1. religion and spirituality
2. christianity
3. catholicism

THE GRAPEVINE
THE NEWSLETTER OF OUR SAVIOUR LUTHERAN CHURCH
July 2015
In This Issue
Birthdays/Anniversaries….10
Commemoration Profiles ….6
Council Notes/ Finance/
Attendance ..………….4
Ministries ……………………….3
News ……………………........2, 9
OSLC-WELCA………………….5
Photos ….………………….......11
Prayer Requests...…………..10
The Grapevine is a monthly newsletter
published by the staff & members of
Our Saviour Lutheran Church
1500 Sunset Blvd
West Columbia, SC 29169
Phone: 803.794.8180
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.oursaviour.net
The Rev. Lance Henderson—Pastor
Brent Holcomb—Organist/Choirmaster
Meredith Jones—Handbell Director
A Message from the Pastor
Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and our Lord
Jesus Christ.
If this newsletter sounds familiar, it’s because I talked about
this same story from II Kings 5 back in February of 2012. But
all good stories are worth repeating. It is the story after the
great prophet Elijah has instructed the pagan general and leper
Naaman to go bathe in the Jordan River to cure his leprosy.
Naaman does and—whammo!—no more leprosy. Naaman
becomes a SUPER FAN of the LORD God of Israel. He offers
Elijah a bunch of gold, then silver, then robes in gratitude, but
Elijah declines. So Naaman asks if he can take some soil from
Israel back to his homeland so that when he worships the LORD
God, he can do it on the LORD God’s soil. Probably muttering
“that’s weird” under his breath, Elijah agrees. Then skipping
out the door, presumably with dirt sacks in hand, Naaman says,
“oh, by the way, I’m a LORD God super fan and all, but I’ll need
to be committing some idolatry now and again, I hope that is
going to be ok.”
Now if your bible had sound effects, this is when the classic
needle being dragged across the LP sound would play. To say
idolatry for Elijah is a mega huge enormous deal is an
understatement. Elijah has spent his whole life fighting
idolatry in Israel—not just in a “don’t do that” sort of way—but
in a real fire-down-from-heaven, put-them-to-the-sword, wrath
-of-God sort of way. So the good bible reader would expect
Elijah to do the same to Naaman at this point. But he doesn’t.
Elijah just says “go in peace”. That’s it. He doesn’t even say
anything like “no, that’s not okay” or “idolatry is wrong” or “if
you do that, you will burn in hell”. Nope. Elijah, Israel’s
number one idolatry fighter, just says “go in peace”.
cont’d on page 2 —>
ADULT SUNDAY SCHOOL
CLASS
Arise, shine, get dressed, find your Bible,
Sunday School book will be provided, get in
your car and join in some fun, facts, and
studying of the Psalms, their meaning, who
wrote the books, just what the words mean
and relate to. Be there at 9:15 am so we can
share God’s Word and learn about these
beautiful songs and their meaning.
"It is better to trust in the Lord than to put
confidence in man”. Psalm 118:8
LUTHERAN MEN
There will be no meeting of the Lutheran
Men In Mission in June or July. We will
resume meeting In August on Tuesday the
18th with dinner at 7 p.m. at Shealy's
Restaurant in Leesville.
See you on
Sundays and in August!
RAZBERRIES
July Razberries will be hosted by the
Fingerlins Saturday, July 11. Details will be
forthcoming.
ELDERBERRIES
COMMUNITY LUNCH
Our next community lunch will be on
Wednesday July 29th at noon.
Traywick and Loleta hosted the June outing
for the Elderberries despite the forecast of
thundershowers! They graciously opened up
their home when the rain came to some 40
friends and neighbors. Of course, what would
an outing be without the hamburgers and
hotdogs with all the trimmings — desserts
and homemade ice cream too!
Hope everyone has an outstanding July and
we hope you’ll join us in August for the
Thrivent Financial last luncheon at noon on
the 20th at OSLC. Our next regular scheduled
Elderberries luncheon is scheduled for
September!
CHAT & SNACK
There are many opportunities throughout
the remainder of the year that are available
for those who would like to provide
refreshments for this time of fellowship
between Sunday School and Sunday
worship. If you would like to volunteer,
please sign up on the sheet posted on the
bulletin in the Cameron hallway.
