Church guide

You are welcome at #ReformationDC for Easter as 'Love Shows Up!' Full Holy Week details are available on our website: www.reformationdc.org

Maundy Thurday Worship: 7 p.m. Good Friday Worship: Noon & 7 p.m. Easter Sunday Worship: 8:30 a.m. & 11 a.m. Full details: www.reformationdc.org

We were proud that Imagination Stage and Hispanic Heritage Foundation brought this incredible production to Reformation mid-March!

Lutheran Disaster Response is responding to this emergency through congregations, synods and our affiliates across Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin and Missouri. (See the other group post to support Southern Africa.) Gifts to "U.S. flooding" will be used in full (100 percent) to assist those affected by flooding until the response is complete. Please give today. https://community.elca.org/usfloodingrelief

Our weekly update is FULL of news and information from our congregation, plus fun photos like the one here of our teens at Youth Group! Also, you are invited to our Lenten meal tonight - information is included!

Lenten Blessings to you this Ash Wednesday. Journey with members and friends of #ReformationDC through 'From Ashes to Easter', our congregation's daily Lenten devotion. We are thankful to all of the authors and supporters of this annual project, now in its 33rd year. reformationdc.org/pray

We are a part of the Washington Interfaith Network (WIN), a faith-based grassroots organization. Give a listen to this message from Rev. Frankey Grayton of Ward 7's Edgewood Baptist Church, inviting YOU to join #WIN on an upcoming teach-in and training. The event includes a bus tour up the Anacostia River to discuss gentrification and waterfront development through a justice lens. Please RSVP today: www.windc-iaf.org/tours

Words and prayers from our Lead Pastor, Rev. Michael Wilker: "You've got a part to play today. Today many of us have experienced again the church's condemnation of LGBTQ+ families and ministers (#UMC #ForEveryoneBorn). Some of us are struggling with drug addictions and recovery. Some are caring for gravely ill loved ones, getting ready to welcome a child into their family, or grieving the death of a member of their church or family. Some are redoubling our efforts to find and prevent more Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (#MMIWG). Some are organizing to make their communities safer by reducing gun violence. Some are organizing prayer services and rituals. Some of us are experiencing more than one of those things or others unnamed. I pray that you find something to give thanks for today: the cardinal in the snow, oatmeal and maple syrup, the crocus pushing through the soil, the words of a poet, the memory of a mentor, your own breath and heartbeat, the touch of your beloved... Then I pray God give you the wisdom, space, and time you need to listen to and discern how God is calling you specifically today and giving you strength to answer the call. I pray God give you the grace to remember you are human with limitations--that you can't do everything. And that we often fail or miss the mark of God's call to us. And that we are often bound and hurt by other people's errors. And that we are all captive to systemic, pervasive human sin. And--that God's love breaks through all that today so you experience a sense of release, peace, forgiveness, and liberation. Some of us may be called by God mostly to rest, retreat, receive, and reflect all day today--to gather with beloved confidants, to sit with our grief, to simply receive the love and nursing of your friends, family, and caregivers. Others of us are called and given the power to act, serve, and lead today. You may need to speak to the media; call your bishop, pastor, or deacon; lead the prayer service; visit someone held by the police; prepare a meal for a neighbor or the trans kids in the shelter; wear a rainbow pin so your co-workers see it. Then remember you are not alone--God is weaving and mending us together. Peace and power be with you, me and us all."

A wonderful worship today, in part affirming our welcome and inclusion of our LGBTQIA+ siblings. Here is the front of this morning’s bulletin and our welcome and affirmation!

Join us this Sunday! YOU are welcome here!

"This Little Light of Mine, I'm Gonna Let It Shine." Join your neighbors in worship at 8:30 or 11:00 a.m. Sunday, January 20. Our theme verse is "Each person is given a manifestation (revealing-light) from the Spirit for the common good" ( 1 Corinthians 12:7). At 10:00, between services we will have an intergenerational Sunday School (adults and kids) to make candle holders and learn about Fannie Lou Hamer, a Sunday School teacher and community organizer from Mississippi. How will we shine the light of the Spirit for truth, freedom, and justice?

