CLARION Christ Memorial Lutheran Church

Mark your calendars

4/5, 6 & 7 GO! STL

4/10-12 Attic Treasures

4/12 CMP Trivia Night

4/21 Easter

5/18 Oklahoma! Auditions

Special Holy Week and Easter services I love St. Louis in spring. Daffodils. Tulips. Red bud trees prefacing the green that is to come. Easter is late this year, but will be all the sweeter. Lent carries a somber tone, and with it we have experienced the loss of a number of members. But on Easter, we will declare the defeat of death! Biblical scholar N.T. Write says, "Death is the enemy, but for the Christian, it is a beaten enemy." Please note the special worship times and services during Holy Week. Experience the journey from Maundy Thursday through Easter. And invite someone along. At these high Christian celebrations, we realize that guests join us. They have questions. They are searching. Maybe there's someone you know who needs to hear the story and believe in the One who is risen from the dead. - Pastor Jeff

Maundy Thursday, April 18 – 7:00pm Worship will be l by our Reliant musicians in a meaningful reflection on our Lord’s final night with his disciples. Holy Communion will be shared at a slower, more reflective pace.

Good Friday, April 19 We focus our hearts on the suffering and death of Jesus and His agonizing separation from the Father. 12noon and 7pm – Traditional Tenebrae (Service of Darkness) reflective, reverent and inspirational. Music led by organ and piano, including special choral music.

5:15pm – Family Worship Designed for families with younger children, includes a mix of contemporary and traditional music led by our youth praise team and the Praise Kids choir, dramatic readings from our Praise Kids players, and a Good Friday Children’s message.

Easter Vigil – 5pm Saturday April 20 – Music led by choir and orchestra, piano and organ

Easter Sunday – April 21 8:00 and 9:30 am - Traditional Worship, with choir and orchestra, piano and organ 10:30 am - Reliant Service at CRAVE 11am – Contemporary Worship, with worship team, brass ensemble, and worship choir.

April 2019

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clarion

Christ Memorial Lutheran Church 5252 S. Lindbergh Blvd. Saint Louis, MO 63126 (314) 631-0304

The Clarion is published ten times a year for members, family, and friends of Christ Memorial Lutheran Church.

All copy (in Microsoft Word) is due the second Tuesday of each month. Please attach to an email or deliver an electronic copy to the church office.

Email to:

clarion@cmstl.org

Next deadline: April 16

Susan Senechal, Editor

»cmp trivia: oh what a beautiful night

It is not too late to attend CMP’s Oh What a Beautiful Evening Trivia Night on Friday, April 12, 2019. Doors open at 6:30 pm, trivia starts at 7 pm. Tables of 8 will cost $20 per person and students of any age will cost $10 per person. You may bring snacks, wine and beer. Light refreshments will be provided and there will be cash awards for trivia winners and an award for the best themed table decoration. Round

sponsorships are available too. Reserve your table today. Call 314-223-3163 or email Tickets@CMPShows.org.

»cmp offers summer theater camp

This summer, CMP is offering a theater camp for children ages 6 to 12. The camp will take place on July 22-26 from 9:00 a.m. to Noon. Campers will embark on a fun, dramatic journey as they learn to create and develop characters. They will explore improvisation, dramatic play, story enactment and play theatrical games – while supporting each other and developing self-confidence. All week long, campers also will create scenery, prepare costumes and get ready for a short play to be performed for family and friends on the final day of the camp! Camp will take place at Christ Memorial Lutheran Church, 5252 S. Lindbergh Blvd. The cost is $90.00 per child and payment is required in advance to reserve your camper’s place in the camp. Space is limited. Register at CMPShows.org. Contact us at CMP@CMPShows.org with any questions. Mark your calendars for these events and see CMPShows.org for details: April 12 at 7:00 p.m. CMP Trivia. April 23 Dance Workshop begins. May 11 at 4:00 p.m. The Selfish Giant free tickets become available. May 18 OKLAHOMA! Auditions Noon to 4:00 p.m. June 28, 29 and 30 The Selfish Giant performances. July 22-26 at 9:00 a.m. – Noon. Summer Theater Camp. August 10 at 2:00 p.m. OKLAHOMA! ticket sales begin. Sept. 20-22 & 27-29 – OKLAHOMA! performances; Sept. 26 Sensory friendly performance. December 6, 7 &8 -- A Song for Christmas!!

