Summer Clothing Needed:  Going, going gone! Gently used and new t-shirts, shorts, pants, socks, shoes, and underwear (new only) are greatly appreciated, especially for men.

Food Pantry Groceries:  This month’s items are dry pinto beans, a 2-pound bag of sugar, rice, and spaghetti.

Place your gifts in the red wagon in the Narthex.

Blessing Bags:  Enjoy serving others? Join us as we pack and distribute Blessing Bags every Wednesday and Saturday at the church, at 3100 Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard. Dress for work and the weather, and be ready to make new friends! Wednesday volunteer slots are open until mid-June, when Jesuit Prep student volunteers return for the summer.

• 09:30 AM to 11:00 AM Pack bags
• 11:00 AM to 01:00 PM Give out bags

Please contact hello@clcdallas.org with any questions.

Thank you! Donations are greatly appreciated and can be made online at the following link (Click Here) or by check/cash to CLC annotated with “Mt. Olive Food Pantry.”

Make plans now to attend this significant justice awareness event!  This 2-hour interactive event offers a glimpse into the lives of low-income families and individuals in our communities.
 
Where: King of Glory Lutheran Church, 6411 LBJ Freeway
When: Saturday, June 4
Time: 10 AM – 1 PM, including lunch and discussion

• · The event is free, but you must register to attend and provide a lunch selection.
• · Childcare will be provided
• · Registration/Meal Selection: www.kingofglory.com/cope
• · Questions: King of Glory link or contact Sharon Karol (hello@clcdallas.org)

 
Testimonials:

• Jesus commands us to Love our Neighbor, even those that are not like us. COPE helps us better understand what some of our neighbors struggle with daily. The world is full of challenges now, and learning more can only help us make better decisions for our communities and ourselves. All of us who have attended in the past would describe it as a life-changing experience.

 

• HMM…COPE... Cost of Poverty Experience…sounds interesting… what are a few hours out of my Saturday... I will sign up.
• Those “few hours” have changed my life forever.  Every day I see my incredibly brave neighbors who are no longer invisible, no longer strangers, and I am reminded to love them. 
• The challenges they face daily that I took for granted – transportation education, home food…and I do mean took, as in the past tense, as I cannot turn away and pretend not to see.
• I look into those eyes, and every day my heart is changed. Sound dramatic? It is. And thank God for those few hours that one Saturday.

​GLOBAL MISSION TRIP TO EL PASO AND MEXICO 
We plan an immersion trip to El Paso to learn about the migrant experience from June 7-13, 2022. We are partnering with Iglesia Luterana Cristo Rey for this opportunity to learn and serve. Participants will meet recent immigrants and would-be immigrants, visit a colonia (rural settlements), see people in court seeking to immigrate and assist the Border Servant Team. We will worship together, eat together, pray together and serve together.  

How can you be helpful in this ministry?
Consider buying a raffle ticket (or more) to help us cover the basic costs, and you might even win a beautiful blanket! We have an Afghan and a quilt for the win. Get 1 ticket for $3.00 or 4 for $10! Tickets are on sale until the drawing on May 22.

Email hello@clcdallas.org for questions

​We look forward to Celebrating God's Greatness with our Monumental themed VBS. We will travel through the Southwest and experience some amazing adventures, meet new friends and learn more through God's word. songs, crafts and fellowship.

We will have sessions of VBS beginning at 11:00 am on Sundays following our 10:00 am Summer Worship service.

Dates are: June 19, June 26, July 10 and July 17. We plan to follow each session with a luncheon.  More details to come!

As always, all are encouraged to participate and invite your neighbors and friends. We will have many volunteer opportunities and will begin to firm those up in May.  Please let us know how and when you are available to assist.

The CLC Preschool will begin their Monumental Journey as part of morning activities June 21 - June 24.  Please let us know if you have interest and availability to assist with that.

