Schedule for the Coming Week at Resurrection Church
Sunday, January 29
9:10 a.m. – Sunday School in the Parish Hall.
10:00 a.m. – Worship: Pastor Allen Dayal of the Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church of India presiding.
11:15 a.m. – Confirmation Class will meet in Room 13.
Sunday, February 5
9:10 a.m. – Sunday School in the Parish Hall.
10:00 a.m. – Worship: Prof. Shawn Strout of Virginia Theological Seminary presiding.
11:15 a.m. – Confirmation Class will meet in Room 13.
Sunday Supply Pastors
As our series of guest pastors continues, Resurrection welcomes Pastor Allen Dayal of the Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church of India, and also a graduate student at Virginia Theological Seminary, to preach and preside this Sunday, January 29. He will be followed on February 5 by Prof. Shawn Strout of Virginia Theological Seminary. On February 12, Pastor Gordon Lathrop will return to lead us, and Rev. Tiina Talvitie, Pastor of the New York Finnish Lutheran Congregation, will preside on February 19.
COVID Exposure
A member of Resurrection who attended the annual congregation meeting and potluck lunch last Sunday tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this week and is being treated in isolation at a local hospital. Members who attended the congregation meeting should be especially attentive to possible symptoms and consider getting tested, if appropriate. More information will be provided when it is available.
Congregation COVID Protections
The RELC Reopening Planning Group met Thursday, January 26, and reviewed the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations for communities with COVID-19 metrics in the “medium” level – where Arlington County currently is. Based on those recommendations, the Planning Group agreed that masking should be recommended, but not required for attendance at Resurrection’s worship services.
The CDC recommends that residents in communities at the “medium” level stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines, get tested if they have symptoms, and wear a mask if they have symptoms, a positive test, or exposure to someone with COVID-19 as well as to individuals on public transportation. The agency also encourages residents to wear a mask at any time, if they choose to do so, as an additional precaution to protect themselves and others. Anyone at high risk for severe illness is encouraged to consider wearing a mask indoors in public and taking additional precautions.
Congregants at Resurrection’s worship services are also reminded to maintain appropriate distances when sitting in pews, sharing the peace of Christ and taking communion, and to wash hands and use sanitizers in church. Our pastors, communion assistants, and ushers will continue to wear masks when welcoming those attending services and in distributing Holy Communion. The wearing of masks in Sunday School will continue to be guided by parents’ feedback. Anyone not feeling well should stay home and access the livestream feed of worship services.
Annual Congregation Meeting
Thanks to everyone who contributed to Resurrection’s annual congregation meeting and sumptuous potluck lunch last Sunday! The congregation adopted operating and capital budgets for 2023 and elected four new members to the Congregation Council: Ron Bergman, Dennis Polla, Valerie Pratt, and Jack Schoen.
Many thanks to everyone who made the meeting possible, including Pastor Gordon Lathrop, Tom Mugavero and the Fellowship Committee; Ted Mortensen and the Property Committee; Mark Linton and the Finance Committee; Financial Secretary Jennifer Schoen – and to Steve Black for assembling and editing the "2022 Annual Report" and his technical support during the meeting.
The congregation, at the conclusion of the meeting, acknowledged, with an unprecedented standing ovation, the immensely important contribution of Glen Mason to our congregational stability and its continued vitality. Thank you, Glen!
Share Your Intent to Support Our Budget
Having adopted our 2023 operating and capital budgets, Resurrection’s financial team needs to ensure that our congregation will back these budgets with its generous offerings of support. Please let us know of your giving intentions by answering the Stewardship Committee’s request and returning your Giving Intent response at our Sunday services, mailing it to the church office, or using the online form on the Resurrection website.
You can also choose to have your offering automatically drawn from your bank account on a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly basis with the “Simply Giving” electronic funds transfer program. Just complete an enrollment form and return it along with your giving intent – or schedule a recurring offering using the “Donate” button on the Resurrection website.
