April 2021 1

CROSSBEAMS

April 2021

Gathering for worship on Sunday mornings had

been one of the main corporate activities of our

congregation prior to the pandemic. By restricting

our ability to gather in the same physical space

together, we’ve been forced to look for ways to

provide a corporate worship experience that does

not require us to be in the same room. It also has us

revisiting the question, What is worship?

One way to answer that question is to look at the

elements of our worship service. If one does, one

could say that worship is: singing, praying, hearing

Scripture, hearing a sermon, professing our faith,

giving an offering, sharing the peace, receiving

communion, and receiving a blessing. Many of these

things we can provide online… Through video, we

can hear music, Scripture, sermons, and receive a

blessing. Through our DONATE button on the

website, one can give an offering. One can also sing

along to the hymns, recite a creed and if you join the

Zoom Prayer room, participate in communion.

What we hear over and over again, however, is that

it just isn’t the same. And I agree!

As one of the worship leaders, it is a strange

experience sitting in an almost empty sanctuary, not

being able to sing and speaking and preaching to a

video camera! So much of the energy, spirit and

experience of worship comes by virtue of the fact

that we are gathered together. It is a completely

different worship experience when we are singing

together and praying together and suffering through

a sermon together!

This hit home for me personally last Sunday (Easter

Sunday). Out of our intent to have our Easter

Sunday worship be as celebratory and meaningful

as possible, we chose to do it live and to include

communion in the service. As most of you are

aware, we had a major computer malfunction that

interrupted the worship during the Prayers of the

People. We eventually were able to continue

livestreaming and we continued with the prayers

and Holy Communion. In talking about it afterward,

both Pastor Laura and I agreed that our experience

of communion was less than what we experience

when we gather in the Zoom Prayer Room at 11am

on Sundays. Even though the connection is not as

“real” as being together in person, when we gather

together in the Zoom room, we can see the faces of

the others that are gathered and we experience that

we are connected to a community… And connection

is what communion is about: connection with God

through the body and blood of Jesus AND

connection with Christ’s body here on earth, our

siblings in Christ.

The latest COVID case numbers indicate that we

will still be in this “online” mode of worship for a

while. Our plan is to provide pre-recorded worship

services and to gather in the Zoom Prayer Room at

11am for communion, fellowship and sermon talk

back. We will continue to do what we can to have

this online experience be as worshipful for you as

possible.

We hope to see you in

the Zoom Prayer

Room… Peace!

Worship...online?!

Inside this issue:

Financial Stewardship 2

Richard Rohr Meditation 4

CACG Update 6

LEAD Team News 7

BB4CK 8

ELCOC Garden 9

New Council & New Members

10

Synod Wide Worship 11

Announcements 12

April 2021 2

… love God with all your heart

Yes! I’m talking about money!

Your gifts enable the ministry of Church of the Cross in so many ways.

Your gifts enable ministry. Your giving provides all of the resources we need to conduct worship and all of our gathering needs across the electronic platforms we are using: Zoom, YouTube, Facebook, and our website. Our use of these platforms has completely transformed in the last 12 months, allowing us to continue offering worship, studies, meetings, Holy Communion and gatherings. The gardening team and BB4CK still meet in person to maintain these ongoing ministries, and the pastors are available onsite for one-on-one in-person meetings for spiritual and moral support.

Your gifts provide for the

I (Pastor Laura) studied for two years with the Jewish Community Center (JCC) in San Antonio and learned something about the life of blessing that our Jewish siblings in faith are called to live. The JCC taught that the whole Jewish life is a “life of mitzvot,” meaning a “life of blessing.” God calls the community (and they call each other) to “bless one another.” In large and small ways, they create daily acts of kindness for the people around them. They taught me that the highest mitzvot a person can offer is to make it possible for someone to care for their family.

