Three weeks ago, I began participating in a yoga class offered by Nutley Parks and Recreation. At the end of our first class, I found myself lying on the floor, staring up at the ceiling, feeling the Spirit of God invigorating my entire body. Of course, this got me thinking about church – 'cause that’s where my brain nearly always goes.
I started wondering why worship in the Christian tradition doesn’t tend to engage our bodies - beyond standing up, sitting down, and walking to the communion rail – as fully as yoga tries to do. While yoga comes from an ancient philosophical and religious tradition not associated with Christianity, it seems to me that Christians and the Christian church should be just as concerned about bodies as the yogis those who follow the philosophy of yoga).
We follow a God who became embodied. Jesus the Christ. 100% human. 100% God. Walking around on the ground. A living breathing, fleshy, aching person like us. One who died a bodily death like we will. And who was then resurrected – not just in Spirit, but in body too. (Remember how Thomas touched Jesus’ resurrected body? John 20:27)
Maybe you don’t get caught in the easy temptation of only imagining Jesus as some floaty being, like I do. But, what would happen, I wonder, if we started imagining Jesus ‘in his body.’ If we started touching and feeling his body in ours. And started recognizing all bodies, no matter what they look like, as part of God’s body.
I don’t know the answer to these questions. All I know is that we too often denigrate our own bodies. Thinking that they are not beautiful. Not skinny enough. Too wrinkly. Too creaky. Too wounded and falling apart to matter to God, or even to be like Jesus’ body. But it is in our bodies that God comes to us. It was fleshy, bodily people who Jesus fed and healed and cared for and called to follow him.
In this newsletter, the Practicing our Faith section contains a Body Prayer. A way to pay attention to God alive in you, caring for you, in your body. In addition, the Thursday afternoon Bible Study has been talking about creating some stretching and balance classes to help us care for our bodies, and our spirits. If you want to help create these classes, or are interested in participating, please let me know.
But even more importantly, as you move through these resurrection days of Easter, celebrate God’s resurrection in the flesh. Care for and celebrate the God-given gift of your own body, and the bodies of others, while we wait for the day when we will all be resurrected in Christ Jesus: God made flesh.
Pastor Kristin
Praying at the Cross
Lent 2012 at Holy Trinity
Sunday, April 1 - Palm/Passion Sunday
8:45am:Process from Holy Trinity to the ‘Mudhole’ at Memorial Park (Vreeland & Passaic)
9:15am:Community Blessing of the Palms, then process back to Holy Trinity for breakfast.
10:00am:Worship with Palm Parade and dramatic reading of the Passion of Jesus the Christ
Thursday, April 5 - Maundy Thursday
6:15 pm:Soup Supper (please sign-up to help!)
7:30 pm:Worship with Holy Communion and stripping of the altar
Friday, April 6 - Good Friday
Noon – 1:30pm:Meditations on the ‘7 Last Words of Christ’ from the Nutley Clergy, at Holy Trinity
7:30 pm:Worship around the Cross
Saturday, April 7 - Vigil of Easter
10:00am:Come decorate the sanctuary for Easter and set up for the Resurrection Breakfast!
Sunday, April 8 – Resurrection of Christ Jesus
8:30am:Rise-n-Shine Resurrection Breakfast for all people
9:30am:Resurrection Adventure for children and youth
10:00am:Festival worship with Holy Communion
Wave an ECO-Palm on Palm Sunday
On Palm Sunday (April 1), we’ll be using “Eco-Palms” from Lutheran World Relief.
Eco-Palms pay farmers a fair wage and are grown and harvested in an earth friendly way. This means that more children finish school, families can afford healthcare, and the forest will continue to provide income for generations to come. It’s like praising God twice in one breath!
“Buck-a-Chick” for World Hunger
This Easter, join with congregations from across the ELCA in the “Buck-a-Chick” sale. Just one dollar purchases a chick for a family living in poverty, helping them with a source of both food and income. For each chick purchased, you are invited to decorate a paper chick. Chicks can then be hung in the narthex, or given to a friend. Buck-a-Chicks are $1.00 each. A peep of 10 chicks is $10.00 each. If purchasing by mail, please may checks payable to "Holy Trinity Lutheran Church". Thank You.
Graduating in May or June?
Please let the office know the date and from where you are graduating and we will celebrate that good news in worship and in the newsletter. Feel free to share your future plans, as well.
Ways for you to practice your Christian faith in everyday life.