HOMECOMING
Save the Date: Sunday October 18, 2015.
More details to follow.
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Pastor’s Message (cont’d)
JULY MINISTRIES
So what’s the point? There are a lot of big
issues going on—race matters, flag talks,
definitions of marriage, upcoming
elections. These are all things we all have
strong opinions on. And these are all things
other people have strong opinions on that
are the exact opposite of ours. But even in
what is the most obvious cases—cases
where we might be 100% absolutely certain
of how right we are (often a dangerous and
prideful position, and one to critically
examine)--just like Elijah in the face of
certain idolatry, we may have to simply and
earnestly say “go in peace”. I don’t mean I
should say “go in peace” through gritted
teeth while imagining myself punching
whoever has dared to hold a different
opinion than me in the back of the head as
they turn to go.
Nope, I mean a real
bidding for a real peace. And because of
the “go” part, it is a confession that at this
time, there is not much room for true
reconciliation.
It’s a matter of humility, that virtue that
Jesus so frequently displayed. Citizenship,
patriotism, not being a racist, wanting to
help others with a hand up not a hand out,
being certain one way or another about
what defines marriage—may all be fine
virtues. But they are seldom displays of
humility that say to one who opposes us “go
in peace”.
Peace in Christ,
Pastor Lance
+
FLOWERS
July 5 Steve & Kathy Hutto
12 Evelyn Lybrand
GREETERS
Francis & Rebecca
Fingerlin
Gary & Kay Black
19 Anne Moye
Bill & Linda Hill
26 Dan & Pam Hanfland
Charles & Ruth
Nicholson
WORSHIP
ASSISTANTS
July 5 Virginia Morris
12 Loleta Keitt
19 Virginia Morris
26 Charles Nicholson
July 5
12
19
26
NURSERY KEEPERS
Sue Drafts
Doris Wessinger
Melba Murphy
Rebecca & Claire
Fingerlin
LAY READERS
CHAT & SNACK
Charles Nicholson
Ruth Nicholson
Pam Hanfland
Ben Lemons
Wayne & Marie Lybrand
DeLeon & Jane Wallace
Wayne & Marie Lybrand
Available
JULY
AUGUST
USHERS
Jason Powell, Chief
Isma Boland
Available
Available, Chief
Wayne Lybrand
Available
NURSERY MONITOR
Margaret Jumper
Helen Puckhaber
ALTAR GUILD
Marie Lybrand &
Jane Wallace & Kay
Caroline Raszewski
Black
ACOLYTE
Claire Fingerlin
Anna Diggins
CRUCIFER
Adam Fingerlin
Available
OFFERING PICKUP
Available
Available
TELLERS
Horace Meetze &
Doris Wessinger
PROPERTY COMMITTEE
Bill Hill
Available
Available
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COUNCIL HIGHLIGHTS
Marie Lybrand, Council Secretary
June 2015

Stewardship Sunday will coincide with the
Congregational Meeting on November 15.

VBS will be held August 1, 2015.

Homecoming, and hopefully the Mortgage
Burning, will be October 18.



All non-recurring calendar entries given to
Mary for inclusion in the Grapevine
calendar should include a contact name
and phone number
in addition to
distinguishing set-up and clean up times.
Training has been completed for
members on the AED. The machine will
be installed on the wall near the Cameron
hallway bulletin boards in order to be
easily accessible between the Sanctuary
and the Fellowship Hall.
STEWARDSHIP & FINANCE
REPORTS
David Griffith, Chairman
APRIL 2015
Receipts
Current
Building Fund
Loose
Sunday School
other
Lent
Discretionary
Fund
Lilies
Lunch
Bucket Fund
Memorial Fund
Thrivent
Handbell Fund
Gods Helping
Hands
Synodical
Apportionment
Council will not meet in July. Next
scheduled meeting is August 9.
