CHRIST LUTHERAN CHURCH

463 Highland Rd., Peterborough, Ontario, K9H 5J8 (705)745-0841

Pastor Scott Schellenberger – (705) 313-0333
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/christ.lutheran.peterborough
Mission Statement: “As Christians living in God’s grace we seek to demonstrate our faith in Christ by
caring, listening, and responding to the needs of the whole person, serving each other and those
beyond our Lutheran community.”

JUNE/JULY NEWSLETTER 2020

PASTOR’S MESSAGE
During the pandemic all of us have been questioning what it means to be
people of faith and how we continue to act as the Church. The following is an
article by Dr. James Emory White that gives us and many others a
perspective how the Church has been forced to change and what it might
mean when we come back together.
5 Ways the Pandemic Is Saving the Church
COVID-19 is rightly seen as a plague on our world, leaving a wake of physical
death and financial devastation in its path. Most would say it’s been terribly
distressing to the church, as most churches around the world are not able to
gather for weekly worship or physically interact as a community of faith.
What if the truth is that this pandemic might not just be serving the church,
but saving the church? What if the path most churches were on, if not forced
into a radical redirection, would have guaranteed their continued
marginalization, irrelevance and decline? What if the pandemic has forced
countless churches to change in ways that will actually allow them to grow in
both size and influence?
Consider these five ways the pandemic might just be saving the church
instead of killing it:
1. Churches have been forced to move from a weekend-centric,
crowd approach to a seven-day-a-week, incarnational approach.
While every church should embrace, celebrate and promote corporate
worship, too many churches made that celebration the end-all for the life of
the church. We say that the church isn’t bricks and mortar, but a community
of faith that can be strategically served by bricks and mortar. Yet too many
churches were never leaving the building. The goal of the church is to be the
church in the community where it resides, attempting to reach and serve in
the name of Jesus. The pandemic has broken us out of our gospel ghettos
and holy huddles and into the neighborhoods and streets where we live.
2. Churches have been forced online.
You would think the vast majority of churches were already online. They’re
not. I don’t mean they don’t have a website—most do. I mean they don’t
have an online presence. Having an online campus, or even streaming a
service on Facebook, had been pursued by a relatively small fraction of the
45,000 or so Christian churches in the technologically-advanced U.S., much
less the wider world. Now, virtually overnight, the vast majority of churches
do have an online presence. In other words, churches are finally going where
the majority of the world “lives.”
3. Churches have been forced to embrace social media.
If most churches did not have an online presence before the pandemic, it
goes without saying they were not embracing or using social media. In fact, a
recent study found that only 15% of churches in the U.S. were using Twitter
or Instagram. Yet, as churches are having to learn, social media is the
communication network of the modern world. It’s how people relate, get their
news or are “touched.” In essence, the pandemic has forced churches to
learn to communicate the way the people they are trying to reach
communicate.
4. Churches have been forced to innovate and change.
Necessity, it has been said, is the mother of invention. It is also the mother
of change. When you are forced to stop doing things the way you have
always done them, but must find a way to soldier on, you are forced into new
ways of thinking and new ways of acting. It has been quipped that the seven
last words of a dying church have always been, “We’ve never done it that
way before.” In the nick of time, at least for many churches, they are now
saying, “We must do things like never before.” That takes a church from
seven words before death, to seven words before life.
5. Churches have been brought back to mission.
When all of your methods and practices have been stripped away, you are
left with something raw and unfiltered. It’s called your mission. Case in
point? The Gideons. Imagine an organization that prints and distributes
Bibles to hotels suddenly finding that the hotels are now saying, “No thanks.”
They quickly realized that Scripture distribution was never meant to be their
main focus. The organization wanted to win people to Christ. Bibles in hotels
were just a means to an end.
“Sometimes the methods get confused with the purpose,” said Alan
Anderson, president of The Gideons International in Canada. “We took a step
back and asked ourselves, ‘What are we trying to accomplish?’” Churches
around the world are finding that much of what they had been doing to fulfill
the mission had become the mission. Now, they are seeing the true mission
in a new and liberating light.
If you had told me even three months ago that these five changes would
soon take hold of the global church in a matter of days, if not hours, I would
have assumed that it could only be the work and power of the Holy Spirit;
that a true and historic spiritual awakening must be taking place.
I would never have assumed a pandemic.
But perhaps this is precisely what is happening through the pandemic. As the
apostle Paul wrote, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of
those who love him” (Romans 8:28, NIV). As all good expositors know to
add, Paul is not saying that all things are good, just that God can work good
through all things.
Perhaps the good that God is working through this pandemic,
… is the awakening of the church we’ve all been praying for.

