The Spirit

Holy Spirit Lutheran Church

March 2020

The Season of Lent comes once again for the Church beginning our journey to Good Friday and Easter.

Just as I write this sentence, I know some people will begin to avoid Ash Wednesday and the entire

Lenten season because it talks about death, yet this is part of life. We cannot receive the joy of Jesus’

resurrection without his death into which we have been baptized. I forward this poem; it was written by

George Herbert for our reflection;:

“Welcome dear Feast of lent, who loves not thee. It’s true we cannot reach Christ, yet let us go part of

that religious way. It is better than to do all the rest.

We cannot reach our Savior’ purity, yet are bid, to be Holy even as He. In both, let us do our best. O

Lord instruct us to improve our fasting, by starving sin and taking such repast as may our faults control.

That everyone may revel at his door, not in his parlor, but among those poor in body and soul.”

Please join us each Sunday of lent as we hear of Jesus’ meeting with the Devil, Nicodemus, the Samaritan

woman,, the man born blind, and his friend Lazarus all before his paradoxical entry into Jerusalem.

May Christ’s love and light surround you this Lent.

Pastor Joe

JOIN HOLY SPIRIT’S JOURNEY THROUGH LENT

Reach out in recognition, and respond with prayers and donations to help relieve hunger in our

neighborhood. Contribute nonperishable food items or make a monetary donation to

CARROLL COUNTY FOOD SUNDAY (CCFS)

Kickoff: Tuesday, February 26 – Shove Tuesday Pancake Supper

Please bring a food item to support our drive!

Continues through Palm Sunday – April 5

Please place donated items on the designated shelves in the church NARTHEX anytime throughout

Lent. DO NOT BRING ANY ITEMS WITH EXPIRED DATES. For a fun challenge, focus on a food (based

on staff favorites) or food category on the following Sundays:

March 1 – Pastor Joe – BEAN BLAST

(Dried Beans, Canned Beans, Bean Soups, Chili and Beans, etc.)

March 8 – Deacon Linda – SPUD SUNDAY

(Canned Potatoes or Stews, Boxed Potato Products, Soups, Rice, etc.)

March 15 – Deacon Joyce – SEAFOOD SENSATION

(Canned or Packaged Tuna or Salmon, Seafood Soups, Chicken, etc.)

March 22 – Lynn Graham - ONION RINGERS

(Products containing Onion, Canned Vegetables, Canned Fruit, etc.)

March 29 – Joe Herb – LASAGNA LOVER

(Canned Italian Favorites, Pasta, Pasta Sauces, Soups, etc.)

April 5 – CONGREGATION CHOICE and BREAKFAST BOUNTY

(Hot or Cold Cereal, Pancake Mix, Macaroni and Cheese, etc.)

Please contact Patsy Taylor (443-952-7116) with any questions. If you would like to make a dona-

tion by check, make check payable to HSLC with CCFS in memo line, place in a separate envelope

designated for CCFS, and place in the offering plate. For more information about Carroll County

Food Sunday and list of recommended food items go to its website: www.ccfoodsunday.org.

Make Giving Your Lenten Discipline

Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves

a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:7

Growing up in my church-going family, petty

sacrifice was our yearly Lenten marching order.

The idea was this (at least this is how I understood

it at age 11): If we “give up” something for Lent,

then God would certainly be very pleased with us

and probably love us more.

So my brothers and sisters and I would

make a Lenten fast of things like chocolate, or

donuts, or pizza, or ice cream, or sweets in

general. Or we might give up a bad habit, such as swearing, biting our fingernails, cracking our knuckles,

fighting with one another, eating with our elbows on the table, etc.

Although I now understand that God doesn’t love us more because of our Lenten disciplines, I’m

convinced that even petty sacrifices have value for spiritual growth. Denying ourselves even small things

reinforces our will and determination, and it definitely bolsters our self-control. We are a little bit spiritually

stronger for petty sacrifices.