$11,480.00
$4,750.00
$307.00
$77.00
From May 31 through June 28
Sunday School—27
Sunday Worship—74
4
$15,728.08
$13,642.00
$337.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$39.00
$0.00
$5.84
$150.00
$100.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$2,000.00
$17,245.84
$31,370.08
MAY 2015
Receipts
AVERAGE ATTENDANCE
Disbursements
Disbursements
$14,916.00
$7,305.00
$68.00
$185.00
$25.00
$0.00
$14,947.84
$4,750.00
$0.00
$0.00
$50.00
$16.27
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
Memorial Fund
Thrivent
$500.00
$12.00
$0.00
$0.00
Handbell Fund
Gods Helping
Hands
Synodical
Apportionment
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$23,077.27
$2,000.00
$21,697.84
Current
Building Fund
Loose
Sunday School
other
Lent
Discretionary
Fund
Lilies
Lunch
Bucket Fund
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
WELCA Sunday – A special thank you to
Pastor Pam Smith for serving as our WELCA
Sunday pastor and to the women who were
part of the service.
Nomination Committee – Elizabeth Shealy,
chair,
Ca roline
Rasze wski,
Linda
Hill. Nomination Committee will present Slate
of Officers at October General Meeting,
October 8th.
Budget Committee – Ann Satterwhite
(Chair), Pam Hanfland, Barbara Hunter, Helen
Puckhaber, Marie Lybrand, Linda Hill, Kay
Black. The proposed budget will be available
for circles to review at their September
meeting and presented for adoption at the
October General Meeting, October 8th
President—Pam Hanfland
Vice President—Barbara Hunter
Secretary—Helen Puckhaber
Treasurer—Ann Satterwhite
Circles
Cameron
Lydia
Rebekah
second Monday morning
Elizabeth Shealy & Isma Boland
second Monday evening
Caroline Raszewski
third Monday evening
Linda Hill & Jane Wallace
2015 COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS
DATES TO REMEMBER:

September 20, 3 PM Fall 2015 Saxe
Gotha Conference Meeting at Mt. Hermon,
West Columbia

October 8 - 6 PM - Joint WELCA Meeting
Devotional/Prayer - Lydia
Refreshments – Cameron

December 3, 6 PM - Executive Meeting
Opening Prayer: Barbara Hunter
Action—Cameron (Nursery, OSLC Project,
2015 OSLC-WELCA Retreat)
Community—Rebekah (Local
Project, Easter Egg
Hospitality, Entertainment
Serve
Hunt,
Growth—Lydia (2016 OSLC-WELCA
Retreat, Women of the ELCA
Sunday, Spiritual Gifts, Seminary
Auxiliary Sunday, Newberry
Co lle ge
W omen ’s
L e a gu e
Sunday)
CAMERON CIRCLE
Cameron Circle will not meet until Sept. 14th
at 10:00 at the church.
SC Women of the ELCA
Convention
June 12-13, 2015, St. Stephen Lutheran
Church, Lexington



Theme: “Be Thou My Vision”
Delegates – Pam Hanfland and Barbara
Hunter, Linda Griffith also attended
2015 Convention Project went to
Lutheran Services Carolinas.
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COMMEMORATION PROFILES
Ruth Nicholson
The Lutheran Church, as part of its worship,
celebrates the lives of notable Christians of
the past. Our hymnal provides a calendar
(pp. 15–17) for us to follow which recognizes
these individuals on the anniversary of their
deaths.
July 12
Nathan Söderblom
Bishop of Uppsala
(1866-1931)
Student in his native Sweden and later in
France, Nathan Söderblom became a
Church of Sweden minister and also a
university professor. He sought to invigorate
the worship life of his church by revising its
psalmbook and hymnal.
An intellectual
himself, he wanted the church to work
harder to reach both intellectuals and
working-class Swedes who had become
alienated from it. Most of all, following World
War I, Söderblom was convinced that
Christian churches needed to overcome
their differences and work together
ecumenically to combat the ills of this world.
Conferences he organized led to the
establishment of the World Council of
Churches. Söderblom was awarded the
Nobel Peace Prize in 1930.
July 29
Mary, Martha, and Lazarus of Bethany
Lazarus and his sisters offered friendship
and hospitality to Jesus. Thanks to the
Gospel writers, these three lives have even
greater significance. Mary’s anointing of
Jesus stands for pure devotion.
