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Give Us Today Our Daily Bread BY BRYON HANSEN

Bread for the Journey is a refreshing oasis in the mid-dle of the week. PRLC members and friends come

together for a meal at 6:00 p.m. Small groups rang-ing from confirmation classes to choir rehearsals to adult bible studies meet before or after dinner. And

there’s a brief closing chapel service. There is ample bread for body and soul at these Wednesday gather-ings. It’s a break along the way until the community

meets again on Sunday to share the Bread of Life at Holy Communion.

Sundays and Wednesdays at Phinney provide good

bread. We need bread to live. We long for bread that gives us abundant life. God blesses us with bread.

When Jesus is tempted by the devil in the wilderness he is challenged to turn stone in-

to bread. Jesus is fasting. Why wouldn’t he perform this trick to satiate his hunger and prove his power? Instead of giving into the wiles of the evil one, Jesus responds by quoting the scripture passage that says “One does not live by bread alone, but by every

word that comes from the mouth of God.” Jesus points to the bigger picture and it gives us pause to put the gift of bread in perspective.

The ancient practices of Lent – prayer, fasting and almsgiving - invite us to be grateful for all that God provides and to practice the presence of God that nurtures ourselves and our neighbors. In Lent, we may ask ourselves tough and important questions

around how much bread we consume and at whose expense, why many go hungry while many are well-fed, and consider where we have failed to receive many forms of sustenance provided by God.

Bread for the Journey during Lent provides opportunity to embrace these Lenten gifts. Nicole has built upon a curriculum from ELCA World Hunger called “Our Kingdom Come.” Beginning in week one, with God’s dream that no one goes hungry, the theme

continues throughout Lent by focusing on God’s dream for good health, gender equali-ty, education and peace.

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The adults will meet to discuss the book Still Hungry at the Feast. It explores the gift of bread shared at the Eucharist and how it connects to matters of justice, especially the

church’s ministry to the hungry poor.

Wednesday evenings provide one of several opportunities for formation during Lent. Bread for the Journey promises to help us, in these forty days, to discover anew God’s

gift of bread for the good of our lives and for the sake of the world.

Peace,

Pastor Hansen

This year, most of the Gospel readings in Lent are rich stories from the Gospel of John. They include Jesus’ encounter with the woman at the well, the healing of the blind man, and the raising of Lazarus. These stories were told to instruct candi-dates for baptism in the ancient church. They serve the same purpose now, form-ing not only adults seeking baptism, but the entire assembly called to renew their baptismal vows. The faith practices of Lent bring us back to the font to be re-newed in our essential identity.

Along with Nicodemus (Lent 2) and the Samaritan Woman (Lent 3), we are invited by Jesus to be born from above and to partake of Living Water. We rejoice with the man healed of blindness (Lent 4), for we have been or will be enlightened by Jesus and given new vision. And with Lazarus (Lent 5), we are called out of our tombs and into newness of life.

Once again, we will pray over our WAY

candidates on Sundays in Lent. Over a period of three weeks they will receive the gift of the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, and the communion of saints as they journey toward Easter and the renewal of life.

Given the contemplative nature of Lent, the prayers of the people will be intoned and the response of the assembly sung. These Gospel stories are often told with rich imagination and invite testimony. Just so, some of them will be presented dramatically and one from our assembly will be sharing their story.

Mid-week worship during Lent begins at 11:15 a.m. Wednesday in the chapel. This will be a simple Holy Communion service using one of the readings from the Daily Lectionary. That meal will be followed by a lunchtime meal at Noon.

Give thanks for the new parament on the ambo for Lent. It was designed and cre-ated by Larkin Van Horn.

Worship in Lent

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Goodbye to the Blessings of Tent City BY PATRICK MEAGHER

On Saturday, March 7, the green fence will come down, the tents be packed up, the pallets removed, and large bare spots left on our front lawn where our neighbors once

made a home. The bare spots will grow back, but we will miss the blessing of hosting our friends from Tent City. The camp is moving to a vacant lot on private land in Sky-way, where the residents will continue their battle against the elements as well as the

economic reality of our region.

