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From Pastor Sarah

November 26, 2024 by BayshoreLutheran Leave a Comment

Hello, my friends!

What a month November has been. This Sunday’s Advent word is HOPE, and I certainly am turning my face to hope in December. I hope, yes that’s a bad pun, that you are enjoying the Advent series, and have been using the Devotions. Today, as I write this, I am pondering the word JUSTICE, and what that truly means. A just person in the Bible was a person who gave love and assistance. I have bene thinking about that a lot.

Some questions that have come my way this week:

Will you go see the film about Bonhoeffer? As Lutherans know, we remember the death and ministry of Dietrich Bonhoeffer on April 9. His story is deep, theological, and well shared among his own writings and his contemporaries and family. There is a new movie out, and I have been asked if I will go. The short answer is no. My understanding from reading several reputable scholars’ reviews is that Bonhoeffer’s story has been changed in ways that actually go against what Bonhoeffer stood for and historical facts. I also understand that his own family have spoken against the film as well. I have a longer explanation, but another shorter answer is to direct you to a periodical that I actually read and subscribe to, here’s an article that they have published.

When are you putting up your Christmas Trees? As my ABC students have known, I put up (with Pete’s help of course!) 7-9 trees a year. Last year was pitiful. I only had one up, due to my fall down the stairs–I just couldn’t do anything. This year, Pete and I are putting up my Church Office tree again and a few more at home. I’m not sure that I believe the fanciful story of Martin Luther starting the Christmas tree tradition ON HIS OWN, but I will thank him for encouraging it. See, you never knew that being a Lutheran was so cool! Each tree has a theme of some sort, and ornaments a plenty that have memories attached. If you are putting up a tree, be sure to share a picture!

Are you skipping Thanksgiving this year? Absolutely not. By the time you read this, my family will be suffering from turkey overload and hopefully celebrating a Lions win. Of course, we all will be celebrating a Packers win, too.

But Thanksgiving is definitely more than football and turkey. It’s about taking time and expressing gratitude to our Creator and God. It’s about giving thanks for the blessings and gifts we have received and pondering how we can share such gifts with others. Our liturgy has a prayer that I would like to share with you. It is below. But before you get to that, I wish to give thanks for you, Bay Shore, and your loving hearts. It is a pleasure to serve with you. Bay Shore is a special place, and we have much to be thankful for.

God’s blessings and peace on you and your loved ones,

See you on Sunday,

Pastor Sarah

Almighty God our Creator, your generous goodness comes to us new every day. By the work of your Spirit, lead us to acknowledge your goodness, give thanks for your benefits, and serve you in willing obedience, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.

Amen.

From Pastor Sarah

November 7, 2024 by BayshoreLutheran Leave a Comment

Advent begins this week.

For those new to Bay Shore Lutheran, we adopted a 7 week Advent season last year. The expanded season is more reflective of the church’s original Advent season, and allows us to fully embrace and wait for the coming of our Lord.

We dress in blue, we begin our Advent Wreath lighting, but we hold off on festooning with our more traditional Advent features like our beautiful trees, garlands, and more. In November, we begin the journey, focusing on the Word and Sacraments.

This year’s Advent theme is More Than Words. Our theme will have several special elements.

We have a printed Advent Devotion. It is available now to our community, and it features prayers, readings and more.
We will have a special Word of the Week. This word will help us focus on the season, and how we can live out Advent promises in our daily lives.
We will have a special Children’s Time in Advent, where we will encourage our families to create a “toolkit” at home with the tools of faith, using the words of the week.

We invite you to join us this Advent Season as much as you can. We pray that you take time during all the busyness of the holiday season to pause and reflect on the great Love that God gives to us all. We encourage you to invite others to k=join you during this special season. It is a good time to worship God.
See you this Sunday,

Pastor Sarah

From Pastor Sarah

October 22, 2024 by BayshoreLutheran Leave a Comment

Do you, or don’t you? Oh, it’s that Sunday again!

Do you preach Reformation, and remember the history of the Lutheran Church? Or do you preach Reformation for a future and perhaps call the church to action? Or, do you not preach Reformation at all and hopefully have some confirmation students and preach about that instead?

I have done them all. Some Sundays it’s been a solid historical reminder of Luther and our traditions, and other times it has been a strong (I felt it was strong) call to continue to reform the church NOW since we were/still are at a pivotal time.

And, yes, I have skipped it all and preached to just to the classes of confirmands, too.

