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February 26 is Ash Wednesday on the Christian calendar, a day people throughout the world will go to church, to mark the start of the season of Lent, the 46 days before Easter, often a time for penitence and reflection. The day is named for the practice of imposing ashes, a tradition that many Christians have found to be a meaningful part of the Ash Wednesday liturgy.
If, however, you can’t make it to church on Ash Wednesday, the ashes can come to you! Saint Stephen Lutheran Church offers this creative alternative. Pastor Joseph Graumann and assisting minister Ann Gibson will be available in Marlborough near the corner of Main and Florence streets, from noon to 1:00 pm on Ash Wednesday, and will impose ashes and offer a blessing to anyone who asks. Those who prefer not to receive ashes are also welcome to come for prayer or conversation. “Ash has been a symbol of death and mourning since ancient times,” Pastor Graumann says. “Christians mark their foreheads with ashes to remember that ‘we are dust, and to dust we shall return.’ We remember our mortality, but also in the sign of the cross, how Jesus triumphed over death,” he adds. Lenten Services February 26-April 1 In addition to noontime ashes and prayer on Main Street, St. Stephen Lutheran Church will offer traditional Ash Wednesday worship at 7:00 p.m. on February 26 at the church at 537 Bolton St., Marlborough. On subsequent Wednesdays in Lent, March 4, 11, 18, 25 and April 1, people are invited to gather at St. Stephen for a simple soup supper (one soup is vegetarian) at 6:30 PM, followed by a choral Vespers—or evening prayer—service. “Lent is a time of discipline, but it is also a time of celebration and beauty,” Pastor Graumann says. “On March 25, our friends from Temple Emanuel in Marlborough will be joining us,” he noted. Vespers will feature Marty Haugen’s Holden Evening Prayer, along with a reading and reflection from the Lenten stories from the Hebrew Bible. Holden Evening Prayer “is easy to sing and focuses on Christ as the light of the world. During evening prayer, we hear the story of Mary and her response to God’s news that she would bear for us a savior. We pray for a world in need, and we receive God’s blessing,” Pastor Graumann said. Written in 1985-86 by Marty Haugen during a musical residency at Holden Village, a scenic Lutheran camp in the mountains of Washington State, Holden Evening Prayer is a simple Lutheran vespers service that follows traditional form while using contemporary and inclusive language. Since then, the service has been adopted around the world. Haugen is a composer of liturgical music for Lutheran, Roman Catholic and other denominations, with over 400 compositions.
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Snow tubing and a Games Night were on the January schedule for the Youth of St. Stephen Lutheran Church, Marlborough, but those social activities were sandwiched between events where they reach out and help others, something they are drawn to just about every month.
In December, teens joined friends from other churches that are part of LIPY (Lutheran Interparish Youth) to shop for and wrap Christmas gifts for children in need in Central Massachusetts. Participating families and others in the congregation donated $525 for this event. A week later, the teens, younger kids and parents came together to wrap 215 sweatshirts in just 90 minutes, as a service to the Marlborough-based non-profit, Sweats4Vets. Church members and friends also donated sweatshirts and wrapping paper. Sweats 4 Vets collects new Boston/ New England sports-themed sweatshirts and wraps and distributes them to homeless veterans in the greater Boston and Worcester areas for Christmas. January 11 was the date of a visit to Hudson’s Fresh Start Furniture Bank. St. Stephen youth had collected new pillows and shower curtain liners, but also brought supplies to create housewarming gifts with a bucket holding a broom, dustpan and cleaning products. They completed each present with a large bow. Fresh Start is a volunteer-based organization that provides free furniture and home goods to people in need. Next on the teen calendar is a Youth vs Adult Trivia Contest on Friday, February 7 at 6:30 pm at the church. Giving back, however, is never far from the minds of St. Stephen youth, as they are planning and raising funds for a mission trip to Maine in April. For more information about the church, visit www.saintstephenlutheran.com or the church’s Facebook page. Saint Stephen is a member of the New England Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (www.elca.org) . The church is a Reconciling in Christ congregation, inviting people of every gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, ability, marital status, or class. Parishioners come from Marlborough, Hudson, Berlin, Northborough, Southborough, Westborough, Shrewsbury, Sudbury, Stow, and Bolton. Sunday Worship is at 10 am, with Sunday School for all ages at 9:00. “Voting 101,” the inaugural program of the new Micah Center for Social Justice Learning and Practice, will take place at St. Stephen Lutheran Church, 537 Bolton St., Marlborough, on Wednesday, January 15 at 7 pm. Snow date is January 22.