Think about it. Spiritual power is like any other kind of strength – we cultivate it through

intentionality and exercise. We develop our brainpower by taking classes, reading books, pushing

ourselves into new areas of intellectual curiosity. We develop our physical strength by walking, going to the

gym or lifting weights.

With God’s help, we develop our spiritual strength by prayerfully undertaking disciplines and

exercises that will lead to growth and strength. That’s why Lent presents us with such a great opportunity

to stretch and grow. We can “give up” bad habits or treats, or we can “take up” exercises, such as praying

for 15 minutes more per day or reading the Bible or a devotional every day.

And just as with developing our brains or our bodies, the more we undertake spiritually, the greater

growth we will have. Reading a popular novel will boost your brainpower, but not as much as taking a

college class. Walking around the block will improve your physical health, but not as much as regular

weight training with a fitness coach.

Avoiding Snickers bars and M&Ms for Lent will lead to minor growth, but why not take on a spiritual

challenge that will lead to real growth? This year, make financial giving a part of your Lenten discipline. For

the six weeks of Lent, give more generously to your congregation. And make it a sacrificial discipline – an

amount large enough to be significant in whatever way is best for you.

Christian tradition lifts up tithing – giving 10 percent of your income to God’s ministries – as a

biblical benchmark for generous giving. Can you make tithing a discipline for the six weeks of Lent? It’s a

great opportunity to take tithing for a “test drive” to see what you can learn from the discipline.

If tithing is too much of a stretch, can you double your regular offering? Increase it by 50 percent?

What do you have to lose? You have much more to gain.

One thing is for sure: The more you undertake, the more you will grow. Petty sacrifices are fine,

and they lead to small spiritual growth, but larger disciplines lead to a stronger sense of spiritual self-

control, freedom, centeredness and power.

Copyright © 2017, Rev. Robert Blezard. Reprinted by permission.

Hymn Story — Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing

1 Come, thou Fount of ev'ry blessing,

tune my heart to sing thy grace;

streams of mercy, never ceasing,

call for songs of loudest praise.

While the hope of endless glory

fills my heart with joy and love,

teach me ever to adore thee;

may I still thy goodness prove.

3 Oh, to grace how great a debtor

daily I'm constrained to be;

let that grace now like a fetter

bind my wand'ring heart to thee.

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it;

prone to leave the God I love.

Here's my heart, oh, take and seal it;

seal it for thy courts above.

2 Here I raise my Ebenezer:

"Hither by thy help I've come";

and I hope, by thy good pleasure,

safely to arrive at home.

Jesus sought me when a stranger,

wand'ring from the fold of God;

he, to rescue me from danger,

interposed his precious blood

When I start thinking about writing one of these articles, I try to find a hymn that we might be singing during the month and that has an interesting history. This month, I got a little more than I bargained for. There are questions concerning just about every aspect of this hymn.

At one time, “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing” was thought to have been written by Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon. She was a prominent Methodist leader and associate of George Whitefield and John and Charles Wesley. Although at least one supporter continued to argue for her authorship of the hymn until the mid 19th century, the evidence supporting this claim was flimsy. It is now generally accepted that Robert Robinson wrote the hymn.

Robinson was born in Norfolk, England, in 1735. When he was about 15, he was apprenticed to a barber and hair dresser in London. He apparently led a rather wild life until 1752, when he and some friends went to an evangelical meeting to make fun of what was going on and heckle the believers. Whitefield was preaching that day, and Robinson fell under his influence. Three years later, he became a Christian and pastor. Robinson drifted among various congregations and Christian groups until 1759 when he became a Baptist. He served at Stone Yard Baptist Church in Cambridge from 1761 until his death in 1790.

The words for “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing” were written in 1758. The original version had five verses, which you can see here. The last verse was dropped, and the end of the second verse was combined with the beginning of the third to form one new verse. This three-verse version was published in England in 1760 in a collection of hymns edited by Martin Madan. It has become the standard, although there are still a number of variations in the words.

