Greetings from Bethlehem on December 17^th and 18^th

On the weekend of December 17^th and 18^th, the Fourth Sunday of Advent, the “little town of Bethlehem” will be on our hearts and minds – and not because it is only a few days before Christmas. In all three worship services this weekend, and at the 9:30 Discipleship Hour, we will have among us tangible connections to the place of our Savior’s birth.

Traveling Communion Ware at RLC . . . .

At the 2005 ELCA Churchwide Assembly in Orlando this summer, voting members heard greetings from Rabbi Eric Yoffie and Bishop Munib Younan of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land as a part of the “Peace Not Walls - Stand for Justice in the Holy Land” campaign. Both are working for non-violent, peaceful resolutions to the long-standing conflicts between Jews and Palestinians, which include Lutheran Palestinians in that “little town” of Bethlehem.

Sets of earthen communion ware, crafted in Bethlehem, were used at the Assembly and are now making their way across congregations of the ELCA. The set given to the Indiana-Kentucky Synod began its journey with the synod council meeting September 16 and is now traveling from congregation to congregation on its way to the 2006 Indiana-Kentucky Synod Assembly. The “Communion Ware Journey” gives congregations the opportunity to:

• Use the vessels in Holy Communion as a reminder and witness to our partnership in mission with our sisters and brothers in the Holy Land

• Learn about and pray for Palestinian Christians and their Muslim and Jewish neighbors

• Learn how to advocate for peace with justice in Israel and Palestine

The Bethlehem Communion ware with be with us the weekend of December 17-18.

Leif Carlson at 9:30 Discipleship Hour . . . .

Also with us this weekend will be Leif Carlson, (Kathy Carlson’s oldest son) who spent last summer, from June to August on the West Bank and Gaza in Palestine. Lief was in Palestine through an organization called Holy Land Trust, who set up housing, internships, Arabic classes, and travel opportunities. He lived with a Palestinian Christian family just outside Bethlehem and worked for a Palestinian Christian organization in Bethlehem as well.

Leif will look at the complicated issues and ongoing conflict through a human lens, and tell stories about the people he lived and worked with last year. His hope is, especially at Christmas time, to offer the vision of hope he still found in the land that many would label as hopeless. He found that while it has been a constant struggle for the Palestinian people under occupation, they still remain hopeful for a peaceful solution to the conflict. This is also the goal behind the inter-faith effort of the “Peace Not Walls” program. Additional information and resources may be found through the ELCA’s website at: http://www.elca.org/PeaceNotWalls

Music Sunday

Music Sunday, December 11^th at 8:00 and 10:45, will be full of beautiful Advent and Christmas music by our Resurrection choirs. Join us for this inspirational service as we give glory to the coming Savior.

Many ❝Thanks❞ . . . .

• Thanks to everyone at RLC for the cards, calls, prayers and gifts. It makes this long recovery a lot easier to know so many care – Barb Klemesrud

• Thank you for the condolences and cards received following the death of our father and grandfather, Robert Biltz. They were comforting and appreciated. – The John Biltz Family.

•Thank you Lesley McDougal, Laura Hewitt, and Ellen Daugherty for leading a fun-filled educational evening of Harry Potter movie marathon discussion.

• Thank you for serving their tour of duty on the Good Steward S. S. Discipleship: Holly Dorris, Connie Wiernicki, Karen Oster, Barbara Kistler, Teresa Hoffman, Lisa Doughty, John Eaglesfield, Jodi Giorgianni, Ed Kistler, Leslie & Byron Daugherty, Joanne Scheidelmeier, Scott Deitch, Penny Welch, & Natasha George!

RLC Book Club . . . .

The Chronicles of NARNIA

For over 50 years, C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia book series have been embraced by hundreds of millions of readers, young and old alike. These classic tales have brought adventure, enchantment and valuable moral lessons to people from all walks of life.

On Thursday, December 8, 2005 beginning at 6:30pm in the RLC Fellowship Hall we will have a book discussion about The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe prior to its release as a motion picture by Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media the next day. Following our discussion on Thursday evening, we will attend a matinee on Sunday, December 11.

Please R.S.V.P. to Julie Peralta at: julie@rlcindy.org if you are interested in attending the book discussion and/or matinee. We believe it is a book and film that will provide a wonderful opportunity for Caring Conversations about positive moral values and lessons. Looking forward to our conversations on Thursday, December 8. –The Library Team.

“Beans & Rice” – A Success!!

Thank you to everyone who helped prepare the beans & rice, but most importantly thank you to the folks of Resurrection for your generosity. We have gathered $727 plus matching funds from Thrivent, with half going to help the families of Grace Lutheran Church in Mississippi and half helping our youth attend the National Youth Gathering next summer in San Antonio, Texas. Our youth took some of the moneys for Grace and purchased toys that parents from Grace can give to their children for Christmas.

