s Pizza 15352 E. Ida Dr. (Parker/Orchard)
When: 3rd Thursdays of the Month Time: 6:00 - 7:30pm
Dates: March 17 April 21
Topics: Ecumenology Soteriology
Social Networking
Want to hang out with some other folks from Holy Love in a relaxed setting? Want to chat with the Pastor about ... well, anything really? Want to sit in a friendly environment with good people? That, essentially, is "Social Networking" at Holy Love . Please join us - March 2 ~ 6:30 - 8:00 am
(Green) Eggs and Ham Breakfast
Village Inn (Iliff & Chambers)
Adult Education Series Social Statements
of the ELCA
Sundays at 10am Fellowship Hall
3/6 Special Guest for Adult Ed - Mosaic Foundation presents Islam
3/13 Immigration 3/20 No Adult Ed- Palm Sunday Youth
Breakfast
3/27 No Adult Ed - Easter Sunday
to review before adult ed, please go to: http://www.elca.org/Faith/Faith-and-Society/
Social-Statements
Sunday School Classes
Sunday school classes take place at 10am on Sunday mornings. All are welcome. Talk to Jen-nifer with questions or to get your child in-volved. Classes are: Little Ones: Pre – 1st grade
Kiddos: 2nd grade – 5th grade Youth: 6th grade – 8th grade
Women’s Bible Study All women of Holy Love are invited to join our Women's Bible Study group which will meet once more before summer. The date is March 9 at 9:15 a.m. in the Youth Room and are finished around 11 a.m.
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Mission Bell
Worship and Music Notes
Lenten Wednesday Evenings March 2, 9 & 16
The evening will begin with a soup supper at 6:00pm in the Fellowship Hall. Sign up to bring soup, bread, etc. to share.
We will move to the Sanctuary at 7:00pm for a shorter service to sing Holden Evening Prayer.
Palm Sunday - March 20 8:30am & 11:00am. Youth Breakfast fundraiser in between services.
No Adult Education or Sunday School.
Maundy Thursday - March 24 Worship at 7:00pm. First
Communion for 3rd grade and up.
Good Friday - March 25 Worship at 7:00pm
Easter Sunday - March 27 Worship at 8:00am, 9:30 and 11am
Easter Egg Hunt after each service, around 9:15am, 10:45am and 12:15pm.
Urban Servant Corps
Palm Sunday Prayer Walk Sunday, March 20 @ 1pm 1660 Ogden St.
As Holy Week begins, you are invited to gather, learn, pray, and respond! Urban Servant Corps vol-unteers will lead walking tours around the neigh-borhood and placement sites where they serve to share more fully about the mission of Urban Serv-ant Corps, a ministry of the Rocky Mountain Synod, ELCA. Thanks to Bishop Gonia for leading the Clos-ing Litany! Please join us! You are encouraged to ask for “pledges” from friends, family, co-workers for this walk and bring those contributions with you on Palm Sunday! This event designed to share about the ministry of Urban Servant Corps and to ask for financial sup-port in working to fulfill its mission!
**NOTE: if there is a Colorado spring-time snow storm that day, this will be a Palm Sunday Prayer OPEN HOUSE!
Worship Assistant Sign-Up
Adults as well as Youth can sign up to participate in Worship on Sign-up Genius. Go to Holy Love’s website under “Worship” or “Youth and Family”
or follow this link - http://www.signupgenius.com/
go/20f0b48aead29a0f85-youth.
If you need help or even a tutorial, check with the office and we will be happy to assist you.
February is updated and ready for people to sign up.
For questions or more info, contact Debbie Anderson,
Keely or Jennifer.
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Mission Bell
High School Community Time
High School Youth! Come join St. Mark’s Lutheran, All Saint’s Lutheran and Holy
Love Lutheran March 3rd for dinner, conversation, and community time. Meet at Holy Love at 5:00pm.
(Location may change). Please let Jennifer know you are interested in coming!
