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News from Advent Lutheran Church Vol 65

Advent Lutheran Church

1508 Valley Avenue ● P.O. Box 3204 ● Winchester, VA 22604 540-313-4912

adventlutheranwinchester.org

Calendar Serving Schedule Our serving schedule is temporarily on hold until we are no longer social distancing during worship.

September

Birthdays

Joe Kordella 1

David Hall 4

Ben Burkhart 15

Christopher Porter 20

Greg Frye 20

Kimberly James 24

Anniversaries

Shannon & Marshal

Nuckles 3

Nancy & Wayne

Underwood 15

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From the Pastor:

Vade mecum is Latin for go with me (it derives from the Latin

verb vadere, meaning “to go.”) In English, “vade mecum” has been

used (since at least 1629) in manuals or guidebooks sufficiently

compact to be carried in a deep pocket. But from the beginning, it

has also been used for such constant companions as gold, medica-

tions, and memorized gems of wisdom.

Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, s.v. “vade mecum,” accessed September 10, 2020, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vade%20mecum.

“Go with me,” that’s the wooden translation of one of the near-ancient

terms for a manual, or guidebook. The Church made use of the term to

describe the book that contained her “Occasional Services”. The idea being

that the rites (which would typically not be contained in the average par-

son’s memory) could then go with the pastor to places and “occasions”

that were beyond the confines of the Sunday liturgy in the Church building.

Regarding the term “Occasional Services”, we should not think first of the

frequency of the performance of such a Service of the Church, although

some may indeed be infrequent. We should think of their being distinct

from the regular and always normative Services of the Christian Church – the

Sunday Divine Service of Holy Communion and the Daily Prayer of the

Church. These Services are constant and do not depend on any extraordinary

life event of a Christian person or community. The Occasional Services are

usually tied to significant and sometimes unrepeatable Churchly Acts. The

principal examples of such events are Baptism, Individual Confession and

Absolution, Confirmation (Affirmation of Baptism), Marriage, and Christian

Burial. Other Occasional Services include: Holy Communion in Special

Circumstances, Distribution of Holy Communion, Commendation of the

Dying, various blessings, Laying a Cornerstone, Opening Synods, Ringing

Church Bells, Farwell and Godspeed, Excommunication, Restoration of a

Member under Discipline, and other rites and Services unique to particular

church bodies.

Advent Worship Schedule

Sundays at 9 am Holy Communion follows

Service of the Word

I am going to offer a class on the major Occasional Services with special

attention to Marriage, Individual Confession and Absolution, and the

Service of Christian Burial (Funeral). I plan to go over the particulars of

each rite while highlighting the theology that inform them. I will also

provide criteria for determining what is appropriate to each Service, and

what a congregant may legitimately expect from their pastor regarding

their performance.

There will be ample time for questions and discussion.

Please join me for what I think will be an enjoyable and illuminating journey

through the Church’s Occasional Services!

We will “meet” via ZOOM Mondays’ at 10 am.

Come with questions and concerns. . .

Prayerfully,

Pastor Porter

Joshua

Joshua, the son of Nun, of the tribe of

Ephraim, is first mentioned in Exodus 17

when he was chosen by Moses to fight the

Amalakites, whom he defeated in a brilliant

military victory. He was placed in charge of

the Tent of Meeting (Exodus 33:11) and

was a member of the tribal representatives

sent to survey the land of Canaan (Numbers

13:8). Later, he was appointed by God to

succeed Moses as Israel’s commander-in-

chief. He eventually led the Israelites across

the Jordan River into the Promised Land

and directed the Israelites’ capture of Jericho. He is remembered especially

for his final address to the Israelites, in which he challenged them to serve

God faithfully (Joshua 24:12-15), concluding with the memorable words,

As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord(24:15). September 1

Jonah

A singular prophet among the

many in the Old Testament, Jonah

the son of Amittai was born

about an hour’s walk from the

town of Nazareth. The focus of

his prophetic ministry was the call

to preach at Nineveh, the capital

of pagan Assyria (Jonah 1:1). His

reluctance to respond and God’s

Council Meeting Notes

Due to Covid-19, Council has

decided to not have any joint

services with Lebanon at this time.

We will be having a Christmas Eve

and Christmas Day service, details

coming in later months. Also

tentatively we will host our Advent

Celebration this year, without the

fellowship (unless circumstances

change!).

August Offerings: $7,285

Building Fund: $213,459

General Fund: $80,000

Thrivent Fund: $147,155

— Sally Coates

Speaker: Thomas Glessner,

Founder and President,

National Institute of Family and

Life Advocates

Abba Care is hosting their annual

banquet and this year there is a

virtual event as well. The RSVP

was Friday, September 11 but if

you are interested you can

contact them directly.

A donation is always appreciated!

More information can be found

at abbacare.org/banquet

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insistence that his call be heeded is the story of the book that bears Jonah’s

name. Although the swallowing and disgorging of Jonah by the great fish

is the most remembered detail of his life, it is addressed in only three vers-

es of the book (Jonah 1:17; 2:1, 10). Throughout the book, the important

theme is how God deals compassionately sinners. Jonah’s three-day so-

journ in the belly of the fish is mentioned by Jesus as a sign of his own

death, burial, and resurrection (Matthew. 12:39-41). September 22

2020 NALC Convocation Report

This year, due to COVID concerns, the NALC Convocation was held

virtually. Overall, given that it was the first attempt to hold a Convocation

in this format, I think it went fairly well. What was missing was the feeling

of community and knowledge-sharing that you usually find in an event like

this. The speakers were great, but again, limited severely in content and the

ability for discussion and feedback afterwards.