The most common tune used with this hymn is called “Nettleton”. It was probably named for the Reverend Asahel Nettleton, a 19th century American evangelist. The tune was first published in Wyeth's Repository of Sacred Songs in 1813. Because of this, John Wyeth is often credited as the composer; however, Wyeth was the printer and not a composer. It is possible that Nettleton, who did compose some hymns, also wrote this tune. But it now seems most likely that the melody was derived from an American folk tune.

In spite of all the confusion about its history, “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing” is a wonderful hymn about God's persistent grace. It reminds us that as sinful human beings we are “prone to wander” and need to be brought back to the fold by Jesus. The hymn is full of biblical allusions, including the first two lines of the second verse. “Ebenezer” means “stone of help” and is a reference to 1 Samuel 7:12 which tells how Samuel set up a stone and named it Ebenezer after the Lord enabled the Israelites to defeat the Philistines.

Deacon Linda

Robert Robinson

Early Learning Center News for March:

We will be celebrating spring. Our character trait for this month is Responsibility. We

will start our month off with class and individual pictures done by Irvin Simon Photography.

Throughout the month we will celebrate the gifts that God gives us in the spring. The chil-

dren will enjoy new growth of the trees and the beautiful flowers that bloom.

The two’s continue to grow and make lots of fun art projects. There will be some

fun and messy things in their discovery table. They love to touch, feel, and investigation all

of the wonderful things Ms. Vicky will put into that table. Some of things she has used in

the past are snow, dirt, water, pompoms, and rice. They can’t wait to see what’s next.

The three’s will work with their letters and numbers in many ways to make learning

fun. Ms. Mary will do some experiments to learn about the changing world around them.

There will be lots of fun crafts about spring.

The Pre-K classes will get ready to attend kindergarten as they visit their schools and

register for next year. They will continue to learn about their letters and numbers and

handwriting. They continue to build their vocabulary and reading skills as they work with

their sight words. The Pre-K classes will experience worms and plant some flowers around

the school.

We still have a few openings in some of our classes for the next school year. We now

have only a few spots left in the morning classes with lots of afternoon spots open. If you

are interested in learning more about our Preschool please feel free to call the preschool

office @ 410-795-2287.

.

The Lutheran Church Men of the Westminster Conference will hold their Spring Dinner meeting at

6:30 pm on Monday, April 27th, at Calvary Lutheran Church, 16151 Old Frederick Road, Mt. Airy, Maryland,

21771.

The ladies of the church will be serving a family-style Baked Ham dinner. A free-will offering will be received

for the meal with at least $12.00 expected.

These semi-annual dinners have become a wonderful opportunity for the men of the churches of our

conference to socialize and renew friendships. We look forward to welcoming a large group of men and the

pastor from your church. When you arrive, please meet in the sanctuary for Greetings and Opening Prayer

prior to dinner.

An estimate of reservations is due by Monday, April 13th with an updated firm reservation count by Sunday,

April 19th. Please contact Dennis Kniss by email at dennisrkniss@gmail.com or cell phone 443-605-4963 with

your reservations or any questions. The host church has asked that no additional l reservations be added

after the cutoff date of Sunday, April 19th. Please identify your church with your reservation.

(Note: Please reserve as early as possible as space is limited.)

The Fall Dinner will be on October 26th at Grace Lutheran Church.

See John Novak if you would like any additional information.

Don’t forget to designate your Thrivent Choice Dollars

Grant funding from Thrivent Financial through its Thrivent Choice® program can help support organizations you

care about. Don’t let Choice Dollars expire.

Eligible Thrivent Financial members who have Choice Dollars available have until March 31, 2020, to direct any remaining 2019 Choice Dollars. Help support your organization. Go to Thrivent.com/Thrivent choice to learn more. Or call 800-847-4836 and say “Thrivent Choice” after the prompt.

If you would like to learn more about becoming a Thrivent member call Julia Glendenning at our Mt. Airy office 443-576-004.

Dear Pastors, Deacons, administrators and youth leaders,

We are pleased to share our promotional video with you. This video was produced as part of our 60th Anniversary year, and the message of the power of camp is clear. Please use this as you feel appropriate, perhaps at the beginning of wor-ship or during a family gathering for the congregation.

