Worship Schedule:
10:00am in the Sanctuary and on YouTube
Due to the pandemic the need for food is increasing daily. In addition, the annual Letter Carriers Food Drive (Stamp Out Hunger) which normally produces more than 50,000 lbs. of donated food has been canceled which makes the need even greater.
AFAC needs canned vegetables, cereal (low sugar), canned tuna, canned tomato products (stewed, diced, paste), and peanut butter (in plastic jars).
Contributions can be dropped off in the Narthex.
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, April 2 - Palm/Passion Sunday
9:10 a.m. – Sunday School in the Parish Hall.
10:00 a.m. – Worship: Pastor Gordon Lathrop.
5:30 p.m. – Confirmation Class will meet in the Parish Hall.
Please return the form to order Easter Flowers in the offering plate or to the church office by Sunday, April 2.
As you are planning for Holy Week this year, do think seriously about joining the single liturgy that stretches over three days. Pastor Gordon Lathrop will preach and preside from April 6-8:
These are the most important liturgies we celebrate all year. Treat yourself to the joy of taking part.
We are pleased to welcome to preside and preach, at our April 2 Palm/Passion Sunday, Pastor Gordon Lathrop.
On April 9, Easter Sunday, Pastor Wally Jensen will return to preach and preside.
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.
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.
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 29: Dying and Rising with Christ, with Hans Nielsen Hauge and John Donne
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!
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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:
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.
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 (PDF) |
This week’s eco-friendly tip: “Carve out time for landscape or garden-planning. Cut back on or eliminate pesticide use this year. What role could native and pollinator-friendly plants play in your landscape? Write down one planned action you will take to honor God’s creation with your landscape or garden plans in the spring. Not able to landscape? Check out community gardens and house plant opportunities.” Here is a great resource to get you started: https://www.plantnovanatives.org/.
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.
Easter 2023 Flowers Order Form
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.
Resurrection’s 2023 offering envelopes have finally arrived! Please claim yours from the table in the Narthex starting March 26 and start using them as soon as possible to assist with counting and allocating your generous donations.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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..
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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!
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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:
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.
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 (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.”
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.
Easter 2023 Flowers Order Form
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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..
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!
Sunday, March 12
9:00 a.m. – Sunday school for our 3-year-olds through 5th grade will meet in the Parish Hall. We have begun our "Journey through Lent." If you are not already on our email list and would like more information, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
10:00 a.m. – Worship: Pastor Sarah Garrett Krey, Assistant to the Bishop for Candidacy and Mobility for the Metro D.C. Synod.
5:30 p.m. – Confirmation Class will meet in the Parish Hall.
Thursday, March 16
7:00 p.m. – Joint Council and Call Committee meeting with Pastoral Candidate.
Sunday, March 19
9:10 a.m. – Sunday School in the Parish Hall.
10:00 a.m. – Worship: Rev. Scott Zimmerer.
5:30 p.m. – Confirmation Class will meet in the Parish Hall.
Daylight Savings Time
The time changes during the night from Saturday, March 11 to Sunday, March 12: we “spring forward” and lose an hour. Please set your clocks accordingly in advance one hour.
Sunday Supply Pastors
We are pleased to welcome to preside and preach, at our March 19 worship service, Pastor Scott Zimmerer, grandfather of Gabe Rivera who will receive first communion during the service. On March 26, Prof. James Farwell from the Virginia Theological Seminary will return to preach and preside.
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 15: Faithful in Prayer, with Gregory the Great and Patrick
March 22: Striving for Justice, with Oscar Romero
March 29: Dying and Rising with Christ, with Hans Nielsen Hauge and John Donne
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!
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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:
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.
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. It is a “Daily Reflection-Action Calendar to Cultivate Creation Justice.” We will highlight a reflection or action from the calendar in each weekly announcement during Lent.
| |
Creation Justice Ministries Lent 2023 Calendar (PDF) |
This week’s eco-friendly tip: “If the world reduced meat consumption by 15% it would save the same greenhouse gas emissions as taking 240 million cars off the road each year. Consider planning for meatless Mondays during Lent. Learn more and get recipe ideas at www.meatlessmonday.org.”
