GLIMPSES OF GLENDALE: Weekly Newsletter

Thursday, August 26, 2021

Weekly Newsletter

Glimpses of Glendale

Glendale Lutheran Church Newsletter

August 26, 2021

One of the hard things about being a pastor is visitors. I get so excited to meet someone who comes to our church for the first time. I engage with them when they first come with a smile on my face. Then I hope and pray that they connect with the service and with our people. If they don’t come back, it hurts. I love Glendale Lutheran and I wish everyone could experience it.

Sue Shatzman visited last fall. Then she came back again, and again. I asked Sue if she wanted to meet to share our stories. We met in my office. I told her about my life including our church. She was open enough to share her life. Sue was baptized, raised and confirmed in the Lutheran church. As a young woman she met a man and fell in love and married. He was Jewish so she joined his synagogue. Decades later she felt the call back to her faith roots. She moved to Glendale and wanted to try us but Covid hit. Sue worshipped with us online for months until it was safe.

I felt like I already knew her. She seemed like she fit with Glendale Lutheran. We met for five weeks to talk about her faith, our beliefs and life. She made the decision to reaffirm her childhood faith in Jesus Christ and join our church. This Sunday, Sue will affirm her baptism and confirmation. I’m overjoyed. This is my hope every time we have a visitor. Make her feel welcome, she is very important to God.

Daily Bible Reading

Sometimes It Just Helps to Talk

As you probably know, the deacons’ ministry has been renewed at GLC. Their

names, phone numbers, and email addresses are frequently listed in the

Glimpses. What you may not know or may not have thought about is why it is a

good idea to consider reaching out to one of them.

Sometimes it just helps to talk with someone who is impartial. Yes, you have

family and friends. But do you have one who will listen attentively, carefully, and objectively? Do you have someone you can talk to and know with absolute

certainty that what you say will stay with that person? Do you have someone who will be kind and loving, but not necessarily nice? Yea, you read that right! Deacons will be compassionate, but they will also ask a hard question for your reflection. And if you need a good laugh, they love to laugh. But they also know how to stay with you when you have something painful to work through. No, they are not counselors. But they do have training to aid them in caring for you.

Thank You Letter from Kirk Care!

A huge thank you to the Glendale Lutheran Church for supporting Kirk Care with a tremendous food/personal care drive donation received at the pantry on Monday, August 2. In total we received 1,020 food and personal care items that will assist 41 families in need for a month--AMAZING!!!!! Your very generous food/personal care donation will help 120 family members of which nearly 50 are children age 18 and under. The timing of your food drive was perfect as our pantry supplies were running low over the summer months due to reduced donations. We are currently purchasing items to keep our shelves filled to meet summer demand when kids are home from school. We are so grateful for the ongoing support from Glendale Lutheran Church to help us help those in most need within our community. Thanks again!

Gratefully yours,

Larry Watson, President

Kirk Care, Inc.

Women's Tuesday Bible Study

Women’s Tuesday Bible Study begins Tuesday, September 7 at 9:15 am.

Whether you’ve grown up hearing Bible stories or you’re exploring Scripture for the first time we hope you’ll join us as we discover the “Seamless” thread connecting the people, places & promises of the Bible.

News from Oliver & Bethany LaMie

Dear Glendale Lutheran Church,

Peace to you in Christ! Vicarage is going great so far. The congregation has been incredibly welcoming; it's a lot like home really. Bethany got a job as an aide in the day care, which she's been loving because she spends all day with babies. I am scheduled to preach in rotation every 3 weeks, and besides that I am on rotation for chapel, Bible studies, confirmation, various devotions, and religion classes at the school. As of writing this very sentence, I've received news that our senior pastor is out with COVID, and the associate pastor is on vacation, which means I'm essentially acting pastor for about 400 people for the next two weeks. It's about a week earlier than I anticipated going out of the frying pan and into the fire, but I'm glad to say that I've been well-prepared for this. I wouldn't dare think that I could be here without you, and the wonderful influence you all have had on me. I thank you for your continued prayer and support, and believe me, I can't wait to see you again. Until then, may our Lord continue to bless you as you do His work!

Oliver LaMie