2011 SPRING FLING

The Annual Spring Fling is Saturday, April 16 at 7 pm.

You are invited to a special evening featuring
“The Kingery Family”
Country Gospel Group

FOR TICKETS CALL the Church Office 612-781-1989

**A CANNED FOOD ITEM FOR THE SALVATION ARMY FOOD SHELF WOULD BE APPRECIATED*

GLORIA DEI NEWS

Our MEALS ON WHEELS date for April is Thursday, the 7th.  If you would like to be a part of this ministry, please call Shelly Lausche at 651-631-9040 for all the information!

KOA/50+ will meet Thursday at 12 noon, April 14th. Our theme will be “Sow and Reap” We will talk about planting and harvesting long ago, and planting gardens now. Bring a bag lunch and bring a friend!

SPRING FLING:  Social Ministry is planning a fun filled evening for you on Saturday, April 16th  at 7:00 p.m. The Kingrey Family, a country gospel group will be our entertainment.  Dessert will follow.  Tickets are $6.50 per person (children 12 years and younger $3).  Tickets will be available in the narthex thru April 10th and can be purchased through the church office (612-781-1989); Meridel (612-789-0003); (Patty (763-754-6505), Jean (612-781-9764).  ADVANCE TICKETS ONLY!

SALVATION ARMY FOOD SHELF   Please remember those less fortunate by filling our grocery cart.  Things that are needed are canned fruits & vegetables, soups and spaghetti sauce and noodles, canned beans, macaroni & cheese, tuna, crackers, jelly, peanut butter, cereal, etc. Our last donation was 77 pounds of food.  Thanks to all of you for donating!

FELLOWSHIP SUNDAY is April 10th.  Board of Trustees and Elders are hosting.

A HUGE THANK YOU TO THE CLEANING CREW!  Jean Brede, Candy Brevig, Karmon & Meridel Christopherson, Millie Eckhardt, Tom & Patty Lyrenmann, Keith Rocek, Verlayne Sather, and Lil Troiden.  Many hands made the tasks go much faster.  We even shared coffee, treats and a few laughs. THANKS AGAIN!!

A BIG THANK YOU TO BILL HARRIS
FOR TUNING OUR PIANOS!

FROM THE PASTOR

Understanding the Signs

As the season of Lent was originally a period for Easter baptism, instruction of the Christian faith during Lent is an important part of our tradition. As can be seen throughout our church, symbolism has played a very important part in the proclamation of the Christian faith.  In the early Church, during the dark centuries of persecution, symbols of the resurrection and the life everlasting helped to maintain morale and focus. So this month’s article delves into the meaning of some of the more common Lenten symbols.  

Aside from ashes on Ash Wednesday and the palm branches on Palm Sunday and the cross, the symbols used during the Lenten season have often lost their significance as symbols that can enhance a Christian’s faith during Lent. Many of these symbols are what are called Christograms, a monogram or combination of letters that forms an abbreviation for the name of Jesus Christ.

In Eastern Christianity, the most widely used Christogram is a four-letter abbreviation, ICXC — a traditional abbreviation of the Greek words ΙΗΣΟΥΣ ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ or IHCOYC XPICTOC for "Jesus Christ". S is Σ in Koine Greek and C in medieval Greek. The first and last letters of each word forms the Christogram.

Our Lenten pulpit parament uses this split Christogram, IC for Jesus on the left of the image, and XC on the right for Christ, most often with a bar above the letters, indicating that it is a sacred name, and NIKA,  meaning conquer or victory leads us to the phrase  "Jesus Christ Conquers” or “Jesus Christ is the Victor".

One of the oldest Christograms is the Chi-Rho consistimg of the superimposed Greek letters chi (Χ) and rho (Ρ), which are the first two letters of Christ in Greek. A Chi-Rho Christogram was added to the flag by the Emperor Constantine I. According to legend, Constantine I adopted this Greek phrase, "εν τούτῳ νίκα", as a motto after his vision of a chi rho on the sky just before the Battle of Milvian Bridge against Maxentius on 28 October 312. "IHS" both stood for the first three letters of "Jesus" in Latinized Greek (Ιησούς, Latinized IHSOVS) and "In Hoc Signo" from the legend.  This leads us into another meaning of these letters….

"IHS" is sometimes interpreted as meaning Iesus Hominum Salvator ("Jesus, Savior of men" in Latin)  The Greek letter iota is represented by I, and the eta by H, while the Greek letter sigma is represented by C, or its final form, represented by S. Because the Latin-alphabet letters I and J were not systematically distinguished until the 17th century, "JHS" and "JHC" are equivalent to "IHS" and "IHC".

Though similar to the symbol above, this symbol in Greek, are the first three letters of the name, ΙΗΣΟΥΣ, or IHCOYC, Jesus. The bar over the second letter is the Greek abbreviation sign and the left stroke of the h is extended upward to meet this bar and form a cross.  For this reason the mongram is often misread as the English letters, IHC Here the sigma, S is represented by its form when S is not the last letter of the word.   

INRI is an acronym of the Latin inscription Iesus Nazarenus, Rex Iudaeorum, which translates to English as "Jesus the Nazarene (Galilean), King of the Jews (Judeans)". The Greek equivalent of this phrase, Ἰησοῦς ὁ Ναζωραῖος ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἰουδαίων (Iesous ho Nazoraios ho Basileus ton Ioudaion), appears in  John 19:19. Though rare in Western churches, this inscription is also seen as INBI in Eastern Churches.

