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The mission of the American Lutheran Congregation is to bring people of

different nations and denominations together, and in the English language,

empower them into becoming fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.

The ALC Messenger Volume 58 Issue 1 January 2014

The race is not to the swift,

Nor the battle to the strong,

Nor bread to the wise,

Nor riches to men of understanding,

Nor favor to men of skill;

But time & chance happen to them all. Ecclesiastes 9:11

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American Lutheran Congregation

Pastor: Timothy Stewart

Office Secretary: Rie Melhoos

Council President: Robert Sebro

Messenger Editors and Helpers : Mel Engebretsen, Eric

Mandeville, Bob Sebro, Rie Melhoos,

Visiting address: Fritzners gate 15, 0264 Oslo, Norway

Mailing Address: PO Box 3012 Elisenberg, 0207 Oslo, Norway

Phone: + 47 22 44 35 84

Fax: +47 22 44 30 15

Email: office@alcoslo.org

Webpage: www.alcoslo.org

Bank account number for offerings :5081.07.47827

The ALC Messenger Monthly Newsletter for the American Lutheran Congregation

INDEX

ALC INFORMATION

INDEX

PAGE 2

STEWARDSHIP COMMENTS

AND 2013 ANNUAL REPORTS PAGES 8

PASTOR’S CORNER,

PAGES 3-4

MONDAY MORNING BIBLE

STUDY, WOMEN’S

FELLOWSHIP, PRAYERS

PAGE 9

PRESIDENT’S CORNER PAGE 5

SUNDAY MORNING TEXT

STUDY, DREAMS & PLANS PAGES 10

JANUARY & FEBRUARY

CALENDARS PAGES 6-7

BIRTHDAYS AND 2014 ANNUAL

MEETING PAGES 11-12

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Pastor’s Corner Dear Friends,

January is the month of the ‘Ritual of the New Calendar’.

You won’t find it in any liturgical planning material, but it

is none-the-less very real for many of us. It is the annual

rite of taking a brand new calendar and transferring vari-

ous advance appointments, commitments, phone numbers,

addresses, reminders and whatever else you may have

written in the pages of last year’s calendar, into the new one. For those of you

who have fully embraced the electronic age this may be less of a thing, but for

those of us who stubbornly cling to paper, you better set aside the better part of an

afternoon to accomplish the archaic task. I usually bumble around the first two

weeks of a new year, juggling two separate calendars and a growing collection of

scribbled post-it notes before, with a sigh, giving in to necessity and getting it

done.

It is a ritual, however, that is not without benefits. The chief benefit being the

chance to look ahead over an entire year and imagine. Each month, each new

page begins blank and slowly fills in with the familiar benchmarks of birthdays,

school holidays, festival days and perennial events and programs. It’s a process

which demands looking ahead and the start of dreaming and planning. For dec-

ades I’ve engaged this ritual and this looking ahead has become my favorite part.

It’s become so second nature that I’ve taken it for granted. Only recently have I

begun to realize the privilege and luxury it is.

In Matthew 25:31-46, one of the best known passages from Matthew, Jesus lifts

up the virtue of giving food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, welcome to the

stranger, clothes to the naked, care to the sick and company to the imprisoned – in

doing this to the least in our midst, we meet Jesus. By chance that passage came

up in my daily devotions on the day I set aside time to (finally) commission my

2014 calendar. In that juxtaposition it occurred to me that there is little room for

planning 10 months ahead for those in our world for whom the biggest question

of the day is where the next meal will come from or for whom clean water means

a walk of several hours to the source and back. What about our brothers and sis-

ters for whom the future is the next biopsy or round of chemotherapy. What

dreaming and planning thrives for those whose days hold few choices but rather

are determined by the prison routine. What Jesus lifts up in Matthew 25 aren’t

acts of charity or even marks of virtue. (Continues on page 4)

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They are nothing less than the proclamation of the Kingdom of God. It is the

grace of God which insists that any of us are more than the circumstances of our

lives and that our value is in being loved by God (and through God’s people) and

not in a world which may consider us disposable. It is the Gospel which insists

that our futures, no matter how circumscribed our lives may appear, belong to

God and that is hope that lives outside of what today may hold. While the ‘Ritual

of the New Calendar’ may be a luxury of the well-fed, secure and comfortable,

the real freedom of the future is in the arms of God who insists on opening it for

any who would turn their face in God’s direction.

