Parish Newsletters

Our Saviour Parish News, February, 2020

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OUR SAVIOUR LUTHERAN CHURCH

3301 The Alameda
Baltimore, MD 21218
410.235.9553
FEBRUARY, 2020

Wednesday, February 26
ASH WEDNESDAY
Soup Supper, 6:30 P.M.
DIVINE SERVICE
WITH IMPOSITION OF ASHES
7:30 P.M.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

The beginning of February brings the last festival of the Christmas Cycle of the Church Year – Advent, Christmas, Epiphany – the Festival of the Presentation of our Lord in the temple. The end of February brings with it Ash Wednesday, the First Day of Lent.

Because the Savior was taken by His parents to the temple at Jerusalem on the fortieth day after His birth, the Festival of the Presentation of our Lord is always kept on February 2nd. Since February 2nd usually falls on a weekday, not on Sunday, we rarely have opportunity to keep this bright festival. This year we do. Saint Luke in his Gospel tells us all about it: Luke 2:22-40. There we learn that the little Lord Jesus was greeted by the aged Simeon who took Him up in His arms and said, “Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace according to Thy word, for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation…” (Luke 2:28,29) and went on to declare the infant Lord to be “a light to enlighten the Gentiles” (Luke 2:32). The theme of Christ as the true Light, come to dispel this world’s darkness, accompanies the whole Christmas Cycle of the Church Year: on Christmas Eve we hear the words of the prophet Isaiah, “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light”(Isaiah 9:2); on the Feast of the Epiphany we hear Isaiah’s words, “Arise, shine, for your light has come”(Isaiah 60:1); and now on the Feast of the Presentation we hear the words of Simeon, “A light to enlighten the Gentiles.” And because of these words of Simeon it became the custom to have a candle-light procession on this festival, a custom which gave to this festival the name “Candlemas.”

The Christmas Cycle of the Church Year – Advent, Christmas, Epiphany – ends with the first Sunday in February. The next Sunday is the beginning of the Easter Cycle of the Church Year – Pre-Lent, Lent, Holy Week, Easter, Ascension, Pentecost.

The three Pre-Lenten Sundays have Latin names which reflect the nearness of Easter: approximately seventy, sixty, and fifty days until Easter: Septuagesima, Sexagesima, Quinquagesima. February 26th is Ash Wednesday. I regret that in many places the Pre-Lenten season has disappeared. I regret this because its disappearance tends to deprive us of a time of preparation for Lent. I believe that we need time to consider how we will use the holy season of Lent; the Pre-Lenten season provides us with an opportunity to do just that. In the ancient Church the forty days of Lent were the time to prepare candidates for the Easter baptisms. For us who have been baptized, the Lenten season should be a time of returning to our baptism, a time of greater intensity in living the baptismal life as we learned in the Catechism:

“What does such baptizing with water indicate? It indicates that the Old Adam in us should by daily contrition and repentance be drowned and die with all sins and evil desires, and that a new man should daily emerge and arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.”

I will have more to say about Lent in the March newsletter. For now I will simply note that the three traditional Lenten disciplines are prayer, fasting, and alms-giving. Our Lord speaks of this in His Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:1-21). These disciplines can so easily become an occasion for sinful pride, for works righteousness. The words of the Savior show us how they are meant to be a blessing to ourselves and others

We will as usual have soup suppers on the Wednesdays in Lent beginning on Ash Wednesday. Divine Service on Ash Wednesday will as usual begin at 7:30 P.M.; the soup supper begins at 6:30 P.M. There is on the piano in the front of the church a sign-up sheet for those who wish to provide the soup on these Wednesdays.

Mary Techau gives us this update of the work of our Historic Preservation Committee. “In early 2020 we will be applying for a Maryland Bond Bill for capital improvements to our building, mainly the education wing, and also applying to the Maryland Historic Trust for a capital grant for renovation work. Once capital improvements are complete, we will be able to offer more ways to help in our community. The initial phase of our project will include roof, gutter and storm water repairs to ensure a safe and dry building.” It is worth remembering that we are able to make these applications because our building has been placed on Baltimore’s Historic Preservation list.

Do remember in your prayers those whose names appear each Sunday in the bulletin. As of this writing Lawrence Smallwood is recovering from surgery at Union Memorial Hospital. Quilla Downs has suffered several deaths in her extended family. Julia Silver continues to seek healing and asks for continued prayers.

