Worship Livestream
We routinely live-stream our Sunday services, as well as some other special events, on our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/elimlutheran.church.3/) and on our Youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/@ElimLutheran/streams
Please join us there, if you cannot join us in person!
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Where to find Elim Extra
In anticipation of developing a new website in 2025, the weekly Elim Extra will no longer be posted here. Please check our Facebook page for the weekly posting of announcements, upcoming events and the weekly worship bulletin.
Elim Extra for Sunday September 29, 2024
Pastor’s Reflection: Comings and Goings
Thank you for the lovely farewell potluck for my family and welcome reception for our new members this past Sunday. During this time of comings and goings, I am reminded of the story of Jacob’s ladder in the Bible, when Jacob saw the angels “ascending and descending.” The two-way flow between heaven and earth reminds us that “the circle will be unbroken,” in the words of the old gospel hymn, even as we endure the temporary separations that life offers.
Speaking of separation, I want to explain to you the separation ethics that I will uphold as a departing minister, in order to support the ministry of your next pastor. I will not be providing pastoral care (baptisms, weddings, funerals, hospital visits) to Elim members after September 29th. I will refrain from conversations about Elim, nor discuss religion with Elim members, for a period of one year. I am organizing the resources I have from my ministry to leave behind for you in the office. If there are any items that come up that you need from me, please pass your requests through Peggy.
Thank you for accepting these healthy boundaries, as you step into Elim’s next era and receive all that it has to offer. Please know that even as I focus on my new ministry setting, you will be in my hearts. My memories of Elim will always remind me of two lines from 1 Kings chapter 8 – “Your servants walk before you with all their hearts” (v. 23) and “This house is for all the peoples of the earth” (v. 43). You welcomed me with open hearts when I wasn’t a Lutheran, and you have made me one. Thank you for welcoming this foreigner!
My last Sunday at Elim happens to fall on the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels, which is a lesser feast on the Lutheran church calendar. The Lutheran hymn “In Sacred Manner” by Susan Palo Cherwien urges, “In sacred manner may we live among the wise and loving ones/Sit humbly, as at sages’ feet, by four-legged, finned, and feathered ones.” I agree with her that “the animals will teach,” so I am very excited that people will be bringing their dogs (and cat pictures!) into church for a Blessing of the Animals at 12:15 p.m. this Sunday. Thanks be to God for our furred angels!
with love, Pr. Chelsea
Elim Extra for Sunday September 22, 2024
Pastor’s Reflection: Welcoming Others in His Name
On Sunday we will have a potluck celebrating our new members and associate members who have joined Elim: Austin and Christina, Kristen and Alexis, Leslie, and Stephen! Worship will be an opportunity for everyone to affirm their baptisms and write their name in the membership book if it isn’t already there. Council has reviewed and affirmed our updated membership roll, and including associate members and non-member participants, Elim is 80 souls strong!
Jesus said that whenever we welcome a child of God in his name, we welcome the One who sent him. The new members we welcome help grow and expand our faith, as they help us to see God in different ways. It reminds me of the extraordinary diversity we enjoyed at the annual Ogden Interfaith Concert last Sunday night; the music offered by people of different faiths was absolutely top-notch, and such a counterpoint to the political violence that continues to shake our souls. What a privilege it has been to be part of this amazing Ogden community!
In our sermon series on “High Flying Geese,” we are hearing about how God calls each of us and our church to become “a new creature, transformed in mobility, in perspective, and in beauty.” The author Pastor Browne Barr asks, “But what is the nature of that transformation, of that resurrected life pulled out of the mud and given wings by God’s active love in Christ?” It is the new life we make together as a community, risen with Christ through baptism, flying together in formation, making the shape of a “V” to represent Love’s Victory over evil.
May our little church, united in love with our interfaith community, be a sign of healing for all to see.
with love, Pr. Chelsea
September 22nd – Potluck luncheon celebrating Membership Sunday (Affirmation of Baptism) and Farewell for Pr. Chelsea’s Family
September 29th – The Lesser Feast of St. Michael and All Angels, Blessing of the Animals, Blessing of Release for Pr. Chelsea