Two months out Worch was quick to remind worshipers of all the Spirit
references in the liturgy, including the Confession and For- giveness and creeds: “We speak of the Holy Spirit each week, but many of us still don’t really understand this ‘spirit thing.’ Because of our discomfort with the concept of a spirit, we tend to move the third person of the Trinity to the back burner. … In this season of Easter it’s time ... for us to resurrect our understanding of the Holy Spirit and take advantage of the Spirit’s power.” For the past two years Community of Joy has created
Soon it will be time to ‘Prepent’
Y
our church is getting ready for Lent about now, publi- cizing soup suppers, midweek worship and perhaps the addition of some spiritual practices. But Ross L. Worch,
pastor of Community of Joy Lutheran Church, Hot Springs Village, Ark., would say it’s never too early to also plan for those days leading up to Pentecost, this year June 8. In fact, Worch (
cofjoy@sbcglobal.net) has a word for it:
Prepent. Advent prepares us for Christmas, Lent for Easter, Prepent for Pentecost, which he calls the neglected major festival. “Poor old Pentecost,” Worch wrote in a “My View” column (The Lutheran, June 2001). “No Pentecost carols. … No Pentecost shopping. No Pentecost candies. … Pentecost suffers from an inferiority complex.” But in recent years, the Spirit has blown some creative wind
into the Sunday of Pentecost in ELCA congregations. People are encouraged to wear red or other fiery colors, Scripture or prayers are read in various languages, and worship space is infused with arts and music befitting the arrival of the Spirit, the birth of the church. Two years ago, Worch preached a sermon the week before
Pentecost urging parishioners to prepare. “Why don’t we get excited about Pentecost? Could it be that we 21st-century American humans can’t seem to ‘get our arms around’ the idea of the Holy Spirit? Of the three persons of the Holy Trin- ity, the Holy Spirit is the most difficult for many of us to define and understand.”
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“prayer-ties” (pictured at left). The brightly colored cloth strips (2 1/2-by-12-inches) are available the week before Pen- tecost for folks to take home and write a prayer (or prayers) on them. Some are also available on the day of Pentecost. Worshipers then tie their prayer-tie to their neighbor’s
(starting in the aisles). Then the ties from each row are tied together and brought forward and placed on the altar. A prayer is offered as the individual prayers are raised to God. The next week, and for about two months, the prayer-ties are hung across the back of the sanctuary (about 8 feet up).
Good one! Brats N More Christ Lutheran Church,
Sedona, Ar iz., calls i ts annual fall fundraising event “Brats N More,” and it certainly is “more.”
Participants might leave having pur- chased a stay at a local resort, an Arizona Car- dinals autographed foot- ball or an airplane ride above the Sedona region. None of the money that’s raised stays at the church, but goes to Sedona and Verde Valley food pantries. Last fall more than 80 members and visitors attended, raising $12,000 through silent and live auctions. For more information, contact David Brandfass at
pastordavid@christsedonaelca.org.
Send congregational stories—both those for a specifi c month/holiday or your best timeless idea—to
julie.sevig@
thelutheran.org.
PHOTODISC
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