D ear Friends, The summer of 1975 was

a time of great change in my life. I was spending the summer months that year in Deland Florida, a small town between Orlando (Disney World’s Magic Kingdom had just been completed) and Daytona

Beach. The plan was to get a job and earn some money for my college education. Not that this was a big deal for me at the time. I was enrolled in West Valley College, a community college with a beautiful campus in Saratoga, California. Tuition was $11.00 a semester. Yes, that’s what I said: eleven dollars. Even books were inexpensive back then. Moreover, I had sold my Pontiac GTO with its 400 horsepower engine that got eight miles to the gallon, and instead rode a bike to school. That was the last muscle car I had until recently. I have shared the story on that one elsewhere. Anyway, I was living with my brother David, his wife Donna, and their newborn son Howard. The problem was that jobs were scarce at that time. I had years of experience as a short order cook in Minot, but none of the fast food joints needed anyone. The only job I got was selling concessions at the Daytona Speedway for one of their big stock car races. But even that fell through. When I arrived at the appointed time in the morning, they told me that I had to pay for whatever it was I was going to sell before they would give it to me. I naively didn’t know this was the way they did things and had no money to buy the soda, candy, or hot dogs. I therefore returned home with nothing. While David didn’t show it, I’m sure he and his wife were somewhat, or even very, disappointed that they had no time together without me in the house. However, my time that summer was not wasted. David was familiar with several theologians and other writers who wrote books with Christian themes. I had just decided to major in philosophy, one of those subjects that leads to a good job when you have

M A Y 2 0 1 8

completed your degree. (Ha, Ha, Ha. At least I didn’t have to borrow thousands of dollars to earn this degree as students today have to do) In any case, the study of philosophy turned out to be a major blessing because it was a hook into the study of theology. I tried to familiarize myself with several authors, the best of which was the Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky. His book, “The Brothers Karamazov,” had a major impact on where I would eventually end up. Also, I got keenly interested in Soren Kierkegaard. He was a 19th century Danish author who is usually categorized as a philosopher, but who doesn’t really fit neatly into any category. He wrote like a philosopher, but his prose is so elegant and lofty that it’s often referred to as “poetic.” Moreover, he did not write about what other philosophers wrote about in his day. His entire authorship can be characterized as addressing one question; “What does it mean to be a Christian?” I don’t know how to express his importance other than to say he was the only Christian author I know of since Luther and Calvin, who lived three centuries before him, who understood the Christian faith in as profound a way as they did. Because of this, he exercised a major impact on 20th century theology. Why am I sharing this with you? Well, when I returned home from Florida, and thanks to the influence of my brother, I read everything Kierkegaard wrote. One bookstore in Palo Alto had it all, so I convinced my perplexed parents to drive up there and buy me all these books. My very practical dad wondered, “Does this have any practical value?” He asked the same question when I listened to Shakespeare plays day after day instead of getting a job the summer before. However, in the end I can say he came to understand when I entered seminary. He, my mother, and the lovely woman I met while studying Kierkegaard under his English translator at St. Olaf College, became my greatest supporters. Because of all this, pretty much every sermon I write, and many of the lectures, have been

The Voice of Hope

The newsletter of Hope Lutheran Church, San Mateo, CA

“Knowing and sharing the good news of Hope in Christ”

Pastor Daniel Severson

Page 2

Pastor Paul’s Notes

A verse in Proverbs from the KJV says:

“As we think in our hearts, so we become.”

We cannot always control circumstances, but we can determine what happens WITHIN

US. Coaches teach the importance of ‘visualization’ for winning. Psychologists point out the power of self-image influencing our actions. Doctors note the impact of POSITIVE ATTITUDE and HOPE that affects healing. What we do or neglect to do

impacts who we are. “Self Reflection” is an important discipline for gauging just how we are doing, and it helps us move forward. It has an action capacity, such as asking ‘what am I capable of?’ or ‘How has God gifted me?’

A few weeks ago the Seniors event focused on discovering or re-discovering our personal gifts. And we did that through self-reflection and inter-group sharing. Some people even found out some strengths that they didn’t know they had…others told them what they observed. How important is that! The group identified gifts or talents from a listing of some “34 Strengths” that were a compilation of thousands of interviews by the Gallup Poll.

A quick summary of this exercise reflection is the following quote:

“God’s gift to us: POTENTIAL Our gift to God: DEVELOPING IT”

— author unknown S E N I O R S S A V V Y—That’s the new name for our Seniors Ministry.