Her
attentiveness to Jesus’ words while Martha
busied herself preparing food and drink has
rendered these women symbols of two
aspects of the Christian life, contemplation
and action. Jesus’ raising of Lazarus from
death points to believers’ hope for new life in
Christ.
6
July 29
Olaf
King of Norway, martyr
(995-1030)
As a young man, Olaf Haraldsson accompanied
his foster father on Viking raids. After being
baptized in France at about age 19, Olaf
returned to his native Norway with an army and
made himself that country’s ruler within a year.
He supported Christianity over paganism and
revised Norwegian law, enforcing it impartially.
Danish and Swedish armies then drove him from
power into exile. Soon after Olaf returned to
Norway, he was killed in battle. He is revered as
Norway’s patron saint, and his deeds are often
extolled in stories and visual art. A cathedral
was built over his burial site in Trondheim,
Norway.
A PRAYER FOR INDEPENDENCE
DAY
Almighty God, you have given us this good land
as our heritage. Make us always remember your
generosity and constantly do your will. Bless our
land with honest industry, truthful education, and
an honorable way of life. Save us from violence,
discord, and confusion; from pride and
arrogance, and from every evil course of action.
Make us who came from many nations with
many different languages a united people.
Defend our liberties and give those whom we
have entrusted with the authority of government
the spirit of wisdom, that there might be justice
and peace in our land. When times are
prosperous, let our hearts be thankful; and, in
troubled times, do not let our trust in you fail. We
ask all this through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
GRAPEVINE QUIZ
Answers on page 10
Summer… camping… tents.
with tents.
Yeah! Let’s go
1. Sometime after the Flood in Genesis 9, Noah
and one of his sons had a falling out that
started when Noah did this in his tent.
A. Got drunk and passed out naked
B. Used an oracle to divide his property
unevenly among his sons
C. Praised himself rather than the Lord
D. Had a party that disturbed the tent next
door
2. When the childless Sarah stood at her tent’s
entrance and heard three visitors tell
Abraham that would bear a child in a year,
what did Sarah do (see Genesis 18)?
A. Praised God
B. Laughed
C. Cried with joy
D. Picked out colors for the baby’s tent
3. When Jesus was transfigured before a few of
his disciples in Mark 9, Peter offered to build
three tents. One would be for Jesus, who
were the other two for?
A.
B.
C.
D.
James and John
Mary and Joseph
Elijah and Moses
Abbott and Costello
BONUS: In the beginning of the 1800’s, a
major religious movement occurred along the
US frontier. It featured travelling preachers
and tent revivals. This period is known as the
Second Great ______.
ELCA PRESS RELEASES
The ELCA issues several news releases every
month. Below is a partial listing of the releases
issued during the last month. The full story
may be read at
www.elca.org. No web
access? Contact the church office if a story
interests you.
5/24
Lutherans and Catholics celebrate 50 years of
dialogue
6/02
Timothy Smith elected bishop of the ELCA North
Carolina Synod
6/02
Lutheran Disaster Response wins “Innovative
Program of the Year”
6/10
ELCA continues urgent disaster response for Nepal
6/11
Matthew Riegel elected bishop of the ELCA West
Virginia-Western Maryland Synod
6/11
New grant process supports ELCA youth, young
adult ministries
6/12
Lutheran, Episcopal leaders ask for modernization
of Columbia River treaty
6/18
ELCA speaks out about Pope Francis’ encyclical on
climate change
6/18
ELCA leaders expresses grief over shooting in South
Carolina
6/22
ELCA Youth Gathering brings thousands to Detroit
6/24
ELCA delegation meets with migrant families, others
in Mexico
6/24
ELCA presiding bishop names “day of repentance
and mourning”
4. Who in Acts 18 is described as a tentmaker?
A. The apostle Peter
B. The apostle Paul
C. The apostle Luke
D. The apostle Coleman (get it?)
5. In II Corinthians 5, Paul talks about this being
our earthly tent, what’s he talking about?
A.
B.
C.
D.
The empire of Roman
Our current bodies
Our deficient faith
Actual tents made of actual dirt
.
7
COPING WITH GRIEF SEMINAR
OCTOBER 2-4, 2015
A bereavement Seminar will be held at Camp
Kinard near Batesburg-Leesville, SC on
October 2-4, 2015.
