The Memorial Chapel at the University of Maryland is embarking on an exciting interfaith project: the creation of a needlepoint Tree of Life to be installed at the West Chapel. This project will be carried out as a “participatory aesthetic” process. For more information or to sign up to participate contact Denise McHugh dmchugh@umd.edu (please cut and paste this address).
When there is a severe winter storm, our policy is that worship will be held unless the roads are deemed impassable. However, please use your own discretion as to whether or not to venture out. Your personal safety is the primary factor to be considered.
Volunteers are requested to assist as needed in speading de-icer on our walks and for shoveling the sidewalks (which is a city requirement and which we should do for the safety of our neighbors and staff). We have an ample supply of de-icer in the storage room off the patio. If you would be willing to be part of a '"snow team," please inform the pastor.
That is the refrain of a wonderful new hymn in our ELW (number 641). But not everyone always does feel welcome. That is especially true of people who are gay, lesbian, or transgendered. Our national church has long taken the position that all people are welcome in our worship services and in our community of faith. That is what our own mission statement affirms as "biblical hospitality.” Lutherans Concerned/North America has long advocated for the full participation of gay people in the lives of our congregations. Their national convention for the first time ever will be held on the grounds of our synod from July 6-10th. If you are interested in assisting with this national gathering, contact Norm Theiss at normtheiss@comcast.net (please cut and paste this address).
Celebrating its 20th year, Gifts of Hope now offers year-round gift-giving and donation opportunities on its website, www.giftsofhopemetrodc.org.
You are invited to help with altar care by washing and ironing the fine linens and setting up for Communion and cleaning up afterwards (on a rotating schedule). If you are interested, please contact the pastor.
Hope received a grant to implement the Scientists in Congregations program that, according to the John Templeton Foundation, is designed to allow "a sustained, creative collaboration between practitioners in the fields of science (scientists or science educators) and theology/faith practice (pastors) who are already engaged with one another through shared participation in the life of a congregation." Hope was one of only 37 congregations chosen from all over North America.
The proposal calls for a major regional symposium on faith and science to be held at Hope, to which the wider community will be invited. We have dedicated an adult Sunday School class to this topic, and this class, will examine texts in the Revised Common Lectionary to identify upcoming texts that call out for some discussion concerning faith and science. The results will be posted on our website for other pastors and congregations to use, and we hope to produce a book from these studies.
Private and small group piano lessons for children (from age 4), teens, and adults will be offered at Hope. If you, your child, or grandchild have never studied any music and would like to give it a try, or if you, your child, or grandchild would like to resume piano lessons, please e-mail Hope's cantor.
Hope members who have Thrivent products of any kind can, at no cost, register to have Hope receive Thrivent money, which accrues to the company over and above its expenses. Because Thrivent is a not-for-profit company, it cannot hold on to profits. For more information, speak to Pastor Jim.
Once again, Lutheran Campus Ministry collected school supplies to fill backpacks for the children in Langley Park. As of August 21, Lutheran Campus Ministry provided 286 filled backpacks to the children of La Sagrada Familia and Langley Park-McCormick Elementary School. There was such a wonderful response that there are enough materials to help University students working in Baltimore as part of Teach for America. It is a wonderful gift to all of us to be able to help so many children. Thank you for your contributions
Have you been hiding your light under a bushel? Join Hope's choir this year! All voices are welcome, and choir membership is open to high school and college students and adults. Rehearsals are on Thursdays from 7:30-9 pm in the chancel (enter from the upper parking lot). The choir's pre-service rehearsal occurs in the chancel on Sunday mornings at 9:30.
Each "family unit" (which could mean a single person) of Hope may receive through the church a discounted subscription to our denomination's monthly magazine, The Lutheran. If you have not been receiving a copy of this periodical and would like to do so (or if you would like to have your name removed from Hope's subscription list), please contact the church office. If you would like to help defray the cost of the congregational subscription, please write "The Lutheran" on your check memo line. The cost of one individual congregational subscription is $8 per year.
Hope has long supported the work of CUCE (Congregations United for Compassion and Empowerment), which responds to the needs of people in our community who have fallen on hard times. If you are able to make a special gift, please send it directly to CUCE c/o Rev. Gloria J. Grant, Director, University Christian Church, 6800 Adelphi Road, Hyattsville, MD 20782, or place a check in the offering basket with CUCE marked on the memo line. Thank you.
Announcements of upcoming events of special interest to our faith community are posted weekly on the information kiosk in the narthex.
For many years, the Campbell Soup Company has run a program that supports education. If you wish to help the CARing Project through this program, simply remove the labels from any Campbell's product you use (be sure to not damage the bar code and the little seal about the education program) and place them in the red box in the narthex.
Families with small children or doting grandparents mindful of baptismal vows may want to pick up a copy of The Little Lutheran, a new publication of The Evangelical Church in America. Take one home and share it with your children/grandchildren. If you enjoy it and find it helpful, the Council can consider a plan for subscriptions for church members who would enjoy getting this publication on a regular basis.
Hope continues to receive requests by phone and at the door from people in need of daily basics. The current policy of the Outreach Team has been to provide gift cards for the pastor to distribute in response to such requests. It is suggested that gift cards for this endeavor be in amounts up to $25. These may be from CVS or Giant Food, or Safeway. You are also welcome to donate a Metro farecard in the amount of $20 or less for those persons who come to us with transportation needs.
If you buy Giant gift cards available at Hope and donate them back to Hope, five percent of your total purchase will come back to Hope to help fund kitchen projects. (This is also true for those cards you purchase to do your own grocery shopping.)
Donated gift cards may be given to Pastor Vigen. Many thanks for your support!
If you are willing to provide a simple coffee hour, please sign up on the form in the narthex near the elevator. Instructions for making coffee and finding supplies are posted in the kitchenette off the narthex.
Items you donate now go to Help by Phone of Prince George’s County, MD, a food bank that provides assistance to low-income residents and families throughout the County. When you make your shopping list, consider giving priority to rice, beans (dried and canned), cooking oil and laundry detergent as items to donate. Consider purchasing 10% more (a tithe) some time when you buy groceries and donate items for the food box. The box is located in the narthex.
This fairly-traded coffee is for sale in the narthex after worship. The coffee is produced all over the world and comes to us through a partnership with Lutheran World Relief. The goal of fair trade is to create more equitable trading relationships between producers and consumers as an alternative approach to the international trade of many of the items we consume on a daily basis. The Coffee Project promotes the five major principles of fair trade:
- a fair price, including a guaranteed minimum price for agricultural products (the world market price for a given commodity such as coffee or cocoa is often lower than the cost of production);
- direct trade with cooperatives of small-scale farmers;
- affordable advanced credit offered to farmers;
- efforts to build long-term trading relationships; and
- practices that promote sustainable agriculture and protect biodiversity.
The cost of the coffee is $7 per bag. Please make your check payable to Hope and note “coffee” on the memo line.
If you shop at the local Giant Food grocery stores, we have a proposal: Buy a Giant gift card at Hope and help fund Hope projects centered around our kitchen. Cards are available in the following denominations: $100, $50, $25, and $20. You pay face value for the card and use it just like cash. Giant then rebates five percent of the purchase price to Hope.
Most recently, funds raised through Giant gift cards were used to purchase a new microwave for the kitchen (following the demise of the old one) and $2,000 went toward the installation of new electrical panels in the kitchen as part of our renovation project.
