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Confirmation 2015
Thirteen students were confirmed on Sunday, May 3. Pictured
below are the confirmands at the 8:30 service: Abagail Busch,
Zachary Chang, Payton Yoder, Chase Pounds, Hunter Pounds. In the
back row are Pastor Andy Ritchie; Rachel Goodell, the new Director
of Family Ministry; Pastor Harrison Parker
Photo of the 11:00 group is on the next page
Newsletter June 2015
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Confirmed at the 11:00 service were (middle row) Annika Rohde,
David Ritchie, Ivan Keil, Fisher Davis. In the front row are David
Robert, Rachel Miller, Emma McMillan. Grace Ritchie, not
pictured.
From Pastor Andy
Summer time is different in Alaska. There are a special set of
challenges in the church we face so that means there are a special
set of opportunities before us as well. We face decreased
attendance in the summer from people wanting to go out and enjoy
this short season of warmth and sun. July is a peak fishing month.
Hunting possibilities come into the calendar early- to mid-August
carrying through until mid- to late-September along with Silver
fishing. Summer has no childrens Sunday School. There is no adult
education in the summer time. Volunteers for services are harder to
find and sometimes missing even if people have signed up for
helping as life gives people options. People are coming and going
and are not here in worship each week or even every other week.
This is the reality and yet please understand I am grateful for
each and every person who comes to worship
and grateful for those who are going outside and enjoying Gods
creation.
So what do we do to address these special sets of challenges?
How do we offer meaningful ways to connect to Jesus through word
and sacrament? A connected sermon series like we have just fished
called Baptized We Live is not ideal as the topics connect and
build on each other. Neither is what we finished up before as we
walked through the Bible in The Story series. We have a possibility
here to connect though in a different way for six weeks with a
stand-alone sermon series that is for the long-time disciple of ALC
as well as for visitor. It is very family-friendly for the kids who
are here but wish to be out in the sun. Having worship the way we
plan will address the essentials of our need for weekly word and
sacrament strengthening. The series will also help fill in for the
lack of an education hour.
So, June 28th we begin this series which will run for six weeks
titled Surprised by Hope. Hope
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is not something we talk about enough. As a preacher I may have
a sentence or two about hope. On rare occasions I might have a
paragraph talking about hope and yet the Bible is all about hope
and we struggle to grasp what hope looks like! The topics will
be:
Week 1: 6/28 Hope for the World God wants his people to
experience hope and share it - and it's not just what God will do
in the future - its God's kingdom now.
Week 2: 7/5 The Hope of the Resurrection Hope is more than
escaping this world to heaven. Rather its a confidence that God's
kingdom, presence, and power are breaking into our world now and a
new creation has begun.
Week 3: 7/12 The Hope of Heaven Heaven is not just some far-away
place we hope to go to. Through Christ, it is very near, and as we
follow Jesus, the reality of heaven comes alive and is unleashed
through us.
Week 4: 7/19 The Hope of Jesus Second Coming We have a biblical
confidence that Jesus will return to this world, restore creation,
heal his people, and make all things new.
Week 5: 7/26 The Hope of Salvation Through Jesus resurrection,
we are saved from sin and death. But there is more: God is saving
and restoring all creation, and he invites us into the work of
sorting out what is wrong in the world.
Week 6: 8/2 The Hope of the Church The hope is more than just
what lies ahead it is our experience of Gods Kingdom breaking into
our everyday journey of faith as we do justice, extend mercy,
express love, offer compassion, and celebrate beauty, all in the
name of Jesus.
This will be a very different worship experience for six weeks
as these topics need a little longer than the standard 20 minute
sermon, which means we will trim some of the order of the church
service temporarily. We want to help you discover for yourself what
HOPE looks like and what Gods word says about HOPE. We are asking
you to bring your Bibles. We will have some short discussion times
where you can share
what you are discovering about HOPE or hear what others are
seeing from Gods word concerning HOPE. It will no doubt make a few
uncomfortable but we are asking for people to be open to this
summertime-only opportunity!
Church and worship are not about the place. Church and worship
are about God coming to us and our response to God and to each
other. In order for us to have a little discussion time and
maximize our opportunity to be in the word of God, we will be
worshipping in a different place than normal. Our fellowship hall
is much friendlier for this opportunity! We will gather around
round tables for the worship and sermon time. There will be some
food and drink present for the kids (and adults if you wish to
partake). The elevator is in good working order, and some may
choose to enter the church through the doors off 15th Street and
come across the patio. The service will be like I did three years
ago when we gathered downstairs for Lent midweek and did a
first-person biblical character each week from the Easter
story.
No matter which service time you attend it will have the
essentials of worship: Gods word, confession and absolution,
prayers, the Sacrament, and a few hymns or songs based on 8:30 or
11:00 worship styles. After spending nearly two years going through
the books of the Bible (pre-Story sermon series and The Story
sermon series) you will notice this deals deeply with
doctrinal/teaching issues of Scripture. I hope those who come this
summer enjoy this temporary change of worship style and way of
looking deeply into Gods word in a worship setting which very
closely mirrors how the early church gathered in the first 400
years of its existence before Christianity became a
state-acknowledged religion. Please consider coming as you can and
enjoy the journey!
God Bless,
Pastor Andy
Commented [H1]: Are we going to promise that this is the only
time we do it? Or would it be better just to emphasize that it is a
temporary change? My gut is the latter.
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Family Ministry
I would like to start and thank you, the congregation for your
support, as well as the support from Pastor Andy, Pastor Harrison
and Terry Callies. God is surely on our side and we can see him
working here at ALC. The excitement I feel is overwhelming as I dig
in deep and serve the Lord.