I experience the blessing of this mitzvot every day. So, thank you for creating meaningful work, providing staff salaries and compensation during this

Cantaré has also been a faithful and life-giving partner during the pandemic. They have contin-ued working onsite, adapting and flexing with the COVID restrictions and continuing to provide choral learning and participation continuously since Alberta first introduced restrictions in March 2020. They have and are contributing 100% of their rental contract, which is a huge blessing to

all of us and also enables our life together. Thank you, Cantaré for your living-giving support and friendship.

We are blessed that you are here!

Thank you for your pledges, donations, and gifts!

April 2021 3

… love God with all your soul

Monthly Financial Update (March)

Church of the Cross Financials through March 31, 2021

2021 Budget Budget YTD Actual YTD

Income * $350,000.00 $87,500.00 $67,083.44

Expenses $354,667.00 $88,666.75 $88,542.92

Balance ($4,667.00) ($1,166.75) ($21,459.48)

General Fund Balance $14,292.22

Designated/Pass Fund Balance

$111,827.36

* Includes April Cantare rent

Did you know? Canada Revenue Agency and the Province of Alberta offer incentives for charitable giving:

Facts about the Charitable Tax Credit

• When combined with the federal charitable tax credit of 29 per cent, Albertans receive a 50 per cent non-refundable tax credit for every dollar donated over the $200 threshold.

• The first $200 in donations receives a combined credit of 35 per cent.

The tax credit reduces a taxpayer’s amount owing or increases the amount being refunded.

In the simplest terms (and roughly speaking!), you get 50 cents back for every dollar you

give to registered charity.

Giving to Church of the Cross helps the church and it helps you, too!

Pledges, donations, and gifts!

Teach your children the power and blessing of generosity and giving. We have offering envelopes available for children. These have an account number that can be linked to your giving account, but unlike regular offering envelopes, they are not dated, so they can be used over an extended period of time.

Children’s offering envelopes are available by

the member mailboxes.

April 2021 4

… love God with all your mind

Week Eleven: An Expanding Love

Loving the “True You”

I very much enjoyed my time with Bishop Michael Curry, the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal

Church, when we worked together on the Reclaiming Jesus project and when I had dinner at his

house in New York City. He reminds us why we must accept God’s love for us before we can love

another:

I’ve come to see that the call of God, the love that bids us welcome, is always a call to become the

true you. Not a doormat. The true you. Not an imitation of someone else. The true you: someone

made in the image of God, deserving of and receiving love.

There is a Jewish proverb, “Before every person there marches an angel proclaiming, ‘Behold, the

image of God.’” Unselfish, sacrificial living isn’t about ignoring or denying or destroying yourself.

It’s about discovering your true self—the self that looks like God—and living life from that ground-

ing. Many people are familiar with a part of Jesus’s summary of the law of Moses: You shall love

your neighbor as you love yourself [Mark 12:31]. Yourself. Loving the self is a required balance. If

we fail in that, we fail our neighbor, too. To love your neighbor is to relate to them as someone

made in the image of God. And it is to relate to yourself as someone made in the image of God. It’s

God, up, down, and all around, and God is love.

Sometimes we can only recognize God’s love for us through the love we receive from another per-

son (whom God has loved well). The important part is that the flow of love gets started. Bishop

Curry continues:

The ability to love yourself is intimately related to your capacity to love others. The challenge is

creating a life that allows you to fulfill both needs. . . .

I’ve seen it happen enough times to be confident in saying it. Perhaps loving others saves us from

the confusion, the frustration, and ultimately the neurosis that comes when we try to center the

world around ourselves. Or perhaps it allows us to step outside the self enough to see ourselves

with some distance, for a better perspective on what’s missing. Or maybe when loving ourselves is

hard, practicing loving others strengthens the muscle enough to turn the force inward. . . .

April 2021 5

… love God with all your heart

Week Eleven: An Expanding Love

Loving the “True You” continued.

Love is a commitment to seek the good and to work for the good and welfare of others. It doesn’t

stop at our front door or our neighborhood, our religion or race, or our state’s or your country’s

border. This is one great fellowship of love throughout the whole wide earth, as the hymn goes. It

often calls us to step outside of what we thought our boundaries were, or what others expect of us.

