Youth Ministry Update

Thrift Shop Prom

This summer has been fun and eventful for our youth group. We haven’t been meeting weekly, but we’ve gathered several times to enjoy one another’s company and the freedom of summer. We kicked the summer off—and welcomed our new sixth graders—with a Thrift Shop Prom. For this event, students were asked to find a colorful and creative costume at a thrift shop. We then proceeded to play games and dance the night away! We had a lot of fun, and the students took their outfits seriously. They looked great!

Our second event of the summer was our All Nighter. We began the evening with dinner at Portillo’s and entertainment at the Sycamore Speedway. We watched lots of races, and they concluded the evening’s festivities with a demolition derby. We returned to All Souls for prayer at midnight, 3am, and 6am. Between times of communal prayer, we played games and watched a movie. It was crazy, but once again, we had a lot of fun being together. In July, we gathered to have pizza and play board games, and next week, we’re gathering to play more games (not the board kind) and eat more pizza (we’d love to see our students there! July 24, 6-9pm, at PHCC).

Some students from our youth group are headed for a mission trip in Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood in early August. Josiah Hsu is still selling prayer cards! Please pray for all our students that they will have a good and safe experience and that they encounter the presence of God in the people they meet.

In my role as Youth Coordinator this year, it’s been my main goal to identify and begin to develop a unique identity for Savior’s youth ministry. I’ve spent most of my time getting to know our students and their families, adding more organization to our ministry, and developing communication and visibility for the youth ministry. Our youth ministry is growing, and we want our ministry for students and families to connect to and sync with everything we do at Savior. Our students are not the future of the church, they are an important part of the church right now, and we want to encourage them as much as we can as they grow and mature in faith. God began a good work in our youth ministry long before me, and as I prepare to pass this role back to Mary (and whoever comes after me), I am confident that God will continue to be faithful to our students and their leaders.

Andrew and I have spent the summer brainstorming new ideas for youth group in the fall, choosing new curriculum for our Saturday evening Youth Worship meeting, and dreaming about what the future of youth ministry at Savior could be. We’re hoping to spend more time in the coming ministry year helping students practice spiritual disciplines, developing a communal rule of life, and continuing to teach our students how to love Jesus with their heads, hearts, and hands. We’re also hoping to recruit a few new leaders from Savior to lead our students, so if you sense that God is calling you to a new season of serving our students, please, let Mary or me know (I promise that we only stay up all night one night a year).

Finally, as we look toward the new ministry year, I will be sad to be missing it. It’s been an honor and a joy to serve the junior high and high school students, and their families, of Church of the Savior (and All Souls). My husband, Dawson, and I will be moving to Columbus, Ohio, at the beginning of August so that Dawson can begin working on his PhD in Sociology at Ohio State University. We have absolutely loved our time at Savior, and we will miss you all greatly. Thank you so much for welcoming us enthusiastically and trusting me readily to minister to your teenagers. I know that God has a wonderful plan for the youth at Savior, and I anticipate that this ministry will continue to grow and flourish.

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Ellen works at Savior as the Youth Coordinator. She is also an Editor of Bibles & Reference at Tyndale House Publishers; she has worked there since 2014. She has worked and volunteered in a variety of youth ministries over the past decade and she began attending Savior in 2017.

Colors of the Church Year

If you've spent much time with a child at Savior, you've probably heard them sing their song about the colors of the church year (and if you haven't heard it, you should ask one of them to sing it for you!):

Purple says: get ready, for the feast is near.
White says: rejoice, the feast is here.
Green is for the growing time the rest of the year;
Red is for Pentecost, Holy Spirit Day.

This song helps orient children to the rhythms of the liturgical year, in which fasts (Advent and Lent) are followed by feasts (Christmas and Easter), and much of the year is neither feast nor fast, but instead Ordinary Time. (The term "Ordinary Time" comes from the way it's counted in ordinal numbers — the first Sunday after Pentecost, the fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost, etc. But it's also ordinary in the other sense as we go about our ordinary work.)

We mark each new season in the church year by changing the color of the altar cloth, banners, vestments worn by clergy, even the tablecloths on the Welcome and Info tables. Although there is some variation, most liturgical churches use a somber purple during Advent and Lent. Feasts are marked by white or gold, colors that remind us of the glory and splendor of God. Red is the color for Pentecost, bringing to mind the tongues of fire that danced on the heads of the disciples when then Holy Spirit came upon them. And Ordinary Time is green, symbolizing a time of work and growth in the power of the Spirit.

Why use liturgical colors?

We use symbols to mark all sorts of seasons and holidays: the pots of mums that indicate the coming of fall; the red and green decorations that presage Christmas; the banners and balloons in a yard that point to some special event. Likewise, the changing colors point us to shifts in the church year. Especially for those of us new to the rhythms of the liturgical calendar, a new color reminds us of a shift as we cycle through fasting, feasting and growing.

