Living out God’s call to welcome the stranger, Bishop Michael Rinehart of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) visited lawmakers on Capitol Hill with the message that economic security and personal responsibility start with strong families and citizenship, and that America would be foolish to rebuild its immigration system on any other bedrock..

“Coming to Capitol Hill with other faith leaders today is my way of giving back to the refugees who have enriched my life and the life of my church and community,” said Rinehart, who made the Hill visits as part of a national leadership team organized by the 2013 Lutheran Immigration Leadership Summit. “As bishop of the Lutheran Church in Houston, I’ve seen refugees from many countries pass through this city. They have been a key to our thriving economy. We’ve learned that America’s leadership on refugee protection not only saves lives, but adds meaning to the worship and community life of this great city.”

“Compassionate immigration reform centered on family unity and a path to citizenship is crucial to the economic success and social cohesion of Houston,” said Rinehart, Bishop of the Gulf Coast Synod, ELCA, who personally visited the offices of members of the Texas and Louisiana delegations as part of the summit organized by Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS).

“We’re meeting with a wide variety of congressional offices today, and we’re grateful to the Lutheran leaders who are the heart of this effort,” said Brittney Nystrom, LIRS Director for Advocacy. “Without them, we wouldn’t be able to deliver this powerful message.”

40 Lutheran leaders are taking part in LILS, which provides an opportunity for Lutheran leaders to engage in direct conversations with lawmakers on Capitol Hill to advocate for the reform of our broken immigration system.

LIRS’s CIR advocacy goals include providing a roadmap to citizenship, ensuring enforcement measures are humane and just, protecting families from separation, promoting integration of vulnerable migrants, and protecting U.S. and migrant workers.

“There has never been a more critical time for these Lutheran leaders to engage with their elected officials in Washington,” said LIRS President and CEO Linda Hartke, “We count on their faith perspective, leadership and the lived experience of the Lutherans they serve to help guide the immigration reform debate towards a humane and welcoming conclusion.”

The TX-LA Gulf Coast Synod, ELCA, is a network of 119 churches in SE Texas and Southern Louisiana.

LIRS is nationally recognized for its leadership advocating on behalf of refugees, asylum seekers, unaccompanied children, immigrants in detention, families fractured by migration and other vulnerable populations, and for providing services to migrants through over 60 grassroots legal and social service partners across the United States.

Ben Remmert, Associate in Ministry

Peace Lutheran Church, Pasadena, TX

“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity.”                                                                        I Timothy 4:12

I have to admit that I had some difficulty writing this article. I was told that I had complete and creative dominion on what I can write about as long as it is about the ministry of Peace Lutheran Church. My mind started to race about what I could write. Should I write about Sunday school and how we developed a new worship/teaching model? Should I write about our new young adults’ ministry and how eight of our young adults challenge their faith in Colorado? Or should I write about confirmation ministry and how it’s been a blessing instead of a headache? I just didn’t know what to write.

As some people may know about me, I am a person of structure, so this was a little out of the box. However, I diligently began brainstorming topics and ideas. Twenty minutes later, I came up with nothing. Until I looked over across my desk and saw a bright yellow card that was given to me from one of my high school students who served on our youth-led worship Sundays. These were Sundays where all our children and youth would fill in as greeters, ushers, acolytes, communion assistants, lectors, and sing during musical solos. However, this youth helped out by preaching.  I picked up the card and remembered the message she wrote, “Thank you for letting me get the opportunity to give the sermon. And thank you for your help.”

I was stunned when I first received this card. What youth would be thankful for preaching? Reading this card, my mind flashed back to my memories as I child, when I had a certain time and a certain place to worship and would never be allowed to lead worship at such a young age. I keep this card on my desk to remind me that our children and youth have a voice and that our leadership in the church is guiding and finding opportunities for them to discover their own voice.

Most of my colleagues are doing this, but as a church we need to mentor our youth and help them share their voice about faith. Youth are the best source of information on what our society and culture can do to help spread the faith of Christ. Therefore, this is what I have been doing here at Peace Lutheran; guiding our children, youth, and parents in their own voice of faith. Now it has been a great ride here at Peace Lutheran from our Reformation Day Celebrations, Saints Celebrations, Vacation Bible Schools, summer trips, garage sales, gnoming fundraisers, and service projects. However, I am so thankful for Camp Hope Day Camp Ministry and its effect on Peace Lutheran Church.

For those that do not know what Camp Hope is, it’s a day camp ministry our synod developed twenty years ago where junior high school, senior high school, and college-aged students alike lead a day camp in their own congregations, beginning and ending the day with worship. Between those worship times, youth would lead in teaching Bible stories and guiding children in their faith through games, snacks, dramas, music, crafts, and creative story telling.  Now I am a product of this ministry almost fifteen years ago and every summer it has been a great source of renewal in my faith life. It is from Camp Hope that I discovered my call to Word and Service as a Youth & Family Minister.

We started this ministry at Peace Lutheran two years ago. Our first year we had sixteen campers registered. Our youth started to discover their own sense of call as disciples of Jesus Christ. I wish that I could tell all the stories of Camp Hope here at Peace Lutheran, but there just wouldn’t be enough time to get them all down. It is because of Camp Hope, our youth began to thirst for more opportunities to learn about their faith, to serve their communities, and to lead worship services. It is because we gave them a voice and an opportunity to lead that I feel with confidence that we are doing God’s work at Peace Lutheran Church. I hope that this article will challenge you to listen to the voice of your children, youth, and college students and help them in getting their voice heard. God’s peace be with you all.

