Central Lutheran Church's Semi-Annual Meeting will be Sunday, January 26, following worship in the sanctuary. At our last Semi-Annual Meeting, held on June 30, 2024, we voted to amend our constitution. We will take the second vote needed to ratify the amendments we made at this meeting. The amendments we will vote to ratify will make the following changes:

• Have one Annual Meeting each year instead of two Semi-Annual Meetings.
• Replace two co-treasurers with a treasurer and a financial secretary.
• Congregation would elect Council members, the Council would elect president, vice president, and secretary; and appoint the treasurer, financial secretary, and ministry coordinators.
• The congregation Council changes from ten members to nine members.
• Nominating Committees appointed by Congregation Council instead of being elected by the congregation.

We will also need to amend some bylaws that relate to the amendments of the constitution we will vote to ratify. (All of these amendments will be available prior to the meeting.)

We will be voting on these amendments early in the meeting. If they are ratified and approved, we will hold elections for three Congregation Council Members and two Voting Members for the Northwest Washington Synod Assembly. Regardless of the outcome of the votes to amend the constitution and bylaws, we will vote to approve the 2025 budget.

To help prepare for the Semi-Annual Meeting we will have two congregation forums. A Budget Forum will be held Sunday, January 12, following worship in the Friendship Room. The following Sunday, January 19, following worship, we will review and answer any questions regarding the amendments to our constitution and bylaws we will be voting on. Our hope is to get questions regarding the budget and amendments answered prior to the Semi-Annual Meeting. Members of Central Lutheran are encouraged to attend these two forums and the Semi-Annual Meeting.

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might… Isaiah 6:3

Do you hear a song, or maybe a multitude of songs, when you read the words above? We know these words in hymnody – in traditional songs, in praise songs, as part of the Eucharistic liturgy, and more. These words are deep in the bones of the Church. Of course, like so many lyrics that we sing in church, they weren’t created out of thin air. We first hear these words from seraphs during the strange and grand vision that Isaiah had when he entered the holiest of holy places in the Temple – the place that housed the ark of God, the place revered as God’s earthly throne, the place where God was simultaneously present in the heavenly realm and within the fabric of the world. We hear these words in Isaiah’s call story in Isaiah 6:1-8. (Go ahead … read the Isaiah story now before reading the rest of this article.)

As the song reminds us, there are twelve days of Christmas, December 25 through January 5.  The Epiphany of our Lord, which begins the season of Epiphany, is always January 6.  Therefore, during January we will finish up the Christmas season, and begin the Season of Epiphany.  

The season of Epiphany focuses on the revelation of who Jesus is. The season of Epiphany lasts through February, and then culminates with Transfiguration Sunday the first Sunday of March. 

January 5 (Christmas 2): Jeremiah 31:7-9; John 1:1-5, 10-18

January 12 (Epiphany of Our Lord): Isaiah 60:1-6; Matthew 2:1-12

January 19 (Epiphany 2):  1 Corinthians 12:4-11; John 2:1-11

January 26 (Epiphany 3):  1 Corinthians 12:12-31a; Luke 4:14-21

 Our friends from Academia Latina are hosting a celebration to  welcome in 2025 on Saturday, January 11, at 5:00 pm.  There will be fun activities, gifts and prizes for children and adults. 

To help prepare for the Semi-Annual Meeting there will be a Budget Forum on Sunday, January 12, following worship in the Friendship Room.  The goal of this forum is to answer questions regarding the budget prior to the Semi-Annual Meeting. 

There will be a congregation forum Sunday, January 19, following worship in the Friendship Room to review the amendments to the constitution and bylaws we will be voting on at the Semi-Annual Meeting on January 26. These amendments were approved at our last Semi-Annual Meeting, held on June 30, 2024, but amendments to our constitution require a second vote to be ratified. We will also be voting to amend some bylaws that relate to the amendments to the constitution. This forum is designed to review the amendments we passed at the last meeting and answer any questions prior to the Semi-Annual Meeting. 

Lutheran Disaster Response shares God's hope, healing and renewal with people whose lives have been disrupted by disasters in the United States and around the world. When the dust settles and the headlines change, LDR stays to provide ongoing assistance to those in need. CLICK HERE for more informatioin.

The quilters here at Central Lutheran Church make quilts for people around the world, through Lutheran World Relief.  Click below for more information on how you can help.  

The homeless, under-resourced, or just plain hungry are all welcome! Anyone in need can get a meal at Central Lutheran Church each Sunday night. Sunday Suppers are at 5:00 pm. These meals are provided by volunteers from  different congregations representing a variety of denominations in Snohomish County.

You are invited to serve in this vital ministry. Volunteers can arrive at 4:30 to help with set up and the meal will be served at 5:00. We stop serving meals at 6:00 and usually can be cleaned up and done by 6:30.   As the saying goes, many hands make light work. 

As the weather begins to get colder, our neighbors will be looking for coats, sweatshirts, hats, and gloves. If you have any gently used items we would love to keep them in stock for when people in need come in looking for warm-weather clothing.

Thank you as always for your support in time, food, and prayers.

We use YouTube to live stream and record our worship services.  In each weekly Worship Invitation email, we include a link  to that Sunday's worship service.  Past worship services can be viewed by going to our YouTube page by searching for "Central Lutheran Church Everett Washington" or by CLICKING HERE.

We are working to get recordings of our worship services on our website. 

Jesus concluded the Sermon on the Mount with these words: “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven,
will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? Therefore, do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:25-33)

Failure to give to help further God’s kingdom is not just failure of generosity. It is failure of faith in God.

Finance Update through November, 2024

Beginning Balance           6,529
Monthly Expenses       (22,410)
Monthly Income             18,890
Income (Deficit)                 3,009

CLICK HERE to make a financial donation to Central Lutheran Church.

 Happy Birthday to those celebrating January birthdays!  

Nancy Olsen, January 4

Tilly Kendall, January 15

Mya Ritchie, January 19

Aggie Birklid, January 31

Central Lutheran Church Office Hours are:

Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. 

Pastor Jim works in the office Tuesday through Friday, times vary.