ALC February 2014 - The Messenger

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The mission of the American Lutheran Congregation is to bring people of

different nations and denominations together, and in the English language,

empower them into becoming fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.

The ALC Messenger Volume 58 Issue 2 February 2014

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American Lutheran Congregation

Pastor: Timothy Stewart

Office Secretary: Rie Melhoos

Council President: Robert Sebro

Messenger Editors and Helpers : Mel Engebretsen, Eric

Mandeville, Bob Sebro, Rie Melhoos,

Visiting address: Fritzners gate 15, 0264 Oslo, Norway

Mailing Address: PO Box 3012 Elisenberg, 0207 Oslo, Norway

Phone: + 47 22 44 35 84

Fax: +47 22 44 30 15

Email: [email protected]

Webpage: www.alcoslo.org

Bank account number for offerings :5081.07.47827

The ALC Messenger Monthly Newsletter for the American Lutheran Congregation

INDEX

ALC INFORMATION

INDEX

PAGE 2 ALC AT ART GALLERY PAGES 10

PASTOR’S CORNER,

PAGES 3-4

THE MUNCH SISTERS PAGE 11

PRESIDENT’S CORNER PAGE 5

Stewardship , MONDAY

MORNING BIBLE STUDY,

PRAYERS

GOSPEL CONCERT,

PAGES 12-15

JANUARY & FEBRUARY

CALENDARS PAGES 6-9 MOTHER’S DAY PAGES 16

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Pastor’s Corner Dear Friends,

Grace to you and peace!

I recently wrote to you about an upcoming

‘Dreams and Plans’ evening here at the

ALC. Today I need to let you know that we

have moved the date of that meeting from

Thursday, February 27 to Thursday, March

13. We gather at 18:00 for a light meal and

then spend time on conversation and plan-

ning about the coming four to six months at

the ALC. This is a really important opportunity for you to share your

thoughts, ideas and hopes for our life together as a congregation. The more

folks we have attending these ‘Dreams and Plans’ evenings, the better they

work, so please plan on joining us on March 13th.

The upcoming “Dreams and Plans’ evening will now take place early in

Lent. Lent is the season in the church year which begins on Ash Wednes-

day (March 5th this year) and continues over the several weeks leading up

to Holy Week and Easter. Many folks think of it as the time when the dom-

inant color in the worship space is purple and some of our conversations

seem to be about what we have “given up” for Lent. It is of course much

more than that. There are several traditions that are common to observing

the Lenten season. These come from the season's origin as a time when the

church prepared people for their baptism into the Body of Christ. Over

time Lent became a time of preparation for the whole congregation. Self-

examination, fasting, prayer, study and works of love are practices which

are historically associated with Lent. Taken together these practices are

meant to help us turn our lives around to reorient our lives towards God.

We do this both together as a community of faith and also privately asking

ourselves and preparing ourselves to follow Jesus as he moves towards the

cross. Our 40 day period of Lent echoes Jesus’ 40 days of temptation in the

wilderness preparing to begin his public ministry and Israel’s 40 years

wandering in the wilderness leaving the old life of slavery behind and pre-

paring for new life in the promised land.

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Our Lent together will begin with the Ash Wednesday service on Wednes-

day, 5 March at 19:00. During this service ashes are placed on the fore-

heads of the congregation as a symbol that we have come from dust and

one day will return to dust. It is a liturgical practice which reminds us of

how fragile life is and how without God’s saving grace we are ‘but dust,

and to dust we will return’. Over the next 5 weeks, in addition to our regu-

lar Sunday worship, we gather each Wednesday evening (March 12, 19, 26

and April 2 and 9) for a simple soup supper at 18:00 followed by a Lenten

worship service. This year Eric Mandeville will be leading and teaching us

during the Lenten worship services.

Together we will journey through the season of Lent with worship, prayer

and study and come into Holy Week until we come together to the wonder

and joy of the resurrection on Easter morning. I look forward to traveling

with you.

God’s peace, Pastor Tim Stewart

Pastor’s Corner (continued)

Whose Job Is It?

This is a story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody.

There was an important job to be done and Everybody was asked to do it. Everybody

was sure Somebody would do it.

Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it.

Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody's job. Everybody thought An-

ybody could do it but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it. It ended up that

Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.

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President’s Corner

On behalf of the new council I want

to thank you for electing us at the

2014 annual meeting. All the great

food and fun fellowship makes this

an event I look forward to each

year. I also like the installation tra-

dition where Pastor and the congre-

gation give all our newly elected

representatives their prayers and

blessings.