From Sara Ray, Kinsmen Lutheran Church, Houston, TX

Sara Ray, Kinsmen Lutheran Church

My favorite Sundays are when grandparents, parents and children gather together to learn about their faith and then are blessed by the entire congregation.  That’s what the church should be, right?  Teaching and leading parents and children to share their faith together and in turn share that with the people around them.  Thanks to Vibrant Faith Ministries and previous leaders, Kinsmen has a milestone for children every year beginning at 3-year-olds and continuing through high school.  We also have two milestones for adults.

So what is this “milestone ministry”?  Vibrant Faith has four elements for milestones: naming, equipping, blessing, and gifting.  Simple enough.  Many churches, especially Lutheran churches, have this built into their DNA, we just don’t usually name it as a “milestone.”  Baptism, First Communion, first Bible, Confirmation, high school graduation are probably events you celebrate as a congregation already. By adding a few components to it, you can make each event into a time for family faith formation.  We’re not inventing anything new which is one of the great things about milestones.

The first element of a milestone is “naming” it.  Think about a natural beginning, ending, or transition time for the family or child.  At Kinsmen, our 3-year-olds celebrate their entrance into Sunday school (Beginning Sunday School Milestone); 3rd graders celebrate their “graduation” from a story Bible to a full Bible (God’s Love Story Milestone).

The second element is “equipping.”  During the equipping time, parents, grandparents, and other family members come together with the child to learn about the child’s milestone and how their faith plays a role in this new time in their lives.  For example, during the “Relationships” milestone, 7th graders serve dinner to the adults who are celebrating the “Marriage” milestone.   Faith practices like praying or devotions are introduced to the families during the learning time.  Most of our milestones happen over two Sundays, so they practice their new faith ritual at home together as homework.

For the third element of the milestones, the “blessing,” the family is brought forward during worship for a special time of blessing with the entire congregation.  The parents, grandparents and family members lay hands on their child as they say a short blessing.  The congregation then blesses the families who participated in the milestone.

The fourth part of each milestone is “gifting.”  Each child receives a gift that will serve as a reminder of this milestone.  Sometimes our kids make a craft during their learning time, like a liturgically colored cross necklace as they learn about the church year in Kindergarten.  Sometimes members of the congregation make something for the children like the prayer pillows they receive as four year olds.  Other times it is a faith tool for the families to use together, like prayer cubes.  Whatever the gift is, it fits in the child’s faith chest they were given at baptism.

The best thing about milestones is that it brings generations together to learn and talk about their faith with each other.  Milestones happen at a time in their lives during some kind of change when adding a faith practice has potential to stick.  And, families can practice sensitive evangelism and invite friends to milestones.

If you have any questions, or would like to tell me about the milestones your church celebrates, I’d love to hear from you! – Sara Ray

Michelle Mote

Messiah Lutheran Church, Cypress, TX

Michelle Mote, Messiah Lutheran Church

When you find out you are going to become a parent, you begin to feel so many emotions:  anxiety, fear, excitement, joy.  Then, the child is born and you wish your child came with an instruction manual on how to raise them in a loving, faithful life.  Every child is just as different as every parent is different.  Each parent does what they can and tries to make the right choices.  Sometimes they are the right choices and other times they are not.  We all make mistakes.  The one thing that is true for all parents is that you are the biggest example to your child. You are the one who teaches them about faith, life, relationships and decision making.  They see how you choose to live your life, what your priorities are and how you interact with other people.  Scary as that might sound, you are not alone.  God is always with each one of us guiding and helping direct us in the decisions we make.  The other place that is always there for us is a faith community.  I have been asked many times “why is being a part of church important?”  I have friends who ask “Why do I need to be part of faith community when I can pray on my own and talk to God anytime?”  My response is this. You gain so much from being part of community.  You have other people who become part of your life, who walk alongside you during hard times, who will celebrate with you during joyful times, and who will challenge you in your own faith.  Being part of a faith community is more than just talking to God; it’s about growing deeper in our own faith so we can share it with our children.

As a community of faith, when someone is baptized, we take on vows that we are going to help be a part of this person’s faith life.  We are going to be there for them to help guide them, teach them, love them, and pray for them.  It is a deeper connection as brothers and sisters in Christ.

As a community of faith, we are partners with parents to help support them in growing their child’s faith life.  Parents, you are a huge example for your child, but you do not have to do it alone.  The church is also here, to partner with you, to help teach, love, and pray for your child as they grow in their faith.  The biggest decision you have to make as parents is how important God is in your life and where God falls on your priority list.  If you start making faith and God important in your life, it will become an important part in your child’s life as well.  When parents and communities of faith join together, amazing things happen and lives are changed.

If you are part of a community of faith, start saying hello to kids you do not know and asking them how they are doing.  Start praying for the youth in your church by individual name or in general.  Volunteer to help however you can by being a greeter for family events, helping out on Wednesday nights or whatever.  Be creative!  If you are a parent, seek to find a place that fits your family’s needs and become a part of that community of faith by making it a priority to participate in worship, education and anything else you might be able to do.  The more churches and families can partner together, the more everyone’s faith will grow.

From Jennifer Finley
Faith Lutheran, Bellaire, TX

Jennifer Finley, Faith Lutheran Church

I am a lot of things: some really good, some not so good. But one thing that I am is teachable. I have never for a second thought that I have everything figured out. One of my favorite things I have learned during my time at Faith Lutheran is about teenagers in recovery.

