Mid-summer greetings! For us at Our Savior, especially this year, an important part of summer is church camp. This year Our Savior is helping make church camp experiences available to our kids from 1st grade through college age.

In June, we hosted our annual Lutheran Outdoor Ministries of Florida Day Camp here at Our Savior. This involved kids from 1st grade through middle school, as college age camp counselors came to lead over 70 children from our congregation and the community on a wonderful week of songs, activities and learning in a Christian context.

In addition to this, kind of the next step up, older elementary youngsters and also members of this year's confirmation class will spend a week at Luther Springs, our Lutheran camp in the woods of north Florida, about 1/2 hour east of Gainesville.

Then, yet another step beyond that, some of our high schoolers will spend a week at Lutherock, near Boone, N.C. In all of these settings our young people have the opportunity to "unplug" from cell phones, ipods, TV, video games, computers, etc. and experience Christian community in a special and unique way, with well trained college age counselors who are there to share their faith and give our young people an opportunity for their faith to grow and unfold in a special setting.

The June issue of "The Lutheran" magazine had a number of wonderful articles about church camping experiences and how meaningful and formative they are. If you still have that issue around, be sure to look at it and see what many of our children are experiencing.

As a major step beyond those camp experiences, two of our college students, Libby Anderson and Zach Jedzinak, who have been campers in the past, will be going on a mission trip to Guyana along with Jimmy Smith our youth director and a group from Tampa. This is the first foreign mission trip for our college age students, and we are very proud of Libby and Zach for stepping up to such an adventure.

I share this information about camping ministry to say thank you to all who have helped support our kids going to camp. The challenges of the world today need young people who are rooted and grounded in a faith that will not just sustain them, but which will guide and direct them through their life's journey. The world needs people who can see beyond what the billboards and advertisements say is important in life. The world needs people who have been given hearts that know how to love and trust God. Without that, how can one ever really know how to love and trust another? The world needs people who have been given ears to hear God speaking, in the middle of the cacophony of sounds and demands of the culture, and to hear the hopes and hurts of their brothers and sisters. Church camp experiences help our young people become the kind of people the world needs.

May God bless all campers and counselors this summer, so that they may in turn be a blessing to others. If your child or grandchild hasn't had a church camp experience, start thinking about how to help that happen next summer.

Peace and Joy + Pastor Jack

After a great Fathers' Day weekend at Our Savior, Day Camp began today. This is one of the noisiest, most energetic weeks of the year at Our Savior. About 70 kids from Our Savior and our community gather for a week of singing, activities, games, praying and all kinds of fun. College age counselors, along with our wonderful teenage helpers and AAA adults (Available, Authentic and Affirming) who are support staff (feeding and helping in all kinds of ways) make for a terrific week for our campers and for everyone involved. On Thursday night at 7pm our campers will share some of the songs and other things they've learned this week followed by an ice cream social. Everyone is welcome!

Also, this is kind of the 'kick off' week for camps this summer at Our Savior. This coming Sunday afternoon 8 of our confirmation students will be off to Luther Springs, our church camp east of Gainesville, for a week of confirmation camp. Then later this summer another group of younger campers will be off to Luther Springs and high school campers off to Lutherock, in North Carolina, on Sugar Mountain.

These camping experiences have always been formative, wonderful experiences for our young people. But in today's world, where our young people are so bombarded by electronic media (not just TV, but also ipods, DVDs, cell phones, computers, Facebook, Twitter, and the list goes on) these kind of camp experiences, where our young people get to "unplug" and experience nature and real face to face community, are all the more necessary and valuable. Many thanks to all who support these efforts through your volunteering and financial support. As Garrison Keillor (of the Prarie Home Companion) says, "Whatever you do for a child is never wasted."

God's work; our hands.
Have a blessed week.
Pastor A.C.'Jack' Diehl III

One of the most amazing tools we have available to us today is the Internet. The other day I was listening to an old rock n' roll song from my teenage years and always wondered what one of the phrases was in that song. So I "googled" the name of the song, hit "enter" and there came up the lyrics. I know that for our younger generation that is pretty much taken for granted, but I’m still amazed at what kinds of information is available at the click of a button. (By the way, the song was "Devil with the Blue Dress" by Mitch Rider and the Detroit Wheels and the hard to understand phrase was, "…she's a real humdinger…". :-) For years we tried to decipher what that phrase was, but with a couple of clicks of the computer, there it was. Makes me smile, because I remember my Dad using that term often.)