Guest speaker Stephen Kerrigan, Marlborough City Clerk, will not only go over the basics of voting, but will also explain how to participate in the recently adopted early voting for the March 3 Presidential Primary that takes place February 24-28. Early voters can cast their ballots in person or by mail. The public is invited to attend Voting 101. There will be a Portuguese translator available. In addition to early voting, Kerrigan will discuss “registration, the absentee ballot process, and how to keep your voting status active.” Voters have options that vary from appearing in person at City Hall to staying home and going online. Kerrigan will also answer questions. “I am excited, and looking forward to this event,” Kerrigan said. “It is very important to exercise your right to vote.” The Micah Center was begun as an initiative of St. Stephen Lutheran Church, but has attracted community members as individuals and from other organizations, including the Boys and Girls Clubs of Metrowest, and the Marlborough Public Library. The center’s goal is to lift up the good work being done in the area and examine the ideas that drive that good work. In addition to voting, the center will offer programs on three other topics this year: human trafficking, housing insecurity, and immigration. Deb Roberts of Marlborough chairs the Micah Center committee. She notes that “there are many social topics that we all need further education on to bring awareness and promote meaningful discussion followed by meaningful change.” The committee includes Sandra Austin, Mary Patricia Bailey, Margaret Cardello, Chris Duane, Samantha Gogan, St. Stephen Pastor Joseph Graumann, Peg Harbert, Pam Narahara, Marilyn Perry, and Melanie Whapham. Additional members are very welcome. If you would like to become involved, send an email to micahcenter@saintstephenlutheran.com. FOR YOUR COMMUNITY CALENDAR WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15 7 pm Voting 101 St. Stephen Lutheran Church 537 Bolton St., Marlborough MA Registration, new early voting process, absentee ballots, voter status Free event, open to the public Sponsored by the new Micah Center for Social Justice Learning and Practice  Marlea Dutt and Lina Dickey show some of the items in the 20 Christmas packages St. Stephen Lutheran Church sent to Seafarers International House to benefit merchant marines at sea over the holidays. A special blessing took place at St. Stephen Lutheran Church, Marlborough, as a representative package of hand knitted hats and scarves, as well as sweatshirts, socks and chocolate bars was placed on the altar, earmarked for Christmastime delivery to Seafarers International House in New York City.
This is the fourth year the church’s knitting group, the Knit-Wits, made sure Seafarers would be warm and not forgotten at Christmas. In the first year of participation, Saint Stephen sent five kits; the second year they doubled their efforts and sent ten; the third year they put together 15 kits and this year collected and packaged 20 kits that will be Christmas gifts. Seafarers are often isolated and lonely, sometimes without the means to contact family frequently, or purchase needed items while in port. Typical contracts put most at sea for 10 months a year, and they remain a largely forgotten population at the holidays. Seven Lutheran chaplains support the Seafarers Port Mission. When requested, they will board merchant marine ships to provide pastoral care and counseling. During the holidays, chaplains distribute the packages to ships that port in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, Philadelphia and southern New England that will be out at sea for Christmas. The 20 satchels arrived intact in early December, according to Ruth Setaro, one of the chaplains who received the donations. “I have a wonderful ship here with a crew of 20 Filipino seafarers,” she wrote. “When the ship leaves New Haven they will be heading with a load of our scrap metal to Turkey, a 14-day trip across the Atlantic. They were so excited to hear that I had Christmas presents for them.” She expressed thanks to the St. Stephen congregation and noted, “You can’t imagine what joy it will bring to these seafarers who will be far away from home and family this Christmas.” Seafarers International House is an ecumenical mission of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America to seafarers and sojourners, as well as people who are distressed, disadvantaged, and displaced. For more information, check out https:/www.sihnyc.org. For more information about the church, visit www.saintstephenlutheran.com or the church’s Facebook page. Saint Stephen is a member of the New England Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (www.elca.org) . The church is a Reconciling in Christ congregation, inviting people of every gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, ability, marital status, or class. Parishioners come from Marlborough, Hudson, Berlin, Northborough, Southborough, Westborough, Shrewsbury, Sudbury, Stow, and Bolton.  Melanie Whapham and Pam Narahara, members of the committee for the new Micah Center for Social Justice Learning and Practice, review notes at a planning session. There is a new organization in town, and you can be part of it. The Micah Center for Social Justice Learning and Practice is a new initiative to connect people interested in making the Marlborough-Hudson community more just and equitable. The goal is to lift up the good work being done in the area and examine the ideas that drive that good work.