A Birthday Wish by Bishop Michael J. Pryse of the Eastern

Synod
Wind, fire and a group of fearful friends. And then suddenly the Spirit
descends and all is utterly, eternally, irrevocably changed. The once fearful
disciples cringe no longer. Wishful thinking and timid whispers yield to a bold
proclamation of passion and resurrection. Jesus’ disciples are quite literally
given a "second wind" and in that instant the Church of Jesus Christ is born.
Pity the poor lector who’s assigned for Pentecost Sunday! Parthians, Medes,
Elamites, Mesopotamians, Phrygians, Pamphylians, Cappadocians etc. etc.
What a strange combination of participants! But we shouldn’t be surprised.
The Christian community as described within the New Testament is
characterized by some amazing combinations of people; Jews, Samaritans
and Romans, rich and poor, slave and free, male and female. And for some,
both then and today, this is a frightening prospect.
Some years ago I was at a continuing education event where Susan Briehl
shared the story of a friend whose two daughters were preparing for the
impending birth of a third child. The youngest of the two seemed to be
adapting to the idea of an expanded family quite well, but the eldest seemed
to be focussed on this coming birth in an excessive way. She was always
asking questions. “Where will the new baby sleep? Where will the new baby
sit when we eat supper? Where will the new baby go in the car?”
Finally the mother sat down with her daughter and asked her if anything was
bothering her about this new baby. “Are you worried about something?” And
it was then, that the real question came out. The little girl said, “Well,
whenever we go out, you hold my hand and daddy holds Sonja’s hand. So
when the new baby comes, whose hand won’t get held?”
There’s a sense in which this describes our natural response to the kingdom’s
radical inclusiveness. Part of us feels that if God’s embrace is defined too
widely, if it were to really include those who are different from ourselves -
both young and old, black and the white, men and women, gay and the
straight, weak and strong, rich and the poor - we might somehow end up
with nobody holding our hand.
In the Gospel accounts Jesus promises that he will never leave us orphaned.
He will never let go of our hands! But those same accounts also call us to
reach out and grasp the hands of others. Indeed, this is one of the primary
themes of the Gospel narrative. Over and over again we encounter a
kingdom wherein people who are in the darkness of separateness and
aloneness and are called out of isolation and into the light of a new
community.
Each Pentecost Sunday, as the party is ended and the candles are
extinguished, we are sent forth to help fulfil God’s birthday wish for the
world! In part, that involves becoming a more visible sign of the kingdom’s
wonderful diversity. It means expanding the circle and grasping hands that
have previously been spurned. It means going beyond the safety of our
comfortable definitions of who is in and who is out, and to follow the light of
God’s presence to whomever and wherever that light might take us. May God
grant us the faith and courage to make that journey.

