May 8, 2025: All Shall Be Well

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

One of the heaviest moments in my ministry here at Holy Trinity was the sudden and unexpected death of our dear friend and former President, Judy Evans, last year. Next Friday, May 16, marks the one-year anniversary of her passing, hard as that is to believe.

I think often of Judy, but I especially do so this day as today (May 8) happens to be the feast day of Julian of Norwich, who was Judy’s favorite Christian saint. Indeed, many of you will remember that, at Judy’s specific request, we heard a musical setting of Dame Julian’s famous All Shall Be Well at her funeral service. So, I thought it fitting that I would honor Judy’s memory today with a short reflection on why Julian of Norwich is such an important figure in Christian history.

Julian of Norwich was a 14th-century English anchoress and mystic who lived through war, plague, and immense personal suffering. Yet from her small cell attached to a church in Norwich, she wrote words that have echoed through the centuries with remarkable gentleness and hope. Her book, Revelations of Divine Love, is considered the first work in English known to be written by a woman.

In it, Julian shares her visions of Christ—visions that emphasize not wrath or judgment, but the boundless compassion and mercy of God. In a time when much of the church’s theology centered on sin and punishment, Julian dared to believe in a God who is not only just but tender, patient, and endlessly loving.

Her most famous words—“All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well”—are not the naïve hope of someone untouched by pain, but the hard-won wisdom of one who gazed deeply into the mystery of suffering and still trusted in the goodness of God. Julian teaches us that even when the world feels like it is unraveling, God is still present, still weaving all things into a story of redemption. That is a truth that Judy clung to, and it is a truth that can sustain us too—especially in seasons of grief and uncertainty.

As Lutherans, we do not canonize saints in the same way as other traditions do, but we honor the lives of faithful Christians who have borne witness to God’s grace in profound ways. Julian is one such witness. Her insistence that love is the deepest reality of the universe aligns closely with our own confession of the gospel: that in Christ, God’s mercy triumphs over judgment, and that no suffering, not even death, has the final word.

So today, as we remember Dame Julian—and as we hold Judy close in our hearts once more—may Julian’s words be more than comfort. May they be a calling: to live as people who trust, even in dark times, that God is making all things well.

In loving memory of a dear friend,

Pastor Luther

May 1, 2025: Praying for Our Roman Catholic Brothers and Sisters

As many of you know, our Roman Catholic siblings are preparing to gather in Rome for a conclave of cardinals, tasked with discerning who will serve as the next pope following the recent death of Pope Francis. While we in the Lutheran tradition do not look to the papacy for authority in the same way, this is nevertheless a deeply significant moment in the life of the global Church—one that calls for our attention, our compassion, and our prayers.

For all our theological differences, we share a deeper unity: as we say each Sunday, we are “one holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.” That ancient creed reminds us that the Church is more than our denominations and doctrines—it is the whole body of Christ, bound together in baptism and in our shared confession that Jesus is Lord. When one part of the body grieves or seeks new leadership, the whole body feels it. And so, as brothers and sisters in Christ, we are called to pray.

The pope holds a unique and powerful role—not only as the shepherd of more than a billion Catholics, but also as a moral and spiritual voice on the world stage. His witness reaches far beyond Vatican walls. Though we as Lutherans are not bound by his teachings, we are still affected by his presence, and by the vision he casts for Christian discipleship in this world.

We give thanks for the life and ministry of Pope Francis—a man whose papacy was marked by humility, tenderness, and a deep concern for the poor, the displaced, and the planet. He reminded the world again and again that mercy is at the very heart of the Gospel. His leadership encouraged all of us to imagine a Church that is less triumphal and more compassionate, less institutional and more pastoral.

As the cardinals prepare to elect a new pope, let us pray for them in particular: that they may be led by the Holy Spirit to choose someone of courage, wisdom, and faithfulness, someone shaped by the love of Christ and committed to servant leadership. And let us also pray that whomever is chosen will be open to the continued work of ecumenical dialogue and the healing of old divisions.

Martin Luther, in his “Exhortation to Prayer,” urged the faithful to pray daily “for the whole Church, that unity and harmony may prevail.” And so we should. In these days of discernment for the Roman Church, may we be drawn again to that deep longing for unity—not sameness, but a unity of spirit and purpose. May our prayers be a sign of that hope. And let us trust that the same God who has led the Church through so many seasons is even now doing a new thing—guiding us all toward greater faithfulness, together.

In Christ,

Pastor Luther

April 24, 2025: This Fragile Earth, Our Island Home

In one of the more memorable strips of Calvin & Hobbes, young Calvin stumbles upon a clear-cut patch of forest, stunned to discover that the woods he and Hobbes once explored have been reduced to a muddy wasteland. “Hey! What happened to the trees here?” he cries. “There used to be lots of animals in these woods!”

When Hobbes notices a nearby sign—“Future Site of Shady Acres Condominiums”—Calvin’s outrage only grows. “Animals can’t afford condos!” he fumes. His indignation rises until he shouts a wonderfully ironic question: “How would people like it if animals bulldozed a suburb and put in new trees?!”

In the next frame, Calvin and Hobbes stare off into space, clearly imagining the possibility. And in the final panel, we see the two of them searching for keys to a bulldozer, ready to raze some houses and plant a forest.