It calls for us to sacrifice, not because doing so feels good, but because it’s the right thing to do. . . .

God’s love is everywhere, in all things, and that includes you.

Bishop Michael Curry with Sara Grace, Love Is the Way: Holding on to Hope in Troubling Times (Avery: 2020),

95–, 23, 49.

Calgary Alliance for the Common Good: Update on What’s Happening

Delegates Assembly

Bill Ogilvie and Paddy Colfer will attend via Zoom the CACG Delegates’ Assembly on April 7th, to review and approve the priorities

of the Alliance for 2021. This year’s priorities will include engaging with the Calgary Municipal elections in Fall 2021 (watch for fur-

ther information on this) as well as meetings with MLAs and senior officials of the Alberta government.

We are encouraging participation by our congregants in the following:

Foundations for Community Organizing (5 sessions beginning on April 12th

, 2021)

Learn the steps involved in organizing successful community actions and campaigns! Understand how to achieve success such as

the campaign for Mental Health by the Calgary Alliance.

A total of 10 hours of training, over the course of 5 sessions on April 12th, 14th, 19th, 21st and 26th. Please register in advance at the

website for the Calgary Alliance for the Common Good, calgarycommongood.org

Leaders’ Lunch April 19th

2021, 12 Noon – 1.30 PM: Implicit Bias

Learn about the ways in which we all make assumptions about others in the course of our interactions with them. How can we

learn to recognize these biases in ourselves and begin to free ourselves from them? Explore these issues through a lunchtime

seminar led by Dr. Valerie Pruegger on the topic of implicit bias.

Participate through Zoom link provided through the website for the Calgary Alliance for the Common Good at cal-

garycommongood.org (please register in advance).

April 2021 6

… love God with all your soul

Calgary Alliance for the Common Good

Mental Health Strategy Passes

Two weeks ago, CACG took action by asking our city councillors to pass the Mental Health strategy at committee. On Monday, March 22nd, the Calgary city council passed and will begin to implement:

A community of connections:

Calgary Mental Health and Addiction Community Strategy and Action Plan 2021-2023 In the winter of 2019, the Calgary Alliance for the Common Good conducted a listening campaign to identi-fy the issues that were of most concern for people here in Calgary. One of the top concerns that was heard was about mental health and, in particular, the mental disease epidemic amongst our youth. In the Spring of 2019, the Alliance named Mental Health as one of its priorities and began working to identify actions that could be taken to address mental illness in Calgary. After conducting this research, three particular foci were identified to advocate for

1) Trauma-informed Practice: Creating a caring culture in all Public Ser-vices

2) Mobile Response Teams: 24 hour/7 day support for Calgarians

3) Turning the Tide on Mental Health in One Generation

This advocacy effort coincided with City of Calgary’s strategy document on mental health and addictions. Due to budget stresses, this strategy and programming was threatened with cuts in July of 2019. CACG took action then, too, to stop those cuts which would have impacted the most vulnerable in our city. The strategy document is the culmination of more than two years of work: from the Keep Calgary Strong campaign to engaging with city hall over the last year and a half on mental health, and advocacy by mem-bers of the Calgary Alliance.

April 2021 7

… love God with all your mind

LEAD Centering Team News

The Centering Team met on March 15 to continue its

work of defining the mission and purpose of the

congregation. It reviewed the results of the Annual

General Meeting and the different phases of the current

LEAD contract with Peggy Hahn. It also reviewed the

decision to reframe act of serving on Council as a Call. As

part of this reframing, Council change the term

“Nominating Committee” for the group that normally tries

to find nominees for Council as a “Call Committee.”

Themes from the AGM A central theme that emerged from the AGM is that, when the pandemic ends, we shouldn’t just revert back to the way we were. We should try to keep some of the things we changed, such as livestreaming services. People generally felt it is important to keep trying new things. Other things that did emerge include:

People in the church feel cared for and part of the community

We should continue to stream services over the Internet

We should be open to new things

We should be open to change

There were other things, such as: an interest in seeing more contemporary music; a concern that we not re-open too quickly; a desire to see more children in the congregation; a desire to maintain our relationship with the Turkish community; and a feeling that we should try to make the Gospel more experiential.