First Communion Instruction
March 13 & 24 First Communion Instruction is for children in 3rd grade and up who haven’t received instruction on 1st communion as of yet. Talk with Pr. Matthew or Jennifer with questions or conflict with dates & email the office to add your child(ren) to the list. Dates to add to your calendar:
March 13 12:15 - 1:45pm - Class (Pr. Matthew would like a parent to attend with child, bring a lunch) March 24 5:30 - 7pm - Communion Bread (if want, parents can stay while the students make bread, eat before) March 24 7pm - Maundy Thursday Worship & First Communion
Youth Brunch Fundraiser March 20 Our Annual Palm Sunday
Youth Brunch needs your help. Please sign-up to bring a dish to share. We are looking for Hot Dish-es, Fruit, Rolls, Drinks, and more. This year, dona-tions will go to Camp Scholarships - helping to send our youth to Rainbow Trail Lutheran Camp or Sky Ranch Lutheran Camp this summer. Sign – up for the brunch will be in the Narthex. Thanks for all your help!
Easter Egg Hunt Easter Sunday - March 27 Holy Love’s annual Egg Hunt has moved to Easter Sunday due to scheduling con-flicts. Children Pre-K to 5th Grade will be
able to join us in between services on Easter Morning to hunt for Eggs. Easter
Egg Hunt will start approximately 9:15am, 10:45am and 12:15pm, based
on when service is finished. We are also looking for helpers that morning to hide eggs. Please contact Jennifer if you are
able to help out.
Easter Candy Needed Easter is coming soon! We have started
collecting Easter egg candy for the children’s Egg Hunt. Candy will be
collected in Jennifer’s office.
Worship Assistants Sign-Up
Sign up to help in Worship! Go to the Holy Love’s website under Youth and Family for a direct link. For questions or more information
contact Debbie Anderson, Keely or Jennifer. You can also click here -
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0b48aead29a0f85-youth
Sunday School Devotional
Do you want to hear what we are learning about in Sunday School?
Do you want to know some fun activities and Bible verse for you and your children to read during the week? Pick up a weekly devotional for your family on the Sunday School Board in the Holy Love Hall-way. There is a summary of what we are learning about in Sunday School Classes on one side and
bible verses to read and talk about the rest of the week on the other side. You can also download a copy on our website under Sunday Education at
www.holylovelutheran.org.
...continued on page 6
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Mission Bell
Holy Love Household Retreat at RTLC
Need a weekend out in the Mountains with your Holy Love Family? If you are a two person family, have two kids, are empty nesters or anything in between, join us for our Family Retreat at Rainbow Trail Lutheran Camp. Spend the weekend having campfire worship at night, hiking or snowshoeing (depending on weather) and enjoying some amazing views with a nice cup of coffee. Join us April 8 -10.
If you are interested, please sign up in the Narthex or talk to Jennifer for more information. Registra-tion Deadline is March 13, 2016. P.S. Invite your friends that aren’t a part of Holy Love -- they are more than welcome to come, too!
Summer Camp Registration is Open! Registration for
Summer Camp is open! Full weeks of Summer Camp range from 4th -12th grade. There are also Intro Camp weeks that are for grades 2nd and 3rd that are for a few days during the week. Talk to Jennifer for more information about camp and available weeks. Rainbow Trail Lutheran Camp www.rainbowtrail.org
Sky Ranch Lutheran Camp
www.skyranchcolorado.org
Property Team The Property Team is hold-ing it’s annual “We Need Your Help” drive. We begin mowing season in May. We have 8 mowing teams – each team mows about 3 weekends each summer. You don’t have to be mechanically minded to help – we even welcome whole families! A sign-up sheet is in the Narthex for both Property and Mowing.
Please call me with any ques-tions. Thank you.
Bruce Merritt (720)876-1065.
Nursery Help Kind, loving and caring volunteer(s) for the
nursery on the 3rd Sunday of the month at 8:30 a.m. At least one person must be 18 or over and complete and turn in a Safe Haven form to Jennifer Pulscher. Contact Jennifer ([email protected]) or Nancy ([email protected]).