Body Prayer
Find a comfortable place to be still and quiet for 15 minutes. You’ll be asking yourself a series of questions. You might want to write down your responses, but if writing is a distraction, do not interrupt the prayer exercise to write.
Focusing steps:
Close your eyes and breathe.
If helpful, gently stretch your arms, your legs, your feet, and your body. Let your awareness settle to the center of your body. What do you feel there?
What location or part of your body wants your awareness right now? Is there a feeling in your body that needs listening to?
Communicate with this felt sense in your body. Tell it, “I’m listening.” Ask this bodily feeling if it’s all right to go further.
What is the best way to describe this feeling in your body? Is there an image or name that emerges? (‘tight neck’, ‘lump in the throat’).
Sit with this body awareness without judgment. Simply observe. Does this bodily sense have an emotional quality? What is it?
Ask, “What makes me feel ____________ (name the emotion)?
Ask your body to show you how healing would feel.
Put your hand on that part of the body. Ask God (Father/Mother, Jesus, Holy Spirit) to help you care for this part of yourself.
Gently end your conversation with the felt sense in your body. Thank your body for being with you in prayer.
End by writing in a journal about what your body is telling you. Where do you feel God’s healing touch most deeply? What is it like to listen to your body?
Thank God for being present in this prayer. If you learn something about yourself that needs to be applied in your life, commit yourself to an action that honors the prayer.
God’s work. Our hands.
Both Bible Studies are Back
Monday @ 7:30pm, starting April 16th
Thursdays @ 2:00pm
Monday evening Bible Study has been on sabattical during lent, but will resume meeting on Monday, April 16th. Discussion and study will be about the formation of the early church, through the lens of the book of Acts and the letters of the apostles.
Thursday afternoon Bible Study continues to meet every Thursday. Conversation centers on the upcoming gospel text for Sunday worship, and how it intersects with our life.
Conference on Congregational Ministries, Saturday, April 21
Seeing God in Scripture, Sermon and Everyday Life,
Keynoter: Rev. Dr. David Lose
Mark your calendar for this great day of ministry formation and helpful workshops on all sorts of topics and interests for all people of the congregation (not just the pastor, not just council!). Registration forms are available in the office.
Called to be the New Treasurer?
As of May 1st, Audrey Stevens will be using her gifts in other areas of ministry and will no longer be able to serve as Holy Trinity’s treasurer. That means we need a NEW TREASURER. The only expectations for this ministry are dedication and time. You don’t have to be a professional accountant or bookkeeper! We are also planning to purchase church accounting software to help in this ministry. Interested: talk with Audrey Stevens, Elaine Miller, or Pastor Kristin.
Treasurer Responsibilities:
1. Record weekly offerings.
2. Make weekly deposit at Wells-Fargo.
3. Make necessary payments (write checks) when due.
4. Follow good accounting procedures to keep record of church finances.
5. Coordinate finances with Endowment Fund and Parsonage Fund.
6. Create monthly Financial Report to church council, and if possible, participate in monthly council meetings.
Remember We Who are Hungry
Donations of non-perishable food items help stock the Nutley Food Pantry, as well as provide emergency food aid to our neighbors. Please place donations in the basket in the narthex to help those of us who are hungry!
A Food Pantry Shopping List:
canned fruit, canned vegetables tuna fish, box of pasta, pasta sauce, 1-can meals,
tomato paste, canned beans, canned soup, bar soap, toilet paper, shampoo
April Birthdays and Anniversaries
April Birthdays
4:Ken Duke
5:Justin Munoz
9:Brian Johnson, Alexandra Rubens
10:Elfrieda Fenton, Erica Geiselmann
14:Sarah Jones
18:Christine Esparolini, Jeff Lin
22:Richard Bacik
24:Nancy Guenther
26:Ed Cordes, Miriam Mascola
29:Sharon Murphy, Piper Ellis Oberndorf
April Anniversaries
7:Greg and Ruth Sekula
21:Otto and Hedy Mayr
*We also want to celebrate your Baptismal Birthday. If you know the date of your baptism, or the baptism date of someone in your family, please let the office know. (office.htlcnutley@verizon.net)
Like Us?
Then Like Holy Trinity’s Facebook page. You’ll get updates on the goings on at Holy Trinity; see pictures from events, read previous sermons, and more!
From Pastor Kristin…
I used to love Lent. Seriously, Lent was my favorite season of the church year. (Lent? It’s the 40 days before Easter, in which we walk with Jesus as he heads to the cross. It began on February 22nd – Ash Wednesday – and will extend through April 1st – Palm Sunday.)