Here is the actual link for the meatless Monday website: https://www.mondaycampaigns.org/meatless-monday
The Worship and Music Committee would like to encourage you to bring your own glass from home to use at communion in our worship services. Paper cups will continue to be provided for those who need them, but please consider making an effort to use a glass from home – a practice that better reflects our care and reverence in handling the wine of communion.
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.
Easter 2023 Flowers Order Form
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 or (301) 793-4133 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
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!
Sunday, March 5
9:00 a.m. – Sunday school for our 3-year-olds through 5th grade will meet in the Parish Hall. We will begin our "Journey through Lent." If you are not already on our email list and would like more information, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
10:00 a.m. – Worship: Bishop Leila Ortiz, Metropolitan Washington, D.C., Synod presiding.
The time changes during the night from Saturday, March 11 to Sunday, March 12: we “spring forward” and lose an hour. Please set your clocks accordingly in advance one hour.
Sunday Supply Pastors
We are pleased to welcome to preside and preach, at our March 12 worship service, Pastor Sarah Garrett Krey, Assistant to the Bishop for Candidacy and Mobility for the Metro D.C. Synod, followed on March 19 by Pastor Scott Zimmerer, grandfather of Gabe Rivera who will receive first communion during the service.
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 8: Perseverance with Endurance, with Perpetua and Felicity, Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth
March 15: Faithful in Prayer, with Gregory the Great and Patrick
March 22: Striving for Justice, with Oscar Romero
March 29: Dying and Rising with Christ, with Hans Nielsen Hauge and John Donne
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!
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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. It is a “Daily Reflection-Action Calendar to Cultivate Creation Justice.” We will highlight a reflection or action from the calendar in each weekly announcement during Lent.
| |
Creation Justice Ministries Lent 2023 Calendar (PDF) |
This week’s eco-friendly tip is from February 27: “The average adult receives 41 pounds of junk mail annually. This requires 53 million trees and 56 billion gallons of water to produce. Visit www.dmachoice.org to help stop unwanted junk mail. Call companies to unsubscribe from their mailings or catalogs. Resolve to do it today!” Arlington County also offers a service to reduce junk mail through Catalog Choice..
The Worship and Music Committee would like to encourage you to bring your own glass from home to use at communion in our worship services. Paper cups will continue to be provided for those who need them, but please consider making an effort to use a glass from home – a practice that better reflects our care and reverence in handling the wine of communion.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
We thank Pastor Amy Feira for her services of pastoral care for the members of RELC during the past six months.
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 or (301) 793-4133 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
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!
Sunday, February 26
9:00 a.m. – Sunday school for our 3-year-olds through 5th grade will meet in the Parish Hall. We will begin our "Journey through Lent." If you are not already on our email list and would like more information, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
10:00 a.m. – Worship: Rev. Gordon Lathrop presiding.
Sunday Supply Pastors
We are pleased to welcome Metropolitan Washington, D.C., Synod Bishop Leila Ortiz to preside and preach at our March 5 worship service, followed on March 12 by Pastor Sarah Garrett Krey, Assistant to the Bishop for Candidacy and Mobility for the Metro D.C. Synod.
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.
March 1: Inheritance of Faith, with George Herbert and Charles Wesley
March 8: Perseverance with Endurance, with Perpetua and Felicity, Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth
March 15: Faithful in Prayer, with Gregory the Great and Patrick
March 22: Striving for Justice, with Oscar Romero
March 29: Dying and Rising with Christ, with Hans Nielsen Hauge and John Donne
During Lent, please join the Creation Care Team in reflecting on how we can become better stewards of God’s beautiful creation.
We will be guided by the 2023 Lent Resource Calendar from Creation Justice Ministries. It is a “Daily Reflection-Action Calendar to Cultivate Creation Justice.” Starting next week, we will highlight a reflection or action from the calendar in each weekly announcement during Lent.
