Opportunities to Connect
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Ways to Worship
Palms will be available for drive through pick-up on Saturday, March 9th from 10am - 1pm.
Special Tribute
After Advent's youth returned from a mission trip in Atlanta, they were so inspired that they came back home ready to find opportunities to live out their faith. They plugged into a number of ongoing outreach ministries at Advent and they also found new avenues for youth driven ministries.
Perhaps, it was their commitment to Room in the Inn (RITI) that was the most visible and long lasting. The youth supported the guests during the season of RITI by being present every Monday night to share a meal and talk with the guests, as well as gathering prayer concerns and offering a worship service. With the addition of a youth led worship service, the guests at RITI became our brothers and sisters with whom we shared the struggles and joys of life.
The Bill Withers connection happened during this time. Before sharing the peace at the end of the worship service, the tradition became that the very last song that was sung just after sharing Communion was "Lean on Me." Everyone moved in to make the circle a bit tighter and put their arms around the shoulders of the people beside them . . . and then the music would begin and the community began to sway around the altar and sing "Lean on Me." A glorious moment and an undeniable taste of heaven.
Seven years later, "Lean on Me" is still sung at the end of every RITI Monday evening worship service. The song has found a home in hearts of all who ever gathered for RITI worship. We are forever grateful for Bill Wither's musical gift of "Lean on Me."
Weekly Devotion
Podcasts
Radical Love Endeavor's Podcast - Season 2
From the Pastor's Desk
March 25, 2020
Dear Advent Family,
As of writing this letter, Mecklenburg County has issued a shelter in place mandate that begins tomorrow (Thursday, March 26). On Monday, I was notified by Bishop Tim Smith that all congregations in the NC Lutheran Synod should not resume gatherings larger than 10 people until after May 12. This notification follows directives from both the CDC and Governor Cooper as our country takes necessary steps to mitigate the spread of COVID19.
As a community of faith, who loves God and serves neighbor, we understand the necessity of these directives; however, I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge my own sadness (perhaps selfishly) that we will not be able to gather together “physically” on Easter Sunday.
Nevertheless, the good news of Jesus Christ’s resurrection cannot ever be quarantined and our “Alleluias” will be raised on Easter no matter where we are . . . declarations of new life and hope for the world!
So in the weeks ahead, how do we share our lives together even when we are apart?
Here are several pragmatic steps we have taken to support the life of our community.
- The church staff will still be checking e-mails and phone messages from home. Please contact us if you have any needs.
- Prayer concerns can be sent to Pam Rhynes at officeadm@adventlu.org. Prayer concerns will be added to the abbreviated eNews each week.
- Pastoral concerns will be fielded by me (Pastor Ward).
- Other needs, such as physical or financial, will be fielded by Sharon Thrower.
- A plan is underway for each Advent family to be contacted weekly by someone within our church community, who may be a fellow board member, Sunday school teacher, small group leader, or perhaps another brother or sister from your Advent community. The primary purpose of these contacts is to stay in touch and to make sure all members are supported if any needs arise.
- Board meetings, small groups, and Sunday school classes are being conducted by ZOOM which is available on the internet. If you are interested in joining an ongoing class, we can walk you through the steps to set up ZOOM.
- Modified worship services will be available each Sunday morning at 10:00am on FaceBook (search Facebook for Advent Lutheran Church ELCA Charlotte NC) and then will be linked to our website shortly after.
- Creative ways to lead and post the final Wednesday Lenten service (April 1) as well as Holy Week and Easter services are currently being explored. We will inform the congregation when a plan has been implemented.
- The two primary points of contact and communication with the Advent community will be the church website (adventlu.org) and eNews communications. Stay in close contact with both.
- The 2020-21 stewardship campaign has been put on hold until further notice.
The entire pastoral staff is working faithfully to keep us all connected through worship, spiritual development, small groups, and pastoral care. Our minds are working overtime as we continue to dream new and creative ways to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with one another.
As I close, know that I feel a certain emptiness in my life because we have not been able to gather for worship as one body. I dearly miss watching our congregation sharing the peace with one another, holding hands during the Lord’s Prayer, and sharing the gift of Holy Communion as we gather around the altar and beneath the glorious outstretched hands of the risen Christ who greets us each time with enter the sanctuary. But, this season is not forever and I am confident that our coming together as one body for worship (when that day arrives) will be far sweeter and dearer than we can even imagine!
Finally, I know that many of you miss sharing Holy Communion together, so I have written a short blessing to remind you of the gift of Christ that you always carry with you.
Christ, you have met us at this very Table so many times before.
Now we ask for a sense of your promised presence once more.
In this time we must wait our turn to taste your holy feast;
But as we gather at other tables, fill us with your gracious peace.
Blessings,
Pastor Ward Misenheimer
Advent Lutheran Church
A New Way to Be Community
Welcome to the Advent Lutheran Church online community. In response to the temporary reality of social distancing, we have revamped our digital space in the last week. Rest assured, there will be additional changes to come as we adjust to using this mode of communication more fully. Explore the site regularly as we plan to continually update with resources and ways to connect to one another. We will be reaching out with our hearts instead our hands for a little while. Together, we will take a collective deep breath as we remind each other that we are all beloved children of God.
Sunday worship will be streamed on our Facebook site at 10:00 am - links will be posted here to our new Youtube channel shortly after the service. Wednesday services will be posted here and on Facebook by noon each week. Coming soon there will be a space for a weekly message from Pastor Ward, a weekly devotion from Carol and Godly Play videos from Toni and a message for our youth from Brooke.
Advent is blessed to have the liturgical art of Ernst Schwidder in our sanctuary. These three pieces, the reredos, altar and pulpit, are beautiful pieces that add to our worship each week. His mahogany wood sculpting is easily recognizable for its long, lean, flowing lines, as well as for its idiosyncratic uppercase lettering of Scripture passages. In the craft of an artist, Schwidder did not intend to produce lifelike images, but to design through wood carving and other media visual theological truth apropos to the church setting and ministry in which his work had been commissioned.
The body of Jesus on this cross is not dying - it is the risen Christ. His hands indicate a servant posture as he returns to serve the world, which is reflected in the circle behind the cross. The clouds at the top of the circle show Jesus "coming on the clouds" - this proclaims Jesus as the bridge between heaven and earth. There are 8 stars. The center star is the "morning star" from Revelation 2:28 heralding the dawn and representing resurrection. The other seven stars represent the Christian churches in Asian Minor from Revelation. As John was instructed to write to these churches, we ponder what John would have to write about Advent today as we strive to live into the light and love of the resurrected Christ.
- Advent Lutheran Church
- 8840 University City Blvd.
- Charlotte, North Carolina 28213
- Email Us
- 704-549-1555