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Rushford Lutheran Church
News at RLC

Worship Schedule - 5:30 p.m. Saturday Evening Service 9:00 a.m. Sunday Worship Service 10:00 a.m. Sunday Fellowship   10:05 - 11:05 Family Education 10:05 - 11:05 Confirmation Classes 10:05 - 11:05 Adult Bible Study Check out Youth & Education to see what is happening. ___________________________________________ Now on sale –  Scrumptious Salads & Blissful Bars Cookbooks  $7/EACH  Available to purchase after Sunday worship services or pick your copy up at the church office.  Treasurer’s Report January 31, 2010   Balance brought forward 12/31/09 $ 12,149.18   TOTAL RECEIPTS                          $  22,045.35   DISBURSEMENTS                           $- 24,564/12   TOTAL ON HAND 01/31/10         $    9,630.41   Finance & Stewardship 2010 Campaign The little things can add up to make a BIG difference!  Remember to keep filling your containers with your loose change. Once full, hand in to the church office with your name on it.     PAROCHIAL REPORT Transfer(s) In: None. Transfer(s) Out: None. Baptism(s): Baby Skalet (2/13) and Baby Eide (2/14) Marriage(s): None. Death(s): None ___________________________________________ Dear People of Rushford Lutheran, This note is to inform you that I am retiring from full time ministry effective the end of February, 2010.  It has been a wonderful and fulfilling 38-year journey.  My years at RLC (83-92) were very special.  The memories of your faithfulness and our partnership in the gospel remain strong. We enjoyed living in the community of Rushford.  Mary sends her greetings and love.  Thank you for being an important part of our life.  For now, we will continue to enjoy living in Duluth.  God's blessings to RLC. Pastor Jim Nelson

PRAYER PYRAMID - If you have a special prayer concern that you would like to share, please call Gladys Iverson (864-7285) or fill out the prayer concern card found in back of the pews and hand it to an usher before the church service.   SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATIONS ARE NOW AVAILABLE -- DUE SUNDAY, APRIL 4. Rushford Lutheran Church’s high school seniors interested in receiving Servanthood Scholarships are invited to apply for a RLC Scholarship/Grant if you are planning to attend a technical school or college. Also, students of an ELCA college in their 2nd -4th year who are members of our congregation may also apply. Scholar-ship applications are available in the church office. These applications must be returned to the church office on or before Sunday, April 4, 2010. No late applications will be considered. Personal Care Kits to Haiti WE NEED YOUR HELP! The Social Ministries Committee, in conjunction with the Family Education of RLC, are collecting and assembling Personal Care Kits for Haiti. Here is our list: Ø     HANDTOWELS, Ø     WASH CLOTHES, Ø     BAR BATH SOAPS, Ø     NON-METAL NAIL FILES, Ø     PLASTIC COMBS, Ø     BANDAIDS, Ø     TOOTHBRUSHES   Please bring as many of these items as you can to our Pink Flamingo Area (upper level elevator nook). We need all items by April 11 so we can assemble 200 kits. $ Donations are also gladly accepted. Any questions, please contact Carrie Schiltz, Terri Benson, Andrea Brand, Kathy Wade or Judy Oian. ______________________________ Lenten Suppers Come enjoy fellowship and food – potluck style -- prior to the Lenten services at RLC. A sign up sheet is available in the back of the church. Serving begins at 5:30 p.m. It is a wonderful time of fellowship as well as working together.

In My Little Town Ruth Nordby’s CD is available for purchase in the church office. The title comes from a song about the flood in Rushford. It’s a double CD. The cost is $15 with a portion being given to the Good Shepherd Home.

SOUPER BOWL OF CARING February 6 & 7 the Rushford Lutheran Church Youth collected donations for the Souper Bowl of Caring. This is an annual effort held on the weekend of the NFL Super Bowl, or more, to this valuable cause. All donations collected were given to our local food shelf here in Rushford. We thank you for supporting our community by donating just over $373.

