University Lutheran Church
and Student Center

925 West Jefferson Street, Tallahassee, FL 32304-8019
(850) 224-6059 - Pastor@UniversityLutheranChurch.org
www.UniversityLutheranChurch.org

From the Pastor

Hello from University Lutheran….

This bit of commentary will be more in the way of encouragement and announcement than personal reflection.  The ”landscape” around University Lutheran is changing daily as students complete exams pack up things or store them…and head home for the Christmas break.  At ULC our gathering group is diminished dramatically and our tone of Advent anticipation and Christmas preparation hits an understandable slow-down.   While most churches gear up for the high festival of Christmas, we just don’t have either the numbers or the resources to do justice to the miracle of the Incarnation moment….as much as we DO try.   So, my encouragement to those of you who make up our resident community is, since we cannot match the efforts of other congregations in town (Lutheran or otherwise),  please take advantage of the music, drama and worship offered during this special season.  We hope you will continue with Sunday morning worship with us…and take advantage of other events at other times offered by various Christian traditions in town. For example, I spent last Sunday evening attending a Service of Lessons and Carols at St. Peter’s Anglican Church…and it was delightful.  Schedules just did not allow for a quick trip across town to hear the Voces Angelorum at Grace Lutheran… this was the first time I have missed that annual performance.  To the point…please make sure your worship and holiday needs are met by those things available from the broader Christian/Lutheran community rather than build disappointment because of what we are simply not able to provide.  Maybe I’ll see you Saturday night at the Tallahassee Symphony for some good Secular and Sacred music!!!

And in the way of announcement…..last e-newsletter indicated that there would be NO Sunday morning Liturgy on December 24.  I have reconsidered that, since that particular Sunday is also the fourth Sunday in Advent…and Advent just isn’t Advent with only three Sundays and only THREE candles lit  Besides, Advent 4 is such a special Sunday with the Gospel focusing on the Angel Message to Mary and her magnificent MAGNIFICAT.  SO, on Christmas Eve Sunday there will be an 11 AM Communion Liturgy AND the 6:30 PM Candlelight Service ( without communion ).  We hope that our resident folks and visiting families will joyfully attend BOTH…they are BOTH such different occasions and different contexts for worship.

But First things first…please join us for worship on December 17 as we mark the Third Sunday in Advent featuring that strange character called John the Baptist!…we’ll still have a few students around and hope for a good number of our regulars as well.

AND Congratulations to all graduates who will have their special day on Saturday!!