LISTEN’s Holiday Basket Program

Posted on by Our Savior Lutheran Church and Campus Ministry

For many years OSLC has participated in the LISTEN Holiday Basket Program, previously called the Giving Tree.  The program began many years ago as an effort to make sure that our neighbors in the Upper Valley did not face the holidays without gifts for their children and enough grocery money to make a festive meal.  Last year alone LISTEN helped 486 people celebrate the holidays. Our congregation contributed to its success last year and we would like to do so again this year.

Due to the ongoing pandemic, LISTEN is once again requesting monetary contributions instead of specific purchased items. The donations will be used to provide families with gift cards for winter clothes for children and a grocery store gift card for food purchases.The needs of our Upper Valley neighbors have increased since the beginning of the pandemic. There are already families on the wait list for this program. The goal is to provide a $100 gift card for each child in a family so that the adult is able to purchase the children’s winter clothes, and a $50 grocery card per family. If there are enough funds, LISTEN will be able to serve some of those on the wait list too.Please help bring Christmas Joy to our neighbors in need:

  • You can donate online directly at www.listencs.org/donate. Enter the requested information and under “I wish to support:” select Holiday Baskets. List OSLC in the special note box.
  • You can write a check and send it to LISTEN Community Services at 60 Hanover Street, Lebanon, NH, 03766, and indicate in the memo field that this gift is for holiday baskets, OSLC.

Please consider making this donation ASAP so that LISTEN can have enough time to plan for and distribute the Holiday Baskets before the holiday season starts. Help bring joy to families in our community.

Thanksgiving Day Potluck at OSLC

Posted on by Our Savior Lutheran Church and Campus Ministry

Once again, the invitation is heartily extended to bring a special Thanksgiving dish to share for a common meal on Thanksgiving Day, November 28th.  We gather from noon until about 4 p.m. with the meal at about 2 p.m. For the past several years, this has been a delightful time spent together with a range of individuals and families, sojourners and friends. Richard and Kathy have volunteered to cook the turkey.  Please bring a dish to share.

Remembering Evelyn Johnson (1922-2018)

Posted on by Our Savior Lutheran Church and Campus Ministry

evelynEvelyn Ingeborg Johnson, 95, born Nov. 17, 1922, in Forestville, Conn. to Frederick L. Johnson, and Anna Paulina (Bengtson), died peacefully Friday, March 16, 2018, in her home at Harvest Hill in Lebanon, NH.  A celebration of Evelyn’s life was held at Our Savior on Friday, April 6th.  The Rev. Robert Wohlfort, Transitional Pastor, led the service.  Following reflections from Pastor Wohlfort, Evelyn’s hospice chaplain the Rev. Susan Langle, and Evelyn’s niece Lois Semrau.

I did not know Evelyn in her prime…and I heard about her of those years via apt clichés such as, “No shrinking violet was Evelyn,” and “No way was she a wallflower.”

24 hours after her death, I arrived here for the monthly men’s breakfast and the conversation was peppered with anecdotes and laughter and stories about this lovely woman:

-spirited and vocal time and presence at Church Council

-her energetic Spirit filled spirit

-her voice and fun filled manner in the choir

-her all around memorable presence

At the quilting group yesterday I learned of the coffee scoop around her neck from which she made the brew ”…that did pushups in the cup.”…an Army term.

Somehow, many years ago, she learned that a boy’s camp in Ossipee was to be sold and the Lutherans were interested.  So, she drove to the camp to check it out, was delighted with what she experienced and enjoyed Calumet on many occasions and contributed to its life and mission.

During my last visit with her I was pleasantly surprised to be with Evelyn who was freshly bathed, dressed in brightly colored pajamas and a plush robe…a stark contrast to her tiny form tucked into bed a few days earlier.

On her chair side table was a service bulletin from, I think, Augustana Lutheran Church in Houston.  The date was in the early 90s.  This opened a reminiscence that clued me in to a portion of her joyous work of consulting with congregations throughout the nation.  In Houston she was very proud of being a part of this congregation that was the first congregation of that city to integrate its membership with people of color.  Evelyn was absolutely clear that she and Augustana were simply following Jesus. Continue reading Remembering Evelyn Johnson (1922-2018)