 I have worked with teens for over 17 years professionally, plus a few more with my years as a volunteer with Kinsmen Lutheran’s youth program in the mid-90s, plus a few more via Big Brothers and Sisters while I was in college, plus one summer as a Camp Chrysalis Counselor. But what I have learned in the last year through Cornerstone and their work has been invaluable to me. It has made me re-evaluate what is important in the lives of some teens and their families.  I think this recent e-mail from one of our neighbors and my response will sum up some of my “education.”

 The e-mail to me:

Indented email

Is the Church responsible for the youth that are at the back of the property on the park type tables smoking and ‘hanging out’ every afternoon.  The neighbors do not appreciate the behavior that is seen and wonder if it is related to the Church or if we should have the Bellaire Police investigate.  It is an unsightly group and the neighborhood children are terrified.

My response:

Hi (Neighbor),

 Thank you so much for contacting me.

 Yes! We are not only responsible for those kids, but we are also really supportive of them.  Thank you again for giving me a chance to let you and our surrounding neighbors in on a little insight to these high schoolers.

 They can be “unsightly” – you are right.  These are teenagers who are in recovery from drugs or alcohol or both.  These are NOT kids on the fence of wanting a better life, these are kids who have seen hell, put their families through hell, and have made the choice to be clean and sober.  No one is making them be here.  The program they are involved with is called Cornerstone. Faith Lutheran has a stake in helping these teens and their parents in turning their lives around.  Faith offers them a safe and clean place to meet after school Monday – Thursday from 3:00 – 6:00 PM.  We provide them a place to work on their AA steps and be with other teens who are also putting the pieces of their lives back together.  They have been broken and sometimes the scars on the inside and outside of them are “unsightly.”

 Now with ALL of this said (Neighbor), if the kids are behaving in ways that are inappropriate, I very much need to pass that on to the counselors in charge.  That’s not ok.  But if they are teenagers just being teenagers, I hope that you and our neighbors will cut them some slack and maybe even approach them to let them know that you are proud of the choices that they are making now. Be supportive and encouraging to them.

 I hope not, but if your children or some of the other children in our neighborhood ever need the help of Cornerstone, those families will know that there is a place committed to helping them to have success over addiction right in your own backyard.

 If at any time you, or the other neighbors, would like to come and meet the kids, I would be happy to set that up with their advisers.  I think the most “terrifying” part is probably not understanding who they are, what they have been through, or that they are clean, sober, and at much more healthy places in their lives.  Faith Lutheran wants to be a good neighbor in all ways.  We also take great strides to bless the world with faith, hope, and love.

 We have so much to learn from people in recovery.  Even their teenagers are very well equipped to talk about God and what he means in their lives because they have been to places physically and emotionally that seem “God-less” and they want to come back.  If your church has the honor to host a Cornerstone group – I hope that you will.  They have blessed us as we have made the commitment to support them.  These are a different kind of kid than church workers usually see.  But Andy Root had this to say about our “church kids” in his book “Why Church Kids Must Go Bad.”

 “…have we communicated that Christianity is ultimately about goodness, about positivity, and has little to do with the reality of the human condition—little to do with suffering, brokenness, and yearning? These good kids have become the role models for others; we have labeled them the good and positive leaders, while the doubting, the yearning, those up against all sorts of impossibility are told (again, maybe more implicitly) to get positive, to get good, to avoid the bad and the heavy if they want to be Christian. Kids that have tasted the shadow side, that have felt its cold darkness touch their broken souls, see little need for youth ministry—see little significance of the youth ministry in the church, for it is too positive, too concerned with goodness, to name, contemplate, and yearn for God to meet them in the shadows of their existence, to meet them up against their brokenness.”

From Beth Hartfiel, AiM, Youth Leadership at New Life Lutheran Church in Pearland, TX

Beth Hartfiel, New Life Lutheran Church

The growth of youth into leadership roles all seems to have started at New Life when a core-group of freshmen students was taken to the Disciple Project in 2003. The mentors were asked to meet with the students before and after the Disciple Project with one of the specific goals being to discuss the student’s experience and how the student could use their leadership skills in the congregation and in their schools. The role of the mentors was to help the students find the right doors and go through those leadership doors with the students within the congregation specifically.

Getting adults involved with helping lead Wednesday night LYO for 3rd through 12th graders had been difficult. These high school youth, who were now sophomores, who had attended the Disciple Project, were relied on to help lead Wednesday night LYO in certain areas. I slowly gave over certain parts of the evening to certain students. I had one student who loved playing games, so she let him start helping her lead games and eventually stepped out of the role of co-leader allowing the student to lead the games on his own. I continued to do this with other students for different parts of the evening: regularly setting up the pizza line, leading the table grace, taking care of the sign-up sheet, collecting pizza money and gathering everybody together. I still led the heart of the evening’s discussion/lesson, but had students surrounding me leading the rest of the evening. Each night, the group would gather in my office to discuss the evening and how things went. This became the teaching/training time for the group.

The following year, some of these students got involved with synod ministry teams. The students attended the Fall Leadership Event and received specific training for the ministry team they were serving on. The leadership skills they learned were then applied to what they were doing on Wednesday nights, thus strengthening Wednesday night LYO.

Then in 2005, Camp Hope was held for the first time and at least half of the staff were either a key leader for Wednesday night LYO and/or involved with a synodical ministry team. The students continued to strengthen and build their leadership skills with the help of their previous experiences. The students continue to attend the Disciple Project because they love it. It is a place where they can grow and expand their leadership skills by participating in the different tracks each year. These leadership skills flow over into the students’ lives at school as well as other areas of the church.

