JUNE – JUNIO 2020 VOL. 84, No. 6 (click for Word document; text is below)
2020-06 Chronicle
MAY – MAYO 2020
2020-05 Chronicle
APRIL – ABRIL 2020
2020-04 mini Chronicle
MARCH – MARZO 2020
2020-03 Chronicle
JUNE – JUNIO 2020 VOL. 84, No. 6
One Church – One Congregation – One Chronicle
Una iglesia – Una Congregación – Una Crónica
(online worship services only until further notice due to coronavirus epidemic)
06/07/2020 – The Holy Trinity
Genesis 1:1-2:4a Ps. 8 2 Corinthians 13:11-13 Matthew 28:16-20
06/14/2020 – Second Sunday after Pentecost
Exodus 19:2-8a Ps. 100 Romans 5:1-8 Matthew 9:35-10:8(9-23)
06/21/2020 – Third Sunday after Pentecost
Jeremiah 20:7-13 Ps. 69:7-18 Romans 6:1b-11 Matthew 10:24-39
06/28/2020 – Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
Jeremiah 28:5-9 Ps. 89:1-4, 15-18 Romans 6:12-23 Matthew 10:40-42
Calvary Evangelical Lutheran Church
6149 S. Kenneth Ave. Chicago, IL 60629
(773) 767-7400
Email: calvaryluther@sbcglobal.net
URL: chicagolutheran.org
facebook.com/chicagolutheran.org
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From the Pastor’s Desk
Most of us have heard debates about whether or not churches should resume in person worship services that have been online only since the coronavirus epidemic closed sanctuaries in late March. The Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) stipulated regular worship of God, and in the New Testament, Acts shows us that the apostles regularly met for worship, and Hebrews 10:25 tells us not to neglect to meet together. Yet the Law and the Prophets also commanded the Israelites to care for the vulnerable, and Jesus said the commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves was second only to loving God. (Matthew 19:19)
In Biblical times, online worship was not an option. While it is not the same as gathering to worship in person, it is an option that we now have offered as a safe alternative that protects the health and safety of our neighbors who may be vulnerable. At the same time, we look to safely return to our sanctuary for worship in person.
At the May 16 meeting, held by conference call (an option allowed by our new constitution and bylaws passed in 2019), Calvary’s council established a committee or task force to study and make recommendations regarding the gradual reopening of our church building and resuming of worship and activities. Some houses of worship in Illinois will have begun to resume services by May 31, though with restrictions on the number of people (ten at first, increasing to fifty in the next stage of the governor’s Restore Illinois plan) and requirements for social distancing and/or face coverings. Chicago, however, where the state’s highest numbers of infections and deaths have occurred, is under a more restrictive order and will only allow many types of in person gatherings, including religious ones, to begin in June. It is difficult to accept, but the truth is that “normal” worship services are a high risk environment for transmission of contagious disease. Shaking hands, hugging, or kissing during the Peace; singing; handling communion rails, cups, trays, etc.; and standing or sitting close together are all effective ways to transmit COVID-19. Many churches have decided not to begin in person worship even when legally allowed to do so, in order to protect the health of the community.
No matter what the task force and council decide, some will likely feel that the decisions are too cautious and others will feel the opposite. Please pray for this group and understand that decisions will be difficult. Let us continue to pray for everyone affected by this deadly disease, and continue to be faithful in prayer and modified worship at home until we can all safely praise our God together again.
Pastor Cox 2
Chronicle Mailing List
We are trying to update our Calvary Chronicle mailing list. If you are currently receiving the Chronicle by U.S. mail, we would like to know if you still wish to receive it, and if so, if you would be willing to receive it by email, which would save the church several dollars per recipient each year. We will still mail printed copies by U.S. postal mail for those who request it, but we don’t want to mail copies that may go unread. Please note that the Chronicle is already available to anyone with Internet access on Calvary’s website, http://www.chicagolutheran.org/calvary-chronicle/. Each month’s issue is available within a few days of the beginning of each new month, and the previous month’s edition is also available as a link on that page.
We request that those who have regularly been receiving the Chronicle by U.S. mail inform us by June 15 inform us of your preference in one of the following ways: (a) call our church office at 773-767-7400 (though the office is closed during the epidemic, messages are still checked regularly); (b) email calvaryluther@sbcglobal.net; (c) mail us a letter or postcard. With any of these methods, please give your full name, and state that you would or would not like to receive the paper version in the mail. (If you regularly attend worship services, you will still be able to pick up your paper copy in person in the narthex each month when worship services resume.) Also, if there are any updates to your name or address, please let us know. Thank you!
Synod Assembly
Our Metropolitan Chicago Synod’s annual assembly, originally scheduled for Friday-Saturday, June 5-6, 2020 at the Tinley Park Convention Center, has been postponed to Saturday, October 3, due to COVID-19. We still need one more church member to represent Calvary along with Pastor Cox; please contact him if interested.
