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Midweek Announcements for March 16, 2023

Schedule for the Coming Week at Resurrection Church

Sunday, March 19

9:10 a.m. – Sunday School in the Parish Hall.
10:00 a.m. – Worship: Pastor Scott Zimmerer. Pastor Zimmerer is the grandfather of Gabe Rivera, who will receive first communion during the service.
5:30 p.m. – Confirmation Class will meet in the Parish Hall.

Sunday, March 26

9:10 a.m. – Sunday School in the Parish Hall.
10:00 a.m. – Worship: Prof. James Farwell.
11:15 a.m. - Lenten Lunch.
5:30 p.m. – Confirmation Class will meet in the Parish Hall.

Sunday Supply Pastors

We are pleased to welcome to preside and preach, at our March 26 worship service, Prof. James Farwell from the Virginia Theological Seminary. On April 2, Palm/Passion Sunday, Pastor Gordon Lathrop will return to preach and preside.

Lenten Lunch

The Fellowship Committee is planning to hold a Lenten Lunch on Sunday, March 26, at 11:15 a.m. right after the service. We will be serving soup, bread and dessert. It is the last Sunday before Palm Sunday, therefore we will conclude Lent with some fellowship.

Easter Breakfast

The Fellowship Committee is also making plans for Easter Breakfast, which will begin at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday, April 9. The menu will be what is in keeping with Resurrection traditions – hot casseroles, breakfast breads or fruit dishes and beverages appropriate for breakfast. We plan to do this in the spirit of a congregation-wide potluck. Please begin to consider what you may bring to share before the Easter Service.

Lenten Midweek Services -- "Keeping Lent with the Saints"
Wednesdays in March at 7:00 p.m. (Zoom)

Please join us for Evening Prayer, Wednesdays in March at 7:00 p.m. via Zoom. The service will include an introduction by Gail Ramshaw about the saints being commemorated that week. The liturgy will be led by lay members. Look for a Constant Contact message on Tuesdays, which will include the Zoom link and a copy of the bulletin. Envelopes for Lenten Midweek service offerings will be available in the narthex beginning Sunday March 5. These offerings are designated for Doorways.

March 22: Striving for Justice, with Oscar Romero

March 29: Dying and Rising with Christ, with Hans Nielsen Hauge and John Donne

Calling All Quilters

After a very long break because of COVID, the RELC Quilting Group will begin meeting again on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month from 10 a.m. - noon in Room 204. Our first meeting will be on March 14. No sewing skill is necessary. We spend most of our time laying out, pinning and hand tying quilts that will be sent to Lutheran World Relief. Hope you can join us!

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Lutheran World Relief (LWR) Personal Care Kits

LWR warehouses are empty and these items are desperately needed by refugees and other people impacted by natural and man-made disasters around the world.
Your Social Ministry Committee is collecting:

  • light-weight bath-sized towel (between 20” x 40” and 52” x 27”), dark color recommended;
  • bath-sized bars of soap equaling 8 to 9 oz., any brand, in original wrapping; 
  • adult-sized toothbrushes, in original packaging;
  • sturdy combs; and,
  • metal nail clippers.

Please drop donations in the box in the narthex. You may also donate money so that we can shop for the items that we need.  Please write “LWR Kits” on the memo line of your check or enclose cash in an envelope marked “LWR Kits.” Thank you all for your generosity.

A Lenten Lens on Creation Care

During Lent, please join the Creation Care Team in working to become better stewards of God’s beautiful creation. We will highlight reflections and actions from the Creation Justice Ministries 2023 Lent Resource Calendar.

 Creation Justice Ministries Lent 2023 Calendar  pdfCreation Justice Ministries Lent 2023 Calendar (PDF)

This week’s eco-friendly tip: “Grab a copy of your home energy bill and calculate your carbon footprint using the EPA's online carbon footprint calculator. Take note of the activities that are the most carbon-intensive. Resolve to change them.”

Easter Flowers

Please fill out the information in the attached form, printing clearly, to contribute flowers to decorate the sanctuary on Easter morning. The cost per Easter Lily is $20. Please return this form in the offering plate or to the church office by Sunday, April 2. Please make checks payable to Resurrection Lutheran Church. Flowers are available to be taken home after the service.

pdfEaster 2023 Flowers Order Form

Music At Resurrection

Please mark your calendars for Saturday, April 22 at 4:00 p.m. in the Sanctuary, as the Music at Resurrection committee will be hosting a concert by Carmina and Illuminare. Carmina is a choral group consisting of both men and women, while Illuminare is a women's ensemble. These groups were brought to our attention by our Music Director, Barbara Bulger Verdile, and our very own Darwyn Banks will be performing with Carmina. Please visit their website to learn more about these fabulous groups!

While this concert is free, there will be a free-will offering. Those offerings will go to an Arlington charity, Path Forward.

Also, there will be a light reception in the Parish Hall following the concert. Please reach out to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with any questions.

Congregation COVID Protections

Based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) current recommendations, masking is optional for attendance at Resurrection’s worship services when the CDC assessment of Arlington County’s community COVID level is “low” and is recommended, but not required, for attendance if the community level is “medium.”

The CDC recommends that residents 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.

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.

Support Our Altar Guild

The Altar Guild plays a critical role in preparing our worship services – but it currently has only a few members and would very much appreciate some additional assistance. If you are willing to help or have any questions about what would be entailed, please contact Jeanette Barkley.

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.

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 Alex Stall of nearby Advent Lutheran will be taking over to be on call for members of the congregation to contact in case of pastoral emergency and other pastoral needs beginning in March. He may be reached at: (703) 571-7010, (301) 793-4133, 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 Leslie Nolen. 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!