From the Pastor: Settling In

Dear friends,

We are almost moved into the beautiful new facility God has given us. We’ve begun to have coffee in the new Fellowship Center. The kitchen still has a couple of restrictions, but can be used for many purposes.

Our Christian education leaders have been making decisions about how best to use various rooms for our Sunday morning program. The first step is going to be a thorough cleaning of the old classroom building—planned for Saturday, January 5. If you can join us that morning, please do so; there is much to be done!

At present the plan is that the adult Bible class will be back in the old Fellowship Hall (we’ve got to find a new name for that!). That is a comfortable space for adults, and we can bring our coffee cups; while those who prefer to continue to drink their coffee and visit can do so without disturbing those ready to learn.

Of course there is always some "getting used to" when a major project like this has been completed. There are things that make one think, "Oh goodness, why didn’t we (or why did we) do that?" Those will settle down as we settle in.

In the meantime, I’d like to make a few suggestions for all of us to help make the transition smoother:

(1) If you are in charge of a meeting at church, please be sure that all doors are locked and shut tightly when you leave. One of the idiosyncrasies of our new doors is that they sometimes don’t latch quite right unless the push-bar has been pushed. Just take a moment to check any door you are locking. (Fun fact: We have more than doubled the number of exterior doors. If you exclude doors that normally stay locked, even on Sunday, we come closer to tripling the number.)

(2) Many of the new lights are on sensors, and they may drive you crazy coming on when you are walking out. Don’t worry about it; they’ll go off in a few minutes, or, if you prefer, you can turn them off manually just by hitting the switch.

(3) Also please be mindful of turning off heating/air conditioning. The thermostats in the new building will normally be turned on only if the buildings will be in use, and should be turned off after usage is over.

(3) Parking is going to be a continuing issue. We only lost a couple of parking spaces, but they were popular spaces. I want to encourage anyone who is able on Sunday mornings especially to consider parking in the upper lot. We have many members (and visitors) for whom walking is difficult, and if those who are able-bodied will take farther-away spots, it will be a bit help. We will plan to unlock the doors to the Fellowship Center on Sunday mornings, so that if you are parking in the upper lot, you can enter the north lobby of the Fellowship Center and walk most of the way to the sanctuary indoors (and, by the way, avoid having to climb stairs). The west doors of the atrium will also be unlocked, so if the weather is fair you can walk down the driveway and enter the sanctuary from that direction.

Perhaps before long we’ll have an "orientation session" for anyone who would like to get more detailed instructions about doors, thermostats, lights, and other matters related to using the building. If you are occasionally "in charge of things," it would likely be helpful to you to have such a walk-through.

A year from now, probably less, we will have this all figured out and it will all seem like old hat! But for now, let’s just rejoice that we have this great opportunity and find our way through the details of "getting settled"!

A blessed and happy new year to all!

Peace to you,

Pastor Richard O. Johnson

P. S. Lois and I thank you for your generous gifts, cards, and goodies during this Christmas season! We continue to thank God for the wonderful privilege it is to serve Peace Lutheran Church!

Classic Prayers

Reveal Thyself to us, O God, as Thou didst to all the world in Christ our Lord, who for us and for our salvation came down from heaven; that, drawn by the star of His appearing, we may lay the treasures of our life at His feet, whom, with Thee and the Holy Spirit, we worship and glorify as one God, world without end. Amen.

--John Wallace Suter (1859-1942)

(Episcopalian clergyman and liturgical scholar)

Liturgy Notes: Epiphany

"Star of wonder, Star of light . . ." That magnificent star, seen in the East by the Wise Men, is the primary symbol for the Christian festival of the Epiphany, and the season to which it gives its name. The Festival of Epiphany itself, January 6, falls on Sunday this year for the first time in several years. It is among the oldest of Christian feasts—older even than Christmas itself.

Scholars believe that the festival began as an attempt by the church to "transform" a pagan holiday into a Christian holy day by investing it with Christian meaning. January 6 was the day celebrated as the winter solstice in the ancient East, so the Eastern churches began to observe that date as the celebration of the "Sun of Righteousness" (an image of the Messiah from the book of Malachi). As the festival developed, it had three primary foci: the birth of Christ, the baptism of Christ, and the first miracle (changing water into wine at Cana). The feast was called "Epiphany" (which means "manifestation") because these events were the way God made himself known to us in Jesus Christ.

Gradually, as the nativity of Christ came to be focused on December 25, the January date began to focus on the Magi, or Wise Men, who followed the star. This was seen as a symbol of the revelation of Christ to the Gentiles (since the Wise Men were apparently not Jews). In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, January 6 was celebrated as the Baptism of Christ, but in the Western church that observance has been moved to this Sunday after the Epiphany.

Throughout the season (which is unusually short this year due to the early date of Easter) we will hear echoes of that Epiphany star, with many Scripture texts that talk about the light of Christ being revealed to the nations. It is an important theme in a world still often dark with warfare, violence, hatred and despair.

There are many wonderful hymns which express the theme of Epiphany. One Lutheran favorite is the Philipp Nicolai chorale "O Morning Star, How Fair and Bright":

O Morning Star, how fair and bright!

You shine with God’s own truth and light,

Aglow with grace and mercy!

Of Jacob’s line, King David’s son,

Our Lord and Savior, you have won

Our hearts to serve you only!

Lowly, holy!

Great and glorious, all victorious,

Rich in blessing!

Rule and might o’er all possessing!

Come, precious diamond, light divine,

And deep within our hearts now shine;

There light a flame undying!

In your one body let us be

As living branches of a tree,

Your life our lives supplying.

Now, though daily

Earth’s deep sadness may perplex us

And distress us,

Yet with heavenly joy you bless us.