M A R C H 2 0 1 7

C R O S S P O I N T S

Our Homebound

Joyce Reedstrom

Brian Miller

Dixie King

Sister Jo

Cunningham

Aaron McMillan

Daniel Farish,

Nathan Farish

Joel Farish

Christopher Cox

Selena Cox

Robert Butler

Sarah Tomlin

Matthew Murch

Marlon Holloway

Michael Dovin

Brandon Davis

Adam Glass

Cooper Walker

What’s Coming Up…

…On Sundays?

Navigating Lent

Do you know where you’re going? That was once a common question. Do you know how to find the hotel? Did a map come with the invitation? Don’t forget the At-las… These questions and statements are all but antiquated in today’s world. They have been replaced by a robotic voice that is sounding more and more human all the time. Turn left in 500 feet, then turn right. You are on the fastest route. You have reached your destination! Navigating life is a bit more challenging than entering an unfamiliar address into our phone and letting it do the hard work for us, and life is full of unfamiliar waters that need charting.

3/05 – Navigating Temptation (Matthew 4:1-11)

3/12 – Navigating Insecurity (John 3:1-17)

3/19 – Navigating Thirst (John 4:5-26)

3/26 – Navigating Darkness (John 9:1-41)

4/02 – Navigating Mortality (John 11-45)

…What about on Wednesdays?

Who Am I? And How Jesus Met Me

Beginning with Ash Wednesday on March 1st, our Lenten midweek services are going to be based on individu-als from the Gospels that Jesus met in a time of great need. The focus will be on their identity and experience with Jesus and how their interaction with Him left a permanent mark on their lives. The messages will be first person narrative so that in the experience of empathizing with their need we might better understand our own, and how Jesus meets us there too.

 

Wednesday Lenten Worship Times

11:00 AM & 6:30 PM, Supper @5:30 PM

…What about for Bible Study?

Faith on the Edge: Science and the Savior

We will begin a new Bible Study on Sunday March 5th at 9:30 a.m. in the Upper Room. The study was written by Dr. Angus Menuge, professor of Philosophy at Concordia University Wisconsin. Science and the Savior is an in- depth look at the intersection of Science and faith in the Christian walk.

Sessions include:

God’s Intentions for Science

Science as Sub-creation

How Theology Gave Birth to Modern Science

Science Serves Our Neighbors

Science, Beauty, and God’s Handiwork

Defending the Faith with Science

As you can see, March will be full of opportunities to Worship God and grow in your faith. The word Lent is an Old English word that simply means growth. Lent is the season for growing in faith, and I pray that you take the opportunity to do so.

God’s Blessings,

Mark your calendars for our Holy Cross Retreat at Camp Dixie April 28-30!

Watch your bulletins for more information. We will have a Retreat planning

meeting Sunday, March 5 after 10:30 worship in the Upper Room. Anyone inter-

ested in helping, please join us!

Con nued  

Holy Cross Retreat at

Camp Dixie April 28-30!

Thanks to all for your generous support of our “ Holy Cross Feeds the 50” project to benefit the Trinity Gardens community. Please note that we have rescheduled the distribution day for Saturday, March 11. Please continue to bring in gently used clothing. Anyone interested in help-ing, meet at Holy Cross at 10:00 AM. Our March/Lenten Supper project will benefit the Sybil Smith Village, a transitional housing

facility for homeless women and families. Approximately 45 families live in the village. The goal of Sybil Smith Vil-lage is to help homeless people establish and maintain self- sufficiency through counseling, education, and job train-ing. Residents can stay at the Village for up to 24 months and must show progress in order to stay. One of their ongoing needs is hygiene items for women and babies. As an expression of Christ’s love and in an effort to meet this need, some of our Hospitality teams will become Thrivent Action teams during Lent. We ask that each Wednesday when you attend the Lenten Supper that you bring some on items on the list below. If you can’t make on a Wednesday, you can still bring your donation in on Sunday.

Items for Sybil Smith Village

Brown bags will return in April with a collection for our annual Easter dinner baskets for families in Trinity Gardens.

Don’t forget to direct Choice Dollars®

Grant funding from Thrivent Financial through its Thrivent Choice® program can help support organizations you care about. Don’t let Choice Dollars expire.

Eligible Thrivent Financial members who have Choice Dollars avail-able have until March 31, 2017, to direct any remaining 2016 Choice Dollars. Help support pro-jects at Holy Cross. Go to Thrivent.com/thriventchoice to learn more. Or call 800-847-4836 and say “Thrivent Choice” after the prompt.

Diapers (any size) Pull ups (any size)

Hand lotion Wipes

Bath Soap Shampoo

Conditioner Hand Soap

Combs and brushes Deodorants

Razors Shaving Cream Toothbrushes

Toothpaste African American Hair Care products

Feminine hygiene products

Joy Comes in the Morning

“Inspired; Wonderful; Awesome Day; Great day of fellowship and rejoicing; We

learned so much; Good example of God turning tragedy to triumph!” These are just a

few of the words and phrases

that was said following the

“Joy in the Morning” Seminar

and Bible Study on February

19. That afternoon seminar

leader, Leevoness Fisher and

38 attendees from Holy Cross

and our sister congregations in

Mobile and Baldwin Counties came together for lunch, fellow-

ship, Bible Study and to learn about the amazing work being

done in Trinity Gardens. We quickly became inspired by Mrs.

