September 2011 Newsletter
PASTORAL LETTER
“Grace
to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God
every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my
prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day
until now. I am confident of this, that
the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day
of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:3 - 6, NRSV)
Dear Friends in Christ:
The apostle Paul begins
his epistle to the church at Philippi with this warm greeting, and he expressed
gratitude for their partnership in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul wrote this letter to the Philippians
community to strengthen these believers by showing them that true joy comes
from knowing Jesus Christ. When Paul
wrote this epistle, his circumstances were not joyful. He was imprisoned for preaching the Gospel
and awaiting trial. Paul spoke honestly
about life’s challenges and how his faith in Christ brought him through each
one of them.
On Wednesday morning, at
the Service of Public Healing, we will continue our study of Philippians. This service will resume after Labor Day, on
September 7, at 10:00 am. Paul’s message
to the church at Philippi has brought comfort, strength, and healing to those
who suffer physically, emotionally or spiritually. They are timeless words which speak to us
today in the midst of our own uncertainties and the struggles of life. Recent
headlines have been filled with unrest in the political arena in our country
and abroad, global economic problems and natural disasters. Paul’s
strengthening words provide assurance in the midst of the shaking all around
us.
During the month of
September, we at Grace Church will resume Bible Studies, ministries, and
programs. On September 11, we will host
a “Welcome Back” picnic with registration for our Church School. This annual event is a fun opportunity to
reconnect with each other after summer travels, enjoying good food and
fellowship.
Please join us at the
Welcome Back picnic and sign up on the bulletin board to let us know you are
coming. Grace Church will provide
hamburgers, hot dogs, and relishes. We need volunteers to assist with the
grills and other hospitality tasks along with bringing side dishes to
compliment hamburgers and hot dogs. Face
painting, games for the children, and other activities are always
appreciated. This is a great time to
bring friends to Grace Church and get to know one another. Please sign up using the form on our
bulletin board so we can plan for this picnic, which will take place rain or
shine following the 10:00 service. The
following week, September 18, Church School will begin during the 10:00
service.
In October, we will
begin a six-week Bible Study on Wednesday evenings entitled “Why Worry?”. We invite you to join us as we reflect
together on God’s words to us in the scriptures and how they can help us
through this time in our culture of such change and unrest. More publicity will follow in the Sunday
morning bulletin.
In Paul’s letter to the
Church in Philippi, he expressed his gratitude for this beautiful church he
founded on his second missionary journey.
He had watched this church grow over the years and become generous and
strong in the faith.
As I close this pastoral
letter, I want to express my gratitude to the Lord for Grace Church, your faith
and support of one another, and for the many ways that together we continue to
“share the healing love of Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit” along
the shoreline of Connecticut and beyond.
Faithfully
yours,
The
Rev. Ellendale M. Hoffman, D.Min., LMFT
HARVEST FAIR
A Silent Auction
Saturday, November 5
There’s something new
coming up at this year’s Harvest Fair – a Silent Auction! We will be
auctioning off high quality donated goods and services. Buyers will be
able to enter their bids between 9 am and 2 pm on the day of the Fair, and
winners will be announced shortly thereafter.
To make this a success,
we need your donations of better quality items or services. If you have
an item of value that you would like to donate, please contact Christy Burnham
or Kay Hall. We’ll be displaying some of the items on Sunday mornings
prior to the Fair. So now is a good time to start thinking about what you
might have to donate.
All items must be in
excellent condition. Each donor will be asked to put a value on his or her gift
so the committee can determine an opening bid. We hope to fill up the
lobby with quality items to attract eager bidders. Help us make this
addition to the Fair a success.
Altar Guild News
On September 1, Betty
Salldin will become the Director of the Altar Guild. I am stepping down from the Directorship but
remaining a member of this group I have loved and served for many years. I will be assisting Joyce Baker with the
Altar Flower Ministry.
I thank all the members,
past and present, who have served with me, supported me in more ways than I can
count and loved me as I have loved them.
At the 10 am service on
Altar Guild Sunday (October 9), Betty will be commissioned as Director and
Joyce Baker, having completed a time of training, will be commissioned as a
member of the Altar Guild.
Altar Guild members will
be present at the coffee hour following the 10 am service. Please take this opportunity to talk to the
Rector or any of us about exploring a call to this ministry of love and
service. The Altar Guild is open to and
welcomes both men and women of our parish.
Thank you all,
Barbara Bowie
As part of
its Mission outreach, Grace Church has supported the Rev. Ndahana’s theological
studies at Nashotah House Theological Seminary.
The Rev. Daudi Ndahana
Appointed
Principal of Kasulu Bible College
In
Western Tanganyika
Dear Ellendale, Gunlog,
and Grace Church,
I do hope things are
going on well with you, we are also fine. Olivia and I are doing wonderful.
Olivia is very busy too with her ministry; for three weeks she has been
attending a seminar about leadership and management in Morogoro. I
am also doing well.
I need to share with you
that, my bishop, The Rt. Rev. Sadock Yakobo Makaya has appointed me as the new
Principal at Kasulu Bible College. This responsibility will begin on January 9,
2012.
I need your prayers as
this college is facing a lot of challenges, I believe your prayers will make
things possible. May I ask you please to share this with my
sisters and brothers at Grace Church?
