THE NEWSLETTER OF APOSTLES LUTHERAN CHURCH

Gloucester, Virginia www.apostles-elca.org February 2020 Our Mission is to be a Caring Christian Community responding to God's grace through

Worship, Service, and Sharing the Gospel

Affirmations from the Abecedarian "Christianity isn't meant to simply to be believed; it's meant to be lived, shared, eaten, spoken, and enacted in the presence of other people." - Rachel Held Evans

A few years ago, Ash Wednesday fell on Valentine's Day. Seeing this as a golden opportunity to synchronize the two celebrations, I suggested we hold a Dinner Church which started with a Valentine's Dinner that then transformed into our Ash Wednesday worship Service. I planned to wear a red Chasuble during the distribution of Communion before transitioning to a purple one for the dispensation of ashes while the paraments around and on the altar were switched from red to purple while I was changing. One of my former parishioners told me that this would be wholly inappropriate as Valentine's Day was pagan and had no place in a Christian church, and the rest of my congregation sheepishly agreed with the sentiment. The most disappointing aspect of such pushback was the fact that my parishioners did not see worship as a time to celebrate our freedom in Christ. Perhaps the setting and season were wrong to try out this idea because we at Apostles Lutheran will be celebrating Shrove Tuesday/Mardi Gras in preparation for Dinner Church during the Wednesdays of Lent. This mid-week style of worship will take place just before choir. A fair compromise was agreed upon that all who practice with the Choir do not have to clean up after dinner. I am very pleased to say that Winter Celebration was successful as we sent two youth and two young adults off to join an assembly of 300 in the

mountains of Lynchburg. I pray that we are able to encourage this momentum next year. We can also expect a baptism on the horizon just after the Daffodil Festival. Our Congregation will be hosting a discussion on Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again by the late and great Rachel Held Evans on every other Thursday. Please watch out for more details. I am still getting to know the Apostles Community, so if you haven't already, then please schedule a timeslot to Meet the Pastor on Mondays and Thursdays. I am extremely flexible about the time and place, so if those days don't work, then we can make something else happen. I want to thank this Congregation for selecting and lifting up new and established leaders of the Church. Our newly formed Council will be taking a retreat soon in order to discuss the future of Apostles. Take care in the mean time until I write to you once more from beyond the page. In God's Abiding Love, Pastor Jeniffer Tillman, MD

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Winter Celebration 2020

Pastor Jeniffer, Nate Peterson, Abby Britt, Emily Riordan and Donna Ambrose at Winter Celebration in Lynchburg - January 23rd-25th

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The Installation of The Reverend Jeniffer N. Tillman

A Recap of the Annual Congregational Meeting -

January 26th What a GREAT meeting!! Thanks to everyone who came and participated!! Special thanks to Ben Grimes, Congregation Council President,

for leading the meeting. Before the meeting, we enjoyed a delightful meal provided by Congregation Council and Mary Leunig. After the call to order and establishment of a quorum, we reviewed reports from Pastor Jeniffer, the officers of Congregation Council and also from our Ministry Teams and Women of the ELCA (WELCA). Elections were then held for Congregation Council (elected were Nick Biggs (youth representative), Doug Dalager, Kayla Hautz, and Nancy Wagner; Synod Assembly Delegates (elected were Keith and Juanita Sturdy with alternates David and Ann Albert); Nominating Committee (elected were Irene Albert, Janet Gomez, Jim Reinke, Ray Scholz, Sue Turner and Judy Wright); and Mission Outreach Fund Committee (elected were Pete Liljeberg, Margaret Grimes and Bonnie Hayman). The Reconciling in Christ committee made a special presentation about the work they are doing to help the congregation of Apostles become a more welcoming and inclusive congregation. We then reviewed our mission statement, installed our new leaders and recognized outgoing Church Council members.

What a wonderful service! A BIG thank

you to Jenny Hawkins for taking the pictures!

Mission Outreach Fund Update The congregation voted at the annual congregational meeting to accept the Mission Outreach Fund Committee’s recommendation to split the $5,000 for this year between Kiva loans and local needs. + + + + + + + + + +

Senior Project Presentation Bayleigh Albert made a presentation on her Senior Project during fellowship on Sunday, January 5th. Her project was renovating and decorating the new youth room downstairs in the basement. Teresa Fowler was Bayleigh’s mentor for the project. Bayleigh did a WONDERFUL job - thank you for a beautiful youth room!!

