Grace Ministries – December 2019

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- Yoked Communities of Faith and Service NON-PROFIT ORG.

c/o Zion Lutheran Church U.S. POSTAGE PAID

41 Whitmarsh Avenue PERMIT#205

Worcester, MA 01606-3296 WORCESTER, MA

NEWSLETTER DECEMBER 2019 TIME SENSITIVE

PLEASE DO NOT DELAY

Our lives are formed by Word and

Sacrament, and we gather as the beloved

children of God around the means of grace

where our lives are in Christ.

Grace Ministries – December 2019

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PASTOR’S CORNER

INCARNATION

Many of you might be aware that 3D printers can

now be purchased for private use, these marvels of

technology that take electronic design files and turn

them into concrete objects.

What began as project orientation in engineering

institutions, promising intricate shape development

difficult to manufacture economically, took off in a

big way; almost as if what the human mind can

conceive can be turned into reality. You can create

solid objects that assemble into a larger whole, but

not the final assembly if multiple parts of

assemblies…yet.

Our human capacity to conceive of things is limited

only by our own awareness of the world and

established laws of physics. As a race we are good at

anthropomorphic projection; constructing ideas and

actual “things” based upon our human experience

on planet earth.

The incarnation is something else again, quite

literally. The One whom we can’t physically see, but

who touches us in so many ways, being born into

human form and birthed in the common way of

homo sapiens, goes against our collective experience

as a race. Yet, that is exactly what is reported to

have occurred in Palestine, in Bethlehem, just over

2000 years ago.

God is way more than we can ever fully understand

from this human experience and our words and

efforts to describe or give thanks for the ways in

which the Love that is God meets us fall far short

doing the Almighty justice.

How can we explain the calming presence and

assurance one can know in the face of daunting

challenges as we pray and seek God in the midst of it

all? Some psychologists suggest that we “psyche”

ourselves into these states of effect as a way to use

science to explain the unknown.

However, there is too much unknown that various

sciences are now confirming to be beyond our

conceptualizing, beyond our anthropomorphizing

explanation.

The followers of Jesus’ Way, the church, has taught

for a long time that “God is a mystery”, and we trust

all that God is which we can’t fully conceive of at this

time through faith; the faith father Abraham

manifested through his obedience when God asked

if he would sacrifice his son by Sarah, Isaac, so very

long ago, the faith Martin Luther recognized through

Saint Paul’s writing that is given as a free gift to

believers and justifies (makes us right) with God.

As the holiday preparations pick up momentum, as

we anticipate gathering with our communities of

faith, family, friends and others may we wonder at

this Love beyond our full appreciation that

persistently meets the human race throughout all

generations to bring wholeness, hope and

anticipation of eternity!

Let us meet God in Jesus as the Christ in the stable in

Bethlehem as our hope and our salvation: Gloria in

excelsis Deo!

☩ Pastor Andrew

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Advent/Christmas Worship

Mid-week Advent Series Evening Prayer/Eucharist

Wednesdays 5:30 PM @ Bethel, 7 PM @ Zion 12/4 Do less

12/11 Experience wonder 12/18 Hold onto hope

Sunday Services (normal schedule)

12/1, 12/8, 12/15, 12/22 8 AM – Bethel Chapel 8:45 AM – Zion Nave

10:15 AM – Bethel Nave

Christmas Eve Carols & Readings/Eucharist

4 PM – Bethel w/Pr. Andrew 6 PM – Zion w/Pr. Andrew

DECEMBER ANNIVERSARIES

Bethel Allayne & Doug Nelson - 12/09

Garret & Yi Peters - 12/19

Zion Richard & Sheila Harms – 12/17

Please note that Offering Envelopes will be available in the Narthex at both campuses soon! We have reassigned numbers for all since we have ordered the envelopes for Grace all together.

