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ELCA Youth Gathering preparations are starting back up! Here are a couple of facts for where we are at:

What is the Youth Gathering? Its purpose is to create faith formation in our youth who have just graduated from the 8-12th grade at the time of the Gathering. This is accomplished through community service, Bible study and discussion with our synod, exploration of the Activities and Interaction Center, and daily Mass Gathering at night through worship, music, dance, speakers, etc. with 30,000 other Lutherans.

What are the specifics for this coming Gathering? It will take place in Minneapolis from 7/24/22 – 7/28/22. The theme is Boundless and comes from Ephesians 3:19 which says, “I want you to know all about Christ’s love, although it is too wonderful to be measured. Then your lives will be filled with all that God is.” In other words, God is Boundless! Registration begins on 9/22/21, but we have until 11/22/21 to lock in at the lowest possible rate.

The Boundless logo, seen above, contains letters that exceed their normal font size, rendering them…boundless! The colors also represent the Northern Lights that can be seen in Minneapolis.

How much money will be needed to get our youth to Minneapolis? The budget is always finalized in January as we will have our assigned hotel then and will know how much it costs. Registration is $350 per person. Transportation will be a little higher than normal this time as we will have to fly given the distance. We would also like to raise money for food. Our estimate is that it will cost close to $1500 per person and could have 6 – 8 participants. We are off to a great start so far but we still have a lot to raise. Once we know our hotel and know how many are going, we will be posting exactly how much more is needed in the fellowship hall.

Many regular fundraisers will be coming. However, there are two different opportunities I’d like to point out. First, there are “Gathering Sponsorships” in envelopes tacked to our picture board in the Fellowship Hall. To give a one-time donation you fill out a form containing all of your social media platforms, email address, and phone number. When we are at the Gathering, we will be sending you pictures, postcards, and messages letting you know all that we are experiencing as it happens. You will also get “shoutouts” on social media letting everyone know that you helped us get there. Just complete the form and give it back to me. There is also a “Boundless” button pack inside the envelope for you to keep.

Also, we now have a Venmo account. Whenever we have a fundraiser going, you will not need to bring cash or check. You can simply send us a donation to our Venmo account at @MLCYouth. If you’d like to give a general donation outside of fundraisers, you can certainly do that too.

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Some weeks ago, the council approved an initiative from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office to be involved with OneCOP. We are now moving forward as we have been assigned an officer who will partner with us in trying to decrease violence in our communities and increase a better understanding of the tensions in our communities.

The One Congregation One Precinct (OneCOP), an initiative of MovementForward, Inc., is a proactive approach to addressing the tensions around police-involved incidents, as well as ongoing crime and violence in local communities.

The objectives of OneCOP incorporate the pillars of the President’s Task Force on 21^st Century Policing:

Improving public safety through collaboration and information sharing to prevent, combat and solve crimes by tapping into the varied resources of faith-based institutions.
Increasing community engagement with patrol-level police officers, via congregations, resulting in decreased bias, increased familiarity, mutual respect and trust.
Proactively creating a direct link between law enforcement executives and community leaders in an effort to prevent violent responses to officer-involved crises while also giving voice to growing public concerns relative to policing.

In light of tensions currently felt between many communities and law enforcement professionals, leaders in every relevant sector must work cooperatively to improve and strengthen relationships between offices and communities before a negative scenario occurs in the local communities. The purpose of this innovative effort is to reduce mounting tensions between community members and law enforcement officers by building partnerships to create mutual understanding. (OneCOP Implementation Guide)

Our next step will be a meet and greet with Sergeant Paul Napoli. Hopefully, we will be able to introduce him one Sunday in October.

I look forward to giving you all updates as we plan future events involving Sergeant Napoli.

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In keeping up with the ever-changing times, it was decided to give Mandarin Lutheran Church a new look! Looking back over the last 35 years of Mandarin Lutheran Church history, no logo could be found.

In recent years we began using the one seen today on our online presence and electronic communication. In the world of technology, and in a season of our lives where online communication is more important than ever, logos and taglines are key in creating and maintaining brand recognition.

We are excited to introduce you to our new logo. With the permission of the ELCA we are utilizing the tagline of “God’s Work. Our Hands.” along with this updated look. Watch for these changes to occur over the next several weeks as the website, Facebook, and Mandarin Messenger get an update to reflect the new face and identity of Mandarin Lutheran Church.

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Last Sunday we heard David start out his sermon with a question, “Who of you have had the following in the last 18 months…anxiety, depression, a feeling of being overwhelmed…?” All of us raised a hand.

The last 18 months have been hard on us all. Some of us have found ways to cope with our feelings and emotions, but all too often, those coping mechanisms seem inadequate against the relentlessness of adjustments we are called upon to make.

