Pastor Lyle and Hoosier Interfaith Power and Light

Please see the article below from the Indy Star, "Living Green: Pastor believes stewardship is what God wants"

Lyle McKee, pastor of St. Thomas Lutheran Church and chairman of Hoosier Interfaith Power & Light Inc., Bloomington.

In 2009, my wife and I stretched our boundaries. We spent two weeks at a farm in Paoli learning about permaculture.

Permaculture is a design system for sustainable living that calls upon all of us -- as much as possible -- to grow our own food, produce our own energy, reuse what we have and create as little waste as possible.

Being beyond the half-century mark in age, roughing it for two weeks (alongside college students) was a challenge for us.

Permaculture is a combination of "permanent" and "agriculture," and it appealed to us as a way of moving toward simpler living.

We are convinced that current carbon levels in the atmosphere are far in excess of what the Earth can manage, and that our climate, species of plants and animals and the planet itself are undergoing stresses that will continue to compound unless we act now.

Our faith calls us to take care of God's good creation -- to "have dominion," which involves care and healing -- over the Earth.

The course transformed our decades-long dedication to stewardship of creation into what may be described as an obsession.

We have installed geothermal heating and air-conditioning. We have expanded our gardens and built our own greenhouse. Solar panels are being installed on our home's south-facing roof this month.

We will produce most of our own electricity (with current rebates and incentives, solar panels are a great investment) and much of our own food.

Because my faith mandates that I act, and the environmental crisis gives me a sense of urgency, I feel compelled to take this obsession to my work (I'm a Lutheran pastor) and my volunteer life.

On March 5, about 200 folks from Indiana representing some 19 different faith groups converged on Indianapolis to launch a new organization, Hoosier Interfaith Power & Light (H-IPL).

Our mission is to bring Hoosiers of faith together as stewards of creation to promote energy conservation, energy efficiency, renewable energy and related sustainable practices. I now chair the group, and we are moving forward in working with congregations and individuals seeking to live more lightly on God's good Earth. H-IPL is the 38th state affiliate of the national organization, Interfaith Power & Light.

Being part of that event was uplifting because so many people and congregations are working to help make a brighter future for our planet.

We believe that congregations are the veins -- the circulatory system and means of infusion -- for this hope and mission. Joint action is the key. We act not just as one, but alongside others across Indiana, leading, inspiring and showing the way forward.

For more information on the movement or to join, go to www.hoosier ipl.org.

As told to IndyStar reporter T.J. Banes at (317) 444-6815.

Prayer for a Summer Day

Prayer for a Summer Day

O God, giver and sustainer of all life, we thank you for this new day- this new summer day. Be with those who will have no place of respite in the summer heat. Help us to care for those who long for a sheltering cool place.


Bless those in need of rain with cool showers so that they may have a rich harvest. Guide us to be good stewards of the resources that you provide us.


For those who are enjoying the pleasures of vacation, may their travels be safe. May their hours be truly recreating. And for each of us Lord, grant a measure of your mercy and a fervent sense of your call to care for your world and each other.

Amen
from Revgalprayerpals
Photo from Homegrown Indiana Farm Tour, Padgett Family Farm

God of All Nations and Peoples

God of all nations and peoples,
Unite us in our common humanity,
Bind us together in peace, dignity and respect.
Help us recognize ourselves in each other,
Help us recognize You in each other.
Spur us to actions of kindness and forgiveness,
So that we can help each other heal and be whole.

Amen.

by Shari Rogge-Fidler

Lead Us Onward

Lead Us Lord

Lord of life, you walk this journey with us and through us;
LEAD US LORD, LEAD ON.

Journeying within, and wrestling with the world,
LEAD US LORD, LEAD ON.

Lead us to risk, to grow, and to tread the path you have opened for us;
LEAD US LORD, LEAD ON.

And let us rejoice that every place is your place;
IN THE NAME OF CHRIST, THE RISEN ONE. AMEN

~from Iona Eggs and Ashes

Holy Week Message from our ELCA Missionaries Kate and David

As missionaries serving in Latin America, we
are often asked how Liberation Theology affects our
ministry. As many of you know, the term “Liberation
Theology” was coined by Peruvian priest Gustavo
Gutierrez in 1971 to refer to a movement emerging in
Latin America at that time that views Christ’s life and
teachings through the eyes of those who are marginalized
by unjust political, economic and social systems.