The Micah Center was begun as an initiative of St. Stephen Lutheran Church, but has attracted community members as individuals and from other organizations, including the Boys and Girls Clubs of Metrowest, and the Marlborough Public Library. It was clear through a church survey as well as the activity of St. Stephen Lutheran Church’s Forward Leadership team that “that our church was in a position to launch a new project that would help communicate our values to the community,” said St. Stephen Pastor Joseph Graumann “In a brainstorming session, we settled on the ‘Micah Center,’ named after the prophet who wrote, ‘and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?’ This was our previous church mission statement, and we felt it would live on specifically in a focused Center for Social Justice Learning and Practice.” First Event January 15 At the heart of the Micah Center’s work will be a quarterly forum that features a speaker, a Q&A, and time for conversation. In 2020, the center plans to focus on four issues: voting and access to the ballot, immigration, human trafficking and housing insecurity. The first event, Voting 101, will take place on Wednesday, January 15 at 7 pm at the church at 537 Bolton St, Marlborough. Guest speaker will be Marlborough City Clerk Steven W. Kerrigan, who will talk about the registration process, voting procedures, and answer questions. Deb Roberts of Marlborough chairs the committee, which includes Sandra Austin, Mary Patricia Bailey, Margaret Cardello, Chris Duane, Samantha Gogan, Peg Harbert, Pam Narahara, Marilyn Perry, Melanie Whapham, and Pastor Graumann. Additional members are very welcome. If you would like to become involved, send an email to micahcenter@saintstephenlutheran.com  St. Stephen Lutheran Church choir, with organist/director Stan Hanson. “Resilience to Brilliance” is the intriguing theme for Word Up Wednesday worship at St. Stephen Lutheran Church, 537 Bolton St., Marlborough, during Advent. On three Wednesday evenings in Advent – December 4, 11, and 18 – worshipers will gather at 7 pm to light candles in the dark and learn how hope makes for resilient communities.
“The earliest Christians were resilient in the face of tough times,” notes Pastor Joseph Graumann, “and our faith equips us to be resilient, too.” There may be parallels between Jesus time and today, with attitudes of the rich and powerful and how they viewed “the regular folks who struggle to get by.” As Christians prepare for the coming of Jesus, “the light that brilliantly shines in the darkness, we also prepare for the kingdom of God,” the pastor adds. “This is a kingdom where all are loved and everyone has what they need.” Everyone is welcome to take a step away from the sometimes frantic Christmas preparation to participate in the Word Up Wednesday services, which will offer discussion and Holy Communion, as the series moves from a season of darkness into light. One of Advent’s most prominent symbols is the candles lit at the beginning of each week. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day After sessions on resilience, St. Stephen Lutheran Church invites worshipers to celebrate the brilliance of the Christmas season at 4 pm or 7 pm Christmas Eve and 10 am Christmas Day. Children are welcome at all services, but the 4 pm service will be particularly family-friendly. Music offered by voice and handbell choirs will characterize the 7 pm service. For more information about the church, visit www.saintstephenlutheran.com or the church’s Facebook page. Saint Stephen is a member of the New England Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (www.elca.org) . The church is a Reconciling in Christ congregation, inviting people of every gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, ability, marital status, or class. Parishioners come from Marlborough, Hudson, Berlin, Northborough, Southborough, Westborough, Shrewsbury, Sudbury, Stow, and Bolton. Music spanning the centuries, and ranging from familiar hymns to modern secular works will be part of an organ concert at St. Stephen Lutheran Church, 537 Bolton St., Marlborough on Sunday, November 24 at 5:00 pm. The concert is free and the public is invited.