Fisher’s amazing journey and humorous stories.

The resounding theme from Mrs. Fisher was “Rejoice!” She shared her transition from a bench sitter

who did not see what was going on in her own community to an advocate for change. Her journey started with

the death of family members and the ensuing anger, then God opened her eyes leading her to “Rejoice in the

Lord always” and to get involved in her community. From there she formed the Bay Area Women’s Coalition

and began navigating government bureaucracy

from the mayor’s office to Washington DC to

improve Trinity Gardens. By planting trees, gar-

dens, and improving housing these efforts have

reduced crime in her neighborhood. She has

made a difference in the broken lives of those in

her community, always finding time to share the love of

Christ with her neighbors and Rejoicing!

Thank you to all the ladies who set up, brought

food and attended the Joy in the Morning Seminar and

Bible Study. What a great and successful event! It is very

exciting to see our group so active and serving the Lord with gladness.

Page 4

We continue serving with mission grants to local and inter-

national missions. So far this year we have helped Lutheran World

Relief and the Make a Wish Foundation. Your mites, offerings and

participation make this possible.

Looking ahead

Spring is already in the air, (and all over the hood of our

cars) and we are looking forward to hosting the Azalea Zone Spring

Rally. The event is April 1 (no fooling) starting at 9:00 AM. We will

host 50-60 ladies from our sister congregations in Mobile & Baldwin Counties. Our main responsibility will be

providing food for this event. We’ll need all hands on deck, so mark your calendars. We should learn more about

the 2019 convention in Mobile at the rally.

Next Circle meetings

Morning Circle– March 8 @ 9:30

Evening Circle- March 21 @ 6:00 PM

Please join us at one or both of our circle meetings!

Page 5

Recycle to Raise Funds towards the 2019 National Convention in Mobile, Alabama

It’s a project of the LWML Gulf States District to raise funds for the 2019 National Convention while doing something good for the environment! All you have to do is donate the following items:

Laser jet and Inkjet cartridges – Hewlett Packard, Lexmark , Brother some Canons

They must have a metal print head. (if not sure, bring it and we’ll figure it out.)

Cell phones, digital cameras, e-readers, tablets, laptops & scientific calculators. Include all accessories and batteries if you have them.

We have a box on the table in the education hall for your recyclables. They will be sent to a recycling company that will safely dispose of them.

Questions? Ask Lynn Freeman, Maryanne Brutkiewicz or Suzy Cleveland

Save the Date!

Azalea Zone Spring Rally

April 1, 2017

Holy Cross Lutheran Church

In His Service March Communion Assistants: 8:15–Scott Godbold; 10:30 – Ernie Sheffield, Mike Counselman

Ushers: 8:15-Robert Williams, Alan Schumann; 10:30– David Duffala, Charles McMillan

Host: 8:15 Karen Mann; 10:30 Billy & Gabi Stroud

Acolytes Readers Altar Sound System

5‐Mar          

8:15     Bill Tomlin  J&K Farish  Stephen Adler 

10:30  Alyson Harman  Knut Mueller  M. McMillan  Aaron Lonnergan 

              

12‐Mar             

8:15  Cadence Powell  Jim Farish   Jeannine Johnson  Jacob Farish 

10:30  Cate Langley  Korin Taddei    M. McMillan  Aaron Lonnergan 

              

19‐Mar             

8:15    Paul Freeman  Ellen Davis  Stephen Adler 

10:30  Dylan Johnson  Jeri Cox  Turner & Adler  Aaron Lonnergan 

              

26‐Mar             

8:15  Cadence Powell  Heather Wigen  Jeannine Johnson  Jacob Farish 

10:30  Mandy Taddei   Byron Krogen   M. McMillan  Aaron Lonnergan 

              

3-William Bush

3-Sister Joe Cunningham

7-Lena Gipson

7-Darmarian Harris

8-Kathy Farish

9-Kim Gipson

11-Michelle McMillan

12-Liberty Wigen

14-Kenny Godbold

15-Andie Unger

16-Michael Williams

21-Cade Powell

23-Jason Hermann

25-Adam Labrato

26-Dora Billings

28-Rochelle Heubach

29-Clara Eaton

31-Miles Gipson

Page 7

Join Team Holy Cross

Registering for the azalea trail run:

Step 1: Go to http://www.pcpacers.org/ click Azalea Trail Run then (on left hand side under ATR 2017) click regis-

ter online and choose which race you want to participate in and register OR click entry form to download an entry

form and mail it in in BY March the 11th ! The address is listed at the bottom of the form.

Step 2: Once you have registered online, sign up in the back the sanctuary BEFORE SUNDAY MARCH 12th so that

you will be listed on the team Holy Cross Lutheran Roster.

Step 3: Be sure to check your bulletin and listen for Pastor’s announcements regarding race information and t-

shirt ordering information!