Anyhow, for all of the useless information available, such as that, and all of the bad stuff available out there on the Internet, there are also some wonderful resources there as well. When the Bible, written thousands of years ago, meets the Internet, we have some wonderful tools available to help us understand what God was and is saying to us in the Bible.

In particular, I refer you to two sites: www.elca.org/bookoffaith and www.enterthebible.org . Both the "Book of Faith" initiative in the ELCA and the "Enter the Bible" resource from Luther Seminary in St. Paul MN, came about to help us understand what God is saying to us through these ancient, yet always new, Scriptures. And it's good to have help like this, because, as you know, over the years the Bible has been used and abused for all kinds of purposes. Christians of all stripes look to the Bible as the place where God speaks to us. Even the Jehovah's Witnesses use the Bible, and the Jehovah's Witnesses aren't even what you could call a branch of the Christian church. So, how do we navigate through the Bible today?

Through the two sites mentioned above, we are given a Gospel centered perspective from which we come to hear and understand what God is saying to us through these ancient Scriptures. In the "Book of Faith" and "Enter the Bible" resources, some of the churche's best teachers and theologians help us read and understand what God was saying to his people then and what God is saying to us today. In addition to those sources, you can receive a daily on-line devotion trough "God Pause", another offering from Luther Seminary. (Google "God Pause, Luther Seminary" for more info.)

So, as this summer unfolds, and as you have the opportunity, check out these websites, with Bible in hand, and be open to what God would say to you today. Our faith is a living faith and God really does continue to speak to us and to our world. Are you listening?

See you in church!

Pastor A.C. 'Jack' Diehl III

www.oursaviorelca.com

News & Notes

The older I get the more I appreciate the many and varied gifts God gives everyone. In our four adult children alone, all of whom grew up in the same house with the same parents and in the same surroundings, I see such varied and unique gifts, interests and abilities! It amazes me.

On a larger scale, I see that in our congregation. During this past Lenten season, Holy Week and now during our ongoing Easter elebration, so many contributed in such meaningful ways to our worship experience: from the lighting (Wesley Dean), to the dramatic readings (so many of our folks, young and old), to the planning (eg. Good Friday, Carole Olsen), to all of the beautiful music, to the beautiful lilies (all who donated and Lynn Sadler and crew who ordered, delivered and set them up), and the list goes on (like the Easter breakfast put on by our Men in Mission). And that's only in the area of worship.

At the same time wonderful things were happening in Sunday School, in our Parish Health Ministry, in our Youth Ministry, and in our community, with so many members involved in a number of local social service ministries and beyond, with our connection with Haiti Partners and the Lutheran Church in Guyana. And the list goes on. So many and varied interests and gifts!

I share this because Our Savior is about to recognize another way that various gifts and abilities are shared through the church. That is through the office of deacon. Deacons have been a part of the churchmsince Biblical days. In the ELCA a number of congregations are recognizing certain people who have had specialmtraining and who are qualified to hold the title of deacon.

Here at Our Savior, Allan Klotsche is one such person. Having completed a two year diakonia program of education here in our Synod, and having met certain service related requirements, Allan is now ready to be consecrated as a deacon of the church. That will happen on Pentecost Sunday, May 25 at the 8:30 service.

Due to space limitations, I'll just say for now that on that Sunday and in future newsletters we will share more about what this means for Allan and for our congregation. You can also go to our synod website: www.fysynod.com and type "diakonia program" in the select-a-topic" text box for more information.

As this season of Easter concludes on May 16 and as the season of Pentecost begins May 23, may we all recognize the gifts God has given us and be open to using them for the good of all and to the glory of God.

See you in church!
Pastor Jack Diehl

And the world would never be the same.