PRAYER LIST Bethel - Arnold Ariansen - Maya Belmonte - Joan BeJune - Lucy & Tom Brennan - Karen Carlson – Earl Connor - Shirley Connor - Lori Deso - Jean Dowd - Matt DuHamel - Dave and Linda Fabrizius - Liesl Voosen Fields - Sylvia Forgit - Judy Garneau - Grover Gentry - Hope Grasso - Skip Hagberg - Paul Josephson - Greg Kallfa - Audra Layton - Kay Lemerise - Bill Lewis - Eric Lewis Kay Malkasion - Susan Marriano - Lori Merrihew - Tracy McLean - Jim Mooney - David Naugle - Amanda Parker - Linda Pronto - Nick Rossignol - Sabrina Valastro - Gini Varg - Kay Venning - Pearl Wheeler - Kim White

Zion - Betty Nielsen - Doreen Earley - Bruce &

Laura Blomgren - Charlotte Rose MacNeil –

Debbie & Julia Engvall - Liesl Voosen Fields -

Audra Layton – Patricia Lynch - Sara Spieght –

Bob Ekstrand – Grover Gentry – Shellie Dyke –

John Berube – Barbara – Harold - Marta Parsons –

Carole & Pamela Laino - Amy & Brandon Runge

Have you engaged with the prayer wall?

On Sunday, 12/8, voting on becoming a Reconciling in Christ

Congregation will take place at Bethel via ballot box.

Paper ballots will be available following each service (and following the Wednesday 5:30 PM service on

12/4).

This follows discussion over the past year-plus at several cottage meetings where the majority consensus voiced

is in making known our welcoming orientation in Christ through our

denomination’s logo.

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12/1 Sunday 3:30-6:30 PM @ Zion-Oxford

Annual Gifting Event for Worcester Inner-City Kids

$25/person including dinner

GRACE ANNUAL MEETINGS

Bethel – 1/12

Following the 10:15 AM service

Zion – 1/19

Following the 8:45 AM service

“Wildcard” Weather Date – 1/26

The day before the Harvest Fair, heavy winds

knocked out power in some parts of Auburn, and

as luck would have it, Bethel was one of the

places affected. There may not have been

electrical power at Bethel that Friday, but there

was lots of energy as several of our members

set up tables and arranged goods to be on

display the next day. In the afternoon we

learned that the power may not be restored until

the next evening. This, however, did not

dampen our spirits, and we came up with a

contingency plan. There was going to be a

Harvest Fair, electrical power or not. On

Saturday morning, at 7:00 am, the first workers

arrived, and were greeted by light. “God is

good, all the time…and all the time, God is

good.”

Our doors opened to the public at 9:00 am.

People were greeted by the smell of freshly

popped popcorn as they entered the building.

Downstairs, the Men’s Club offered their

traditional pickles and cheese, and the Bake

Table had a wide variety of home-made pies,

cakes, cookies and breads. There was an

opportunity to stop and spend a little social time

with friends in the Tea Room. As you explored

further down the hallway, there were second-

hand treasures in the White Elephant Room,

and good reads in the Book Nook. Upstairs,

there were guest craft vendors as well as

various crafts and used items offered at the

Bethel Table, and the Pre-school Table. The

Linen Table was once again filled with

beautifully restored fine linens. And when the

hunger alarm struck, lunch was served at the

Harvest Fair Café.

This year, we raised a total of $2,673.63, which

will be divided between Bethel and Zion. In

addition to this total, another $61.05 was raised

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between the popcorn and cookbook sales, which

will be donated to the End Hunger NE Meal Line

event to be held on November 30th.

We wish to thank everyone who helped make

this year’s Harvest Fair a success.

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Doris Brick c/o Oakdale Nursing & Rehab. 76 No. Main St., W. Boylston, MA 01583

Jeff Moody c/o Lanessa Extended Care 751 School Street, Webster, MA 01570

Delores Bengtsson, Harold Johnson c/o Care One @ Millbury 312 Millbury Street, Millbury, MA 01527

Mildred Lindblad, May Jacobson c/o Knowlwood Nursing Center 87 Briarwood Circle, Worcester, Ma 01606

Dot Reid c/o Lutheran Rehabilitation & Skilled Care Ctr. 20 Harvard Street, Worcester, MA 01609

Shirley Cummins c/o Notre Dame Healthcare 555-559 Plantation Street, Worcester, MA 01605 Henry Hirvi c/o Holy Trinity Nursing & Rehab. 303 Barber Avenue, Worcester, MA 01606

HOMELESS CARE KITS

As we travel around the city and surrounding

towns, most all of us encounter those struggling

with homelessness and joblessness asking for

assistance at many traffic islands.