Years ago I had a systematic theology professor who one day encouraged our

class to only note things in our calendars which would proclaim the Kingdom of

God. I confess that I continued to fill my little red pocket calendar with all man-

ner of things vain and banal. But still, I think I got his point. Christ’s claim on us

is complete and that claim radically shifts what our life is grounded in and how

we will understand and value the world around us. In the midst of all the ‘things’

we will do in any given day, week, month or year – the only ones which really

mean anything are ones which proclaim the Kingdom of God – the ones which

reveal who, and whose, we truly are – thanks to the grace of God.

May we have a great year together – proclaiming the Kingdom of God.

In Christ,

Pastor Tim Stewart

Pastor’s Corner (continued)

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President’s Corner

As we bid farewell to 2013, and say welcome to 2014, I

want to thank Pastor and the council for their dedication and

service to the ALC during the past year. Your support and

cooperation has been invaluable during my 1st year as coun-

cil president.

Our next annual meeting is going to be held Sunday January

26th. And I want to extent a special thanks those who are

going off council at this time; Lars Lunde (Treasurer), Sarvo Martin

(Membership), and John Chamberlain (Properties). Being on council can some-

times be hard work, but you have generously given of your time to keep the

ALC operating!

Congregational support is important to the running of our church, so we need as

many members as possible to attend the annual meeting. With the pot luck it is

both good fellowship as well as a time to partake in the shaping of our church

future.

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not

for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the

Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” Col 3:23-24

As we venture into 2014 I am again reminded of how we can be thankful to God,

who more than 50 years ago, inspired a group of Christians to build our fantastic

church building. Together through “THE MASTER KEY PROJECT” we are

going to continue the work they started. Each week there are numerous activities

that take place in our building; hundreds of people come through on a weekly

basis, this church is such an important place for so many. We are custodians of

this building, and must do everything we can to keep it up!

“For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s build-

ing.”1 Co 3:9

Soli Deo Gloria

Bob Sebro

ALC Council President

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From your Stewardship Committee

We begin 2014 with new goals of what we would like to

achieve and have hopes of what good things the year will

bring. So it is with our church as well. This year we will

celebrate the 50th anniversary of our church building and

there are many building related projects we would like to

get done. At the same time we need to continue to offer

and to improve the services and activities the church ordi-

narily has. How much we do is really up to us, the Congre-

gation.

The list of what we would like to do is long, but with prayer and God’s helping

hand we can achieve a lot this year. God has given us a beautiful place of worship

and we need to take care of it. Helping out is a way of thanking God for what He

has given to us. The church needs all of us to donate both time and financial re-

sources in order for it to grow and do God’s work here on earth. Please, therefore,

give generously to the church, for the more you give the better the church will be-

come and the more it can serve those people in need.

And remember that whatever you give to God, you will be repaid many times

over.

Arthur Melhoos,

Stewardship Chairman

2013 Annual Reports

The ALC 2013 Annual Report is ready for you to take

home. Please take the time to read it before our Annual

Meeting being held on Sunday January 26 after the worship

service.

Both full members and associate members are encouraged

to attend this important meeting.

A potluck lunch will be held. Please remember to bring a dish or two to share

with others

If you have any questions please see Rie Melhoos or Pastor Stewart.

We hope to see you there!

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The Monday Morning

Bible Study will meet on

January 20 at 10:30.

Please join us!

Prayers

If you have prayer concerns, please contact

our Prayer Chain administrator, Gillian

Holby, at jillholby@gmail.com or the church

office.

Friday Evening Women’s Fellowship Please mark your calendars and plan to join us for our next Friday Evening

Women's Fellowship on Friday, February 7th.

If you haven't been to one of these Fellowship evenings before, please know

that you are very welcome to join us! These are friendly, informal gatherings

of women. Often there is a short program or discussion, sometimes there is a

fun game, always there is much laughter and good opportunity for getting to

know one another better than we're able to do during the short time we have

after church on Sundays.

A bit of food or drink is always welcome, but please don't feel obligated to

bring anything.

We will have more information about the location of our next meeting very

soon. Please send any questions to Mary Ann Stewart at the

stewarts10@hotmail.com or by SMS at 489 92 659.

We look forward to seeing you!

