Grace Lutheran Church Newsletter.

GRACE GUARDIAN
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Information for
all events on the
Many Upcoming Events!!! web page and
starting on page
2
FRONT AND CENTRE:
February 16th - G-Rated Mardi Gras Party
EVENTS TO KNOW ABOUT
February 17th - Ash Wednesday
February 20th - Lenten Quiet day retreat
LENT AND EASTER ARE BUSY TIMES
It’s difficult to free up the time but... our church February 24th to March 31st - At the Anglican Church
calendar offers many services throughout the

Lent Services on Wednesdays @ 7pm
season of Lent and Easter. Please take the February 27th - Funeral Planning information Session
opportunity to attend as many as possible.
February 28th - Parkland Lodge Service

BUSY LIVES NEED ROOM FOR CELEBRATION AND March 14th - Service at Nursing Home
REFLECTION
March 28th - Palm Sunday
We are a busy people and time is at a premium.
Please consider what it means to edge out time April 1st - Seder Supper at United Church
for the events that seem not urgent but will fill April 2nd - Good Friday Service at Grace Lutheran
us with strength and peace for the rest of the April 3rd - Easter Vigil at Anglican Church
things we do. A congregational retreat or a
lenten quiet day might be just what you need to April 4th - Easter Sunday
feel whole and complete, as well as assisting
others by being in deeper community with May 2nd - Rainbow of Promise Concert
them.
May 23rd - Confirmation Sunday
May 28th - 30th - Congregational Retreat
JUST 2 MEALS LEFT!!!
Our “Wednesday Meals in Epiphany” program
May 3-6 - Alberta Synod Convention - Camrose
has been smashing. Great food and great
fellowship - a time of rest and a chance to July 1st - Canada Day Hotdog Sale
receive some great food and see friends. All are
welcome!