Blessings,
Fr. Daudi & Olivia
“The Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not be in want”
GREETINGS FROM FULLER
THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
God’s
grace and peace to my family in Christ at Grace Church
from
Phil Bjornberg
By the time you read
this in the September newsletter, I will have completed my first year as a
graduate student at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. I want to share some of my experiences of
the past year with you all since you have contributed so much to the miracle of
where I am right now. Thank you for the
generous financial contribution of $1500 I received via the rector’s
discretionary fund, which helped to cover the cost of books and housing.
I particularly want to
share what led me to Fuller and some of what I have been doing at school since
I left home in March. Several people
have asked me how I ended up in a seminary 3,000 miles away when there are so
many great schools nearby: Yale Divinity School in New Haven and Episcopal
Divinity School in Boston, for two examples.
When I began to sense
God might really be calling me to attend seminary, I did a Google search for
seminaries with the key words “Christian,” ”non-denominational,” ”spirit-led,”
and “recovery ministry.” The search
returned a list of about five hundred mail order certificate programs and a few
legitimate graduate schools. I inquired
into Fuller Theological Seminary’s Recovery Ministry Program, and with
Ellendale’s help in discernment - she said, “GO!” - I attended a “Summer Visit for Prospective
Students” in Pasadena last August.
After a wonderful day of
orientation, which included a sample lecture, titled “The Arts in Theology,” we
were led off campus to preview University Housing. I went to the back of the group and prayed
silently to God as we walked, “Heavenly Father is this where you would have me
be?” The next moment, it was as if the
heavens opened and a deluge of the Holy Spirit poured down on me, soaking me in
the presence of God’s love and affirmation.
I bawled my eyes out, overflowing in awe and gratitude, totally humbled
by the knowledge that the God of all creation was calling such as me, to a
place such as this.
I applied and was
accepted last September, and took 2 online classes in the fall term. I had planned to take classes in Pasadena
during the winter term, but the return of my prostate cancer necessitated daily
trips to Boston for radiation treatments from the Monday before Thanksgiving
till Jan 14th. I took an incomplete in one of my fall
courses, which made me ineligible for financial aid, seemingly bringing my
brief graduate school career to an end.
But God is gracious and I was faithful to his call. I knew since he had called me, he would
provide the means for me to succeed. I just had to do my part. I was able to make up the incomplete and get
my doctor’s medical clearance to go to Pasadena. I wrote a letter of exception convincing the
school to reinstate my eligibility for financial aid, and received their
approval and the money I needed to contract housing and purchase my plane
ticket to California the week before classes began for the spring term.
In the spring term from
March 28 thru June 10, my classes were Pastoral Care and Abuse, Healing Prayer
for Intercultural Ministry, and the Pentateuch.
My summer courses were Communication for Ministry, Spiritual Traditions
and Practices, and Spirituality and Recovery.
My study of the first five books of the Old Testament provided an
understanding of the Torah in a context of the Ancient Near East cultures of
their origin.
These narratives
describe the divine presence of God with man from primeval history of creation
to the advent of salvation history. For
me, this modern critical scholarship was fascinating, and supports a conclusion
that the accounts of God revealed in these scripture are all true, though
perhaps not factual from a Western postmodern worldview of history.
Courses like the
Pentateuch, Hermeneutics, and Church History will develop scholarship skills I
never had, and I am eager to develop a sound biblical knowledge and
theology. But, I must say, what I am
learning about in the recovery emphasis classes and how it intersects with my
life’s experience, and the spiritual formation occurring in me from practicing
what we are learning about in Spiritual Traditions and Practices, and the
community and fellowship shared with other students in Communication for
Ministry, bring me boundless joy and excitement.
Sue came out to visit
for two weeks in July and was able to come to class with me and participate in
a day of reflection at Descanso Gardens.
As part of my Spiritual Formation, I have been practicing regular
rhythms of meditation and prayer. The
more I practice making time to improve my conscious contact with God, the more
receptive and responsive I am becoming to his presence and inspiration. I strongly recommend this practice for
everyone. I encourage you to practice at least 20-45 minutes a day of spiritual
formational exercises such as centering prayer, contemplative reading, lectio
divina or visio divina (Google them for definitions and instructions). I have experienced a dramatic reduction of
stress and a river of peace running beneath my days since I started developing these
rhythms and practicing more of the presence of God.
I give thanks to you
all, my brothers and sisters who have faithfully prayed for, supported, and
encouraged Sue and me through the last several years and for continuing to do
so. God has poured out on us abundant Grace
and mercy; in 2003, my beginning recovery from alcoholism, to 2006, the miracle
of my surviving a major heart attack, and 2010-11, the blessing of walking in
the daily presence of God while living with stage three prostate cancer and
going to graduate school on the “other” coast.
I am eager to fellowship
and worship together with you all this fall while I take online courses from
home and prepare the house for winter. I
am expecting to return to Pasadena for the 2012 winter, spring, and summer
terms. My best estimate is a graduation
date of spring 2013, but God knows. I
hope for this to be the first of several letters home over the next couple of
years as I pursue the completion of my studies.
May the grace and peace
of our Lord, Jesus be with you, always and all ways!
Phil Bjornberg
Student, MATM
Fuller
Theological Seminary
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