I often find myself telling friends and acquaintances that I am blessed to serve a congregation whose people are generally good natured. I – sadly! – cannot say that of every congregation I have served! I think we need to be profoundly grateful for this blessing and seize every opportunity to draw others into this fellowship of faith and hope and love. You are in my prayers. I depend on yours.

Affectionately in our Lord,

Pastor McClean

Works of Mercy

Prior to Christmas, food gift cards were delivered to designated families at Waverly Elementary/Middle School; the social worker, on behalf of the recipient families, expressed warm thanks to our congregation for our sustained remembrance and support during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. Again, many thanks to all of the generous donors who made our commitment to our community outreach a success.

Not to forget our recovering brothers and sisters at the Helping Up Mission. Because of the large and continuing number of residents served by the Mission, the need for clothing and grooming supplies is endless. We will continue to collect grooming items (soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant, body powder etc.) and gently used or new clothing items, until we have a significant supply to deliver. If you would prefer to make a personal delivery, it would be welcomed, and you will be impressed with the efficiency of the operation. The Mission is located at 1029 East Baltimore St, Baltimore, Md. 21202.

Please remember to share your loose change by depositing it in the Poor Boxes; the proceeds will be used to purchase needed items for the Mission. Many thanks, and may God continue to bless you and our church family throughout the new year.

–Qulla Downs

 

Parish Newsletters

Our Saviour Parish News, January, 2020

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OUR SAVIOUR LUTHERAN CHURCH

3301 The Alameda
Baltimore, MD 21218
410.235.9553
JANARY, 2020

Monday, January 6
THE EPIPHANY OF OUR LORD
DIVINE SERVICE, 7:30 PM

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Let me begin by thanking you for your Christmas greetings and gifts. It means a lot to be kindly remembered! Let me also thank everyone who helped decorate the church for Christmas. Many hands make light work, and as usual we completed this happy task in little more than an hour.

The first Monday of this month and of this new year is the bright Festival of the Epiphany of our Lord when the Church remembers and celebrates the coming off the wise to worship the infant Savior. The word Epiphany means appearing, revelation, showing forth. At Christmas God appears in the world as Man, at the Epiphany this Man appears as God. The coming of the wise men is both a fulfillment of prophecy and itself a prophecy of all nations coming to faith in the Lord Jesus as God and Savior of the world. At the Divine Service of the Epiphany we will sing familiar carols which speak of the visit of the magi: The First Nowell, What Child is This, and We Three Kings of Orient Are. Epiphany immediately follows the Twelve Days of Christmas and is a joyful conclusion of our Christmas celebration.

By now most of you will have heard that our organist, Marie Herrington, will be moving on to a new position after the first Sunday in January. We are truly sorry to see her go because she has contributed so much to our worship. Those of you who were in church on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day know just how true this is! We are all the beneficiaries of her faithful — and thoroughly competent – service. We have come to cherish Marie and we truly wish her well in all her endeavors. She may from time to time be with us to play the organ. We have engaged a substitute organist for most of the month of January; the Church Council and I are looking for someone to fill this position. Pray for God’s guidance and blessing on this endeavor.

Remember in your prayers Merton Masterson who mourns the death of his father. May the Light perpetual ever shine upon him and may the risen Lord comfort all who mourn his departure.

We continue to work on the project of restoring the mechanisms which play the bells in our church tower. We recently received a generous gift of a thousand dollars for this purpose. Do be on the lookout for individuals who might be interested in helping with this project. The playing of the bells before the Divine Service has been a lovely custom and the bells are in fact a witness to the presence of Christ’s church here in our neighborhood. The bells have been here since 1934, just four years after the dedication of this church building. We look forward to the day when they will ring out again! By the way this new year brings the 90th anniversary of the dedication of this church building.

I doubt that anyone will disagree with me when I say that we begin this new year in a deeply troubled world. For one thing, it seems that so much is unsettled! How then shall we live? What are we to make of all this? Well first we need to remember that “the world, the flesh, and the devil” are not only the clear teaching of Holy Scripture; they continue as a fearsome reality in this fallen world and will continue until the Lord Jesus comes again in glory to judge the living and the dead. And since that is so, we Christians are – as Saint Peter addresses the recipients of his first Letter – “sojourners and exiles” (I Peter 2: Il) in this world; as Saint Paul says, “our citizenship is in heaven and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus” (Philippians 3:20) and “we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4: 18).

In a deeply troubled world this teaching most certainly doesn’t “solve all our problems” but it makes it possible for us to keep things in perspective: to do what we are able to do in addressing its problems, but also to remember that we are finally only on a journey through this world to that home which will be home indeed.