Dianne Fortier, and which she has volunteered to

lead.

The possibility of running Saturday evening worship

There was some discussion as well over the concept of

slowness: the idea that the process by which God calls

people and they respond is a slow one. It is important that

the church move at a slow pace, to allow ideas to acquire

depth and power.

Specific Activities Specific ideas that came up to help increase congrega-

tional involvement included:

Re-design Ministries Bulletin Board, and add the

phrase “You Are Called by God for Good Works”

Revive a practice called “Guess Who’s coming to Din-

ner” which involved people hosting dinner parties

with an element of surprise to them

Development of a Grief Minstry, and initiative suggested

by Development of a Grief Minstry, and initiative sug-

gested by Dianne Fortier, and which she has volun-

teered to lead.

The possibility of running Saturday evening worship

There was some discussion as well over the concept of

slowness: the idea that the process by which God calls

people and they respond is a slow one. It is important that

the church move at a slow pace, to allow ideas to acquire

depth and power.

Team Building There was discussion on the need for trust when build-

ing any team like the Council, or the Centering Team, and

Peggy presented a model for team-building arising from

the book “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leader-

ship Fable” by Patrick Lencioni. The need for trust

means you have to be vulnerable: you have to reveal

your thinking in order for other members of the team to

wrestle with thoughts and ideas.

60th Anniversary

Finally, the Centering Team discussed the upcoming 60th

Anniversary of the congregation. There is a team putting together a plan of events, but the team could use more members. Council plans to discuss the Anniversary during its meeting on April 15

th.

April 2021 8

FEED A KID

GROW A FUTURE Brown Bagging for Calgary’s Kids spring campaign continues to inspire us in our LCOC kitchen!

We continue to be supported by all of our wonderful volunteers who grocery shop, make and drive lunches to 5 schools in our neighbouring communities. Our Lutheran Church of the Cross facility is an integral part to ap-proximately 85 students and they know they can count on us to provide a nutritious lunch. One story that came to me from BB4CK, was from an elementary principal. After a week of their school receiving lunches from our church, he responded with this:

“I cannot believe the impact a lunch can make! We have had an issue consistently with a grade 6 student re-garding attendance, behavior, and academics. Within a week of receiving a BB4CK lunch, the student has attended school every-single-day and that alone has not happened since starting school. In addition to attend-ing, the student’s marks and attitude have completely shifted. I cannot thank you enough for a life-altering shift. I am in shock of what a simple lunch can do! Thank you!

And another story to share came from Karin Henderson, our BB4CK Community Connector. In addition to mak-ing sure we have all that we need in the kitchen, she also talks to classrooms about the program to make sure students know we are there J Here’s Karin’s story from one school we support:

“I presented this to a grade one class at Acadia School today. When I was telling them the story of Layla and asked who she could talk to if she needed some lunches at school a little girl stood up and raised her hand. She said "I know, she can go to the office, that is where I go to get my lunch because we don't have enough food at home". My heart stopped for a second and I said "that is amazing that you know to talk to your teachers and other staff at the school to help you!" The littles all around the room were piping up about what they like to get from the school office if they need more lunch and of course the number one treat they all raved about was the popcorn balls at Christmas!! The teacher was amazing and is leading the children in normalizing brown bag lunches at school. There was no shame, no teasing, just a little girl standing there proud to be a 'brown bag kid'.

It was an emotional virtual visit to grade 1 today and I wanted to share this with you so that you know the im-pact of your work. This little kiddo has a bright future, she wants to be a nurse when she grows up ”

God continues to inspire us and to use our hands to help those that cannot help themselves.

In love,

Sasha Craven

April 2021 9

What’s Up in Your LCOC Gardens?

It’s unlikely if you park at the north doors or occasionally come in the east door, that you could have missed at least a glimpse of the Remembering Garden on the north-west corner under the sign, nor of the vegetable patch in the “backyard” of the church.