Upcoming Events: Tuesday, May 1, 12:30—2pm Brown bag lunch in Nielsen Hall. ANTIQUES DAY—You are invited to bring an antique family heirloom or other antique and share a brief history or story about it. We can be enriched by learning about others’ stories. All are welcome!

Thursday, May 17, 12:30pm Lunch outing, 12:30pm carpool or meet at 1 pm at the Japanese restaurant in the Laurelwood Shopping Center.

Tuesday, June 5, 12:30-2:30pm Brown bag lunch in Nielsen hall. It will be “Game Day” with Bingo, Rummy Q, Bridge, etc. Let’s have fun!

Thursday, June 21, 12:30pm Lunch outing, 12:30pm carpool or meet at 1 pm at “Mistral’s” at Redwood Shores.

Thanks to everyone for participating in the “Visioning” project where we have identified Youth, Education and Seniors as major pillars of our ministry. You are invited to be involved in activities and outreach in each of these areas.

May God bless and guide us in these endeavors. Pastor Paul

influenced by Kierkegaard. He wrote books that a somewhat baffled and bewildered Danish public did not understand. In their defense, his writing can be very difficult to follow due to its density. But there are several important themes to his work that have shaped my spiritual life in a big way. We must live knowing that Christ is not an historical figure for us. He is our contemporary, inviting us into a relationship where he, rather than we, is in control. This requires constant repentance and self-examination, for we are confronting, through his word, not another human being, but God. Sentimental ideas about Jesus as the perpetual nice guy who spends his time patting children on the head, and carrying lost sheep in his arms is a creation of the human imagination. There is a great chasm between us and God. We are finite, meaning vulnerable and mortal, and for this reason, subject to all manner of fears, anxieties, and despair, Because of this, we fall to the temptation to sin: to try and become our own gods with the power to rise up and defeat our enemies. But this leads to ruin, suffering, and an inability to become an authentic self, living in the assurance of eternal life and love before God. This is who Christ is: the human person who is also God. When we receive him through faith, we receive God’s gifts of eternal life and salvation. He bridged the gap between our finite and mortal life, and God’s eternal and all powerful life. While accepting Christ means picking up the cross of our need to be changed and transformed by his grace, the end is an eternal happiness. What a deal! Blessings, Pastor Dan

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From our Council President

I think we’ve received good feedback these past few weeks on the impact of the Hope Vision

approach on our church. As you will recall, the three areas of focus are our senior ministry, our youth ministry and education. The leaders of the senior and youth functions (Pr. Paul and Judy Jeschke, respectively) have organized planning sessions

and ideas are in progress. I encourage all to continue to provide input into these sessions and programs and to pray for their success. But, Pr. Dan has taken the bull by the horns on the education function, initiating a new class that has not only attracted keen interest from members of Hope – but also is generating enthusiasm in the broader San Mateo community.

The new education class is modeled on Huston Smith’s book entitled “The World’s Religions”. Pastor Dan has selected this book which is a classic on this subject, written by a Christian who spent his career understanding, teaching and in some cases practicing the major religions of the world. Dr. Smith was born of Methodist missionaries in China. He claimed that his parents “instilled in me a Christianity that was able to withstand the dominating secular culture of modernity”. His teaching gigs brought him to prestigious universities such as the University of Chicago, MIT and finally UC Berkeley where he continued to teach almost until his death in 2016 at the age of 97.

Before the class started, my wife, Mary, and I wanted to find out more about Dr. Smith, so we turned to YouTube. Here we found several videos, including part of a series he did years ago with Bill Moyers on public television. While these videos were interesting, they in no way compare to the superb insights presented in his book. Chapters are divided into the various major religions starting out with the South Eastern religions (Hinduism and Buddhism) then the Far Eastern religions (Confucianism and Taoism) and concluding with the Abrahamic Religions (Islam, Judaism, and Christianity). A chapter on the Primal family of religions, of which there are many, is also included. It seems that Pastor Dan’s classes will roughly follow this outline. As of this writing, we’ve had two classes and it is very apparent that all in attendance found them to be excellent. The

attendance at these classes is clearly a testimony to the impact of education on the outreach of our church. The first class was crowded in the youth room so the second was moved to Nielson Hall to accommodate the attendance. Outreach is apparent because approximately 35% of those in attendance were people outside of our normal Hope community. The class is held on Wednesdays at 1:00 pm and will run until early June...For those unable to attend, the lectures will be available on the Hope website.

