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Greetings from Syracuse, NY!<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Our day wasn\u2019t over!\u00a0 We\u2019d been partnering with another group, who meets in our building,\u00a0The Society for Creative Anachronisms (SCA), which I think of as a cross between civil war reenactors and a renaissance fair. \u00a0The SCA worked with us to provide a 3-act play hosted by St. Stephen at 4:00 PM that afternoon, open to the public.\u00a0 The third act was Martin and Katharina\u2019s wedding, which was followed by a wedding reception in our fellowship hall.\u00a0 The SCA created period decorations and costumes, as well as provided period food, music, and dance \u2013 all of it done as close to correct for Martin Luther\u2019s time as possible!\u00a0 The guests had the opportunity to take a turn at period dancing, so even I got in on the act!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We are grateful to have such wonderful connections, not only in the community but also in our own building, which has become a bit of a community itself.\u00a0 We were blessed to have so many wonderful people taking part in our Reformation celebrations, even while many other Lutheran churches in our area were celebrating in different ways. Syracuse has been well represented in this 500th<\/sup>\u00a0year of the Reformation!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Today’s post is from Deb Stein, pastor at St.\u00a0Stephen Lutheran Church in\u00a0Syracuse, NY. Greetings from Syracuse, NY! Last Sunday for the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, St. Stephen in Syracuse, NY worshipped with two other congregations; those who also worship in our building.\u00a0 Both are immigrant Christian congregations, not connected to the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":241,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-post"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/elcablogs.fairnorthdigital.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/60\/2017\/11\/ReformationSyracuse3.jpg\")
Last Sunday for the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, St. Stephen in Syracuse, NY worshipped with two other congregations; those who also worship in our building.\u00a0 Both are immigrant Christian congregations, not connected to the ELCA, except through us.\u00a0 \u00a0The small Burundi church understands English and didn\u2019t want anything translated.\u00a0 They were happy to be in among the assembly.\u00a0 However, the Evangelical Living Church (ELC), a Burmese Chin congregation, doesn\u2019t understand English as well, so we used an outline (with some explanations) of our joint worship up on their screen with a PowerPoint in Chin.\u00a0 Detailed explanations were printed of what we\u2019re doing and why in our English worship bulletin.\u00a0 We worked closely with the ELC, over three weeks, to pull our Reformation worship together in both languages.\u00a0 The Gospel was read in English by me and in Chin by Pastor Elisha Thwang.\u00a0 Pastor Elisha also offered a prayer in Chin after the Thanksgiving for the Word.\u00a0 In addition, the ELC choir, most of whom attend high school in the city, joined our own choir for the event.\u00a0 Our worship was filled with the grace-filled readings, prayers, and joyful music in English and Chin.\u00a0 We used the ELC\u2019s version of an \u201cAlleluia\u201d for our Gospel Acclamation (to the tune of Amazing Grace: Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia Amen… Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia Amen<\/em>), and the ELC Choir, along with Pastor Elisha offered an Anthem in Chin, the title, of which translated: Standing on the Promises<\/em>.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/elcablogs.fairnorthdigital.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/60\/2017\/11\/ReformationSyracuse2.jpg\")
It was such an exciting day for us all \u2013 beyond my imagination for sure!\u00a0 We had been talking about having a joint worship for some time, and Reformation Sunday just seemed to be the perfect day to do it.\u00a0 It was a day to celebrate a church that is constantly reforming and always being made new.\u00a0 In doing so, we embraced our differences, while lifting up all the things we have in common.\u00a0 Last Sunday, nearly 500 years after Martin Luther offered up his 95 theses, St. Stephen sang A Mighty Fortress, together with folks from around the world, immigrants who came to the U.S. looking for a fortress of safety within our boundaries, sharing with us God\u2019s own Mighty Fortress of grace and love for us all. \u00a0We used a modified Service of the Word, and I inserted hymns where ever we could fit them.\u00a0 During the service, four of our youth affirmed their baptism in Confirmation, supported by every Christian present.\u00a0 It was truly a joy-filled and uplifting celebration for everyone.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/elcablogs.fairnorthdigital.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/60\/2017\/11\/ReformationSyracuse5-e1509576636883.jpg\")
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