We will put up a poster in the Parish Hall for you to write about a small change you hope to make to benefit creation care. You can also add ideas about how we can “green” our church community.
A great way to start is to join the ELCA Young Adults Initiative to reduce plastic consumption by signing the No Plastics For Lent Pledge.
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.
The Worship and Music Committee would like to encourage you to bring your own glass from home to use at communion in our worship services. Paper cups will continue to be provided for those who need them, but please consider making an effort to use a glass from home – a practice that better reflects our care and reverence in handling the wine of communion.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 February. 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..
Please send any news articles (from March through April), updates on projects or new initiatives, calendar items and photographs to editor This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by 8:00 p.m. on Monday, February 27. Thank you, in advance, for your submissions.
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!
Sunday, February 19
10:00 a.m. – Worship: Rev. Tiina Talvitie presiding.
11:15 a.m. – Preparation of ashes for Ash Wednesday with children’s lesson in the Memorial Garden.
Wednesday, February 22, Ash Wednesday
7:00 p.m. – One service (in person). Led by Pastor Gordon Lathrop. Imposition of ashes for those who wish to receive ashes.
On February 19 we are honored to welcome Rev. Tiina Talvitie, Pastor of the New York Finnish Lutheran Congregation and of the Finnish congregation that meets once a month at Resurrection, to preside and preach. Pastor Lathrop will lead our Ash Wednesday service on February 22 and also our worship on the first Sunday in Lent on February 26.
We are also pleased to welcome Metropolitan Washington, D.C., Synod Bishop Leila Ortiz to preside and preach at our March 5 worship service, followed on March 12 by Pastor Sarah Garrett Krey, Assistant to the Bishop for Candidacy and Mobility for the Metro D.C. Synod.
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.
March 1: Inheritance of Faith, with George Herbert and Charles Wesley
March 8: Perseverance with Endurance, with Perpetua and Felicity, Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth
March 15: Faithful in Prayer, with Gregory the Great and Patrick
March 22: Striving for Justice, with Oscar Romero
March 29: Dying and Rising with Christ, with Hans Nielsen Hauge and John Donne
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.
The Worship and Music Committee would like to encourage you to bring your own glass from home to use at communion in our worship services. Paper cups will continue to be provided for those who need them, but please consider making an effort to use a glass from home – a practice that better reflects our care and reverence in handling the wine of communion.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 February. 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..
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!
Sunday, February 12
9:10 a.m. – Sunday School in the Parish Hall.
10:00 a.m. – Worship: Pastor Gordon Lathrop presiding, with installation of Congregation Council officers and members, and first communion for Granger and Ophelia Phillips.
11:15 a.m. – Confirmation Class will meet in Room 13.
11:30 a.m. – Souper Bowl Sunday sale to support youth attending the 2024 ELCA Youth Gathering.
Sunday, February 19
10:00 a.m. – Worship: Rev. Tiina Talvitie, Pastor of the New York Finnish Lutheran Congregation, presiding. If you have palms from last Palm Sunday that you wish to add to the collection that will be burned after church on February 19, please bring them with you on that Sunday.
11:15 a.m. – Preparation of ashes for Ash Wednesday with children’s lesson in the Memorial Garden.
Resurrection celebrates two special events in its worship service this Sunday, February 12. Pastor Gordon Lathrop will preside as Granger and Ophelia Phillips, son and daughter of Tom and Julia Phillips, will be welcomed to the Holy Communion for the first time. Pastor Peter Fauerbach, Granger and Ophelia’s grandfather, will also participate in the liturgy. Pastor Lathrop will also lead the congregation in installing the officers and members of our Congregation Council for 2023.
On February 19 we are honored to welcome Rev. Tiina Talvitie, Pastor of the New York Finnish Lutheran Congregation and of the Finnish congregation that meets once a month at Resurrection, to preside and preach. Pastor Lathrop will lead our Ash Wednesday service on February 22 and also our worship on the first Sunday in Lent on February 26.
