Christ Lutheran Church, Allentown PA

Here is the link for worship on Sunday, November 1 at 10:30 am EST. Don’t forget to change your clocks on Saturday evening! And do join us at 10:20 for an All Saints hymn sing. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/107650768 Dial by your location +1 646 558 8656 US (New York) +1 301 715 8592 US (Germantown)... +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) +1 669 900 9128 US (San Jose) +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) Meeting ID: 107 650 768 Password: 003931 You can record your attendance here. https://christatown.simplechurchcrm.com//d8298fff-9c52-4a7 If you wish to make a donation, you can do that through the same link. See more

Through many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come; ’tis grace has brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home. -"Amazing Grace, How Sweet the Sound (ELW 779)

Here is the link for worship on Sunday, October 25 at 10:30 am EDT. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/107650768 Dial by your location +1 646 558 8656 US (New York) +1 301 715 8592 US (Germantown)... +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) +1 669 900 9128 US (San Jose) +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) Meeting ID: 107 650 768 Password: 003931 You can record your attendance here. https://christatown.simplechurchcrm.com//d8298fff-9c52-4a7 If you wish to make a donation, you can do that through the same link. See more

Do your part - wear a mask, wash your hands, and love your neighbor.

Crazy Hats are often the fashion.

So, you think you have a crazy hat?

Here is something that will get you singing along... an Episcopal priest parodies King George from the hit musical Hamilton. Enjoy!

Here are the instructions to join our worship service via Zoom for The Day of Pentecost, May 31 at 10:30 am EDT. We have some interesting things in our service for this festive day, including a video of over 1300 Lutheran musicians singing and playing O Day Full of Grace. That will be part of our pre-service gathering, which begins at about 10:20. We encourage you to wear red, have some (red) candles ready to light, and also some bread and wine (or juice) if you want to par...take of communion. Here is the information to join the meeting. Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/107650768 From a phone +1 646 558 8656 US (New York) +1 301 715 8592 US (Germantown) +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) +1 669 900 9128 US (San Jose) +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) Meeting ID: 107 650 768 Password: 003931 The weekly worship materials are attached. You can record your attendance here. https://christatown.simplechurchcrm.com//d8298fff-9c52-4a7 If you wish to make a donation, you can do that through the same link. See more

A Message from Bishop Zeiser about Opening Church Buildings As we go through this Memorial Day weekend and begin to experience how it feels for some of us to... live under relaxed restrictions, along with the heightened spirits that go with the first holiday weekend in the pre-summer weeks, I hope you have a safe and settled Memorial Day observance. It is important for all of us to recognize the significance of this holiday, and to offer thanks to God for those who made supreme sacrifices for the sake our liberties. As the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic continues, even in the midst of this holiday, I also want to reiterate my counsel about when and how to open church buildings for worship and other purposes. We cannot allow illusory hope or misguided enthusiasm to push us to unwise decisions about opening, assembling for worship, or gathering for meetings. The phased and deliberate process of relaxed restrictions in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and in states across the country, requires that we be patient for the sake of those most vulnerable to the corona virus. Some of the most vulnerable are likely among the members of our congregations, as well as among those who visit our churches or participate in the ministries carried out by our congregations. Love of neighbor, central to the understanding we hold of our discipleship role as followers of the Risen Jesus, draws to act in ways that are sacrificial of our own needs and desires. I encourage all rostered ministers and congregations of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Synod to abide by the guidelines established by Governor Wolf and to employ the suggested approaches to opening buildings offered by the ELCA Churchwide Office and the Wisconsin Council of Churches. As these guidelines and suggestions have seemed well informed and demand a high level of rigor, I have provided copies of them in previous communications similar to this message. I know, too, that some of you have had access to other helpful and wise resources; I commend your attention to their direction. The warm personal interaction; the inspired worship; the satisfying mission work in our communities and across the globe; the meaningful opportunities for faith development and spiritual growth; and the unexpected encounters of grace that occur because we step inside beloved church buildings: all of these occasions and more make being part of a congregation life-giving and faith motivating. They are important to me and at the heart of why I am committed to the life and mission of the church; and I know that the same is true for you, too. I have been so impressed by the creative ways in which congregations and rostered ministers of this synod have directed the faith and the energies of their zeal for compassionate ministries during this awful pandemic. In fact, I have observed a level of enthusiasm, surprise, and renewal in ministers and congregations as they have found new ways to witness to their love of God. The Holy Spirit has stirred in you during this challenging time and you have shown the resilience of your faith. God is at work, and God will continue to do new things for the sake of all people and for all creation no matter how long this pandemic is in effect. Please, don’t be drawn into making a premature decision about opening your building. With gratitude for your partnership in ministry, Bishop Samuel Zeiser See more

To all the beautiful women who gladden the hearts of children...

May the Fourth be with you!

Easter Message April 10, 2020 An Easter Message from Bishop Zeiser To the Congregations and Rostered Ministers of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Synod:... Greetings in the name of Jesus! Easter is the high mark in the church’s worship life. It brings focus to our joy over the mercy of God’s relentless commitment to draw us close and to the unconditional nature of God’s love for us, even as we are prone to stray. The resurrection of our Lord Jesus bears witness to God’s intention to offer life to all creation weighed down by brokenness and death. Our observance of Easter 2020 is unlike past Easter observances. There are those who have observed Easter with a diminished joy because of sadness, mourning, or pain inflicted upon them, but it is rare that all have been simultaneously faced with dimensions of anxiety and fear in the way now caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Chances are, the despair of Mary Magdalene upon discovering Jesus’ empty tomb, and the distress of the disciples upon hearing this news from Mary, are more real to us right now. Eventual appearances of Jesus, first to Mary Magdalene upon returning to the tomb, and later to the disciples on the road to Emmaus, meant a delayed response of joy, but a resounding joy, nonetheless. Perhaps your 2020 Easter joy will seem delayed, despite the best efforts of congregation leaders to bring as many as possible together to lift up again the Alleluia that signifies our gratitude, our confidence, and our intention to share the news that Jesus is risen. But the certainty that God acted, continues to act, and will act to eternity to bring the light of life into the darkness of any sin and dying we can imagine was revealed by the empty tomb swept of its power and claimed for all of us by Mary Magdalene in the early light of that first day of the week after Jesus’ death. Mary Magdalene’s gritty determination to minister to her Jesus in this church’s most precious component of John’s account on Easter 2020. As Jesus responded to Mary’s searching determination and desperate pleas, Jesus hears us too and gives us reasons to proclaim with Mary Magdalene again and again and again: I have seen the Lord.

Sight & Sound theatre in Lancaster is streaming their production of "Jesus" this weekend. Here's the link: https://watch.tbn.org/sight-sound-theatres-presents-jesus