Datebook Meetings, events, and opportunities just ahead. — more events at www.centralmpls.org

Looking Ahead

Every Week Monday, Dec. 8 9:30 a.m. Mental & Behavioral Health Services 10:00 a.m. Augsburg Central Health Commons10:00 a.m. Free Store opens11:00 a.m. Worship11:30 a.m. Community Meal12:00 p.m. Bible Study & Conversation12:15 p.m. StreetSong Rehearsal 5:00 p.m. Spirit editorial deadline

Tuesday, Dec. 9 9:30 a.m. Heritage Ministry Team 9:30 a.m. Bulletin Meeting10:00 a.m. Free Store opens10:15 a.m. Staff Meeting 1:00 p.m. Grace Circle 1:00 p.m. Prayer Shawl Knitters 5:30 p.m. Heading Home Central

Wednesday, Dec. 10 9:00 a.m. Resource Assistance Conversations 9:00 a.m. Maintenance & Custodial Support Team10:00 a.m. Free Store opens10:00 a.m. Tech Meeting 1:30 p.m. God’s Word in Our Midst Bible Study 5:30 p.m. Creation Care Ministry Team 6:00 p.m. Bell Choir Rehearsal 6:30 p.m. Communications Ministry Team 6:30 p.m. Camp Amnicon Phone Night 6:30 p.m. Cantorei Rehearsal 7:15 p.m. Choir Rehearsal

Thursday, Dec. 11 8:00 a.m. Congregation Council Executive Committee 9:00 a.m. Resource Assistance Conversations 9:00 a.m. Mental & Behavioral Health Services 9:30 a.m. Augsburg Central Health Commons10:00 a.m. Free Store opens10:30 a.m. Augsburg Nurses Women’s Group11:30 a.m. Fiscal and Property Committee 6:00 p.m. Camp Amnicon Phone Night 6:00 p.m. Worship Life Ministry Team 7:30 p.m. Central Pacific AA

Friday, Dec. 12 8:00 p.m. Minnesota Orchestra- Messiah (tickets still available!)

Central Lutheran ChurchThe Spirit is published weekly and distributed at worship services. It is a companion publication to Central’s website and electronic newsletter.

Prepared by Debbie FriezAssisted by Karen Knox and Barb Brown

333 South 12th Street Minneapolis, MN 55404612-870-4416 www.centralmpls.org

EvangElical luthEran church in amErica Elca.org Downtown congrEgations to EnD homElEssnEss DcEh.org

The Spirit deadline is 5:00 p.m. on Monday.

Please submit announcements to dfriez@centralmpls.org

News about the mission of Central Lutheran ChurchDowntown Minneapolis

Celebrating, Discovering, and Sharing the Love of Christ December 6-7, 2014

The SpiritCOME & SEE

Sunday Coffee Hosts: Prayer Shawl Ministry

Facebook GroupWe invite all Central members to join the closed Facebook group, where we encourage open discussion forum to share items of interest, ideas, and concerns. You can find

it by searching for Central Lutheran Church Members or from the link on our page.

Have a prayer request? You can email prayers@

centralmpls.org

Worship ScheduleSaturday Worship - 5:30 p.m.Sunday Worship - 8:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. “The Word in Our Midst” Weekly Bible StudyEvery Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. in Fireside LoungeGather with the week’s preacher to discuss the Bible readings for the coming Sunday worship. Coffee pro-vided.

Peace Light at Central Sunday, December 14, 11:00 a.m. in the SanctuaryThis year Central will welcome the Peace Light into our midst on December 14th during the 11:00 service. The Peace Light originates from a continuously burning flame at the Church of the Nativity’s grotto in Bethlehem, Palestine, where tradition says Jesus was born. It is meant to promote peace, harmony and unity among people of the world regardless of race, ethnic-ity or religion.

SMILE!! CLC Online Photo DirectoryPictures taken December 21The weekly CLC Directory Photo Sessions are on re-cess for the holidays. However there will be a session Dec. 21. This is especially for families with members home for Christmas, but all are welcome. Watch the Spirit for details. If you would like to submit a photo email it to directory@centralmpls.org.

Memorial Blood Center Drive - RescheduledSunday, January 25 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.The Memorial Blood Center will have its mobile van at Central Lutheran.

This WeekFair Trade items for sale in the Fellowship Hall between Sunday services.There will be fair trade items for sale throughout the Advent Season. There are many gift items from various artisans worldwide, North and South America, Africa, Far East and Middle East. Your purchase helps these artisans sustain a living wage, allows them to send their children to school, or better yet, obtain a clean, safe water well. Many have to walk 4-5 miles one way to get water everyday. Your support is appreciated.