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Epiphany 2020 We celebrated the festival of the Epiphany of Our Lord on Sunday, January 5th, with a wonderful worship service and fellowship afterward. We had an Epiphany cake (thanks to Irene Albert) and Taylor Fowler won the Epiphany gift - a stained glass cross made by Gene Gomez. Pastor Jeniffer gave the congregation a gift during the worship service - it was 3 questions that she would like to talk to everyone about at some point: (1) What are three things that make me a good neighbor; (2) what are three reasons why Apostles is good for our neighborhood; and (3) why am I a Lutheran.

Reconciling In Christ At the annual meeting on January 26th, Betsy Liljeberg gave a presentation on the

Reconciling in Christ (RIC) ministry, inviting participants to recall feelings of exclusion from groups, family, workplaces. Recalling these feelings reminds us what it means to be left out and how an individual could be impacted by being excluded or unwelcome. Jesus calls us to welcome all people as we are all one in Christ. Exclusion in the Lesbian, Gay, Trans, Bisexual, and Queer community often leads to thoughts of suicide. The suicide rate in the LGBTQ community is 3-5 times higher than the heterosexual or straight community. Please prayerfully consider how you feel about welcoming people of all genders and sexualities into the Apostles faith community. The next RIC ministry meeting will be Thursday February 27th at 7:00 pm at Apostles. We are hoping to have more participation in this life saving ministry. We need your input and your ideas. You can find out more about what a welcoming church looks like by viewing these videos: https://youtu.be/gNzhVqdUxBk, https://youtu.be/q7ujMW0i9F0. If you have questions or concerns about the Reconciling in Christ ministry, or would like to participate in this ministry, please talk to one of the team members: Betsy Liljeberg, Tina Britt, Irene Albert, Pete Liljeberg, Luise Buergert or Janet Gomez. + + + + + + + + + +

2020 Womankind The theme of this year’s event, Fearless Women of Faith, explores and celebrates how God has

inspired fearlessness in us. Join us March 20-21 at St. James’s, Richmond for our keynote sessions, workshops, and worship. We will look to our sacred stories in the Bible and our own personal stories. For more information and to register for this event go to womankindrichmond.com.

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Shrove Tuesday/Mardi Gras Celebration

All families and friends of Apostles are cordially

invited to participate in a Shrove Tuesday / Mardi Gras Celebration on Tuesday, February 25, 2020 Starting at 6:00 PM. People are needed to plan the menu and activities, participate in musical entertainment, prepare food, set up and clean up for the event and serve food - please see Irene Albert if you would like to do any of these things. Don’t miss the Fellowship, the Food and the Fun! + + + + + + + + + + +

Greetings from Sarasota, Florida

Chris and Reida Avery send greetings from their winter church home in Sarasota,

Florida - they are wearing their Apostles Lutheran nametags!

+ + + + + + + + + + + Ministry Team Meetings The following Ministry Team meetings are scheduled for February - meeting time is 7:00 PM - Service and Sharing - Monday, February 10th - Worship - Monday, February 17th - Caring Community - Monday, February 24th + + + + + + + + + + +

Special Speaker at Service and Sharing Team Meeting Mike Norvell, Vice President for Development and Marketing for Bay Aging will be attending the Service and Sharing Ministry Team Meeting on Monday, February 10th. Mr. Norvell will be making a presentation about the different Bay Aging Programs - everyone is invited to come and here his presentation.

Thursday Evening “Sandwich and Study” Come and join us on Thursday evenings for a “sandwich and book study” - bring a sandwich to eat at 6:00 PM and then our study begins at 6:45 PM - We will be studying Rachel Held Evans’ book, Inspired. Our first gathering will

be Thursday, February 6th - we will meet every other Thursday. + + + + + + + + + + +

Support your favorite team (either the San Francisco 49ers or the Kansas City Chiefs) with a donation to ELCA world hunger on Sunday, February 2nd. You can put your offering in one of the soup pots located in the narthex. Also don’t forget your offering for World Hunger Sunday which is observed on the third Sunday of every month - Apostles gave over $2,000 to ELCA World Hunger in 2019!! + + + + + + + + + + + Health Kits Needed for Guatemala YOUR help is needed to collect health kits - a health kit consists of a hand towel, a wash cloth, a toothbrush, toothpaste, a bar of soap, and a box of bandaids. Place all items in the handtowel and tie with a ribbon. There is a basket in the narthex to place your health kits. The team will be blessed and sent for mission on Sunday, February 23rd. Thank you for you help!! 4

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“Living Lutheran” Subscriptions Do you receive a “Living Lutheran” subscription from the church? If so, please submit your payment of $9 for your 2020 subscription - just mark your check “Living Lutheran.” If you don’t have a subscription, there are always copies in the fellowship hall that are available for you to take. Thanks!