My love of Lent might have something to do with the fact that I tend to get SAD, or Seasonal Affective Disorder, from lack of sunlight during the winter, in addition to carrying the tired stress of Christmas into January and February.
So when Lent rolls around, I usually welcome it with a sigh of relief, as if we’ve all been given permission to be a bit melancholy, to look introspectively, and to actually mourn the troubles of our broken and fragile world. Not to mention letting go of that that façade of happiness and confidence that we put on so often it becomes like a second skin. But not this year.
I want to embrac
e the season of Lent, knowing that the penitential nature of lent can help us be a bit more honest with ourselves, and enables us to really celebrate Easter when it arrives. Kathleen Norris – a great writer on faith, doubt, and disbelief – tells of partying with a group of monks the night before Easter, saying, “maybe these [monks] can enjoy Easter because they also observe Lent well enough to be happy to see it go” (The Cloister Walk).
But this year, actually observing Lent seems like one more probable failure. One more thing I should do or be. And, well, we’ve all got enough of those weighing us down.
Being that this is the church newsletter – have you noticed the one word, the one person, the one being I haven’t yet mentioned? The one you probably assume I’m “supposed” to be talking about, instead of telling you all about me. Maybe that’s the trouble we get into with Lent as well. We tend to make it all about ourselves and our failures, rather than about God revealed in and through Jesus’ journey to the cross.
“If focused upon ourselves and our sins, Lent becomes a misguided exercise that magnifies our greatest obstacle to a true relationship with God: the belief that the relationship depends entirely on us” (David Miller, The Lutheran Magazine, February 2012).
Our theme for Lent this is year is “Praying at the Cross”. It is an invitation not to work so hard at lent, but to let lent work in you. To let God’s grace be enough. To sit with God, at the foot of the cross and let God work in you, in your heart, in your body, and in your life.
Because truthfully, lent isn’t about you. It’s about God. Going to the cross. For you.
Praying at the Cross
Lent 2012 at Holy Trinity
Thursday Soup and Studies in March
2:00pm Bible Study
5:00pm Sanctuary open for Prayer
6:15pm Soup Supper
7:00pm Book Study
8:00pm Choir
Palm Sunday – April 1
Maundy Thursday - April 5
7:30pm Worship with foot-washing and Eucharist
Good Friday — April 6
Noon: 7 Last Words of Christ (ecumenical service)
7:30pm Worship around the Cross
Wave an ECO-Palm on Palm Sunday
On Palm Sunday (April 1), we’ll be using “Eco-Palms” from Lutheran World Relief. Eco-Palms pay farmers a fair wage and are grown and harvested in an earth friendly way. This means that more children finish school, families can afford healthcare, and the forest will continue to provide income for generations to come. It’s like praising God twice in one breath!
Prayers of the Foodie
When food is in front of us, it’s easy to rush into eating without pausing to give thanks to God for our food, remember where our food came from, or ponder how our meal keeps us energized to do God’s work.
When eating in a restaurant, you might be shy or embarrassed about praying in a public place. But, when eating out, we are surrounded by the very people who help provide us with food to eat (chefs, cooks, and servers). What a witness it is to give thanks to God for these stewards of hospitality, right in their very midst!
Praying before a meal can also help us be mindful of what we are putting in our bodies – an essential part of any healthy eating lifestyle.
Prayer = Good Health!
Table Prayer for the Season of Lent (Bread for the Day. Augsburg Fortress, 2011)
Blessed are you, O God, maker of all things. Through your goodness you have blessed us with gifts of this table. Turn our hearts toward you and toward all those in need. May our Lenten journey bring us to the rebirth of Easter, through Christ our Savior. Amen.
A Traditional Table Prayer
Lord Jesus, be our holy guest. Our morning joy, our evening rest. And with our daily bread impart your love and peace to every heart. Amen.
A Poetic Prayer
O Thou who clothes the lilies, who feeds the birds of the sky, who leads the lambs to pasture, and the deer to the watertide, who multiplies loaves and fishes, and changed water into wine, do though come to our table as giver and as our guest to dine. Amen.
Chinese Child’s Prayer
Thank you, kind Maker, for giving us food to make our bodies grow stronger. Dear God, teach us to share with others what we ourselves have. Amen.