COUNCIL MINUTES – Christ Lutheran - May 12, 2020

Present: Al, Brenda, Charmaine, Janice, Liz, Marlys, Milan, Robin, Sylvia,
Pastor Regrets: Johanna
Meditation led by Pastor
Correspondence: Pastor received a letter from MPP Dave Smith regarding a
Town Hall meeting for all spiritual leaders on Wednesday, May `13.
Facebook: 80% of active people have accessed services online.
Pastor - Making phone visits to people with whom he is not normally in
contact 49 households (65 people)
Also holding weekly Bible study on Thursday morning and evening and Zoom
coffee time on Tuesdays.
Worship - Online worship - At least 40 people from the congregation are
tuning into worship through Facebook Live. In addition, Amelie Dahl from
Germany and Meredith from North Carolina are tuning in. Pastor Sue, and my
family, someone from Bahamas, many friends across the synod, and more
have been tuning in. It has had an outreach far greater than I ever expected.
Therefore, it is something that will continue after we return to regular
worship. It not only proclaims the gospel to our members but to the world.
The worship can be accessed live at 1030am on Sundays on Christ Lutheran
Church Peterborough’s facebook page. It can also be accessed all week long
in the videos saved on the page. A link directly to the service can also be
found on the church website at www.christlutheranpeterborough.com.
Holy Communion - Pastor said there was no best practices statement that
has been distributed from the national church. Online communion was
discussed. Pastor is researching this and at this time is not willing to offer
online communion. Pastor mentioned that no clergy in the area have done
this yet.
Return to church Taskforce - Pastor is establishing a task force to establish
protocol for returning to church building when that is possible.
The Bishop had a meeting with area clergy. He reviewed what they were
doing in the New Brunswick. He shared guidelines that have been introduced
for the reopening of churches which included 15 people in attendance at a
service. This could be a sign of what is to come in Ontario.
Parish Support - Robin is going to church every day and bring in offerings
and mail.
Retaining wall – Brenda says it is falling apart. Robin says next year.
Lawn cutting – Robin will email.
Treasurer
Cash on hand - $83,852.22
Current to April 30 $31,240
Income from all sources for year to April 30 $42,555
Expenses $46,123
Deficit $3567
Discussion of governmental benefits. Brenda attended Zoom meeting with
Keith Myra, Synod treasurer. Outstanding – Cameron House check for $200
not yet cashed. Brenda will call. NSF charge for $7 needs to be reimbursed.
Robin will contact Jo.
Outreach - Money continues to be collected for Kawartha Food Share.
Check will be sent for $350.
Messy Church Sylvia is considering an online Messy church for September.
Kid’s Klub - Nothing to report.
Health & Wellness - Church is clean – Robin. A virtual guest speaker
suggested by Milan and Brenda. Social - No update
Fundraising - Yard sale will be in the fall – Robin
Wine fundraiser - For the 65th anniversary. Sylvia with the help of other
donations has made the wine and will bottle it. At a suggested possible price
of $20 a bottle there would be a $1090 left over to support our congregation.
More information on ordering will follow. As part of this fundraiser charcuterie
boards will be prepared to be sold with the wine. The boards are made from
various kinds of wood such as Bird’s eye maple and cherry which Brenda
purchased from a Bancroft woodcrafter.
Mutual Ministry - Review is waiting until COVID settles. Sylvia and Pastor
had phone meeting. Charmaine asked for clarification of what mutual
ministry is. Ministry is responsibility of pastor and council. Pastor says Sylvia
is a bit of a sounding board. There are regular evaluations.
Martin Luther House Presently, all rooms are rented. July 1 one will
become available. Jo has advertising in place for this room.
Old Business - No report
New Business – Return-to-Church committee
Next meeting June 9, Tuesday, 6:30 p.m.

For those who can only stand and wait….