But have you ever taken a slow walk along the west side and stopped to smell the roses in the bed to the south of the big spruce trees? Or carried on along the west wall of the sanctuary and taken note of climbing roses, Saskatoon bushes, and a variety of perennials that provide a mass of life and subtle colours and textures for the pleasure of anyone walking by or driving north on Elbow Drive. Do you occasionally wander up toward the “main doors” off Elbow Drive where a cedar planter explodes with an array of annual flowers every summer?

Did you know that there is a team at work planning a new project for the far south-west end of the property? That work will begin soon and you will be kept informed by the Forestry Team about how you can contribute to, or be involved in creating a forest of native trees and shrubs on that corner.

Our gardens have evolved over the past fifteen years from an initiative set in motion by Judy Shore-Isford. Judy is a gardener and she knew that there was much more that we could add to that one long west wall perennial garden to create a property that would offer pleasure to our community, good stewardship of this land, and cultivate a place of colour and joy to the glory of God.

What will this spring and summer bring to the gardens? We have enlarged the vegetable gar-den to include an additional plot for potatoes, giving us more room in the fenced area for the other crops --- beans, carrots, beets, parsnips and zucchini --- that we donate to the Food Bank in late summer and fall.

In the Remembering Garden, where a few tulips manage to emerge most years just in time to feed the church rabbit, we plan to encircle the rose bush in the centre of the garden with a full bed of tulips, with a rabbit proof covering (design is pending) and will plant those bulbs in the fall. In late summer we will be welcoming you to donate bulbs in your favourite colours for this new addition to this garden that carries so much meaning for all of us.

We have a team of loyal gardeners, who faithfully seed, and weed, and harvest and prune, but gardening, albeit a labour of love, is indeed labour. We have our arms open wide to anyone who would like to join our group. No regular commitments required. Each time there is work to be done, we simply send out a call by email and those who can come, do.

I urge you, even if you are not able to take an active role in the gardens, that you simply spend time revel-ling in the miracle of rebirth and growth.

We will likely be seeding the vegetables in mid-May, weather permitting. It is our hope that on the Sunday following the seeding we can gather at the end of the worship service for a blessing of the gardens.

Wishing everyone a beautiful springtime

April 2021 10

Welcome, New Council Members! Nora and Paige Kotlar (Logan and Stacey’s young daughters) have a homeschooling classroom at the church Monday and Tuesday mornings. They are

learning from a homeschooling curriculum called the Good and the Beautiful; a recent Language Arts story called “The Kingdom of Kind” teaches that

happiness is the result of work, service and gratitude. They have been practicing those virtues every day….

We have to tell you, this is a happy place!

Inspired by “The Kingdom of Kind” (and of course our God), we are grateful to Carolyn Lewis, Wendy Allison McCulloch, Betty Bourque and Richard Janzen for joining Bill Ogilvie, Sasha Craven, Nyajuok Kulang, Archie Wells, and Hilary Gray on our Congregational Council. For all of you, we pray that God’s joy (and happiness) find you as you work and serve on council.

Welcome, New Members! On Easter Sunday, we welcomed Shirley, Rachael and Micah Schartner, Emily Reimer, Jean Dacko, and Paddy Colfer into membership at Church of the Cross. We are inspired by your love of scripture, your passion for justice and wholeness, and by your friendship. As we welcome you into this place, we pray that God blesses you and he entire congregation by multiplying the gifts you bring. We know God is calling us to be together for the sake of our community and the whole world. We can’t wait to see what work God and we will do together!

Each family received a “Welcome Kit,” including a welcome banner, handmade wooden cross (“Thank you” to the anonymous friend among us who continues to make and provide these beautiful crosses, a membership certificate, member directory, offering envelopes, a member mailbox, …and cookies!

Welcome!

April 2021 11

Bishop Larry Kochendorfer will be the preacher at our Synod-Wide Easter

Celebration.