It’s funny, of course—but also painfully honest. The comic captures something all too familiar: our impulse to do something in the face of injustice, paired with the absurdity of how small our efforts can feel against vast systems of harm. Calvin’s mix of clarity, anger, and action is actually not far from the sort of moral vision that Earth Day is meant to inspire.

This year, Earth Day (April 22) falls during this first week of Eastertide. And maybe that’s fitting. Because Easter is, among other things, God’s loud and loving “yes” to life—life restored, life renewed, life overflowing. The empty tomb is a declaration that death will not have the last word. What might it mean, then, to live into Easter hope by loving this earth fiercely and faithfully?

To care for creation is not merely to feel sad about melting glaciers or endangered species. It is to change how we live. It is to examine our energy habits, our consumerism, our political complacency, and our theological assumptions about dominion and stewardship. It is to act—imaginatively, courageously, and sacrificially—on behalf of a world groaning for renewal. Yes, the problems are overwhelming.

Yes, our leaders often seem complacent or even antagonistic. But still—we act. Not because we are guaranteed success, but because we belong to a God who makes all things new.

Let us pray:

Creator God, whose Spirit hovered over the waters and breathed life into dust, awaken us again to the sacredness of this world you so lovingly made. Give us the strength to speak when others are silent, the imagination to dream new ways of living, and the creativity to plant seeds of hope in dry places. When our leaders falter, make us bold. When the scale of the crisis feels paralyzing, remind us that no act of love is ever wasted. May we be faithful stewards of this fragile earth, our island home, until it flourishes again with your justice and joy. Amen.

April 17, 2025: Holy Week

This evening, as the sun begins to set, we enter the most sacred and solemn time of the Christian year: the Triduum—three holy days that unfold as one continuous drama, beginning with Maundy Thursday, carrying us through Good Friday, and leading us into Holy Saturday. These days are not isolated events, but one great story of love and loss, of suffering and silence, that prepares us to receive the joy of Easter with deeper gratitude and wonder.

On Maundy Thursday, we remember the night Jesus gathered with his disciples for a final meal. It is an evening of tenderness and heartbreak, when Jesus kneels to wash his friends’ feet, offers them bread and wine, and speaks of love even as betrayal looms. We, too, are invited into that upper room—to be served, to serve, and to share in the mystery of Christ’s presence among us.

Good Friday brings us to the foot of the cross. We hear the story of Jesus’ passion, we pray solemn prayers for the world, and we sit with the unbearable truth that God’s own Son suffered and died. It is a day without pretense, a day for lament, honesty, and awe. Here, in the shadow of the cross, we face the depths of human pain and the even deeper well of God’s mercy.

Holy Saturday, the final day of the Triduum, is a quiet day—one without liturgy in our congregation, but rich with meaning. It is the day Jesus lay in the tomb, and the world held its breath. It is a day between—between death and life, grief and joy, sorrow and hope. I invite you to keep this day as one of prayerful waiting. Light a candle, read a psalm, take a walk in silence. Let your heart prepare for the dawning of Easter morning.

I hope you will join us on this journey of faith. Come for one night, or come for both. Together, we bear witness to a story that changes everything—a story that begins in love, passes through death, and ends in the promise of new life.

April 10, 2025: Etty Hillesum

Dear friends in Christ,

How do we keep faith when the world feels like it is unraveling? Many of you, and many of my other friends, have been asking me this question recently.

Witnesses to the faith from the past help me in these circumstances. And so, today I am thinking of Etty Hillesum. Etty was a young Jewish woman who lived in Amsterdam in the 1940s during the Nazi occupation and died as one of the millions of victims of the Holocaust. Etty’s gift was writing, and from the day when Dutch Jews were first ordered to wear a yellow star up until the day she boarded a cattle car bound for Auschwitz, Etty dedicated herself to keeping a meticulous spiritual diary. Published four decades after her death, this book (entitled A Life Interrupted) is now a classic, one of the great moral documents of the last century.

For obvious reasons, during much of Etty’s life, God seemed totally absent to her. While few of us will endure the atrocities she did, perhaps we can still relate to this feeling of the absence of God from time to time. I suspect most of us know this feeling. What do we do in these moments?

This is what Etty wrote in one of her last journal entries on the train that would take her to the death camps: “Someone has to take responsibility for God in this situation. That is, someone has to behave as if God were real. Someone has to make God credible by the way that they meet life and death.” And so, Etty Hillesum – at first sight a very unlikely candidate for this dignity – attempted to do just that, to make God believable through her life and her death and in the unfailingly hopeful words she left behind.

“At this point,” Etty wrote in her diary, “I have seen everything and yet I remain prepared for anything. No matter what happens around me, I stand ready to bear witness unto death that life is beautiful and meaningful, and that the unspeakable evil we face is not God’s doing, but our own.”

In moments of great despair, this is the prayer she relied upon:

“It is hard to comprehend, O God, what those created in Your likeness do to each other in these disfigured days. But I will not shut myself away in my room, dear God; instead, I will look things straight in the face, even the worst crimes, and seek to discover some small glimmer of your love hiding amidst the monstrous wreckage caused by one man’s senseless hatred of another.”

Faith is not a way of escaping the world’s sorrow; it is the strength to stand within it, eyes open, heart awake, trusting that no shadow can quench the light of God.

May we, too, find such courage — to keep looking for God’s glimmers, even in the ruins.