Q.     What is all the fuss about in our church?

1. Last August, at the ELCA Church Wide Assembly in Minneapolis, the voting   members adopted a new social statement on sexuality and passed resolutions regarding sexual boundaries.  Resolution 1: “Resolved, that the ELCA commit itself to finding ways to allow congregations that choose to do so to recognize, support and hold publicly accountable lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships.”  Resolution 2: “Resolved, that the ELCA commit itself to finding a way for people in such publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships to serve as rostered leaders of this church.”  Some members of RLC agree with these decisions.  These members see homosexuality as an orientation—you were born that way—and therefore do not believe the practice of homosexual behavior is a sin.  Others see this issue as social justice, believing homosexual people should have equal rights in all facets of public and religious life.  Other members, however, disagree with the decisions.  They believe that what the church has taught for two thousand years is still correct and that the Bible is clear on this subject—that homosexuality is not God’s will for his children and that a sexual relationship is for a man and a woman in marriage.

Q.     Is the church old-fashioned when it comes to this issue?  Can the Bible be re-interpreted to meet the standards of today?

1. The gospel is timeless.  The Bible teaches us that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.  God’s Word, revealed to us in Jesus Christ, is the norm by which we are to live our lives in response to God’s love.  With the coming of Jesus, some things did change.  As the apostle Paul states in Romans and Galatians, Christ has set us free.  We are no longer slaves to the law, to the flesh, but are now slaves to Christ, having become a new creation in Christ.  We are to renounce the flesh and its passions and live a new life in Christ, in the spirit.  Therefore social customs, mandated in the Old Testament for the Jews, do not apply to Christians.  We worship on Sunday, or whatever day we choose, and not on Saturday, which is the Jewish Sabbath.  We eat foods prohibited for Jews to eat.  We are not required to observe certain religious customs and rituals which are special to the Jewish people.  Biblical scholars and theologians are always studying the Bible, trying to understand it more fully.  As the old saying goes, “You can prove anything by the Bible by taking a word, a saying, or a theme out-of-context.”  Some theologians do this to make a point, to engage in theological discussion, to push the limits.  However, when it comes to theological doctrines that have been accepted as true for 2,000 years there must be overwhelming evidence to overturn such teachings.  This has not been the case concerning homosexuality or marriage.  The Bible is clear on the issue of sexuality and marriage.  Therefore, opponents of the Biblical standard of teaching on sexuality and marriage have said that their interpretation is as valid as the orthodox interpretation (that is their point of view).  “So, since we are gridlocked,” they say, “we have to throw out using the Bible to understand the homosexuality issue and rely on experience and the social norms of today.”  You will find this argument being used in the social statement on sexuality that was passed last August.  The Bible should not and cannot be reinterpreted by each generation to fit its cultural and societal lifestyles.  God knows us better than we do ourselves.  The Bible teaches us what it means to live in a right relationship with God, how to be holy.  God defines what the parameters of that relationship is based on; we do not.

Q.     Does the ELCA Church Wide Assembly or the conference of bishops have the authority to create new policies regarding what ELCA congregations teach and practice?

1. No they do not.  The ELCA is composed of, according to their constitution, three expressions: congregation, synod, and national (churchwide).  The national and the synod cannot impose on the congregation—they exist to serve the congregations and to be the instrument through which the congregations do ministry outside of themselves.   Local congregations decide what will be taught and practiced in their churches.  In this sense the three expressions become interdependent on each other.

 Q.     What is the history of our relationship with the ELCA?

1. RLC became a part of the ELCA in 1988 with the merger of three Lutheran church bodies: the American Lutheran Church, the Lutheran Church in America, and the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches.  Prior to the merger RLC was a member of the American Lutheran Church, which was formed in 1960 by the merger of other Lutheran church bodies, one of which was the Norwegian Synod, of which RLC was a member.  So RLC has always been a Lutheran church; it has just changed its affiliation from time-to-time because of circumstances.

 Q.     As a result of the vote last August, has anything changed at RLC regarding what we teach or practice?

1. No. 

 Q.     Is RLC anti-homosexual?

1. No, we are not.  We love and welcome all people at RLC, including those who identify themselves as homosexual.  We are all sinners.  We call all people to repent and confess their sins and receive forgiveness.  A church should not be a place of self-righteous, self-deceiving, legalistic, religious bigots who oppress and hate others simply because their sins are perceived as being different from one’s own.

For more information about these or any other events at Rushford Lutheran Church please call (507) 864-7152