Our Nursery Team is hiring! Submit applications to the email below! We're seeking a nursery worker for approx. 4 hours each Sunday morning from 8:15 am to 12:15 pm. Experience with infants and toddlers is preferred. This person is responsible for providing and overseeing safe and compassionate care for infants and toddlers up through age 4. We seek qualified applicants with references. CPR certification and training in child development, child safety, and prevention of abuse are preferred. Please include three references with your resume. A background check will accompany the hiring process. Please submit application documents to [email protected].

“Baptism calls us to transformation!” (Even when it’s frozen and fluffy baptismal water!)

Join Pastor Mike Wilker and Reformation’s partners from Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS) for a panel and watch-event on Tuesday, January 29, 7:00 p.m. in our sanctuary. From 7:30-8:45 p.m. a panel of experts on immigration and refugee resettlement will address how we can move forward and what congregational members can do. Follow the link to read the complete press statement.

Reformation celebrates the #12DaysofChristmas and #12DaysofNeighbors by continuing to meditate upon the fact that #JesusWasaRefugee (Matthew 2). Today, the first day of the 116th Congress, we highlight our partnership with Lutheran Social Services of the National Capital Area and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service. Leaders from those partners, including Bishop Michael Rinehart, visited members of Congress to share our commitment to welcoming refugees. One new Representative was extra-special: Rep. Ilhan Omar for Congress and her family were refugees from Somalia and were resettled by these Lutheran agencies in Northern Virginia. Eventually her family moved to MN. Since the 1970's Reformation has helped resettle refugee families from Viet Nam, Slovakia, Afghanistan and El Salvador. We are proud to be part of the Lutheran and USA tradition of welcoming refugees--and doubly happy to see a former refugee become a member of Congress. Over the #12DaysofChristmas, #ReformationDC will post about our ministry with #refugees. Follow along with the hashtag #12DaysofNeighbors! We accompany refugees and immigrants locally, nationally, and globally. More information can be found on our website: www.ReformationDC.org/neighbors The photos are of Rep. Omar and LSSNCA and LIRS leaders visiting Congress today. #RefugeesWelcome

Reformation supports refugees and immigrants with the Metro D.C. Synod, ELCA. Four congregations in our region have Latino-specific ministries and many have ministries with African immigrants and refugees. Most of the adult Latino/a Lutherans in the DC area are Salvadoran and have Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to live and work in the US. The President has ordered the termination of TPS, but a federal court has allowed TPS to remain in effect pending judicial resolution. Reformation supports these ministries led by former refugees and immigrants through our collegiality, prayers, regular Sunday morning offerings, and through the Reformation Anniversary Campaign tithe to New Connections - Metro D.C. Synod, ELCAions fund. We are grateful to God for the leadership and service of our partner congregations that serve immigrants and refugees--especially Santa Maria/Augustana Lutheran Church - DC, La Sagrada Familia in Langley Park, MD (Saint Luke Lutheran Church & School), Oromo Evangelical Lutheran Church, Washington DC, St Mark's Lutheran Church, Springfield, Virginia, and Hope Lutheran Church Annandale, VA. Over the #12DaysofChristmas, #ReformationDC will post about our ministry with #refugees. Follow along with the hashtag #12DaysofNeighbors! We accompany refugees and immigrants locally, nationally, and globally. More information can be found on our website: www.ReformationDC.org/neighbors The photo is of Manuel Caceres Del Castillo and Franklin Morales leading the synod clergy procession on Reformation Sunday. Manuel is a leader at Santa Maria/Augustana and Franklin is the new pastor of La Sagrada Familia.

Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) lead a small delegation in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Solider at Arlington National Cemetery. Pastor Ben attended the ceremony with many other Lutheran pastors and members from around the area.

NOURISHING SOULS: The second part of our theme for our Reformation Anniversary Campaign! How has #ReformationDC nourished your soul? We're excited for the ways the Campaign will allow us to continue to do this important aspect of ministry. Learn more at ReformationDC.org/Campaign

OPENING DOORS: The first part of our theme for our Reformation Anniversary Campaign! How has #ReformationDC opened doors for you? More at: ReformationDC.org/Campaign

Four more days until American Odyssey hits the stage...um, chancel....at Lutheran Church of the Reformation! Get your tickets at www.storytellingfundraiser.brownpapertickets.com

We are hard at work to bring you a great show next week! Get your tickets today at www.storytellingfundraiser.brownpapertickets.com