Grace and peace,

Pastor Luther

April 2025: Supporting Lutheran World Relief

Dear friends in Christ,

As we watch the news and hear reports of natural disasters and humanitarian crises around the world, our hearts break. Just this past week, a powerful earthquake struck the border region of Myanmar and Thailand, leaving devastation in its wake. Thousands have died or are injured, and many more are without homes, access to clean water, or basic medical care. And yet, at the very moment when swift, coordinated global response is most needed, the United States—once a beacon of leadership in humanitarian aid—has grown alarmingly quiet.

The current administration’s systematic dismantling of USAID and other longstanding humanitarian programs has left a vacuum where leadership once stood. These are not just bureaucratic shifts or policy differences; they are moral failures. By cutting funds, shuttering offices, and sidelining the expertise of seasoned diplomats and relief workers, our government has weakened our nation’s ability to respond with compassion and efficiency when disaster strikes. America was once a proud leader in humanitarian assistance. No more.

In the face of these reckless and cruel decisions by our government, we, as people of faith, are called to step forward. For eighty years, Lutheran World Relief has exemplified the very best of what it means to serve the world in Christ’s name. Founded in the aftermath of World War II to respond to the suffering of displaced people in Europe, LWR has since built a legacy of trust, resilience, and faith-driven action. In refugee camps, disaster zones, and food-insecure regions, LWR has been a steady and reliable presence—offering help, hope, and healing.

This year, as we celebrate Lutheran World Relief’s 80th anniversary, we do so not with nostalgia, but with renewed resolve. The mission is as urgent today as it was in 1945. Where governments fall short, the church must rise. Where policy fails, discipleship begins. Supporting LWR is not just a charitable act; it is a Gospel imperative. When we give, when we advocate, when we pray, we are joining Christ in his mission to bring good news to the poor and bind up the brokenhearted.

Let us be clear: this is not a time for the church to shrink back or wring its hands in despair. It is a time to bear bold witness to God’s love for the world by doubling down on our commitment to global neighbors in need. Our congregation can and must be part of the solution. We may not be able to change national policy overnight, but we can still choose to live generously and faithfully in the face of injustice.

As I mentioned this past Sunday, as a church we have decided to contribute the goodwill offerings from our four mid-week Lenten services to LWR. This is a good start. But I know we can do more over the course of this year. I invite you to recommit yourselves to the work of compassion. Let us honor our legacy by investing in the future. And let us remember that when we serve the vulnerable, we serve Christ himself.

In hope and solidarity,

Pastor Luther

Please watch the following video from Lutheran World Relief: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6O3KPuK9GA

March 2, 2025: Deepening our Lenten Journey

Dear Friends in Christ,

Next week, we step into the sacred season of Lent, a time of reflection, repentance, and renewal. Lent calls us to slow down, to take stock of our lives, and to turn our hearts more fully toward God. It is a season of forty days, mirroring Jesus’ time of fasting and prayer in the wilderness, inviting us to journey with Him toward the cross and, ultimately, the joy of Easter morning.

We will begin this journey together with our Ash Wednesday service at 7:00 p.m., where we will receive the mark of ashes—a sign of our mortality and need for God’s mercy. This ancient practice reminds us that true life is found not in our own strength but in the grace and love of Christ. I encourage you to make this service a priority, setting the tone for a meaningful and intentional Lent.

As a way of deepening our Lenten journey, I also invite you to read Trevor Hudson’s book, Pauses for Lent: Forty Words for the Season of Lent. (I have purchased forty (!) copies which are available for purchase in church at the discounted price of $10.) In this beautifully simple yet profound devotional, Hudson offers one word for each day of Lent—words like listen, follow, trust, forgive—accompanied by a short meditation and reflection questions. His approach helps us slow down and focus on small but powerful ways we can draw closer to God in our daily lives. Whether you read it alone or discuss it with others, I trust you will find it a rich companion for the season.

We will also be having a series of “Wednesday Evenings during Lent,” beginning on Wednesday, March 19. For four consecutive Wednesday evenings we will have: Bible study at 4:30 pm for those who are interested, a simple soup supper at 5:30 pm, followed by a 30-minute “Celtic Eucharist” with Taize chant at 6:30 pm. I hope you can join us for one or all of these midweek gatherings.

Remember: Lent is not about guilt or obligation; it is about grace. It is an opportunity to reorient our lives toward what truly matters, to let go of what distracts us, and to make space for God’s transforming love. Some of us may choose to give something up, others may take on a new spiritual practice, but all of us are invited to listen more attentively for God’s voice and open our hearts to His presence.

I pray that this Lent will be a holy and meaningful time for you. May it be a season of deepening faith, renewed hope, and fresh encounters with God’s love. I look forward to walking this journey with you, beginning next Wednesday evening.

Grace and peace,

Pastor Luther

February 13, 2025: An insightful open letter from the Vatican.

It is perhaps unusual for a Lutheran pastor to encourage his congregation to read and study a papal message from the Vatican, but in this case I believe Pope Francis is way ahead of the leaders of the mainline Protestant denominations in stating clearly, succinctly and eloquently some core gospel values that should inform our behavior in the current political context.

In a letter addressed to Catholic bishops in the United States earlier this week, the Pope reminded us all that while faithful Christians may disagree, sometimes sharply, on questions of national immigration policy, there are fundamental guardrails that all Christians must observe in respecting the sacred dignity of every human being, including refugees. Rather than paraphrasing his words, I invite you to read them yourselves. It is a short letter, and excepting only the last paragraph, I think all Christians can and should embrace this message. 

