April 7, 2024

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Dear Siblings in Christ,

There is a line from one of my favorite Christmas movies that captures what always comes to mind this week as I prepare to preach the story of Thomas the Twin. The movie is the Tim Allen classic from 1994, “The Santa Clause.” The movie is about a guy who--through a series of accidents--becomes the real Santa Claus. After spending Christmas Eve delivering packages around the world, he ends up at the North Pole trying to make sense of the experience he’s just had.

In one of the movie's scenes, he looks out a window at a square in the middle of the North Pole and sees a polar bear directing traffic. He turns to an elf named Judy, who is his minder in the whole experience, and says, “There is a polar bear out there directing traffic. I see it, but I don’t believe it.”

Judy replies, “Seeing isn’t believing; believing is seeing.”

Seeing isn’t believing; believing is seeing. How we perceive the world is governed by our beliefs—faith precedes sight. Join us this week as we hear the story of a disciple who asked to see so that he could believe. We are called blessed because we are among those who can believe without having seen.

Faithfully yours,

Pastor Naomi

Image by "nightowl" from Pixabay.

—FOOTHILLS CALENDAR—

Sunday, April 7th ~ Second Sunday of Easter

+8:00a Discussion Eucharist: Learning Center. (In-person only)
9:00a to 10:00a Adult Faith Formation: Activities Room. (In-person only)
9:00a to 10:00a K-5 Sunday School: Learning Center. (In-person only)
+10:00a Sunday Celebration: Sanctuary. (In-person and live-streamed on YouTube)
11:15a: Household Blessings pick-up: Immediately after the service at Bethany Boyd's car in the front parking lot.
11:15a to 11:45a Kathy Hoffman book signing: Activities Room. (See the article below for more information.)
12:30p to 4:00p -- Lich Studio Guitar Recital: Sanctuary. (In-person only)

+ Service includes Holy Communion.

During the week

Monday, April 8, 4:00p to 6:00p -- French lessons: Activities Room. (Community group)
Tuesday through Friday, 9:00a to 3:00p -- Church Office is open: Use the south entry door and ring the doorbell if the door is locked.
Wednesday, April 10, 4:30p to 6:00p -- Los Campaneros Handbell Choir rehearsal: Activities Room. (In-person only)
Wednesday, April 10, 6:00p to 7:30p -- Confirmation Class: Learning Center. (In-person only)
Thursday, April 11, 10:00a to 11:30a (In-person only) and 7:00p to 8:30p (Zoom only) -- Thursday Journey: Activities Room. Click here to join Thursday Journey Zoom. Meeting ID: 868 5877 7124 Passcode: 301178
Friday, April 12, 5:45p to 7:30p -- AA PreWeekenders & Al-Anon Sunset: Activities Room. (Community groups)
Saturday, April 13, 9:00a to 10:30a -- Los Campaneros Handbell Choir rehearsal: Sanctuary. (In-person only)
Saturday, April 13, 10:30a to 12:00 noon -- Celebration Choir Rehearsal: Sanctuary. (In-person only)

Next Sunday, April 14th ~ Third Sunday of Easter

+8:00a Discussion Eucharist: Learning Center. (In-person only)
9:00a to 10:00 a -- Adult Faith Formation: Activities Room. (In-person only)
9:00a to 10:00a -- K-5 Sunday School: Learning Center. (In-person only)
+10:00a Sunday Celebration: Sanctuary. (In-person and live-streamed on YouTube)
11:15a to 12:00 noon -- Deepening Relationships luncheon: Activities Room. (In-person only)

+ Service includes Holy Communion.

Coming Up

Monday, April 15, 4:00p to 6:00p -- French lessons: Activities Room. (Community group)
Monday, April 15, 6:30 to 9:00p -- Sunrise Presidio Townhomes Board meeting: Activities Room. (Community group)
Tuesday, April 16, 5:30p to 7:30p -- Intentional Visioning Team (formerly LEAD): Activities Room. (In-person only)
Wednesday, April 17, 4:30p to 6:00p -- Los Campaneros Handbell Choir rehearsal: Activities Room. (In-person only)
Wednesday, April 17, 6:00p to 7:30p -- Confirmation Class: Learning Center. (In-person only)
Thursday, April 18, 10:00a to 11:30a (In-person only) and 7:00p to 8:30p (Zoom only) -- Thursday Journey: Activities Room. Click here to join Thursday Journey Zoom. Meeting ID: 868 5877 7124 Passcode: 301178
Friday, April 19, 3:45p -- Primavera Men's Dinner Items are due to the church: Kitchen area. (In-person only)
Friday, April 12, 5:45p to 7:30p -- AA PreWeekenders & Al-Anon Sunset: Activities Room. (Community groups)
Saturday, April 20, 10:30a to 12noon -- Celebration Choir rehearsal: Sanctuary. (In-person only)
Saturday, April 20, 2:00p to 9:00p -- Tucson Kannada Sangha of Arizona: Activities Room. (Community group)

Pastor Naomi will be out of the office for continuing education in Gettysburg, PA, April 20 - 25.