We are also pleased to welcome Metropolitan Washington, D.C., Synod Bishop Leila Ortiz to preside and preach at our March 5 worship service, followed on March 12 by Pastor Sarah Garrett Krey, Assistant to the Bishop for Candidacy and Mobility for the Metro D.C. Synod.
Based on the Center 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.
Ready for the Souper Bowl? After worship services on Sunday, February 12, the Education Committee will be selling soups, chili, stews, breads and corn breads on Super Bowl Sunday to raise money for our congregation’s young folks to participate in the ELCA Youth Gathering in New Orleans in 2024! The youth group will also be putting together Valentine's packages for our college kids on February 12.
Resurrection’s collection of donations of food items for AFAC will continue on Sunday, February 12, in conjunction with our regular worship service.
Resurrection’s Call Committee will complete its second round of interviews with three pastoral candidates this weekend, and will then reflect on those discussions and determine whether to advance the call process with any of the three candidates. A further update on the next steps in the process will be coming soon.
The Worship and Music Committee would like to encourage you to bring your own glass from home to use at communion in our worship services. Paper cups will continue to be provided for those who need them, but please consider making an effort to use a glass from home – a practice that better reflects our care and reverence in handling the wine of communion.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 February. 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..
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!
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, February 12
9:10 a.m. – Sunday School in the Parish Hall.
10:00 a.m. – Worship: Pastor Gordon Lathrop presiding, with installation of Congregation Council officers and members and first communion for Granger and Ophelia Phillips.
11:15 a.m. – Confirmation Class will meet in Room 13.
Resurrection is pleased to welcome back Prof. Shawn Strout of Virginia Theological Seminary to preach and preside at this Sunday’s worship service. On February 12, Pastor Gordon Lathrop will return to lead us, and Granger and Ophelia Phillips, son and daughter of Tom and Julia Phillips, will be welcomed to the Holy Communion for the first time. Pastor Peter Fauerbach, Granger and Ophelia’s grandfather, will also participate in the liturgy. The officers and members of our Congregation Council will also be installed at the February 12 service.
Our outstanding series of guest pastors continues on February 19 with Rev. Tiina Talvitie, Pastor of the Finnish Congregation that meets once a month at Resurrection Church, presiding. Pastor Lathrop will lead our Ash Wednesday service on February 22 and also our worship on the first Sunday in Lent on February 26.
We are also honored to welcome Metropolitan Washington, D.C., Synod Bishop Leila Ortiz to preside and preach at our March 5 worship service, followed on March 12 by Pastor Sarah Garrett Krey, Assistant to the Bishop for Candidacy and Mobility for the Metro D.C. Synod.
Based on the Center 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.
The Worship and Music Committee would like to encourage you to bring your own glass from home to use at communion in our worship services. Paper cups will continue to be provided for those who need them, but please consider making an effort to use a glass from home – a practice that better reflects our care and reverence in handling the wine of communion.
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.
It's that time of year! After worship services on Sunday, February 12, the Education Committee will be selling soups, chili, stews, breads and corn breads on Super Bowl Sunday to raise money for our congregation’s young folks to participate in the ELCA Youth Gathering in New Orleans in 2024! The youth group will also be putting together Valentine's packages for our college kids on February 12.
Resurrection’s collection of donations of food items for AFAC will continue on Sunday, February 12, in conjunction with our regular worship service.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 February. 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..
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
Resurrection’s collection of donations of food items for AFAC will continue on Sunday, January 29, in conjunction with our regular worship service.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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..
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!
Sunday, January 22
10:00 a.m. – Worship: Pastor George Detweiler of the Southeast Pennsylvania Synod presiding.
11:30 a.m. – Annual Congregation Meeting and potluck luncheon in the Parish Hall.
Sunday, January 29
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.
We are honored to welcome Pastor George Detweiler of the Southeast Pennsylvania Synod to preach and preside at our worship service this Sunday, January 22. Our series of guest pastors will continue on January 29 with Pastor Allen Dayal of the Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church of India, who is also a graduate student at Virginia Theological Seminary.