As the new council starts its term, the committee chairs will spend some

time getting too know the new council members, and adjusting to new

council positions. The first council meeting will be held February 25th,

followed by our annual council retreat the 28th of February, and the 1st of

March. There is much to do at the ALC so we will quickly go to work on

defining our goals for the coming year. We want the congregation to stay

involved, and are planning this year’s first Dreams and Plans evening in

March.

Mark Thursday March 13th on your calendars! The Dreams and Plans

evening is your chance to meet the committee chairs and be active at the

ALC. Our goal is to inform you about ongoing processes at the ALC, and

to receive ideas and input from you. The 50th anniversary of our church

building is in focus this year. This evening is an opportunity for your

standing committee’s chairs to get valuable insight and to plan their com-

mittees work.

Would you like to get involved in one our standing committees? There is

something for everyone depending on your interests and talents. Some

committees need you for single events, while others need helpers on a reg-

ular basis. Joining in is the best way of getting to know fellow members at

the ALC. All activities at our great church take place thanks to our mem-

bers volunteering!

Soli Deo Gloria

Bob Sebro

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Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1

14:30 AA

2

10:00 Choir Rehearsal

11:00 Worship Svc

Holy Communion

Installation New Council

12:00 Fellowship

16:00 Oslo Kirken

3

12:00 Staff Meeting

16:30 t NET

17:15 Al-Anon

4

18:00 ACCN

5

19:00 Prayer Group, AA

19:00 AWC Board Mtg

6

7

8

14:30 AA

9


11:00 Worship

12:00 Fellowship

16:00 Oslo Kirken

10

12:00 Staff Meeting

16:30 t NET

17:15 Al-Anon

11

10:15 AWC meeting

12


13

14

15

14:30 AA

16


11:00 Worship Service

Holy Communion

Baptism

12:00 Fellowship

16:00 Oslo Kirken

17 US HOLIDAY

Church Office is closed

10:30 Bible Study

16:30 tNET

17:15 Al-Anon

18

19


20

.

21

22

14:30 AA

23


11:00 Worship Svc

12:00 Fellowship

16:00 Oslo Kirken

24

12:00 Staff Meeting

16:30 tNET

17:15 Al-Anon

25

18:00 Trustees meeting

19:00 Council Meeting

26


19:00 Concert

27

28

Church Council Retreat

February 2014

7


1

14:30 AA

2


11:00 Worship Svc

Holy Communion

Installation New Council

12:00 Fellowship

16:00 Oslo Kirken

3

12:00 Staff Meeting

16:30 t NET

17:15 Al-Anon

4

18:00 ACCN

5


19:00 AWC Board Mtg

6

7

8

14:30 AA

9


11:00 Worship

12:00 Fellowship

16:00 Oslo Kirken

10

12:00 Staff Meeting

16:30 t NET

17:15 Al-Anon

11

10:15 AWC meeting

12


13

14

15

14:30 AA

16



Holy Communion

Baptism

12:00 Fellowship

16:00 Oslo Kirken

17 US HOLIDAY

Church Office is closed

10:30 Bible Study

16:30 tNET

17:15 Al-Anon

18

19


20

.

21

22

14:30 AA

23


11:00 Worship Svc

12:00 Fellowship

16:00 Oslo Kirken

24

12:00 Staff Meeting

16:30 tNET

17:15 Al-Anon

25

18:00 Trustees meeting

19:00 Council Meeting

26


19:00 Concert

27

28


8


30


11:00 Worship

12:00 Fellowship

16:00 Oslo Kirken

31

16:30 t NET

17:15 Al-Anon

1

14:30 AA


2


11:00 Worship Svc

Holy Communion

12:00 Fellowship

16:00 Oslo Kirken

3

10:30 Bible Study

12:00 Staff Meeting

16:30 t NET

17:15 Al-Anon

4

5 Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday Service


19:00 AWC Board Mtg

6

7

Women’s Friday

Fellowship Meeting

(tentative)

8

14:30 AA

17:00 Fund-rasing dinner

9


11:00 Worship

12:00 Fellowship

16:00 Oslo Kirken

10

12:00 Staff Meeting

16:30 t NET

17:15 Al-Anon

11

18:15 AWC meeting

12

Lent Soup Supper

19:00 AA

13

Dreams and Plans

14

15

14:30 AA

16



Holy Communion

12:00 Fellowship

16:00 Oslo Kirken

17

10:30 Bible Study

12:00 Staff Meeting

16:30 tNET

17:15 Al-Anon

18

19

Lent Soup Supper

19:00 AA

20

.