Pr. Dan’s class on the world’s religions is timely because our Presiding Bishop (e.g. Bp. Eaton) plans to prepare a policy statement re the ELCA’s inter-religious commitment. The goal is to finalize this at the annual ELCA church wide assembly in 2019. The first draft of this statement has been prepared and is available from Tanya at the church office (it is currently 15 pages long). The document reiterates the Lutheran tradition that we “confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and the Gospel as the power of God for the salvation of all who believe.” The document recognizes, however, that we currently live in a context of ongoing anti-Semitism and anti-Muslim bigotry. So, one goal will be to achieve mutual understanding among all people of different religions and worldviews and to inspire them to work together for the common good and to live in harmony. Speaking for myself and I believe for many in Pr. Dan’s class, it becomes exciting to learn more about the beliefs, histories and concepts of the divine held by the various religions in the world. I firmly believe that participating in inter-religious discussions and relations need not diminish our faith but rather strengthens it for the betterment of mankind.

Blessings,

David Phillips

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IT'S COMING

Every June for as long as any of us can remember, we've had a "MUSIC SUNDAY" to celebrate as well as thank our musicians. This year we will schedule this celebration for Sunday, June 10. Both the Handbell choir and the chancel choir will close our

season with our "favorites" of the last few months. We look forward to sharing our favorites with you.

Shirley Fitzgerald Choir Director

From our Choir Director

When we speak of stewardship, we acknowledge that giving involves time, talent and the treasure of volunteerism, skills and finances. Each individual is

asked to share no less than his or her best in time, talent and treasure. Time and talent, however, are no replacement for the sharing of financial resources.

I will be blunt - to balance our 2018 budget (income equaling expenses) the congregation voted to include using funds from our reserves and a ‘challenge’ amount. We are currently not meeting that challenge goal. I am challenging each and everyone of you to step up and give a little extra each month (not just in December). Accept the challenge and give as you are able. Wouldn’t it be glorious if we really stepped up an

gave more than the challenge, so we could keep our reserves in reserves!

As the Easter season continues, we consider Christ's complete and perfect offering which leads us to consider how we are offering (or not offering) our own lives in service to God and his world, for Christ's sake.

Jerilyn Struven Stewardship Chair

A message from Stewardship

Dear Hope Family,

Thank you to everyone who provided soup,

salad, dessert and bread for the Soup Suppers

during Lent. We appreciate everyone who took

the time to not only provide during the Soup

Suppers but also to those who attended our

Lenten services.

Dear Friends and Family of Hope,

Thank you for all your prayers over the years

for Jim’s niece, Sue Rowe. Unfortunately, she

passed away on Mar. 25 at the age of 58. She

never did get the kidney that she was hoping

for and we were praying for and she devel-

oped several other health issues that she was

not able to overcome. I know that she appre-

ciated your prayers and we thank you for

them.

Thank you for your prayers...

Appreciation & Thanks for Lent

Page 5

Seniors Event with Asurion Technology!

Photo credit to Maggie K Timeus

Pictures taken on 4/3/18 with Asurion Technology!

Senior Luncheon to the Presidio!

Pictures taken on 4/19/18 at the Presidio’s Japanese Exhibit and Officer’s Club in San Francisco.

Page 6

A message from Social Concerns

It is with a heavy heart that I let you know I have decided to retire. It has been an amazing 24 years being teacher and Director of the most amazing preschool ever. I truly believe that the first five years of a child’s life is so important and watching the

accomplishments of each child is a gift. How blessed I am to be part of so many children’s experiences and education. I am passionate about the value of Early Childhood Education and so fortunate to share that passion at our little preschool. I am thrilled that Tracy Siri will take over the position of Director/Teacher. She has thirteen years of experience here at Hope and is ready to make the transition and assure that the preschool will grow and prosper. I will do all I can to make the transition smooth and be available to help whenever there is a need. Thank you for all the kindness and support given to me. You will be remembered and missed very much. Please keep me in your thought and prayers and I will do the same. Blessings, Jeanne

Preschool Corner

A message from our Treasurer

Notes 1. Removing the $7,050 of Memorial Income shows that our income is under our expenses.

Financial Update 2018 Jan - Feb 2018 Actual Budget Difference

Offering Income $53,711 $55,000 ($1,289)

Challenge/Reserve Income $0 $12,500 ($12,500)

Other Income $9,238 $4,942 $4,297

Memorial Income $7,050 $0 $7,050

Total Income $69,999 $72,442 ($2,442)

Total Expenses $69,990 $72,442 ($2,452)

Let’s Support our Home and Hope Families Please join in welcoming Home and Hope guest

families to our church from Sunday, May 6 to Sunday,

May 13. We will not be hosting two extra nights as

originally planned because the Day Center has found

other accommodations for the guests. We apologize to

those who have already volunteered and thank you for

your enthusiasm.