9Health Fair at Holy Love Friday, April 15, 2016
7am - 12pm
Volunteers Needed! We are looking for both Medical and Non-Medical
volunteers, as well as people to help set up
Thursday night (dinner provided) and donate food for breakfast and lunch. Sign up by talking to Keely
in the office, signing up on the bulletin boards in the Narthex, or for day of the fair help, online at:
http://9healthfair.org/Volunteer/VolunteerLoginSignUp.aspx.
www.9healthfair.org
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Mission Bell
St. Swisem’s Day March 12, 2016
6pm - 9ish
Seating - 6pm
Dinner - 6:30pm Program, silent auction,
etc. to follow
Menu Choices
Vegetarian Lasagna – Bruce Merritt
Vegan Pot Pie – Pr. Matthew
Swedish Meatballs – Steve Knuth
Thai Basil Chicken over rice, with Hot
and Sour Shrimp soup, Egg Roll and
Crab Rangoon – Jim Laird
$10 per person per plate
Under 12 - $5 per plate
So we have been putting out warnings and blurbs that, St. Swisem is coming, but what do we really know about St. Swisem? Where did he come from? What did he do?
Well, rather than clarify the issue, I will attempt to create a haze so we can view this saintly figure in the context of his contribution to our lives.
THE LEGEND OF SAINT SWISEM
Born in a small town in northern Norway, Ole and Lena named their 5th son Siste. As this was to be their last son. Little is known of Siste’s early life; however, at the age of 23, he found employment at the Aqua Vit Distillery in Stockholm. Soon he was promoted to head bung banger, in the shipping department. After a few months tragedy struck when Siste fell into a vat of Aqua Vit, hence forth known as the Vit Vat. While struggling to get out of the vat and trying to consume as little of the product as possible, he would sink slightly and then bob to the surface. Seeing his plight, his fellow workers, shouted encouragement “swim! Swim! SWIM! Unfortunately Siste, who was bobbing up and down in the contents of the Vit Vat, was only hearing a partially garbled message. What he heard was Swisssm, swisssem, SWISSEM. In his alcohol induced stupor, he took this as a message from above and when he was finally
extricated declared himself to be reborn as St. Swisem. Unfortunately, this episode left him all washed up and he returned to his Native Norway.
When back in Norway, he adopted a puppy, which he named Rolf (pronounced Ruff). Together the two of them roamed the countryside and after selecting the least formidable of adversaries, they drove the TROLLS out of Norway. This fantastic feat preceded that upstart Saint Patrick’s attempt to drive the snakes out of Ireland.
Saint Swisem was a self-taught inventor. While he busied himself reinventing the wheel, he also stumbled upon a previously unknown and unneeded item which we use to this day.
The Phflugelbinder, which is currently in use on every shoe lace in America. What is a Phflugelbinder? Why it is that little metal tip (well now they are plastic) that prevents your shoe lace from unraveling. A truly useful and essential item.
St. Swisem considered himself an advent gard culinary genius. However, when his pizza restaurant promised same day delivery and featured lefsa and lutefisk pizza, it quickly folded.
While roaming the northern territories of Norway, St. Swisem met an untimely fate. An inebriate Laplander ran over St. Swisem. Leading Patsy and Elmo to write (although inaccurately reported) “GRANDMA GOT RUN OVER BY A REINDEER”.
The “further adventures of St. Swisem” will continue as more information becomes available.
So that is the legend of St. Swisem as I know it. But how did the commemoration of St. Swisem come about? And why do we have a Men Can Cook Too dinner? Men Can Cook Too began as a challenge from one of the Church Councils female members, her sad refrain was ”whenever there is a dinner the women have to cook. Why can’t the men do the cooking? So we picked up the gauntlet 4 years ago and it continues today. It was decided early on that the dinner would be a fundraiser for a cause outside of our congregation. We have raised money for Sky Ranch and Rainbow Trail, for 2 families that had medical needs beyond their ability. In all, we have raised over $10,000 in the past 3 years.
…continued on page 8
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continued from page 7...
Courtney Doell This year we are again raising money for a family that has what I would call catastrophic medical bills. Courtney Doell recently received a heart transplant and is now receiving anti-rejection drugs; the family’s co-pay is $2500/month. If they did not have insurance, it would approach $12,000 per month. In all probability Courtney will be on those drugs the rest of her life. Dad is a Denver police officer, her mom works full time, and they work alternate shifts so that one of them is home to care for Courtney. I would call that a tough situ-ation financially and also mentally.
