Tag: Lutheran

Ash Wednesday


Members & Friends of Immanuel:

The Lord be with you.

On this day the Church begins a Season of reflection on Jesus’ Passion, Cross and Resurrection. Ash Wednesday is the first day in the annual 40-day journey of Lent. Our destination is the empty tomb and arriving at Easter with glad hearts, keeping the Feast “in sincerity and truth.”

Beginning tonight, Immanuel will offer Services the next 6 Wednesday evenings. Our 2019 Midweek theme is based on the Lenten hymn, “Lamb of God, Pure and Holy,” and will explore key passages in the Scriptures that focus on Jesus Christ as the LAMB OF GOD who takes away the sin of the world. Learn more about the theme and schedule here. View the events on facebook here. Tonight’s Liturgy will offer the Imposition of Ashes and Holy Communion. Ashes are a sign of repentance, sorrow and our need for grace. Ashes will be available for all ages and are entirely voluntary.

Immanuel’s Church Council is preparing and serving a Pancake & Sausage Supper that begins tonight at 6:00 PM. The Ash Wednesday Liturgy begins at 7:00 PM.

Daily devotion booklets for Lent are available for your use on the desk in the Narthex. Or you can receive them in your email inbox by subscribing here: Lenten Devotions :: Lutheran Hour Ministries

Please join us as we mark the beginning of Lent.

O Lord, throughout these forty days
You prayed and kept the fast;
Inspire repentance for our sin,
And free us from our past.
(LSB 418:1)

Pastor VanOsdol

Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events Presentation

 

Immanuel is thankful to Captain John Gardner, Ret. for taking the time on Thursday January 31, 2019 to present “Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events” as part of Immanuel’s continuing education and effort to maintain Immanuel Lutheran Church and School campus security. If you were unable to attend, both video and audio of the presentation are available.

YouTube video: https://youtu.be/qmxSMb5jUJY

Podbean podcast audio: https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-s57qy-a6be4e

We ask our Father in heaven, through His Son our Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, to preserve Immanuel Lutheran Church and School as a safe place of Christian worship and education, and as a refuge of peace to all who are in need. Amen.

Learn more about the Avoid | Deny | Defendâ„¢ three-step plan for surviving an active shooter event at http://www.avoiddenydefend.org/.

If you would like more information about the CRASE course, please visit https://alerrt.org/page/CivilianResponse.

 

A hand pointing to the word ministry mapping.

A New Name to Know: Ministry Mapping


As February begins, so does the next Step in the planning process Immanuel has engaged through the Lutheran Church Extension Fund. And one thing to which to alert you is a new name.

Since September, we have been talking about VisionPath: the name for Step One in the planning process that has consisted of the Congregational Survey and Vision Event and culminated in a Vision Statement. This Step has involved much work by the VisionPath Leadership Team that was commissioned, specifically, for this Step in the process. This Step and their work now complete, I want to thank them for their work as we begin the next Step in the process.

As we move forward from VisionPath, the name you will now be hearing is Ministry Mapping. This is the name for Step Two in the planning process. Working with our Facilitator, Rev. Billy Brath, in the last days of January I began work on Ministry Mapping: work that will include developing a mission statement and congregational values and mapping the work the congregation is doing today. Now that we have the Vision Statement, I have some homework:

  • Answering the question what Immanuel Lutheran Church & School needs to be doing to make the Vision Statement a reality?
  • Defining some of the Values of Immanuel Lutheran Church & School

All of this is in preparation for Rev. Brath’s next visit to Immanuel on February 6, when he will meet with me and the staff members currently involved in the daily operations of the church and school.

As there are no events or activities involving the entire congregation for a few weeks, updates on the work going on will be given on Sunday mornings, in Council and Voters’ meetings and in this space. Stay tuned! And thank you for your interest in and enthusiasm for moving forward Immanuel’s mission and ministry!

Pastor VanOsdol

A bell with the words now hiring handbell director.

Handbell Director Job Opening


Immanuel Lutheran Church & School

Simpsonville, South Carolina

Job Description: Handbell Director

Goal of the position:

Support a church music program that includes at least one offering of special music (vocal choir, handbells, instrumentalists, soloists, etc.) each Sunday from September-May.