Next month, we look forward to the return of Prof. Shawn Strout of Virginia Theological Seminary on February 5, followed on February 12 by Pastor Gordon Lathrop. Rev. Tiina Talvitie, Pastor of the New York Finnish Lutheran Congregation, will preside on February 19.
As these announcements are written, the latest available assessment from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) continues to categorize Arlington County’s COVID-19 community level as “medium.” Based on the current criteria approved by our Congregation Council, that assessment directs us to require the wearing of protective masks at Resurrection although we recognize that Arlington County has not adjusted its protection requirements. Our Reopening Planning Group welcomes the congregation’s ideas on possibly revising Resurrection’s criteria based on more local information – members are encouraged to provide suggestions on appropriate protection policies to Jeanne Broyhill.
In the meantime, congregants 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. Congregants are also encouraged to keep up to date with vaccinations, and anyone not feeling well should stay home and access the livestream feed of worship services.
Resurrection will convene its in-person annual congregation meeting following the worship service this Sunday, January 22. In the midst of our pastoral transition, it is very important for members of the congregation to attend, not only to provide a quorum for the adoption of the 2023 operating and capital budgets and the election of new members of our Congregation Council but also to help discern appropriate funding and priorities. The 2022 Annual Report has been emailed via Constant Contact. Copies of the report will be available this Sunday prior to the congregation meeting.
And, reviving a long-standing Resurrection tradition, the annual meeting will be preceded by a potluck lunch coordinated by the Fellowship Committee under the guidance of Tom Mugavero. Tom will appreciate help with the meal set-up and clean-up. All congregation members are invited to bring a dish and share a communal meal.
As we prepare to adopt operating and capital budgets for the new year, Resurrection’s financial team also needs assurance that the 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 (www.relcarlington.org).
Resurrection’s collection of donations of food items for AFAC will continue on Sunday, January 29, in conjunction with our regular worship service.
It’s not too late to recycle those broken holiday lights – please bring them to church and put them in the designated box in the narthex by next Sunday, January 29. The 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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..
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!
Sunday, January 15
10:00 a.m. – Worship: Rev. Dr. Sarah Colvin, former Rector at Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit, presiding.
1:00 p.m. – Finnish Lutheran Congregation worship service in the Sanctuary.
Sunday, January 22
10:00 a.m. – Worship: Pastor George Detweiler of the Southeast Pennsylvania Synod presiding.
11:30 a.m. – Annual Congregation Meeting and potluck luncheon in the Parish Hall.
Our superb group of guest clergy continues to lead our worship services, with Rev. Dr. Sarah Colvin, the former Rector at Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit in Vashon Island, Washington, returning to preside and preach this Sunday, January 15. We are honored to have Pastor George Detweiler of the Southeast Pennsylvania Synod presiding on January 22, followed on January 29 by Pastor Allen Dayal of the Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church of India and a graduate student at Virginia Theological Seminary.
In February, we look forward to the return of Prof. Shawn Strout of Virginia Theological Seminary on February 5, followed by Pastor Gordon Lathrop on February 12 and Rev. Tiina Talvitie, Pastor of the New York Finnish Lutheran Congregation, on February 19.
The latest available assessment from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention categorizes Arlington County’s COVID-19 community level as “low.” As a result, the wearing of protective masks at Resurrection will remain optional based on the criteria previously approved by the Congregation Council. The Reopening Planning Group continues to monitor the county’s COVID-19 level based on the CDC assessment, but it plans to consider proposing a revision to Resurrection’s masking criteria based on more local information – congregation members are encouraged to provide suggestions on criteria to Jeanne Broyhill.
Congregants 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. Congregants are also encouraged to keep up to date with vaccinations, and anyone not feeling well should stay home and access the livestream feed of worship services.
Resurrection will convene its in-person annual congregation meeting following the worship service on Sunday, January 22. It is very important for congregation members to attend in order to provide a quorum for the adoption of the 2023 operating and capital budgets and the election of new members of our Congregation Council, so please make plans to attend and participate. Copies of the 2022 Annual Report will be available in the Narthex this Sunday, January 15.