One specific way that this theology has penetrated
our spiritual lives has been through a series of
paintings by Adolfo Perez Esquivel, an Argentine
human rights activist. In 1980 he won the Nobel
Peace Prize in recognition of his leadership in a nonviolent
movement to oppose the military dictatorships
that swept through Latin America during the 1960’s
and 1970’s. Esquivel’s paintings, “the Latin American
Way of the Cross” walk us through the Stations
of the Cross from the perspective of those who suffer
injustice in Latin America.

Over the past few years,
the opportunity to meditate on these paintings during
Holy Week has visually and spiritually integrated
Christ’s suffering with the historic and current struggles
of people in Latin America. This meditation refocuses
and renews our understanding of what it
means to be a disciple of Christ. As we visualize
Christ’s life through the lens of the Cross, we see so
simply and clearly how God chose to be revealed in a
human life that began amid the dehumanizing conditions
of Christ’s birth in a manger and ended in the
humiliation of Christ’s death on the Cross. In other
words, it was a life of complete solidarity with those
who suffer in this world. As Christ’s disciples today,
we are also called to continue the ministry of healing
and transformation that he began among the people
who lived at the margins of society during his time.

When we walk along this Latin American Way of the
Cross, we also arrive at new understandings of the Resurrection.
In the final painting of Esquivel’s stations of the
Cross (below), the Resurrected Christ stands with those
who have suffered persecution in Latin America from the
time of conquest through colonization into contemporary
times.

In the unwavering hope of these people
who never lost faith despite all of the
injustice that they faced, we see the true
power of the Resurrection. Our prayer
for this Easter Season is that we may be
renewed in our discipleship to walk ever
more faithfully with our companions
along the Way of the Cross as it is the
only path that leads us to a full understanding
of the power and hope of the
Resurrection.

With Easter Joy,
Kate Lawler-Wunsch and David Wunsch
ELCA Regional Representatives in
South America

Lent and Easter in Chichipate

The St. Thomas Mission Committee sent a letter to our brothers and sisters in Chichipate, sharing how we are marking Lent and Holy Week and how we will celebrate Easter. We received the following information in return this week about their practices in Chichipate. The photos above are of Teresa's grandkids and her family, including the great grandma! Teresa has been involved with Sister Parish for a long time. Here is how our friends celebrate Holy Week and Easter:

On Palm Sunday there is a procession that leaves one Catholic Church and walks to the other Catholic Church in Chichipate. After the procession they celebrate Mass.

One Wednesday the catechists and committees meet at 11 pm to make sure everything is ready and the jailing of Jesus starts at 12 pm. This is a re-enactment in which people dressed up as Jews put an image of Jesus in a jail. At 3 pm they take the image of Jesus out of jail and there is a procession that goes by every house in Chichipate. This procession ends around 8 pm when they return to the church and put the image back in the jail. There are also 24 people dressed up as apostles in this procession. The women and the catechists are the ones that carry the processional float.

On Thursday the organizers gather at 7 am and the procession begins at 8 am, ending at 12. Everyone goes home and comes back at 3 pm for the Washing of the Feet Mass. After Mass the committees chip in to buy sweet bread to share. At 7 pm there is a procession to the other Catholic Church.

On Friday they gather at the other church to process back to Santo Domingo de Guzman. At 3 pm they lower Jesus off the cross and at 6 pm they do the Stations of the Cross.

On Saturday afternoon everyone gathers on the soccer field. Each individual is to have brought a small candle. A large fire is built and a large candle is lit from this fire. Then each person lights their candle from the large candle and proceed back to the church for and evening Mass.

On Sunday they celebrate Mass of the Resurrection. Sometimes there is an invitation from the committees for a meal afterwards.

Emilio’s family eats fish and pacaya (date palm) on Friday and on Thursday they eat bread sweetened with honey. At Martin’s house they eat pacaya fried in egg. Enrique shared that his family’s tradition is also to eat fish during holy week. Ellen, the Executive Director of Sister Parish, had the pleasure of eating pacaya stew with egg and achiote flavouring at Teresa’s house on Monday morning.

Let us keep our friends in Chichipate in our prayers as each of our communities celebrate the Easter season.

Earth Day is Friday, April 22

Our Iona Lenten reflections have included the link we have with all of creation. Here is a prayer from Iona that is a good reminder on Earth Day too.

From quark to planet

Creator God,
from quark to planet your universe is awesome.
Give us eyes to gape at the wonders daily about us,
and the will to live in the harmony of your creating.
Help us to recognise and honour the connections of all things,
even at cost to our own wants and comforts;
so we may live gently on earth,
and all creation praise you.
Amen

~Chris Polhill/Iona