LIVING PENTECOST  

By Pastor Renata Eustis 

“I love Pentecost,” our daughter May pronounced.  When I asked her why, she replied just as matter-of-factly, “I don’t know.  I just do!”  Maybe part of why she likes Pentecost is that there’s always a little something different happening.  This year, kids waved flames made of streamers in our gathering procession. We sang hymns from Central America and Africa, as well as Europe and North America.  Seven CLC folks shared their dramatic gifts in a chancel drama of the first Pentecost.  A multitude of languages was heard in worship as members took turns praying the petitions of The Lord’s Prayer in eight languages.  Red was everywhere—from the paraments to the parishioners to the pastries! (There is something about the color red that livens things up.)

I love Pentecost, too, but as a worship leader, it’s a little nerve wracking attending to all of the unusual things that are happening—and even though I’m the one who has been intimately involved in the planning of the service, I’m still a little on edge.  So it didn’t surprise me when an adult member told me she is always somewhat nervous about Pentecost because she never knows exactly what’s going to happen.  

As I thought about it, I realized that feeling is really in keeping with the “Spirit” of  

Pentecost.  The sound of rushing wind, flames on top of heads—there’s no way the disciples could have been expecting that.  How incredible to be speaking and suddenly have a foreign language that you never learned come fluently out of your mouth.  And as you pause to take a breath, you hear an assortment of languages pouring out of the mouths of your fellow disciples.  The only preparation the disciples had was Jesus’ words that God would pour out God’s spirit on them.  Whatever thoughts they had about this, I can’t imagine they had any clue about what was going to happen.

We’re on the brink of a new kind of Pentecost experience here that I would like to share with you.  Beginning Sunday, June 10, the Oromo Evangelical Lutheran Church of Washington, DC, will worship in our sanctuary at 1:30 pm.  This congregation began at Lutheran Church of the Reformation (Capitol Hill) in 1995 and has been worshiping at Grace Lutheran Church for 11 years.   Now it has become an ELCA “congregation under development.”  In April, the church council of Grace Lutheran Church asked the Oromo congregation to leave, stating that what is needed is “ministry of a single mind.”  The Oromo Evangelical Lutheran Church was in urgent need of a new place to worship.  

Several weeks ago, we were asked if we might be willing to host this congregation.  In our May meeting, the church council made the decision to host the Oromo Lutheran Church for an initial period of four months (through September).  During this time the congregation will share in the expenses, making a monthly contribution much as the Ethiopian Orthodox Church (Medhane Alem) does.   These four months will give us the opportunity to know each other better and to figure out how we can make this work in the best possible way.  

An obvious and natural question is why we would do something like this now as we are moving into a time when our space will be limited by the renovation work.  The best response I can give is that this is our Pentecost experience.  The Spirit’s timing is different than ours!  As on the first Pentecost, the Gospel will be heard by people in their own language.  Each week it will happen three times:  in Geez, in English and in Oromo.  

The ability to speak in different languages was a prophetic event.  This was a moment when God was speaking about the future of the church. Jesus had told the church to wait in Jerusalem until they received the power of the Holy Spirit.  But he also made it clear that the future was about going out—first more locally in Jerusalem, then regionally to all Judea and Samaria, and then globally to the ends of the earth.  God’s vision for the church is that we move from being huddled behind locked doors to being the ones who are going out.  

In a very real sense, this is our Pentecost experience now.  We are not literally going out, but we are opening our doors to another Christian community, to people who have come here from the “ends of the earth.”  We are being called by God to go out of our way, to extend ourselves, to offer hospitality.  The hospitality of sharing our worship and fellowship space means willingly inconveniencing ourselves for the sake of the Gospel.  Sharing our church building will take work and planning, as well as flexibility and forgiveness, especially during the time of renovation.   But we are also given the gift of responding to the movement of the Spirit, to the call of God to go out.

There are a few people for whom this change is convenient and exciting.  These are the young people who actively participate in both CLC and the Oromo congregation.  They are our confirmands, Sunday school students, acolytes, and crucifers who each Sunday participate in both communities.  There are already good relationships between the kids and youth of our two congregations.  

Like the first Pentecost, we don’t know exactly what will happen as we open our doors to share our worship, education, and fellowship space.  But I can’t help but believe that the children and youth are giving us a prophetic vision of what God wants for us.  It’s just as Peter preached (quoting the prophet Joel):  “I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy.”  

“Lights, Camera….Action?” 

