107 Concord Road, Wayland Massachusetts 01778

Sunday we celebrate 50 years of weekly reunions around the word and sacraments at 107 Concord Road in Wayland. Over all those years you attended and sang liturgies together; you gave your time and talents in many ways to keep the worshipping community going; you gave your good will and your offerings. You made Peace your spiritual home. Again this week the ancient words will be read and heard with reverence; the sacrament of the altar will be received with faith; your community will gather around to share stories of life.

The presence of Bishop James Hazelwood will remind us that our congregation is part of a larger Lutheran church, and beyond that is part of the great ecumenical constellation of Christian churches around the world. It will be good to have our New England Synod Bishop with us on Sunday.

As we go through the morning, notice how many faces you see in front of you, how many names you hear and read, how many names and faces appear in your thoughts and memories. Our church is a little bay of a great eternal sea–the communion of saints. ( I just finished reading Moby Dick so bear with me…) Just beyond us is the ocean of God’s love where Christians of every time and place rest in the grace of Christ. The names of the present members are mixed with the names of the founders and with the names of family members in other parts of the country and around the world. The names of the saints and of those who loved us and have died are mixed with the names of the youngest children of our church. Immigrant ancestors taught us the faith and through their example showed us the way to make the church work for us in our lives. Friends drove us to Sunday school. Parents encouraged us to find a church. Something in each one of us said, I think we should go to church. The spirit has called each one of us individually. We have come from many Christian traditions–Catholic, Episcopal, Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Congregational and from no named tradition at all. We are all the same in Christ’s spirit. That spirit caught each of us in a different way and at different moments in our lives, and ushered us together into Peace Lutheran Church, our faith community. Peace is a good name for a church and a good church to belong to. I look forward to celebrating 50 years of ministry on Sunday.

Commemoration of the first service at Peace  Sunday, August 17. The hymns for the day will be those that were sung 50 years ago.

350 MA  Thursday, September 4   7:00 pm

Calumet at Peace  Saturday, September 13  This will be a fun event for our congregation. Contact Debbie Vogt for more information.

Outdoor worship and Rally Day Sunday, September 14  Worship outdoors (bring a lawn chair). Teachers and children will be introduced for the start of a new year of learning.

50 Anniversary Service Sunday, September 28  New England Synod Bishop James Hazelwood will be with us to celebrate fifty years of ministry. Former pastors  Randy Wilburn and Paul Lindstrom will attend.

Holy Baptism  Harrison Burke and Diane Burke  Sunday, October 26   The Sunday of All Saints

Affirmation of Baptism  Sunday, November 2  All Saints  Leah Scheidemantel and Nicole Canning will affirm their baptismal faith and become confirmed (adult) members of the church.

Campus Ministry Day  Sunday, November 9  The Rev. Kari Jo Verholst, MIT and Harvard ELCA chaplain, will be with us to preach and lead a forum.

I sent this note to the parents of our confirmation students. An important ministry of the congregation, confirmation is the church’s rite of passage into adult membership in the church.

The day of confirmation for Leah Scheidemantel and Nicole Canning will be Sunday, November 2, 2014.  In September Leah and Nicole will plan their confirmation service. It will includeone or more of these: some ministry initiative, a presentation of artwork, an essay, a statement of faith, a report on a topic of the Christian faith. Leah Jonczyk, Carter Vogt, Gabby Ho will continue to meet this fall. The three of them will continue into another year of confirmation. They will be joined by 7th Graders Erik O’Steen and Jack Melvin.

I believe that confirmation instruction in our Lutheran Church should be described as “training in the Christian faith”, and I would rather think of “the confirmation years” than of “the confirmation program”. Instead of being mainly a period of instruction, Confirmation should be a time of experiencing the several aspect of an active faith life. One of these is guided learning, but there are others equally important.

Sometimes confirmation in the Lutheran Church has been known as “Catechism”. This meant learning–and often memorizing–Luther’s Small Catechism as the basic book of Christian instruction. I believe the catechism is important still. Brilliant in its absolute simplicity, the rhythms of its language are part of our Lutheran heritage.  (What does this mean….  This is most certainly true…. etc.)

The congregation pays particular attention to children during their confirmation years. Certain expectations are placed on them. These expectations in fact are the same as those of adult church membership–that they attend worship, learn, pray, serve others, give of themselves, their time and resources to maintain the church as a physical plant and as a family of faith.

The Sunday of confirmation is the beginning of the student’s adult Christian life. For that reason confirmation is called affirmation of baptism. Our practice here at Peace has been to have the day of affirmation of baptism (confirmation) near the beginning of a child’s freshman year of high school.

We are trying to help an organization called ” The Indian Women’s Mission Center” in Orono, Maine. This week UNACC  received a handwritten letter asking for help. We have assisted them in the past with food, clothing and shoes. They are a registered 501c3 (non profit) organization who are looking for school supplies and used clothing (in good condition) for kids on their reservation. If people can help, I can pick them up at church and deliver them to UNACC, who will take them to Maine near the end of this month.

Items especially needed are: Pens, pencils, crayons, notebooks, backpacks( gently used are fine) as well as gently used children’s clothing and shoes. I am sure winter clothing and boots would also be appreciated.  All and any school supplies are needed.

Thank you once again. People at Peace do so much for so many different causes and I know how much our help means to them. These items get directly to people that need them and will use them. Few organizations help reserve communities and they are among the poorest in the nation. Any help we can give will be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Heather