Restoring a long-standing Resurrection tradition, our annual meeting will be preceded by a potluck lunch coordinated by the Fellowship Committee under Tom Mugavero’s direction. All congregation members are invited to bring a dish – just let Tom know what to expect.
Sunday School families have been contacted to determine whether to meet this Sunday, January 15. If you have any questions about Sunday School please email Angie Brooke.
A huge thank-you to the large group of volunteers who took down our Christmas decorations last Saturday – not only did the team put away the decorations, but it also set up a Seasonal Storage area for church decorations used once a year, reducing clutter and freeing up space.
A few orphaned Christmas poinsettias are still looking for a home – if you haven’t claimed yours, it is patiently waiting for you in the Narthex.
If you have holiday lights that are beyond repair, please bring them to church and put them in the designated box in the narthex. The 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.
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. However, your offerings are still 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. However, in order to ensure that your offerings are properly credited to you – especially cash offerings, please include your name on a substitute envelope along with designating what portion of your offering you wish to go toward the general fund, benevolences, or the building fund. Remember that contributions to the general fund may be used to cover any of the church’s expenses or programs, while benevolence contributions may only be used to support specific charities and ministries and contributions to the building fund may only be used to meet building needs.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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..
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!
Sunday, January 8
9:10 a.m. – Sunday School in the Parish Hall.
10:00 a.m. – Worship: Prof. James Farwell of Virginia Theological Seminary presiding.
11:15 a.m. – Confirmation Class will meet.
Wednesday, January 11
11:00 a.m. – Funeral Service for Nancy MacDonald.
Sunday, January 15
10:00 a.m. – Worship: Rev. Dr. Sarah Colvin, former Rector at Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit, presiding.
This Sunday, January 8, we are pleased to welcome Prof. James Farwell of the Virginia Theological Seminary back to Resurrection to preside and preach. In the coming weeks, our guest clergy will include Rev. Dr. Sarah Colvin, the former Rector at Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit in Vashon Island, Washington, on January 15 and Pastor George Detweiler of the Southeast Pennsylvania Synod on January 22. Pastor Allen Dayal, of the Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church of India and a graduate student at Virginia Theological Seminary, will preside on January 29.
On Friday, January 6, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revised its assessment of Arlington County’s COVID-19 community level from “medium” to “low.” Based on the criteria previously approved by the Congregation Council, the wearing of masks at Resurrection will be optional as long as the CDC assessment remains “low.” The Reopening Planning Group will continue to monitor the county’s level and make adjustments in precautions as necessary based on the CDC assessment.
Given the recent rise in COVID-19, RSV, and influenza cases across the country, the Reopening Planning Group continues to encourage congregants 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 in deference to congregation members who choose to take that precaution. The wearing of masks in Sunday School will be guided by parents’ feedback. Congregants are also encouraged to keep up to date with vaccinations, and anyone not feeling well should stay home and access the livestream feed of worship services.
Funeral services for beloved congregation member Nancy MacDonald, who passed away on December 28, 2022, will be held at Resurrection on Wednesday, January 11, at 11:00 a.m., with interment in the Memorial Garden. A reception celebrating Nancy’s life will be held in the Parish Hall following the service.
Thanks to the volunteers who will be taking down our Christmas decorations on Saturday, January 7, at 10:00 a.m. If you reserved a Christmas poinsettia and would like to take it home, please plan to pick it up no later than this Saturday. A list of those who provided poinsettias is provided on the Worship Assistant Lectern. Please check off your name when you pick up your flowers.
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. However, your offerings are still 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. However, in order to ensure that your offerings are properly credited to you – especially cash offerings, please include your name on a substitute envelope along with designating what portion of your offering you wish to go toward the general fund, benevolences, or the building fund. Remember that contributions to the general fund may be used to cover any of the church’s expenses or programs, while benevolence contributions may only be used to support specific charities and ministries and contributions to the building fund may only be used to meet building needs.
Our Sunday School resumes this Sunday, January 8, with class for 3’s through 5th grade beginning at 9:10 a.m. in the Parish Hall. Our Confirmation Class will also meet following this Sunday’s worship service at 11:15 a.m.