It is important that we practice self-care in this time when we feel like we have no or little control over our lives.

Here are some things I found helpful as I have tried to overcome my own feelings of anxiety and inadequateness. I hope you find one or more helpful as well.

First thing in the morning, spend time with God. Even sitting in silence with a cup of tea/coffee and taking in the presence of God helps to set the day on the right path.
Take moments during the day to breathe intentionally. One minute of controlled breathing 4-5 times a day helps us to relax and, again, connect with the presence of God. As I breathe in, I focus on the breath of God; as I breathe out, I focus on letting all negativity go.
Twice a day do this breathing exercise which I found in Metabolic Factor:

The following steps should all be carried out in the cycle of one breath:

First, let your lips part. Make a whooshing sound, exhaling completely through your mouth.

Next, close your lips, inhaling silently through your nose as you count to four in your head.

Then, for seven seconds, hold your breath.

Make another whooshing exhale from your mouth for eight seconds.

When you inhale again, you initiate a new cycle of breath. Practice this pattern for four full breaths.

The held breath (for seven seconds) is the most critical part of this practice. It’s also recommended that you only practice 4-7-8 breathing for four breaths when you’re first starting out. You can gradually work your way up to eight full breaths.

This technique slows down your heart rate, promoting relaxation of the whole body.

Take a relaxing bath 5 nights a week, preferably before going to bed. It helps to relax and destress the body. (You could add 2 scoops of Epsom Salts as it has detoxifying properties.)
Do some form of exercise for 20-30 minutes a day
End your day how you started – in prayer. Remember, your prayers don’t need to be long, they just need to be a genuine conversation with God.
Talk to someone about your feelings. Do not bottle them up. My door is open, and I have been known to answer my phone 😊

May God bless us all with peace and calm as we navigate through the new uncertainties we now face.

Pastor Anna

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“When was the first time you heard a woman preach? For some pastors, the first female voice they heard in the pulpit was their own. “Proclaiming, Reforming, Celebrating: Stories of 50|40|10″ shares stories from over 100 women who have served as pastors over the past 50 years. Each story illuminates how God has called and carried these women.”

The quote above announces the ELCA publication of a collection of stories relating the journey to the pulpit of many amazing female pastors – including our own Pastor Anna!
As part of the ELCA 50th anniversary celebration of the ordination of women, an announcement calling for submissions to be considered for this collection was published many months ago. It caught my eye, and I thought “we MUST give it our best shot – we have an amazing female pastor!” I approached Pastor Anna with my proposal of “you talk; I’ll write.”

Pastor agreed, and a long afternoon ensued, while I furiously typed notes as Pastor Anna shared much about her desire to serve the Lord from girlhood, and the challenges she faced along the way.
Those notes were turned into the story you will find on page 55 at the link above, entitled “Who Said Girls Can’t.” Our submission was very close to the deadline, so Pastor held her breath and pushed “send” at the last possible moment. You can imagine our excitement when we learned that Pastor’s story was selected for inclusion in the book.

Perhaps you think you know Pastor Anna well by now; please enjoy a bit more of the life story that brought her to MLC! You may read an excerpt below. Please click the accompanying link for the full article.

Marilyn Sussan

My path to ordination at the age of 40 was nontraditional in every possible way but always guided by a deep, restless, often unspoken call to serve the Lord and a determination to never give up.
As a girl born and raised in South Africa, I came from a family deeply ingrained with the Pentecostal faith. Looking up to relatives who were dynamic and highly regarded pastors, and especially hearing stories about m

y paternal grandfather, who was the national director of missions for the Apostolic Faith Mission Church, I so wanted his legacy to be my own — but that mantle of position and possibility passed only from father to son, both in philosophy and in actual practice. My first “girls can’t …”

I was later sent to a Catholic high school, where my worldview expanded and the realization grew that my girlhood faith was not the only way to serve the Lord, yet “girls can’t…” was again a constant refrain.

With a direct route to the ministry blocked on all sides, I gained a college degree in physical therapy, which was to me a way to serve God with hands and heart by helping people to improve their health. During these years, as a young adult, I was also very active in my Pentecostal church and was even “allowed” to teach the adult Sunday school class, a great honor bestowed by a pastor who
saw and understood my desire to serve but who had no provision to make a way for me. I was privileged to serve on the youth council but never on the church council, a position reserved only for men — “girls can’t …” once again.

