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THREE ISLANDS. THREE BRANCHES. ONE CHURCH.
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News Updates


Lutheran Church in the San Juans

Live Streaming of Sunday Worship is at 10 a.m.
See instructions below for accessing Zoom.
Be sure to scroll to the bottom to view additional resources.


FRIDAY HARBOR
Friday Harbor Branch Notes
January 17, 2021


Sunday morning live stream services – Our weekly on-line worship services are at 10 a.m.  Watch your email for information on how to sign into Zoom, or contact Robin VanHyning at 360-317-4529 or rvanhyning@gmail.com

Readers always needed: Mireille Kramer continues to line up readers for our weekly services.  If you would like to serve as a reader please send her a note at mireillep789@gmail.com

This Week's Events

Wednesday, 10 a.m., Bible Study via Zoom. Please contact Sharron Kick for access, skick@rockisland.com.

Wednesday, 11 a.m. Fellowship Meeting on Lopez Island. Convener is Nancy Searls. More info under Lopez Island news.

Wednesday, 1/20, 7:30 p.m. Faith & Race Book Group meets via Zoom. Katie Loring, convener.


Thursday, 1/21, 9:30 a.m. Walking Group. Meet at American Camp above South Beach at Pickett Lane pullout.

Saturday January 23, 10 a.m. Annual Congregational Meeting – The Annual Congregational Meeting will be held on Zoom. Minutes and Agenda have been distributed by email. Be sure to attend.

It's not too late to listen to Melodious Notes Over The Harbor in a VIRTUAL CONCERT! To watch the FREE performance, please click here, or visit San Juan Community Theatre website.

A note about offering checks – Because we are temporarily unable to gather for worship, please mail your offering check to: LCSJ -- Lopez Branch, Attention Financial Secretary, PO Box 933, Lopez Island, WA 98261. (Another option is to set up an automatic bill-pay from your bank account, using this same information for the payee.) Be sure to indicate the check is for the Friday Harbor branch, by sending to attn: Joyce Johnson, or indicating on the check.

Our regular expenses for payroll, building rentals, etc., still need to be paid – even though we don’t physically gather for worship. Your attention to this important matter will be very much appreciated.

Announcements


Church membership – Anyone interested in joining the congregation as a member is invited to contact Pr. Beth by phone or text 360-317-5864 or by email ebeth@rmi.net.  We will be receiving new members soon.

Virus Vaccine News
Our ability to again meet in person depends on keeping everyone healthy and virus-free. Vaccine is starting to be distributed in the county this month. The state and county are allocating the vaccine in tiers depending on the level of risk. You can check to find the tier for which you qualify by going to the Washington State website. This site will give you the option to print out a slip if you qualify, with a confirmation message that you can show to a vaccine provider.


This note came to us from the Family Resource Center:

On behalf of the San Juan Island Family Resource Center, thank you for generously donating $100 to our center on 12/10/2020.  It is especially important as we, a community, help each other during this unprecedented time.  We are working closely with the community to make sure that every resident has all the services they need.  — Jennifer Armstrong, Director


Adding an event/announcement: Please forward your written listing to Steve Simpson by Thursday. Be sure to include all relevant information (who, what, when, where, why, how). Unless otherwise specified, announcements will be listed for one week and events will be listed weekly until the event date.

Please send any prayer concerns to Pr. Beth at ebeth@rmi.net for inclusion in the Prayers of the People.  You may also simply hit "reply" to Steve Simpson's weekly email and your prayer concerns will be forwarded to the pastor.

See additional resources by scrolling down.
LOPEZ ISLAND
Lopez Island Branch Notes
January 17, 2021
 
Sunday online worship is at 10am.  Watch your email for instructions on how to view our online service.  Attached you will also find this week’s bulletin.
                                              
This week we thank Krispi Staude, Bill LeDrew, and Judy Cook for serving as readers.

Also thanks to Robin and Curt VanHyning for setting up the online service (look for an email from Robin about connection instructions).
 
Special note:  Please see below (in “Coming Events”) information about the upcoming Annual Meeting for our congregation.  We need a quorum so please plan to attend!

This Week's Events

Sunday worship event postponed – The previously announced in-person worship event announced for Lopez on Sunday, January 17th, has been postponed.  A new date has not yet been determined.

Midweek Fellowship Meeting on Zoom – There will be a gathering of Lopez Branch folks on Zoom each Wednesday at 11am.  If you'd like to come, just contact Nancy Searls (nancy@searlsnet.com) for the current Zoom link.  This is a chance for whoever wants to drop in to say hello, tell how they are doing, and hear how everyone else who shows up is doing.  We "meet" for somewhere between a half hour and an hour.  Do drop in!  Even if you have not come before or don't want to come every week, we would love to have a chance to hear how you are doing.  If you haven't used Zoom yet, Nancy will be delighted to coach you through getting set up.

Happy Birthday

Nan Simpson 1/17
Gene McBrayer 1/19
Morgen Limbach 1/19
Joanne Aberle 1/20
Eric Lindboe 1/23

Announcements

Church membership – Anyone interested in joining the congregation as a member is invited to contact Pr. Beth by phone or text 360-317-5864 or by email ebeth@rmi.net.  We will be receiving new members soon.

