Schedule for the Coming Week at Resurrection Church
Sunday, September 24
9:00 a.m. — 9:45 a.m. Sunday School in the Parish Hall.
10:00 a.m. — Worship: Pastor Harold (Harry) Therwanger.
Sunday, October 1
9:00 a.m. — 9:45 a.m. Sunday School in the Parish Hall.
10:00 a.m. — Worship: Pastor Harold (Harry) Therwanger, in the Parish Hall. Pet Blessing will be held on the lawn after the service.
11:00 a.m. — 1:00 p.m. - Homeward Trails adoption event at the church.
Reusable Communion Glasses
The Creation Care Team has an assortment of small glass cups to give away to church members for your use during communion. Take one, keep it, and bring it back to reuse every Sunday! We encourage you to take one for every member of your family! This will help reduce the number of paper cups we throw away, thus reducing our waste and helping our church take one more step to care for creation! The glasses will be located in the Narthex starting on Sunday, September 24.
Sunday, September 24 - Sunday School program
We welcome our children 3 years of age through 5th grade. We will continue with the well-loved Whirl Lectionary curriculum. This is lectionary based so that our kids will dive deeper in their understanding of the lessons that we are all listening to during our worship service. There is a video component that adds a lot of GREAT discussion. Prayer is always included and games, skits and/or art will also be included to reinforce the days' lesson. We will also continue working with the church calendar, learning the "Seasons of the Church" year.
If you would like to join our Sunday School program, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Thank you for the very warm welcome!
Dear Resurrection Community,
I would like to say a warm and heartfelt thank you to everyone who participated in my official installation last week! Thanks to everyone who came out and worshipped and was part of the celebration. Thanks to all who gave of their time, effort and talent to bring the service together -- the music, editing of the order of service, the altar guild special setup, ushers, lay assistant, communion assistants -- everyone. Thank you to the Fellowship Committee for the warm reception and fellowship afterward.
Ebon and I would also like to say thank you for the very warm welcome our family members received.
It was truly a community effort and a community celebration. Thank you!
Ebon and Pastor Harry
God's Work, Our Hands
As Christians, our calling is to live lives of witness and service. One of the important ways that we do this is to support the work of many service organizations, both affiliated with our ELCA wider church and our local community.
To raise awareness of the many ways that Resurrection congregation is helping others through our generosity, we will invite representatives of the many charities we support to share their mission and inform us of the good work that they do.
This Sunday, September 24th, we will hear from Zach Heeter, of the National Lutheran Communities & Services, during the announcements at the end of worship. He will then be available after church downstairs during fellowship time if you would like to ask questions or learn more.
Singing in Choir Boosts Your Mental Health
Professor Grenville Hancox, Director of the Sidney de Haan Research Centre for Arts and Health in Kent, has done extensive research on the benefits of choral singing on psychological well-being. He is so passionate about the enormous emotional benefits of choral singing, that he has been trying to persuade the medical profession to prescribe singing instead of Prozac: “If we could engage more and more people in singing, I’m sure we would have a healthier nation.”
Studies have shown that the mental health benefits of choral singing include enhanced brain function, strengthened feelings of togetherness, and the release of endorphins and oxytocin resulting in reduced stress and reduced depression.
You rush to meet deadlines, deal with unhappy clients, cope with a rage-aholic boss and — if you're lucky — eat lunch in front of your computer. By the time you get to your choir rehearsal, you're a nervous wreck. But sitting up straight, relaxing your shoulders and breathing from your diaphragm is a great way to return to your center and leave the day's stress behind you.
To sing in the Choir the only thing you need is… your voice! And RELC needs your voice! So what are you waiting for?
With a voice of singing,
Barbara
Pet Blessing on Sunday, October 1
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On October 1, we will have the Pet Blessing at the 10:00 a.m. service. All pet owners are welcome to bring their pets to the Parish Hall, where the service will be live streamed. After the final hymn, we will meet on the lawn for the Blessing itself. Refreshments and treats will be provided for humans and their pet family members. Afterwards, we will host Homeward Trails for an adoption event at the church from 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. All animals are welcome for the Blessing. |
CROP Hunger Walk on October 21
The 2023 Arlington CROP Hunger Walk will be held on Saturday, October 21.
You can join and/or support the Resurrection team online by clicking here.
More information on the CROP Hunger Walk is also available in the Narthex.
Contact Information for Pastor T
Pastor Harry has a new email for you to reach him. It is: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Also, Pastor will normally take Monday and Tuesday as his weekend so he asks that you contact him Wednesday through Sunday. Unless, of course, there is an emergency. You can reach him on his cell phone at 312-515-7269.
Signing up for Breakfast with Pastor
Breakfast with Pastor! There will be five breakfasts held in the Fellowship Hall for up to ten RELC members invited per breakfast.
Each breakfast is scheduled on a Saturday from 9:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. and will be led by a different Resurrection Church leader: There is one remaining breakfast date:
September 30 (Christina Cuesta).
Get to know Pastor Therwanger and other members of the RELC family! Have breakfast, devotions and a bit of conversation in a small group with our new Shepherd. Come and enjoy some breakfast and fellowship!
Please sign up using this SignUp Genius link for one Saturday breakfast:
Please Use Name Tags
There are name tags available in the Narthex. Please use them during the next few weeks to help Pastor learn all of our names and maybe also to help us refresh our memory!
Please Update Member Information
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. Please complete one, even if your information has not changed, and consider including a photo!
Including a Name in Sunday Prayers
We will be returning to having individuals who request to be named in the Sunday morning Intercessions. To add a name to be mentioned on Sunday during worship to the prayers, please email or phone Pastor Harry by Thursday evening. The name will be included for one week, and if you wish to continue having someone named in the prayers, please update Pastor each week.
COVID Update for the Fall/Winter
With Fall underway and Winter not far behind, the Council approved the RELC Reopening Group (COVID Group) recommendation that the current "Masks Optional" policy is still appropriate (see below) with one change: for communion, ushers must wear masks along with communion assistants and the pastor. Mask wearing for ushers is optional at all other times. The COVID Group will continue monitoring CDC guidelines for COVID and other infectious concerns, and act accordingly.
Congregants are strongly encouraged to adhere to the following guidelines:
Masks are not required, but everyone should feel comfortable wearing a mask at any time, particularly those at high risk for severe illness.
Pastors, communion assistants, and ushers will wear masks for communion.
To the extent possible, congregants should maintain a safe distance in the pews when sharing the Peace of Christ with prayer hands and taking communion. Hand sanitizers will remain available throughout the church.
The wearing of masks in Sunday School will continue to be guided by parents.
The CDC recommends staying up-to-date with COVID vaccines and isolating at home if symptoms do occur, if one receives a positive test or if one is exposed to someone with COVID.
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.
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.
Other Announcements?
Alexandra Mattson, the editor of our quarterly “Steeple Light” newsletter, is, at present, 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!