The Grace Guardian now online at www.gracelutheranedson.blogspot.com

GRACE GUARDIAN!
Upcoming Events Described: #1
February 16th - G-Rated Mardi
Gras Party (FAT TUESDAY!)
6pm at the United Church
Hosted at the United Church, this
is a family event. It is a celebration of
good food and fun games for kids of
all ages. Come and eat and celebrate
and join in the traditional preparation
for the 40 day journey of Lent.
February 17th
Ash Wednesday
7 pm
Grace Lutheran Church
Ash Wednesday is a solemn day of
prayer that begins the season of Lent.
On this day we confess our sin in a
litany of repentance. During Lent’s
forty days we are invited to carry out
the Lenten discipline, practices of
fasting, prayer, and words of love, even
as we accompany people around the
world who are preparing for baptism
at Easter.
On this day we receive the sign of
ashes. This ancient symbol of
repentance reminds us of our
mortality. Returning to God’s mercy
and grace, marked with the cross of
Christ, we make our way through
Lent, longing for the baptismal water
of Easter, our spiritual rebirth.
(Source: ELW)
Please note, the rest of the Lenten
services will start at 7pm and be held
at the Anglican church.
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February 20th
Lenten Quiet Day Retreat.
9am to 4pm
Joining with the Anglican and
United church, we will take time to
hear the last words of Christ. This is a
day to reflect on these words, and the
meaning of Lent in our lives as we
continue the 40 day journey towards
Easter. Details TBA.
February 27th
Funeral Planning and
Information Session
7pm
At Grace Lutheran Church
Hosted by Tim from the Funeral
Home, this event is designed to give
information about arranging a funeral,
the choices available, and information
required by the government. This is a
way to allow your family to know your
wishes and take care of many of the
details ahead of time.
February 28th
Parkland Lodge Service
3pm.
Singers and page turners needed
to bring songs and a brief sermon to
residents in the Lodge.
PAGE 2
March 28th - Palm Sunday
On this day, united with
Christians around the world, we mark
Jesus’ triumphant entry into the holy
city of Jerusalem to complete the work
of our salvation. We follow in his
footsteps as we enter the church, our
Jerusalem, acclaiming the one whose
throne was the cross. In today’s gospel
reading we hear the passion narrative
of Jesus’ suffering, death, and burial.
(Source: ELW)
April 1st - Seder Supper
As we have done in the past, this
is a supper that feeds and educates. We
will participate in a traditional Jewish
Seder Supper, and then also enjoy the
Lord’s supper. Hosted by the United
Church.
April 2nd - Good Friday
The Good Friday service
continues the journey through the
Three Days of Jesus’ suffering, death,
and resurrection. At the heart of this
service is the passion reading
according to John, which celebrates
Christ’s victory on the cross. As Jesus
draws all people to himself, we pray
for the whole world for which Christ
died. Finally, we honor the cross as the
sign of forgiveness, healing, and
salvation. With all God’s people we are
invited to bow before the mystery of
faith, Christ has died, so that we may
live.
GRACE GUARDIAN!
Upcoming Events Described #2
April 3rd - Easter Vigil
On the night before Easter Day,
Christians around the world gather to
celebrate Christ’s passage from death
to life. The service includes strong
signs, new fire in darkness, light
spreading from the light of Christ, the
water and Word of baptism, the first
resurrection meal. And powerful
words, the great saving stories of
Hebrew scriptures, and the first Easter
gospel. We keep this wondrous night in
the spirit of vigil, our lamps lit,
awaiting Christ coming both now and
at the end of time. Alleluia! Christ is
risen! And Christ will come again.
(Source: ELW)
Hosted at the Anglican Church,
this is something we may one day try
at our own church. (Pg. 266 in the
ELW). For now, we will join with the
Anglicans.
April 4th - Easter
If the church had a Superbowl
Sunday, this would be it. We celebrate
the resurrection of Christ and all the
benefits that come with this glorious
day.
May 2nd
Rainbow of Promise Team
7pm
Rainbow of Promise is a music
team from Youth Encounter that has
traveled the US, and most recently in
India. Youth Encounter sends out
music groups of young people all over
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the world for the purpose of bringing
the message of Christ’s Good News.
A typical evening will include
singing, puppets, skits and more.
We will be looking for host homes
for the group for Sunday night and, as
Monday is their day off, for Monday
night as well. Please contact the
church office if you are able to help us
out in this way.
May 23rd
Confirmation Sunday
The confirmation service is
essentially at Affirmation of Baptism.
This service gives expression to the
ongoing significance of baptism in the
lives of Christian people. The baptized
are renewed in the blessings associated
with baptism, and with the guidance
and help of the Holy Spirit they
commit themselves again to the
mission into which baptism sends
them. (Source: ELW)
May 28th - 30th
Congregational Retreat
Mulhurst Lutheran
Church Camp
As a community it is important
that we keep doing the work of getting
to know each other, as well as take
time to be away together so that we
can get to know other sides of
ourselves and others.
The purpose of this retreat is to
offer all us a break from our busy lives
by taking us out of our normal
patterns, and placing us together at a
PAGE 3
camp. This is both to expose us to
God’s glorious creation, and also to
take away all the normal distractions
that limit us in truly resting.
The theme of the weekend has
yet to be decided, but the promise is
that by the end of the weekend you
should feel refreshed for the task of
entering once again into your daily
lives.
Watch for more information from
the Education Committee.
May 3-6
Alberta Synod Convention
Camrose
A congregational representative,
Kristin Tarves as our Youth
Representative, and Pastor Sean will