Community Resources

IslandRides is a free/donation-based transportation service. A flyer was sent via email. For more information, call 360-317-3107 or email islandrideslopez@gmail.com.

Lions Club Calendars – Missing your 2021 Lopez Island Lions Club Birthday Calendar?  They weren’t sold at the Lopez Village Market this time around due to Covid, but are now for sale at the new Lopez Lions Club website, https://lopezlionsclub.com.  There you can purchase calendars and also masks for $7 each (plus shipping) via PayPal. 
 
Alternatively, after January 10th you may drop by Robin's office (Cornerstone Healthcare Training) at 265 Lopez Rd, Unit D in the Bay Building (across from Isabel’s), between 10-3 Mondays - Thursdays. There you will find masks and calendars on the table to purchase on the honor system. If neither of those options work for you, you can email the Lopez Lions at lopezlionsclub@gmail.com or leave a message at (360) 317-4529, to arrange a delivery plan.  Thanks!

Email changes: Please contact Mireille Kramer or Rich Gartland to make changes to the email distribution list for these weekly Branch Notes.
 
Adding an event/announcement: Please forward your written listing to Rich Gartland by Thursday. Be sure to include all relevant information (who, what, when, where, why, how). Unless otherwise specified, announcements will be listed for one week and events will be listed weekly until the event date.

A note about offering checks – Because we are temporarily unable to gather for worship, please mail your offering check to: LCSJ -- Lopez Branch, Attention Financial Secretary, PO Box 933, Lopez Island, WA 98261. (Another option is to set up an automatic bill-pay from your bank account, using this same information for the payee.)

Our regular expenses for payroll, building rentals, etc., still need to be paid – even though we don’t physically gather for worship.  Your attention to this important matter will be very much appreciated.    
 
Coming Events
 
Council meeting – The next Council meeting (previously scheduled for last Wednesday) is tentatively scheduled for Monday, January 18th at 1pm, hosted by Ted Whitley on Zoom.

Branch leadership – The next Branch Leadership meeting is scheduled for Thursday, January 21st at 1pm, hosted by Ted Whitley on Zoom.
 
Annual Congregational Meeting – The Annual Congregational Meeting is scheduled for Saturday, January 23rd at 10am on Zoom.

See additional resources by scrolling down.

DON'T MISS THESE OPPORTUNITIES!

Additional Resources

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Faith and Race
Reflections from our members


A Note from Pr. Beth.  Once each month for the next three months, the Reflection will be provided by a member of the conversation group on Faith & Race that met over several months in late 2020.  We thank them for their offer to reflect with you on their experience.   

Ruth on Race (Jan 10 2021)

This Fall about 13 of us from the congregation met on Zoom for five conversations about Faith and Race.  We read articles and listened to and videos before each gathering, and then had an opportunity to share our reflections on the material with one or two other people, and the whole group, as beautifully facilitated by Anne Hall and Jessica Ingram.

For me the experience was not only personally moving and helpful but also allowed me to meet and listen to others in our congregation and beyond.  I’ve lived and worked in the San Juan Islands for only 2.5 years. Civil unrest and racial violence in our cities came to a head this year, and after 37 years of living in some of those very cities I was glad to find that, just as in the cities, it was my community of faith who brought me a way to focus my emotions, confusions, and concerns.

Of the many things I learned and am still reflecting on, I will share two here.  First is a concept I hear from both our African American sisters and brothers and our First Nations sisters and brothers.  We are not disconnected from our ancestors. Yes, I was not here 400 years ago when slave ships arrived from Africa. And yes, I was not here 200 years ago when white missionaries brought infectious diseases and an abusive form of Christianity to the Pacific Northwest. But we are called to pray for and think about seven generations behind us and seven generations ahead of us. Our ancestors created structures that are unjust at best and abusive at worse. We are all living with that legacy.  I personally find it enlightening to begin, in my own simple way, to pray for those seven generations past, to ask God’s forgiveness, and to ask God’s guidance on how to bring healing forward into the next seven generations. For me praying is key for my ability to make changes.

Second is the concept that I am white, and that “white” is a race just as much as “black” is. What is race? We heard from a deep thinker and scholar, Dr Robin Di Angelo, about this. She is the author of a book titled, White Fragility:  Why it’s so Hard for White People to Talk About Racism.  It isn’t easy but I am beginning to better see the structural and system racism that has been apart of my entire life, even growing up as a small town preacher’s daughter in rural Idaho and Oregon. What I yearn for and am hopeful that these conversations are leading us to, is a transition from a world of ‘racism’ (where group and institutional power is rooted in skin color, birth, and ethnic identity) to a world of ‘universalism’ (where group and institutional power is rooted in honor for human diversity and all of God’s creation). 

And I ask myself, is this not what Jesus, our teacher and Christ, has been asking us to focus on for two thousand years?

I look forward to our continued conversations, prayers, and works in this ELCA Congregation.

Ruth Fothergill

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Annual Congregational Meeting

The Annual Congregational Meeting is scheduled for Saturday, January 23rd at 10am on Zoom.

Please plan to attend.


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A message from Bishop Shelley Bryan Wee
Northwest Synod of Washington, ELCA

Recorded January 7, 2021


https://vimeo.com/498096758
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