By Vicar Jeanne Befano 

Wires, metal-edged boxes, duffle bags, cameras, lights, microphones, computers, and deflectors aren’t something we see in the nave everyday. Neither are bags of chips, candy bars and bottled water. But a couple weeks ago, the stone floor in front of the carpeted steps leading to the chancel looked like something out of a movie set.

Actually, it was a movie set!

CLC was the site selected for filming two interviews that will be featured in Discovery Channel’s The Lost Tomb of Jesus; the World Reacts. This documentary features the reactions to the first Discovery Channel film, The Lost Tomb of Jesus, which aired March 4. It claimed that a 2,000-year-old tomb that contained ten ossuaries (limestone bone boxes) belonged to the family of Jesus of Nazareth. It seems that an accidental bulldozing of a tomb in suburban Talpiot, Jerusalem unearthed these first-century coffins.

Typical of that period, many people wrapped bodies in shrouds after death and then placed them in carved rock tombs where they decomposed for a year before the bones were placed in an ossuary. Five of the ten boxes in the Talpiot tomb were inscribed with the names Jesus, Mary, Matthew, Joseph, and Mary Magdalene. A sixth inscription, written in Aramaic, translates to “Judah Son of Jesus.” According to the director and producer, Simcha Jacobovici, the findings also suggest that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married and may have produced a son named Judah.

Perhaps now you can understand why the Discovery people decided to do the sequel: The Lost Tomb of Jesus; the World Reacts!

I happened to answer the phone in early May when Cheryl Zook, coordinating producer, called asking if she could come by the church to consider it for the filming. She said they were looking at several churches in the area. After seeing it, the consensus was to use our beautiful stone building. It looked like an ancient Roman building with the indoor arches, she said. Plus, even though it was right on 16th street, it was quiet inside.

Originally the documentary was supposed to air on June 2, but it was postponed. Zook promises to call CLC and give us a heads-up when they get a firm date. We’ve also been promised a copy of it. 

I got the chance to take some photos after the taping was finished. They set up a mock interview for me, so that it looks like I’m actually shooting while they are filming! The photos are on display in the Fellowship Hall, if you’d like to see them. 

In this second segment, the world does react to the first documentary! Craig Evans, Ph.D., a professor of New Testament at Acadia Divinity College in Nova Scotia was one of the folks interviewed among the CLC arches. He strongly disagrees with the findings and was happy to talk with me about it for a while afterwards. Also interviewed was James Tabor, Ph.D., who is chairman of the department of religious studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Tabor was in the first documentary and supported the original findings.

I find the whole thing fascinating. Here we are, living 2,000 years after the uneducated, unassuming, and unpretentious Jesus walked the earth proclaiming God’s unconditional love and reconciliation for all creation, and the entire world continues to want to know more about him. The prophet Isaiah tells us that Jesus “had no stately form or majesty that might catch our attention, no special appearance that we should want to follow him.” Not the typical Hollywood-type! Yet we continue our search for the historical Jesus. Why?

I think there must be something to this Jesus! 

VISIONING UPDATE 

By Phil Hecht 

The Visioning Committee covered significant ground in May.  First, we recommended to the Council that we hire JFW, Inc. as our owner’s representative/construction manager.  The Council approved our recommendation on May 15.

Bob Waechter of JFW already has begun to review our architectural plans and to communicate with our architect MTFA.  Second, we received updated cost estimates, which are based on the construction drawings completed by MFTA.  

Not surprisingly, the updated cost estimates are higher (by approximately 10%) than the estimates we got last summer.  These higher estimates will require some rethinking of how we can carry out our visioning priorities at a cost that stays within our financial resources, but the members of the Committee remain committed to those priorities.  

Third, we worked with the Stewardship Committee to draft a capital budget that is distinct from the annual operating budget.  While the capital budget clearly will have an impact on the operating budget, it is important for the Congregation to see clearly what we have spent on the visioning process to date and what we will be spending on the renovation in the future.  There is much more work still to be done, particularly to define the elements of the renovation and the timing for the start and completion of construction.  Members of the Committee will give a full report the Congregation at the June 24 Congregation Meeting.

ANNUAL STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL 

June 10, 12:00 to 1:30 pm 

It's a new twist on our annual Strawberry Festival event!  Note the new "coffee hour" time of 12:00 to 1:30 pm, right after church.  No need to plan to go out to lunch.  Stay after church and indulge on all kinds of

cakes topped with whole, sliced, and mashed strawberries complete with ice cream and whipped cream.  It's a social occasion, so invite your family, friends, and neighbors to church and the festival.  We'll have pound cake, angel food, shortcake, and whatever else the donors of goodies bring.