Here is what attracted me to their story, police in general across our country are besieged with out-cries about excessive force, however, I did not hear one outcry of similar nature when the Mesa Coun-ty sheriff was shot. Are the criminals using exces-sive force? Seems to me that these men and wom-en continually make split second decisions that you and I will never have to face.
So here it is, an opportunity to support a local police officer and his family. A way to show that we care about “Blue Lives” in a concrete manner.
- Jim Laird
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Mission Bell
AMEXTRA Seeds of Transformation
By Judi Vogel For the past three years, I had noticed mention of a Lu-theran immersion program in Mexico City in my ELCA emails through an organization called Amextra. This program, sponsored by ELCA, is called “Seeds of Trans-formation” and I wanted to go. I talked to Pastor Mat-thew about it, and he said it was an excellent experi-ence so on the 29th of October, 2015, my sister-in-law from Anchorage, AK, (a Methodist) came to Denver and we flew to Mexico for this fascinating adventure.
When our flight landed in Mexico City, we were appre-hensive but excited. We had a couple of glitches finding the people from Amextra at the airport but soon met up and took a cab to the Lutheran Center in downtown Mexico City where we stayed for the time we were there. We settled in at the Lutheran Center and met our hostesses – Wendy Alcantara and Bethany Ulrich. At a small welcome meeting and orientation we were introduced to other people who had come for the pro-gram and learned about Amextra’s work and approach to working with disempowered people and communi-ties. That evening our chef, Juanita, served a wonderful traditional Mexican meal consisting of Chicken Poblano, rice, tortillas, vegetables, and beans. I immediately made friends with her and got some great recipes dur-ing my stay there. She knew very little English, I knew very little Spanish, but we managed to exchange ideas and our love of cooking. That evening our speaker was one of the founders of Amextra, Jose Alcantara, a Lu-theran pastor. He explained the founding of the organi-zation and the philosophy that “Transformation is not what we do for others, transformation is what God does to us when we enter into a relationship of equality with others. We don’t serve because we are already trans-formed, but because we are transformed when we serve.”
The next morning we took public transportation to an area called Tuititian. Tuititian is a marginalized com-munity a few hours north of Mexico City in the state of Mexico. It is home to one of the garbage dumps for the waste of the city where about 140 families work. Amextra runs education, nutrition and health activities (a dental clinic) vital to families there who are other-wise unable to access governmental services and health resources. Unless a child has a national identification card, he/she cannot even attend school, much less get health care. Amextra helps families get identification
cards for their children. The day we were there, there was a cooking program teaching women how to cook using soy for protein in their diets since many of them cannot afford meat or dairy products. It was amazing to learn the various ways soy could be used: Ceviche, tacos, oatmeal, and candied soy beans. We were not observers – we cooked with the women. I was with the group that made ceviche and I chopped tomatoes, on-ions, etc. Later we had a birthday party for one of the Amextra employees and learned they have a tradition – the birthday person tries to take a bite off the cake be-fore someone can push his/her head into the cake. We had a lot of great laughs with the Amextra staff that works at that center. On that particular day, the people who were gleaning the dump were salvaging copper by using a huge bonfire. They recycle anything and every-thing they can sell. That evening we went back to the Lutheran center and had three speakers: Pastor David Brondos (USA), Angela Trejo (one of the first women to become a pastor in Mexico) and Miguel Angel Solorza-no (El Salvador).