Among the many victims of Hurricane Katrina was our sister church, Grace Lutheran, in Long Beach, Mississippi. Their pastor, Barbara Hunter, was among the 20 families in the congregation who lost absolutely everything in the storm. Due to the wonderfully generous response of the members of RLC, we have been able to send checks totaling approximately $7100 to Grace so that Pastor Barb can help the neediest in her church and community. The following is an excerpt from her letter to our congregation:

“The gifts you have sent have been used to help people with down payments on new cars after theirs were washed away, for tires after all of us have run over so much debris, for help with utility bills, for motel room costs for those still away because there is no home to return to, for medical expenses, to buy needed items for our distribution center, to help with down payments on new homes, to buy cleaning supplies and building materials, and for just general living expenses while so many try to replace everything they owned.

We have been deeply wounded and frightened, but we will heal with the promises and strength come from our God and the love and concern that has come from you. Thank you again from the depths of our hearts and may God bless you for your compassion.” – Pr. Barb Hunter

Beyond our initial offering of financial assistance, there have been on-going efforts to help the folks at Grace Lutheran. The Youth Group has donated the proceeds from their recycling program and also donated monies from their Rice & Beans fundraiser. Classroom supplies, donated from church members during the fall school drive, have been shipped to Long Beach and we still have more to send as soon as they have the storage space. Special thanks to Suzanne Fortenberry for helping with our shipments! Additionally, our member Paul Wessel has traveled to the area with a group of volunteers to help in the clean-up effort. Several of his pictures from the Long Beach/Pass Christian area are on the bulletin board in the narthex. According to Pastor Barb, one-third of Long Beach was destroyed in the hurricane and the rebuilding will take years to accomplish. At this time, we are tentatively planning to send a group to Long Beach in March of 2006 during Spring Break. As plans firm up, there will be details made available. In the meantime, if anyone is interested in traveling to the Gulf Coast to help, contact Paul Wessel and he can give you contacts here on the southside.

We have asked Pastor Barb for a current “wish list” and here are her requests:

All of the above items can be placed in the wooden box in the narthex. Although we hope to send a large shipment shortly after Thanksgiving – donations of bed linens and hooded sweatshirts can be an on-going item. As the weather continues to cool, items of warmth will be a God-send! Please check the bulletin board for details. (Continued next page)

(Grace Lutheran Update continued)

Money is also still a huge need in the Long Beach area. If you wish to donate money to Grace Lutheran’s Samaritan Fund, please make your check payable to Resurrection with Grace Lutheran clearly indicated in the memo line.

A ministry team has been chartered to coordinate our partnership with Grace Lutheran. If you would like to serve with this team, please contact Paul Wessel or Donna Thomsen. Again, thank you for your continued prayers and generous support for our brothers and sisters in Christ at Grace and the entire Long Beach community.

– Donna Thomsen

S.A.M.’s Club

The Senior Adult Ministry will meet at the church on Monday, Dec. 19 at 6:00pm for a pitch-in dinner and carol singing. Meat will be provided – bring a dish of food to share. Also, please bring a child’s hat, gloves or mittens unwrapped to donate to Lutheran Child & Family Services as a gift in Jesus’ name to a needy child.

Kids Club Caroling

On Sunday, December 18 the Kids Club will go caroling to members of RLC. We will meet in the youth room at 12:15pm for lunch, distribute cookies for our members, and depart on our caroling adventure. The kids will return to RLC by 3:30pm. Please bring a dozen cookies to share with our members we carol to, along with your best singing voice. Parents we will need drivers, remember the new booster seat law – which means more drivers. Please sign-up on the bulletin board across from Ms. Julie’s office. If you have any questions, email her at: julie@rlcindy.org.

One worship service

Sunday, Dec. 25

and Sunday, Jan. 1

at 10:00am

Welcome! RLC’s New

Director of Business Affairs

We are delighted to welcome Ed Kistler to our staff team at Resurrection – our treasurer Gary Myers and the host of folks who have assisted him with countless volunteer hours might even use a stronger word than “delighted!”

Ed takes on this newly created part-time staff position with an equal delight, as he has long dreamed of using “part-time retirement” to “give back” somehow to the larger Church, only to have this opportunity happen right here at home at RLC. Not only is his financial and business ownership background more than we could have expected for the “book work” part of the ministry description, but his considerable people and managerial skills and background make him a superb match for the “steering team” part of the ministry description.