There were several issues to vote on and all were tabled until the next in

person Convocation. There was a great deal of discussion on the amend-

ments, and none were approved. Because of discussion running way past

the time allocated, the Convocation extended well into Saturday evening,

about 3 and a half hours past the slated ending time, despite severely limit-

ing the various reports from the Committees. This was disappointing as

the Convocation is the one time that these Committees can reach the

NALC as a whole.

Here are the Constitutional Amendments proposed at the meeting:

Proposed Amendment I (in two parts):

1-A. The constitution refers to the “annual” convocations in 22 places. In

each of these cases it is proposed that “annual” will be replaced by

“biennial.” See Articles 6, 7, 9, 10, 15, 17.

1-B. Since the election cycle of Executive Council and Court of Adjudication

members is tied to “annual” convocations, it is proposed that Articles 7.02

and 15.01 be changed to accommodate elections biennially with flexibility

during the transition concerning the timing of elections.

(I voted yes on this but due to overwhelming majority of no votes, the

amendment was tabled until the next in person Convocation. It seems that

in order to address the monitory issues around in person Convocations,

which is a particular burden to the smaller congregations, that this is a

practical solution: one year in person, one year virtually. I didn’t understand

this to be controversial)

Advent Worship:

Service of the Word,

followed by

Holy Communion:

9:00 am Sundays

† Online Service of the

Word, Lebanon’s

Facebook page:

11:00 am Sundays

C-CAP Corner

It has come to our attention at

CCAP that there is a need

for umbrellas, (they could be

used but in good condition or

new.) and poncho’s for our

homeless population. This will

go a long way to help keep

them dry in inclement weather,

particularly now that fall and

winter are fast approaching.

We continue to collect flip top

cans of food, plus soup and

box cereal. A list was distribut-

ed at church on this past Sun-

day.

Advent is starting our annual

Calendar collection. Calendars

are in great need for our most

needy neighbors. Please consid-

er donating calendars and

pocket planners that come to

your mailbox from various

charities. They are most appre-

ciated by our CCAP clients!

Many thanks for your continued

support for CCAP!

— Jan Calamari C-CAP Representative

The Treasurer’s Report for 2020 and budget for 2021

may be found online: https://lutheranweek.com/

portfolio/report-of-the-treasurer-proposed-2021-

budget/

The election results are as follows:

Executive Council, Clergy (4 year term): Rev. Carl

Rasmussen

Executive Council, Lay (4 year term): Lynn Kickingbird

Court of Adjudication (4 year term): Samuel Duncomb

Board of Regents (6 year term): Rev. Dr. Eric Waters,

Rev Paul Krueger and Rev James Lehmann

Approvals:

● Confirmation of 2021 Nominating Committee

● Second Constitutional Amendment: Apportion-

ment of Lay Delegates

● Third Constitutional Amendment Biennial Consti-

tution and Election Cycles (Approved as Amended)

● Resolution to Endorse NALC 2020 Vision

● Treasurer’s Report and 2021 Budget

While overall the virtual attempt was a good one, I

would not recommend that for all future gatherings.

Interim meetings it would make sense, but there is a

need to meet in person, at least once a year. I under-

stand that it potential is an undue burden on smaller

congregations to send a pastor and delegates annually,

but perhaps some of the Convocation can be aired

online during the in-person meeting, with voting

capabilities for the business part of the meeting.

Given that so much was tabled for the next in person

Convocation, I am sure there will be a great deal of

ongoing discussion on this format.

More information on the Convocation is available at

this site: https://lutheranweek.com

Respectfully Submitted,

Carolyn Frye

Advent Lutheran Church Delegate

Proposed Amendment 2:

At Article 7.02, the Constitution specifies 750 baptized

members as the number beyond which the Executive

Council apportions additional lay delegates from

congregations to achieve an equal balance of lay and

clergy delegates. The number was based on the

number and size of congregations expected to be in

the NALC in the first couple years after its formation.

The NALC now has a far greater number of congre-

gations with a very different mix of sizes. With those

changes, the number 750 does not work. In recent

years, the Executive Council has apportioned additional

delegates using a lower number of baptized members.

Rather than set a specific number in the Constitution,

the proposed amendment would allow for the

Executive Council to use a number based on the

current congregational membership leading up to a

convocation.

Proposed Amendment 3:

Finally, it is proposed that Article 11 and its three

sections use the term “Mission District(s)” in the

place of “regional group.” The Constitution does not

name regional subdivisions as Mission Districts, a

term that we have used for almost 10 years.

(This particular amendment had the most discussion.

Since we have informally been using the Mission

District terminology for the past year, I found it

astonishing that there was so much discussion and a

vote to table this for the next in-person Convocation. I

am in favor of this amendment, given that it is basically

technical and just a ratification of what was decided over

a year ago)

There was a motion to amend proposed changes to

10.05l. The language was changed:

Motion to amend the proposed changes to 10.05.l by

substituting the following language. The duties and

function of the Executive Council shall be to: l.

Report all actions quarterly to the congregations

and clergy of the NALC, as well as to each Con-

vocation.

This was approved.

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