If you need a ride to church, please do not hesitate to contact me by telephone (410.554.9994) or email (charlesmcclean42 a, tnailecom). If I am not myself able to give you a ride, I will make every effort to see that you get one. And please do not hesitate to contact me if you should be sick or simply wish to talk. Among other things, that’s what pastors are for!

Wishing you a truly happy new new, I am

Affectionately in our Lord,

Pastor McClean

Works of Mercy

Thanks to your generous donations of food items, 5 crates of food were delivered to CARES. They were running low on items and we had a good stock, so we were able to assist them at a crucial time. Now we need to restock for them!

As you return to the normal day to day routine, remember that we need items for the Free Flea Market. We need to completely restock with new items in order to keep up the interest in our outreach. Clothing for warmer weather is most appropriate for us. We don’t get many requests for children’s items. Household items, books, games, etc. are also welcome. Please make sure the items are clean and gently used. Donations can be left in the room downstairs, across from the Multi-Purpose room. Thank you for your continued support. We will start up again in May.

–Judy

 

Parish Newsletters, Uncategorized

Our Saviour Parish News, December, 2019

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OUR SAVIOUR LUTHERAN CHURCH

3301 The Alameda
Baltimore, MD 21218
410.235.9553
DECEMBER 2019

CHRISTMAS AT OUR SAVIOUR

CHRISTMAS EVE – FESTIVAL DIVINE SERVICE, 7:30 P.M.
CHRISTMAS DAY – FESTIVAL DIVINE SERVICE, 10:00 A.M.
First Sunday after Christmas Day – Divine Service, 11:00 A.M.
New Year’s Eve – Divine Service, 7:30 P.M.
Second Sunday after Christmas Day – Divine Service, 11:00 A.M.
THE EPIPHANY OF OUR LORD (Monday, January 6) -FESTIVAL DIVINE SERVICE, 7:30 P.M.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

In the Divine Service of Christmas Eve we always hear the words of the prophet Isaiah, “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great Light.” That great Light is Mary’s Child whose name is “Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.” That is the wonder of Christmas: that out of love for you and for me and for every human being God’s eternal Son took upon Himself our flesh in the womb of the lowly virgin Mary and was born in Bethlehem to save us. I love these words of Martin Luther’s Christmas hymn, “From Heaven Above to Earth I Come”:

These are the tokens ye shall mark:
The swaddling clothes and manger dark;
There ye shall find the Infant laid
By whom the heavens and earth were made.

It is easy to sympathize with some words of that learned and devout 17th century Christian, Blaise Pascal -mathematician, physicist, inventor and theologian – who, contemplating the unimaginable vastness of the universe, once said, “The eternal silence of these infinite spaces frightens me.” But that silence was broken when God appeared in the flesh to be our Savior. He is the bright Light which dispels all the darkness.

The first of December is the First Sunday in Advent, the beginning of the new Church Year, and the beginning of the season in which we prepare for the Christmas celebration. Advent is a time of quiet reflection and anticipation as we contemplate the three-fold Coming of Christ: His coming in humility as Mary’s Child, His constant coming to us in His holy Word and Sacraments, His coming again in glory at the Last Day as Judge of the living and the dead. Advent is not so much a season of celebration as it is a season of expectation. It is a season for self-examination in the light of God’s Word. Examine yourself in the light the Ten Commandments or our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) or Saint Paul’s words about “the works of the flesh” and “the fruit of the Spirit”(Galatians 5:19-23). Although the Lutheran Church does not require the use of private confession and absolution, the fifth chief part of the Catechism – The Office of the Keys and Confession -makes plain that we are encouraged to use this means of grace. If you wish to come to confession, you need only make an appointment to do so.

It is time to order the poinsettias for Christmas for the people you wish to honor or remember. They are still $10 per plant (no increase in price). Please get your order to Judy Volkman by December 22, or earlier if possible. Envelopes for your order are in the rear of the church. Make checks out to Our Saviour Lutheran.

On Sunday, December 8th, there will be a potluck lunch after Divine Service. Merton Masterson will be deep-frying a turkey and the rest of us are asked to bring side dishes. There is a sign-up sheet on the piano. I have been asked to show pictures of my recent trip to Germany and I will do so after lunch.

