Normandale Connections
NOVEMBER 2020
A CONGREGATIONAL UPDATE DURING COVID-19 GREETINGS TO YOU, DEAR PEOPLE OF NORMANDALE! We will turn the calendar on 2020! We will see 2021 together! We will emerge stronger, more connected, and ready again to sing our praises to God! We will continue to serve our neighbors in need! And we will build a future in which our children, and our children’s children, will rejoice! “For those…who come after us!” Pastor Ian’s sermon on October 18, implored us to consider the question, “Is the neighbor being served?” It hearkens us to the voice of Jesus, to the Scriptures, to Martin Luther, pointing us to our foundational understanding of calling. We do not ask "what is the meaning of life?" Instead, we ask "what is it that makes our lives meaningful?" In serving our neighbors, our question fades into acts of lovingkindness. And so, in this liminal season, as we wander the wilderness of pandemic, we ground ourselves in serving others, seeking the well-being of others, living for others, under the theme of “For those…who come after us!” We do not lose heart, for our work is essential now more than ever. As we serve one, we lay down a stone in a bridge our children will cross. As we reach out to one, we plant a tree, the shade in which our children’s children’s children will sit. As we live generously today, we bless the many tomorrows. Read this publication and follow NLC communications in the final months of this most important year! Please prayerfully prepare your giving to 2021 ministry. See the impact our congregation has as we band together our gifts. Hear the voices of those who partner with us in service. Take in the spirits of the ancestors upon whose shoulders we now stand, so that we might be the shoulders for generations to come.
INSIDE... 2 | Edging Back Into Community 3 | Confirmation Class of 2020 4 | A Season "For Those..." 6 | NLC By the Numbers 8 | Congregational Family Updates
Thank you for your generosity that has sustained us through 2020. Look now out 11 | Church Business ahead, as we wade into the river, across which God’s promises will be fulfilled! and Resources “For those…who come after us!” To God be the glory, now and forever!! Alongside you in ministry, Pastor Paul
NORMANDALE LUTHERAN CHURCH