Month: February 2020

LOCK-IN at the PEEL HOUSE

One last night…

One last night…
March 6, 2020
LOCK-IN at the PEEL HOUSE
In April we hope to begin renovations on the Peel House, which means it will be out of commission for a period of time before the newly refurbished space is open. Over the years our youth have had lots of fun playing in the Peel House, it is a great space for dance parties, playing games, (sneaking on the roof over the porch when they think no one is watching) and playing sardines. Sardines, might be the most favorite activity of the youth in the Peel House. The game is a take on Hide & Seek where one person hides and then everyone else has to find them and hide with them! As you can imagine the house has tons of great spaces to hide!

So, to honor these long-held youth group traditions we are having a Senior High LOCK-IN, on March 6-7. It will be one more chance to play games in the Peel House and then to spend the night in the house! All 9th-12th graders are invited and as always friends are welcome! We can’t wait to play games, watch movies, and tell stories of all the fun we’ve had together in the Peel House!

We will begin the evening with an Iron Chef competition! The event will include recipe planning, budgeting, shopping, cooking, and finally eating. We are excited to have some “celebrity” judges come for that part of the evening! Then we will move to the Peel House for a fun night together, games, movies, fellowship and snacks. In the morning we will have a great big breakfast at 9 am and send everyone home at 10! We look forward to seeing everyone!

Ready to sign up? Click here: https://flccs.net/ministries/peel-house-lock-in

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Peel House Perspectives – February 13, 2020

Design choices….

In January we have continued to move forward with design choices for the Peel House. We are working with Senger Design Group (SDG) to select finishes, flooring and lighting. We have developed a great sense of collegiality with SDG; they have come and listened to our vision for the house, the different usages, and conducted much research on homes of this age. It is exciting to catch glimpses of what the spaces might look like upon completion.

We were presented with several options for color schemes, fixtures, and flooring and have selected a primarily historic look for the main floor. The color scheme includes: tans, creams, and muted blue tones for the wall coverings to include both fabric and paint, and for any additional furniture that may be selected. The flooring on the main floor will be hardwood with the possibility of adding rugs as desired. We hope to remove the carpet on the grand staircase, refinish the wood and add a carpet runner. It promises to be a very elegant look. All of the ceiling light fixtures will be replaced to add both beautiful new pieces and optimal lighting for a bright and clean look. Where ceilings have decorative plaster applique currently we will add understated lighting to enhance the existing ceiling and provide adequate lighting for room usage. We plan to replace the lighting in the house with LEDs.

Soft, subdued tones. Soothing color scheme associated with harmony.
Relates to exterior palette.

The second level of the house will largely be meeting space in addition to new restrooms and a coffee bar. We will follow the color palette from the main floor and add carpet in all the spaces with the exception of a few. The coffee bar will be in the West facing room that connects the two existing classrooms. We will remove a closet from the hallway to create a bigger space and access from the hall to that room. The room will have tile flooring and a back splash of really beautiful picket tiles. It will be a great space for a quick meeting, a reading nook, or just to relax and enjoy the view of Pikes Peak. The room that is attached an in the Northwest corner will be used as more of a comfortable lounge and meeting space. It would be perfect for an Aspen Group, a book club, or to hang out before another meeting! The room will have a hardwood floor with rugs, and will potentially be styled with comfortable furniture, tables and chairs, and a large screen.

The lower level of the house will become the new location for our youth center and will have dedicated space for our 12 step groups in what was the billiards room. The flooring will largely be carpet, we are still discussing some of the choices for the youth room. The color scheme in the lower level will be brighter and more contemporary in its styling.

We are really excited to share some of the ideas and selections for the Peel House as we move forward. It will be a lovely space regained to use for ministries new and old, celebrations, concerts and all that one might imagine.

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“You have heard it said……But I say to you….” Jesus, Sermon on the Mount.