On Sunday, December 15th, the Rev. Lucas Witt will be installed at 4:00 P.M. as associate/missionary pastor of Immanuel Church at Loch Raven and Belvedere. It is expected that his missionary work will aid not only Immanuel Church but also the other Baltimore congregations of our Synod.

On Sunday, December 22nd, the Fourth Sunday in Advent, the church will be decorated for Christmas following Divine Service. “Many hands make light work!”

In addition to Divine Service on Christmas Eve we will also have Divine Service on Christmas morning at 10 o’clock. It is hoped that this will meet a real need for those who do not drive after dark. This is of course another opportunity to join in celebrating the Day of Christ’s birth.

Judy Volkman recently received an award for Lifetime Achievement from the Baltimore County Commission on Disabilities. She has been a member of the Commission for forty-two years, has served as chair of various committees, and one term as Chair of the full Commission. Judy is amazed at the progress that has been made in the disability community but says there is still more to be done. She believes that “the Lord has made sure I was in the right place at the right time.” And so congratulations are in order!

Our former Vicar, Trent Demarest and his wife Maritza, are now the proud parents of Robert Martin who was born last Friday evening. He has three older brothers: John, Thomas, and Charles. Trent is now Headmaster of Trinity Lutheran School in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Congratulations and God bless the whole Demarest family.

Included in this newsletter is an article about the bells of Our Saviour. The author, Pastor Carl Kruelle,, grew up at Our Saviour and was ordained here. The article is yet more evidence of what a treasure we have in these bells. Our task now is to raise the funds to restore the mechanism which plays them.

If you need a ride to church, do not hesitate to call me at 410.554.9994 or email me at charlesmcclean42@gmail.com. I will make every effort to see that you have a ride.

Let us continue to hold one another in prayer. I wish you a blessed Advent, a genuine preparation for the birthday of the Savior.

Affectionately in our Lord,

Pastor McClean

Works of Mercy

This Thanksgiving, we have continued to honor our commitment to some of our neighbors at Waverly Elementary/Middle School. As usual, our church family responded to our call for help by making monetary donations which enabled us to purchase 10 Gift Cards from Aldi’s Supermarket totaling $250. The families picked up their cards from the school’s social worker on Monday, November 25. The time frame gave the families sufficient time to shop for a few extra holiday items for their Thanksgiving feast. Now that Thanksgiving deliveries are done, we will be collecting donations for our Christmas food gift cards. Monetary donations will be collected from Sunday, November 24, through Sunday, December 22; a separate check may be placed in the collection plate with the designate “Christmas Gift Cards” in the memo line. If cash is given, an extra envelope with your name and donation number might be placed in the donation plate. Many thanks to our church family for the outpouring of generosity and caring for the needs of our brothers and sisters in our community.
– Quilla Downs

The Message of the Bells

It was a nice spring day in Govans, 1943. The forsythia were in full bloom. It was Wartime—we had no car or phone. | was having cramps in my stomach. Mom, being a nurse, took, my temperature. It was high. She rushed me down the block to the streetcar on York Rd. I continued having cramps all the way to the transfer point at Greenmont and Preston. Getting off the streetcar at the center doors was easy. It looked a long way to the ground and I was half-dizzy. I vomited all over the steps getting down to street level (wondering how people on the streetcar were going to survive the smell of my mess; | could leave, but they couldn’t) to catch the trackless trolley to St. Joseph Hospital on Caroline St. Once in the operating room, the anesthetist told me “Breathe into this balloon and count to 10.” I remember the scent of the ether but never made it to 10 — maybe 5 or 6, and I was out.

After waking up in the ward, I was told I had an emergency appendectomy (appendicitis). The next night my Pastor came to visit, the Rev. A. J. Stiemke. He placed his calming hand on my forehead, prayed, spoke the Lord’s Prayer and Benediction.

The next morning was Palm Sunday and time for discharge. Uncle Fred arrived along with my parents to drive me home in his Hudson Terraplane. The route we traveled took me right past The Church of Our Saviour along the Alameda Boulevard. It was just before the 11:00a.m. Service. And | was thankful we had to stop for the red light, because I got to hear the bells resounding with “O Savior, Precious Savior’, “Crown Him with Many Crowns”, “All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name”, “Beautiful Savior’. As the light changed to green and we headed for home, I could still hear the bells trailing off in the distance. One of the high points of my life!

At the various churches where I have served, I always scheduled one or more of these hymns for Palm Sunday congregational signing.

Over years I have often wondered how many people were healed, helped, or redirected by the message of the bells.

Carl H. Kruelle. Jr.

October 27, 2019