Mar-Lu-Ridge is a place for youth to feel loved and accepted, just as they are. We pray that youth from your congrega-tions will feel encouraged to join us.

Open House dates : March 15 and May 17: 2-4:40 pm. Tours, snacks and the chance to meet staff and have questions about camp answered. All are welcome.

Thank you for sharing the story of Mar-Lu-Ridge. We are here to partner with you in ministry. Let us know how we can assist you in the faith formation of your youth and families.

YouTube video link

Mar-Lu-Ridge

Holy Spirit Lutheran Church Council Meeting Minutes

February 12, 2020

[P = present; A = absent]

P Pastor Joe Lettrich P Deacon Linda Smith

P Brian Bowman - President/Property (liaison)

P Mark Friend - VP/Personnel/Constitution & Bylaws

P Nancy Bowman - Secretary/Music & Worship

P Andy Jones - Treasurer P Milt Taylor - Financial Secretary

P Holly deBenedictis/Stewardship P Laura Blum/Youth & Education

P Joyce Peregoy/Social Ministry A Michele Burger/Youth & Education

A Bill Dodson/Fellowship P John Novak/Outreach (Evangelism)

Call to Order – 7:00 p.m. by Council President Brian Bowman -In accordance with the decision made at the August 9, 2017 Coun-

cil meeting, the minutes of the January 8, 2020 Council meeting were approved via email by a simple majority of the Council who

attended the meeting.

** Heather Twist came to the Council to request rental use of the Multipurpose Room for her new Dramacademy Children’s

Theatre rehearsals.

Council discussed acceptable rental terms. (See attached listing.)

→→ A motion was made by Milt Taylor and seconded by Laura Blum to accept and present the rental terms we discussed

to Heather Twist; motion carried.

Milt Taylor agreed to be the HSLC contact.

** Rusty Long (Call Committee Chair) had planned to give an update to the Council, but was able to attend. (See section 5.Call

Committee for Council discussion.)

Opening Prayer – Pastor Joe

Current Business

Pastor’s Report (attached)

Treasurer’s Report/Andy Jones – report submitted

→ Motion to approve the Treasurer’s Report was made by Milt Taylor and seconded by Pastor Joe; motion carried.

Committee Reports [Consent Agenda Reports*]

*Financial Secretary - Milt Taylor; report submitted

*Deacon Linda - Linda Smith; report submitted

*Music & Worship - Nancy Bowman; report submitted

Fellowship - Bill Dodson - no report submitted

Stewardship - Holly deBenedictis – no report submitted

Property - Will Stecher – no report submitted

*Youth & Education - Laura Blum/Michele Burger;

report submitted

Y&E team is re-evaluating time set for Palm Sunday Family Day

Social Ministry - Joyce Peregoy – verble report

Correction on a miscommunication: The Spirited Seniors group want to help with Outreach (not Social Minis-

try) – calling on “in-active members”

Social Ministry project for Lent – Carroll County Food Sunday

Personnel - Mark Friend – verbal report

Met with Parish Administrator

Outreach (Evangelism) - John Novak; report submitted

Constitution and Bylaws - Mark Friend – no report submitted

Old Business

Current Water Bill – update [Brian Bowman]

Repairs were made to the toilets in the preschool building; water line pressure re-tested; no leaks found

Could consider installing a separate water meter for the preschool building (estimated cost: $1,000.00)

Multipurpose Room Closet – update [Nancy Bowman]

Due to unexpected personnel issues with his home-remodeling company, Nancy’s son-in-law cannot currently afford

the time needed to volunteer his expertise in construction of the closet. The work will commence as soon as he is

able to commit the time.

Needed IT Support – update

Linda Smith is training Lorraine Markosky on how to maintain our website.