On the second day, we heard a Baptist speaker who gave a program on Globalization and Violence in Latin America. It was enlightening but somewhat shocking to hear of situations in the country of Mexico. We learned that sometimes people disappear, and some-times “are disappeared” which means someone else was involved in their disappearance. He talked about the 43 students who “were disappeared” in Iguala, Mexico in 2014. We then went to the San Angel Art Market which was celebrating its 40th year of opera-tion. It was very crowded and there was an unbelieva-ble amount of handmade arts and crafts available for sale. We left there to go to the Tochan Migrant Resting House. It was a safe house where migrants from Cen-tral America go until they can get the appropriate docu-ments that allow them to be in the country and/or find work so they can live on their own. Most of the resi-dents there were from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras (which have the highest murder rates in the world) and had arrived in Mexico via Le Bestia or “The Beast. ” The Beast is a network of Mexican freight trains (also called El Tren de la muerte – the Death Train) that migrants try to catch to get to Mexico or the United States. It can be a 1450 mile trek from the Gua-temala/Mexico border to the United States. It is an ex-tremely dangerous journey with many killed by falling off the train or by getting sucked into the wheels of the moving train when trying to get on. We listened to the stories of several men who had left their home coun-tries because they could find no work or felt their com-munities were so unsafe they could no longer stay there. Many of them destroy all personal identification ...continued on page 11
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of who they are along with all of their families names and addresses because there are people who will con-tact their families and tell them they are holding a rela-tive hostage and extort a ransom payment. One young man from Honduras had come to the United States twice and been deported both times, after serving six months in jail the second time. When asked if he would come back, he said he would not because he would go to prison for twenty years if he got caught as an illegal immigrant again. I asked him why he wanted to come to the United States and his answer sent a chill down my spine. He said “because you have the Rule of Law in the United States.” In other words, the police can’t just take you out back and shoot you. He didn’t want to come for gold or goods, he wanted to come for safety. There has been much controversy recently about how parents could send unaccompanied minors to the Unit-ed States with 1,000 having been sent to Colorado. Per-haps that man’s answer explains their desperation. We left the Safe House and went to the Day of the Dead Of-rendas on the University of Mexico campus. I had al-ways had a negative feeling about the Day of the Dead, associating it with Halloween because they are cele-brated at about the same time. We learned that The Day of the Dead is an ancient Pre-Hispanic tradition honoring the beloved dead and ancestors. The practice has its roots in Mexico but celebrations of this type are found all over the world. Ritual altars are built for the dead, some simple, some elaborate. Modern Halloween celebrations are discouraged in favor of traditional al-tar building and it is to be a joyous acknowledgment of the cycle of life, not a morbid occasion. We built a small traditional altar at the Lutheran Center with items commonly found as part of the Day of the Dead altars.
On Sunday, November 1st we watched a powerpoint presentation on the Virgin de Guadalupe and walked around the Lutheran Seminary campus before attend-ing the Iglesia Luterana Cristo (Christ Lutheran Church). The pews had been arranged in a circle (more like a pentagon) with the altar in the center. It was both comforting and strange to hear the congregation singing “Amazing Grace” and other hymns in Spanish that we sing at Holy Love. The hymnals were simple handmade booklets made of mimeographed pages which had been stapled together. There were no bound books, no bulletins or other “amenities.” Our hostess interpreted the sermon for us as the Pastor and his assistants spoke. I know a little Spanish and needed no interpretation when the Pastor told the people in the congregation they should not “treat other people
like cockroaches.” The congregants were very friendly and welcoming, asking us to stay for lunch. We de-clined because we had brought a sack lunch (made by Juanita) and had a schedule. We then traveled to the Basilica de Guadalupe, which is arguably the most im-portant religious center in Mexico. It is a large church with surrounding gardens and grounds, visited by thousands of pilgrims and is home to the imprinted cloak that is said to have been found on the Virgin Gua-dalupe, the patron saint of Latin America. It is one of the most significant symbols of the Mexican identity. From there we went to the Historic City Center (the Zocalo) which is the heart and soul of the old down-town. On the west side is the National Palace and on the north side of the Zocalo is the Catedral Metropoli-tana, the largest cathedral in Latin America. The huge altar there is made of solid gold and is amazing in its grandeur. Also in the Zocalo is Templo Mayor which are ruins from the Aztec. Because it was Dia de Los Muertos, there were thousands of people in the Zocalo plaza with music, food, and entertainment. We finished the day by having dinner at the historic Sanborns Res-taurant at the beautiful House of Tiles. Pancho Villa and Zapata met there during the Mexican Revolution and their photos are on the walls of the restaurant. Not once while in Mexico City did I feel threatened or un-safe. It is a beautiful, chic, cosmopolitan city with areas that could be in Paris or London. I loved it and I would return there on vacation in a heartbeat.