Christmas Poinsettia SalesContinues through Sunday, December 14Join in the Central tradition of offering members and friends the opportunity to honor or remember loved ones by contributing to our poinsettia garden! To purchase a poinsettia (cost is $10 per plant), visit the Floral Guild table on Sundays, December 7 and 14. The table will be located in Fellowship Hall between services and in the South Commons following worship. In addition, please consider delivering a poinsettia to Central’s homebound on December 14 and following worship on Christmas Day. If you have questions ask the Floral Guild repre-sentative on Sunday or contact Karen Knox at (612)767-9211; kknox@centralmpls.org.

Prayer Shawl Knitters’ GroupTuesday, December 9 from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. in Fire-side LoungeIn addition to giving shawls to our congregation members, our faithful knitters have enabled Central to provide comforting shawls to HCMC, two retirement homes, a hospice program and to newly installed pas-tors. Please join us the second Tuesday of each month for coffee, cookies and informal fellowship in this caring outreach ministry. Bring the shawl you are knitting or come and start one. Some supplies are available. Con-tacts: Bobbie Spradley at bobbiespradley@comcast.net or Eve Overby at eveoverby@msn.com.

Check-in at Central on Facebook, Four-square/Swarm or Yelp!

This WeekendScandinavian Bake SaleSunday, December 7, Fellowship Hall immediately after 8:30 worship service and in South Commons after 11:00 serviceCircle of Gratitude will be selling homemade lefse and Scandinavian cookies. Stop in the Fellowship Hall after the 8:30 am service or South Commons after the 11 am service. Proceeds will support Central’s missionaries through the Global Mission budget.

Good-bye to Pastor Bents Sunday, December 7, during the fellowship hourCome celebrate and thank Pastor Bents for his time here at Central.

Central Welcomes Pastor Peter Nycklemoe

Pastor Peter is looking forward to beginning ministry at Central on Wednesday, December 10.

He will preach the weekend of December 13 and 14, and will hold a get acquainted forum between services on Sunday, December 21. This will be a great time to get to know Pastor Peter. He will also preach at both services on Christmas Eve.

His installation as Senior Pastor of Central Lutheran Church will be held on Sunday, February 8, 2015.

Sunday School Pageant is Dec. 14

Central’s Sunday School presents their annual Christmas Pageant on Sunday, December 14 at 9:45 a.m. in the Sanctuary. “Three Wise Dudes” is a play that seeks to answer the ques-tion: If Jesus were born today, where would we find the baby? It features two original songs by Central’s own Simon Husbands, including “Three Wise Dudes”, which will be previewed during the 11:00am worship service on Sunday, December 7.

Congregation Council Update

• Approved a Christmas Letter to be sent to Central’s members along with a Special Christmas offering which will go toward Central’s General Fund.

• The Start Up Committee, which will help ease the transition process for Pastor Nycklemoe and introduce him to the Central community, will hold its first meeting on Tuesday, December 9.

• Organized a farewell event for Pastor Bents to take place be-tween services on Sunday, December 7.

• Congregation Council to plan and host a staff Christmas lun-cheon on Tuesday, December 16.

An Appeal to Help the Work We Doby Pastor Melissa PohlmanWhen I venture out to other congregations to preach or share in adult forums about the work we do in the Res-toration Center I very purposely use the pronoun we. We gathered together potholders and toilet paper and cleaning supplies all summer and put together 50 Homecoming Baskets, so when people finally have a home after being on the streets, they have what they need to make an apartment a home. We have given out all but two of those baskets. That represents 48 families who have moved into new homes since September 8, 2014. We have made it possible for people to be excited to clean their new kitchens and do their first load of laundry. The Monday before Thanksgiving we fed over 400 people the whole meal, potatoes, stuffing, turkey, gravy, corn and pie. There were beautiful tables full of pie. We could do this work because of the partners that came alongside us and our guests. We couldn’t do this alone. A great deal of the food was supplied by the good people at Trinity Lutheran Church in Stillwater. They came on the Saturday before with vans full of food and loaded it all into our coolers. Wonderful brothers and sisters in Christ from Little Cedar and Marshall Lutheran Churches in Adams, MN made the long trek to the Cities on Monday morning and filled the kitchen with their joy. We prepared food and served food and worshiped together and ate together. They brought coats and gloves and towels and blankets they had been collecting, and filled our Free Store with the joy we share. We never do this work alone. In this season of preparing and awaiting and expecting our Christ who comes, I want to also rejoice for all that we do together in Christ’s name. We come together to support and uplift and rejoice with people who the rest of the world tends to discount, but we know that this is where Christ is. This is how Christ comes. This is how we are blessed time and time again. Thank you for coming alongside of us in your prayers, in your work, and in your donations. If you want to know more, or if you don’t see yourself as part of the we yet, please let me know. I am always so happy to welcome all into the blessings we share. Will you help with the work we do?

Pastoral CareWhen in need of pastoral care, please call or email the Church Office, (612)870-4416 or info@centralmpls.org. In case of emer-gency on weekends and evenings, please call the church and follow the prompts, touching #1 to leave a message for the pastor on call, who will call you back.

