Dear members and friends of Minnekirken, On behalf of the entire Church Council, I have been given the joy and privilege of wishing you all a blessed "God Jul!" by way of this Christmas letter. In "normal" years, you would have received from Minnekirken a lovely Christmas Kontakt which would be chock full of holiday activities from "Taste of Norway" to our "Jul Fest." And, in turn, we would have benefited from your attentiveness, your prayers, and your support. Please don't underestimate the power of those envelopes that we insert in those newsletters - your generosity has been, as they say in Norway, "Enormt!" But we all know that 2020 has been unlike any year we've experienced at The Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church. We began it with great hopes to tackle an essential project: the renovation of our failing brick facade. For an iconic, landmark, sanctuary such as ours that is no small effort. Brick-by-brick crumbling areas will be disassembled and rebuilt with matching mortar and the very same bricks. It's not a mere catch-phrase when we say, "they don't make them like they used to." They truly don't. Brick-by-brick, member-by-member, friend-by-friend God has built us up together to form this "holy house." But 2020 has also taught us that this is not merely a physical construct. The Holy Spirit has bound the Church together with invisible cords. For much of the year, we have not worshipped at Minnekirken. We have met virtually: online through mediums like Zoom and Facebook Live. And our Immanuel has proven once again to be Immanuel - God with us. We have been reminded that the Body of Christ is not built by human hands Speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. ~Ephesian 4:15-16 I've met with our dedicated Church Council throughout this year, admittedly fearful at first to hear about the ways the pandemic has eroded our fellowship. But it seems like every meeting has given us fresh reasons to "synge halleluja!"
ADVENT & CHRISTMAS WORSHIP—11 AM, SUNDAYS with Holy Communion Advent 1 (on-line)…………....Nov. 29 Advent 2 (on-line)………..…....Dec. 6 Advent 3 (in-person)…….....Dec. 13 Online Christmas Special Sunday, Dec. 13 @ 3 PM Advent 4 (on-line)……..…....Dec. 20 Christmas Day (in-person) Friday, Dec. 25 @ 11 AM Christmas 1 (in-person)……Dec. 27 Christmas 2 (on-line)……..…..Jan. 3 Epiphany (in-person)……….Jan. 10
PLEASE CONSIDER . . . Returning the envelope with a yearend donation. Going to our website to discover our virtual “Taste of Norway“ webstore. Join us online or register for inperson Juletid worship again via:
minnekirken-chicago.org
Christmas Issue 2020
CONTINUED . . . And to you all we say "mange tusen takk" for the ways you have persisted with us. Through it all our "Memory Church" has continued to gather the hearts and hopes of our members and friends. We've had weddings, we've had funerals, we've gathered for the ministry of Word and Sacrament. Minnekirken still stands - both physically and spiritually - on the love of God in Christ. Throughout Adventstiden we gather—if not in-person, then virtually—to contemplate the saving promise of God in Christ. We will lean into Christmas, and YES, God willing, we will celebrate it at Minnekirken! We will lean into the New Year, which we pray will be one of health and restoration. This is not our typical Christmas Kontakt, but this letter does serve a most important purpose: to share our deep appreciation for you. Thank you. God Jul! Godt Nytt År!
HOW CAN I WORSHIP WITH MINNEKIRKEN? There are FOUR WAYS to join in on our scheduled worship services and events. 1. IN-PERSON ACCESS TO WORSHIP—On the 2nd and 4th Sundays of the month we have begun in-person worship at church, but attending that does have some stipulations including the need to register for worship since our seating capacity is limited. Loving accountability for one another's health a must! Go to www.minnekirken-chicago.org for more. 2. TELEPHONE ACCESS TO LIVE WORSHIP—Did you know that you can use a landline or mobile phone to join our Sunday and Holiday services? Dial the phone number needed to join the meeting. For Chicago area residents that number is +1 312 626 6799 Enter the meeting ID - for Minnekirken's Sunday worship that ID number is 834 9323 7212 - followed by #. Next you should be prompted to add this passcode: 590569 You may be prompted to press # to wait, if the meeting has not already begun. Please be sure to mute your phone by dialing *6 so as not to interrupt worship with talking, animal, or other background noises. Toggle *6 to both mute/unmute. You can find the numbers on your meeting invitation or a full list of international dial-in numbers at https:// zoom.us/zoomconference. ON-LINE ACCESS TO WORSHIP—Minnekirken has been doing Zoom/Facebook Live worship feeds online every Sunday at 11:00 am CST. We plan to continue this option beyond the pandemic. 3. If you want to enter by FACEBOOK LIVE simply go to
the Church's page - www.facebook.com/minnekirken. By worship time you should see our live feed playing there. These Facebook Live worship services are saved on our page and can be viewed at a later time. 4. Here's the link to ZOOM meeting we use for Sunday worship: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83493237212? pwd=VnBzNGtkK1l1TVg1enJIWVZjN0lMQT09 Meeting ID: 834 9323 7212
Passcode: Minnekirk1
Pease note that on the first, third, and fifth Sundays of the month—when we do not have in-person worship— we start the Zoom meeting early. On non-communion Sundays we have been meeting for "kirkekaffe" at 10:00 am. SCAN FOR ZOOM ————————>
SCAN FOR FACEBOOK——-———>
SCAN FOR WEBSITE——————->
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