The concert will feature the Woodberry & Harris pipe organ, recently acquired as a gift from Mt. Olivet Lutheran Church in Shrewsbury. One of about 30 organs the Boston-based Woodberry & Harris made, it was constructed in about 1892 and served its first congregation in Abington for 60 years. It was then considered worn out and stored for several decades. Tthe organ was rebuilt for the Shrewsbury church in 1982 and was disassembled, fine-tuned and reassembled at St. Stephen this summer. Stan Hanson, the music director at St. Stephen, will play a program designed to showcase the various sounds and diversity of the small pipe organ, and will open with Trumpet Voluntary, from John Stanley (1712-86). Ein Feste Burg ist Unser Gott, a choral prelude from Johann Nicolaus Hanff (1633-1711) follows. It is based on the familiar Martin Luther hymn, A Mighty Fortress is our God. Dietrich Buxtehude’s Nun Bitten Wir, also a choral prelude, comes third, and then the audience gets the opportunity to sing. Hyfrydol is a popular hymn tune by Paul Manz (1919-2009). A variety of lyrics have been set to this tune, thus people know it by many names. At this event, just a week before the start of Advent, concert-goers will sing it as Come Thou Long Expected Jesus. The program also includes Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring, J.S. Bach (1685-1750) from Cantata 147, arranged by Hal H. Hopson; Prelude and Fugue in E-minor (BWV 533) “The Cathedral” J. S. Bach, and three pieces by American composers: Impromptu, David Lasky (born 1957), Variations to the Sicilian Hymn, Benjamin Carr (1769-1831), and Trio in a Style of Bach, “Alles Was Du Bist,” Billy Nalle (1921-2005). Hanson notes that both the Lasky and Nalle selections are examples of music drawing on theatre organ styles. Concluding the concert will be Festival Toccata, Percy E. Fletcher (1879-1932), which “demonstrates without apology the full tonal resources of this instrument,” Hanson said. His hope is to “give people an appreciation of the organ not only as a church instrument but also capable of exhibiting other styles of music.” Hanson, a resident of Hudson, has been the music director at St. Stephen for 12 years, but got his first job as a church organist at age 16, more than 50 years ago. At that time, he played the piano, and needed a little instruction to make the transition. Attracted by the “color and sound of the organ, I knew it was something I wanted to do.” He went on to study organ in college and beyond and has served churches in Maine, Ohio, and Massachusetts. He holds a Bachelor of Music in Organ Performance from the University of Akron and has taken additional graduate study in organ, education, music education and musicology, and church music at Boston University, Framingham State College, University of Lowell, Curry College and Westminster Choir College. He also studied improvisation at Westminster Choir College with Otto Kramer. He is a Colleague of the American Guild of Organists. Stan began piano lessons in the third grade, and continues not only to play piano during church services, but also teaches piano part-time at Mascari Piano Studios. In addition to playing the organ and piano at worship services at St. Stephen, Hanson directs the choral and handbell choirs. He has been active in community music, having been piano accompanist for the Worcester Youth Chorus and the Rivers Edge Youth Chorus and he served as music director for several shows at Hudson High School. While music has been a loved and active avocation for Stan, his career was in administration and transportation logistics. For more information about St. Stephen Lutheran Church, visit the church’s Facebook page or website, www.saintstephenlutheran.com. Saint Stephen is a member of the New England Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (www.elca.org). Sunday worship is at 10:00 am, preceded by Sunday School for all ages at 9:00. Coffee and social hour takes place at 11:00. The church is a Reconciling in Christ congregation, inviting people of every gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, ability, marital status, or class. Parishioners come from Marlborough, Hudson, Berlin, Northborough, Southborough, Westborough, Shrewsbury, Stow, Sudbury, Maynard, and Bolton. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is the nation’s largest Lutheran church, with approximately four million members split into 65 synods, or territories, across the United States and the Caribbean. Word Up Wednesday Worship returns to St. Stephen Lutheran Church in Marlborough for three sessions at 7 pm on October 9, 16, and 23. Worshipers will reflect on the Reformation, which marks its 502nd anniversary in October.
The Reformation is known as the period of history begun with Martin Luther nailing his “95 Theses” to the door of Wittenberg Castle Church in Germany on October 31, 1517. At the time, the Catholic Church was selling “indulgences,” or certificates forgiving sin, to raise money to build St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Luther opposed this, and his 95 Theses ignited a movement claiming God’s forgiveness was given freely. Some say the Reformation changed not only Christianity and culture, but ushered in the modern age in countless ways. More than 500 years later, Reformation has become much more than simply a period in history; it is a core value of the Lutheran community. Much of the Lutheran movement gathers around the conviction that the church is “always reforming." In October, those who attend Word Up will examine three “Modern Reformations.” On October 9 at 7 pm, the topic will be the Second Vatican Council and how this season of change for the Roman Catholic Church changed Lutherans, too. The October 16 session will celebrate the role of women in ministry. On October 23, those gathered will look at changes in the understanding of gender and sexuality, particularly unfolding welcome to the LGBTQ community. Worship will be led by Pastor Joseph Graumann. “While some religions pride themselves on exclusivity, Lutherans affirm that Jesus welcomes everyone,” he said. “Our church commits itself to change for the sake of greater inclusion.” St. Stephen Lutheran Church was filled with people and music as the worship service on September 29 began with the blessing of the Woodberry and Harris pipe organ, a gift of Mt. Olivet Lutheran Church. Used for the first time at a St. Stephen Sunday service last week, the 1892 tracker organ served other congregations in the greater Boston area for many years.