During all these experiences, New Life has supported, nurtured and uplifted these student leaders. Some of them serve in a variety of roles during the worship services including being Assistant Minister. The younger children have looked up to theses student leaders. Thus we have created a cycle of leadership where everyone is respected and recognized for their leadership abilities, no matter what their age is.

Looking back over this process that began 10 years ago, I see that there are a few keys for growing student leaders at New Life. The first one is that I work hard at making sure there are adults available to walk alongside these students. The adults are asked to be non-judgmental of the students and to help the students find a different way to do things when they stumble from time to time. I, as well as the other adults, am willing to take the time to teach the students as well as share ideas that I have seen work with them. The adults also allow the students to try out their own ideas and help the students think through every step before starting something big. Both the adults and students are reminded that what works for one, might not work for another, but when the right people are in the right place and using their God-given talents, everyone is blessed.

New Life continually recognizes and values our student’s input and gifts. Sharing God’s grace and love with our students in this way is one of the church’s greatest gifts to them.

Mark England, Kinsmen Lutheran Church, Houston, TX

We live in a culture that is less and less supportive of the Christian faith for a variety of reasons.  That is ok.  It is not the culture’s duty to support or form our families in the faith.  That is, and always has been, the calling of the Church.  Yet that formation cannot only occur in the Church gathered; it must be accompanied by formation that happens as the Church is scattered.  Even as we want our congregations to feel like home, our homes need to be Church as well.  The National Study of Youth and Religion has shown that parents are not being equipped to pass on a consequential faith among youth. 

If this formation only happens as the Church is gathered, then we are left with an impossible task.  Realistically, we have only two hours a week as Church together.  And with sports, travel, and custody arrangements, many families do not gather with the congregation every weekend of the month.  We simply do not have enough time together for the entirety of faith formation to happen as the Church is gathered together.  

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I do value the time we have with our families during the various milestones as Sara Ray describes in her article.  But I believe we can expand this time to better support the faith formation happening in the home.  I also believe we can extend the reach of milestones to include the neighborhoods where our families live.

Building Networks

The first thing I believe we can do is build a network around the milestone experience.  John Roberto of Lifelong Faith shares the importance of building networks around our ministries.  What if following our milestone sessions and celebration, we provided a way to connect the families beyond the milestone celebration.  We could encourage them to continue the ritual or faith practice that was modeled during the milestone.  We, then, could connect them in such a way that they could check in and hold each other accountable for practicing their faith in this way for a season.  Through this network they could celebrate what is bearing fruit and figure out together what needs to be pruned.  We would want to find ways for them to give testimony to the congregation as to how the faith is lived out in their homes.  Hopefully, by leveraging milestones in this way, our families would begin to see their home as Church too.

Every Home a Church

The second thing I believe we can do is extend the reach of milestones into our neighborhoods and communities.  A recent conversation with David Anderson of Vibrant Faith has encouraged me to think in this way.  Now my instinct is to use milestones as an opportunity to draw more from our surrounding community into the Church gathered.  Certainly I believe we can do more to invite children from our Preschool and Afterschool ministries to join us in our milestone ministry.  And I believe we can use advertising to invite families in the neighborhood surrounding Kinsmen to join us in marking these important times in their child’s life.  But I think this instinct is only half right.  I believe we also can leverage milestones to share the Good News through the Church scattered.  What if we equipped families for milestone celebrations in their own homes?  They could invite their friends and neighbors, co-workers and classmates of their children.  They could have a meal be a part of the celebration.  We could provide them with scripture and ritual to mark the occasion.  We could prepare them for the possibility that the Holy Spirit might be preparing an opportunity for further conversation about the faith with some of those who are gathered.  We could encourage them to receive an in-kind offering to support the ministry that the specific milestone is lifting up.  If done well, this would be a living example of how the home becomes Church.  We would have the potential of reaching people who may not be likely to enter our church buildings but accept gladly the invitation into our church homes.

At this point, this is only a hoped for future for our milestone ministry.  Actually, in many ways it is a hoped for future for the way we are Church as well, gathered and scattered.  But it is not a reality, yet.  I would welcome further conversation if any of the above resonates with you. –Mark England

Seminary Scholarships:  Once again your support of the Mission Endowment Fund has provided scholarships for students preparing for professional leadership roles in the church. A total of $15,000 was awarded to the Texas Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod’s Candidacy Committee for distribution to candidates from our synod.   The Candidacy Committee makes actual allocations based on requests received coupled with other financial information.

The goal of the Mission Endowment Fund is to eventually cover the full gap between other sources of financing and actual seminary costs for tuition, books, and housing for each of our Synod’s candidates who apply for assistance.  This $15,000 grant was made possible by the generous gift from Park Place Lutheran Church.

New Congregations:  $5,061 was awarded to assist development of new missions in our

Pastor Pedro Suarez
Director of Evangelical Mission

synod.   This grant will be distributed by the synod’s Director for Evangelical Mission, Pastor Pedro Suarez.

Campus Ministry:  $17,500 in grants was awarded to the Synod’s Campus Ministry Team which in turn supports campus ministry in the Brazos Valley (Blinn and Texas A&M), the Houston area ( University of Houston, Rice University, and the Texas  Medical Center), and Baton Rouge (Louisiana State University). 

Houston Lutheran Campus Ministry students with Pr. Brad Fuerst, Campus Ministry Director.

New Projects:  $5,000 was granted to St. James – Houston to help them with their new Family Life Center.

If you would like to make a gift to support these ministries, please contact Melissa at the synod office, 281.873.5665.