Thursday Evening Soup & Study in Lent
(March 1-April 5)
During lent, we gather with our sisters and brothers from Franklin Reformed Church on Thursday evenings to share a simple meal and discuss our shared faith. We meet in the Fellowship Hall of Holy Trinity.
Our Lenten study book is Why Christian?: For those on the edge of faith, by Douglass John Hall. The book explores questions of faith and doubt, without easy or overly simplistic answers. All are welcome!
Why Christian? Is available online.
Conference on Congregational Ministries
Saturday, April 21
Seeing God in Scripture, Sermon and Everyday Life, Keynoter: Rev. Dr. David Lose
Mark your calendar for this great day of ministry formation and helpful workshops on all sorts of topics and interests for all people of the congregation (not just the pastor, not just council!).
Registration forms are available in the office.
Like Us?
Then Like Holy Trinity’s Facebook page. You’ll get updates on the goings on at Holy Trinity; see pictures from events, read previous sermons, and more!
Together we fight hunger.
Together, the people of Holy Trinity gave over $122 on Sunday, February 5th as part of the Souper Bowl of Caring. The national total so far is $8,485,671 collected by 8,541 groups. All the money collected is given to local hunger-fighting organizations. Together we do more!
Remember We Who are Hungry
Donations of non-perishable food items help stock the Nutley Food Pantry, as well as provide emergency food aid to our neighbors. Please place donations in the basket in the narthex to help those of us who are hungry!
A Food Pantry Shopping List:
canned fruit, canned vegetables, tuna fish, box of pasta, pasta sauce, 1-can meals, tomato paste, canned beans, canned soup, bar soap, toilet paper, shampoo
A Christian Perspective on Bullying
Sunday, March 11th; 6:30-8:30pm
@ Vincent United Methodist Church
The Nutley Clergy Fellowship invites you to a workshop for youth and adults about “A Christian Perspective on Bullying” on Sunday evening, March 11 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Vincent United Methodist Church.
Rev. Dr. Tanya Linn Bennett, Drew University Chaplain and Theological School instructor will be leading the workshop.
In 2011, New Jersey mandated that all public schools create an Anti-Bullying. This interactive workshop will explore bullying from a Christian perspective especially looking at the application of the Golden Rule – “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
Rev. Dr. Bennett teaches in the areas of liturgical studies and church and society, with particular interest in the areas of worship, youth and urban ministries. Some of her doctoral studies were in the area of bullying and the church’s response.
The Nutley Clergy Fellowship includes priests and pastors from most of Nutley’s Roman Catholic and Protestant churches. Vincent Church is located at 100 Vincent Place, across from the Library. A freewill offering will be received to cover costs of the evening. Refreshments will be provided. All are welcome.
Did you Know?: The Nutley Family Service Bureau
In 1913, two eight year old girls kept falling asleep in their classroom at Washington School in Nutley, NJ. Their very worried teacher, together with some women in town, decided to investigate the children’s home situation. It was discovered that the girls were dancing nude at night in a tavern on River Road. As a result, the girls were removed from their parents’ home and placed in a foster home in Nutley, NJ.
The Chief of Police requested that the concerned women continue their work, and the Nutley Social Service Agency was born – or what is now known as the Nutley Family Service Bureau (NFSB).
Throughout its 95+ year history, the services provided by the NFSB have changed to meet the needs of the community.
At first, concerns were foster care, food and support for families. As government agencies and programs began to meet those needs, the NFSB evolved into a professionally-staffed counseling agency for families and individuals. But its fundamental mission has remained the same – to provide strength to families under stress.
All of NFSB’s professional staff have a master’s degree in a human service field and are available for individual, family or group counseling. In addition, the staff is involved in a broad array of community outreach programs.
Each year, hundreds of clients are served. Fees are charged on a sliding scale based on income, but no one is refused service because of inability to pay.
If the services of Nutley Family Service Bureau could be helpful to you, please call 973-667-1884 or visit us at 155 Chestnut St, or www.nutleyfamily.com
Meet Auhora.
You have changed her life.
Auhora Gendy lives in rural village several hours outside of Cairo, Egypt. er community of 30,000 lives with poverty, as the average daily income coming out to $1.80. That's a less than $2 to feed, clothe and shelter your family.
Health care is limited and hard to afford. It is estimated that 90% of people who are blind live in developing countries. More than half of these cases are caused by cataracts and other preventable, treatable eye diseases. Here, blindness isn’t just an individual’s struggle, but impacts the whole society. Not only is the blind person unable to work, but at least one family member often has to drop out of school or skip work to care for them.