My first BIG job here at ALC will be directing and organizing
Vacation Bible School. This year we will be doing a camping theme
called Camp Discovery. VBS will take place August 3rd7th from 36
p.m. There are many opportunities to volunteer and child care will
be provided. I will be holding two volunteer meetings. These
meetings will give you a chance to learn about the opportunities
and sign up.
First meeting: Wednesday June 17th at 6 p.m.
Second Meeting: Monday June 22nd at noon
If you have already reached out to me to let me know you are
interested I urge you to join in on a meeting anyway so you can
better prepare yourself. I am really looking forward to working
with the volunteers and I am open to your input. If you are
interested in the slightest but worried about time, please let me
know! We have big tasks and we have small tasks. Lets work together
in Christ and share his good news!!!
Thank you for your continued support and I look forward to
working with each and every one of you. Please feel free to contact
me at any time. Gods Blessings,
Rachel Goodell Director of Family Ministry
[email protected]
Rachel and Jake Goodell
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Weighing Anchor
Jim Scriven, School Administrator
A vision that many of us have shared for some time is to expand
our school ministry through high school. Were so thankful and
excited to see that shaping into a reality. We are concretely
planning to begin with a freshman class fall of 2016, just one
school year away. Now, many of you are aware that we are working to
build a large addition to The Lutheran Center which will allow us
the space to host a full high school program right alongside our
PS-8 classes. However, this new space wont be available until fall
of 2019, should things proceed according to plan (and you never can
be quite sure about plans this far out!). So how can we be saying
2016?
Our ministry partners at Anchorage Lutheran Church, a founding
congregation of our association and a ministry that has walked hand
in hand with us these past 35 years, has made the offer for us to
use classroom space at the church to bridge the gap in facility
need as we continue to grow. Very exciting! Through their
contribution of facility space and support, well be able to grow
grade by grade all the way up through 12th Grade, so that when our
new building is ready, we can move a full high school program into
it immediately. That is tremendous stewardship of resources, and a
huge blessing to the many families who are so appreciative to have
this option. Each year families wish they didnt have to seek out a
new school option as their children graduate 8th Grade. Thanks to
the committed support and ministry-minded vision of the people and
leadership of Anchorage Lutheran Church, as of next year
families no longer will have to. This years 7th Graders will
have the
option of becoming our first high school
graduates, the Class of 2020!
I look forward to the ways God will grow both
Anchor Lutheran School and Anchorage Lutheran Church through
this new step in partnership together. The school ministry spent
its first years operating in the rooms of Anchorage Lutheran and
Zion Lutheran Churches. How appropriate that this new direction for
our program, high school, will have its birth in the same
cradle!
[email protected] 522-3636
Congratulations to our 2015
college graduates
We didnt get all the names, but they include:
Victoria Funner from Fort Lewis College in Durango,
Colorado.
Elsa Dieckgraeff from University of Alaska, Anchorage.
Krista Dieckgraeff from Marquette University in Milwaukee,
Wisconsin.
Alexandra Sedor from University of Colorado, Boulder, CO.
Eric Hueners from Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA.
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Lutheran Social Services
of Alaska
Alan Budahl, Executive Director, LSSA 1303 W. 33rd Avenue
272-0643
Summer is upon us. Children are out of school for summer break,
and as always we see an increased number of households coming
through our food pantry. This year we are also facing a decrease in
government commodities so this leaves us depending more on food
donations and purchases to serve all those who are in need. In the
summer kid friendly foods are needed such as cereal, peanut butter,
jelly and canned fruit. Other items like boxed meals, pasta,
spaghetti sauce/noodles, and canned protein meats like tuna,
chicken or spam are popular picks from our client choice
shelves.
With the increased number of households served in the Food
Pantry we are also in need of volunteers. We are really needing
help on Wednesday evenings from 4:30 to 7 p.m. We can also use help
on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday from 1 to 4 p.m.
The HUGSS (Help Us Give School Supplies) and Coats for Kids
program will be split into two separate events this year due to the
renovation of the Sullivan Arena. HUGSS distribution of backpacks
and school supplies will be on Tuesday, August 11th at East High
School. Coats for Kids will be on Saturday, September 26th at the
Salvation Army Gym located on their C Street campus. Volunteer
opportunities for HUGSS will be available for set-up on Monday,
August 10th and on Tuesday, August 11th for distribution. Also
volunteers will be needed
for distribution of coats on Saturday, September 26th. Between
now and distribution we need help with school supplies and donation
of new and gently used coats. We also have a need for adult sized
coats. You may drop off any coats at the Fireweed Cleaners on
Fireweed and school supplies at LSSA office.
If any Thrivent Member would like us to help you apply for the
$250.00 mini grants that could be used for a food drive, shop for
school supplies for HUGSS or purchase warm winter coats for
children who need them. Please call Sue Freie (272-0643) at the
LSSA office and we would be happy to help you write a grant. All
Thrivent Members can write two grants per year. Associate Members
can write for one grant per year.
Music Lessons: If you or your children are looking for an
opportunity to take music lessons in Guitar or Piano, please
contact Mischa Shimek, 529-7581 or [email protected]. Lessons can
be scheduled for Mondays and Wednesdays between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.
Rates are $35$40 per hour.
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Campout 2015
The Summer Campout will be held July 24-26 at Quartz Creek
Campground. The campground is located on beautiful Kenai Lake and
Quartz Creek . There are 11 first come, first serve sites
available, but you need to arrive early to get one of those sites,
we suggest Wednesday, Thursday, or as early as possible on Friday.
It is strongly recommended that you go online to recreation.gov and
reserve a site. There are a number of double sites available where
two families can share a site. Mike and Lisa Wilkinson will be in
charge so please let them know if you are coming and what site you
will be in. 868-3901 or [email protected]. It is a beautiful
campground and a great location.