The Oscars are this Sunday night and I’m

super excited! It’s my Super Bowl. Meryl

Streep is the ultimate Tom Brady and the mov-

ie Moonlight is “The Atlanta Falcons” because

it’s destined to lose to La La Land but deserv-

ing of a win. I love seeing what the “best films

of the year” are, making my predictions, and voicing my opin-

ions on what should win and who gets robbed. Some people

find this interest in an award show trivial and superficial but I

think that in the right context, film is an art. It reflects the “life

and times” of society. As a sidebar to my annual movie fest, I

have been attempting to watch every single best picture winner

since 1929. I watch one a month so I’ll be finished in seven-ish

years. This month I watched Crash, the 2006 best picture win-

ner about race, class, and gender issues in L.A. The movie is

disjointed with an angry in tone. It’s not my favorite movie and

not a feel good movie either, but I was struck by its opening

quote. “It’s the sense of touch. In any real city, you walk, you

know? You brush past people, people bump into you. In LA, no-

body touches you. We're always behind this metal and glass. I

think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each oth-

er, just so we can feel something.” For a movie almost 12 years

old it rings out a modern cry of a world so angry, polarized, and

disconnected. It seems so easy to find all of those themes in

the news and media, it’s almost like “end times”. No doubt we

have these same problems in 2017, but as Christians it is not

our job to worry about end times for “today’s worry is enough for

today” and “no man knows the day or hour” But it is our job to

be “a light in the world” and to “love our neighbor!”

In Young Adult Fellowship our main goal this semester

is to serve one another and our community! To be that “touch”

that prevents the “crash”! Last month we had an ice cream so-

cial with the families staying at Ronald McDonald House. This

month we are going to a local nursing home to spend time with

the Alzheimer’s and Dementia residents and hopefully help

them create a gardening area. Our other big project this month

involves ALL OF YOU!

We want Holy Cross, as a group, to run in the Azalea

Trail Run! Why? Because we wanted to do something that pro-

motes outreach and good ole fashioned fellowship! There is a

10k race 5k race! There is also 2k fun run to walk or run as you

please! And if you don’t feel like you can do one of those, no

worries, we will have a tent set up with water where you can

hang out, and cheer on other members of our congregation! The

point of this is to spend time with one another accomplishing a

goal. We also want to let our community know that we are here

by our love for one another, our positive attitudes, and (of

course) our matching t-shirts. The book of Hebrews uses a

race as a metaphor for the Christian life, “Therefore, since we

are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay

aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us

run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to

Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy

that was set before him endured the cross, despising the

shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

The info for how to get signed up is listed below! If you have

any questions or need help with registering, feel free to contact

the church office or myself (251-509-3785) and I’ll see you at

the starting line!

Yours in Christ,

Maria Brutkiewicz

Adults (16 and up) 10k and 5k- $25.00 2k- $15.00

Kids (15 and under) 10k 5k- $10.00 2k- $8.00

Join us at 5:30 PM before the evening Lenten service for Supper! It’s

a great time to fellowship with your Holy Cross family. Our Hospitality

Teams have teamed up with Social Ministry and Thrivent for a Lenten

Collection for Sybil Smith Village. See Social Ministry article for items

to bring and to learn more about Sybil Smith Village.

Ash Wednesday March 1 Hosted by Tired & Retired

Week 2 March 15 Hosted by Martha

Week 4 March 29 Hosted by Fab 5

Week 1 March 8 Hosted by Blazing Jags

Week 3 March 22 Hosted by Bluebells

Week 5 April 5 Hosted by Team Leaders

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1

11:00 Worship

5:30 Supper 6:30 Worship

2 6:30PM YAF

3 12:00 Emotions

4

5 8:15 Divine Service 9:30 Bible Class 10:30 Divine Service Camp Dixie Retreat Planning Meeting

6 7 8

9-11 Nifty Knitters 9:30 Ladies Guild 11:00 Worship

5:30 Supper 6:30 Worship

9 6:00 pm Beta Sigma Phi

10 12:00 Emotions Anonymous

11 Food & Clothing to Trinity Gardens

12 Daylight Savings Time 8:15 Divine Service 9:30 Bible Class 10:30 Divine Service

13 14 15

9-11 Nifty Knitters 11:00 Worship

5:30 Supper 6:30 Worship

16 6:30PM YAF 5:30 OR Nurses

17 12:00 Emotions Anonymous

St. Patrick’s Day

18

19 8:15 Divine Service 9:30 Bible Class 10:30 Divine Service

20 6:00 PM 2QT, Planning Meeting Spring Begins

21 6:00 PM Ladies Guild

22

9-11 Nifty Knitters 11:00 Worship

5:30 Supper 6:30 Worship

r

23 6:30PM YAF

24 12:00 Emotions Anonymous

25 YAF/ Azalea Trail Run

26 8:15 Divine Service 9:30 Bible Class 10:30 Divine Service

27 28 29

9-11 Nifty Knitters 11:00 Worship

5:30 Supper 6:30 Worship

30 6:30PM YAF

31 12:00 Emotions Anonymous

1 Azalea Zone Spring Rally 9:00 AM

March 2017