Below is a listing of items recommended that we

will be asking our community to donate

throughout the year.

Socks, gloves, granola bars, vitamin enhanced

water/sports drinks, combs, large Ziploc

storage bags, blank 4” x 6” card stock, gum,

soap, lotion, nail clippers, hand warmers, trail

mix, toothbrushes, toothpaste

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HOMELESS SIMULATION

On Sunday, November 17th as LIPY-CM, Grace joined with Trinity-Worcester, St. Stephen-Marlborough, Bethlehem-Sturbridge, Zion-Oxford and Emanuel-Worcester at Oxford to learn about food insecurity and work inside an active simulation as to what it means to be unable and just go to the store and get what you want to eat. Thanks to Pr. Lengel and Maydee Morales for

hosting and leading the group through this

awareness-building exercise!

AFFIRMATION OF BAPTISM

On All Saints Sunday, Meghan Costello affirmed her faith and was confirmed on the Worcester campus of Zion. She was part of the same class with Will Nelson and Chris DuHamel who affirmed their faith at Auburn on Reformation.

Please join with me in continuing to pray for these young people as they live into their baptismal promises as young adults in the faith!

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Bethel’s Council Connection

November is always a busy month at Bethel,

and this year was no exception. We welcomed

2 new confirmands a few we weeks ago, and on

November 17th we welcomed 3 new members

into the Bethel family. We also had the annual

church fair, and right at the end of the month we

had the food lines at Zion to help support

ENDHUNGERNEWENGLAND.

Speaking of the fair, a special thank you to all

those who volunteered this year. It took a lot of

effort on many people’s part to organize, set up,

work and clean up afterwards. A special thank

you Marie Sturdevant and Judy Sampson for

doing their usual great job of organizing the fair.

After several years at the helm, this was their

last as co-chairs, so they are looking for others

to step forward and take over the reins. Also

thank Henry Lewis when you see him around

church. He carted away all the left-over items

from the White Elephant Room.

As we enter into the season of Advent, please

remember to keep your pledges up to date so

that we can finish off 2019 in good financial

shape. Also, if you haven’t returned your pledge

for 2020 yet, please get it in to the office as soon

as possible so that the council can work on the

budget for next year. Every little bit helps, so

please give generously.

If you see activity at the parsonage, its most

likely members of the property team and

volunteers working on sprucing up the place in

the hopes of renting it out again. A group of

volunteers spent the morning of November 16th

cleaning up from the previous tenants so that we

can show it to prospective renters. However,

there is still a lot to do to get it ready for new

tenants, so If you like to paint, or are handy at

simple home repairs, please contact the office to

volunteer. They will pass your info on to the

property committee, who will gladly accept your

assistance.

I hope that everyone had a wonderful

Thanksgiving holiday!

Preston Sturdevant Council President

Zion’s Council Update

Council would like to wish everyone a HAPPY &

SAFE HOLIDAY

Pledges are extremely important this time of

year, if you have not submitted please do

ASAP. Thank You

Elder Meals Program let's spread the word

Homeless Kits - we need water, bars of soap,

toothpaste, chap stick, mouth wash, gallon

storage bags, crackers, knit hats, gloves,

mittens, ear warmers, etc.

If you enjoy coffee with friends after Sunday

Morning Service, we are looking for volunteers

to set up.

We need volunteers to help us serve on Sunday

Services, Assisting Ministers, Readers,

Acolyte's, Greeters, and Ushers, please reach

out to me or anyone on the church council. I will

be more than Happy to walk you through the

process.

If anyone has questions or ideas for other things

that Zion may want to participate in, please

contact me beachhayes@aol.com.