Also, liturgical worship seeks to engage all of our senses: our ears and minds as we hear and learn, and also our bodies as we touch and taste the bread and wine, make the sign of the cross on our bodies, stand for the Gospel and kneel for the confession of sin. Liturgical colors engage our eyes, giving us visual cues to the story told in the church calendar of longing for Christ, celebrating Christ, and growing in the body of Christ.

Liturgical colors beyond the sanctuary

As we orient our lives towards the gospel, the cycle of the liturgical year helps us to focus on different parts of God's story. If you find the liturgical colors helpful in pointing you towards the presence of God in our lives, you might consider incorporating the colors into your home. A colored candle is a simple way to mark the season; if you have a prayer corner or prayer table, you might incorporate the seasonal color.

And perhaps you can also learn the children's song, immersing yourself along with them in the rhythms of the church year and the great story of God's love for us.

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Sarah Lindsay currently serves as the Director of Communications and Coordinator of Children’s Ministry at Savior. Sarah has a background in teaching (English literature and writing) and she enjoys reading and writing. She has been an Anglican since she discovered liturgical worship in college; she and her family joined Savior in 2017.

Spotlight on New Members

On June 1st, we welcomed several new members. In today's "Spotlight" post, get to know two of them — Amy Allan and Shellie Morgan.

1. Where do you live now, and where are you from?

Amy Allan

Amy: I currently live in Wheaton, but have lived quite a transient life including Miami, FL; Vernon, NY; Washington DC; Ithaca, NY; Columbus, OH; Syracuse, NY; Indianapolis, IN; Rochester, NY; St. Louis, MO.

Shellie Morgan

Shellie: I was born and raised in Southern California (Torrance), the youngest of 4 children. After high school, I (reluctantly) moved with my parents to Illinois. We lived in Roselle, then moved to Decatur for about 9 months, and then back to Bloomingdale. After 2 winters here, my parents moved back to California! I currently live in Bartlett., where I've lived since 1987.

2. Who shares your home?

Amy: I have two amazing sons, Blake (senior at Baylor University) and Riley (junior at Wheaton College). Although we currently do not have any pets, we previously had a hilarious strawberry-loving turtle named Juanita.

Shellie: My son is grown and lives in Hoffman Estates. I am a foster for Anderson Animal Shelter, so I am kept busy with kittens during the spring and summer months. Some empty nesters turn the extra bedroom into a guest room or a den, mine is the foster room now!

3. What do you do when you’re not at church?

Amy: When I am not at church, I am likely to be found researching or writing on my Old Testament Ph.D. dissertation exploring the emotive dimensions of the relationship between Yahweh and his people in the books of Hosea, Amos, Micah, and Zephaniah. I absolutely love studying the Word of God! I am also a professional pianist and enjoy performing and teaching private piano lessons. For fun, I love to workout at the gym, explore the beauty of nature, and laugh with friends.

Shellie: I handle the business office functions in our administration department at the library (so, not a librarian!). I suppose it's not surprising that I've ended up working at a library given my love for words and books. Besides reading, I also enjoy paper crafting (card making specifically), bird watching and watching British shows online.

4. What are some favorite books?

Amy: A few of the authors who have deeply impacted my faith journey are Walter Brueggemann, Abraham Heschel, Ellen F. Davis, Lauren Winner, Scot McKnight, Anne Lamott, Carolyn Custis James, and Henri Nouwen.

Shellie: Picking a single favorite book is pretty much impossible, but I can share a few of my favorites. My long-standing favorite fiction book is To Kill a Mockingbird. I dust it off every couple of years and it's like getting together with an old friend. The writing is lovely and captivating and the storyline compelling. And who can forget the classic line, "Miss Jean Louise, Miss Jean Louise, stand up. Your Father's passing". Other fiction favorites are the Harry Potter series - which covers all the bases: fantasy, adventure, friendship, good vs. evil, loyalty, trust, consequences for our actions, courage, love and sacrifice; Hinds Feet in High Places (which I just finally go around to reading recently) and then a toss up between The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe or The Great Divorce. On the non-fiction end of things, I highly recommend Just Mercy by Byran Stevenson, an eye-opener for me on our incarceration system, and Same Kind of Different as Me by Ron Hall, a story of racism and poverty colliding with faith and unconditional love.

5. What brought you back to Savior after your first visit?

Amy: So many incredible aspects of Church of the Savior brought me back after my first visit: powerful preaching, warm welcome, worshipful spirit, and a healing environment.

Shellie: The sense that I was treading on Holy Ground. The Spirit of God was palpable the first time I visited. From the beautiful liturgy, to the wonderful blend of music, to the welcoming atmosphere - it was so lovely it was all I could do to refrain from weeping with joy. The second week I attended, Alice made a point of reaching out to introduce herself and welcome me. When I went to the Paschal candle making event, Sandy Richter warmly welcomed me and made sure everyone there met me. It was clear that this was a community who cared for one another, was welcoming to strangers, and above all, loved God deeply. I knew this was a community I wanted to call home and become a part of.

