ABUNDANT LIFE: YES, JESUS MAKES IT POSSIBLE

John 10:10b “I came that they may have life; and have it abundantly.”

This verse took on a special meaning for me when my seminary friend, Niveen Sarras, told me that it was the motto of the Dar al-Kalima University College of Arts and Culture in Bethlehem. That’s Bethlehem, Palestine; not Pennsylvania.

Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb, the Pastor at Niveen’s home church, the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, founded this university college in 2006. Accredited as a non-governmental institution for higher education in Palestine, its vision is to provide high quality educational opportunities in the undergraduate and diploma programs available to students from all sectors of Palestinian society. The University College focuses on cultural heritage and tourism studies and is fundamentally concerned with spreading the values of democracy, freedom of expression, and freedom of thought in order to build a conscious and free Palestinian civil society.

The mission statement of Dar al-Kalima (translated as House of the word) is:
• To build a country; stone by stone
• To empower a community; person by person
• To create institutions that ‘give life in abundance’

Sounds like the Word of Jesus, doesn’t it? Doing things thoughtfully so no one is left behind. Niveen always spoke very proudly of her congregation’s accomplishment in bringing the surrounding community of Christians and Muslims together in a mutually beneficial way of having life and having it abundantly. She had many stories of the diverse religious and ethnic communities starting friendships and supportive groups at the University that brought people together, rather than separating them.

Sadly, I heard on the news last night that the Israeli government attacked Palestine yesterday in the Israeli-occupied area known as the West Bank. Bethlehem is in that area. It makes me want to cry.

After all, we are all created in God’s image. We are all God’s children. As the ultimate parent, God wants God’s children to love and support each other, not tear each other down or tear each other apart. A life that is lived in turmoil, with a lack of respect, even hatred, for one another is not life at all. It may be biological existence, but it is not LIFE as God defines it, through Jesus. LIFE, as Jesus said, is abundant. It’s the gift that keeps on giving. Life lifts people up, it propagates more life, more love, more expansive thinking, more reaching out to others, more joy of purpose, more grace, more peace within, and without.

The brokenness of our humanity often tempts us to forget what LIFE is all about. But then Jesus encourages us, inspires us, commands us to not only live the LIFE that Jesus brings to us, but, also, to give life to others in abundance. This newsletter is packed full of news about our communal activities at NVLC as well as in our surrounding community. I encourage us all to read it carefully and see what may provoke LIFE in you. If anything does so, you may want to follow up on that and take action! Who knows? That nudge from the Spirit may be your opportunity to give LIFE to someone else. Jesus has an abundance of it to go around, so let’s do it!

Submitted by Pastor Rebecca Swee

NOTE: We will be having a luncheon after worship service on September 16 to honor Pastor Rebecca’s re-retirement. She has blessed us as a Bridge Pastor for a year, and we are grateful that she will be remaining as an active member. Look for a sign-up sheet to let us know who is coming and what you can contribute.

GUEST PASTORS IN SEPTEMBER

Pastor Bill Wong will lead our worship on September 22. He is retired after many years of ministry in Davis, and remains active in the work of the Sierra Pacific Synod. Pastor Debbie McAllister will be joining us on September 29. She lives in Santa Rosa, and is currently working as a school Principal. Please come to hear a new voice and message, and make them feel welcome!

SECOND MILE GIVING FOR SEPTEMBER

Each month we encourage you to offer extra support for one or more of our fine Synod, Churchwide, or Napa community ministries. This month our Second Mile offerings will go to three entities: Lutheran Campus Ministry, California Lutheran University (CLU) and Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary (PLTS). Lutheran Campus ministry serves college students at many campuses in our area, including UC Berkeley and UC Davis. Founded in 1959, CLU is home to more than 3,078 undergraduate and 1,324 graduate students who come from more than 49 countries and represent a wide variety of faiths. The mission of the university is to educate leaders for a global society who are strong in character and judgment, confident in their identity and vocation, and committed to service and justice. Since 1952, PLTS has equipped faithful leaders who enliven the church and care for the world. PLTS is one of eight seminaries of the ELCA. Please keep Lutheran Campus Ministry, CLU & PLTS in your prayers this month and consider an additional offering toward its ministries. Checks can be made out to NVLC, with Second Mile Giving on the memo line, and include with your offering any time this month. Thank you!

COUNCIL UPDATES

The Church Council did not have a regular meeting in August, but we did have a special meeting with the call committee…you will hear more about this soon! The next regular Council meeting is scheduled for September 10.

A VALUABLE RESOURCE

Let’s take advantage of the Napa County Aging & Disability Resource Guide. Karen Lustig, Providence Information & Assistance Social Worker, will join us on Sunday, September 15^th to walk us through the guide.

DOING OUR PART!

Let’s discontinue our use of Styrofoam (polystyrene) products.
Napa Valley Lutheran Church will be collecting CLEAN Styrofoam in future months for recycling at the Insulfoam company in Dixon California.
So check your closets, basement, garage, attic, wherever that unused Styrofoam may be hiding. We will be setting up a drop-off box in Luther Hall for collection. Updates to follow!