It's all-you-can-eat for a free-will offering.  The Church Council will recommend to the congregation that the proceeds go toward Stephen Ministry.

Berries will be picked Friday, June 8, 9:00 am at Homestead Orchards.  Berry preparation will be at 8:30 am on Sunday (before church).  We need volunteers for both!  And don't forget to bake a cake!  We need YOU to make this new schedule work!  Call Joanne Noll, 301-530-2265.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS 

2007 YARD SALE DATES 

Saturday, September 29 

Sunday, September 30 

YARD SALE BENEFICIARIES for this year will be presented and voted on at the June 24 Congregational meeting.  Give your suggestions to Sylvia Glauster!!

The Ear of Christ

Susy Cheston and Artie Harris, along with Jill (6) and Sadie (5), have the use of a beach house on the Chesapeake Bay from April through October this year.  They are thrilled to spend weekends playing in the sand and water and find it a wonderful, life-giving place…although they regret that their visits to “paradise” keep them away from the special Christ Lutheran community.

Bonnie Sylwester has been accepted to the University of Mass./Amherst graduate school for admissions into the Policy & Leadership doctoral program with a concentration in International

Education.  Bonnie will finish teaching at the Polytechnic, Windhoek, Namibia in June. She plans to travel in Africa before returning home in August. Sara has been overheard to say, “I think I've died and gone to heaven...both children on the East Coast at the same time!!”

Alice Meyer and David Blakemore went on their fourth European river cruise – on the Rhine and Mosel from Basel, Switzerland to Antwerp, Belgium – April 13-28.  The detour onto the Mosel enabled stops in the fascinating Roman city of Trier and in Luxembourg, a new country for both Alice and David.  As usual, the ambience was relaxing and the food great as they spent a delightful two weeks only having to unpack once! 

This is news from Jerri Guo, a young Chinese student who attended CLC while in Washington DC as a Colgate intern now going on to Harvard learning Hebrew this summer. People who listened to her in Adult Forum were impressed by her deep faith and ability to love God first at all time. We certainly wish her well.

“I guess by this point you are wondering what I've been all up to.... Actually I've solved my financial issue at least for this year: I consulted in great detail with Harvard financial aid office and they've been very helpful. They informed me that a loan should by all means be the last option because the interest rate is not fixed, etc.... So my parents told other people back in China and some relatives of relatives covered the rest of the financial certificate left by that Harvard Education loan.... Anyhow, I still want to thank you very much for having me on your heart all this time! And of course I can never thank God enough for his grace.    

“My trip to Harvard was a quite mixed experience.... On the whole people are right in saying Boston people are "cold" comparatively speaking. But there are also more opportunities to meet with serious intellectual-oriented people. For example I was actually able to speak with a few people about big metaphysical topics--something that has never happened to me in New York.

I will be going in June to start with Hebrew summer classes. That way if i work really hard hopefully I'll be qualified enough to study the Bible in the original language at least by the third semester. (How exciting that would be!!!) Meanwhile I should start GRE preparation early because 2 years will just fly by and I will have to devote the last semester to PhD application. Also I am aware I must keep getting very good grades so that I could qualify for future scholarships.... It will be so much hard work but as you know, the most important thing is to trust in our great God. 

“My best regards to everyone at the Lutheran Church!” 

Thanks for Endowment Fund Gift to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans 

By Cheryl Beversdorf 

On behalf of the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans (NCHV), I want to sincerely thank Christ Lutheran Church for the grant of $2000 from the Endowment Fund to cover some expenses associated with NCHV’s Annual Conference, to be held June 4-7, 2007 in Washington, DC. 

NCHV is the only national nonprofit organization specifically dedicated to improving opportunities for homeless veterans to regain control of their lives and once again become contributing members of society.  NCHV is the resource and technical assistance center for a national network of community-based and government service providers that provide emergency and supportive housing, food, health services, job assessment, training and placement assistance, legal aid, and case management support for more than 150,000 homeless veterans each year.  

Each year, our three-day Annual Conference offers workshops, training, and networking opportunities to build the capacity of community-based veteran assistance organizations.  The Conference also enables attendees to learn about what other organizations are doing to help homeless veterans across the country, and to interact with key leaders of the homeless veteran assistance movement.

Conference attendees include NCHV member organization leaders, which include over 260 community-based veterans assistance organizations from 48 states and the District of Columbia; representatives from federal and state veteran services agencies, including the Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Labor and Department of Housing and Urban Development; and other advocates and service providers interested in gaining knowledge, skills, and capacity to better serve homeless and near-homeless populations. 

