Christmas is over. The angels have gone, and we know it. The lights
are out, the tree down, the packages opened, the cookies eaten. It’s back to
life as usual, with winter and the January! February blues
stretching before us. No angels. No excitement. Some of us face sickness
and suffering, and some stand face-to-face with death. Others face the long
winter months feeling very lonely. Now, it is back to the job, or back to
school. Getting up early, and working hard, and being tired, and wondering
where the energy will come from to get through the day and the week.
We enter a new year with four responses. All will help to build
our spiritual homes into the spiritual dwelling that God had in mind when we
were created.
First: Do the hard work of building. When the winds blow, following
Second: Be far-sighted. Do not trade a long- term blessing for a
short-term pleasure.
Third: Listen—to hear the Lord’s voice. We cannot hear if we are not
listening.
Fourth: Act on the things that God has called us to do. Don’t know
what God wants you to do? Not feeling equipped? I am convinced that God doesn’t
call the unequipped; I am convinced that God doesn’t call the equipped. God equips the called. God is calling
you today. He is looking for willing hearts and lives.
Yes, Christmas
is over, but
Interim Pastors to Serve CHLC
The
congregational council has approved the Bishop’s recommendation that
Pastor Frank will serve the
congregation in all other capacities such as leading worship (except for every
6th Sunday when Pr Rick preaches), devote 20 hours a week to pastoral concerns,
perform pastoral acts, teach adult education, visit members and prospective
members, work with council and transition team and committees, account to the
Bishop on the progress of Interim Pastoral ministry and carry out other
congregational needs as 3/4 time ministry allows.
There
are seven specific goals of our Intentional Interim Ministry, which are part of
1.
To
maintain the viability of the congregation
2.
To
help resolve feelings of grief over the death of
3.
To
reinforce the ministry of the laity
4.
To
deal with special needs of our congregation
5.
To
emphasize fellowship and reconciliation with one another
6.
To
strengthen our ties with Synod and the Church-at-large
7.
To
increase the potential for a fruitful ministry under the next regularly-called
pastor
Introducing
Together with his wife
The 3/4 time ministry at CHLC will include working
at home Mondays, being at CHLC Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays 10am-7pm,
and Sunday mornings, off Friday and Saturday.
That schedule will be adjusted to accommodate parish schedules.
The
City of
ab
Introducing
a Quarter Time Pastor
for CHLC:
Pastor Rick Schowalter
·
The
employment is meant to take place beginning
·
Office
hours every Monday from
·
Wednesday
evening program to include a church-wide dinner from
·
First
Communion Instruction
·
Preaching
every 6th Sunday
·
Youth
group (Hi-Youth) participation and support
·
Retreats,
Trips and Camps for children and youth
·
On
call for pastoral care especially when
·
Vacation
fill-in for
·
Pastoral
leadership for the school especially with chapel participation
The new program being offered will be the Wednesday
evening program and more information about this program will soon be made
available. This program is a part of
The following is a brief outline of
Grew up in
Graduated from
Served 3 previous congregations as a youth and
family pastor: Zion Lutheran in
Currently is the solo pastor at
Served the Grand Canyon Synod as Director of Youth
Ministry Leadership, is currently the director of the Southwest Youth Ministry
Certification Network (SYMCN) and has been on the board of Lutheran Youth
Encounter
Active with the Cursillo
retreat everywhere he has served and the youth versions of this retreat know by
different names in different parts of the country
Authored a book edited by
The
Grief Journey
Someone
you love has died. You are beginning a
journey that is often frightening, painful, and lonely. No words, written or spoken, can take away
the pain you feel. Perhaps someone has
already said, “In time, you’ll feel better.”
Actually, time alone has nothing to do with healing. To heal, you must be willing to learn about
and understand the grief process.
As
scary as this may sound, you will never “get over” your grief. Instead you will learn to live with it. This does not mean you will never be happy
again. If you allow yourself the time
and compassion to mourn, if you truly work through your grief, you will heal.
WHAT YOU MAY FEEL
Because
grief is different for every person it is hard to predict what you will feel in
the weeks and months ahead. While your grief
is unique, it might help you to understand some of the most common emotions
associated with grief.