We, in Canada, are “doers.” Our value is measured by how much we
accomplish, or how much we have done today. The doers are exalted in our
culture. The ones who can only stand or wait are of little value. Or are they?
There are many people in this church, and in this city, and throughout the
world who are part of the healing and renewal of life for others, but will never
be known or mentioned on TV or online.
But don’t we all need to feel that we are contributing to the common good
also? Yes, but it doesn’t have to be through doing this or that big thing.
I am reminded of Jesus’ words about doing good deeds or righteous acts. He
said: “Beware of practicing your piety before others to be seen by them; for
then you have no reward from your Father in heaven. But when you give
alms, (or do any good deeds for others) do not let your left hand know what
your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your
Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.”
There are many good deeds done by people who will never be known. You
and I can always be part of that giving and loving whether others see it or
not. We can do this while never leaving our apartment or even our room in a
Long-Term Care home.
I remember visiting a woman in a home in Nova Scotia. She was often in
bed when I came to visit and was spending more of her time sleeping. I
would come and ask if she would like me to visit. She always said yes, and
so we spoke, and I prayed with her. She was always genuinely interested in
me, and when I left her I always felt good. There was a Light that emanated
from her, and to this day I can still feel that benediction, that blessing that
she gave me to me.
So, please, you beloved of the Lord, you who can’t do great things that will
get on TV in this Covid-19 time, know that God sees the alms and the good
deeds that you have done in this time. The time you smiled and brightened
a person’s day; the time you called someone up and had a great talk with
him or her; the time you prayed and then prayed again for someone or some
situation.
You may never know the good you have done. But who cares? Your left
hand doesn’t ever have to know what your right has done. Just remember:
your Father in heaven sees your good deed, and you will have God’s reward.
Pastor Beth Wagschal
May 23, 2020
Our Spring Fundraiser Is Moving Online!
As you may be aware, Robin and Sylvia had planned to do a spring wine
tasting fundraiser at the end of May, which due to current circumstances, had
to be cancelled.
As a part of this fundraising event, we were going to have for sale by
donation, bottles of commemorative wine celebrating our church’s
65th anniversary which was on May 1st. Each bottle of quality wine will be
custom labelled to celebrate this wonderful milestone and the label will
include a sketch of the church, making it a great keepsake, or, just a bottle
of delicious wine to be enjoyed with friends or family at some point in the
future. The good news is – we have decided to move our fundraiser online
and we can now take orders for your bottles of 65th anniversary
commemorative wine!
How to order: Email Robin ([email protected]) or Sylvia
([email protected]) indicating if you would like red or white wine, or a
combo gift pack of both a red and a white wine. We have 30 bottles of each
available at this time but could arrange for more if sales are brisk. Orders
are being accepted up until June 17th, with delivery anticipated before the end
of June.
Cost: This wine is available by donation, so whatever you can afford will be
greatly appreciated, however a minimum recommended donation of $15-$20
per bottle would really help to ensure the success of our fundraiser. (Please
note we cannot give receipts for your wine donation.)
Delivery: If you live in Peterborough, Robin has kindly offered to deliver
your wine and pick up payment. If you live outside of Peterborough, Robin
will make arrangements for a pick-up at the church.
All proceeds from our fundraiser will be used to support community outreach,
as well as our church, so we really appreciate your support! If we sell-out,
we should be able to raise over $1,000!
While we are truly disappointed we cannot get together right now to
socialize, have fun, learn about wine and of course eat together, we thank
you for supporting our fundraising initiative and when we can get together
again, it will definitely be a wonderful party and celebration!
COVID and our Congregational Response
These are certainly challenging times. But through all this calamity, Pastor
Scott, Council and our volunteers continue to work to ensure that the mission
of the church carries on.
You have noticed, and probably have participated in the weekly coffee times,
twice-weekly bible studies and on-line church services. All of this is a big
leap in technology for most of us, so if you have issues getting on-line to
attend, please reach out to Robin or Pastor Scott and they can help explain
the process. We realize that not everyone can participate in church activities
this way, and we don’t want to leave anyone behind. Pastor Scott and your
church friends are always available for a phone call.
You also need to be thanked for your continued support of the church
through your donations during these tough times. At the end of May we
have donated about $350 (every $1 = $6 = $2100) and 50 pounds of food to
the local food bank, and we are only $4,500 behind our budgeted giving for
the year. Thank you so much for your generosity!
The newsletter has several describing the impact of COVID-19 on worship.
We are ever hopeful for an early return to church, but the reality is that we
can’t do that until it is safe, and that may be many months away. Until then
visit our website at and do your best to embrace the new resources that are
available to keep you connected with Christ and your Christ Lutheran family.
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

June/July2020
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