travel this weekend to participate in
the convention that guides and shapes
our synod. The weekend will include
numerous times to worship, as well as
many meetings and learning
opportunities to both form us, and
guide the synod into the future.
Anyone interested in going as a
representative should let council know
as soon as possible as we will be
choosing a representative at our first
council meeting in February.
July 1st
Canada Day Hotdog Sale
What more needs to be said other
than I’m suddenly hungry? This is a
great volunteer event where I promise
you will have more fun than stress.
GRACE GUARDIAN!
From the Bishop’s office:
January Letter
The Epiphany gospel tells the story
of the three magi – kings from
foreign lands – moved by the Holy
Spirit to come in search of an
infant-King, Jesus the Christ. Led by
a star they come, not to castles or
capital cities, but to a lowly house in
the little Judean town of Bethlehem.
Our Christmas crèches that place
adoring shepherds and worshiping
kings together at the manger are not
to be trusted.   The magi arrived
months after Jesus’ birth, at the
earliest. And they shouldn’t be
kneeling next to the manger; at best
they should be on camels at the far
ends of our mantels. But this much
is sure - they didn’t come empty-
handed: they brought kingly gifts,
and gifts befitting the king of the
Jews.   Gold, frankincense, and
myrrh were offered – symbols of
Jesus’ threefold office as Prophet,
Priest and King.
Nor do we come empty-handed
to the manger of our Lord.   We
come with all we have and are,
everything a gift to us from the
Giver of every good and perfect gift.
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PAGE 4
It is the fullness of ourselves that we
can offer: Here, Lord, I give myself
away; it’s all that I can do. (Alas!
And Did My Savior Bleed –
EvLW 337).   Give all your
gifts to Jesus Christ.  That’s
what was wise about the
wisemen.   Their wisdom
was not just giving their
material gifts, but it was the
gift of their total selves to
their journey to find Christ Bishop Ron Mayan
– a trip that took years of
searching and energy.   They were
totally devoted to the mission of
finding Christ, using all of their
resources.  The Epiphany – God in
flesh made manifest – calls forth a
+Ronald B. Mayan,
response from us.   As Jesus lays
Bishop
down his life in humble service, so
we are invited to do the same. In this Synod of Alberta
season of Light, we may not be stars and the Territories
but for that briefest of moments
which is our journey on this earth Evangelical
we can be little candles who bring Lutheran Church in
reflections of the Christ-Light to the Canada
lives around us.
GRACE GUARDIAN!
From the Bishop’s office:
February Letter
The horrific earthquake in Haiti, the resulting
deaths and injuries, the heart-ache of families around
the world not knowing the fate of their loved ones in
Port Aux Prince, the images of battered children,
women and men – it’s all too much.  Suffering on this
scale is incomprehensible; it numbs us in our bodies,
minds and spirits.  This is all compounded by the well-
known fact that Haiti is the poorest nation in the
western hemisphere.  Our Lord Jesus was never quiet
about the poor and broken; he always had a heart for
the last, least and lost. We recall these momentous
words: “Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of
these members of my family, you did it to me”.  [Read
Matthew 25:31-46.]
I was moved by the words of Roman Catholic
Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York who
describes going to pray in the cathedral church before
the Pieta, the statue of the Virgin Mary holding the
dead Christ in her arms.  Dolan declares: “Haiti is the
broken bloody body of Christ.” This is most certainly
true at this moment in time. As a Church In Mission
For Others we dedicate ourselves to seeing and serving
Jesus in our brothers and sisters.   Today, and in the
coming weeks and months, Haiti is the place where
Jesus can be most obviously (and necessarily) seen and
served.   and her people, we await Ash Wednesday, the
I thank God for the many nations who are
mobilized to offer aid and support.   I thank God for
Canadian Lutheran World Relief (CLWR) and the
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PAGE 5
many ways CLWR enables us to be tangibly involved
in the relief of Haiti and its people.
I encourage you
to be in
concerted
prayer for
Haiti.   I also
encourage you
to be part of
the solution by
m a k i n g
donations in Bishop Ron Mayan
support of
Haiti through CLWR. Contribute online at
www.clwr.org/donate. In the process of completing
the form, you will come across a pull-down menu that
allows you to designate a specific project. Choose Haiti
Earthquake.
Or call CLWR's toll-free number: 1.800.661.2597.
Or send a cheque made payable to CLWR to: CLWR,
302-393 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg, MB R3B 3H6.
Please indicate in your correspondence that you wish
to contribute to the Haiti Earthquake Appeal.
So as the dust of the earthquake settles over Haiti
imposition of ashes on our foreheads, and the words:
“Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall
return”.   But thanks be to God who gives us the
victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!
GRACE GUARDIAN! PAGE 6

Learning lots in the sessions... but also having fun. Tyler washing dishes.

The Money Thanks to all that

THANK - YOU Box served in 2009.
Please Refer to
A big thanks to the Edson AGM material Let us all pray for
Thrift Store for the great for Offering guidance and
work they do, and for the Numbers for inspiration from
$6000 that came to us as 2009. God as we discern
our portion for last years who and what
sales. Detailed Grace Lutheran
numbers will be Church will be in
Also, a big thanks to Helen printed in this God’s future.
and Tien (and others that future so we can
have helped) with the all know how the
Wednesday Meals in churches
Epiphany. Good food and finances are
great fellowship! progressing.

The Grace Guardian now online at www.gracelutheranedson.blogspot.com