21

22

10:00-14:00 Concert in

Hanson Hall

14:30 AA

23


11:00 Worship Svc

12:00 Fellowship

16:00 Oslo Kirken

24

16:30 tNET

17:15 Al-Anon

25

26

Lent Soup Supper

19:00 AA

27

28

29

March 2014

9


30


11:00 Worship

12:00 Fellowship

16:00 Oslo Kirken

31

16:30 t NET

17:15 Al-Anon

1

14:30 AA


2


11:00 Worship Svc

Holy Communion

12:00 Fellowship

16:00 Oslo Kirken

3

10:30 Bible Study

12:00 Staff Meeting

16:30 t NET

17:15 Al-Anon

4

5 Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday Service


19:00 AWC Board Mtg

6

7

Women’s Friday

Fellowship Meeting

(tentative)

8

14:30 AA

17:00 Fund-rasing dinner

9


11:00 Worship

12:00 Fellowship

16:00 Oslo Kirken

10

12:00 Staff Meeting

16:30 t NET

17:15 Al-Anon

11

18:15 AWC meeting

12

Lent Soup Supper

19:00 AA

13

Dreams and Plans

14

15

14:30 AA

16



Holy Communion

12:00 Fellowship

16:00 Oslo Kirken

17

10:30 Bible Study

12:00 Staff Meeting

16:30 tNET

17:15 Al-Anon

18

19

Lent Soup Supper

19:00 AA

20

.

21

22

10:00-14:00 Concert in

Hanson Hall

14:30 AA

23


11:00 Worship Svc

12:00 Fellowship

16:00 Oslo Kirken

24

16:30 tNET

17:15 Al-Anon

25

26

Lent Soup Supper

19:00 AA

27

28

29

March 2014

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ALC at the Norwegian National Art Gallery

In spite of the icy weather, on Sunday, February 2nd over 20

ALCers headed to the Norwegian National Art Gallery for an in-

teresting tour by local expert and guide Iori Roberts. It was a

fun afternoon of a bit of Norwegian art history and ALC fellow-

ship alike.

The Museum is free on Sunday, while Iori (again) graciously do-

nated his time, with free-will contributions to an orphanage in

Uganda which he and his wife have been engaged with for many

years.

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The Munch Sisters

Last December the 150th birthday of the

artist Edvard Munch was celebrated.

But did you know that the ALC has had

strong ties to the Munch family?

The “Munch Sisters” were pillars in the

Congregation for many years.

Margrethe Angell Munch ( 4 Febr 1901 – 2 Dec 1987) and Karen Elise Munch ( 6

July 1903 – 31 May 1987) were the grandnieces of the famous artist’s father.

The “Munch Sisters” provided Coffee for the fellowship in Hanson Hall for many

years. Coffee is capitalized because coffee with them was served in style.

In fact, they were fiercely protective of their roll of service to the congregation. They

considered the Coffee hour their responsibility, and woes to the person who tried to

edge in on their work.

The two sisters lived together in an apartment off of Kirkeveien in the Majorstuen/

Adamstuen area. They didn’t have much artwork on the walls, “just some sketches

made by a relative”.

Born in Christiania, they immigrated to New York in 1910 to join their Father who

was a businessman. However, they travelled back and forth across the Atlantic all

their lives. A little, quick research shows them on many transatlantic passenger lists,

from steam ships to airplanes. The first recorded voyage they took was on a steam-

ship in 1910. In fact, they even show up on a SAS flight to New York as early as

1948!

Those who knew them, miss them.

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From your Stewardship Committee

We begin 2014 with new goals of what we would like to

achieve and have hopes of what good things the year will

bring. So it is with our church as well. This year we will

celebrate the 50th anniversary of our church building and

there are many building related projects we would like to

get done. At the same time we need to continue to offer

and to improve the services and activities the church ordi-

narily has. How much we do is really up to us, the Congre-

gation.

The list of what we would like to do is long, but with prayer and God’s helping

hand we can achieve a lot this year. God has given us a beautiful place of worship

and we need to take care of it. Helping out is a way of thanking God for what He

has given to us. The church needs all of us to donate both time and financial re-

sources in order for it to grow and do God’s work here on earth. Please, therefore,

give generously to the church, for the more you give the better the church will be-

come and the more it can serve those people in need.

And remember that whatever you give to God, you will be repaid many times

over.

Arthur Melhoos,

Past Stewardship Chairman and current Treasurer

Prayers

If you have prayer concerns, please contact

our Prayer Chain administrator, Gillian

Holby, at [email protected] or the church

office.

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The Monday Morning

Bible Study will meet at

10:30 - 12:00

Please join us!

The Monday Morning Bible Study meets every other Monday from 10:30 to 12:00

in the Fireside Room at the ALC. Sometimes the alternating Monday pattern shifts

to accommodate holidays or other considerations.

The bible study is open to everyone who wishes to join in and we invite to you to

come even if your schedule only allows occasional visits. We are currently work-

ing our way through Matthew's Gospel.