We do still need volunteers during the rest of the week.

Opportunities are available to cook dinner, serve dinner

and host in the evening, cozy up overnight for a

sleep-over adventure in the nursery, and/or clean up at

the end of the hosting. Online sign-ups are here: http://

wwwsignupgenius.com/go/70a0b48ada623a57-home1

Sign-up sheets are also printed in Nielsen Hall. We look

forward to serving with many of you!

Church Photographer needed! HLCW Circles

Lydia Circle is open to women of all ages and stages; Evening or weekend meetings; Our schedule is flexible. Location: Hope Youth Room Contact: Mary Circle 3rd Tuesday of the month 10:00 am Location Varies Contact: Martha Welch

Sarah Circle 3rd Tuesday of the month 10:00 am Location Varies Contact: Lois Nieman

Names in bold = our brothers/sisters turning 90-90+ years!

Bryan Rianda 5/11 Niels Voss Jackie Johnson 5/12 Claire Owens Margit Hansen 5/13 Doug Kannenberg Edem Ekong 5/14 Julie McAuliffe

Page 7

* = Friend of Congregation

Volunteers needed during service!

Every Sunday, Skip Dahl faithfully manages the

sound system from the choir loft during the service.

We would like to find another volunteer who would be

willing to be trained by Skip to fill in for him from time

to time. It is not a difficult job and you need no prior

experience or training. The system in uncomplicated

and can be learned by anyone. If you would be willing

to give this a try, please call Pastor Dan in the church

office or send him an email.

We need your help! Our current photographer will

be moving soon and we are in need of someone to

take the role of church photographer for special

church events. If you enjoy taking photos/video,

please contact the church office!

Our next event is confirmation,

which is on Sunday May 20th.

Philip Gaal 5/1 Lana Saner Erica Lin 5/3 Nikolaus Grimsby 5/6 Barbara Blundell 5/8 Kailen Sallander 5/9 Ruben Cleven 5/11 Ruth Lillo

Celebrating birthdays in May

Gisela Han 5/15 Kai-Erik Schroeder Louise Fischer 5/16 David Schoch 5/21 Ian Colgan* 5/22 Marlys Jungroth Lisa Green 5/25 Rosemarie Nickel Trudy Gamborg 5/26

Date Theme Scripture

May 6 The Holy Spirit Comes Down Acts 10:44-48

May 13 Matthias the Apostle Acts 1:15-17, 21-26

May 20 The Holy Spirit Acts 2:1-21

May 27 Isaiah’s Call Isaiah 6:1-8

Page 8

Date Assisting

Ministers

Communion

Assistants Readers

Spark

Leaders

5/6

Hank Harper The Kannenberg Family Helena Dummler Hank Harper

5/13 Karen Reed Don Hermansen

David & Mary Phillips Lisa Sallander Monika Hastings

5/20 Bill Kannenberg Monika Hastings

John Dummler Noah Lin

Deb & Rachael

Stucke

5/27 Sandi Kane Esther Ekong

David Schoch Karl Voss Judy Jeschke

Ministry Assistants

Spark Time Sunday School in May

Children from Kindergarten thru Grade 6

dismissed to Sunday School during Sending Hymn and

join parents in Café Hope after approximately 30 minutes of study and activity.

Youth News It strikes me that May is a month of transition for

families. College students are prepping for finals and

beginning their summer endeavors – employment or

otherwise. High School students also have finals,

proms, graduations, and tearful goodbyes as they set

their courses for the next phase their life will lead.

Younger students complete their standardized testing

panels, prepare for promotion (to Kindergarten, Middle,

or High School) and celebrate the end of school with

parties and celebrations!

Here at Hope we have our own transitions. On May

20, we will celebrate the confirmation of three of our

young people – Anders Voss, Caitlyn Blundell, and

Erica Lin – and welcome them as young adults in our

congregation. We are also working hard to determine

the direction the youth program at Hope will take.

Thank-you to those who provided input via the Vision

workshops in February and March and our April Youth

workshops. The council will now consider the

congregations preferences and priorities and

recommend a course of action at the June Annual

Meeting.

I ask for your prayers - both for our young people who

are moving on to new things, and for our congregation

- as we consider the next steps to take to support our

families and youth.