January 29 AFAC Food Collection
Resurrection’s collection of donations of food items for AFAC will continue on Sunday, January 29, in conjunction with our regular worship service.
Last Chance for Holiday Lights Recycling
This Sunday, January 29, is the last day to give Resurrection your broken holiday lights for recycling. Our Creation Care Team will take them to MOM’s Organic Market, which is accepting strands of lights for recycling through the end of January. A Better Way Recycling collects lights from MOM’s and breaks them down through smelting or shredding to recover raw commodities which are then used to create construction materials, car batteries, other electronics, flatware, jewelry, and more! You can visit https://momsorganicmarket.com/recycle-center/ and https://www.abetterwayrecycling.com/ to learn more.
Offering Envelopes Delayed
We continue to await the delayed arrival of Resurrection’s 2023 offering envelopes and regret the inconvenience of not having new envelopes to start the New Year. Your offerings remain critically important to the church, so please use any unused 2022 offering envelopes for the next few weeks until the new envelopes arrive – just correct the date to the current Sunday. Your envelope number will remain the same for 2023.
If you don’t have any 2022 envelopes left, substitute envelopes without numbers can be provided. To ensure that your offerings are properly credited to you – especially cash offerings, please include your name on a substitute envelope.
Blue Recycling Bins
The Creation Care Team has placed several new blue recycling bins throughout the building. Please use these bins to recycle paper, cardboard, plastic bottles, and aluminum/steel cans. Please do not put anything else in the bins, including no plastic bags or paper towels. Thank you for supporting this program as we work to reduce the amount of trash collected at our church.
Help with Snow Removal
Winter is here – and Resurrection is looking for volunteers to help clear the sidewalks and entrances to the church after snowfalls. The Property Committee has only three volunteers thus far and more hands will make lighter work! If you live within walking distance of the church – or even a short, safe driving distance – and would be willing to help with snow removal, please speak with Ted Mortensen.
Member Information Form
Resurrection is continuing to work on updating its membership directory with the most current, accurate and preferred contact information. Member Information forms are available in the Narthex – we urge each member of the congregation to fill one out and return it to the church office.
Can't make it to church? Watch us Live! Now Livestreaming Worship
To view our 10:00 a.m. Sunday worship service on YouTube live, click on the live worship link on the RELC home page on Sunday mornings during the worship hour and be redirected to the YouTube live stream. The Live Stream will "go live" at 9:55 a.m. on each Sunday morning. To view the service at a later time, go to our YouTube Channel. Click on the videos tab to browse archives of past services. Click on the Subscribe button and create an account to be notified when Live Streams are started or when other videos are added. For any questions, please contact the pastor.
Intercessory Prayer During the Time of Pastoral Transition
During our pastoral transition, we will suspend the compilation of a formal and published prayer list. Our intercessory prayer lists are crafted and maintained by the pastor who receives names and who exercises pastoral discretion and care in relation to those named and those who name them. Without an interim or called pastor to generate and maintain the list and to follow up pastorally concerning those named, an intercessory prayer list would be challenging to maintain with pastoral integrity and sensitivity. That said, each Sunday’s prayers of intercession include a petition during which members of the worshiping assembly can call out aloud specific names of persons for whom they would like to pray, and during this time of pause, worshipers can also name persons in the silence of their hearts and minds. Please be assured that your prayerful intents and those of the whole worshiping assembly are heard by God.
Pastoral Care for Emergencies and Other Needs
Pastor Amy Feira has graciously agreed to be on call for members of the congregation to contact in case of pastoral emergency and other pastoral needs through the month of January. She may be reached at: (703) 303-9388 and/or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Other Announcements?
Alexandra Mattson, the editor of our now quarterly Steeple Light newsletter, is now also serving as the editor of our Weekly Announcements messages, working closely with Council President Glen Mason. If you have any items that you wish to communicate in the Weekly Announcements as committee chairs or those responsible for other ministry initiatives at Resurrection, please send them via email to both This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by late Wednesday mornings for inclusion in the message for the coming Thursday. Thanks!