You can read the full letter here.

February 6, 2024: Pastor Luther's thoughts on the "assault against the Lutheran social ministries."

As your Pastor, it deeply pains me to write this, but we witnessed something this past week that I never in my wildest dreams thought was possible: unelected representatives of our nation’s new Administration have launched a malicious and untruthful assault against the Lutheran Church and its long-standing and highly respected social ministries. Moreover, the federal government is now threatening to “de-fund” these humanitarian organizations at the behest of Elon Musk, the “special government employee” whom the President has designated to lead the so-called “Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).”

Here are the facts as plainly as I can state them:

1. The controversy began late February 1, when Michael Flynn, a retired Army general who previously served as an adviser to President Trump, published a post on “X” (formerly Twitter) alongside screenshots of a spreadsheet detailing federal funding dispersed to Lutheran groups in the last two years. The spreadsheet listed various Lutheran social service groups that regularly partner with the federal government to provide relief to vulnerable communities in need.

2. Without citing evidence, Flynn accused the groups — who have longstanding funding agreements with the government — of “money laundering,” a federal crime. He also insisted the numbers amounted to “billions” of American taxpayer dollars, a claim not supported by the attached spreadsheet.

3. Mr. Musk then re-tweeted Flynn’s claims on Sunday, saying that Musk and his colleagues at DOGE (not a congressionally authorized body) are “rapidly shutting down these illegal payments.”

4. Our Lutheran-affiliated social services organization (now called Global Refuge) was quick to respond to the post, with CEO Krish O’Mara Vignarajah saying in a statement that she “condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the false accusations being lodged against our humanitarian work. As a faith-based nonprofit, we have proudly served legally admitted refugees and immigrants for more than 85 years. This includes Afghan Allies who risked their lives to protect U.S. troops, as well as persecuted Christians, all of whom have been extensively vetted and approved by multiple U.S. government agencies before traveling to our country. We also remain committed to caring for legally admitted unaccompanied children forced to flee to the United States.” She added: “Across Democratic and Republican administrations, we have partnered with the U.S. government to ensure vulnerable children are safe from human trafficking and can be safely reunified with their parents or guardian.”

5. Subsequently, the Presiding Bishop of the ELCA, the Rt. Rev. Elizabeth Eaton, posted a video also condemning Mr. Musk’s statements and threats, saying “despite misinformation and baseless doubt cast [by Mr. Musk and General Flynn] on funding that supports Lutheran organizations across our country, the ELCA remains steadfast in our commitment and work with our many Lutheran partners. The ELCA is also concerned for other faith-based communities and organizations who have similarly come under attack.” (The video may be found on the ELCA national website.)

6. Our own bishop of the New England Synod, the Rt. Rev. Nathan Pipho, earlier this week also issued a statement (which I posted on the HTELC Facebook page) condemning Mr. Musk’s statements and threats.

7. But perhaps the clearest and most compelling statement on this subject was made a few days ago by Lutheran Bishop Emeritus Dr. R. Guy Erwin, the President of United Lutheran Seminary. It reads:

“The malice and ignorance behind claims that Lutheran social service agencies have somehow received Federal funds for their own institutional benefit is breathtaking: these are payments for Federally-contracted activities awarded to these agencies because of their efficiency and reliability as honest partners with the government in helping alleviate the need of legitimate refugees recognized by the government as such. These Lutheran agencies are accountable not only to the government but to their trustees, and subject to all the laws governing non-profit organizations in this country. Moving such social services from the government’s direct management to faith-based non-profit agencies is a longstanding U.S. policy which received its strongest impetus in the Reagan years and Republican administrations since. That representatives of that party and the government now cast aspersions on those highly effective agencies is shocking, irresponsible, and insulting to their staff and supporters, and indeed the millions of Lutherans in the United States.”

I do not lightly wade into the thicket of faith and politics, but here the need to speak out and act is quite clear. What the unelected Mr. Musk has said and done is morally outrageous. We cannot just let it pass. Two days ago we celebrated the birthday of the great Lutheran theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who once observed that “silence in the face of evil is itself evil. God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”

I will be staying in touch with our bishop and my other pastor colleagues as this matter develops. I have also reached out to my friend, Pastor Ross Goodman, who now is the Board Chair of Ascentria Care Alliance, the New England expression of Lutheran Social Services, to let him know that our congregation stands ready to support their work in these tumultuous times. In that vein, I am asking our Congregation Council to donate the $3500 in charitable monies that was committed to my discretion at our Annual Meeting to support Ascentria’s work.

I urge President Trump and his Administration to disavow the statements and recommendations of Mr. Musk and General Flynn, and to continue the long-standing public-private partnership between Lutheran social services organizations and the federal government. Their work, and that of other faith-based humanitarian organizations, is vital to meet the needs of vulnerable populations here and around the world.

December 19, 2024: Advent is drawing to a close.

A WORD FROM YOUR PASTOR

Advent is drawing to a close as we approach the coming of the Christmas season. I so regret the fact that I cannot be with you on Christmas Eve, even as I know that Pastor Brad Wolff will take good care of you all. Rest assured that I will be thinking about you, and praying for you, from my little chapel in Manchester as I lead our three Christmas Eve services.