—COMMUNITY SERVICE—

Household Blessing Collection Sunday, April 7!

Bring good quality or gently used items for the kitchen, bath, or bedrooms to Bethany Boyd's car immediately after the service on April 7. Large items and furniture will need to be picked up by volunteers or taken to Tanque Verde Lutheran Church, 8625 E. Tanque Verde Road.

Volunteers are needed to help with sorting on Thursday, April 11 at 9:00a at Tanque Verde Lutheran Church. If you have questions or items to donate, call Donna Elmquist at 520.603.2399 or email welmquist@msn.com or call Marie Eklund at 520.870.1772 or email marielkund@hotmail.com

April Community Service Emphasis: Cruzando Fronteras

We Give Hope! Since 2018, Lutheran Church of the Foothills has been giving hope to our neighbors through the support of Cruzando Fronteras. Over twenty of you have been on Cruzando Fronteras tours to see in person how your gifts are used to help our neighbors seek what we also seek--a safe, healthy life filled with hope and opportunity for our families.

During the month of April, the Community Service Team is asking for gifts of money to help Cruzando Fronteras continue their support of “La Casa” in Nogales, Sonora, a shelter where asylum seekers wait and prepare for crossing legally into the United States.

Through your giving, you will help support a space of safety and serenity where hopes for a better life can flourish. With support from Cruzando Fronteras, La Casa provides food, shelter, health care, psychological and emotional care, legal care, spiritual care, vocational training for adults, and certified education for school-age children.

Cruzando Fronteras is a borderlands ministry of three denominations in Arizona plus the Diocese of Western Mexico. Their purpose is to help people who are seeking to legally move to the United States.

Make checks payable to "Lutheran Church of the Foothills" and note "Community Service" in the memo line. Use the Community Service envelopes on the display table in the Narthex and place your donations in the offering basket or mail them to the church. You can also give online by using the QR code in the Sunday worship bulletin or the Giving page on our website. Finally, your Sunday Dollars (loose one-dollar bills placed in the offering basket) are automatically designated for the current Community Service emphasis.

~ Community Service Team

Next Primavera Dinner: April 19

Thank you to all the volunteers who donated food and served the hot meal. Your service is appreciated by the staff and guests of the Primavera Men's Shelter! Our next opportunity to provide a hot stew dinner is April 19. You can participate by signing up on the clipboard on the Activities Counter to prepare the food in your home kitchen or to serve the meal at the Shelter.

Remember, menu contributions need to be at the church on or before 3:45p so our serving team has time to pack the items for transport to the Shelter (which is on Benson Highway near the Veterans’ Hospital) and to set up the buffet table for service beginning promptly at 5:00p. Note that the church building closes at 3:00p, and the south entrance will be open briefly at 3:45p when the serving team arrives to start packing your food contributions.

Please read more information on the Primavera Men's Shelter clipboard on the Activities Counter. It contains:

the sign-up sheet,
hints for the stew recipe and other menu items,
serving team instructions, and
driving directions.

Please bring items in at serving temperature and in covered disposable containers (except the stew is brought in the LCF stew containers with lids). Put your menu contributions in the kitchen area and make a checkmark beside your name on the sign-up sheet when you bring in your food.

Thank you for your interest and your participation in this ministry! For more information contact Sylvia Strauss-Kolb.

~ Community Service Team

Volunteer Appreciation Party!

To celebrate the hard work of all of their volunteers, Primavera Foundation is hosting a Volunteer Appreciation Party on April 22, from 4:30p to 6:30p at the Primavera Foundation Training Center on 151 W. 40th Street, Tucson. Please RSVP to Anna Nguyen by April 17 at anguyen@primavera.org.

Thank You For Your Generosity!

So far this year, Lutheran Church of the Foothills has donated 161 pounds of food to the Interfaith Community Services (ICS) foodbank. Thank you for your continued support to help all our neighbors in need.

Please put your food donations in the basket at the west end of the Activities Counter. If you would prefer to give a monetary donation, make checks payable to Lutheran Church of the Foothills, mark your donation “ICS,” and put it in the Sunday offering basket. ~ Beth Daum

Sister José Women's Center is Expanding!