Mt. Olivet purchased the organ in 1981, and had it rebuilt using a combination of professionals from the Andover Organ Company and church volunteers. It served the Shrewsbury congregation from 1982 until earlier this year when the church closed and offered the instrument to SSLC. Once again, John and Fay Morlock from Andover Organ Company were involved, this time “primarily taking the organ apart and putting it back together,” John said, with the addition of manufacturing some new parts and modifying older parts. To change the pitch, he modified the pedal mechanism, moved the trackers that play the pipes, added a pipe and moved notes to add one at the bottom. The Morlocks, as well as many former parishioners from Mt. Olivet, attended Sunday’s service. Music included hymns, a choir anthem, and a postlude that showcased both the range of the organ and the skill and enthusiasm of music director Stan Hanson. Members of both the voice and handbell choirs participated. Stan says the organ “is exquisitely voiced to lead our worship services and interpret organ music from all periods. For a small tracker instrument, there are sufficient tonal resources to accompany congregational singing and interpret some of the ‘grand’ music composed for the organ,” he added. A lovingly rebuilt Woodberry & Harris pipe organ with more than 120 years of providing beautiful music in churches around Massachusetts has found a new home at St. Stephen Lutheran Church, 537 Bolton St., Marlborough. The organ will be blessed and officially heard in its new home on Sunday, September 29, during the 10 am worship service. The public is invited. Stan Hanson, St. Stephen’s organist and musical director, says the organ “is exquisitely voiced to lead our worship services and interpret organ music from all periods. For a small tracker instrument, there are sufficient tonal resources to accompany congregational singing and interpret some of the ‘grand’ music composed for the organ,” he added. The organ is a gift of Mt. Olivet Lutheran Church in Shrewsbury, which recently closed. Not only the organ, but other worship items, including a sanctuary cross, candle holders, and paraments were given to St. Stephen. One of about 30 organs the Boston-based Woodberry & Harris made, it was constructed in about 1892 and served its first congregation in Abington for 60 years before it wore out, was sold and stored for Andover Organ Company employee Richard Westerdale in a garage until he moved in 1981. John Morlock, another employee, was a friend of the Reverend Cliff Gerber, pastor of Mt. Olivet who hoped his church could acquire an organ, but knew the budget would be tight. Mt. Olivet purchased the organ in 1981, but beautiful music at that point was just a idea, since the antique tracker organ required extensive and expensive rebuilding. Morlock suggested an economical alternative, a combination of professional rebuilding of the chests and working parts and skilled, loving labor by parishioners who refinished the organ and lent a hand with the literally heavy lifting. A local artist with knowledge of early decorative arts, Molly Porter, took on the task of restoring the original designs that had been painted on the organ’s case pipes, and decided to volunteer her time and materials as a labor of love. The organ served the Shrewsbury congregation from 1982 until this spring. Fine Tuning With the gift of the organ to St. Stephen Lutheran Church came the need to disassemble the instrument, transport it from Shrewsbury to Marlborough, and reassemble it. Once again, John Morlock of Andover Organ Company, along with his wife, Fay, became involved. Morlock says although his work was “primarily taking the organ apart and putting it back together,” it also included manufacturing some new parts and modifying older parts. “The original pitch of the organ was sharper than what is used today,” he added, so he revised the pedal mechanism, moved the trackers that play the pipes, added a pipe and moved notes to add one at the bottom. “I took many of the pipes back to the shop, and made them speak better.” Morlock said they also made modifications to the upper structure, “so we’d have something to lean on as we tuned the organ.” Tracker organs should be tuned once or twice a year, he added. “I am really glad the folks of Mt. Olivet saw fit to keep the organ in playable condition and the folks of St. Stephen wanted to give it a home,” Morlock said. Just like the people of Mt. Olivet, who treasured the instrument, Morlock has a special place in his heart for the Woodbury & Harris pipe organ. John and Fay were married at Mt. Olivet, and the organ played. At the September 29 service, parishioners will give thanks for the generosity of the people of Mt. Olivet and bless the organ to the Glory of God. This festival services will feature the organ as the church commemorates St. Michael and All Angels. November Concert A special organ concert will be held at St. Stephen Lutheran Church on November 24, at 5:00 pm, when music director Stanley Hanson will showcase the sounds of this fine, small tracker organ.  Saint Stephen Lutheran Church Music Director Stan Hanson demonstrates some of the capabilities of the new organ.  The Woodberry & Harris organ, fully assembled at St. Stephen Lutheran Church, Marlborough, ready for the September 29 service.  Close up of 3 pipes from the organ at Saint Stephen Lutheran Church, painted in its original 19th Century design.
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