Two months out
Shining a light on Epiphany
C
ongregations throughout the ELCA continue to create or discover meaningful ways to celebrate the Epiphany of our Lord, which is Jan. 6 (a Sunday in 2013). Donna Wright, an ELCA pastor, remembers the year at Lord of Love Lutheran Church, Omaha, Neb., when the worship planning team decided to focus on the theme “Light to the Nations.” Each of the weeks in the Season of Epiphany featured a different
country, she said. The highlight was communion bread from those areas: naan from India, pita from Greece, tortilla from Mexico. Each Sunday’s bulletin included a paragraph about that country. And every week a nation was included in the prayers of intercession. Worshipers found this practice meaningful, said Wright, now
interim pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church, Jamison, Pa., except the Sunday they had Korean bread. “The altar guild had purchased bread from a Korean bakery that came in a clear plastic wrapper with a lot of Korean writing on it. When I broke the bread open at the early service, I was caught off guard when I realized it was a Korean cinna- mon roll. There was a lot of chuckling at the altar rail.” At Trinity Lutheran Church, Lilburn, Ga., Epiphany worship is
“quick and kid friendly” because of the number of children attending, said Dale Sillik, pastor. “We gather in the sanctuary under the star (some glow sticks in a balloon on a fishing pole) and follow it outside behind some of our kids dressed as magi, stopping to mark the door of the church,” he said.
Then worshipers move on to the church’s outdoor labyrinth, where they add twigs of greens to the small and safe bonfire, and end by making s’mores. They have simple liturgies as they begin, at the door and at the fire, Sillik said.
For more information, contact Donna Wright at prdonnawright@
gmail.com and Dale Sillik at
pastordale@tlc-lilburn.org.
Good one! Blessing over conflict
In the rolling hills of south-central
Wisconsin, bikers training for endur- ance races whiz just a few feet from the doors of Vermont Lutheran Church, Black Earth. The area’s biking hot spot has not come without tension, how- ever, as residents complain of litter and road closures, said Gaila Olsen, church member and avid biker. Because the church is “at the heart
of bicycling nirvana and sometimes in the crossfire between bikers and driv- ers,” Olsen’s idea to invite both sides to a pancake breakfast was a measure in peacemaking. Chad Christensen (below), pastor
of Vermont, blessed the bikes and told the cyclists, “What you are doing is a healthy endeavor, and we hope God watches over you during this activity.” He gave thanks for the simple beauty of the bicycle and prayed for the vic- tims of road rage and bike theft. Though the breakfast was free,
attendees contributed funds that went to a nonprofit organization called DreamBikes, a bike shop in nearby Madison that recruits, employs and trains teens and young adults from the local Boys and Girls Club. The church has made the bike blessing an annual spring event, but has also blessed bikes in September.
Does your congregation do a specific ministry in March, April, May? Send details (or your best timeless idea) to
julie.sevig@
thelutheran.org. 62 The Lutheran •
www.thelutheran.org
EARL BRANDT
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