This worship service will be live-streamed (happening in real time at 10 am Sunday

morning) and available on our website. This worship will be recorded and available

following air time. Our Zoom Prayer Room will be open for Holy Communion, fellowship

and Sermon Talk Back immediately following the worship service. Access the

Zoom Prayer Room on our website.

How to Access Live Streaming YouTube

When you click on a video link from our church website they are usually recorded.

As such, we are able to add the video to our website and it is accessible with one click.

Live streaming Video requires another click or two.

There will be a link on our website - in the usual place (under the Worship tab). That link will take you to the YouTube page of

Hosana Edmonton Office. From there you click on Hosana Lutheran Livestream.

Call the church office (403) 255-4792 to schedule a time to meet with your pastor(s). Physical distancing and building safety protocols prevent in-home visits, but they do allow for one-on-one (or two-on-two!) socially distanced visits at church in the comfy chairs. You can bring your own beverage or the church can supply coffee or tea. You will need a mask to enter the building and we ask that you register your attendance and sanitize your hands upon entry.

Coffee, Conversation, and Support

April 2021 12

… love God with all your heart

Just look at these beautiful Prayer Shawls that have come

pouring into the church. These beautiful knitted and crocheted offerings will be a wonderful gift

of comfort.

Basically Babies is a Calgary based organization that puts together, among other things, a layette gift for new mothers. This box of 7 layers and 110 items supplies everything that a

baby will need in their first year. They are especially seeking donations of handmade blankets and hats. Baby items are such a joy to create. Let’s help fill those layette boxes

with prayers and love.

April 2021 13

… love God with all your soul

Call for Purple! The floor loom in the narthex will be warped and ready for weaving by May 1. Our commu-nal congregation-wide project will be two 15-foot purple weavings for the season of Lent. This project will take several months to complete; our plan is to complete our weavings in time for Lent 2022.

Although we have a lot of purple materials already, we would like to incorporate purple fabric from your life and family into these weavings. Do you have an old shirt, tablecloth, dress, or other purple garment or fabric that you would like to donate? Bring your PURPLE items to the church and leave them in the donation bin by the member mailboxes. Any var-iation of purple will do; we will make use of every item that is given to us. These items will be cut and woven into the Lenten weavings and obviously will not be returned. They will, however, be blessed and dedicated for the worship of God in our sanctuary.

If you would like to learn to weave and take a turn working on this communal project, call or email the church office. We’ll let you know when we are underway…and we’ll make sure you’re trained and ready to go! The intent is to allow people to enter the church and weave on their own, whether or not we are still experiencing pandemic restrictions. Weaving is a simple and repetitive (and therefore meditative) practice that can empower both your pray-er life and your creative expression. We pray you will give it a try!

April 2021 14

… love God with all your mind

Having trouble accessing the website

or using Zoom? We’re here to help!

These are certainly trying times and your church is here to help you stay connected.

Call the church office (403) 255-4792 if you’re having trouble. We’re here to help!

Call for Puppet Show Makers! Our online curriculum: A Joyful Path has a puppet show every week to help illustrate the day’s message. If you like making puppets & short videos, we’re glad to include your work in our Sunday morning Worship for Kids. Call the church office (403) 255-4792, and we’ll set you up with a story and some basic guidelines.

April 2021 15

Donations

WISHLIST for

BB4CK

Pastoral Care during COVID-19

Pastors Phil and Laura are available for one-on-one in-person conversations during the pandemic. We can schedule to meet with you at the church following COVID-19 building protocols:

• Upon building entry, you must register your presence, mask, and sanitize your hands.

• You may bring a personal beverage, or we can provide coffee or tea following COVID-19 preparation restrictions.

• We will meet face-to-face in the “comfy” chairs, six feet apart.

While it seems that these restrictions hamper our interactions, there really is a great deal of benefit provided from face-to-face interactions. We can see each other, talk, laugh, and pray together. It is heal-ing to be in each other’s presence.

We are also available by phone or Zoom, if in-person meeting is not an option for you.

Remember that your mental, physical, and spiritual health and safety are our highest priority. If you would like to see one