Last Month we selected Lutheran Social Services of Northern California to receive our “Second Mile” giving, and we also boxed up books from our church library to donate to their “A Novel Idea” program. If you have books at home that you would like to contribute as well, please bring them to Luther Hall during September, and we will deliver them to LSS in Sacramento.

A SHOWING OF THE DOCUMENTARY ‘BAD FAITH:
CHRISTIAN NATIONALISM’S UNHOLY WAR ON DEMOCRACY’
AT NAPA COLLEGE

The recent documentary ‘Bad Faith’, chronicling the origins and rise of the Christian Nationalism movement in the United States is being shown at the Performing Arts Center, Napa Valley College, Monday, September 9 at 5:30. Following the film there will be a discussion forum led by Peter Coyote, actor, Marylee Sheffer, Pastor at Napa Methodist Church, and Jay Lang, Director of the Napa Center for Spiritual Living. Tickets are free and are available at the webpage https://app.arts-people.com/index.php.

Bishop Elizabeth Eaton of the ELCA has issued a statement about the Christian Nationalism movement. An excerpt from that statement follows:
“As Christians, our faith teaches us everyone is created in God’s image and commands us to love one another. As Americans, we value our system of government and the good that can be accomplished in our constitutional democracy. Today, we are concerned about a persistent threat to both our religious communities and our democracy — Christian nationalism.

Christian nationalism seeks to merge Christian and American identities, distorting both the Christian faith and America’s constitutional democracy. Christian nationalism demands Christianity be privileged by the State and implies that to be a good American, one must be Christian. It often overlaps with and provides cover for white supremacy and racial subjugation. We reject this damaging political ideology and invite our Christian brothers and sisters to join us in opposing this threat to our faith and to our nation.”

To learn more about this threat to our way of life in this country, you may want to attend this screening and forum.

DEVOTIONAL RESOURCES

CHRIST IN OUR HOME: The July, August. September 2024 booklets are available now. If you would like to have one of these delivered to your home, please contact the church office at nvlc@sbcglobal.net or 707-226-8166 to make arrangements.

SEPTEMBER CONFERENCE ON SUICIDE PREVENTION

Jim Warnock has shared with us news of a county-wide conference on Suicide Prevention, Wednesday, September 18, 2024, 9-3:30, at Napa Valley College.

The conference, “Hope Beyond Darkness — Uniting for Suicide Prevention,” will have: a national keynote speaker, Candace Washington, who is a therapist, minister and suicide survivor, resource tables from many community agencies, trained therapists, a continental breakfast and lunch, (there is a $20 fee, but scholarships available), and breakout sessions that include:

Prevention Training, “QPR”: (Question, Persuade, Refer — like CPR for a mental health crisis),
Means Safety, (safe storage of medication, guns, etc.),
Survivors of Suicide Loss, strategies and peer support for coping with this unique grief, and
Youth Suicide Prevention, (for parents and all concerned).

Pastor Rebecca is attending and can offer a ride to anyone else who is interested.

NAPA DAY AGAINST HATE

Following the latest distribution of hateful, antisemitic fliers distributed widely across Napa, Congregation Beth Shalom has been moved to plan a general Napa Day Against Hate rally. The rally will be held on Sunday, September 29, from 4-6 pm at Westwood Hills Park, located on 3107 Browns Valley Road. Please mark your calendars.

Notably, the rally will not focus on the hate engendered by antisemitism alone but against any and all hate as a whole. Given the rapid growth of violent speech and actions against diversity – of color, gender identity, religious belief, and thought, to name a few – I believe this is a cause worth supporting. I believe this rally is an opportunity for people to actively witness to our faith. I encourage you all to attend this event as you are able, even for a short time, and, also, to make this event known to your friends, family, colleagues, etc. The bigger the crowd, the more of a positive impact it will have on our community. More details will follow.

In the peace of our Lord, Pastor Rebecca

COMING IN OCTOBER…

WORLD FOOD DAY: Celebrating 50 Years of ELCA World Hunger
When: Tuesday, October 15, 5 p.m. Pacific Time
Where: Zoom webinarFree Registration: https://community.elca.org/world-food-day-2024

“Let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth.” —1 John 3:18

Mark your calendar now!

Join ELCA World Hunger for a celebration of World Food Day and the 50th anniversary of ELCA World Hunger!
This special online event will be hosted by the Rev. Amy Current, bishop of the Southeastern Iowa Synod, and Imran Siddiqui, vice president of the ELCA.
Tune in on October 15 to hear firsthand stories from partners at ELCA World Hunger projects — including Educación Popular en Salud (EPES), a community health organization in Chile that was founded over 40 years ago, and more recent starts such as Tapestry Farms, a Midwestern urban-farm system in the “Quad Cities” of Iowa and Illinois. You’ll see the impact of 50 years of ELCA World Hunger work and get excited and equipped to be part of the next 50 years!