It is extraordinary, really, how we all long to gather and hear this magical story one more time, one we know by heart. A man and young woman, she heavy with child, travel from their home in Nazareth to Bethlehem. There is a census, and they have traveled under imperial decree to be registered. It is a long and difficult journey. He walks; she rides the donkey. If they find an inn at the end of the day, they have food and shelter. If not, they stop by the side of the road and sleep under the stars. Finally, they arrive in Bethlehem. The inn is already full. The innkeeper allows them to spend the night out back in the cow stall. At least they will be warm. During the night the time comes. Labor begins. He helps. She births her baby, a son, and together they wrap him in the strips of clean cloth they have brought along, and after she nurses him, they place the infant gently in the feed box, a manger, to sleep.

It is a beautifully simple story about life at its most human.

Yet, the glory of this story—and the reason countless millions of people around the world will pause to hear it again even though they have heard it hundreds of times and know every detail by heart—the glory of it is that it is a story about God, God coming into the world; God revealed in a human life, as he worked and laughed and loved; God revealed as he taught and healed and challenged religious convention; God revealed as he reached out to touch the lives of all—his friends, their families, strangers and outcasts too, the rich and poor alike; God revealed in that man’s honest, strong, unconditional love; God revealed as he suffered and died for us.

The Christmas story is about a God who reigns not from a magnificent throne in a far-off corner of heaven, but from a stable in Bethlehem, a cross on Calvary, a table where bread was broken and wine shared and where all were welcome.

God comes that close to us. God meets us where we are. And He did it, and does it, all out of love. Love for you and for me.

Like Mary, I hope you ponder and treasure the beauty of this timeless story in your hearts during this coming season of Christmas.

In the meantime, however, we will conclude our season of Advent together this Sunday. I look forward to seeing you!

In Christ, Pastor Luther

October 31, 2024: "We are sisters and brothers in Christ first and foremost, before we are Americans."

With the election just days away, many of us are feeling acute anxiety. No matter who prevails next Tuesday, it seems unlikely that our next President and Congress will be able to unify our deeply fractured nation and lead us forward into a brighter future. Our distrust of one another has become so profound that we can’t even agree on how to count votes or ensure a fair and just election process, things which we used to take for granted. I hope and pray that these worries of mine are misplaced, but the divisions within the American soul seem quite intractable these days.

We Americans also have developed an unfortunate tendency to be preoccupied with ourselves. I have some clergy friends who live and serve in other countries around the world, and they often comment to me how incredibly self-absorbed the American media has become, as if the only social, political, and economic matters worth reporting are about this country and especially our upcoming U.S. Presidential election. Yet, however important next Tuesday’s vote may be, we should not forget that there are over 8 billion people on this planet living in 195 different nation states, the vast majority of whom are struggling just to survive from day to day.

As Christians, these realities should trouble us deeply. The gospel of Jesus Christ quite clearly knows no political, racial, ethnic, or economic boundaries. Ours is a global faith. We are sisters and brothers in Christ first and foremost, before we are Americans, and certainly before we are Democrats or Republicans. We are called to be agents of God’s transforming love, healing and unifying this broken world, not dividing, plundering, and corrupting it. We are called to share, not hoard; reconcile, not bear grudges; make peace, not exact vengeance; serve, not tend only to our own needs; listen humbly to others’ concerns, not arrogantly assume that we always know best. Have we forgotten these gospel values?

My prayer for us all in the coming weeks and months is that, no matter the electoral outcome, we stay centered in the living Christ, trusting in His ways of love, rather than giving in to despair or cynicism. Stay engaged, pursue justice, speak the truth, pray for guidance. Let us “not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds, so that we may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:2. Indeed, if you are looking for a Scriptural text to keep you grounded in these challenging times, I invite you to read and pray on the entire twelfth chapter of St. Paul’s magisterial Letter to the Romans, for it offers timeless advice on how Christians should carry themselves in times of crisis.

And, by all means, take solace in this truth too: God’s plan for saving this beautiful Creation of His does not depend on the outcome of this or any other election. God will make our crooked ways straight. Keep the faith.

September 26, 2024: A prayer for our nation over the coming weeks

It is no secret that we are in the midst of a contentious and divisive election season. People of faith—both within our church and across the country—hold different convictions about the candidates running for office this year, as well as about various social issues and policies. These opinions are often very strongly held and “real” conversation sometimes seems impossible. How are we to navigate this treacherous terrain as people who seek to be grounded above all else in the life of Christ?

Our new bishop, the Rt. Rev. Nathan Pipho, in his September bishop’s newsletter (his first), recently directed our attention to an ELCA draft Social Statement of Civic Life and Faith which seeks to offer theological guidance on this complex subject. I commend it to you. You can find it here. Please keep in mind that this is a draft and comments are still being received from the public.

Perhaps even more importantly, I encourage you to begin an intentional practice of prayer for our nation over the coming weeks, now that early voting has commenced in some states. I am attaching here some prayers authored by the Rev. Kimberly Deckel that I find helpful.

Let me conclude with one of my favorite prayers from the Book of Common Prayer:

O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

September 11, 2024: Holy Cross Day

I am so delighted to be back in your midst and Pat and I look forward to worshipping with you this Sunday! It promises to be a delightfully busy fall, with many opportunities for fun, formation and fellowship.