Respectfully:

Donna R. Hayes – Council President – Zion

Lutheran Church, Worcester, MA 01606

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DECEMBER BIRTHDAYS 2019

Zion Ryan Wiinkikka – 12/05 Joyce Messier – 12/06 Stephen Ames – 12/13

John Buckley Jr. – 12/13 Jacob Milton – 12/13

Elizabeth Berglund – 12/16 Henry Hirvi – 12/26

David Nelson – 12/28

Bethel Betty Benoit - 12/01 Arno Hurd - 12/03

Pam Sutton - 12/05 Michelle Chunis - 12/10 Carole Rogan - 12/10

Winter Townsend - 12/14 Lisa Ratcliffe - 12/17

Matthew Smith - 12/18 Brannon Smith - 12/18 Patti Benvenuti - 12/20 Cloe Przygoda - 12/21

Kathy Townsend - 12/24 Mckayla Hight - 12/24

Brian Belmonte - 12/27 Ursula Bergman - 12/30 Matt Crossman - 12/30

We will be updating our directory at the

beginning of the new year. If you have had a

change of address, phone number or email,

please call the office to let us know.

Dismas meals are always held on the last Friday of each month. If a volunteer would like to prepare a meal it can be done in the church kitchen around 4pm. Volunteers are also needed to deliver and share the meal (5:45pm). Dinner is over and hosts usually leave by 6:30. Friday, Dec. 27th

Attn: Social Ministry Team,

Your contribution to the Iglesia Luterano Cristo

Rey received your donation for the Refugee’s

ministry. Your contribution has helped us to

provide assistance and support with their basic

travel needs to immigrants seeking for asylum.

On behalf of Pastor Rosa Mary, please receive our

gratitude for your kind support an generosity

toward this much needed ministry.

With God’s blessing,

Ceci Herrera, Assistant Secretary

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OUTREACH/SOCIAL MINISTRY Reaching out to a world in need

BETHEL ““This is what the Lord requires from you:

to do what is right, to love mercy, and to live humbly with your God.”

Micah 6:8 (GOD’S WORD Translation)

The simple language of Micah 6:8 speaks to our hearts of how we are to live in relationship with God and with each other. To live humbly with God is to be reverent and aware of our dependence on God. Through this relationship, we ought not think too highly of ourselves, but instead allow the Holy Spirit to work in us and through us, and yield to the needs of our neighbor. This is the heart of our Christian Faith. On October 27th, four members of Bethel joined in the Auburn Faith Walk for Hunger for the benefit of Auburn Youth and Family Services and Kateri’s Kitchen. This was the tenth year for the Auburn Walk, with a total of $32,993 having been previously raised through these walks. This year, among the Auburn churches, twenty-five walkers raised a total of $3,655.21. Of that total, Bethel raised $505. We wish to thank those who gave generously to help support families in our local community. Thank you to Lee Fenby for once again providing water and apples for the participants on the day of the walk. Our Social Ministry and Outreach teams of Grace Ministries will be hosting the Interfaith Hospitality Network home on June Street the week of November 24th through the 30th. Thank you to those who have volunteered to cover overnight and late afternoon shifts, as well as those who donated gift cards for groceries and health

care products. At the end of that week, on November 30th, members of Grace Ministries will be running three meal lines with End Hunger NE. This event will be held at the Worcester campus at 10:00 that morning. In the month of November, our Social Ministry team recognizes our veterans with gratitude for their service. Through the Kindness Tree we collected turkeys and food items to prepare Thanksgiving baskets to be brought to Veterans Inc. in Worcester. Thank you to those who generously donated to help our veterans and their families. In the month of December, we will be collecting men’s, women’s and children’s scarves, hats, gloves and socks for the men’s and women’s shelters of Veterans Inc. We will have tags on the Kindness Tree for Christmas gifts for families in need through the Christmas gift giving program of AYFS. On December 15th, we will gather at 9:00 am, before worship, to assemble lunches to be brought to the Worcester Common for Worcester Fellowship. This project will be funded with seed money from Thrivent Financial. We will gladly accept donations of juice boxes, fruit cups and socks, which will be brought to the Common following worship services that day. We wish to extend our gratitude to every one for your help in bringing hope to our neighbors in need. May you all be filled with the peace and joy of the season.