The seminar offers
support for men and women who have been
widowed within the past three years. A New
Road 33 is sponsored by The Community
Engagement Table: Community Outreach
Network of the SC Synod ELCA.
For more information and a brochure, please
contact by e-mail [email protected] or
[email protected] or by phone (864) 7066596 or (803) 892-2556. Please visit our
website at www.anewroadtogriefrecovery.
com and our Facebook page. Registration
deadline for A New Road 33 is September 1.
ASK JOSEPHINE
Dear Josephine,
I enjoyed your explanation on
the colors used in the worship
functions. I did serve on the Altar
Guild some years ago and we only had four
colors: white, green, purple and red. The blue
was added but I do not remember when or
who added it. Did the ELCA or the individual
synod’s add the blue? It is one of my favorite
and the blue stole (not scarf) looks so nice on
Pastor Lance.
Why does Pastor Lance,
sometimes, remove his stole when he sings in
the choir?
Thanks,
One of the past, older Altar
Guild members
Dear Friend,
Great questions! You are correct, for a long
time among Lutherans in North America there
were only four liturgical colors. Purple was
the color during Advent and Lent, symbolizing
repentance. But that wasn’t true everywhere.
As there are different settings of the worship
service today (10 settings in the ELW), so
there has also been different “rites” and
“rubrics” followed by the church. In the 7th
century there was a Mozarabic rite used
primarily in Spain that advocated blue as the
8
liturgical color for Advent. In the 11th century
the Sarum rite, used primarily in England,
stipulated that blue was the color of Advent.
The Swedish Lutheran Church since its
beginning in the 16th century used blue for
Advent. In fact the technical name for the
shade of blue to be used during Advent is
“Sarum blue”. With the publication of the
Lutheran Book of Worship in 1978, the
preferred color for Advent became blue and
has remained so for most Lutherans in
America.
Why? Many reasons.
1) To distinguish Advent from Lent.
2) To highlight Advent hope, born in Christ’s
first coming, promised by his second
coming, rather than repentance.
3) To provide another product for the church
supply companies to sell.
The reason why your pastor removes his stole
when he sings in the choir is a new one for
me. My thought is that he does it in order to
allow for full unhindered expansion of his
vocal cords and inflation of his lungs while
singing. He wants to make a loud and joyful
noise unto the Lord and wants nothing to
constrict him or muffle his sound.
In
consulting other experts, I have also
discovered that your pastor may feel that the
5 by 1/8 inch of material in his stole creates
too much heat for him when he puts on his
chasuble for Holy Communion. If this is his
issue, I would encourage your congregation to
purchase a personal pastoral fan that would
enable him to both have comfort and wear the
symbol of the pastoral office.
Love,
Josephine
P.S. Dear past AG member,
For submitting your question , I left a
special something for you in my box in
the mailroom.
JOSEPHINE QUESTIONS
Your questions may be submitted by placing
them in the box on the bottom left in the
mailroom.
The box is marked “Ask
Josephine”.
MORE
OSLC
NEWS &
June 18, 2015
It has been a long season of disquiet in our country. From Ferguson to Baltimore, simmering
racial tensions have boiled over into violence. But this … the fatal shooting of nine African
Americans in a church is a stark, raw manifestation of the sin that is racism. The church was
desecrated. The people of that congregation were desecrated. The aspiration voiced in the
Pledge of Allegiance that we are “one nation under God” was desecrated.
Mother Emanuel AME’s pastor, the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, was a graduate of the Lutheran
Theological Southern Seminary, as was the Rev. Daniel Simmons, associate pastor at Mother
Emanuel. The suspected shooter is a member of an ELCA congregation. All of a sudden and
for all of us, this is an intensely personal tragedy. One of our own is alleged to have shot and
killed two who adopted us as their own.
We might say that this was an isolated act by a deeply disturbed man. But we know that is not
the whole truth. It is not an isolated event. And even if the shooter was unstable, the
framework upon which he built his vision of race is not. Racism is a fact in American culture.
