Elim Extra for Sunday September 1, 2024

Pastor’s Reflection

Living Stones

In Eden at our church picnic on Sunday, we heard from King Solomon that “heaven cannot contain God, much less the house we have built” (1 Kings 8:27). Yet God is gracious enough to come and dwell with us anyway, and we certainly feel his holy presence in our building. This Sunday, our church president Craig Bjorklund will be asking us to bring an additional offering for the Restoration Fund, to help maintain our sacred sanctuary. Come hear about special projects we have planned and plan to give as generously as you can.

When Jesus taught in the Temple, he said that *the people* were the living stones of God’s sanctuary. Do you remember when he rode into Jerusalem and the crowd went wild with their Hosannas? The religious leaders were offended and ordered him to shush the crowd. Jesus would have none of it: “Truly I tell you, if the people stayed silent, the stones would be shouting out!” (Luke 19:40)

Because Elim is truly *the people* and not just our building, we will be celebrating a Membership Sunday on September 22nd. For the next three Sundays, I will be passing around a membership clip board where you can check for your name on our membership roll. It is common in churches to have long-time participants who, for many different reasons, have not chosen to be baptized (or affirm their baptism) in order to formally join the congregation as voting members and be eligible to serve on Council. Church membership is deeply personal, and those who are not “on the list” are still fully contributing, belonging, valid, and beloved participants at Elim, gathered as one around Christ’s communion table. 

At the same time, in the Lutheran faith, the congregation and our building belong to *the people* – and our members are the ones who make all the decisions. So we need to make sure we are inviting everyone in the Elim family to consider church membership and join our member roll. If you are not sure of your status or think you might like to formally join Elim, please check the list and plan to join us in worship on September 22nd for our new member liturgy!

with love, Pr. Chelsea

For the celebration of life for our beloved Jane Beasley this Saturday at 2 p.m. at Elim, we will be serving Jane’s favorite desserts! Please bring a plate of snickerdoodle cookies, brownies, fruit, or a dessert of your choice, and let Joan Dawes know so that we can make sure to have enough for all Jane’s family and friends.

Upcoming Events to Note: – September 1st – Austin Buckius preaching – September 8th – God’s Work Our Hands Sunday – Making manna bags – September 14th – Goodbye Open House in Salt Lake City, 9-12 – September 15th – Pr. Chelsea preaching, Council meets – September 22nd – Potluck luncheon celebrating Membership Sunday (Affirmation of Baptism) and Farewell for Pr. Chelsea – September 29th – The Lesser Feast of St. Michael and All Angels, Blessing of the Animals, Blessing of Release for Pr. Chelsea 

Special People’s Church service – September 15, 2:30 to 4:00 PM – Pastor Chelsea will deliver a repeat of Elim’s morning sermon, with Spanish interpretation by Pastor Angel. Elim members are invited to consider attending church later in the day to experience worship with our siblings in Christ. Pastor Chelsea will serve communion in the sacristy at the conclusion of the afternoon service. 

Ogden’s Interfaith Concert will happen on September 15th at 7 pm. Elim will be one of the faith groups recognized in attendance at the Interfaith Concert 

Elim’s New YouTube channel is now fully operational, with our initial streaming attempt on August 18th. We welcome any feedback on how it’s working out for our online audience. You can post comments on the channel, post on our facebook page, send an email or a note to the office, or let a more internet-savvy friend know and ask them to convey your comments. Thanks for subscribing and for watching! 

A huge and heartfelt THANKS (in advance!) to My Hometown Ogden for returning to do yet more clean-up work at Elim on Sept.14th. We encourage Elim members to join in and help out! 

Manna Bag items still needed for God’s Work Our Hands Sunday – please tell Peggy what you can bring (10 or 12 of each):

Hand Sanitizers, Gloves, Ball Point Pens, Wash Cloths/Wipes, Small Notepads, Band-Aids, Socks

Slim Jims/Jerkey, Granola Bars/bags, Trail Mix, Fruit Cup/Applesauce/Spoon

Soap – wrapped, Comb/Brush, Elastic Hair Ties

Deodorant – small, Chapstick, Kleenex pkg small, Feminine Products, Dog Treats

Thank you for blessing our neighbors who are experiencing homelessness with these “manna” survival supplies!