The final morning, November 2nd, we met for a final reflection on what seeds of transformation we would each take away with us, and then departed for the air-port to go our separate ways.
I have been to Mexico many, many times (30? 40?) – so many I’ve lost count a long time ago, but we have al-ways gone to resort towns – “umbrella in a pina colada on the beach” places. We have made small forays into Mexican villages and towns near the resorts, but I had never seen the Mexico I saw this time. I will never for-get what I observed and learned on this trip and would encourage anyone who is interested in a cultural im-mersion program to go and experience it. What you take away from there truly does plant Seeds of Trans-formation in your heart.
Thank you to The Holy Love Knit Wits for
your contribution to the mitten tree! We
collected 200 items from family and friends
of Holy Love Preschool and Kindergarten!
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SCHOOL NEWS
By Mary Stephenson, Director
Can you believe March is just around the corner! I can’t help but wonder if it will come in as a lion or a lamb?!?! Hmmm, we shall all know that answer soon enough. Fall registration for 2016-2017 is now open to all who wish to register. A few classes are filled with a waiting list, but we do have several openings in other groups. Please encourage family and friends to consider YOUR Preschool and Kindergar-ten for their child. Pink Day was celebrated in Preschool and Pre-Kindergarten classes. There was a lot of that color being worn those days! One had to blink a few times to get focused when going into the class-rooms!
February was a month filled with lots and lots of pink, white and red……….not only hearts but many other decorations. Did you happen to notice the “School Filled With Love” on one of the hall bul-letin boards? Rather a unique site of heart fish! Dad’s Mini School was a big hit. We had a very good turn-out with even a couple Mom’s or Grandpa’s filling in for working Dad’s. One little boy even brought his big brother which was fun to see their interaction. This is an annual event for child and guest to enjoy 1 hour of class together with a little play time, worship, music, story and helping to decorate the child’s Valentine bag for their upcoming party. Thank you to all who came and to the staff for giving up their Saturday! Valentine parties were enjoyed in all the rooms. We had great parents who helped plan and coordinate the individual parties. The children en-joyed “mailing” Valentines to each of their friends. We appreciate those parents who helped each child with the “mailing” task as well. All in all, everyone had a great time at their party! Worship with Pastor Matthew was very ‘musical’. He reminded us different instruments can play the same song but don’t sound the same. God hears our voice but we don’t all sound the same yet He knows each one of us and loves us just the same. Thank you, Pastor Matthew, for sharing your musical talent with us and the special message!
In Jr. Kindergarten and Kindergarten, the month of February is designated “healthy habits”
month. The children learn a new exercise each day and focus on healthy snacks. At the end of the month they go through an obstacle course which is set up in the Fellowship Hall. Each child receives a gold medal and certificate. We all could take les-sons from these children!!!! The Preschool children enjoyed a parade waving flags and marching around their room and hallway celebrating President’s Day. They each col-ored their own flags, too. It is fun to watch them march and follow one another! Pre-K children made 3-cornered hats to commemorate President’s Day. They learned the special song about the 3-cornered hat, too. Besides having special days in each classroom there was the regular letter/week and a new number. We can’t only do fun things every day!!! The Kindergarten children divided into 3 groups to create log cabins. Each creation began with a shoe box, covered each with frosting and pretzel rods for the logs. They enjoyed the creating and competition of which one was the best! I am sure we all would have thought they were quite ‘sweet’ to live in!!! Pre-Kindergarten classes celebrated Pajama Day. Nobody had to get dressed that day and each snacked on pancakes, clementine’s and milk. They could bring a favorite stuffed animal, too. The attire made life easy for parents when bedtime rolled around! Thank you to Kip Altman for helping to make the pancakes. We can’t forget ‘Crazy Hat Days’ either. We had some rather unique hats kids created at home. We did a parade around the school, too. We all enjoyed the one-man-play presented by LeRoy Leonard from Merry Andrew AFoote. He has been coming to Holy Love for many years and always has the children (and staff) laughing throughout the presentation. Thank you to PTO and the school for providing this gift to our children and staff. The weather outside has been delight-ful…………..at least the last half of the month. So ALL the children have been running and riding bikes and just releasing that pent up energy! The wind hasn’t been the best but just getting out in the fresh air has helped everyone! Of course, we know winter can linger longer than we want but we will appreciate each outside day we get!