Please mark your calendars for Resurrection’s annual congregation meeting, which will be in person following the worship service on Sunday, January 22. This is an important meeting at which we will adopt a budget for 2023 and elect new members of our Congregation Council, so please make plans to attend and participate.
In preparation for the annual meeting, we need reports from all church committees and other groups to include in our Annual Report. Committee chairs and group leaders are asked to please submit your reports for 2022 to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by Friday, December 30.
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.
If you have holiday lights that are beyond repair, please bring them to church and put them in the designated box in the narthex. The 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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..
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!
Name of Jesus – Sunday, January 1, 2023
10:00 a.m. – Worship: Pastor Gordon Lathrop presiding.
Friday, January 6
7:00 p.m. – Epiphany Evening Prayer via Zoom.
Sunday, January 8
9:10 a.m. – Sunday School in the Parish Hall.
10:00 a.m. – Worship: Prof. James Farwell of Virginia Theological Seminary presiding.
11:15 a.m. – Confirmation Class will meet.
We welcome the New Year this Sunday with Pastor Gordon Lathrop leading us in celebrating the Name of Jesus on Sunday, January 1.
Our outstanding group of guest clergy continues in January with Prof. James Farwell of the Virginia Theological Seminary returning to preside on January 8 and Rev. Dr. Sarah Colvin, the former Rector at Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit in Vashon Island, Washington, leading our service on January 15. We will be joined by Pastor George Detweiler from the Southeast Pennsylvania Synod on January 22. The month closes with Pastor Allen Dayal, of the Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church of India and a graduate student at Virginia Theological Seminary, presiding on January 29.
Resurrection’s Reopening Planning Group continues to closely monitor the recent increase in COVID, RSV, and influenza cases. Under the policy adopted earlier this year, the wearing of masks at church remains optional as long as Arlington County's COVID-19 community level remains “low” based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) assessment. Congregants are encouraged to wear masks if they choose to, and we will adjust our precautions if necessary based on the CDC assessment.
Congregants are also reminded to continue 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 in deference to congregation members who choose to take that precaution. The wearing of masks in Sunday School will continue to be guided by parents’ feedback. Congregants are also encouraged to keep up to date with vaccinations, and anyone not feeling well should stay home and access the livestream feed of worship services.
Resurrection mourns the passing of beloved congregation member Nancy MacDonald who died on December 28, 2022, at Fairfax Hospital. Information on funeral arrangements will be provided as soon as they are available. In the meantime, please keep Nancy, her husband Bob, and their family in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.
The company that provides our weekly offering envelopes experienced some supply and distribution problems in 2022. As result, Resurrection’s envelopes are “in production” but won’t arrive on time. We apologize for the inconvenience of not having your assigned envelopes to start the New Year.
Your offerings are still essential 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. However, in order to ensure that your offerings are properly credited to you – especially cash offerings, please include your name on a substitute envelope along with designating what portion of your offering you wish to go toward the general fund, benevolences, or the building fund. Remember that contributions to the general fund may be used to cover any of the church’s expenses or programs, while benevolence contributions may only be used to support specific charities and ministries and contributions to the building fund may only be used to meet building needs.
Our Sunday School takes a holiday break on December 25 and on January 1 – but will resume next month with class for 3’s through 5th grade beginning at 9:10 a.m. in the Parish Hall.
Please join us for a virtual Epiphany evening service on Friday, January 6 at 7:00 p.m. via Zoom. Our evening prayer service will include readings and hymns for the Day of Epiphany and an introduction by Gail Ramshaw. Look for the Zoom link and a copy of the bulletin in the announcements for the first week of January, or in a separate Constant Contact email that will come out on January 6.
Our Call Committee will continue the process of interviewing pastoral candidates in January with second round meetings with three of the initial candidates. The committee will provide updates as the interview and discernment process moves forward.
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.
If you have holiday lights that are beyond repair, please bring them to church and put them in the designated box in the narthex. The 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.
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.