In Christ,

Judy Jeschke

Page 9

_ _ _ _ _Stitches & Ties x x x x x Hope Quilters joyfully provided 22 quilts to North Bay fire victims via Diane (Welch) Bare.

The Bare’s home was one of only four homes spared of 27 their street in Santa Rosa. A Hope quilter, Else Welch, hosted Diane and John and their pets for several weeks during their evacuation.

Quilters hope that you enjoyed the April 8th quilt display featuring intricately pieced quilts by our champion seamstress, Verena Braun. She has lovingly organized beauty and pattern from many abandoned projects in addition to her original coordination of texture, color and shape.

We quilters have been blessed with gifts of literally bundles, bags and heaps of inspiring textiles..

An enormous thank-you to each one who generously provided these resources for many comforting quilts.

Sorry to say, quilters experience sticker shock when shopping for bolts of basic 4-ounce polyester batting. The asking price per yard is now $5.99, a 20% increase. Careful shoppers, using available discounts, pay less. Even so, batting for one 60”x80” quilt is >$10. Last year for 53 large and 17 small quilts batting cost at least $615. Thank you for praying for quilt-supply funding.

As you are praying , consider joining us on any 2nd or 4th Tuesday of the month, now through October, for brown bag lunch, beverage, treat and for more of the quilt-assembly line day, 9 am to 3pm.

Participate in ‘God’s work, our hands.’

S & T

Page 10

Page 11

BOOK CLUB

The book club at Hope meets every first Thursday of the month, at 1:30 pm in the Fireside Room.

ADULT BIBLE STUDY Sundays @ 11:45am

Our Bible study class will meet after Café Hope

in the educational building.

Our Sunday morning bible study group just

finished Paul’s letter to the Galatians. Since

there is little time left before summer break,

we are going to study the relatively short, yet

very spiritually profound 1st John. The study will

begin on Sunday, May 13th and conclude on

Sunday, June 3rd. Please join us for a look at

this brief, but highly developed spiritual letter.

Next Fall, starting on Sunday, September 9th,

we are going to take on the challenge of one of

the most difficult and dense books in the Bible,

namely, Romans. More information on this study

will be forthcoming.

Men’s Breakfast The Men’s breakfast meets the first and third Saturday of each month in Nielsen Hall. Breakfast is served at 7:30am and the study begins at around 8:00am.

On Saturday, February 17th, we started our study of a wonderful book entitled, Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about God But Were Afraid to Ask: The Jesus Edition, by Eric Metaxas. The author became well known for his biographies of Martin Luther (just out this last October), and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and anoth-er Christian book entitled Miracles. I highly recom-mend all of these books.

Everything You Wanted… is written in the form of a dialogue. A seeker, who knows very little about the Christian Faith, asks many questions for which the au-thor provides an answer. I’m quite sure you will enjoy this book, so please come to the Men’s Breakfast. It meets on the first and third Saturday of each month from 7:30-9am. There is always good food and a lively discussion.

Confirmation Classes, 5 - 7pm

Confirmation classes will be jointly hosted at Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd,

St. Andrews and Hope. The schedule is as follows:

May 6—Good Shepherd

Any questions, please contact

Pastor Dan Severson.

Seniors Ministry—May 1

Tuesday, May 1, from 12:30pm-2pm in Nielsen

Hall, we will be having an ANTIQUES DAY! You

are invited to bring an antique family heirloom

or other antique and share a brief history or

story about it. We can be enriched by learning

about one another's stories. All are welcome!

Please bring a brown bag lunch. Some

refreshments will be provided.

Seniors Luncheon—May 17

On Thursday, May 17th, come join us for a lunch

outing at the Japanese restaurant in Laurelwood

Shopping Center. If you would like to carpool with

us, please meet in the church office at 12:30pm.

Otherwise you can meet us at the restaurant at

1pm.

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

We are currently looking into chartering a bus for this

musical event. If you are interested in attending, please

call the church office or sign up in Nielsen Hall. More

details are soon to come.

Hope Lutheran Church

600 W. 42nd Ave.

San Mateo, CA 94403

Address Service Requested

Presorted

NON-PROFIT ORG.

U.S. POSTAGE PAID

San Mateo, CA

Permit No. 160

May 2018

Voice of Hope Deadline for June edition: Friday, May 18

Hope Lutheran Church

650-349-0100

Email: helc@pacbell.net

www.HopeLutheranSanMateo.org

Sunday Worship at 10:00 AM

Sunday School at 11:00 AM