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»recent dvd additions to library Soul Detox: Clean Living in a Contaminated World by Craig Groeschel- As Christians, we strive for a higher moral standard than the rest of the world, but it’s difficult to maintain when surrounded by negative influences. Craig Groeschel offers this six-session DVD study with participant’s guide to strengthen our health, our faith, and our witness to others. Soul Detox is the ultimate spiritual intervention. This grace-based guide will challenge people out of complacency into a life of clean, pure, and focused living based on the standard of God’s holiness. Through concise teaching and honest humor, Soul Detox provides a source of inspiration and encouragement with a faith-filled lifestyle that will keep you free from spiritual toxins. (5 Sessions total time 60 minutes) Not a Silent Night: Mary looks back to Bethlehem by Adam Hamilton- Imagine Jesus from Mary’s point-of-view—proud of her son, in awe of his gifts and mission, guided by love for him as a person and so much more. Adam Hamilton begins at the end, with Mary at the crucifixion and resurrection; travels back in time as she witnesses his life and ministry; and ends at the beginning, with the Christ child born in a stable. Experience Advent and Christmas with Mary. (5 session ten-minute sessions and leaders guide) Early Christianity: The Experience of the Devine (Great Courses Series) by Luke Timothy Johnson- After 2,000 years, Christianity is the world’s largest religion. What accounts for its continued popularity? And to better understand religious experience in Christianity, you’ll also study it in the two religions with which early Christianity co-existed: Greco-Roman paganism and Judaism. (24 thirty-minute lectures and Course Guidebook) Jesus and the Gospels (Great Courses Series) by Luke Timothy Johnson- For most of the last 2,000 years, questions about the figure of Jesus have begun with the Gospels, but the Gospels themselves raise puzzling questions about both Jesus and the religious movement within which these narratives were produced. This far-ranging course examines not only the canonical Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, but also the many other, apocryphal narratives and literary works that have contributed to our perceptions of Jesus, Mary, and Christianity. (36 thirty-minute lectures and Course Guidebook)

»devotion, discussion and dessert

Join us in the Family Room at Christ Memorial on the third Thursday of the month at 6:30 pm as we discuss both Christian and secular books. Please call Robbin Oehler at (314)843-7865 to join. No cost to participants. Books are checked out to the discussion leader from St. Louis County Library, Note Date Change: Wednesday, April 17 Discuss: Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood- A look at the near future presents the story of Offred, a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead, once the United States, an oppressive world where women are no longer allowed to read and are valued only as long as they are viable for reproduction. Contemplate Atwood’s futuristic tale while enjoying homemade ice cream.

stewardship

update Current Fiscal Year July 1, 2018 through January 31, 2019

spending YTD

Actual Spending $986,687

Actual Giving $956,727

Budget Giving $1,089,231

giving YTD

2017-2018 $966,962 2018-2019 $956,727 attendance report

february 2019

Week One 823

Week Two 277

Week Three 747

Week Four 779

Average per Week 657

february 2018

Week One 813

Week Two 476

Week Three 698

Week Four 713

Average per Week 675

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»class of 2018 to be confirmed on april 28

Twenty-four eighth-graders will be confirmed in a special service on Sunday, April 28th at 1:00PM at Christ Memorial. These teenagers have questioned, studied, and grown in faith during the two-year program and will publicly confess their faith at their confirm-ation. All are

welcome to this special service. We pray for our young people. (pictured left, the 2018 confirmation class at camp this summer, along with their caring adults)

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