We’ve seen the make-up of the camp change quite a bit since they moved in. This is a good thing! Many people found more suitable housing, and moved on to the next

phase of their journey toward stability. Our simple provision of space and hospitality played a crucial role in this process. We were blessed to host, and our hosting blessed so many.

Just as we did when they moved in, we’ll have a hospitality table set up from 9:00–11:00 a.m. on move-out day. Donations of coffee and treats are welcome! You can just bring them by Saturday morning as we say goodbye to the camp. Thank you to all who con-

tributed to this ministry!

Thanks to your extreme generosity and quick response, we were quickly able to exceed our goal to raise $60,000 last month. The final tally is $68,429. While we are not sur-prised by your generosity, we are amazed by it and thank-ful for it.

This success has two major impacts:

1) We have closed our budget deficit, which means we will be able to retain savings and maintain the missional budget you’ve passed.

2) We have submitted an application with Wartburg The-ological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa for a 2020-2021 semi-nary intern (commonly known as a “vicar” at PRLC). We will find out who our intern is in mid-March, and will share that news with you as soon as possible.

Please pray for all seminarians who are preparing to re-ceive internship assignments, and that God will prepare a way for us to welcome our next intern with open hearts and minds. Thank you!

An update on our mini-campaign

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Family Update and Lenten Fundraiser It’s hard to believe that the refugee family we are supporting has been with us for 90 days. Despite confidentiality re-strictions, we’ve received approval from all involved to share a few details about this wonderful family with you. The four children include Aryan who is eight, in second grade, and loves school. Kayenat is four-and-a-half and loves pre-K. These two children are picking up English lan-guage quickly, and try out new words whenever we visit them. That applies to 20-month-old heart stealer Asenat as well. She wears little purple glasses and has an infectious smile. Rohan is eight months old, adorable, and mobile! Shir is a wonderful father who attends Edmonds Community College four days a week for four hours a day while also looking for work. Mother Shabnam is also working hard to learn English, care for her family, and explore a new country. Our volun-

teers are impressed with how great a team Shir and Shabnam make juggling all the needs of their family.

Our next phase of care for this family is to transition them to full self-sufficiency. To this end, we ask for your donations during Lent—culminating with the Easter Break-fast on April 12—to fulfil our initial finan-cial commitment to the Circle of Wel-come program. All funds collected will be used to supplement the family’s rent pay-ments in decreasing amounts every month until they are able to cover them on their own. Will you please help us in this process? Check can be made out to PRLC with “refugee ministry” or “circle of welcome family” in the memo line. Thank you for supporting our continued care for Shir, Shabnam, Aryan, Kayenat, Asenat, and Rohan!

March 8 – Edible Hope Sara Bates, program director for “Edible Hope,” the feeding ministry of St. Luke’s Episcopal church in Ballard will share their story. Several PRLC members who volunteer or contribute to this ministry will also be present to share.

March 15 – Signs of Life: Water The first of a three-part Lenten series based on the Gospel readings. With the Samaritan woman we explore the gift of water and our baptismal dying and rising with Christ.

March 22 – Signs of Life: Light In the story of the healing of the blind man, Jesus proclaims that he is the Light of the world. Explore the gift of light and how we are called to let our light shine before others.

March 29 – Signs of Life: Community Christian community is an image of the triune God. The Christian journey is one we take together. Jesus proclaims in the story of Lazarus that he is the Resurrec-tion and the Life. How is life together a primary way to experience the risen pres-ence of Christ?

Adult Forums in March SUNDAYS 10:00 A.M. IN THE TREE OF LIFE ROOM

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· Matt McKenzie After a careful search process, Matt Mckenzie has ac-

cepted the position of Director of the PRLC Child De-velopment Center. Matt is prepared to hit the ground

running, having served as CDC teacher for the past 11+ years, Assistant Director since 2017, and Interim Direc-tor since last November.“ Matt loves being an active

part of the Phinney neighborhood, where he lives with his wife, Katie, and their son, Cameron (also pictured).

Matt brings a passion for the child-led philosophy of our school and a commitment to

growing leaders and fostering community. His priorities as director include empower-ing staff in their own leadership and professional growth; respecting children as the full humans they are; and building a culture of inclusivity and anti-bias that permeates our

school and extends into the world. Matt is well-poised to bring our school into its best years yet. Welcome to this new vocation, Matt!