6. What are your passions?

Amy: I have a tremendous passion for the oppressed – abuse survivors, immigrants, the poor, marginalized, and overlooked of society. I also deeply love studying the Word of God and worshipping.

Shellie: I am passionate about women and social justice issues. In the past I've led women's small groups, served in the human trafficking ministry, and helped put together a refuge welcome kit for World Relief.

Staff Update: Father Kevin

If you’ve listened to a few of my sermons, then you know I’m a huge fan of fine coffee and the Chicago Cubs. A third passion—hobby?—of mine doesn’t get mentioned in my sermons, but I love helping other people preach. I know, how much of a hobby can that be, given that preaching is part of my work? (We Enneagram 3s never quite know how to take time off.)

Still, as much as I love to preach, I find even more joy coaching others, especially at this season of my life. I believe that anyone can learn to preach, and that most churches are filled with people who have teaching gifts that are waiting to be developed and released. Church of the Savior is living proof of this.

Last year and this year, I’ve devoted my study week to training Anglican rectors in preaching seminars. Over the years, I’ve also contributed to a preaching podcast (Monday Morning Preacher), website (PreachingToday.com), and encyclopedia (The Art and Craft of Biblical Preaching).

I give myself to this, because I believe good preaching changes lives. (If you’re wondering, I define “good” as biblical, clear, prayerful, applied, and passionate.) Preaching builds churches, instills faith, gives courage, opens a vision of heaven, exalts Christ. As I do my cardio workout each day, I often listen to sermons by other preachers, because those fill my soul.

Our Anglican tradition has been blessed with outstanding preachers, from George Whitefield to John Stott to Rennis Ponniah to Tish Harrison Warren. Our tradition, which focuses on Word and Sacrament, remains healthy wherever those are balanced, where the Word is as substantial as the Bread and Wine of the Holy Table.

So on I go, this skinny preaching geek, hoping to leave behind a next generation of people who will preach their heart out.

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Kevin Miller was editor and vice-president at Christianity Today for 26 years and then associate rector at Church of the Resurrection for 5 years. He has been the rector at Savior since January 2017, and is also the co-founder of PreachingToday.com and CTPastors.com.

What Is the Feast of Pentecost?

This Saturday, Savior will celebrate the feast of Pentecost. This feast marks the end of Eastertide, the season of celebrating the resurrection, and the beginning of Ordinary Time.

Pentecost, so named because it is the fiftieth day after Jesus' resurrection, is the day when the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples. As Luke describes in the book of Acts, "Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They [Jesus' followers] saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them" (Acts 2:2-4, NIV).

Ten days after the ascension of Jesus to the Father, the Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus' followers just as Christ had promised. And the spirit immediately begins to work among the disciples, as they speak in multiple languages and as Peter preaches a sermon that causes 3,000 people to follow Christ.

When we celebrate Pentecost, we remember this moment when the Holy Spirit appeared as tongues of fire and poured gifts into the disciples. We decorate with the color red on the altar, red drapes on the cross, and red vestments for clergy and for prayer and communion ministers; the red vividly reminds us of the fire of the Spirit.

Even though the feast of Pentecost is a single day in the church year, Ordinary Time is named for the ordinal numbers counting off from Pentecost: the first Sunday after Pentecost, the second Sunday after Pentecost … the twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost, and so on. Ordinary Time is the longest season of the church year, a time of ordinary work and growth between the great feast of Eastertide and the holy waiting of Advent.

But as we count the weeks through Ordinary Time, we are constantly brought back to this day of Pentecost. Why does this matter?

Pentecost marks the moment when the Holy Spirit came into the church and into the followers of Jesus — and although none of us were present with the disciples when those tongues of flame appeared, we are still the church and still followers of Jesus, and the Holy Spirit still moves among us.

Ordinary Time may not have the exciting feasts of Christmas or Easter, those high notes in the church year. But in Ordinary Time, we are reminded of the constant work of the Holy Spirit in our churches and in our lives.

Like those first disciples, we live in a world where Jesus has gone to be with the Father and is no longer living incarnate among us. But like the first disciples, we are not left bereft at the Ascension. We, too, have the gift of the Spirit.

And so, as we enter this season of Ordinary Time, of ordinary work and growth and play, let us watch for the work of the Holy Spirit among us. This work is sometimes dramatic but often slow and quiet and, yes, ordinary as the Spirit cultivates its fruits within us.

Pentecost concludes Eastertide by reminding us that the resurrected Christ has given us his Spirit, the Spirit whose work guides and sustains the church in all of its works throughout the ages. And Pentecost launches us into Ordinary Time with the knowledge that God is indeed with us in our times of lament and repentance, in our times of joyous celebration, and in all the ordinary days of our lives.

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Sarah Lindsay currently serves as the Director of Communications and Coordinator of Children’s Ministry at Savior. Sarah has a background in teaching (English literature and writing) and she enjoys reading and writing. She has been an Anglican since she discovered liturgical worship in college; she and her family joined Savior in 2017.