The BridgeThe BridgeSeptember 15, 2020

Encouraging thoughts from Silke Pyrlik, Spiritual Director

Spiritual Disciplines - Experiencing the Living Christ

Over the last weeks we published several articles about prayers, our different prayergroups as well as about the importance of prayers.

Prayer is one of several "spiritual disciplines". It's the one that is usually performedby almost all people of belief.

But as with all spiritual disciplines, it means nothing if "spirit does not touch spirit", means if your spiritdoes not feel touched by the Spirit of God.

I dare to say that the book "Celebration of Discipline" by Richard J. Foster is the "bible" of the spiritualdirector. It clearly, understandably and doable describes the path to spiritual growth.

All spiritual directors I know have a deep commitment to personal spiritual growth and of course have theobligation to foster the spiritual growth of their directees.

There are inward disciplines: meditation, prayer, fasting and studyThere are outward disciplines: simplicity, solitude, submission, and serviceThere are corporate disciplines: confession, worship, guidance, and celebration

As you can see, prayer is only one of 12 disciplines. Not all seekers of spiritual growth practice all thedisciplines but as you surely notice, they pretty much sum up the ideal (textbook like) life of a Christian.

I know a lot of pastors and I don't know one who is able to subscribe to all 12 disciplines.

The importance is to understand that they are not requirements/obligations to be performed by Christians inthe form of fulfilling a duty. That is not what they are meant to accomplish.

They are meant to help us to experience the living Christ; to be truly touched by Spirit, personal and to thecore. Any one of these disciplines have the potential to help you experience just that.

To be able to feel spirit, form should never hinder that experience. If your chosen form (or often churchprescribed form) of mediation, prayer, solitude, service, worship, study or any other disciplines hinders usfrom experiencing the living Christ - then too bad for the form - find a different form that will foster yourexperience of the living Christ, of spirit touching spirit.

I personally have not once encountered true spiritual growth when my spirit was not touched directly by theSpirit of God.

Yes, I can follow any form of spiritual discipline, as an act of sheer determination, but it does nothing for meunless I find a way/form to directly be touched by the Spirit of God.

How about you? Has your spirit been touched by the Spirit of God? In what ways? Doing what?Contemplate your experience with these 12 disciplines and what they mean to you!

I would be glad to talk to you about your experience!

Next week I will tell you about Yellowstone and how that directly touched my spirit.

May peace with you, always!SilkeSilke

God's work. Our hands.September 13 we held the ELCA wide "God'swork. Our hands." event. We had manymembers coming out to participate, to say "goodbye" to our sanctuary (for now) and to get readyto welcome the new. Members congregatedsafely distanced in the sanctuary and clearlyenjoyed being able to re-connect in person! Weare grateful to all our participating members. Weall came through and picked many of theadvised projects. We received a few baby kits,many, many masks, and generous monetarydonations (Adopt a Child: $ 2,529, and MalawiCrisis Nursery $1,475 and that was just thisSunday, additionally we had more funds givenahead of this Sunday!) Hallelujah!

Sarah DeMaria's mother, Leora HorstSusie Fidler's friend, Brian TandlerSteve BassfordVictims of recent wildfires and hurricanesOur nation living with many blessings and much strifeRita Hungate's husband, Stephen Alfred and her family and friends.

RITA G. HUNGATE, M.D.

A Graveside Service for Rita G. Hungate will be held at 10am on Thursday,September 17th Six Oaks Cemetery in Sea Pines.

A Sea Pines pass will be required to enter. HH Plantation owners automaticallycan enter. Others will need to have a friend call in a pass for them or purchase one. Please allow time for picking up or purchasing a pass. The service will be livestreamed beginning at 10am.Here is the link to it: www.facebook.com/events/349366816249918If you log on early, you will not see anything until the 10am hour.

We look forward to gathering for this time of sorrow at Rita' s loss but also for this time to celebrate our lifetogether in Christ. Peace to her memory!

Memory Book for Rita's Family

Dr. Rita Hungate was a friend to all of us at CLC. The memories we have of her kindness, generosity, vastknowledge, and great sense of humor can be remembered. A Memory Book is a collection of individualmemories written on a beautiful card, a piece of stationary or on the computer. I would like to collect thesememories from you and place them into a "book" for Rita's family.

Please take a few minutes to remember Rita and write down your memory, send it to Susie Fidler or drop itoff at the office. I will put them together give them to Steve. In this time of grief for all of us, let us showour love for one another! Thank you!

Susie Fidler96 Toppin Drive

Hilton Head Island, SC 29926ksfid@hotmail.com

CONNECTED starting back up on Sept. 30After many, many months of navigating the pandemic and being unsure on how toproceed, the CONNECTED team met for several weeks to plan a CONNECTEDexperience.

On Sept. 23 at 6 pm the team will run a "dress rehearsal" CONNECTED with a fewregular CONNECTED participants online via Zoom.Depending on the outcome of this "dress rehearsal", CONNECTED will start back up

either all online or combined with online and in-person small groups.

Please stay tuned for more information to come!

We will tackle the topic of "Racism in the USA" once again (historically, nowadays, and in the context ofbiblical interpretation).

A CONNECTED invite will be send to everyone with the request to let us know if you plan to participate!Even though we don"t have to plan a meal, we have to plan small groups (possibly in person or as break-outgroups via Zoom).

Please help us by sending a RSVP to our CONNECTED invite!

We will have four CONNECTED sessions (Sept. 30, Oct. 7, 14, and 21)before we re-evaluate if we can go on with in house CONNECTED encounters. That of course is still theplan in the long run. When all safety measures are in place, we will be ready to offer in-personCONNECTED meetings in Heinrichs Hall.