By Edna Thompsen

The Heights Community Children’s Choir (HCCC) was recently awarded a $2,000 New Project grant from the Mission Endowment Fund (MEF). HCCC is an outreach ministry of Zion Lutheran Church in Houston and was founded in 2012.  The Executive Director, John Markert, wanted to create a similar experience that he had singing in a community choir growing up in Victoria, Texas which had a profound and lasting impact on his life.

The HCCC program provides tuition-free weekly training for elementary school students and it is open to any interested singers. The mission of the choir is to provide leadership training for children and youth through vocal and musical instruction alongside enrichment activities, exposure to faith traditions, and performance opportunities in worship services and wider community settings. Its core values include: high standards in a musical experience, emphasis on character development, exposure to faith formation and development of healthy community relationships.

Free transportation is provided by HCCC to Zion from several Heights-Area elementary schools. Funding is through grants and donations. Click here for more information.

This New Projects grant awarded by the synod’s Mission Endowment Fund is one of four key objectives.  If you would like to know more about MEF objectives or help support ministries like this through a gift to the MEF, please contact Melissa in the synod office, 281.873.5665.

A recent report from the ELCA Global Mission office shows that from January 2012 through March 2013, our synod contributed over $46,000 to missionary support!  To date, congregations have covenants pledging close to $36,000 for 2013.  We celebrate our synod’s support of missionaries through congregational offerings and gifts as well as through individual direct donations.   Today’s Lutheran missionaries play crucial roles in communication between churches around the world and ELCA synods and offices, enabling us to support our companion synods.  Missionaries often serve as advisors and consultants to programs of our companion synods and facilitate ELCA programs benefitting people around the world.  They may teach and may often be invited to preach in congregations in the countries where they serve, but they serve at the invitation of and through agreements with the local Lutheran church bodies.

Our thanks to the following congregations and members of these congregations, shown with the names of the missionaries they support and/or have committed to support.  “Missionary sponsorship” indicates that no specific missionary was designated.  The first time a missionary is listed, the country of service is given in parentheses.  If your congregation contributed, but is not listed, please contact the synod office.  If you would like to help support a missionary, please email missionary sponsorship.  Susan Smith is our newest CAR missionary, as advisor to education programs, and has no sponsors yet in our synod.

Susan Smith is our newest CAR missionary, as advisor to education programs, and has no sponsors yet in our synod.

Christ Lutheran Church, Lake Jackson is sponsoring Stephen Deal (Costa Rica) and Dana Nelson Ososki (Peru)

Christ the King Lutheran Church, Houston is sponsoring Jacalyn Griffin (CAR) and David Brondos (Mexico City)

Christ the King Lutheran Church, Kenner is sponsoring Andrew and Barbara Hinderlie (Tanzania)

Faith Lutheran Church, Bellaire is sponsoring Andrew and Barbara Hinderlie

Faith Lutheran Church, Dickinson is also sponsoring Andrew and Barbara Hinderlie

Grace Lutheran Church, New Orleans is sponsoring Jacalyn Griffin

Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Houston is sponsoring Andrew and Barbara Hinderlie

Hosanna Lutheran Church, Houston (Individual) Missionary Sponsorship

Joyful Life Lutheran Church, Magnolia is sponsoring Andrew and Barbara Hinderlie

Living Word Lutheran Church, Katy is sponsoring Jacalyn Griffin

Lord of Life Lutheran Church, The Woodlands is sponsoring Andrew and Barbara Hinderlie

Lutheran Church of the Galilean, La Place is sponsoring Dana Nelson Ososki

Martin Luther Church, Carmine (Individual) Missionary Sponsorship

Memorial Drive Lutheran Church, Houston is sponsoring Andrew and Barbara Hinderlie

Memorial Lutheran Church, Texas City is sponsoring Andrew and Barbara Hinderlie

Messiah Lutheran Church, Cypress is sponsoring Andrew and Barbara Hinderlie

Salem Lutheran Church, Brenham is sponsoring Joseph and Deborah Troester

St. Mark Lutheran Church, Metairie is sponsoring Andrew and Barbara Hinderlie

St. Paul Lutheran Church, Baton Rouge is sponsoring Jacalyn Griggin and Joseph and Deborah Troester

St. Paul Lutheran Church, Columbus is sponsoring Andrew and Barbara Hinderlie

St. Paul Lutheran Church, La Grange is sponsoring Andrew and Barbara Hinderlie

St. Paul Lutheran Church, Brenham is sponsoring Andrew and Barbara Hinderlie

St. Peter Lutheran Church, Brenham is sponsoring Joseph and Deborah Troester

Tree of Life Lutheran Church, Conroe is sponsoring Timothy and Mari McKenzie (Japan)

Individual, Spring is sponsoring James and Carol Sack (Japan)

On Saturday, April 14^th, the Ministry Assistance of the Near Northwest Alliance (M.A.N.N.A.) held a reception at St James Church for those individuals who volunteer at its thrift store, vision center and food pantry. Executive Director, Patricia Dornak, and M.A.N.N.A. Board President, Robert Rivera, were on hand to give personal recognition to the more than 60 volunteers who by giving of countless hours support  the mission of M.A.N.N.A, to serve those in need in our community.

The St. James youth group participated in a Service Project with the MANNA Food Pantry on April 20, 2013 with the distribution of food for needy families in the Oak Forest area.

Congratulations to St. James members, Charles Cernik, who was awarded the 2013 Volunteer of the Year by RSVP of the Texas Gulf Coast for his many years of service at Memorial Hermann Northwest Hospital, and to Ashley Ramirez, a graduating senior, who was presented with a $500 college scholarship from the St. James Endowment Fund on Easter Sunday.