This coming Sunday we will be celebrating "Holy Cross Day." What is that exactly, you ask? Its historical roots date back to Helena, the mother of Roman Emperor Constantine, who claimed to have discovered the empty tomb and true cross of Christ during a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. According to tradition, the discovery was made on September 14th, 330 A.D., and then, after the Church of the Holy Sepulcher was built on the site, it was dedicated on September 13th or 14th, 335 A.D. From as early as the seventh century, the Church commemorated September 14th each year with a Feast of the Holy Cross. It is now recognized as a festival day (with differing emphasis, to be sure) by Roman Catholics, Lutherans, and Episcopalians alike.

At the time of the Reformation, Martin Luther was not keen on the idea of venerating relics, even something as profoundly important as the wooden cross upon which Christ may have been crucified. Even so, Luther believed that Holy Cross Day was worth observing if we focus less on the relic and more on what Christ accomplished on the cross.

One of the traditions of this day is to sing the great hymn "Lift High the Cross" as our Hymn of the Day. The hymn was written by George Kitchin in 1887, while he was the Church of England Dean of Winchester for the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. It has been suggested that the hymn was inspired by the story of Constantine the Great’s conversion to Christianity after seeing a cross with “In hoc signo vinces” on it. It was first sung in Winchester Cathedral and more recently has been adopted in our Lutheran hymnals.

We will also sing as our Sending Hymn, "The Old Rugged Cross." Although not in the Lutheran hymnal, it is an immensely popular hymn across American Protestant denominations.

I look forward to reconnecting with you all on Sunday!

July 11, 2024: "Find time to play"

Yesterday evening about forty or so of us gathered at church for a lovely barbeque and simple Eucharist service. The food was delicious and it was a great opportunity to connect with one another in a relaxed setting. As a bonus, we also had the children and parents from Vacation Bible School with us, which included families from both Holy Trinity and Imanuel Indonesian Churches. Thank you to all who helped make it a delightful time!

During the Eucharist service, it was also a joy to partner with Pastor Esther at the altar as we shared the bread and the wine together with those gathered. We are so glad she and her family are finally with us and I know the Imanuel community is too!

During my short homily, I reflected on that scene in Mark's gospel where, to the great irritation of his disciples, Jesus' pauses his ministry to play with children, to put them on his knee, and to bless them. He reminds his followers that, far from being a distraction to the work of ministry, children are precious gifts from God and that it is to "such as these that the kingdom of God belongs." Mark 10:14.

Summertime is in fact an apt season to attend to our own "inner child" and give him or her some space to play, just as Jesus did. In my humble opinion, our culture desperately needs to recover the holiness of "doing nothing," the sacred dimensions of sheer play that is part of what sabbath means. Far from being a mere distraction from “real” work and “real” life, play is in fact the basis of life: it is a life-giving impulse as integral to our health and well-being as sleep and nutrition.

Play is a wonderfully purposeless activity, voluntarily done for its own sake, that is inherently attractive, that frees us from a sense of time, diminishes our self-consciousness, is full of potential for improvisation, and begs for more. We play because play is fun and makes us feel alive and connected to the world around us.

More deeply, play is an expression of our creative freedom. Play frees us from all those things that bind us: the need to be practical, to follow established rules, to please others, to make good use of time. Play is its own reward, its own reason for being. It is filled with wonder, surprise, expectation, pleasure, insight, beauty, and power. When we play, we are open to new possibilities and sparks of new insight and thought. Play provides the glue for our relationships and fuels our creativity.

The pure freedom and ecstasy of play is, I am convinced, exactly what Jesus had in mind when he told the disciples that day to stop what they were doing and to spend time with some children. We should do the same. So, go out this summer and have some fun; whether it is with your children, grandchildren, or your own inner child, find time to play!

June 9, 2024: Upcoming Synod Assembly

Dear friends in Christ,

Please pray for all of the people of the New England Synod today through Saturday as pastors and lay representatives gather in Worcester, MA, for our annual Assembly, which this year includes the election of a new bishop. I will be there in attendance along with your delegates, Cristina Dolcino and Mike Gass.

Among other things, we give thanks for Bishop Hazelwood's service these past many years, as well as for all those persons who courageously agreed to have their names put forward as candidates during this year's election. We trust that, from these many gifted women and men, the Holy Spirit will guide us to elect that person best suited to lead the Synod in these challenging times.

Let us pray:

Almighty God, giver of every good gift: Look graciously on your Church, and so guide the minds of those who shall choose a bishop for our Synod, that we may receive a faithful pastor, who will care for your people and equip us for our ministries; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Cristina and/or Mike have agreed to share with you the results of the election and the other business of the Assembly at this Sunday's service. I suspect Pastor Larsen will be happy to share his own perspective as well.

In Christ's peace,

Pastor Luther

May 30, 2024: Welcome Back, Pastor Don

I will certainly miss you on Sundays this summer as I now return to my seasonal chapel (Emmanuel Church) in Manchester-by-the-Sea, MA, for our summer calendar of worship (June 2 through Sept. 1). However, I will still be coming up to Holy Trinity on most Wednesdays during the summer and hope to see you then, especially during one of our three afternoon BBQ events (see below). If you would like to make an appointment, or otherwise reach me, please contact Mark in the office.