Book Club: While some groups have been on hiatus over the summer, the Woman's BookClub has been gathering together via Zoom meetings. We have discussed TheOnly Woman in the Room by Marie Benedict (Hedy Lamar---a beauty, an actor,a scientist and an inventor of a revolutionary communication system) and Yearof Wonders by Geraldine Brooks (plague in 17th century England). Our next meeting will be on Saturday,September 19; we will discuss Moment of Lift by Melinda Gates. Then on October 17 we will discuss IKnow the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelo. While we do discuss the "assigned" books, we also use ourZoom time to catch up with one another and share what all we have been up to throughout the pandemic(major takeaway----lots of good books have been read). Care to join us, even if you are out of town? Contact Chris Wilcox at christineewilcox@aol.com. She can give you Zoom information.

Bible Study--Oct. 11 and 12!Say Her Name: Naming the Witness of Nameless Women in the Bible.

In this study, we will examine the witness of several women in the Bible whose names were never given,but whose faith continues to inspire our own. We will consider together the stories of a few women who arewell-known in the Christian community and some whose stories are nearly forgotten.

Pastor Mary will be offering this Bible Study for the Southeastern Synod (Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama,and Mississippi) as part of their Lay School of Religion (via Zoom) on October 11th. She will offer it againfor CLC on October 12th 5:00 - 6:30pm via Zoom. Hope you can come and invite your friends!

Help Support the Preschool

There are several easy ongoing ways to support the Preschool throughout the year.

* Link your Harris Teeter VIC card to our school. Our school number is 3175 But you can just tell thecashier the name of our school and they will find the code and link it for you! This only has to be done onetime each year..and you are connected for the whole year!* Go online to KROGER.com and you can link your Kroger card also.* Save used ink cartridges for us.Staples pays us for each one we return! Unfortunately we no longer collect BOX TOPS. The program is all digital now. Thanks for your help. All these little things add up to savings for the Preschool!

God continues to bless Christ Lutheran! Remember, you can send your contributions to us by any of thesethree ways:

By US Mail to: Christ Lutheran Church 829 William Hilton Pkwy Hilton Head Island, SC 29928

Donate online at our website clchhi.org by using the "Give" button.

Donate via Vanco at vancopayments.com

Gifts to Lutheran Disaster Relief for victims of recent wildfires and hurricanes may be made on our website.

Scroll in the options section in the Tithe.ly app and select "Disaster Relief".

Want to help our Church?

Are you gifted with a love of numbers and attention to detail? Your gifts would be put togood use as a Teller for Christ Lutheran.

Here's how it works:Each Monday morning a team of two people count the offering that has been collected via mail and drop offduring the previous week.

The two person team prepares the deposit and takes it to the bank.

The two person team prepares the deposit and takes it to the bank.Contributions are then posted to individual accounts by another member of the team on Tuesday. If this is a ministry that appeals to you, please contact Kathy Reynolds at 678-643-6261 or reynoldsglkp@yahoo.com to sign up.

Christ Lutheran was scheduled to host Family Promise atThanksgiving time this year. Since this will not be possible, weplan to have an opportunity for people to give to Family Promisewith Food Lion gift cards and monetary donations in November. Please read the update from Family Promise below. Thank you.

The Final Summer ScoopAs we enter the final phase of summer, we reflect on how things have changed, but also have stayed thesame! Family Promise of Beaufort County currently has three families in our Shelter Program. Although thelodging portion of our program looks a lot different than normal, the generosity and kindness of ourcongregations, volunteers, and local community remains stalwart! Because of the benevolence of ourdonors, FPBC is currently in a solid financial position to ensure we can continue to provide shelter andresources to those families in our care. The staff at Family Promise of Beaufort County has made the decision to continue to provide lodging forour families at the extended-stay hotel for the remainder of 2020. Our decision is based primarily on theuncertainty of the congregation's reopening schedule and availability of the volunteers who we normally relyon for our shelter and guest care. We believe by making this decision, it relieves any pressure there may beon our congregations to make a commitment to host for the remainder of 2020, gives our guests continuitywith respect to lodging, and allows all of us to focus on planning for 2021. We are happy to report that our parents are all working full-time, our children are attending daycare and TheVirtual Hub at the Boys & Girls Club in Bluffton. The FPBC staff continues to assess the COVID-19situation by making/amending plans and strategies to deal with anything that may come our way. Restassured, our families are well taken care of, as we continue to provide food and shelter to those in need.As always, the FPBC staff are here to help. Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions orconcerns. If you or your friends would like to contribute to the support of our families, Food Lion gift cards in smalldenominations are always welcome. You can drop them off between 8:30 am and 4:30 pm, Monday ~Friday. Please remember to wear your mask! Take care of yourselves and those around you! Thanks from your friends at Family Promise.

Our mailing address is:Family Promise of Beaufort County

181 Bluffton Rd, D101Bluffton, SC 29910

THE CHURCH CALENDAR

Monday, September 14 Pastor Mary in Columbia through Wednesday afternoon

Tuesday, September 15 No Staff Meeting 6 p.m. Council Meeting via Zoom Wednesday, September 16 5:00 pm Faith Formation Committee via Zoom Thursday, September 17 9:30 am Preschool Chapel 10:00 am Rita Hungate Memorial, Six Oaks Cemetery in Sea Pines 6:00 pm Confirmation Group Friday, September 18 Office Closed If you have a key to the church office/sanctuary, please make sure that when you leave you havelocked the door behind you. Some doors have recently been found open. Thank you for your help withthis! *********************************************************************************************************

Save the Date!

On Sunday, September 27th, we will bid Farewell and Godspeedto Gary and Kathy Reynolds

during the 10am Worship Service. Please Zoom in and stay for coffee hour!

Then, mark your calendars to come to the churchfor an outside party that afternoon

from 4 to 6 pm. More details to follow!

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