The St James Family Life Center continues with its ongoing ESL classes.

Upcoming summer events include GED, Adult Literacy, and Basic computer classes, participation in “Lemonade Day,” on May 5^th, a Health Forum, and a 4-week summer program for elementary school children.  For more information, call Robert Rivera, Director, at the church office, 713.686.1577.

St. James is led by the ministry team of Rev. Raymond LeBlanc and Aura Suarez, Minister of Outreach.

For more information, call the church office a, 713.686.1577, or email.  St. James is located at 1602 West 43^rd St in Houston.

This article is also available on podcast here. 

We have just come out of Lent, a time set aside for prayer and fasting, a time of almsgiving (generosity) and drawing close to God.

How did it go for you? What did you learn? And most importantly: What’s the go-forward? What will your Easter prayer life look like?

Recently I was asked to speak to a group of people about prayer. They asked me to talk about it from a personal standpoint. What worked? What didn’t work? What do you do when you get stuck? I took the opportunity to think back over the years and share a little bit about my own prayer life — the journey that evolved over the last half a century and is still evolving today.

Before you read this, begin by reflecting on your own prayer life. Consider it a time of prayer. It will not do to race into a conversation about prayer frenetically. Sit quietly for a while and think about this. Consider taking some notes in a journal. What does your prayer life look like? Do you pray every day? When? Where? How? Do you pray differently today than you did ten years ago? What would you like your prayer life to be like? Why?

Why pray?

Now extend your meditation on the role of prayer in your life by doing this exercise. Take one minute, or two, and write down as many reasons as you can to pray. Write, “Why Pray?” and then think about this: If you took 30 minutes a day to pray, every day, what would be the benefits?

Ready? Go…

The Lord gives power to the faint,
and strengthens the powerless.
30 Even youths will faint and be weary,
and the young will fall exhausted;
31 but those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength,
they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40:29-31

I have asked several groups this question over the last year. It is fun to hear their responses. People usually say things like this. Read these slowly and consider if any of them are true for you.

“I believe I’d have more peace.”
“It might calm me down.”
“I believe it would help me listen for God’s voice more acutely.”
“It would give me more time to reflect on life and my relationships.”
“It will refocus me on what is important in life.”
“I believe it would make more attuned to and available for others.”
“It would deepen my faith.”
“It would give me more focus and energy.”
“When I pray in the morning it sets my day on the right foot.”
“When I pray in the morning, I am more like to pray during the day.”
“I want to grow spiritually.”
“Prayer lowers my anxiety.”

All of these things are true. Prayer does all of these things and more. I believe we would be healthier people, and more spiritually centered if we spent more time in prayer. Some of these comments are self-centered. That’s okay. There are benefits to prayer. Don’t be shamed by that. We can all use more peace and less anxiety in our lives. It’s okay to want that.

The apostle Paul put it this way in Philippians 4:

Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Isn’t it interesting that Paul connects anxiety and prayer? He understands that prayer does something to us. Mother Teresa understood this as well. She said,

The fruit of silence is prayer
the fruit of prayer is faith
the fruit of faith is love
the fruit of love is service
the fruit of service is peace.

Paul talked about the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. These are the fruits of having a spiritual life. When I ask people if they are growing spiritually they often ask what I mean. I tell them the things of the spirit are those invisible, intangible things in life that are more important than (but not unrelated to) the visible, tangible things. Then I ask them, “Are you a more loving person than you were a year ago? Is there more peace in your life? Are you growing in generosity? Kindness?” If we want to grow spiritually, grow in those nine areas or fruits that Paul mentioned in Galatians, prayer will be our most important tool. In fact, I don’t think one can grow spiritually without prayer.

Prayer also focuses us. We all have so much to do, the temptation to race into our day without reflecting on the bigger picture of the Spirit’s movement and purpose in our lives is nearly irresistible. We tend to operate like Peter, “Ready. Fire. Aim.”

I’ve never seen the quote cited, but Martin Luther was purported to have said, “I have so much to do that if I didn’t spend at least three hours a day in prayer I would never get it all done.” Luther said there was nothing more important for Christians to do than pray.

All the biblical characters prayed. Jesus prayed. He taught his disciples to pray. Augustine said our souls are restless, until they rest in God.

The participants’ comments above, however, are written in a way that suggests the responders don’t take time for prayer. “I believe I would have more peace,” suggests the person is not currently doing it. I have come to believe most people don’t. The truth is I have spoken to pastors who didn’t have much of a prayer life. Honestly, there were many times in my life when my prayer life was dry, or nil.

So how do you get started? You will find it is not as hard as you think.

He said to them, ‘Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.’ For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.

Mark 6:31

How to pray

There are many different ways to pray. This is good news, because if the way you are praying now is not working for you, it’s exciting to know that there are a myriad of other forms of prayer you could try. I have found that different forms of prayer work for me in different stages of my life. I would pray one way for a while and then after a time that way would grow dry. I would enter the wilderness, until I grew into a newer, sometimes deeper form of prayer.

In his book “On Becoming a Magical Mystical Bear,” Matthew Fox says that we learn to pray as children, in a formative stage of our lives when we are dependent on our parents for everything, and so our praying tends to be a long blathering litany of all the things that we want, treating God like some celestial Santa Claus. Somewhere in adolescence we become arrested in our spiritual development and never learn to pray as adults.