In my absence, we are blessed indeed to have our old friend, Pastor Don Larsen, join us on Sundays to lead worship, beginning this Sunday through Labor Day weekend. Pastor Don was here last summer and is known to most of you. He and I first got to know each other as fellow chaplains at Harvard and have been friends ever since. I am so grateful that he is able to be with you these coming months, even though he is technically “retired.”

From Chicago, Pastor Don earned his undergraduate degree in church music from Concordia Teachers College in River Forest, IL, and prepared for ordination at Christ Seminary-Seminex in St. Louis, and at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. He was ordained in 1983. Pastor Don pursued further theological study at a number of other schools, including Union Theological Seminary of New York and Yale Divinity School.

Pastor Don has served congregations in the Slovak Zion Synod-ELCA and the New England Synod in Danbury and Brookfield, CT, Riverside, IL, and Hartford, CT. During his ten-year ministry at Grace Lutheran in Hartford he also taught biblical Greek at Hartford Seminary.

More recently, Pastor Don led University Lutheran Church in Cambridge, MA, where he was also Lutheran Chaplain to Harvard University and an instructor in Lutheran studies at Harvard Divinity School. Most recently, Pastor Don was pastor of St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church in Sudbury, MA, from which he retired in 2020.

I hope you will give Pastor Don a warm welcome-back!

May 22, 2024: A Tribute to Judy Evans

It has been a hard week for all of us as we continue to grieve the sudden and unexpected loss of our dear friend, Judy Evans. Judy served this church wisely and faithfully in so many ways—as President, Council member, parish nurse, church musician and choir member, active participant in our Tanzania ministry, and most recently, a trusted advisor to me as part of our Mutual Ministry Review Team. Her delightful presence and spirit will be missed in so many ways.

This past week I have been meeting and coordinating with her family and friends to plan her memorial service, which will take place in our church on Friday, May 31, at 11 a.m. I just received from her family the final text of her obituary, which I share below. She was such a private person that I think many of us had no idea what an accomplished and rich life she led. May she rest in peace and rise in glory.

A Tribute to Judy Evans

Judith Ann Evans of Portsmouth passed away on May 16, 2024, at age 79 following a brief illness. Judy went peacefully, having led a full and accomplished life.

Judy was born in Brooklyn and grew up in Syosset on Long Island, where she graduated from Syosset High School. She attended the University of Rochester, where she received her Bachelors of Sciences in Nursing. Following graduation, Judy worked as a nurse in New York City for over a decade, before becoming the Director of Medical Nursing at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield in 1979.

After three years in Springfield, Judy took a role with the National Institutes of Health. While in the DC area, she received her Masters in Nursing from Catholic University of America before working as an Associate Director at Bellevue Hospital in New York and Director of Critical Care at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia.

Judy moved into the field of nursing education in the late 1980s, serving as an instructor, adjunct professor, and assistant professor at Widener University, Rutgers University, and received her Doctorate in Nursing Education from Teachers’ College, Columbia University in 1996. After spending nearly all her life in the Mid-Atlantic, Judy began a new chapter in New England when she moved to New Hampshire in 1992 and began teaching at the University of New Hampshire. Following a three-year stint as the Director of Education and Clinical Guidelines at the Lahey Clinic, Judy was named Assistant Director of Nursing Education for the New Hampshire Board of Nursing, while also returning to teach at UNH. In 2007 she was named Founding Director of the Nursing Education Programs at Franklin Pierce University. Judy received the 2008 Award for Excellence in Nursing Leadership from the New Hampshire Organization of Nurses. She retired from Franklin Pierce in 2010.

Judy filled her life with family and friends. She did annual summer vacations to Cape Cod with her brother, Rich, and his family, and her desserts were a highlight at family gatherings for birthdays and holidays. She traveled the globe with friends and church groups, including trips to Tanzania, where she climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, and the Galapagos Islands.

A lover of flowers and gardening, Judy also enjoyed the outdoors. She was an avid kayaker for years and relished her time at the beach. Her church community at Holy Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Newington was hugely important to Judy, and she served in leadership roles within the church.

Judy also had a fondness for reading and the arts. She played piano and sang, including with several choruses in the Seacoast area. She appreciated music in many forms, including classical music and frequently attended concerts. She also took up quilting and fabric art, becoming accomplished in the medium in her final years.

Judy will be missed greatly by her family, friends, and church community for her keen mind, her generosity of spirit, her love of life, and her amazing laugh.

Judy was preceded in death by her parents Leonard and Agnes Evans, and her brother, Richard Evans. She is survived by her brother, Paul Evans and his wife Ann, of Lafayette, California, her sister-in-law Marcia Evans of Southbury, Connecticut, her nephew Jon Evans of Walnut Creek, California, her nieces Catherine Evans of Somerville, Massachusetts, Leslie Evans of La Crescenta, California, and Jessica Summerfield of Santa Barbara, California, and her beloved cat, Korben.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Judy’s memory can be made to Friends of the Portsmouth Public Library.

May 15, 2024: NE Synod Bishop Election.

This is an important year for the New England Synod as we elect a new bishop in early June at our annual gathering of clergy and lay leaders we call Assembly. This year’s Assembly will be held June 6-8 in Worcester, Massachusetts, and I will be attending along with our elected representatives, Cristina Dolcino and Mike Gass.