Sister José Women's Center is growing to meet the needs of its guests. The facility expansion will include 13 new beds, a larger dining room, more showers and bathrooms, safe outdoor spaces, a wellness and education building, and a donation center. At this time the Center is only accepting tennis shoes (new or gently used) and coats for their guests.

Because many of the women at the Center have pets, dry food or canned food with pull tabs for dogs and cats, kitty litter, dog sweaters, and coats and beds for both dogs and cats are needed. The Center will also take new or gently used pet supplies such as beds, leashes, collars, and more. Donations can be placed in the blue bin in the Narthex or dropped off directly at the Center on 1050 S. Park Avenue, Tucson. ~ Patrice Frame

Global Refuge: Welcoming Newcomers Since 1939

For more than 80 years, Global Refuge has provided the guidance, resources, and community to help forge a way forward for New Americans. For more information, go to their website: https://www.globalrefuge.org/

ELCA Disaster Response

To help with our church's response to current crises here in the United States and around the world, look for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Lutheran Disaster Response forms on the Activities Counter in the lobby.

~ Community Service Team.

Image by Matthias Fischer from Pixabay

ELCA World Hunger

Proceeds from your pocket change that are put into our Hunger Loose Change Jar (on the stand inside the entrance to our worship area) are shared with the ELCA’s World Hunger program. Thanks for your generosity. March total: $335. ~ Charles & Pat Erickson

—LIFE TOGETHER—

Meet the Pastor Beginning April 7

On the first Sunday of each month and immediately after the 10:00a worship service, you are invited to meet Pastor Naomi for a brief and informal conversation in the Sanctuary near the Pray Ground area. Come with questions and curiosity!

Deepening Relationships - April 14

Immediately after the 10:00a worship service, you are invited to the Activities Room to learn more about life at Lutheran Church of the Foothills as well as our participation in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and Reconciling in Christ. A light lunch will be served. Sign up on the bulletin insert or call the Office. This Deepening Relationships session will be led by Pastor Naomi.

Book Signing to Benefit World Hunger on April 7

Kathy Hoffman, a snowbird and author from Messiah Lutheran, Vancouver, WA, and Tanque Verde Lutheran, Tucson, has published two books of funny life stories, Life at Two Ponds and Christmas at Two Ponds: The Backstory. Take a trip down memory lane as you read about these true stories. Each book sells for $20. All the proceeds benefit ELCA World Hunger. Kathy has raised over $15,000 for World Hunger, to date. She will sign books in the Activities Room immediately after the 10:00a service on Sunday, April 7.

Review for Kathy Hoffman's books:

"Reminiscent of Bombeck’s style, Hoffman relates true stories of how everyday situations can go so wrong. Cringe with her as she reveals the stories behind her first date … laugh as her many dogs conspire against her … sigh as her Sunday school students come up with the darndest answers … smile as she tries to communicate with her husband of 40 years. Life is a learning process … Hoffman must be a slow learner!”

Thursday Journey

Through May 9, Thursday Journey is watching and discussing the video series, How Jesus Became God by Great Courses favorite, Professor Bart D. Ehrman. Join us as we delve into the early Christian claim that Jesus of Nazareth was God, and how that claim completely changed the course of Western civilization. It's a fascinating, multilayered historical puzzle—one that offers a richly illuminating look into the origins of the Western worldview and the theological underpinnings of our civilization.

For more information, contact Rev. Stewart McDonald.

Loneliness and Christianity Seminar

Join the Northeast Valley Consortium (NEVC), in conjunction with the Grand Canyon Synod and California Lutheran University, at Living Water Lutheran Church in Scottsdale, AZ, on April 13, 2024, 1:00p to 4:00p, for a transformative seminar on "Loneliness and Christianity." Hosted by Rev. Dr. Colleen Windham-Hughes, Associate Vice President for Mission and Identity at California Lutheran University, this event addresses loneliness as a public health crisis, akin to hunger or thirst, signaling our need for action.

Living Water Lutheran Church is at 9201 E. Happy Valley Road, Scottsdale, AZ. Space is limited. Classes are online and in-person. Registration is free but required by April 5. Click here to register and get more information.

Photo by Milan Popovic on Unsplash

Read & Yak

This diverse book discussion group meets in person in the Activities Room and on Zoom on the fourth Saturday of each month. The next meeting on April 27 from 10:00a to 11:30a will focus on Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley. Click on this link to join the Zoom meeting. Meeting ID: 822 7558 0676

Passcode: 844657

Grand Canyon Synod Campformation 2024

Students in grades 6-10 and camp counselors in 11th grade through 24 years old are invited to hang out in the glory of God's creation among tall pines, blue skies, and wildlife of Prescott, AZ, the week of June 23-28. Registration is $400 per camper. For more information, visit:

https://www.lutherancampformation.com/