WE CARE SO WE SHARE

Dear Church Family,

At our Senior Campus, we have one activity per month called “Getting to Know Your Neighbor”.  In many ways it is not dissimilar to many of the sessions we have had at our KOA meetings, where we early learned that most of us had very humble childhoods; knew someone else in the group who knew someone we knew and that the “oftener” we met, the more stories we were willing to share.  Thus it is at the Senior Campus.  The first time we met, the attendance was poor.  They met at 1:30 pm, nap time for the third time arounders.  Last time we filled the room for our Fireside chats.  Somehow our topic for the day involved “Who had participated in 4-H?”  Many had.  Many proudly told of prizes won at County Fairs, but then went on to tell they had probably only earned those ribbons because a mother had done most of the canning exhibit, or a dad made certain that the livestock exhibit was the best he had to put on display.  Are we, as Christians, unlike the 4-H exhibitors?  Do we in any way believe that any display of good deeds, or talents that others may see in us is anything other than the hand of our Heavenly Father, guiding and guarding us to show the best of what He has produced in us?

If I could had out some prize winning ribbons this past month, Layne would get the one for most uplifting.  On one of our recent Sundays, where streets were dry in the morning when you went to church, then during the service, more snow and assorted slippery stuff fell.  Down went Betty near the parking lot. Virgil couldn’t get her up.  Layne came to the rescue! With all the heavy snow he and Pastor have lifted this winter, Betty was just a dusting. 

A runner-up ribbon in uplifting goes to Gwen who gets it not for lifting you up from the ice, but up from the doldrums!    Editor’s note: (You’ll have to ask to find out what Gwen’s secret is!!)

Social Security high honors would have to go to our Social Ministry gals and all of their always willing to show up (“we all know what to do and it is fun”) elves.  Gloria Dei feels secure in having all of their social events covered by these very capable cuties.

The Beautification ribbons go to all who were recently involved in the Fellowship Room spiff up.  Very eye appealing.

Baking champion winners.  Judge Madeline feels the award should go to her taxi to church driver, whose car always is aromatic from something hot which just came from the oven. A blue ribbon for Renata and likewise for another “oven is `on’ oftener than `off’” person as she heads to church with treats. This baker, Verlayne, does not have a “no” in her vocabulary. She really has no concerns about being bored in her retirement.

Twice as effective talents ribbon goes to Keith and Vi.  Together they provide altar care, usher, are greeters and counters.  Bible study attendance ribbon goes to Walter who attends all three classes every week!

Music award goes to Angela and her faithful choir. They would gladly elastisize their award ribbon to wrap many more of you up in their program.  May we present still one more ribbon?  Because she is the person she is, she won’t take a blue ribbon so we will give her the honorable mention ribbon that is awarded to someone who ably takes care of our many needs. How excited we were that she even came for our 60th anniversary celebration (probably to ascertain that there would be enough bulletins).  Jeannie, your ribbon says “I care about you – all of you.”
Many of us at Gloria Dei were also 4-H’ers.  If you didn’t receive a ribbon this time, it may well be that I am 4-getful, so you must be 4-giving.

During the past month we celebrated the long, loving and being loved life of Gladys Rottach.  Her last many years were spent at Crest View, but many of we oldies have special Gloria Dei memories of her in our hearts. One memorable one is Easter Sunrise service held at Sunset Memorial Chapel in 1981. A woman stood in the entryway alone looking as if she would have rather waited until the sun had been up for awhile before she ventured out.  The chapel certainly did not look festive, but rather bleak and cold. The woman stood alone, watching families come in, watching the choir line up.  Pastor Sestak nodded at her, as he passed through. Two ladies approached the woman inquiring if she were alone.  She was heard to respond that she was a new member and her husband was ushering. Yes, she was alone. Each lady took one of the loner’s arms and said “we want you to sit with us.” Those two wonderful, caring ladies were Gladys Rottach and Helen Hansen. The invisible woman was your reporter.

At a recent Bible study Pastor asked us if we saw the invisible people at our church and what we did about them.  He had hoped Diane could have been with us on that particular morning.  She was busy grandmothering, the first day we moved our clocks forward.  Diane does great sharing at Bible study.  She has the gift of making you feel like you are there. She remembers the classroom cliques and feeling invisible.  Is that how she developed the magnetic visibility to spot down days others are having and offering encouragement when we must need it?  To God be the glory! That day led to dozens of fun times with Gladys. She was perky, peppy, and generous with her time and energy. She was not above suggesting that perhaps I was better at the typewriter than at cutting coffee cakes. “So go type.  I’ll cut the cake.”  The stories shared at her service only served to restore the Gladys – yes, the Gladie, – certainly the glad moments we shared with this lovely lady.  To her family, how blessed you were to have had her so long.

Gloria Dei also lovingly remembers a former member, Virginia Mauer, a lady with a loving heart and always busy hands.  Before their retirement move, she had re-stained the woodwork in their big home on Johnson Street – what a job!  When remarking to her that it must be tough to move away from all of the shining wood, she commented that at least she would not be doing that job again.  Even when the Mauers’ snowbirded in Arizona, they had Gloria Dei people to worship with, to be their neighbors, the Andersons, the Halversons. Small world it is as the Mauer daughter, Becky, was Pastor Gade’s secretary at one of his former circuit churches.

As we speak of snowbirds, we welcome back Bill and Dorothy looking refreshed from a brief getaway.

To God be the glory!  On April 24th once again we can shout with joy – “OUR ALLELUIAS” Christ is risen!  He is risen indeed!  Easter blessings!