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...continued from page 12 There will be a lot of activity during the next few months—only 3 left until this school year is over. YIKES!! So much to do but so little time……………………………….We know God is in con-trol and all will get done. We will be looking for-ward to a change in seasons. What a special time to share with the family—seeing the buds popping out on the trees, flowers awakening from a long winters nap, feeling the sun shining a bit warmer upon us—all these are gifts from God. Remember to thank Him for these gifts.
MARCH BLESSINGS!!
Preschool Fundraiser at Chipotle
Holy Love Preschool and Kindergarten will be having a Spirit Night at Chipotle, Tuesday March 8th. Location is Quincy and Buckley. Flyers will be available the week before this event. Come sup-port YOUR Preschool and Kindergarten as we will receive 50% of the proceeds! Times will be be-tween 4:00p.m. and 8:00p.m.
Stewardship Corner Do you ever drive by church during the week and wonder what all those cars are doing there? I of-ten used to think, what did I forget to attend? Do you know what happens at Holy Love between Sundays?
Take a look at the calendar in the narthex – there isn’t one day that’s left blank. Regular & special worship services , Sunday School & confirmation classes, choir & chimes rehearsals, women’s bible study, Knit Wits, church council & team meetings, scouts, Easter Seals, La Leche, scouts, local home-owners’ association meetings, NA, Harvest Dream Korean Church, Juwon Mosaic Church, and many others. Let us not forget our own Holy Love Pre-school which fills this building every week day. Every month at our council meeting we strug-gle to fit in all the facility requests we receive.
But who takes care of our church building? We are blessed with a wonderful property committee and all our members who volunteer to keep Holy Love running. Did you know that for several weeks in January we did not have a janitorial service – our preschool teachers and several congregational members (who insist on remaining anonymous) arrived early each morning to clean our building before preschool started.
What a great example of stewardship. Remember, stewardship is not just your monetary offering but also your time. Did you complete your time & tal-ent form? There are so many opportunities to get involved. What can you do to help? Join us as we continue to be stewards of Holy Love.
Joy Knutsen
Welcome to our
2016 Council!
Thank you for your willingness to serve. Below please find the list of Council Members for 2016. If you are ever interested in helping out on a com-mittee for one-time, short or long term projects, please let anyone from council or Keely in the of-fice know. We are always appreciative if someone new can help out in any way possible.
Name
Pr. Matthew
Jessica Breiding
Roger Collins
Steve Knuth
Joy Knutsen
Jim Lewis
Beth Moore
Rich Newman
Beth Newsom
Jennifer Pulscher
Jean Roenfeldt
Diana Stigleman
Mary Unrein
Lance Wheeland
Jim Wood
Debi Young
Liaison to/Role:
Pastor
Preschool
Treasurer
Property
Stewardship
Christian Education
Vice President/Personnel
Youth Ministry
Worship & Music
Faith Formation Director
Finance/Financial Sec.