Since that first Easter everything changed. The authorities, religious and political, thought that Jesus had been silenced, taken out of the picture, finished. Jesus’ follower’s hopes and dreams had come to an end. It seemed the powers of death and darkness had prevailed.

But then there was that open, empty tomb. And then the Risen, Living Jesus talking to Mary and later to the disciples on the road to Emmaus. And the world would never be the same. Because of this Risen One, the Bible would not be read the same either . From that first Easter the Bible would be seen and heard and read in light of that ultimat e act of redemption. There would no longer be Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female; all would be one in Christ. (Gal. 3:28) Even the Biblical Sabbath Day would be changed from Saturday to Sunday, the day of Resurrection, as an ongoing reminder of the Dawning of God's New Day. For God sent his Son
into the world not to condemn the world but that the world might be saved through Him. The Bible isn't just a book of laws and rules. This Risen One, we see, is the focus of the Bible, and the One to whom the whole Biblical story points!And the unfolding of that story continues.
Come and see, not just on Easter Sunday, but on all of the

Sundays of the Easter season and beyond, as the Living, Risen Christ and his promised Holy Spirit continues to breathe life into us and into God's world yet today.
And the world would never be the same.
See you in church!
Pastor Jack Diehl

For the entire month of March we will be journeying through Lent, which began on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 17 and ends on Easter Sunday, April 4. So, what does that look like at Our Savior? In addition to our regular worship schedule of Saturday at 6pm and Sunday at 8:30 and 11am, there will be midweek Wednesday Lenten services at 11am & 7pm. The midday service is followed by lunch and the evening service is preceded by a soup & salad
supper at 6pm.

These services and the meals are wonderful times to gather together for some of the "Four Keys for Practicing Faith": 1. Caring conversations; 2. Devotions; 3. Service and 4. Rituals and Traditions. (You'll be hearing more of this language as a result of our Jan. 23 workshop with Pastor Hill.)

But for now, what these mid week services and meals offer are places for caring conversations, which take place at and around the meals provided during this season. In these settings we are able to get caught up on each others lives and share both our joys and sorrows.

The worship then provides a place for devotion as we sing, pray and hear God's Word together. The theme for these services will be "Overheard Conversations by the Cross" as we listen in on conversations that may have taken place between different people who were there during Jesus' last days.

Between the meals provided and the conversations overheard, many members of Our Savior will be providing some wonderful service to us all. (If you'd like to be a part of helping with any of this, talk to one of the pastors.)

There are also some rituals and traditions which will continue for our evening worship. The setting on Wednesday evenings will be Holden Evening Prayer which is becoming a much loved tradition here at Our Savior.

So, as this season unfolds, I hope you can join us on this Lenten journey. This is the bread that feeds our souls and the spiritual exercise that makes our faith strong.

See you in church!
Pastor A.C.'Jack' Diehl III

Not long ago I saw the new blockbuster movie, Avatar. It's 2 hours and 40 minutes of amazing special affects (no, I didn’t see it in 3-D...it was plenty enough for me to see it as it was!) lots of action, explosions, etc. But it was also filled with all kinds of religious and spiritual symbolism.

I found it curious that in an increasingly secular world, and in a world where church membership in general is waning in some areas, there would be so much interest in spiritual things, such as evidenced in this movie and other popular movies today (“The Book of ELI” is another). What this tells me is that the spiritual nature in us is always there and always hungry. There is a part of us that wants and needs more than just the tangible, measurable and/or pleasurable things in life.

As we enter February we come to a time of the year when our different worship experiences can speak to our spiritual nature in different ways. The season of Epiphany comes to a conclusion on Transfiguration Sunday, Feb. 14, as we once again lock away our Alleluias until Easter. Then our Lenten journey begins on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 17, as we begin our way toward Easter. During the changing of the seasons we get to hear and experience the different dimensions of our Christian faith.

In the spirit of our Jan. 23 "Vibrant Faith Formation" workshop, these extra worship opportunities are additional times our faith can be nurtured.

Watch for the special presentations and unique worship settings as the season of Epiphany comes to a close and as the season of Lent begins. Come worship and be a part of something that can nurture your faith and your spirit, which movies like Avatar can't really feed.

See you in church.

Pastor Jack Diehl