Duties and Responsibilities:

  1. Direct a handbell choir in weekly rehearsals in preparation for participation in Sunday Services from September through May.
  2. Prepare the choir for participation in special Services throughout the Church Year, including: Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday and Good Friday (as determined by consultation with Pastor, Organist and Choral Director).
  3. Recruit members to the choir, providing an atmosphere of community and musical learning.
  4. Cooperate with the Pastor, Organist and Choral Director to accomplish planning tasks and provide leadership to the music program.
  5. Perform these duties under the direct responsibility of the Board of Elders and in keeping with the congregation’s annual budget.

Skills and Qualifications:

  1. Experience in handbell conducting, knowledge of appropriate church music and ability to relate to others with good interpersonal skills required.
  2. Music degree and knowledge of the role of music in Lutheran worship preferred, but students and new graduates are invited to apply.

Compensation:

  1. Salary is negotiable and will be based on an expected number of hours per week (September-May) in preparation, rehearsal and performance.
  2. Compensation is paid on the 15th and last day of each month.
  3. Church musician continuing education will be reimbursed up to $250 annually.

Please copy and paste your cover letter and resume below to submit an inquiry about this position. You may be asked to email an electronic copy of your cover letter and resume once your inquiry is received. You may also contact the church office at 864-297-5815.

[contact-form to=’[email protected], [email protected]’ subject=’Handbell Director Job Inquiry’][contact-field label=’Name’ type=’name’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Email’ type=’email’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Cover Letter’ type=’textarea’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Resume’ type=’textarea’ required=’1’/][/contact-form]

VisionPath for Immanuel


“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.â€
(Jeremiah 29:11)

What a blessing to have so many of you invest in Immanuel by lending your voices to the conversation about our future at the Voters’ Assembly on June 24! The decision made in that conversation is to partner with Lutheran Church Extension Fund (LCEF) in embarking on VisionPath: a facilitated process to discover God’s vision for Immanuel’s ministries.

VisionPath is an approximately 10-week process, which for us will begin this August and conclude in October. Some highlights include:

  • The formation of a Leadership Team to work with me and our Facilitator (Rev. Billy Brath) to engage the entire congregation in the process
  • Participation in a Congregational Survey, to give every Immanuel member a voice in the process
  • Attendance at the Vision Event, where Pastor Brath will lead us in the processing of questions and the voicing of ideas
  • The production of a Vision Statement, summarizing our shared vision of the mission and ministry of the congregation

Converting the dreams of VisionPath into realities will require more time and effort. As VisionPath draws to a conclusion, we will come again as a congregation in the September Voters’ Assembly to consider the next steps (what LCEF calls Ministry Mapping & Messaging) and whether to continue with them.

This month, much of the groundwork for VisionPath will be laid behind the scenes. When our Summer break has ended, we will be rested and ready to embark on the journey of VisionPath. Here we go!

The peace of the Lord be with you always.

Pastor VanOsdol

What’s Next for Immanuel?


Sisters & Brothers in Christ:

In my Pentecost Sunday Sermon, I surveyed many of the recent blessings we have enjoyed at Immanuel Lutheran Church & School:

  • Immanuel Lutheran School continues to thrive and will begin its 25th year of service to the congregation and community in the Fall of this year. ï‚·
  • We have celebrated many Baptisms, New Members and Confirmands in recent weeks. ï‚·
  • All the while, the Quilters keep quilting and the Braille Workers keep working and the Bible Studiers keep studying and the Family Fun Night crew is helping forge family connections.

There are other signs of life and growth:

  • Sunday morning attendance is blossoming: from an average of 72 people per Sunday in 2013, to 77 in 2014, 89 in 2015, 101 in 2016, 113 last year, and over 130 so far in 2018. ï‚·
  • Your giving has been very generous: Not only did we pay off and burn the remaining mortgage last year, but we are now contributing to a monthly budget line item called Future Expansion and at the end of the year will also deposit any budgetary surplus into that fund. ï‚·
  • Our recent Youth Movement is creating a need to have more Busy Bags available and think about expanding again the Family Section in the back of the Sanctuary. (On a recent Sunday, a visiting family with several young children sat in the front row because that was the only space available for a family their size. As it turns out, they were visiting from a local LCMS church and were OK with being in the spotlight up front.)