For the past twelve years, Bishop James Hazelwood has served as the Synod’s leader, but he is now retiring, requiring an election of a new bishop. Accordingly, this is an occasion both to celebrate and give thanks for Bishop Hazelwood’s episcopate and prayerfully discern who may be a good choice for our next bishop. Under ELCA rules, bishops are elected to six-year terms.

There are nearly a dozen candidates who have been nominated and you can learn more about them here. There is also a website that provides detailed information about the election process and even more information about the candidates. You can find it here. We will also be posting information about the candidates in the Gathering Area for the next few Sundays.

Cristina, Mike and I very much want to hear from all of you about what Holy Trinity is looking for in a new bishop. We are your representatives in this electoral process and invite your views! You can reach me at pastorluther@htelc.com or Cristina and Mike at foggdrive@yahoo.com.

Almighty God, you have given your Holy Spirit to the church to lead us into all truth. Bless with the Spirit's grace and presence the people of this synod as we prepare to elect a bishop. Keep us steadfast in faith and united in love, that we may manifest your glory and prepare for the way of your kingdom; through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

April 25, 2024: Celebrating Earth Day

This Sunday we will be celebrating Earth Day. Not only will our Creation Care Task Force be sponsoring an adult forum on the topic of Creation Care after the service, but our liturgy itself this week reflects a focus on a theology of environmental stewardship.

I invite you to listen for and appreciate all of these connections in our worship this week. For example:

• We open our service with a Confession of Sin highlighting our recklessness in caring for God’s good creation, yet even so we find hope in God’s promise to forgive us and inspire us to do better.
• We harken back to the Garden of Eden in our Gathering Hymn, Morning Has Broken, and then in lieu of a Kyrie, we sing a Song of Praise in celebration of Earth and All Stars.
• Our gospel text from John, in which Jesus identifies as the “true vine,” invites us into an organic and intimate connection with God, each other, and with Creation.
• Our Hymn of the Day, All Creatures Worship God Most High, written by Francis of Assisi, reinforces the message by developing these creation themes further, as does our Sending Hymn, Joyful, Joyful.
• Finally, our Eucharistic Prayer, drawn from the Lutheran liturgical resource, All Creation Sings!, places our sharing of the bread and wine within a broader understanding of God’s care for, and desire to restore, the entire created order.

May we all be inspired by our worship to be God’s agents of renewal, hope, and re-creation!

April 17, 2024: Our Partnership with Isimani

On Tuesday of this week, a small group gathered at church at the invitation of our President, Erlinde Beliveau, to discuss the history, status and future of our partnership with the good people of the Isimani Lutheran congregation in Central Tanzania. Present at the meeting (in addition to Erlinde and myself) were several veterans of this ministry, including Margareta Claesson, Judy Evans, Russ Hilliard, Dot Kasik, Ed Mallon and Jo Whiting.

The meeting was a real education for me. For those of you who also may be new to this ministry, I learned that the partnership began almost thirty years ago when a new UNH professor, Joe Lugalla, arrived at Holy Trinity and asked if we’d be interested in a relationship with his father’s Lutheran church in Isimani, Tanzania. Our then-Pastor, Linn Opderbecke, took Joe’s request to the Church Council, which enthusiastically embraced the idea. Pastor Opderbecke then travelled with Joe to Isimani to meet the congregation and, a year later, a dozen Holy Trinity members followed on the first congregational trip in 2006. And so, a relationship was born.

Importantly, even though our connection with the people of Isimani initially came through Joe Lugalla’s introduction and very personal history, the ministry is part of a broader network of relationships between individual churches within the St. Paul Synod of the ELCA and churches within the Lutheran Diocese of Iringa. An umbrella organization, Bega Kwa Bega (which means “Shoulder to Shoulder”), manages this network of relationships and provides guidance and support to congregations like ours.

Since that first congregational visit in 2006, there have been many subsequent trips of Holy Trinity members to Isimani. Just as importantly, there has been an ongoing relationship of prayer and a broad range of projects between the sister congregations. Holy Trinity has, for example, provided scholarship monies for secondary school and college education for Isimani youth, our members have taught courses at the nearby Iringa Lutheran University, we’ve supported the local library and sewing school in the community, and we’ve helped purchase food, livestock and other essentials. Everyone at our Tuesday meeting also testified that we at Holy Trinity have likewise benefitted enormously from our relationship with these Tanzanian brothers and sisters in Christ.

Because of COVID and Holy Trinity’s own transition in pastors, our relationship with Isimani has been somewhat dormant these past few years (although, to be sure, several of our members have quietly continued to work in support of the ministry in both big and small ways). Sadly, this past year Joe Lugalla also died, and the long-time pastor of Isimani (Livingston Msungu) left to pursue further theological education. We just learned this week that the congregation has called a new pastor, the Rev. Samson Laiser, whom we have yet to meet.

In the wake of these developments, the purpose of our Tuesday meeting was to see how we as a congregation might go about re-starting this ministry now that the pandemic has lifted and both Isimani and Holy Trinity have new pastors in place. We agreed that an initial first step is to convene an adult forum at which veterans of this relationship could share their personal experiences and discuss both the history of the ministry and its future possibilities. We may also be able to enjoy a short “zoom visit” with some of our Isimani friends and their new pastor. We have scheduled this adult forum for Sunday, June 16th, right after church. It will be a wonderful opportunity to learn more about this incredible partnership and together discern its future. Please mark the date on your calendars!