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Weekly Email News and Messenger and ALC Website

The ALC sends out a weekly email news, as well as the monthly newsleter

Messenger. If you would like to receive our news by email, please send an

email to office@alcoslo.org

In addition please take a look at our ALC website which has been

updated . www.alcoslo.org

SUNDAY MORNING TEXT STUDY

You are invited to join Pastor Stewart each Sunday at 9:30 AM to take a

look at the texts which will be read in worship that day.

This is a great way to deepen one’s understanding of the texts which will

be a center point of the following worship service. We will finish around

10:15, so to make the most of our time together, please be sure to be at the

ALC library at 9:30.

Dreams & Plans

The next Dreams & Plans

Evening will be held on

Thursday February 27th !

A simple dinner will be served

Please come and bring your thoughts and ideas!

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1 - John Holby,

1 - Johanna Stephens

2 - Vivesa Liam

3 - Salli Baker

4 - Grace Marian Fiksdalstrand

4 - Arthur Melhoos

5 - Mathew Swedberg

6 - Kari Colwell,

6 - Ragnhild Roderburg

6 - Brian K. Cheruiyot,

6 - Abena Sarpong Britwum

7 - Marianne Melhoos

8 - Bente Randmel

9 - Christian Mohr

9 - Keziah Killmer

10 - Antonia Fiksdalstrand

11 - Gunnvor Høigaard

11 - Ellen and Evan Mugizi

13 - Anders Wilhelm Tse-Wei Chang Lunde

15 - Alexander With

17 - Torild Brock-Smith

17 - Viet Si Pham,

17 - Adam Tobias Kaldestad

17 - Ola Johannes Z. Lande

18 - Christine Balfour

18 - Maria Kjeldahl Crouch

18 - Donna Hareide,

18 - Sofie Kristine Kaldestad

19 - Paal Johansen

19 - Ruth Farnes

19 - David Christian Olaussen

20 – Hamid Qafari

21 - Elsa H.H. Bando

21 - Connie Stultz

21- Magne Myrmo

23 - Rishabh Harinarain

25 - Patricia Mutesi

26 - Katrine Limseth,

26 - Barbara Kierulf

28 - David Skeie

28 Hannah Elisabeth Bekkmo

28 - Geir Håbesland

God Bless You on Your Special Day! January Birthdays

1 – Peter Majeed

2 - Abraham Ghebre Christos

2 - Marian S. Håbesland

4 – Madison Perry Lorgen

5 - Ynghild Solholm

6 - Yolanda Solholm

7 - Asha Lal,

7 - Anna Maria Aune Moore

8 – Maria Morland

9 - Naomi Gichimu

10 - Wenche Foss

12 - Judy Hansteen

12 - Don Loendorf

12 - Rima Annie Seth

14 - Helen Borchgrevink

18 - Janette Fjeldstad

18 - Andreas Lokken

18 – Zo Rakotoarison

19 - Caroline Cooper Sjøstedt

19 - Judy Staff

19 - Yonathan Yohannes Mekonnen

20 – Martin Alexander Thorsen

22 - Victoria Glyn

22 - Leonardo George Granrud

25 – Karen Riding

26 - Martha Kjølseth

26 - Ajay Kumar

28 – Chiek Jwee Er

28 - Brian E. W. Wabende

29 - Robert Marsalis

29 - Matteo Mellilo

30 – Donna Marstrander

31 – Caja Amalia Madsen-Goonetilleke

February Birthdays

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Annual Congregational

Meeting January 26th 2014

The Annual Congregational Meeting for Voting Members is called for

26 January 2014.

The meeting will take place:

Date: Sunday, 26 January 2014

Time: Potluck Lunch immediately after the 11:00 Worship Service,

with the meeting to start as soon as possible

Place: ALC, Fritzners gate 15

Agenda Greeting

Opening Devotions

Approval of Agenda

Review and Approval of the minutes of the 2013 Annual Congregational

Meeting held on January 27, 2013

Pastor’s Report

President’s Report

Ministry Area Reports\

Treasurer Report

Audit Committee Report

Presentation and Approval of the 2014 Budget

Nomination Committee Report

Election of officers and Committee Chairs for 2014

Election of Audit Committee member for 2014\

Election of Nominating Committee members for 2014

Closing Comments and Prayer

Robert Sebro Melisande Engebretsen

President, ALC Council Secretary, ALC Council