I eventually began attending a nondenominational church, where I learned that the related Bible college was accepting new students. In a move that could only have been guided by the Holy Spirit, I boldly went to see the dean of the college — without an appointment or introduction of any sort — and, on the spot, convinced him to accept me into the program. Following two years of successful study, I was ordained as a “co-pastor” with my pastor husband because, again “girls can’t …” serve as a pastor apart from their husbands. Single women completing the course of study could only be ordained as missionaries, because “girls can’t …”

After 12 years of mission field work, our family, now including two little girls, moved to the United States, where I became active in a Lutheran church in Miami. Although mission work was challenging and satisfying in many ways, I still did not feel as if I were truly doing God’s work for my life. As I pondered this, my pastor in Miami encouraged me to use my background and past experiences to consider ordination as an ELCA Lutheran pastor.

Taking a deep breath, I looked into the “alternate route” program at the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in Columbia, S.C. For the first time in my life, there was no “girls can’t …” thrown at me from the outset, only a mandate to prove that I was worthy of acceptance and capable of doing the work that lay ahead. When facing the admissions panel of 12 esteemed theologians, I could only think, “God has brought me this far; if this is truly of God and truly intended to be my future, then I have nothing to fear” — of course, I had to give my knocking knees that same pep talk at the time!

Once accepted, I spent a reading year with a mentor and a resident “Lutheran Year” at seminary. Once ordained, I finally knew that the Holy Spirit had led me to the place where I could fully use
my gifts. Following an internship, my first call as an associate pastor led me to Emmaus Lutheran Church in Orange City, Florida, followed by a 15-year call in Ocala, Florida, where I met the challenge of consolidating three congregations at various stages of change in their ministries. By this time, I’d long since left behind the “girls can’t…” messages that had not only frustrated me
but also inspired me to keep forging ahead.

Content in Ocala that I was where I needed to be to serve God’s precious people, I found that the Holy Spirit again had a different idea: when called for an interview at Mandarin Lutheran Church in Jacksonville, Florida, where I serve today, I came close to turning down the call committee’s request but again was drawn to entertain the opportunity. When I arrived for the interview, I thought, “Nothing ventured, nothing gained,” and that the worst case would be a gracious parting when both parties recognized a lack of fit. However, as I drove home, I knew profoundly in my spirit that “this was IT!” I felt in my heart of hearts that it was God’s will for me to be at Mandarin Lutheran at this time.

The freedom of working with a new congregation the past two years to discern how we would carry forward its ministry felt like being presented with a blank journal page on which I could write whatever I was led to. Where we are today, even with the unprecedented challenges of the past year, makes me grateful for the open minds and hearts that have come on this journey with me.

Today, the most joyous thing in my life, comparable only to the joy of my first call following ordination, is the joy of knowing I am doing exactly what God has called me to do and in the place where God called me to be. My path to 20 years as a Lutheran pastor was anything but straight and carefree. I look back and think of each of those “girls can’t…” messages as covering me in the same way an oyster creates a beautiful pearl from an unrelenting irritant. They served only to embolden me and give me the strength to persevere against all odds. The little South African girl in this story is living her lifelong dream of serving the Lord — and is a living testament that “girls CAN.” Don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise!

Lord, so many voices tell us we are not good
enough, but you say we are. Help us to hear
world. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

You can read more stories of women of the ELCA in their publication WOMEN’S ORDINATION ANNIVERSARIES: Proclaiming, Reforming, Celebrating: Stories of 50|40|10

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Dear Mandarin Disciples,

Your church council met on August 1st to discuss what changes we should make in response to the increase in COVID infections in our part of Florida.

We decided to continue with indoor worship. One big factor in making this decision was seeing the behavior of the congregation on Sunday morning. Everyone was wearing masks and were well spaced in the pews providing social distancing. With our high rate of vaccination and everyone being so respectful of those around them, we feel safe to continue worshiping inside.
We will continue having music. Normally we want you to sing at the top of your lungs. However, we ask you to sing quietly “into your mask, not through your mask”. We will hold off on the choir starting up again.
We will have communion at a station in front of the altar as we had done for all of July. We ask you to keep your mask on until you are ready to receive the wafer and that you keep 6 feet distance while waiting in line.
We will continue to have the service available via Livestream on Facebook as well virtually via Mandarin Messenger (YouTube) for those that would like to further reduce their risk of infection.
Rally Day and the start of Sunday School have been postponed with a tentative date for Rally Day on September 12, 2021 and Sunday School the week after.
We will hold the yard sale to benefit St. John’s Lutheran on September 11th, but plan to do it all outdoors under the shade of the trees to the north of the sanctuary.

Vaccination continues to be the most effective way you can protect yourself and the ones you love. Please get yourself and your family vaccinated if you have not done so already. We will continue to monitor the recommendations of the state, synod, and CDC. Click here for the COVID-19 Weekly Situation Report from the Florida Department of Health.

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