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Pastor Jeniffer’s Schedule for February

Pastor Jeniffer will be attending the Virginia Synod’s First Call Theological Education Retreat on February 3-4 at Massanetta Springs Conference Center in Harrisonburg. The topic this year is Personnel and Staffing led by the Rev. Glenn Ludwig, Project Director of the Senior Pastor Training Program at United Lutheran Seminary. Pastor Jeniffer will also be attending Prepare and Enrich training on February 8th. + + + + + + + + + + +

Epiphany By Madeleine L’Engle

Unclench your fists

Hold out your hands. Take mine.

Let us hold each other. Thus is His Glory Manifest

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Spring Adult Faith Formation Retreat The Spring Ambassadors Community for Theological Study (ACTS) offering will be a retreat at Roslyn Retreat Center in Richmond - the course will be Biblical Models of Leadership with leader Dr. Jill Y. Crainshaw. The dates are Friday-Saturday, March 20-21. Information is in the narthex. If you would like more information about ACTS, please talk to Janet Gomez.

Mission Outreach Fund Update

Half of the Mission Outreach Fund is being given to Kiva Microfunds (a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that allows people to lend money via the Internet to low-income entrepreneurs and students in over 80 countries - Kiva’s mission is "to connect people

through lending to alleviate poverty”). This month’s story is about Kak who lives in Cambodia - we loaned Kak before and she has already repaid it and plans to take out another loan to further her business. Kak raises pigs and this loan will help her purchase pig feed to raise her 15 pigs. + + + + + + + + + +

Ash Wednesday Service Please join us on Wednesday, February 26th, at 7:00 PM for an Ash Wednesday Service - there will be imposition of ashes and Holy Communion. During Lent, we will be having a dinner church on Wednesday evenings starting at 6:00 PM. Watch the bulletin for opportunities to sign up to provide a dinner.

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Meetings Scheduled - There will be a short meeting of the ushers after the worship service on Sunday, February 2nd. - There will be a meeting of the Administrative Assistants on Wednesday, February 19th, at 10:00 AM. - If you would like help pick hymns for the next several weeks, please come to a meeting on Wednesday, February 5th, at 10:00 AM.

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Looking Ahead There are a lot of exciting things being planned for 2020 - stay tuned for details!! + March 4th and following Wednesdays in

Lent - Mid-Week Lenten Dinner Church + March 7th-8th - “7th Day” Youth Retreat

for 5th and 6th graders + March 20th-21st - ACTS Course on

Leadership with Jill Crainshaw at Roslyn Conference Center in Richmond

+ March 29th-31st - Rostered Woman’s Retreat for Pastor Jeniffer

+ April 4th-5th - Daffodil Festival (Apostles will have a booth)

+ May 5th - Peninsula Pastor’s Conference at Apostles

+ May 22nd at 7:00 PM - House Warming/Blessing at Pastor Jeniffer’s new home

+ June 12th-13th - Synod Assembly/Youth Assembly at Roanoke College in Salem

+ July 9th-11th - Power In The Spirit - Roanoke College in Salem

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Children/Youth Faith Formation Faith formation for both children and youth will start again in February - Linda Hodges will be leading the faith formation for children and Nate and Ingrid Peterson will be leading faith formation for youth. Faith formation will be held on Sundays, February 9th and 23rd after fellowship. All children and youth are welcome to attend.

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Happy Anniversary to. . Roy and Carolyn Ryman February 1 Nancy and Dave Wagner February 7 Justin and Karen Shupp February 8 Linda and Spencer Hodges February 18 Ben and Margaret Grimes February 21

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Happy Baptismal Anniversary to. . Codie Krahn February 27

Happy Birthday to. . Ray Scholz February 1 Keira Anby February 2 Chris Avery February 7 Casey Hance and Diane Ericson February 8 Lara Jaeger February 10 Karen Stark February 12 Billy Moore February 17 Krystle McMahan February 18 Bonnie Hayman February 22 Betsy Liljeberg February 23 Lynn Scholz February 24 B Neveau February 25 Katherine Hodges February 27

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Ways to Serve Your Neighbor The Gloucester United Emergency Sheltering Team (GUEST) Homeless Shelter is in need of volunteers to work at the shelter (go to the GUEST website for their “signupgenius” - www.guestshelter.org). The youth of Apostles will be preparing the dinner meal for the guests when they are sheltering at Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church on Saturday, March 28th.

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Please Keep In Your Prayers Opal Baker, Libby Boyer, Luise Buergert, Eddie Freeman, Samantha Good, Teresa Grantham, Betty Hauch, Bonita Neveau, Michael Schlemmer, Janice Shupp, George Thomas, Jewel Thomas, Sue and George Turner, John Wicker, and Judy Wright. If you have any updates to the prayer list in the bulletin, please contact Janet Gomez.

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Just a Few More Memories From the Installation