As a sponsor of the NCHV Annual Conference, Christ Lutheran Church will be highlighted on all Conference and Awards Banquet materials and signage.  The Christ Lutheran Church name and logo will also be featured on NCHV’s website and in promotional materials.

If you or someone you know wishes to make a donation to NCHV, checks can be made payable to NCHV and sent to 333 ½ Pennsylvania Avenue, SE, Washington, DC 20003. 

Thank you so much for the grant to NCHV.  It is greatly appreciated!

VBS on the GREAT BIBLE REEF!! 

By Sylvia Glauster 

It's that time of year again – time to start looking forward to Vacation Bible School at CLC.  We're doing VBS a little earlier this year: we'll meet from 6:00 to 8:00 each evening from June 25 through June 29.  Registration forms will be available soon.  

Not only are all the young people at CLC (and their parents) encouraged to save those dates, so are all the not-so-young!  VBS is such a good time that we don't want anyone to be left out.  Grownups!  If you think you might be interested in coming along to sing and play and celebrate God's love with us any or all of those evenings, please contact Carolina Glauster (carolina.glauster@gmail.com or (301) 429-0977).  We need volunteers to help with dinner, with crafts, games and song leading, and so much more. We'll be happy to find the perfect way for you to get involved in all the fun, however much or little time you have to spend with us.

This is a new graphic in the Messenger and in our bulletin! It is the Stephen Ministry logo, which consists of a cross and a circle, together with a broken person and a whole person. The broken person stands behind the cross, symbolizing the brokenness in our lives as a result of our sin. The whole person stands in front of the cross because it is through the cross of Christ that we are again made whole. The circle symbolizes both the wholeness we receive through Christ and God’s unending love for us. As a Stephen Ministry Congregation, each of us is called to be instruments of God’s healing love for each other and all of creation. For more details about our newly forming Stephen Ministry, contact Pastor Renata, Carla Howery or Vicar Jeanne.

STEPHEN MINISTRY EMPHASIZES SERVANTHOOD, NOT SERVITUDE 

By Carla B. Howery, Stephen Ministry co-leader 

Stephen Ministry includes a formal curriculum of fifty hours of training, which our faithful foursome is moving through quite nicely!  Some of the training involves paperback books which are available for anyone to buy and read.  Two books we have found helpful are:

        Christian Caregiving:  A Way of Life

        Speaking Truth in Love

I have a few copies of each book which I can resell, at cost, to CLC members who are interested in them. 

In Christian Caregiving, author Kenneth Haugk speaks about the difference between servanthood and servitude.  The ideas that follow are not my own, but from Haugk and other Stephen Ministry materials.

Jesus said of himself, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45).  Jesus demonstrated the freedom with which he served in John 13: 3-5:  “Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God, so he got up from the meal , took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist.  After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.”  Jesus, knowing who he was – the Lord, creator and upholder of all creation – served.  Similarly, if we know who we are in God – “perfectly free lord of all, subject to none,” as Martin Luther said – we are freed to serve.

Sometimes, however, we serve out of guilt, fear, and a half-hearted sense of obligation.  This is servitude, not servanthood.  It is more harmful than helpful, both to ourselves and to others.

John Timmerman describe servitude another way in his book The Way of Christian Living.  He calls someone locked in servitude a “do-gooder” – doing good things in the world out of a sense of obligation, duty, and virtue.  Servanthood he likens to “doing good in the name of the Lord.”  Timmerman says: “The fruit of goodness must be understood above all as ‘doing the right thing.’  Goodness has purpose and authority behind it.”  Servanthood, then, is doing good with purpose and authority, obediently following the will of God.

As Stephen Ministers think about this important distinction, they examined four common pitfalls: 

• Overidentification with a person and his/her problems  

• Superficial sweetness and gushiness  

• Being manipulated  

• Begrudging care 

Of course the challenge is to figure out to which pitfalls we are most susceptible and how to avoid sliding into servitude. 

With Christian caregiving, as with all aspects of our life, we will be at least partly unsuccessful in practicing our Christianity unless we center our life on Jesus Christ. 

Americans divided over retirement outlook 

Baby boomers today are experiencing a sense of “double vision” about retirement, holding a divided outlook on their future in the years to come. 