When Jesus gets into the meat of his sermon on the mount, with the very practical applications, he starts many of his paragraphs with “you have heard it said.” When he says this, he’s referring to the Bible. The Bible says this, but I say this. Jesus doesn’t contradict the Bible, but he does interpret it. The Bible says don’t commit adultery. Jesus says don’t even look at someone with lust in your heart. Jesus expects more from his followers than just obedience to the Bible. We are to be obedient to Jesus. Jesus is the one who will tell us what the Bible means, not just what it says.

-Pastor Travis

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Communion Blessings

Artwork in the Altar of the Holy Sacrament in the Basilica of St. Anthony in Padua, Italy.

This past November I was fortunate to visit Italy. We traveled with a tour group that included 11 pastors, 3 deacons and 3 bishops. The trip was really a pilgrimage, visiting many sites sacred in Italy, particularly to the Catholic church. I wasn’t sure how I would experience this trip or what I was even looking forward to most. I wanted to let the trip unfold each day as we experienced different sites figuring that if I was unsure of my expectations then nothing would disappoint.

Have you ever found yourself unexpectedly moved by what many would consider ordinary? When traveling in Italy we visited countless Catholic cathedrals and basilicas, some incredibly ornate and magnificent, others simple, almost humble. In these churches are many alcoves with smaller altars and chapels often honoring saints who have gone before. I also started to notice that almost every church we had visited had an “Altar of the Sacrament,” a space that held the body and blood of Christ in between services of Holy Communion. It is kept on the altar a constant awareness of the presence of Christ with us still today in his body and blood shared between us. While Lutherans understand the presence of Christ in this sacrament differently that the Roman Catholic church, we all come together to understand the action taken is through Christ who forgives and saves.

In this next week it is my privilege to teach our 5th graders, and the parents that will join them, about the sacrament of Holy Communion. For so many of these kids they have been coming to church for years and watching as those around them take in the body and blood of Christ. It is now the time for them to learn, to ask questions, to live into a baptismal promise to receive this sacrament. I love to remind them that this is a gift that Christ himself gives to us as he first blessed the bread and wine saying that it is “for you.” It’s also an opportunity to invite them into a practice, a tradition, that has remain unchanged for thousands of years, it practiced by Christians of varying beliefs and is something that brings us closer to unity with each other and the world around us that almost anything.

I invite you to think about what communion means to you in the weeks to come. Listen closely to the words that we share in the Eucharistic prayer and the words of institution, listen to the history they connect us to, the forgiveness and salvation that are proclaimed, and the unity it brings us back to, all the way to Jesus and the disciples together at what was the Last Supper. We are soon entering into the Lenten season, a time when we will walk with Jesus through his teaching and his final days as he journeys to the cross. Let us journey with him, remember all that connects us to the life of Christ and especially to the life that he renews in us through the sacraments.

-Pastor Carrie

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“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived,
 what God has prepared for those who love him”—
these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For what human being knows what is truly human except the human spirit that is within? So also no one comprehends what is truly God’s except the Spirit of God
-1 Corinthians 2: 9-11

How do you know when the Holy Spirit is moving within you or is trying to reveal itself to you? It can be difficult at best to open ourselves to the presence of the Holy Spirit, and at other times it can be so obvious that God is at work that we know it can’t be anything else. But when I read the 9th verse of this passage, in it I find great comfort that even though I may not know what God is doing, he has still prepared all things for me. My job is to be open to living into whatever it is that God has prepared for me. In the gospel reading this week we are told that we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. In those gifts, revealed to us by the Spirit, we can join Christ to feed the hungry, care for the homeless, clothe the naked as called by the prophet Isaiah in the first reading for this week.

In the darkness of this winter season, we can look to the light of Epiphany and remember that we are called to embody the spirit and mission of God. To be light to the world and the salt of the earth. We are indeed created in God’s image, therefore the spark of the divine is alive in all of us. The light shines through us as we live out God’s mission for our lives each day. As Epiphany continues, we should all be prepared to let our light shine and share the good news.

-Pastor Carrie

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