Spring is ending and summer is upon us now. The days are getting longer and seemingly hotter week after week. There's been a lot of travel lately to attend graduation ceremonies. All of these are the annual signs of the changing of the season.

The church year as well goes through a similar transition this time of each year. On Sunday, June 3rd, we celebrated the Feast of Holy Trinity. This is traditionally the kick off for the second half of the church year. Beginning the following week, and continuing until December, we mark off each Sunday as so many after Pentecost. Unlike the first half of the year, there are no church holidays to celebrate. That's why it's referred to as the non-festival half of the year. It's a good time for a sermon series on Paul, or Acts.

Summertime is a time to kick back and take it easy for a while. And churches are usually no exception. Programs slow to a crawl as everyone gears up for the big start of another year in the fall. And yet, summertime is a time of opportunity as well. With activities slowing down with the season, summer can be an excellent time to look ahead, set goals for the future, and plan to make those goals a reality. And theses are questions we are asking at Concordia right now. Important decisions regarding the ministry at our church are being considered.

Now, as Summer draws to a close, we are excited to embark on our brand new Sunday evening worship schedule. Our Sunday worship service begins at 7:00 PM each Sunday evening. We are beginning a new Bible Study which will be held at 6:00 PM, directly before the Worship, in the fellowship hall of the church building. Check our calendar for times and locations of these and other events.

If you are visiting this website for the first time we wish you and your family God's blessings and invite you to visit us next time you are in the Visalia area. May our Lord richly bless your days with all his good gifts and may always appreciate his greatest gift to us -the death of his only Son for the forgiveness of our sins, and His resurrection three days later for our eternal life.

PROVIDING RESOURCES FOR CHURCH AND COMMUNITY PROJECTS

Concordia Welcomed into Synodical Membership

On Friday, May 5th 2006, Interim Pastor David Bass and congregational president Bruce Geiger traveled to Sacramento, California. This trip was an important one for the Concordia congregation. Pastor Bass and Bruce Geiger were on their way to attend the 67th CA-NV-HI Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (LC-MS) District Convention.
Two and one-half years passed since the inception of the Concordia Evangelical Lutheran Church and on the weekend of May 5-6 they travelled to sign the roster of the Constitution of the Lutheran Church - MS, thus officially recognizing Concordia Evangelical Lutheran as a synodical member with voting rights

Reception of New Congregations Into Synodical Membership

Pictured are: Signing the roster - Merreli Johansson representative of the Waikoloa Mission, Waikoloa, HI; Standing from left is Larry Teske of Christ, Battle Mountain, NV; Frank Condos, Shepherd of the Sierras, Coarsegold, CA; Bruce Geiger, Concordia, Visalia, CA.

     After President Newton invited the four new congregations to sign the Constitution of the Lutheran Church, and officially recognized them as synodical members, a reception of fellowship and celebration followed.

Helping With a Hammer

How can we make a difference in our community? Well, one way is by helping provide shelter for folks who ordinarily wouldn't be able to afford owning their own home.
     Thrivent Builds is a partnership of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and Habitat for Humanity. Thrivent Financial, through this 4-year pertnership, has become the #1 partner with Habitat for Humanity. Thrivent is donating $100 million over the next 4 years to assist in building projects across the country.
     The southern Central Valley was selected for 2 building projects this year. One home just recently broke ground in Fresno and the second home is already framed in Tulare.
     "If you've never done something like this - you have to try it", says Glenn Dembroff, of our congregation. "I've been involved with two builds and it is a great feeling to be helping others. Plus, as an added bonus, you get to see how a house is built from the foundation up!".
     Information about the Thrivent Builds projects and partnership can be found at www.ThriventBuilds.com. Concordia Lutheran church has an assigned work day at the Tulare build site on the third Saturday of each month. Join us there!

This article is taken from my notes on a wonderful talk at the City of God conference in Seattle. I came out with a wonderful appreciation for our great hymns.
     Our hymns are a treasure we don’t appreciate.
     A hymn is a sung confession of the faith. Luther said that theology and music are God’s greatest gifts to us, with music being the servant of faith. “The faith” is truth, NOT my understanding of truth.
     Martin Franzmann’s homily preached in St. Louis on the singing of the church was based on Colossians 3:16 [Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.]
     Spiritual songs are wrought, moved, and inspired by the Holy Spirit. He is holy. He has His own accents. Same words are used differently, better said, beautiful. Saturday night music is not Sunday morning music. You KNOW it’s church. Music is a vehicle for our confession. It is a holy time for holy things.
     The Holy Spirit is the firstfruits of heaven for us. The music ought to reflect heaven.
     The Holy Spirit is the confessor spirit. He tells of Jesus. The hymn, “We All Believe in One True God” is Luther giving us the Nicene Creed.
     “A Mighty Fortress” tells what God has done for us.
     The Holy Spirit keeps us from individualism: from being self-serving or sentimental. Hymns tell what God has done, is doing, and will do. Individualism is a shaky realm and changes constantly.
     Luther says hymns are part of the preaching. It’s not just in the pulpit. They reinforce the preaching for that day and help us take it seriously. A comment from a listener was that “we won’t be singing the sermon at home.” [Sorry, Pastor...]
     Hymns give us Christ, not law. They are liturgical; they flow from the readings for that day, as do the sermons.
     Who said it should be easy to sing a hymn? More weight, more texture leads to greater difficulty and keeps the mind engaged. We must grow into things that are difficult, weighty. It takes time, but it’s worth it. We love it more each time. We don’t get bored.
     Our hymns have a high role and are more difficult. So spend more time teaching them. There are 8,000 hymns written from Luther to the present that “fit” us.
     His way of introducing a new hymn is by following this pattern:
     The melody is heard many times, during pre-service time, during Communion, etc. Someone will sing it as a solo. The choir will sing it. Then the congregation sings it. The hymn is reinforced very soon.
     He only introduces about four new hymns per year.