When I was studying to be a pastor at Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus Ohio, we were required to take courses at two other seminaries in town, the Methodist Theological School of Ohio and the Pontifical College Josephinum. The Pontifical College is a seminary that is run directly by the Vatican. While there, I was blessed to get to know numerous professors, sisters and seminary students. One of the courses we took was on spiritual direction. The nun was pretty sharp. She figured out quickly that we did not need a class on spiritual direction; we needed spiritual direction.

She adapted the class to our needs. It was during this time that I learned about the Christian mystics. We learned about monastic forms of prayer. We studied Father Thomas Keating and practiced many forms of centering prayer. I cannot in one article encapsulate that semester that impacted my spiritual life in so many profound ways, but I can lay out a few of the basic forms that are taught to every seminary student there. Let’s go over these briefly, and then we’ll talk about how to get started.

After saying farewell to them, he went up on the mountain to pray.

Mark 6:46

Classical forms of prayer.
We learned about four classical forms of prayer that emerged and developed over centuries. We were taught them in a slightly different order, but for our purposes here, I will order them like this:  oratio, lectio, meditatio and contemplatio. These are, of course, Latin words. They mean, speaking, reading, meditating and contemplating.

1. Oratio

Oratio is spoken prayer. This is the most common form of prayer, and what most people think of when they think of prayer. It may be spoken out loud, or in the mind.

When I think of oratio, I think of Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof talking out loud to God as he works, sometimes thanking God for things, but more often than not asking God for things and complaining about things openly. There is strong precedent for this if one reads through the Psalms.

This form of prayer may include some rote prayers, like the Lord’s Prayer. Many Christians pray this prayer daily. There are many classic prayers that are deeply meaningful to Christians. Consider the prayer of St. Francis:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy…

Alcoholic and others pray the Serenity Prayer, from a 1943 sermon by Reinhold Niebuhr:

God, give me grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.

The prayer goes on, with these less known words:

Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking, as Jesus did,
This sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it,
Trusting that You will make all things right,
If I surrender to Your will,
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with You forever in the next.
Amen.
Oratio may include intercessory prayer: prayer for others. My mother to this day keeps a long list of people for whom she prays. I have no doubt that she prays for them daily, and does not take them off until they request it. I have to remember to call her back when things resolve, or else she’ll continue praying about a situation for years. This kind of prayer focuses us on the needs of others. It is very important, but it is just the beginning.

2. Lectio

Lectio means reading. It is often referred to today as Lectio Divina. Lectio has gained much popularity in its recent revival. Origen (185-232) encouraged people to read slowly and seek hidden messages from God in the texts. Augustine encouraged Christians to not just consider the literal meaning of the text, but a deeper figurative meaning that could only be grasped through meditating on it. Benedict expected those in his order to read three hours a day.

Reading Scripture is a form of prayer, if we read it not just to study it or put it under a microscope, but to ponder it, and let it shape us. This is an important method for pastors, who are called upon to study texts and explain them to the congregation weekly. Lectio invites us to marinade in the text. Let the text have its way with you.

This often looks like reading a very small portion of Scripture several times with lots of silence. Don’t try to cover a lot of ground. Take one passage or one story, and dwell in the Word. Read it once and choose one word that jumps out at you. Read it again and consider the characters in the story. With whom do you identify? Read it again. If you were to take this story seriously, what would it mean for your life?
In groups sometimes lectio takes the form of a guided meditation. The leader will walk you through the story, asking you to imagine yourself in the scene. Imagine being at the Sermon on the Mount? Where are you sitting? How do you react to the unfolding events? Jesus comes over to you. What does he say to you? How do you feel? What do you do?

This is prayer. It is spending spiritual time listening for God’s voice through Scripture. Consider reading the works of people of faith who have gone before us as well. Agree or disagree, they will make you think.

3. Meditatio

Meditatio is meditation. Meditation involves a lot less work. I see it as a pathway to contemplation, though some mystics would disagree. Contemplation is pure silence.  Anyone who has tried to be silent will immediately notice that the mind wants to continue to function. Many cannot stop the brain from over functioning. Buddhists call this “monkey brain.”

I am a workaholic. So when I reluctantly sit down to pray, my brain goes into overdrive. Many have had this experience. You get off the treadmill of life and finally stop moving and thinking. What then happens is stuff that has been pushed down begins to bubble up. When I start praying the first thing that often comes to my mind are chores I have not completed. Am I overdue for an oil change? When was the last time I replaced the air conditioning filters? Have I made those calls I promised to make? I need to get my taxes done!

This is normal. The problem is I worry that I’ll forget and so I hang onto that thought and cannot enter into silence. One spiritual director I had said to keep a notebook or journal nearby. When these things surface, write them down. Then set the book down and return to silence. It will be there when you are done, so you can let it go.

In meditation the mind will tend to wander, so a mantra is often used. The word “mantra” just means “word.” It is a word or phrase that brings you back. It may be a simple word like, “Jesus.” It may be a phrase or a memorized Bible passage like, “You are the light of the world.” One of my favorites is simply, “Thank you.”  The German mystic Meister Eckhardt once said “If the only prayer you ever prayed was, ‘Thank you,’ it would be enough.” Sit in silence. When the mind wanders, use your word or phrase to bring you back to center, then reenter the silence.

4. Contemplatio

The root word of contemplation is the Latin word templum or temple. A temple is a sacred place. Contemplation is entering holy ground. It is simply “being” with God. No words are necessary God is the prayer the spirit is the active party, and we are passive.

When I think of contemplation, I often think of a couple that has been married for 50 years and are comfortable enough to just be together. Words are unnecessary.