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Bible Study and Spiritual Reading during the Pandemic
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our Bible study on the book of Acts was suspended after March 17. We hope to resume in June with modification and appropriate precautions but await task force and council decisions before confirming dates. We plan to contact everyone who regularly attended the Bible study, but please call or email the church or pastor if you had not attended earlier this year but would like to be informed.
Those who were involved in the Acts Bible study are encouraged to review the chapters that were previously read in Acts of the Apostles (the book in the Bible) as well as the Acts study guide book and to read ahead through the remainder of Acts of the Apostles and the study guide book as their time allows. We hope to review and discuss it when we gather in person again.
If anyone is interested in any of the books from the pastor’s office library, listed in the May Chronicle or on the “lending library” page of our website, they are available on loan upon request (delivery will be arranged).
Judy Lynch shares…
Judy Lynch asked to share the following message that she wrote following a recent hospitalization and liver cancer diagnosis:
“Hello pastor I wanted to write you something that I watched on TV by Joel Olsteen. Today the first 5 minutes I felt something go through me. And I really started to understand we are like a palm tree we’ve been all the way down but we can rise up. When the storm ends we bounce back all the time as long as we want. I kept bouncing back up but not for long because the evil energy and the Darkness cats making me cool and bed down. I will keep rising up the Lord is on my side so I have said Lord you are going to handle these evil and darkness around me for I Am With You and you are not giving me anything I cannot rise up to. I had such Faith now that the evil in darkness are in for a rude awakening. I will been back up I will rise up because the Lord is with me and I’m going to defeat everything that is thrown at me.”
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Remembered in Prayer – June 2020
Let us keep the following people in prayer. The name in (parenthesis) is the person who submitted the name of the prayer list.
Fighting cancer / Luchando con cáncer
Sandy Guetzloff (Cheryl S.)
Judy Peyton (Joan K.)
Dolly Siegel (Barb S.)
Joan Kincade (Pastor Cox)
Maria de Jesus (Maria R.)
Joline Revas (JoAlice R.)
Gloria Kurakowski (Nancy B.)
Gary Johnson (Barb S.)
Perry Miller (Barb Siegel)
Bob Skinkis (Lois F.)
Karen Bellafiore (Lois F.)
Mike (the Beckers)
Judy Lynch (Steve Lynch)
Generally needing prayer / en necesidad de oración en general
Jackie Hickey (Linda Johnson)
Rudy Cortes Jr. (Pastor Cox)
Living with chronic condition / Viviendo con condición crónica
Neil Cole Mowery (Jenny C.)
Ruth Streitberger (Anna Rose A.)
Pat D. (Anna Rose Auersch)
Barb Siegel (Barb Siegel)
John Eichhorn (Lois F.)
John Salomone (Lois F.)
Eileen Coit (Rachel B.)
Kathy Becker (Pastor Cox)
Gene Pagois (Pastor Cox)
Healing at home / Recuperándose en su hogar
Anna Rose Auersch (Pastor Cox) Judy Lynch (Steve Lynch)
John Ma (Pastor Cox) Xueyan (Sue) Zhen (Pastor Cox)
Grieving the death and celebrating the life of / En duelo por el fallecimiento y celebrando la vida de
Martha Hartmann [Pastor Peter Hartman’s wife, Rachel & Sarah’s mom] (Cheryl S.)
For those suffering from COVID-19, and for those who care for them (Calvary
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Happy Birthday!
¡Feliz Cumpleaños!
Joselyn Cortes June 10
Happy Anniversary!
¡Feliz Aniversario!
Jim & Lois Flood June 26
COVID-19
Due to the coronavirus epidemic, some in person worship services, Bible studies, council meetings, and group events that have been cancelled since March 22 will resume gradually and with restrictions or modifications during June. We will use the email list, phone tree, and website to try to keep everyone informed. We plan to continue to offer online worship videos on our website www.chicagolutheran.org and our Facebook page (Chicago Lutheran – Calvary Lutheran Church); they have Sunday readings, hymns, and previous videos. Call 773-767-7400 or check our website for further updates. Let’s pray for the ill and trust God’s mercy, and may the hope of the risen Christ encourage us during this time.
Debido a la epidemia del coronavirus, los cultos, estudios bíblicos, y reuniones de grupos que se han suspendido desde el 22 de marzo se van a volver a realizar comenzando en junio pero solamente paulatinamente y con restricciones. Trataremos de mantener a todos informados a través del correo electrónico, el árbol telefónico, y el sitio de internet. Pensamos seguir ofreciendo videos de adoración cada semana en nuestro sitio de internet, www.chicagolutheran.org y nuestra página de Facebook (Chicago Lutheran – Calvary Lutheran Church), que también incluyen las lecturas, los himnos, y los videos anteriores. Llamen al 773-767-7400 o visite nuestro sitio de Internet para más información. Oremos por los enfermos, confiemos en la misericordia de Dios, y que la esperanza de Cristo resucitado nos dé ánimo durante este tiempo.
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