Worship Updates for October 2020 Dear Siblings in Christ, Starting on Sunday, October 18, we will gather together for worship in our homes, scattered across our community as we livestream the service from inside our sanctuary without a gathered congregation. Governor Holcomb recently issued a statewide order requiring continued mask-wearing...
Dear Sisters & Brothers in Christ, We are pleased to announce that on Sunday, July 12, New Joy Lutheran Church is returning to in-person, outdoor worship at our new pavilion. Services will continue to be streamed online via YouTube for those not attending in person: New Joy YouTube Channel We...
I skipped "Pandemic Pastoring 101" at seminary. As Indiana slowly returns toward a tentative full opening on the 4th of July – even as Carmel’s 4th of July parade has already been canceled – houses of worship around the state are making their own faithful, local decisions about when and...
Let Us Pray I invite you to pray with me. This week it was announced that the coronavirus has killed more Americans than did the Vietnam War, and has disrupted the economy and our daily lives in unprecedented ways. Nearly four months after news of the coronavirus was first reported,...
Order for Sharing Holy Communion During Social Distancing March 25, 2020 Download the Instructions If you are unable to join in the livestream service: Live on Sundays at 9:30 am, or an archived recording of the service at a later time – use this order of prayer together with the...
Holy Communion Amidst the Coronavirus Disruption The coronavirus has ushered us into a time of disruption. Our homelives are disrupted. Schools are disrupted. Business and the economy are disrupted. And most certainly, the medical community is disrupted. The church, too, is disrupted. We’re scattered in our homes, unable to come...
Dear Sisters & Brothers in Christ, On Monday at noon Governor Holcomb addressed the state announcing a "stay at home" order for all residents for the next two weeks. In his announcement he praised the efforts of medical professionals to safeguard our public health and care for the sick. We...
Dear Sisters & Brothers in Christ, For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under the sun ... a time for embracing and a time for avoiding embraces. Ecclesiastes 3:1,5 New Joy Worship Services Suspended New Joy Lutheran Church is suspending worship services in response to the...
Addressing the Coronavirus By ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton ELCA presiding bishop addresses concerns about COVID-19 Originally posted 3/6/2020 at elca.org/News-and-Events/8025 In 1527 the plague returned to Wittenberg, Germany. Two hundred years earlier the plague had swept across Europe killing up to 40% of the population. Understandably, people were anxious...