Register at the web address above to receive reminders, event information, World Food Day resources and the event recording.

Submitted by Pastor Rebecca

SHOW ME THE MONEY!
Where it comes from and Where it’s going

Hope you’ve spent some time checking out the bulletin board in the Narthex hallway.
You’ll see some familiar faces.

The Gifts and Service Ministry Team has been and will be posting pictures of our generosity in gifts given near and far away. Pie charts are posted to show the comings and goings of our spending and ministry contributions.

Be looking for a letter from Pastor Rebecca, along with an estimate of giving card.

ST. MARK’S LUTHERAN CHURCH, SAN FRANCISCO,
CELEBRATES 175 YEARS

A Letter from Rev. Lyle Beckman, Interim Pastor, St. Mark’s

Greetings from St. Mark’s, San Francisco

In October 1849, several German immigrants who had arrived in San Francisco seeking to be part of the gold rush experience, gathered together in homes for worship under the pastoral care of the Rev. Frederick Mooshake, himself a newly arrived immigrant.

From these humble beginnings 175 years ago, St. Mark’s Lutheran Church has evolved into a unique, varied and vibrant community of faith.

Our 175th Anniversary Committee has a few plans for us in the coming months which I’m happy to share with you:

The highlight will be our Festive Anniversary Celebration on Reformation Sunday, October 27, 2024, with Sierra Pacific Synod Bishop Jeff Johnson joining us in worship at 11:00, followed by a light lunch, storytelling, remembrances, displays, and more.
An event in September 2024 will highlight the 60^thanniversary of the Groundbreaking Ceremony for Martin Lutheran Tower and the Urban Life Center.
On Sunday, November 17, 2024, our Director of Music, Dr. Timothy Zerlang, will offer an organ concert featuring music typically used in our Lutheran context.
On Saturday, March 1, 2025, David Cherwien, acclaimed composer and choral director, will lead us in a Hymn Festival.
Our Anniversary Finale will be Sunday, March 9, 2025 when we will also observe the 130th anniversary of the dedication of our sanctuary.
Throughout the year we will be showing historical artifacts, hosting adult forums on a wide variety of topics related to the anniversary, and collecting greetings from former members, Interns, Ministry in Context students, staff members, current ministry partners, local leaders, and the like.

Thank you for your consideration in joining your siblings at St. Mark’s for any of these events or at any Sunday worship. We are always happy to welcome you to our church home.

Peace be with you,
Lyle J Beckman, Interim Pastor

WE STRIVE FOR GENEROSITY IN SHARING WHAT GOD HAS
ENTRUSTED TO US

Hope Circle remains suspended for the time being.

Lunch Bunch will meet on THURSDAY September 26 at the Sardine Can in Vallejo. Call Carol Holmes for reservations.

CONGRATULATIONS NVLC!

With monies from Thrivent Financial and church members the following school supplies were delivered to the Family Resource Center at McPherson Elementary: 75 notebooks,594 pencils, 636 pens, 250 cap erasers, 14 regular erasers, 30 folders, 57 boxes crayons, 2 crayon markers, 104 scissors, 56 Elmer’s glue, and 56 glue sticks.

22 pounds of food was delivered to the Napa Valley Food Bank in August. Remember, food insecurity is a year-round issue. Think about picking up extra items when you do your grocery shopping, especially when you find items like canned soup and peanut butter on sale!

A Free Community Lunch on the last Sunday of every month at 11:30 am at Napa First United Methodist Church, 625 Randolph St. Come meet & eat with neighbors & friends – No reservation needed!

Thank you to the members of our congregation that have been sending in your contributions to the church office. It is much appreciated. Your financial giving to NVLC is still necessary for us to maintain needs of the congregation. Remember, that although we did not provide boxes of offering envelopes, as in past years, we still have the opportunity to make special offerings for special occasions, any occasion that is special to you!

NAPA VALLEY LUTHERAN CHURCH IS ONLINE!

Yes, we do have a website, and for the past several months, we have been working with a consultant to make it more useful. Have you checked it out? You can find it at:

https://napavalleylutheran.org/

We hope that the site will make it easy for folks in the community and visitors find out who and where we are, and we want it to be helpful for members, as well. If you have misplaced your NVLC newsletter, you can find it on the website, as well as the calendar. The Servers can find their schedule under the “resources” tab. If you are joining the Sunday worship on Zoom, there is a link on the home page, and you can even make your offering online with Tithe.ly! What else would you like to see on our website?
Please let us know and we will try to make it happen.
We have also established some new email addresses.
So if you want to contact the Pastor, you can email to: pastor@napavalleylutheran.org
If you have news for the Secretary, You can email to: secretary@napavalleylutheran.org
And, the Treasurer email is: treasurer@napavalleylutheran.org
The general email, nvlc@sbcglobal.org still works, too, for general communication with the church office.

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