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| Issue 8 | April 8, 2008 |
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| Issue 8 | April 8, 2008 |
As a body of believers attempting to walk faithfully according to the Word of God, the Diaconate of Redeemer Hoboken Church supports the following missionaries who are ministering the gospel of Christ throughout the world. We feel that supporting missionaries who minister in the name of Christ testifies to our vision of: In response to Jesus Christ's love we seek to become His disciples, proclaim His truth, and serve our neighbors, all to the glory of God.
Karen Jacobsen is a Food for the Hungry missionary candidate to Kigali, Rwanda.
Working for the Child Development Program, she will be involved in developing curriculum and Christian Education teacher training. Karen is delighted to be joining with Food for the Hungry, whose vision statement reads, "God called and we responded until physical and spiritual hungers were ended worldwide."
Her role will directly influence the future of Rwanda - the children - and will help to meet their spiritual hunger by sharing the truths of the Gospel.
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Local Community Missions
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Visual Worship: The Calendar and Color
Traditionally, certain church seasons are represented by certain colors. Lent is purple, which is a color representing penitence and preparation. Easter and Christmas are white, symbolizing the purity of Christ. Pentecost is red, symbolizing fire and the Holy Spirit. Both Epiphany and “Ordinary” time, as it is called in the Catholic Church, are green, the color of living things and growth. Ordinary time is the longest season, and a reminder of God’s ongoing work of expanding and nourishing his church. As with other liturgical practices—following the church calendar, using church objects and symbols in worship, following an order and liturgy—the use of color is again finding its place among denominations that had eliminated its use following the Reformation. Color—and symbols, and liturgy, and art, and music—adds to the richness of worship, and engages more of our senses as we come into God’s presence. Even at Redeemer Hoboken, color has crept in a little—if you attend the evening service, you many have noticed that the bulletin cover changed colors in February, and you’ll notice again on Easter Sunday and the weeks following. We’re not following a particular church tradition in terms of our color choice, but have created something of our own “liturgical calendar” of color: Epiphany (the Sunday following January 6) through Lent (the six weeks preceding Easter), the bulletin has been green, representing our ongoing growth in Christ. On Easter, we will change to purple, representing the sovereignty and kingship of Jesus. Pentecost Sunday and the weeks following will be red, reminding us of the work of the Holy Spirit in our midst. After Labor Day we will return to green, changing to blue for Advent—symbolizing the night sky as we await the coming of Jesus, our “Dayspring” or source of day. Christmas will again be purple as we celebrate the birth of the King of kings. While the bulletin cover is a rather subtle way of incorporating color into the service, our hope and prayer is that it would remind you that God wants to engage all of your being as you worship him. And as you worship through music and spoken words, as you sit and stand, listen and pray, remember that color, painting, sculpture, dance, the natural world—these things and many more can enrich your worship and draw you closer to the God who created and sustains them all.
Historic Giving for Redeemer Hoboken |
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Any interior decorator will tell you that color can set a tone, even contribute to a particular state of being: red walls increase your appetite, light blue makes you mellow. Website designers also know how viewers respond to color, and there are studies about color and internet sales. Since about the fourth century A.D., the church itself has incorporated color into worship—recognizing the value of symbol, tone and seasons, and the use of color in communicating all three.