I do love Confirmation Sundays. Each one is special, I carry stories of the students in my head as I lay hands and offer a blessing over them. Over the years, I have confirmed over 200 students. I am friends with most of them, still, on Facebook. As time goes on, I see them graduate from High School, then often secondary school of some kind, and I see them move into their first place, first home, see their first pet, perhaps a wedding and sometimes even a baby or two. I have relearned new names, I have shared birthday greetings, and I have sadly even mourned the loss of a few, too–way too soon.

For these reasons alone, I love Facebook because it keeps me connected. I keep track of the one who couldn’t spell Genesis. I watch and pray over the one who lost a parent in middle school. I follow the pictures of their lives as they live them out loud online, and I smile. I remember.

Teachers and pastors are alike in many ways. But most teachers have a student or two for one year, maybe 2, and then the students move on. Pastors, if we are blessed, we see a child from baptism through confirmation, perhaps even a wedding, and if we can, we comfort the grown-up child when a parent or grandparent dies.

More than any other time, truly, Confirmation Sunday reminds us that a church IS a community. It’s a third space, as the younger generations call it. But church is UNIQUE! It’s a place where people of all ages come, know one another, watch each other grow, and share in each other’s milestones like confirmation.

Clubs and other places are not the same in this. Here in a church community, we offer a place for babies and the oldest to be cherished. The familiar rites create memories we didn’t know we needed, until they aren’t there. I am always surprised when people share with me memories of long ago church events, that meant so much, but that they have not personally continued wherever they are.

And if they don’t continue them, then the newly baptized children will not have them at all.

Yes, I said that.

You see, if we do not continue to teach and be church together, then who will?

Heavy thoughts, I know. Perhaps you have struggled with them, too.

I don’t have any quick answers, but I do have faith and hope. And I do believe that communities like Bay Shore Lutheran Church are too important to leave to others to hopefully continue. It’s our job, wherever we are, to keep community going and cherish these milestones and keep the memories alive.

I pray that this year, as you see the three students be confirmed, you will remember your own confirmations, and perhaps the people who helped you reach that day, who may no longer even be alive. But guess what—they did what they did, for YOU, and you now can do what you can do for others who will follow YOU, TOO.

Because churches have always been about community. And communities, they require people.

See you on Sunday,

Pastor Sarah

From Marissa…Hello again!

October 10, 2024 by BayshoreLutheran Leave a Comment

Dear Bay Shore,

It’s me Marissa again! I hope you all had a great week and hopefully you got outside to enjoy this gorgeous weather. As most of you know, Pastor Sarah is on vacation this week and because of this, my schedule looked a bit different. Instead of sitting in the office all day working on the computer, I was given the opportunity to help at Hephatha church for the day on Tuesday.

First, I was able to help with the Veterans food pantry which was so wonderful. I was able to help distribute food between boxes and carry boxes out to people’s cars who could not lift them for themselves. It was incredible to see the generosity of organizations in the city that helped to provide immense amounts of food for people that are in need. I was also able to briefly meet a group of high schoolers that pick up one of the food deliveries every week and bring it over to Hephatha. They were all eager to help, carrying in boxes upon boxes of food, which was extra impressive at 9am. It’s always so exciting to see youth getting involved in helping others in their communities.

The second part of my day was spent working at a phone bank with COLE, which is the Coalition on Lead Emergency. Hephatha will be hosting a town hall meeting this Saturday (October 12th) at 11:30am discussing the overwhelming childhood lead poisoning rates in Milwaukee. Earlier this week, President Biden visited Milwaukee to discuss the horrific problem that lead pipes and service lines are causing in our communities and nationwide. He has set a 10-year deadline to remove all lead pipes and service lines throughout the United States. But this is a problem that is affecting people right here and right now. That is why this town hall is so important, it will give people in the community a chance to speak with elected officials and find out what their plans actually are to help stop and reverse the damage that lead is causing. I got the chance to make phone calls and let people know about the town hall meeting and lead testing that will be provided at the event. Although making phone calls seems like a silly little task, I loved getting to interact with new people and getting to make a real difference in my community.

Lastly, I got to help with the children’s praise time which is held every Tuesday at Hephatha. I couldn’t stay the whole time but even the thirty minutes that I got to spend with those children and their families was so special. We celebrated birthdays with a huge cake, read a bible story, and just talked about how school and life were going. I really appreciated the time spent with these children who didn’t know me at all but welcomed me to sit with them and wanted to know things about me like my favorite bible story.

