Two months out
Reformation reunion C
ome Reformation Sunday (Oct. 30), St. Stephen, Woodbury, N.J., will add a twist to what most Lutheran churches do that day—include “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” in the hymn lineup and don red. St. Stephen, known for taking on musical challenges and honor- ing major and minor festivals, has declared it reunion time. “We’re planning to have a home-
coming Sunday,” said Lawrence DePasquale, associate in ministry and parish musician (depasquale@
rowan.edu). Former parishioners will be invited back for worship, lunch, and an afternoon brass quintet and organ recital featuring music from the 15th and 16th centuries. The parish has a history of invit-
ing members back, but not regularly. “I guess the fall just seems like a good time, a good time to travel since there aren’t weather concerns,” DePasquale said. “It’s a good time for Lutherans to let the gospel shine and to remember the Reformation and how much [Martin] Luther loved the church.”
Former members won’t be getting a mass email, but a traditional invita- tion (a letter or card) “that looks like we’re reaching back to our roots,” he said. It’s that sort of attentiveness to detail that DePasquale tends to. Worship at the one (10:45) ser-
vice will feature Luther’s “German Mass.” The church’s music pro- gram is anchored by a choir made up of members, community folks and music education students from nearby Rowan University, where DePasquale also works. The Chorale Service (Lutheran
Book of Worship, page 120, in which parts of the communion liturgy are replaced with hymns) follows the tra-
38 The Lutheran •
www.thelutheran.org Good one!
Tea & story time
The Child & Family Institute Aptos, an outreach ministry of Christ Lutheran Church, Aptos, Calif., takes both story time and tea seriously. The Story Book Tea program gives children ages 5-11 and a parent or grandparent one-on-one time together over tea one Sunday afternoon each month (2:30-3:45 p.m.). First, a story is read to the group (a different theme each
month). Then families create a craft based on the story’s message. Later children and adults, like Beth Prichard and her son, Caden (pictured), sit at tea tables, where they’re served individual trays including teapot, cups and a treat. Teatime concludes with a group “heart blessing,” said Christine Cantando, director (
christine@familyinstituteaptos.com or 831-688-5727). The institute, founded on the belief that ritual and tradition weave family bonds into deepening love, also tends to relationships with older children. Evenings at the Hearth focuses on preteens, teens and parents; Evenings in the Garden pairs teens and parents. (And Faith-Full-Families is a luncheon with crafts for the entire family.) Both groups meet one Sunday a month to build communication skills and forge deeper understandings of family values.
Send congregational stories—both those for a specific month/holiday or your best timeless idea—to
julie.sevig@
thelutheran.org.
dition of Luther’s “German Mass,” though it will be sung in English. The Col- loquium Musicum Ensemble from the university will provide “a very renais- sance, that is, light, transparent and dancey atmosphere,” DePasquale added. “We’ll have everything but the ladies in pointed hats and the guys in tights.” The congregation provides an ongoing choral scholarship to fund four music students. It helps them pay for books, and the payback for St. Stephen, which doubles its average worship attendance of 150 on such Sundays, is a legacy of good sacred music at the church.
DePasquale’s tip: Reach out to local high schools and colleges for musi- cians. We’ve gained membership by offering the monthly stipend to music students with parents of those singers joining the parish.
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