Since churches are a center of communal gathering, it’s our responsibility to be par-ticularly mindful of our health and hygiene practices during a time like this. Both of

Phinney's pastors recently attended a presentation for faith leaders that was led by the King County Public Health Department. Here are a few key pieces of information we learned:

Risk of infection for healthy populations remains low. Most people who are infected with COVID-19 will experience a mild illness. • Symptoms include fever, cough, and shortness of breath, to varying degrees.

• Increasing our care around health and hygiene right now is very important. That is what will keep the risk low and decrease the chance of a major outbreak.

• The Health Department is currently not recommending the cancellation of mass

gatherings and events. People who are immune-compromised should assess their own risk and consider avoiding crowds. We will continue, for now, with week-ly programs and Sunday worship.

• The virus is spread through droplets, which means that it is passed through direct contact. For example, if someone coughs into their hand, then touches your hand, and you touch your mouth, you would be at risk of infection.

Keep Calm and Wash Your Hands A note about health and hygiene concerns from your pastors

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Based on the most up-to-date recommendations, here’s what we will be doing at PRLC in response to COVID-19:

• Promoting proper hand hygiene. Hand sanitizer is available in all spaces used by our community.

• Minimizing person-to-person physical contact. We know you all love each other, but

the best way to show that is to keep your hands to yourself for now. We will not shake hands or hug one another, either in social interactions or during the liturgy. Sharing the peace can take place verbally.

• Changing our communion practice. The Health Department advises against sharing liquids, so we will not include wine or juice in Holy Eucharist for the time being. As always, we trust that Christ is fully present in the bread alone.

• Putting away our baptismal font for Lent. • Adjusting food handling practices. Expect a few changes to how food is served dur-

ing Wednesday Lenten soup lunch and Bread for the Journey dinner.

• Collecting offering without passing the plate. The ushers will bring the offering plate close enough for you to reach.

• Eliminating use of hymnals and other high-touch items. All worship materials will be

printed in your bulletin. Bulletins can be brought home or recycled, and will not be re-used for the second service.

• Increasing cleaning and sanitizing practices. While we always work to create a safe, healthy building space, these efforts will be stepped up. Smooth surfaces and door handles will be wiped after every event. Our outside groups have been made aware

of this as well. • Most importantly, please stay home if you are ill. Also, it’s worth noting that while we

pray daily for health and healing, we also believe that God has blessed us with the

gifts of science and medicine. Trust experts and seek medical attention when you are ill.

Thank you for your attention to these matters. Putting these precautionary measures

into practice is an act of stewardship, as we seek to care for the safety of one another and of our neighbors. Please keep in your prayers all affected by the Corona Virus and all those working toward better safety and health practices.

God’s Peace, Pastor Hansen and Pastor Van Kley

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Wouldn’t it be nice if people could talk about their anti-anxiety medication or de-pression medication as easily as their cho-lesterol medication? Unfortunately, even though we have come a long way in soci-ety, there is still some shame when talk-ing about illnesses in our brains – whether it is anxiety or depression or addiction or bipolar disorder or ADHD or a traumatic brain injury (TBI) or other mental health challenges. Sadly, there seems to be an added stigma when one is a deacon or a pastor. I am not sure why. Perhaps it is because rostered ministers are supposed to have every-thing in order. Perhaps it is because ros-tered ministers are supposed to be the helpers rather than the ones who need help. I don’t know. But the stigma is pre-sent. The truth is, in the United States nearly one in five adults experience some form of mental illness. It is very common. And, in most cases, it is treatable with therapy and medication. With the right treatment plan, most are able to lead a full and hap-py life. I encourage us all to be compassionate and to be truthful with one another. We all need to get to a point where we can be honest regarding our mental health, whether we are a rostered minister or a layperson. This is for the sake of the church, the person involved and their family. When I was a young adult, I learned that my great-grandmother suffered from

schizophrenia. I had never met her and thought she had died years before I was born. The reality was that she died only a few years before I heard about her. You see, she had been institutionalized for years and no one in the family spoke of her. I am saddened that I never had a chance to meet her. And I am saddened for the shame my family held close. My family and I are less than what we could have been together. While I am thankful that things are differ-ent than when my great-grandmother was confined to an “asylum” (as it was called back in the day), we still have a long way to go. I encourage all of you to be honest if you are experiencing symptoms. I ask all of you to listen and see and em-pathize with those who are struggling. And encourage those around you to get help as needed. Truly, we do not want you to struggle alone. In addition to your primary care provider, here are some resources:

Lutheran Counseling Network - www.lutherancounseling.net

Lutheran Community Services Northwest – www.lcsnw.org

Suicide Prevention Hotline: 800-273-8255

Let us trust in one another. Truly, let us trust in God - that God is with us, carrying our burdens, and giving us rest. Blessings, Bishop Shelley Bryan Wee

It’s Time to be Honest BY BISHOP SHELLEY BRYAN WEE

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Nicole Our journey has begun! For Lent this year, Phinney is focused on the feast, so I hope you’ll check out these two tangible resources

that might feed you along the way. A Lenten devotional titled “Feast on This” is available as a printed booklet to pick up at the Grace Station or downloadable right here:

https://storyboardingchurch.wordpress.com/2019/02/13/feast-on-this-lent-devotional/

Plus, all five Wednesday evenings at Bread for the Journey we will explore the theme “On Earth As In Heaven”. You’ll be invited to (re-)experience each petition of the Lord’s

Prayer, making connections between this prayer we share in the Eucharist and service in the world. We’ll conclude our time together each week with candlelight and prayer around the cross at closing chapel. May all be fed now and forever with far more than

just bread alone.

Smiles,

Nicole

S P R I N G YO U T H R E T R E AT

Friday, March 27, 5:00 p.m. – Sunday, March 29 noon 6th–12th Grade · $140 (scholarships always available)

Come along and explore what it means that God places a comma where we put a period, With this weekend's lectionary text about Lazarus as our guide, we'll PAUSE together overlooking the ocean in a beau-tiful waterfront home in Seabrook, Expect time to swim in an indoor pool, beach play, scrumptious home-cooked meals, and lots of fun and laughter!

Register online by March 18: http://bit.ly/prlcspring

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Family Camping Weekend at Lutherwood · July 24–26

Grab your tent and a sleeping bag and let’s head to Bellingham. You can expect swimming, boating, hiking, singing, playing, and much more family focused fun by the lake and around the fire. Con-tact Kara Novak to save your spot!

Camp Lutherhaven July 26–31 (Note Date Change!)

Vacation Bible School August 10–14 · 9:00am–noon

Participants will explore how Jesus ’ power pulls us through on the Rocky Railway! Stay tuned for registration in-formation. Adult and youth volunteers needed. If you might be passionate about serving as a station leader in music, crafts, story, snacks, or games, please connect with Nicole.

C O M I N G T H I S S U M M E R

Wednesdays in March 3:30–5:00pm

Youth Coffee Wednesdays will be happening in the Youth Corner outside Nicole’s office for the month of March. Students in grades 6-12 are invited to gather there every Wednesday afternoon.

YO U T H C O F F E E W E D N E S D AY S

CHURCH OFFICE HOURS TO CHANGE Beginning in March 2020, the church office hours will be changing. We will be going to

four days per week, Monday–Thursday 8:30–4:30, and the office will be closed on Fri-

days. Parish Administrator Christina Sunstone will still be in to tend to business and an-

swer phones and emails. Please contact her at 206-783-2350 or administrator@prlc.org

with any questions or concerns.

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7500 Greenwood Avenue North Seattle, WA 98103

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

TIME VALUE

Phinney Ridge Lutheran Church (and Shell service station) July 2, 1967

Holy Week and Easter Worship

April 5 · Palm Sunday 8:30 and 11:00 a.m.

April 8 · Wednesday Lenten Worship 11:15 a.m.

April 9 · Maundy Thursday 7:00 p.m.

April 10 · Good Friday noon and 7:00 p.m.

April 11 · Easter Vigil 6:30 p.m.

April 12 · Easter Day 8:30 and 11:00 a.m.