Please mark your calendars for Resurrection’s annual congregation meeting, which will be in person following the worship service on Sunday, January 22. This is an important meeting at which we will adopt a budget for 2023 and elect new members of our Congregation Council, so please make plans to attend and participate.
In preparation for the annual meeting, we need reports from all church committees and other groups to include in our Annual Report. Committee chairs and group leaders are asked to please submit your reports for 2022 to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by Friday, December 30.
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.
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.
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.
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..
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!
Christmas Eve – Saturday, December 24
7:00 p.m. – Worship: Pastor Wally Jensen presiding, with youth participation, special music, and our choir. Musical performances will begin at 6:30 p.m., before the service starts at 7:00 p.m.
Christmas Day – Sunday, December 25
10:00 a.m. – Worship: Pastor Gordon Lathrop presiding.
Name of Jesus – Sunday, January 1, 2023
10:00 a.m. – Worship: Pastor Gordon Lathrop presiding.
Resurrection will celebrate the birth of Jesus with a single Christmas Eve service on Saturday, December 24, at 7:00 p.m. with Pastor Wally Jensen presiding. Our young members will be part of this unique service, which will also include musical performances to begin at 6:30 p.m., and special music from our choir.
On Christmas Day Sunday, December 25, Pastor Lathrop will lead our worship service at 10:00 a.m.
On New Year’s Day, Pastor Lathrop will return to lead us in celebrating the Name of Jesus on Sunday, January 1. Our outstanding group of guest clergy continues in January with Prof. James Farwell of the Virginia Theological Seminary returning to preside on January 8 and Rev. Dr. Sarah Colvin, the former Rector at Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit in Vashon Island, Washington, leading our service on January 15. We will be joined by Pastor George Detweiler from the Southeast Pennsylvania Synod on January 22. The month closes with Pastor Allen Dayal, of the Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church of India and a graduate student at Virginia Theological Seminary, presiding on January 29.
Resurrection’s Reopening Planning Group continues to closely monitor the recent increase in COVID, RSV, and influenza cases. Under the policy adopted earlier this year, the wearing of masks at church remains optional as long as Arlington County's COVID-19 community level remains “low” based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) assessment. Congregants are encouraged to wear masks if they choose to, and we will adjust our precautions if necessary based on the CDC assessment.
Congregants are also reminded to continue 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 in deference to congregation members who choose to take that precaution. The wearing of masks in Sunday School will continue to be guided by parents’ feedback. Congregants are also encouraged to keep up to date with vaccinations, and anyone not feeling well should stay home and access the livestream feed of worship services.
Our Call Committee has completed its first round of interviews and the committee decided to continue the process with three of the four initial candidates. The committee will take a break over the Christmas holiday while our candidate pastors attend to their current congregations and resume the interview and discernment process in January.
Our Sunday School takes a holiday break on December 25 and on January 1 – but will resume next month with class for 3’s through 5th grade beginning at 9:10 a.m. in the Parish Hall.
And thanks to everyone who contributed to the Youth Group’s Christmas Tree collection of winter wear! A total of 16 scarves, eight pairs of gloves, 11 hats, and two packages of socks will be delivered to New Hope Housing for holiday celebrations!
Please join us for a virtual Epiphany evening service on Friday, January 6 at 7:00 p.m. via Zoom. Our evening prayer service will include readings and hymns for the Day of Epiphany and an introduction by Gail Ramshaw. Look for the Zoom link and a copy of the bulletin in the announcements for the first week of January, or in a separate Constant Contact email that will come out on January 6.
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.
If you have holiday lights that are beyond repair, please bring them to church and put them in the designated box in the narthex. The 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.
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.
Please mark your calendars for Resurrection’s annual congregation meeting, which will be in person following the worship service on Sunday, January 22. This is an important meeting at which we will adopt a budget for 2023 and elect new members of our Congregation Council, so please make plans to attend and participate.
In preparation for the annual meeting, we need reports from all church committees and other groups to include in our Annual Report. Committee chairs and group leaders are asked to please submit your reports for 2022 to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by Friday, December 30.
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.
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.
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.
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 December. 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..
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!