Most people cannot do this. Our minds are simply too much of a jumble, too disorganized, too frantic. Many people tell me it is impossible to not think about anything. Perhaps this is so, but contemplation invites us to approach that place where we are simply basking in the joy of God. It invites us not to think about God, but to simply be with God. The mystic draws from actual experiences of God, not what others have written about the Divine.

Before we pull this all together with next steps, one caveat: I don’t want to confuse these ancient forms of prayer with Luther’s method of doing theology. In 1539 he wrote, “Let me show you a right method for studying theology; the one that I have used.  In the 119th Psalm you will find three rules, which are abundantly expounded throughout the entire Psalm. They are called: Oratio, Meditatio, Tentatio.” Luther was not teaching on prayer here, but offering a theological methodology. Nevertheless, his addition of tentatio (struggle) is helpful. Others have written on this much more eloquently than I.

Luther understood that we often wrestle with God as Jacob wrestled with the angel. Jesus was quite agitated as he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. Luther’s Theology of the Cross does not allow for a trite understanding of the Christian life. While prayer often leads to peace, we must also at times be prepared to encounter St. John of the Cross’ Dark Night of the Soul.

Getting started

At daybreak he departed and went into a deserted place. And the crowds were looking for him; and when they reached him, they wanted to prevent him from leaving them.

Luke 4:42

Start anywhere.

If you are in doubt, begin with silence. If prayer is understood simplistically as talking with God, then it should be at least 50% listening, right? Probably more. If Tiger Woods was coaching you in golf, would you spend more time talking or listening?

Set aside time in the morning when you can be undisturbed. Start the day off right. Pick a place, and go to the same place every day for a while. After a time, you will find yourself automatically settling to a prayerful state simply but hook to that place. Pick a place where you don’t do other things. Don’t use the kitchen table for example. Light a candle to mark this time and place as a time and place set aside for prayer.

Try this first, but if after a time this doesn’t work for you, try walking. In certain periods of my life walking was central to my prayer life. Most convents have walking paths and labyrinths for walking. If you have times during the day when you have to walk from one place to another, use the time for prayer as well.

Sitting still has some advantages walking does not. It’s easier to read in a comfortable chair. It’s easier to write. You can jot down tasks or thoughts that come to mind. You can have a Bible or devotional books handy.

If you need something new to spark your spiritual life, consider journaling. For years I tried journaling to no avail. It was dry. I have several old journals that I started and abandoned after a few days. Then one day my prayer life was dry and someone suggested journaling. “Simply write, ‘Yesterday’, and then one or two sentences. Then stop and think.” It might have been a CD by Wayne Cordeiro that a local nondenominational pastor friend loaned me. I tried it, and spend the next two years journaling in such a way that my prayer life had never been better.

I would sit on the couch before anyone was up. The dog would get up and snuggle with me. He likes to pray too. I would set out to write two sentences about yesterday, but would end up writing several paragraphs. My thoughts would often move to crises or conflicts I had had the previous day. In writing that was not for anyone else to see I could pour out my feelings honestly and own up to my faults. I could make resolutions to make peace with someone I had wronged, or speak openly to someone who had wronged me. I found myself acting more deliberately and prayerfully. To this day I can go back and read those pages and recall the ups and downs of my growth as a pastor and a person. I grew to cherish this time in the morning, and felt great loss when I missed it.

I used that space to process many decisions. There are pro and con lists in those pages. I used that space to set goals for the year. If in prayer an idea surfaced, I would jot it down. If I read something moving I would write it there. It became a compendium for my best thoughts, and a springboard for many sermons. I would summarize the ideas of writers I was reading. When someone told me they were putting my name in the hat for bishop, I poured out many thoughts at the absurdity of the idea. From those words flowed thoughts about the church in the world — hopes, frustrations, disappointments, dreams — that are foundational for me today.

If you get anything from this I hope that it is an encouragement to pray. I hope you see that there are many different ways to pray. Different personality types pray differently. I’m an extrovert. Extroverts pray differently than introverts, I’ve learned. Know that you will probably pray differently in different stages of life. There will be times when God feels closer than you skin, and times when God is hidden from sight.
Just do it. Make time in your life to pray and forms of prayer will emerge. Explore. Discover new ways to pray, your ways to pray. Listen for the Spirit.
The God of peace who passes all understanding will keep your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus to life everlasting.

“Be still and know that I am God.”

— Psalm 46

The Central African Republic

The Central African Republic is located in the center of Africa, just east of Cameroon.  CAR has a population of about 4.4 million with the vast majority living in the western third of the country where the church is most active.  There are few paved roads and no electrical grid or public water system outside the capital city of Bangui.   The official language in CAR is French but it is the national Sango language that unites the population.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Central African Republic (EEL-RCA) has 450 congregations with approximately 50,000 members, 71 pastors, 44 evangelists, and 450 catechists.  André Golike serves as President (Bishop) of the EEL-RCA.

Elsie and Andre Golike

Our synod provides both prayer and financial support to the
EEL-RCA’s health, education and women’s ministries.

Our 2013 goals are:
Emmanuel Health Center (Gallo)    $25,000
Village Education            $15,000
Martha Mary Women’s Center        $5,000
Young Women’s Scholarships        $5,000
Sunday School (Basic Christian Ed)    $1,000
Visits and Communications        $10,000
PASE – GOAL MET                    $5,000
TOTAL                    $66,000

Note: In order that all goals will be met, some monies may be redirected from goals that have been reached to those that are under-funded.
It is our hope that every congregation will find some way of supporting the Lutheran Church in the Central African Republic!  Click here for a print ready brochure about the ministries we help to support in CAR.