Still need knowledgeable volunteer(s) for user support concerns

New Business

Updating the Congregation Directory

Directory information should be updated before our new pastor arrives

Nancy Bowman will develop an information update tool to be completed by members

An updated directory will be produced based on accepted membership guidelines

Call Process

Ministry Site Profile (MSP) was submitted, approved by Bishop Gohl, and posted January 15, 2020

New/2020 Council would like to see the final MSP

Coverage of any travel and/or lodging expenses incurred by pastoral candidates for interview process

Council will consider candidate needs on a case-by-case basis

Call Committee first-interview of “long-distance” candidates should be conducted via telephone/Skype Reminders

→ March’s Newsletter deadline – 2/20/20

→ Pancake Supper – Tuesday, February 25, 2020

→ Ash Wednesday Services – Wednesday, February 26, 2020 at noon and 7:30 p.m.

→ Next Regularly Scheduled Council Meeting – Wednesday, March 11, 2020, 7:00 p.m.

Council Highlights – items to communicate to the congregation

Water Bill

Still need technical/IT volunteers

Pancake Supper

Ash Wednesday Services

Motion to Adjourn

→ Motion to adjourn was made by Milt Taylor and seconded by Mark Friend; motion carried.

Closing Prayer

→ Meeting ended at 8:40 p.m. Respectfully Submitted,

Nancy Bowman

Nancy Bowman/Council Secretary

When I was growing up, this hymn, which was originally

called “’Tis Good, Lord, to be Here”, was the only hymn for

Transfiguration in our hymnal. For some reason, there are still

not a lot of hymns that are directly related to this Sunday.1 This

makes it even more remarkable that this hymn was written by

someone not generally associated with hymnology.

Joseph Armitage Robinson (1858-1933) was an Anglican

priest who served as the Dean of Westminster Cathedral (1902

–1911) and of Wells Cathedral (1911–1933). He was

known as a scholar in the areas of New Testament and

patristics, the study of early Christian writers. As far as I

can tell, this is the only hymn that Robinson wrote. It was

probably written around 1890 and first published in the

1904 edition of Hymns Ancient & Modern. The opening line

mirrors Peter’s words in Matthew’s account of the

Transfiguration (Matthew 17:4). The words put us on the

mountain with the three disciples as they get a glimpse of

Jesus’ glory. Just like the disciples, we cannot stay on the

mountain but must go back down and travel with Jesus on

the way to the cross.

The tune was originally composed by Johann

Sebastian Bach for the second fugue in E major of his

Forty-eight Preludes and Fugues. William Mercer adapted it

and called it “Potsdam”. It first appeared in his Church

Hymn Story — How Good, Lord, to Be Here

1 How good, Lord, to be here!

Your glory fills the night;

your face and garments, like the sun,

shine with unborrowed light.

2 How good, Lord, to be here!

your beauty to behold

where Moses and Elijah stand,

your messengers of old.

3 Fulfiller of the past

and hope of things to be,

we hail your body glorified

and our redemption see.

4 Before we taste of death,

we see your kingdom come;

we long to hold the vision bright

and make this hill our home.

5 How good, Lord, to be here!

Yet we may not remain;

but since you bid us leave the mount,

come with us to the plain

Joseph Armitage Robinson

"An erudite Dean"

Robinson as depicted by

Leslie Ward)

Second Sundays of the month are “Jammin”

at HSLC

Fun activities for all ages

The beginning of the youth group experience for

Pre-school & Elementary-aged kids

The Second Sunday of Each Month

at approximately 2:00 pm

(time depends on activity)

J.A M.: Jesus and Me

Check out our website hslceldersburgmd.org and our Facebook page

to stay up-to-date on J. A. M. events

Contact Laura Blum and Joe Herb for more details

Contact Information for Holy Spirit Lutheran Church

Address: Holy Spirit Lutheran Church

2205 Old Liberty Road

Eldersburg, MD 21784

Church Office Phone: (410) 795-6333

Preschool Office: (410) 795-2287

Email:

Pastor: hslc.pastor@comcast.net

Deacon Linda: aim@hslceldersburgmd.org

Pastoral Assistant: jherb1@yahoo.com

Parish Administrator: hslc.eldersburg@comcast.net

Early Childhood Learning Center: hslc.preschool@comcast.net

Website: www.hslceldersburgmd.org