May 5th will be the 12th anniversary of my installation as pastor of Our Saviour Church. As I look back on these twelve years I am filled with happiness and with gratitude for all the ways in which our gracious heavenly Father has blessed me through these years. I think especially of all the many ways I have experienced the love and kindness of the members of this congregation. I am also acutely aware of your forbearance toward my limitations, weaknesses, indeed your forgiveness of my sins, my failure to love as I have been loved by God – and by you. Like any Christian, I can only live trusting in the cleansing blood of Him who died for our sins and rose again for our justification. I thank you and I ask your prayers. We do not know what the future holds for us as individuals or as a Christian congregation. But we do know Him who holds the future in His hands which still bear the marks of the nails, the marks of His love for us – though unworthy. In that sure knowledge we can face each new day with sure faith and certain hope.

On the second last day of this month we celebrate the Feast of the Ascension of our Lord, a celebration of our sure and certain hope that where He is there we too shall be – as Bishop Christopher Wordsworth (1807-1885) sings in his wonderful hymn (LSB 494) for Ascension Day:

He has raised our human nature
On the clouds to God’s right hand;
There we sit in heav’nly places,
There with Him in glory stand.
Jesus reigns, adored by angels;
Man with God is on the throne,
Mighty Lord, in Thine ascension
We by faith behold our own.

Like Christ’s incarnation and atonement and resurrection, His ascension is also one of the great mysteries of our faith. In a sermon for Ascension Day Pastor Ferdinand Walther (1811-1887), the Father Founder of our Synod, says that “the ascension of Christ is like the sun – the more intently one wants to look into it, the more blinded our eyes become, so that at last we cannot see anything at all; this work therefore belongs to those which are not to be fathomed at all but simply believed in childlike faith. The more simply we hold to what Scripture says about it, however, the more strengthening to our faith this mysterious article of Christian belief will become.” Come and join in celebrating this glorious mystery as we meet our risen and ascended Lord as He truly comes to us in the Holy Sacrament on Ascension Day!

The Spring Voters Meeting will be held on Sunday, May 18th, following the Divine Service. The Church Council will be elected and the budget for the new fiscal year approved. Every member of Our Saviour Church, eighteen years and older, is eligible to participate. Do come to the meeting and let your voice be heard!

Bert Buchanan’s sister, Marian Rollins, fell asleep in the Lord on Easter Monday at her home in El Paso, Texas, after a long illness, May the Light perpetual ever shine upon her and may Christ comfort Bert and all who mourn with the sure and certain hope of the resurrection.

Be sure to read Judy Volkman’s reminder at the end of this newsletter about our  Free Flea Markets which begin again on Saturday, May 10th. Judy also reminds us to support GEDCO and thanks you for your continued willingness to assist this effort through food donations. During the last fiscal year GEDO supported
– 4,679 households with food,
– 417 households with utility bills, 128 receiving financial assistance,
– 260 households with rental assistance,
– 2,673 children through CARES assistance,
– 378 people with assistance in finding jobs,
– 500 older adults with aid to avoid social isolation.

These statistics provide a window on the need which remains great indeed! Remember to bring personal items for the Helping Up Mission which has helped so many homeless men for so many years and now is also helping homeless women.

As we move toward summer, let’s not forget that, because of the recent expense of repairing our heating system, we are still asking for donations to replenish our cash reserves. We have received some very generous gifts! Let each of us give as we are able.

When we think about the tragic, ongoing warfare in Ukraine, in the Middle East, in Sudan and other parts of the world, as well as the recurring natural disasters here at home, we can so easily be overcome with a feeling of helplessness. So let me again remind you that one way we can help is through our Synod’s Contributor Care Line (888-030-4439) or by sending a check to LCMS World Relief and Human Care, PO Box 66861, Saint Louis, MO 63166-6861. Make your check payable to The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and mark the check for LCMS World Relief and Human Care. You can also donate through our Synod’s secure website: lcms.org/givenow/mercy.

We continue to remember in prayer Bridget Bauman, James Bauman, Christopher Bell, Bertha Buchanan, Dana Carmichael, Timothy Doswell, David Dowdy, Quilla Downs, Bunny Duckett, Joyce Eaves, Albert Ford, Frank Ford, Iris Ford, Yolanda Ford, Sean Fortune, Lynne Funck, Katherine Gray, Sherry James, Gloria Jones, Mary Mokris, Pastor Elliott Robertson, Julia Silver, Robert Siperek Jr., Lawrence Smallwood, Paul Swank, George Volkman, Gary Watson; Marvalisa, Sierra, Jonathan and Steven Gibson. Yolanda Ford remains at Future Care, 1046 North Point Road, Baltimore, MD 21224.

Although the world celebrates Easter for just one day – if it celebrates Easter at all! – the Church continues to celebrate Christ’s resurrection throughout the forty days of Eastertide and also on every Sunday throughout the year. Here at Our Saviour we continue to sing Easter hymns until Ascension Day, singing one of the oldest and most loved Easter hymns, Christ is Arisen (LSB 459), every Sunday. The Paschal (Easter) Candle burns throughout the Easter season. The five red wax nails in the Candle signify the marks of the nails and spear, still to be seen in the body of the risen Lord. As we sing in that wonderful hymn, Crown Him with Many Crowns (LSB 525): “Crown Him the Lord of love: behold His hands and side!”

In closing I want to thank Paul and Mary Techau, Jean and Wayne West, Bernie Knox, and Richard Brown who helped to make this year’s Saint Mark’s Conference a success; also Marlyn Williams, a member of Redeemer Church in Irvington who provided a delicious lunch on Monday, and Beth Skinner, a friend of mine and of the Techaus whom we’ve known since we were all at Immanuel Church in Alexandria. Dr. Edward Naumann’s presentation on the Mystical Meaning of Holy Scripture and Pastor Coats’s presentation on the life and work of Laurentius Petri (1499-1573), the first Lutheran Archbishop of Sweden, were well received, and we were all blessed by the preaching of Dr. Carl Roemer and Pastor Christopher Seifferlein. Pastor Brian Westgate’s work as organist – as always! – enriched our worship greatly. Video of the Conference services and presentations will in due course be available on Youtube.

I am always glad to hear from you at charlesmcclean1942@gmail.com or at (410)554-9994. Let us continue to remember one another in prayer.

Affectionately in our risen Lord,

Pastor McClean

Free Flea Market

On May 10th we will resume our annual Free Flea Markets. Right now we have a great inventory of both clothing and household items. We could use some summer clothing for both men and women in sizes small and medium. We have a faithful group of volunteers, but we welcome “newcomers.” Please let me know if you will be able to assist on the second Saturday May through September from 9-12 noon each time. This is our outreach to the community. We have been blessed with bounty and we need to share it.

– Judy Volkman

Heating System

Remember that we are still seeking donations to replenish our cash reserves which have been depleted by the cost of the repairs to the heating system. Please mark your checks: “heating system.”