Family and Care
Secretary
President/Executive
Evangelism
Social Action
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Tim Patrick March 2
Liam Sampsell March 2
Aidan Sampsell March 2
Shawn Newell March 3
Benjamin Zimmer March 3
Julie Kennedy March 5
Mike Rieger March 6
Robert Sprague March 6
Katelyn Miller March 8
Peggy Apmann March 9
Leigh Brazee March 10
Gayle Newell March 10
Makayla Quilhot March 10
Bobbi Riggs March 11
Michelle Kneipper March 12
Emme Hank March 13
Dellan Kirkwood March 13
Verne Roenfeldt March 13
Dean Cole March 14
Jean Schleski March 14
Laurie Seymore March 15
Vincent Liebchen March 17
Sharon Wolseth March 18
Kathie Haertling March 20
Hunter Wraalstad March 20
Kris Collette March 22
Logan Jones March 23
Bradley Seymore March 24
Riley Zimmer March 24
Nick Willert March 25
Ben Madry March 26
Lauren Smith March 26
Trevor Toft March 26
Roxann Hare March 27
Patricia Cole March 28
Amber Liebchen March 28
Michael Perry March 28
Sarah Herbrand March 29
Lily Moore March 29
Mark Ursich March 30
Hal Traver March 31
Our thoughts and prayers are with:
Gary and Michael Smith (family of Bruce, Val and Darlene Smith), Family and Friends of Kyle Longton (Susie Sellers’ son), Family and Friends of Chelsea Gold (Helen and Bryan Johns' friend), Family and
Friends of Jim Wolthusen (Amy Schmuck's father), Jim Thares (Kristen Trom's brother and Lucille Thares son), Cameron Stupanski (friend of the
Truett's, Harter's and Smith's), Elyse's Grandma, Stephanie Abbott (Marsha Abbott's sister-in-law),
Karen Davis and Family (Steve Knuth's friend), Randy Goings (Sabrina Jones' coworker), Keith
Barbier (Gayle Newell's brother), Hal Traver, Phyllis Mueller, Rosalie Engelhardt (Beth Whitney's aunt), Ed Truett, Jane Warner (Jolene Ebert's mom), Beth Gilease (Dave Yoder's sister), Nell Beshirs (Debbie
Anderson's aunt), Joey Wiseman (Caryl Young's great-grandson), Marian Madrid (Emily Yoder's friend), Yoav Weinstein, Paul Trippiedi (Debbie
Anderson's father), Julie Hansen, Elliana Walsh and Family (Former Holy Love Preschool Family), Renate
(Dorothea Madry's aunt), Jennifer Coffman (Greg Watson's niece), Reyna Olson (Joy Knutsen's son-in-
law's cousin), Kathryn Neumeister (Karen Then's mother), Heidi Lyster (Maridee Lyster's daughter-in-
law), Caryl Young, Bob Smith (Carol Walters' dad), Sandy Lahmann (Beth Newsom's friend), Bernice
Wallace, Darryl Harvey, Amber Miller (Beth Whitney's cousin's daughter), Suzanne (Friend of
Dorothea Madry), Zach and Sydney Brinkmann (Earl and Sue Weihe's great nephew and niece), Dewy
Hertz
Pray for our Military:
Stephen Terrell, Wyatt Stout, Garrett Beebe, Heath Terrell, Trevor Toft,
Matthew Lusher, Jason Anderson, Chase Pofahl, Tyler Pofahl, Lara Pitt, Alicia Phelps, Trevor Koch, Josh Mo-
yer, Jesse Newell, Malaina Collins
Ma
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irthd
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s at H
oly
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Holy Love Lutheran Church 4210 S. Chambers Road Aurora, CO 80014
Change Service Requested
Mission Bell
The Mission Bell deadline is the third Wednesday of the month. E-mail blast deadline is Tuesday afternoon. Bulletin deadline is
Wednesday afternoon. You may submit articles through the church office email, [email protected]
HOLY LOVE CHURCH COUNCIL
Lance Wheeland President Beth Moore Vice President/Personnel Mary Unrein Secretary Roger Collins Treasurer Jim Lewis Christian Education Jim Wood Evangelism Diana Stigleman Family & Care Ministry
Jean Roenfeldt Finance & Financial Secretary Steve Knuth Property Jessica Breiding Preschool Debi Young Social Action Ministry Joy Knutsen Stewardship Beth Newsom Worship & Music Rich Newman Youth Ministry
Pastor: Rev. Matthew Bolz-Weber Pastor’s Email: [email protected]
Director of Faith Formation: Jennifer Pulscher Jennifer’s Email: [email protected]
Office Manager: Keely Berge Teynor Church Email: [email protected] Phone: 303-693-1162 Fax: 303-699-9054 www.facebook.com/HolyLoveLutheran
Holy Love Lutheran Preschool and Kindergarten
Preschool Director: Mary Stephenson Preschool Phone: 303-693-8519
Preschool Email: [email protected]
Holy Love Preschool Facebook https://www.facebook.com/holyloveschool
www.holylovelutheran.org