Yours in Christ,

The Youth and Family Team

Suzanne Dunkelberg

“I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these
brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” Matthew 25: 40
 
Since 1996, the Mission Endowment Fund of the Northern Texas-Northern Louisiana Synod has awarded over 150 ministry grants to multiple congregations to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ in their communities. Total funds given to date = OVER $1 MILLION

These grants have changed the lives of

• Incarcerated men in recovery programs who hear the life-saving message of Scripture
• Faithful parishioners who desire to strengthen their congregations with internal programs
• Single parents who receive food for their hungry children
• Young children struggling academically who receive compassionate tutoring in a safe environment
• Elderly who need assistance who enjoy a hot meal delivered to them by youth members
• Day workers who receive a free breakfast and a prayer to begin their day
• And so many more programs and projects

How MEF Grants Change Lives:

​Faithful Vision Leaders who receive seed money for mission development and new congregations with exceptional potential
Single Mothers who struggle to feed their children
School Children who cannot afford their classroom supplies
 
Incarcerated Men who are hungry for the Good News
 
Hurting Men and Women who want to recover from addictions
 
Elderly who receive home cooked meals and visits from church youth
 
Day Workers who start their mornings with a hot breakfast and a prayer
 
Medically or otherwise vulnerable parishioners who remain part of the community by joining worship online
 
Young Men and Women who are searching for spiritual growth and involvement in alternate settings
 
Lutherans of All Ages who are eager to learn leadership skills via online learning and retreats
 
Young Children who are challenged or left behind with compassionate tutorial programs
 
Leaders or Clergy who seek spiritual enrichment and encouragement
 
Individuals New to Being Lutherans who are offered Biblical and spiritual encouragement to    grow their faith
 
And many more
 
Contact: mef@ntnl.org
680 Copper Canyon Rd * Argyle, TX 76226

The Mission Endowment Fund (MEF) supports ministry and outreach programs in the Northern Texas – Northern Louisiana Synod, especially for smaller and rural churches. It’s the synod’s funding arm for its grant-giving ministry, and it has been changing lives since 1996.

The MEF gives grants to community-oriented mission projects through congregations, connecting us with people we might not reach otherwise. Bishop Erik Gronberg promotes this ministry by adding, “The Mission Endowment Fund of the NT-NL is a true sign that
we are #InMissionTogether. The sole purpose of the MEF is to seed ministry to move our congregations outward in sharing the gospel in their communities.”
 
 
Legacy Giving

Through legacy giving, you can designate a portion of your assets to be donated to the MEF after you pass away. Long after the end of your life, your gift will still be changing lives.

The MEF has grown to almost $2 million. The principle is invested, and the income is used to fund grants. Your legacy gift will provide a lasting income stream for future ministry, continuing your stewardship far into the future

Make an Impact

We’re deeply excited to extend our support of the church beyond our lifetimes, and we invite you to join us.

A gift from you means that a child, a parent, an addict, a student, a prisoner, or someone in need will be touched through the many ministries we support.

The MEF grant-giving ministry has funded over 150 Christ- centered ministries with over 1 million dollars since the first grant in 1996! Your legacy gift will help increase our reach and change more lives far into the future.
 
Reasons to Give

• Change lives: Your gift will change lives, and maybe even save lives, in the name of Jesus Christ.
• Support ministries in need: The Mission Endowment Fund supports underfunded ministries and newly developing congregations.
• Bless your church: Regardless of your financial resources, you could make a true difference for the future of the church you love.
• Ongoing generosity: Keep giving year after year, long after you are gone. You are making an eternal gift. If you are passionate about giving while you are alive, why not stay passionate about giving afterwards?

 
How Can I Make a Legacy Gift?

There are many ways to leave a legacy gift, and it doesn’t need to be a complicated legal document.

• You can write the MEF into your will or estate plan. Ask us for our Attorney’s Guide. If you already have a will or estate plan, then you can simply sign a one- page codicil to amend it. No need to write a new will, and no lawyer required. We are happy to provide a sample codicil.
• You can also designate the MEF as the beneficiary for your IRA, life insurance policy, or other investments. You can connect with your investment counselor or Lutheran Foundation of the Southwest for more complicated plans.

 
How Much Should I Give?