Like many adults worldwide, Auhora slowly developed cataracts as she aged. With no preventative care or treatment, she eventually went blind.
But last year, Auhora experienced a "miracle." She got her sight back.
It is your gifts to ELCA World Hunger (like Animals for Christmas and Buck-a-Chick) that made this possible. Since July 2007, a mobile eye clinic has provided free eye exams, eyeglasses and simple surgeries to prevent and treat blindness for 3,000 patients. In Auhora’s case, it was a simple, $270 surgery that restored her sight.
"Now, I see." Auhora says with a smile.
Your gifts to ELCA World Hunger support this program and others like it in more than 60 countries around the world. www.elca.org/hunger
Music for your Ears
On March 31st, Jared Lin will be performing Grieg's Piano Concerto in A Minor as a soloist accompanied by the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. He has been a student volunteer for the Bergen Philharmonic for four years, playing both violin and synthesizer among the orchestra.
In the Nutley school music program, he participates in various ensembles, including Concert Band, Marching Band, Wind Ensemble, String Ensemble, and Percussion Ensemble, playing clarinet, violin, and various keyboard and percussion instruments.
Jared continues to take piano lessons with Grace Tuscano, a graduate from Juilliard.
Concert Information:
When: March 31st at 8:30pm
Where: Thomas Jefferson Middle School,
655 Teaneck Road, Teaneck (handicapped accessible)
Tickets: Adult, $25 / Senior, $20 / Student, $10
Website: www.bergenphilharmonic.org
Program: Vespri Siciliani Overture - Verdi
Piano Concerto – Grieg, featuring Jared Lin
Violin Concerto - Brahms
Daylight Savings
Remember to set your clock ahead one hour for daylight savings time on Sunday, March 11th. You don’t want to be late for worship!
2012 Flower Chart
Please sign up or call the office to donate altar flowers in 2012. The cost is $30.00. There are many weeks available, especially in June, July, August, September and November.
Save Money. Save Trees.
We prefer to send the newsletter and ministry updates electronically. If you haven't shared your e-mail address with the church office, please consider doing so. Send an e-mail with ADD ME TO THE MAILING LIST in the subject line to office.htlcnutley@verizon.net. We can send this newsletter to anyone with Microsoft Wordtm version 1993 or later.
Is it a Snow Day?
We hate cancelling worship!, but in the case of inclement weather, please check the phone message at the office (973) 667-0256. The message will be updated by 8:00 AM with worship news.
March Birthdays and Anniversaries
March Birthdays
7: Larry Stevens, Tom Stevens
8: John Denkinger
10:Marcia Hayes
15:Catherine Rubens
16:Rebecca Lovas
18:David Van Houten
23:Brianna Davey
March Anniversaries
15:Betty & Martin Futyma
*We also want to celebrate your Baptismal Birthdays. If you know the date of your baptism, or the baptism date of someone in your family, please let the office know. (office.htlcnutley@verizon.net)
Please call the office for an order form or place your order by mail with your check enclosed. Thank you!
Flowers & Chicks, Oh My!
To purchase Easter plants or chicks, return this form along with your payment, by Sunday, March 18th. Plant(s) may be taken home after Easter Worship, or be given to those who are homebound or ill.
“Buck-a-Chick” for World Hunger
Purchase a chick for a family struggling with poverty for just $1. These cheap chicks provide families with a source of both food and income, here in the United States and across the world. For each chick purchased, decorate a paper chick – available in the narthex. Decorated chicks can be hung in the narthex, or given to a friend. Buck-a-Chicks are $1.00 each. A peep of 10 chicks is $10.00.
www.elca.org/goodgifts
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Flowers & Chicks, Oh My!
Order Form
Return to the office with your payment by Sunday, March 18th.
Name/Envelope#:___________________________________/#_______
In Honor / Memory of:________________________________________
________________________________________
Buck-a-Chick: ______ x $1.00 each = $_____________
Peep of Chicks: ______ x $10.00 each = $_____________
No. of Lilies: ______ x $9.00 each = $_____________
No. of Daffodils: ______ x $9.00 each = $_____________
No. of Hyacinths: ______ x $9.00 each = $_____________
No. of Tulips: ______ x $9.00 each = $_____________
No. of Pompoms: ______ x $3.50 each = $_____________
(for Easter cross)
TOTAL: $_____________
_________________________________________________________
(For Counters to fill in)
PAID: $___________ via check#_________ or cash_________
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