I also mentioned on Pentecost Sunday that things have been so busy lately that I completely overlooked the opportunity to highlight the 30th Anniversary of Immanuel becoming a member congregation of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (we were welcomed into the LCMS on April 29, 1988).

I could go on. I won’t. These are just some of the blessings God has been sending our way lately. And this abundance of blessings is leading your congregational leadership to ask good questions about our future.

What needs do we now have? In what ways do the changes in our church neighborhood affect us? What do we see Immanuel’s future mission and ministry looking like in terms of:

  • Spiritual growth? ï‚·
  • Immanuel Lutheran School? ï‚·
  • Facilities? ï‚·
  • Staffing? ï‚·
  • Care for our members? ï‚·
  • Stewardship? ï‚·
  • Outreach and service to the Five Forks community?

In May, your Church Council welcomed Rev. Billy Brath, a consultant with Lutheran Church Extension Fund (LCEF), who gave a presentation about Ministry Clarity. Ministry Clarity is a planning process offered by LCEF to help congregations like ours develop a plan for congregational ministry today and into the future.

After the presentation, the Council moved to recommend to the June Voters’ Assembly that Immanuel utilize this process to help guide our future and come together as faithful stewards to live out our purpose in God’s Kingdom in this place. If adopted, this planning process would begin in the Fall of this year.

Please save the date of June 24 and plan to attend that Sunday’s Voters’ meeting to hear about this process and lend your voice to the conversation about Immanuel’s future!

The peace of the Lord be with you always.

Pastor VanOsdol

Three Holy Days and Easter Schedule


Members & Friends of Immanuel:

The Lord be with you.

Today, the Church begins the journey through the Three Holy Days of Christ’s Passover from death to life and captivity to freedom.

You are invited to observe Maundy Thursday with us in a Service that begins tonight at 7:00 PM. The Maundy Thursday Service consists of the Liturgy of Reconciliation, the Service of the Word, the Service of the Sacrament and the Stripping of the Altar. The Service ends with the Altar and Chancel adornments being removed, while Psalm 22 is chanted, in preparation for Good Friday.

Tomorrow, the Church continues the journey with a Good Friday Service that begins at 7:00 PM. The Good Friday liturgy of Tenebrae (Darkness) features psalms, hymns, and a reading from the Old Testament’s book of Lamentations. This Service of reflection, intercession and quiet meditation ends in darkness as we watch and pray with Our Lord.

Saturday evening at the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd (Get Directions) is the first of the Easter celebrations. The Great Vigil of Easter has ancient roots and features candlelight, Old Testament Readings rehearsing God’s great salvation acts, Baptismal remembrance and the first hearing of the Easter Gospel. This is a joint Service offered by the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod congregations in Greenville (Good Shepherd), Simpsonville (Immanuel), Spartanburg (Lamb of God) and Anderson (Abiding Savior). The Easter Vigil begins at 8:00 PM.

Easter at Immanuel begins with a Sunrise Service at 7:15 AM. This Service will begin outside the front doors of the church and feature a procession into the Sanctuary. The Lord’s Supper will be celebrated.

Easter Breakfast will be served from 8:45-10:00 AM (there will be no Sunday School or Adult Bible Class).

For the children, there will be an Easter Egg Hunt at 9:45 AM.

The Resurrection of Our Lord will again be celebrated in a Festival Service (with Holy Communion) at 10:30 AM on Sunday.

Watch, pray, and celebrate this holiest time of the year with our Lord and with your Immanuel family.  A blessed Holy Week to you.

Pastor VanOsdol 

The Gospel In 7 Words-continued


“But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.†(1 Peter 3:15)

Lenten Journey

The Church’s annual 40-day Lenten journey to our Lord’s Cross and Empty Tomb continues. We continue our sermon series “The Gospel in 7 Words” for the next 3 weeks, culminating in “The Gospel in Your Words.” Join us!

Death & Life
Wednesday, March 7
Midweek Lent 4

Isolation & Community
Wednesday, March 14
Midweek Lent 5

The Gospel in Your Words
Wednesday, March 21
Midweek Lent 6

Learn more about The Gospel in 7 Words series.