Any amount is welcome—you don’t need to be a millionaire. Your gift will make a significant impact for years to come.

We recommend you set a percentage, rather than a fixed amount. Think of it like tithing. You’ve given 10% of your income during your life—why not continue afterwards?

We also recommend splitting your legacy gift tithe: 5% to your home congregation, and 5% to the Mission Endowment Fund, or a portion of your choosing.
 
Next Steps

If you want to make a legacy gift, choose one or more of these options.

1. Contact your attorney to make a will or estate plan that includes a legacy gift to the MEF. Or sign a one-page codicil.
2. Contact your financial advisor to designate the MEF as the beneficiary for your IRA, life insurance policy, or other investments.
3. Email us at mef@ntnl.org to let us know you are making a gift

 
Mission Endowment Fund of the Northern Texas-Northern Louisiana Synod 680 Copper Canyon Road, Argyle, TX 76226
940-241-2099 X 105 | mef@ntnl.org
​

All of this Sunday's readings are powerhouses, but I have a special fondness for the Gospel passage (John 21:1-19). I have a memory of preaching on that text years before my ordination (thanks to our three-year cycle of readings, I can narrow the options down to 2004 or 2007) and while my words are long lost, I remember the vehemence with which I recounted the key dialogue (which I've taken the liberty of laying out as dialogue):

JESUS: “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” 
PETER: “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.”
JESUS: “Feed my lambs. Simon son of John, do you love me?”
PETER: “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” 
JESUS: “Tend my sheep. Simon son of John, do you love me?”
PETER [wounded]: “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.”
JESUS: “Feed my sheep. Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.”
NARRATOR: He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.
JESUS: “Follow me.”

It's such a great moment. Three times Jesus tests Peter's love, mirroring the three times Peter denied Jesus on the night of his arrest. You can imagine Peter's shame over that moment and his hurt at being interrogated in this way. Peter even stands up to Jesus: you know everything, you know the answer to this question. And with each affirmation, Jesus turns Peter's role toward the service of the church to come. "Feed my sheep."

On one level, this is perhaps a story about how the church gathered around the "disciple whom Jesus loved" (by tradition identified as John the gospel writer) came to accept the authority of Peter. But on a direct, literal level, it's a story about love and regret, past and future, a moment and the lifetime stretching forth from it. Peter was once a young man, doing as he wished. As an old man, however, he will be taken away, fastened to a cross, and ripped from this life as a witness to the Jesus he loves (He is always just old Peter, though; in the next verse after the reading stops, he points to the other disciple and says "what about him!?").

And all of this happens in the context of an exhausted, pointless fishing expedition. Peter doesn't know what to do after all the excitement of the death and rising of Jesus, so he just goes back to what he knows. They can't catch a thing until Jesus appears, and as he does, he is making them some fish. At his command, they cast their nets again and bring in a vast haul.

Here the miraculous and the ordinary sit side by side (as they so often do in the Gospels). Jesus appears miraculously and feeds his friends with the everyday fare of their world. They do what they know and yet they do it with shocking results.

I love the painting of this scene by James Tissot above. Normally, we might expect to see Jesus from the perspective of the disciples. Instead, we see the scene from behind Jesus, looking out at the small, ordinary, forlorn figures of his friends. They're all waiting for something, and all about to become the thing they're waiting for.

All Ages Exploration of Holy Communion
Sunday at 10 am in Room 220

Join us as we put a wrap on our Holy Communion series and one more chance to ace Pastor Ben’s quiz. 
Here are some hints:
 
How many sacraments does the Lutheran Church have? 

• Somewhere between 1 and 3

 
What three characteristics are required to be a sacrament?

• CBC
• PEAW
• GOGG    

 
Adult Leader: Virginia Worley
Pre-K through 5th Grade Leaders:  Kjerstine Nielsen and Cindy Irons Confirmation will continue their study with Marc Hatcher. High schoolers are welcome to join adults.

​Mark your calendar now to celebrate  First Communion for Harper and Joey Krumholz on May 22! Reception to follow 11 am service.