¨ Shock – dazed, stunned. This is nature’s way of protecting you from
an overwhelming reality. Stomach pains,
heart palpitations, crying hysterically, screaming angrily or even
laughing. These behaviors help you
survive during this extra ordinarily difficult time.
¨ Confusion – even
ongoing. Thoughts may be disconnected,
your mind may race, you may sense the dead person’s
presence or have fleeting glimpses of the person across the room. This is very common and very normal – they
are “memory pictures.”
¨ Anxiety. As your head and heart begin to miss the
person who died, you may naturally feel anxious. You may doubt your ability to survive, feel
anxious about everyday realities such as work or finances. You may panic.
¨ Anger and its cousins hate, blame, resentment, rage, and jealousy are
normal responses. With loss comes the
desire to protest. Explosive emotions
provide the vehicle to do so. We have
two avenues of expressing these emotions:
outward or inward. The outward
avenue leads to healing: the inward does
not. Critical to your healing is finding
someone who does not judge you but allows you to feel whatever you feel.
¨ Guilt. We naturally consider the “If-onlys.” Remember
thinking is logical, feeling is not.
¨ Sadness. Your full sense of loss will never occur all
at once. Weeks or often months pass
before you are confronted with the depths of your sadness. This slow progression is good. You could not or should not tolerate all your
sadness at once. Your body, mind, and
spirit need time working together to allow you to embrace the depth of your
loss. Be patient with yourself.
MYTHS ABOUT GRIEF
Myth #1 Grief and mourning are the same. Grief is the composite of thoughts and
feelings about a loss you experienced within yourself. Mourning is the external expression of that
grief. Crying, talking about the person
who died, celebrating special events are examples of mourning. Healing begins when we mourn publicly in the
presence of understanding and caring persons who will not judge you.
Myth #2 There are predictable stages to
grief. While grief often manifests
itself in similar ways, and at times there is a logical progression of emotion,
grief is not predictable.
Myth #3 We should avoid the painful parts of
grieving. Our society often encourages
prematurely moving away from grief instead of towards it. The result is too many bereaved people either
grieve in isolation or even move away from their grief. When you avoid the pain of grief, you avoid
healing. Instead, you must learn to
slowly embrace the full force of this pain so someday you can again embrace
happiness.
Myth #4 We should “get over” our grief as soon
as possible. Rather than using the term
resolution or recovery, I prefer reconciliation. This does not mean getting over your grief,
it means growing through it. With
reconciliation - which may take weeks or years – you feel a renewed sense of
energy and confidence, an ability to fully acknowledge the reality of the death
and become reinvalued with the activities of living.
THE RECONCILIATION NEEDS OF MOURNING
Need 1. Acknowledge the reality of the death.
Need 2. Move toward the pain of the loss. Expressing your thoughts and feelings about
the death with all their intensity is a difficult but important need. Dose yourself little by little. You should not try to meet this need all at
once.
Need 3. Continue the relationship with the person who
died through memory. Embracing your
memories – both happy and sad – it can be a very slow and at times, painful
process that occurs in small steps.
Remembering the past makes hoping for the future possible.
Need 4. Develop a new self-identity. Part of your self-identity comes from the
relationships you have created with other people. When someone with whom you have a
relationship dies, your self-identity naturally changes.
Need 5. Search for meaning. We question the meaning and purpose of life
especially at the death of a loved once.
Move at your own pace.
Need 6. Continue to receive support from others. You will never stop needing the love and
support of others because you never “get over” your grief. As you learn to reconcile your grief, you
will need help less intensely and less often.
Grieving
may be the hardest work you have ever done.
And hard work is less burdensome when others lend a hand. Enclosed is a copy of the mourner’s Bill of
Rights. You may wish to share these
pages with others. Remember there is
also Pastoral help available, and avail yourself of a new adult class beginning
January 11th at
New Children’s and Family Ministry
How
can we get our children excited about coming to church? How can we equip our families to be places of
Christian education and spiritual nourishment?
How can our church come together to enjoy each other’s company and build
quality relationships?
Try
coming to a mid-week family program that will include something for the whole
family and encourages singles to meet others.
Beginning
Wednesday, January
21st we will provide the
following for 10 weeks each Wednesday evening.
We
encourage all church organizations to try meeting for these ten weeks on this
night. Let’s make
What will the Children’s program be like?