Denial and avoidance of this fact are deadly. The Rev. Mr. Pinckney leaves a wife and
children. The other eight victims leave grieving families. The family of the suspected killer and
two congregations are broken. When will this end?
The nine dead in Charleston are not the first innocent victims killed by violence. Our only hope
rests in the innocent One, who was violently executed on Good Friday. Emmanuel, God with
us, carried our grief and sorrow – the grief and sorrow of Mother Emanuel AME church –and
he was wounded for our transgressions – the deadly sin of racism.
I urge all of us to spend a day in repentance and mourning. And then we need to get to work.
Each of us and all of us need to examine ourselves, our church and our communities. We
need to be honest about the reality of racism within us and around us. We need to talk and we
need to listen, but we also need to act. No stereotype or racial slur is justified. Speak out
against inequity. Look with newly opened eyes at the many subtle and overt ways that we and
our communities see people of color as being of less worth. Above all pray – for insight, for
forgiveness, for courage.
Kyrie Eleison.
The Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton
Presiding Bishop
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
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PRAYER REQUESTS
Those listed below have special prayers needs at this time. We keep the entire congregation in our prayers at
all times, but sometimes special prayers are needed. If your name is on the list or you have added someone’s
name and they no longer need to be on the list, please contact the church secretary so the name cam be
removed.
JULY BIRTHDAYS
Noah Hutto
Mary Withrow
Meredith Cleland
Bill Aull
Tori Moye
Dot Haltiwanger
Carol Aull
Chris Keitt
Elizabeth Shealy
Jim Garner
Sallie Hutto
Trey Wallace III
Frank Yonce Jr.
Collin Hutto
Rebecca Fingerlin
7/01
7/11
7/14
7/17
7/17
7/18
7/19
7/19
7/19
7/20
7/20
7/20
7/22
7/29
7/31
Please Note: if there are any errors or
omissions in birthdays or anniversaries, notify
the church office. We want to make sure our
records are correct.
10
Savannah McRae
Mabel Miller
Mina Moore (mother of Linda Griffith)
Marie Shealy (Morningside Ret Ctr Apt 131)
Paul Shealy (friend of Howard & Sandra
Hughes)
Vera Summer (Oakleaf Village, Room 106)
John Vaugh (friend of Barney & Loleta Keitt)
JULY ANNIVERSARIES
Jack & Jean Hopkins
Alan & Merebeth Adams
Don & Sylvia Ford
Bill & Carol Aull
John & Willette Satterwhite
Frank & Linda Yonce
Cody & Andrea Patton
Dan & Pam Hanfland
7/01
7/10
7/13
7/16
7/22
7/27
7/28
7/31
GRAPEVINE ARTICLES
If you have articles, reports and/or
pictures that you or your group would like
printed in the April Grapevine, please
send them to the Church Office on or
before Monday July 27.
ANSWERS: 1. A. Got drunk and passed out naked; 2.
B. Laughed; 3. C. Elijah and Moses; 4. B. The apostle
Paul; 5. B. Our current bodies; BONUS--Awakening
Carol Aull
Robin Blocker
Wally Core (friend of Howard Hughes)
Katie Doble
Margaret Ford (Oakleaf Village, Apt. 335)
Clara Gregory (Harbor Chase, #203)
Evelyn Lybrand (Presbyterian Communities, Room
217)
GRAPEVINE PICTURES
On
June
21nd,
Camden Jane and
Gray Hilton Wallace,
children of Trey &
Amy Wallace, were
baptized at OSLC.
Camden’s baptismal
sponsors are Tracy
& Jennifer Gooding.
Gray’s
baptismal
sponsors are Chris
& Suzie Wilson.
WELCA Sunday was on
June 28th. The Rev. Pam
Smith was the preacher
and preside.
OSLCWELCA members served
as ushers, lector, greeters,
crucifer, acolyte and as
worship assistant.
Linda, Pam, and Barbara attended the
2015 SC WELCA Convention. The
Convention was on June 7th and 8th at
St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church in
Lexington.
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Our Saviour Lutheran Church
1500 Sunset Blvd.
West Columbia, SC 29169
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Address Service Requested
living in the light
of our Saviour
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NON-PROFIT ORG.
U. S. POSTAGE
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COLUMBIA, SC 29292
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