Our study is fairly in depth, but we always manage to also share some laughs and

enjoy one another's company. Please consider joining us sometime. The schedule

for the next several classes follows:

Monday, 17 February

Monday, 3 March

Monday, 17 March

Monday, 7 April

Monday, 28 April

Monday, 5 May

Monday, 26 May

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Gospel Choir Concert The ALC will be hosting a Gospel Choir Concert on Wednesday evening,

26 February beginning at 19:00. The concert will last about an hour and

promises to be a lovely evening of the classic American music form. We

are expecting a good turn out and have limited seating, so please come ear-

ly if you are planning to attend.

Weekly Email News and Messenger and ALC Website

The ALC sends out a weekly email news, as well as the monthly

newsletter Messenger. If you would like to receive our news by email,

please send an email to [email protected]

In addition please take a look at our ALC website which has been

updated www.alcoslo.org

Dreams & Plans

The next Dreams & Plans

Evening will be held on

Thursday March 13th !

A simple dinner will be served

Please come and bring your thoughts and ideas!

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1 - John Holby,

1 - Johanna Stephens

2 - Vivesa Liam

3 - Salli Baker

4 - Grace Marian Fiksdalstrand

4 - Arthur Melhoos

5 - Mathew Swedberg

6 - Kari Colwell,

6 - Ragnhild Roderburg

6 - Brian K. Cheruiyot,

6 - Abena Sarpong Britwum

7 - Marianne Melhoos

8 - Bente Randmel

9 - Christian Mohr

9 - Keziah Killmer

10 - Antonia Fiksdalstrand

11 - Gunnvor Høigaard

11 - Ellen and Evan Mugizi

13 - Anders

Wilhelm Tse-Wei Chang Lunde

15 - Alexander With

17 - Torild Brock-Smith

17 - Viet Si Pham,

17 - Adam Tobias Kaldestad

17 - Ola Johannes Z. Lande

18 - Christine Balfour

18 - Maria Kjeldahl Crouch

18 - Donna Hareide,

18 - Sofie Kristine Kaldestad

19 - Paal Johansen

19 - Ruth Farnes

19 - David Christian Olaussen

20 – Hamid Qafari

21 - Elsa H.H. Bando

21 - Connie Stultz

21- Magne Myrmo

23 - Rishabh Harinarain

25 - Patricia Mutesi

26 - Katrine Limseth,

26 - Barbara Kierulf

28 - David Skeie

28 Hannah Elisabeth Bekkmo

28 - Geir Håbesland

God Bless You on Your Special Day! February Birthdays

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Norwegian Mother’s Day Sunday 9 February

When God Created Mothers,

by Erma Bombeck – May 12, 1974 When the good Lord was creating mothers, He was into His sixth day of overtime

when the angel appeared and said, “You’re doing a lot of fiddling around on this

one.”

The Lord said, “Have you read the specs on this order? She has to be completely

washable, but not plastic; Have 180 movable parts… all replaceable; Run on black

coffee and leftovers; Have a lap that disappears when she stands up; A kiss that

can cure anything from a broken leg to a disappointed love affair; And six pairs of

hands.”

The angel shook her head slowly and said, “Six pairs of hands? No way.”

“It’s not the hands that are causing the problems,” said the Lord. “It’s the three

pair of eyes that mothers have to have.” “That’s on the standard model?” asked the

angel.

The Lord nodded. “One pair that sees through closed doors when she asks, ‘What

are you kids doing in there?’ when she already knows. Another here in the back of

her head that sees what she shouldn’t but what she has to know, and of course the

ones here in front that can look at a child when he goofs up and say, ‘I understand

and I love you,’ without so much as uttering a word.”

“Lord,” said the angel, touching His sleeve gently, “come to bed. Tomor-

row—“

“I can’t,” said the Lord. “I’m so close to creating something so close to my-

self. Already I have one who heals herself when she is sick…can feed a family of

six on one pound of hamburger…and can get a nine-year-old to stand under a

shower.”

The angel circled the model of a mother very slowly and sighed. “It’s too soft.”

“But tough!” said the Lord excitedly. “You cannot imagine what this mother can

do or endure.”

“Can it think?”

“Not only think, but it can reason and compromise,” said the Creator. Finally the

angel bent over and ran her finger across the cheek. “There’s a leak,” she pro-

nounced. “I told you that you were trying to put too much into this model.”

“It’s not a leak,” said the Lord. “It’s a tear.”

“What’s it for?” “It’s for joy, sadness, disappointment, pain, loneliness and pride.”

“You are a genius,” said the angel.

The Lord looked somber. “I didn’t put it there.”

(From Forever, Erma, 1996, Andrews McMeel Publishing)

Documents

ALC February 2014 - The Messenger