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GRACE MINISTRIES, ELCA – Yoked Communities of Faith and Service

MISSION STATEMENT

"To boldly share God's Love and Grace universally in and through our communities."

VISION STATEMENT

Modeling the welcoming nature of God, we are humbly called and driven by the Spirit to witness, engage and walk with each other authentically, as Jesus’ hands and feet, providing spiritual, emotional and physical nourishment.

Through evolving partnerships with ecumenical and other social service organizations we affirm justice and wholeness under the “agency of Grace” that feed the needs and hope of all.

The Rev. Andrew H. Borden, Pastor pastor_andrew.b@verizon.net

Ann Spinner, Parish Administrator

bethelauburn@verizon.net

Shannon Papandrea, Sexton

Kate Valleli & Kristel Hunt– Christian Education Team

Worcester Campus - Zion Lutheran Auburn Campus - Bethel Lutheran 41 Whitmarsh Avenue, 01606 90 Bryn Mawr Avenue, 01501 Office: 508-853-2009 Office: 508-832-3427

The-Community-of-Zion-Lutheran-Worcester.org BethelAuburnELCA.org

Organist – Karen Couturier Principal Organist/Choral Director – Brenda Salvi Choral/Bell Director – Sally Bond Associate Organist/Choral Director – Lois Toeppner, Deacon President – Donna Hayes President – Preston Sturdevant

Forward Leadership Team: Dave Valleli, Roberta Briggs, Stephanie Harms, Adam Hanks and Pastor Accountability Team: Jennifer Courtney, Linda Kikutis Kropp, Donna Hayes, Joan Parker and Janet Johnson

Yoke Council Co Presidents Preston Sturdevant (Bethel) & Donna Hayes (Zion) Secretary – Stephanie Harms (Zion) Marie Sturdevant

(Bethel)

Bethel Congregation Council

EXECUTIVE TEAM: President – Preston Sturdevant Vice President – Dave Sutton Secretary – Marie Sturdevant Kathleen Legg, Leanne Carraher, Doris Belk, Roberta Briggs, Grover Gentry

Functional Units Social Ministry – Marie Sturdevant & Judy Sampson

Finance Team – Lisa Ferreira, Chair Worship & Music Committee – Joan Parker, Chair Property Team – Garrett Peters, Rick Hagberg, Roy Benoit Jr. Altar Guild – Leanne Carraher, Chair

Adult Forum, Roberta Briggs

Preschool Preschool Director – Bev Sampson 508-832-9411 Bethel_preschool_auburn@outlook.com

Teachers, Karen Borden, Shannon Papandrea, Teachers Aide, Kim Capaldi

Zion Congregation Council EXECUTIVE TEAM: President – Donna Hayes - Vice President – William Toombs Secretary – Stephanie Harms

Kristin White, Katherine Lehman, Bruce Blomgren, Don Leombruno

Functional Units Outreach Ministry Team – Ingrid Lawrence/Jean Harger, co-Chairs

Adult Forum – Dave Valleli Altar Guild – Virginia Carlson, Chair

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A RECONCILING IN CHRIST SYNOD

LOOKING FOR A GROUP OF LUTHERANS TO MEET WITH AND SHARE

SOME EXPERIENCES AND HAVE FUN?

AS A SHARED MINISTRY WITH BETHEL/ZION, WHY NOT GIVE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING A TRY?

Christmas Caroling Men’s Group, DOL’s, Choir and anyone else are invited to go caroling at the Lutheran Healthcare Center on Dec. 10

th at 6:00pm. We will meet at Bethel to

carpool at 5:30pm. Or meet us at 6pm at the Lutheran Home. Bill Connor will chef and the meal be rolled roast pork, mashed potatoes, baby carrots, green bean casserole, dessert and

assorted beverages. Cost to be determined at the door. Proceeds benefit the Camp Calumet Scholarship Fund.

“BOOKIES” Book Club The Bookies meet again January 27, 2020 (No December meeting): “The Story of Edgar Sawtelle” a novel by David Wroblewski. All are Welcome!

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Grace Ministries – December 2019

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