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!
To receive the weekly Elim Extra email in your inbox, please contact our office administrator at office@elimlutheran.org to sign up. You can also sign up to receive our monthy newsletter the Scribe at your home address.
Elim Extra for Sunday September 15, 2024
Pastor’s Reflection: Is your name on the list?
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting –
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things. -Mary Oliver
In worship on Sunday, I passed around a clipboard with a list of Elim’s voting members and active participants. Bev is also helping me prepare a list for Council of inactive members, so we can remove them from our voting roll. This is the job of an outgoing pastor, in conjunction with the congregation’s secretary. Hopefully you found your name on the active list I passed around, and if you didn’t, please let me know so I can add it.
But why do we bother with all these names? In Isaiah 65, God laments, “I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me. To a nation that did not call on my name, I said, ‘Here am I, here am I.’” God put his name on the temple – and on our churches – because he wants to be known by us – just like he knows each of us, and calls us each by name (Isaiah 43). We are free to show up in return, and declare our name to him – or not. That is the point of a roll call or membership roll – it says we are present, and we are going to try.
Friends, names are holy. Your name announces your place not just in your family of origin, but also in God’s family, or as the poet Mary Oliver puts it, in the created order of things. You belong. Even if you are not an official voting member of a congregation, even if you no longer affiliate with any particular denomination, you can be on our active participant list at Elim. You belong here. We want to get to know you by name, as God knows you. Thank you for putting your name on our church.
with love, Pr. Chelsea
Saturday September 14th – My Hometown Ogden service project, Goodbye Open House in Salt Lake City, 9-12.
Sunday September 15th – Council meeting, Special People’s Church service at 2:30 – 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.
Upcoming Events: 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
Elim Extra for Sunday September 8, 2024
Pastor’s Reflection
On Sunday, I will have a clipboard with a list of Elim’s voting members as well as active participants. One of my jobs as an outgoing pastor is to work with the church council to remove inactive members from our voting roll. Our constitution, which was revised this year by Council and will be brought to the congregation for approval, outlines this process. But why do we bother with it?
The church is a place that belongs to everyone – we all belong at Elim, and Elim belongs to all of us. But from a practical point of view, the *responsibility* for managing the church belongs *only* to the voting members (not the pastor…did you catch that?…nor the denomination!). Those who feel called to help lead Elim, whether as Council members or just voting members, take on the responsibility of membership. How do they do this? By officially joining the church and staying active in it, which is defined as participating and giving at least once a year. Of course, others are welcome to participate and give as well!
Unlike in some other faiths, in the Lutheran church, church membership has zero eternal significance – it is no way a requirement for salvation. But that doesn’t mean it has no spiritual significance. When people join our church, as some will on September 22nd, they affirm their baptism, repeating the promises made during baptism to follow Jesus. Any baptized person can do this, not just members. When you affirm your baptism in corporate worship with the congregation, you are reminding yourself – voting member or not – that God has given you a community of support to help you live out your desire to follow Jesus more closely. What a spiritual blessing!
Speaking of blessings, thank you so much for your generous response to our second collection for the Restoration Fund! We raised almost $500 on the first try! We will repeat this on Sunday, for those who did not have a chance last week, and then continue monthly until our Restoration Fund is back up to a sustainable level to maintain our building.
This Sunday is God’s Work Our Hands, an annual activity in the Lutheran church. We will be doing our service project during worship so that all can participate in the pews. We still need the following items donated; please let Peggy know what you can bring:
Gloves, Small Notepads, Soap – wrapped, Comb/Brush, Elastic Hair Ties, and Feminine Products.
Thank you for blessing our neighbors who are experiencing homelessness with these “manna” survival supplies!
with love, Pr. Chelsea
Upcoming Events to Note: – September 8th – God’s Work Our Hands Sunday – Making manna bags – September 14th – My Hometown Ogden service project, 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.
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!