In a fall 2006 survey of 2,500 U.S. adults age 45 to 64 by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans entitled “Thriving in Retirement,” most pre-retirees have an optimistic vision of retirement, but many also foresee potential obstacles that may keep them from thriving. For example, although a majority of respondents (56 percent) expect to enjoy a standard of living equal to or better than their parents, 37 percent of pre-retirees feel that they will worry about money for retirement more than their parents. 

Although retirement concerns clearly exist among baby boomers, these concerns haven’t clouded boomers’ overall vision of how they hope to spend retirement. Almost half of all pre-retirees surveyed intend on traveling within the United States in retirement. Another 39 percent stated that they envisioned spending more time with family. 

Having a retirement vision is a critical first step in preparing for retirement. It is wise to take time to actually write down one’s vision of retirement. This can both help alleviate retirement concerns and assist in developing effective strategies to reach one’s goals.  

Online retirement analysis tools, such as ThriveQ (www.thriveq.com) can help a person consider his or her retirement dreams. In developing a vision of retirement, seek tools that offer more than a “dollar amount” to accumulate. Good tools will integrate one’s personal values, aspirations, hopes and dreams with nitty-gritty financial information.

Once a vision of one’s retirement dream in place, it becomes easier to set the financial goals needed to achieve the dream. While the Thrivent Financial survey revealed that baby boomers are inclined to discuss their retirement vision with family before meeting with a professional, it is important to engage a financial professional, as he or she can provide counsel on a variety of retirement preparation tools and services.  

Financial services – including survey analyses, retirement accumulation programs, and retirement income distribution programs – are offered by many financial professionals. These professionals can provide financial direction through the development of an objective, in-depth financial program that aligns with one’s vision. The result is a comprehensive strategy created to meet specific, individual retirement goals. 

The point of identifying a retirement vision is to live it. Once a vision is determined – whether that be buying that long-sought lake home, being able to afford to travel across the United States or overseas, being freed to spend more time in volunteer service with one’s favorite charity or being able to spend quality time with one’s grandchildren -- one can begin taking steps to achieve it.       

Whether envisioning retirement creates promise or panic, having a vision of retirement is still the first step toward thorough financial analysis. And, as baby boomers plot their retirement dream, both financial resources and professionals can help turn that vision into a reality with strategies to suit individual needs. 

Greg Roemer is a Financial Consultant with Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, a not-for-profit Fortune 500 financial services membership organization helping nearly 3 million members achieve their financial goals and give back to their communities.  Greg can be reached at 202-249-9886  or greg.roemer@thrivent.com.

Registered representative for securities offered through Thrivent Investment Management Inc., 625 Fourth Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN, 55415-1665, 1-800-THRIVENT (800-847-4836), a wholly owned subsidiary of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. Member NASD. Member SIPC. 

CIRCLE THE WAGONS    

July 29, 3:00 pm

Carla Howery’s home

Mark the time and date!! All CLC women are invited to come for an afternoon of relaxing fellowship away from the slings and arrows of daily life!  No need to bring anything but yourself.  

Join us for a loving sendoff to Sandy Smith, who is moving to her new State Department post in Jordan.  

If you would like to host a September Circle, contact Carla Howery.

DINNERS FOR 8 -- round two!  

By Carla B. Howery

All those who indicated an interest in the Dinners for Eight should have received a letter and a list of the diners in their group.  We have a few openings, so if others are interested, please contact Carla Howery in the near future.

Dinners for Eight is an opportunity for members of Christ Church to get to know one another more informally.   Each group meets four times over the course of a year for a meal, rotating the location.   Then the group disbands and new groups form.   We are now in our second round of groups and it surely has been fun and delicious fellowship!

Carla.howery@gmail.com 

CALLING ALL VOLUNTEERS! 

Meal Program Volunteers: Samaritan Ministry of Greater Washington (SMGW) and the Loaves and Fishes program of St. Stephen and the Incarnation Church in NW DC, are seeking Meal Program Volunteers to get to know noonday guests at meals each Saturday and Sunday, as well as Monday holidays. This unique partnership is an opportunity to help meal program attendees connect with the appropriate local resources and programs like Samaritan Ministry.

Volunteers will receive specialized training and will be asked to commit to at least one visit to Loaves and Fishes per month. Volunteers should have good interpersonal skills and a desire to work with individuals who are homeless, hungry, and poor.

Training for this important new effort will be held on Saturday, June 9, 2007 from 9:45 - 2:45 pm at St. Stephen’s (1525 Newton Street NW) and will include information on issues relating to homelessness, as well as basic community resources.

To register for the training, contact Catherine Rodman at rodman@samaritanministry.org or 202-722-2280. 

**Space is limited so advanced registration is required!**