Prayer Corner

Rom. 15:12 “and again Isaiah says, “The root of Jesse shall come…in him the Gentiles shall hope.”This verse is comforting for many Christians enjoy incorporating the Advent wreath in the service during Advent. It is a visual reminder of hope and expectation during this season. The symbolism of the wreath reminds us of Christ’s coming. His coming in the manger; His second coming; and His coming into our hearts. The circular wreath represents the promise of eternal life. Evergreens depict God’s faithfulness to His people. The candles reflect Christ coming as a “light” to the world. The first candle is named hope because God promises to send a Messiah, as prophesied. The second one as Bethlehem/peace candle; the third one as Shepherd/joy candle; the fourth as angel/love candle .We can use the image of the wreath as a way to guide our prayers during Advent. The spiritual symbolism of hope, peace, joy and love fill our hearts with anticipation for God being with us! Lord, renew our hope in God’s saving grace.

The Prayer Ministry Team

Life Passages for November 2014DEATHS “Whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s”

Joy WetzelNovember 12, 2014

Nathan WestbyNovember 15, 2014

MARRIAGES “Those whom God has joined together let no one separate”

Abby Wulf and Corey AbdoNovember 8, 2014

The Appreciation Goes to...Recently the building maintenance staff identified sev-eral parking spaces on the surface lot for those who need to park closer to the building. Additionally, signs have been put in place to clearly designate those spaces. Along with parking on our private ]=street, we now have many spaces set aside for those who are handicapped in some way. We are very apprecia-tive of this much desired improvement.Check-out the photo (which includes: Dave Rodri-guez, Janet Krofta, Chair of Fiscal and Property Management, and Charles Smith) on the kiosk near the Fellowship Hall.

Creating Common Good - The Trinity Institute Comes to Central

You’re invited to attend Trinity Institute (TI2015), and annual conference that takes place in New York City, but

you can attend at Cen-tral Lutheran Church! We bring all the ele-ments of the NYC conference to you via live webcast.This year’s conference takes on the pervasive, overwhelming issue of

economic inequality. TI2015 speakers have real-world experience making change happen. They will provide us with hopeful, practical tools we can use to make a posi-tive economic impact.This conference features:• The Most Rev. Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Can-

terbury• Cornel West• Barbara Ehrenreich• Robert ReichAlso, Juliet Schor, the Rt. Rev. Julio Murray, Rachel Held Evans, Jennifer Jones Austin, R.R. Reno, and Nicole Baker Fulgham.Join us on Thursday, January 22, 6:00-7:00pm, Open-ing Worship; Friday, January 23, 8:00am-4:15pm, Is Inequality Sinful? Class Matters; and Saturday, January 24, 8:00am-2:30pm, What Can We Do About Economic Inequality? The Agape Economy: The Church’s Call to Action.This is a free event. You may attend part or all of the conference. Space is limited. Early registration is strongly advised. Contact Pastor Melissa Pohlmam if you have questions. To register for TI2015 at Central Lutheran Church, go to EventBrite TI2015 Minneapolis, https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ti2015-minneapolis-partner-site-tick-ets-14318576247.

“God can bless you with every-thing you need and you will always have more than enough to do all kinds of good things for others.” 2 Corinthians 9:8 CEV

The earliest results are in and Cen-tral’s Business Administrator, David Alexander, reports that 217 house-

holds have submitted their faith promise cards. The financial commitments total $638,269. Thank you to those who have made it a priority to give to Central’s missions. The giving households who made a faith promise for 2015 have understood we have more than enough to help do God’s work. Collectively, these givers have committed to offering more dollars per household on average than last year. We hope those who have not made a financial commitment to Central for 2015 will prayerfully consider joining us to extend Central’s reach in the coming year. Just drop your card in this weekend’s offering plate or mail it back to the Church Office.

The Columbarium is complete! Committal services are being scheduled and a

dedication is being planned.

Advent Devotional booklets are still available. Don’t miss out! Pick up a copy at the Church Office today. Suggested donation is $1.

Gas Fireplace Dedicated

The gas fireplace that has been installed in Cen-tral’s Fireside Lounge was dedicated by Pastor Christopherson at the Floral Guild Christmas luncheon of the this week. The gas fireplace is a gift to the congregation from the Margaret Herum memorial funds and from other past and present members of the Floral Guild.

Stay up-to-date on the weekend happenings ahead of the weekend with the weekly eSpirit newsletter.

Sign-up at www.centralmpls.org.

Worship with Us This Christmas!

December 24, Christmas Eve 4:00 p.m. Twlight Service of Blessing 10:30 p.m. Candlelight Holy Communion December 25, Christmas Day 10:00 a.m. Contemplative Holy Communion

Messiah: Hallelujah!The Minnesota Orchestra performs Messiah: Hal-lelujah! on Friday, December 12 in the Sanctuary at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are still available at www.minnesotaorchestra.org.