Holy Cross Lutheran Church

Betty Eno Memorial Service on September 29

Bob

Join us for live, participatory, interactive worship experience that celebrates Betty Eno's life on Wednesday, September 29th at 10 AM Mountain Time either in person at the church building or participate via Zoom by clicking the link below.

Zoom Info:

Meeting ID: 874 6510 2024
Passcode: 094685

One tap mobile
+12532158782,,87465102024# US (Tacoma)
+13462487799,,87465102024# US (Houston)

Dial by your location
+1 720 707 2699 US (Denver)
+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)

Meeting ID: 874 6510 2024
Find your local number: https://us06web.zoom.us/u/keATUZd2En

Join via Zoom

Orange Shirt Day at Holy Cross on Sunday September 26

Bob

From Pastor Anne:

Orange Shirt Day is every September 30th. Please wear an orange shirt for worship on Sunday September 26th either in person or on Zoom.

Redwing Eagle of Tamaya, who was a student at the Albuquerque Indian School, has made an orange banner for our church which we will hang on that day.

There is a lot of information about Residential Schools at The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition and ORANGE SHIRT DAY: Every Child Matters. There is more about the Albuquerque Indian School at Uncovering New Mexico’s Indian Boarding School History – The Paper. (abq.news)

Between 1869 and the 1960s, hundreds of thousands of Native American children were removed from their homes and families and placed in boarding schools operated by the federal government and the churches.

In July 2021, ELCA congregations received a request from the American Indian Alaska Native Lutheran Association to remember the children whose unmarked graves are being identified at Residential Schools in the USA and Canada.

In part the letter read:

“The color orange is symbolic. It was the inspiration of a survivor of that era, Phyllis Webstad, who said that when she was a 6-year-old girl arriving at a residential boarding school, she was stripped of her clothes which included a new orange t-shirt her grandmother had just given her. None of her possessions were ever returned. The orange shirt/color now symbolizes how the churches and the schools they administered took away the Indigenous identity of the children in their care.

“In honor and memory of the children who never made it home, and for those still living the nightmare imposed on them as children of Canada and the United States, we humbly ask our brothers and sisters of the church to hang an orange banner in the sanctuaries of your churches for 225 days. . . We call upon the churches serving in the United States to urge the U.S. Government to fully acknowledge all the atrocities it has committed against the indigenous peoples of this land, and to advocate for the future of Christianity in Indian Country.”

A Return to In-Person Worship

Bob

After receiving your input from the congregation-wide survey about the potential of re-opening the Holy Cross building for worship and other in-person events, a very strong consensus was voiced supporting the importance of offering in-person worship as soon as possible. Thank you for your input!

Holy Cross will hold in-person worship with the option to join via Zoom at our regular time of 9:30 am Mountain Time beginning Sunday, September 12^th.

The long-term plan we are working on is a fully “hybrid” worship experience that will enable worship to be experiential, participatory, interactive, and connective for both in-person and digital participants concurrently.

Although this is our long-term plan, and we have already begun working on the technology and infrastructure to make this happen, we will not have every piece of this complicated hybrid puzzle in place by September 12^th. Until the time we have the hybrid experience completely implemented, we will live by grace with one another in our life together!

Most importantly, we want you to know that both in-person and digital participants are equally valued and integral to our hybrid worship experience as we enter this next phase of our pandemic and quarantine life together.

Masks covering the nose, mouth, and chin will be required for anyone who enters the Holy Cross building. At this time there will be no congregational singing.

We will make every effort, through dedicated volunteers, to clean and sanitize surfaces before and after worship. These, and all other protocols, will remain fluid and flexible as we do our best to reasonably adopt the frequently changing recommendations of the State of New Mexico, the CDC, and the Rocky Mountain Synod, ELCA.

I am both excited and fearful for this next step in our life together. The prophet Isaiah reminds me in the midst of my fear, “Say to those who are of a fearful heart, ‘Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God.” (Isaiah 35:4) I ask that you take the initiative to be in conversation along our ever-changing journey about how you are experiencing these changes to our worship life together. Please engage me, Intern Brandy, and your congregational council leaders in conversation so we can show care for one another.

Peace and blessings as we move, with God, into unfamiliar territory,

Pastor Matt and Pastoral Intern Brandy

Worship

In person or via Zoom at 9:30 am

Community Time

Bring your own beverage, outside on the patio at 10:30 am

Bible Study

In person or via Zoom at 11 am