As you may recall from the letter announcing this position earlier in the fall, especially over the past three to five years, our Council has tracked the growing complexity in financial accounting, congregational giving, tracking of purchases and invoices, payroll and tax forms, etc. and has only been able to “avoid” this step through volunteers like Loren Hewitt, Gary Myers, Rita Chambers, Kris Hornsby, Dave Strakis, Mike Wise, Joyce Tucker and others. We owe these folks much gratitude as Ed now begins to pick up the bits and pieces they all have shared.

Ed will be a part of our regular staff meeting on Monday’s, and as of this writing, plans to spend a portion of his regular 20 hrs. per week at the church for the remainder of the afternoon. More details will come, but for now, please welcome Ed to the team!

FaithBuilders & Youth Group

Yes - It’s time to begin planning for the RLC FaithBuilders & Youth Group Annual Ski Trip up north! Mark your calendar - January 13-16 (tentatively plan on leaving Friday). Plan on two days of skiing or snow-boarding along with conversation, fellowship, movie and game time!

The cost for the weekend will be $125 per participant. (If you do not wish to ski, but want to come along on the trip, please contact Julie Peralta.) Registration forms have been mailed to Faith Builders & Youth Group; if you did not receive a registration form, pick one up from the bulletin board across from Ms. Julie’s office. The deadline is December 11, 2005.

Children of all ages need help understanding why we worship. People come to church because they love God. During worship we can learn about God, talk to God, thank and praise God. Prior to sitting down in worship walk with your child around the Nave and talk about kneeling at the rail, point out the pulpit and altar, show them the stained glass windows or banner; when seated point to the lighted candles on the altar – these will help your child stay attentive during the worship time.

No Sniffles in the nursery!

Just a friendly reminder during the cold and flu season, for your child to utilize the nursery they must be fever free for 24 hours. This will help prevent other children, volunteers, and staff members from becoming ill. Thank you!

– The Child Care Ministry Team

Crew Leaders Needed . . . .

What does it take to be a Crew Leader? Love for Christ, passion for Christ, love for children, and enthusiasm! During the January rotation we are seeking individuals to help the children learn the story of Samuel through Games, Computers, Art, Drama, Cooking, and Movies. Please sign-up by the Safe Harbor (located beside the youth room) if you have a desire to serve on the S.S. Discipleship January rotation.

Discipleship Hour Corner . . .

During the Fall our young people were learning about fairness, Martin Luther, stewardship, and of course the birth of Jesus. In January we will be discovering what it means to listen to God’s call through the eyes of Samuel. Beginning with the January rotation the children and Crew Leaders will gather in the Fellowship Hall at 10:15am for closing time together. During our closing we will learn songs, discuss the stories, and celebrate baptisms. To ensure we have everyone’s baptismal birthday, please notify the church office no later than December 22.

During the month of November the children (3-years-old through 12^th grade) have received offering envelopes. We are asking the children to place their Discipleship Hour offering in the envelopes to be placed in the offering plates during worship. These funds are still designated for Juan Carlos in Colombia, South America.

Faith Talk:

Caring Conversations

What does the Golden Rule (Do unto others what you would have them do unto you) mean to you?

A nursery will be provided

all three services on

Christmas Eve!

“Why God?” – Youth Group Leads Adult Class Dec. 11

Evolution Wars – Intelligent Design – The Big Bang – What does this have to do with me?

Over the past ten weeks or so, the Youth Group has been discussing just that . . . what do evolution wars have to do with us, how does this relate to me as a Christian, why would I want to discuss any of this at church?

These are some of the many questions the Youth Team has been addressing and on Sunday, December 11 during the 9:30 Adult Discipleship Hour the youth and their guides will be sharing some of the answers with the members of RLC in the nave. Come find out why Evolution Wars, arguments about intelligent design, and more relate to us as Christians.

Men’s Breakfast & Bible Study

The next Men’s Breakfast will be

Saturday, December 10 at 7:30am.

The Courage to Confess

Key verse: James 5:16

Goals for growth:

✫ Recognize the need to practice biblical openness and confession with other men.

✫ Understand the consequences of living a secret life of sin.

✫ Embrace the practice of being honest with God, with ourselves, and with others.

Breakfast begins at 7:30am with bible study at 8:00am and concluding at 9:00am.

Christmas Eve5:00pm Worship: Come and join family and friends as we gather children together — young and old — in an informal worship of lessons, carols, and telling the story; concluding with the traditional candle-lit “Silent Night.” A nursery will be provided.

7:00pm and 9:00pm Worship: The majesty and awe of the Gospel of Christ’s incarnation, celebrated with processional readings, preaching, special music and the first Com-munion of Christmas; concluding with the traditional candle-lit “Silent Night.” A nursery will be provided.

Christmas Day

10:00am Worship: Begin this festive day with your Resurrection church family as we gather together around Word and Sacrament and the wonderful hymns of Christmas.