Overall, I had a wonderful time getting to know the people at Hephatha and got to spend some time with Pastor Mary Martha, which was a delight. Don’t forget, families of middle schoolers! We are having a pizza and game night this coming Sunday the 13th from 5pm to 7pm. I can’t wait to lose at Mario Kart and have lots of fun! I hope you are all having a great week, and I hope to see you at worship on Sunday!

God’s peace and love to you,
Marissa Knopick

From Marissa, our Youth & Fellowship Director

October 1, 2024 by BayshoreLutheran Leave a Comment

Dear Bay Shore,

As I have officially completed my first month working as the Youth & Fellowship Director here at Bay Shore, I wanted to take this opportunity to share a little more about myself and what I have been working on.

I grew up attending an ELCA church in Waukesha, WI and was very involved in the church in any way that I could be. After I started studying at UW Milwaukee, I very quickly found and fell in love with The Corner House which is the ELCA campus ministry located right next to UWM. During the seven years getting my degree, I faced many life changes and found myself questioning what career I was really being called to. Ultimately, I decided to change my major from physical therapy to sociology to pursue my desire to become a pastor. After graduating this past May with a bachelor’s degree in sociology and a certificate of LGBTQIA+ studies, I decided that I wanted to do a little more work in the church before starting seminary, which is what led me to Bay Shore!

This past month has been a whirlwind of learning as much as I can and starting to plan events and activities for the church. I must be honest, I’m most excited to get to know the youth and plan fun activities for them. Youth group was so important to my faith growing up, and it is where I have met some of my best friends to this day. In middle school and high school so much is expected of you, and on top of that you are expected to have a booming social life and faith life, too? I hope to provide spaces for youth to have fun and make friends but also explore their own relationship with God and how they see God at work in the world around them. On October 13th we will be hosting a pizza and game night for all 6th-8th graders to bring a friend and have some fun, and arguably more importantly, so I can get to know them, and they can get to know me better.

Another really exciting event that is happening soon is my presentation on the letters of the LGBTQIA+ alphabet which will be held after our worship service this Sunday October 6th. This will be the first part of a multi-part series that will help Bay Shore begin the process of becoming R.I.C. (Reconciling in Christ). The point of this presentation is to familiarize ourselves with the different sexual and gender orientations that make up the LGBTQIA+ community. My hope is that this can be a welcoming and inclusive space to learn and to ask questions without fear of judgement from others. This topic might be outside of your comfort zone, but I still encourage everyone who is even a little curious to come and learn with us.

I want to share with you all a quote from the book Queer Virtue written by the Reverend Elizabeth M. Edman. She writes, “Queer individuals are called to perceive a truth inside themselves, name it as an identity marker, reckon with it, tell the truth about it even in the face of hostility, find others who perceive a comparable identity marker, and build community for the betterment of all of us. That, to me, is the essence of a spiritual journey. It is more than that. In my faith tradition, we refer to this as a call. It is a vocation.” (pg. 9).

I really hope this passage gets you thinking about the ways that queerness and Christianity go hand in hand, and I really hope to see you on Sunday!

God’s peace and love to you,

Marissa Knopick

PS The featured image here is of Marissa in 2015, attending the National Gathering with her home youth group!

God’s Work. Our Hands.

September 1, 2023 by BayshoreLutheran Leave a Comment

What began 10 years ago as a “good idea to try!” is now a unique ELCA tradition–God’s Work. Our Hands. A time when all ELCA churches share an important day of service in our communities, wearing our now recognized golden yellow apparel..

Because this is the 10th anniversary, Bay Shore is celebrating two weekends, and not just one.

The first Sunday, Sept 10, is the official day for the ELCA. On this day, our Bay Shore community is encouraged to serve God in our own backyards–that is, in our neighborhood, where we work, eat, play, attend school. Some ideas are listed below!

The second Sunday, Sept. 17, Bay Shore will join together and, immediately after worship, head to Estabrook Park and do some community clean up. We did this on Earth Day with a small but mighty group, and we made a huge impact, and were thanked multiple times by those who saw us. On Sept. 17, we hope you can join us. Sign Up Here to learn more.

We hope that you will be inspired to serve on both days, in the best way possible for you. Below are a few ideas for serving in your own “backyards.”

Pick up trash in your own neighborhood.
Donate to your closest food bank, or Little Free Library.
Visit a neighbor you haven’t seen in a while.
Write a thank you note–to your local school, your local library, your local police or fire station
Call someone, say hello, and see how they are doing, or send them a card.
Invite someone to join you on Sept 17–to worship and/or our service project in the park.