Grace and Peace to you from God our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ!

Welcome to Tree of Life Lutheran Church, located in suburban Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. We are a congregation of over 900 baptized members, diverse in our membership and welcoming in our ministry. If you don't know us, please browse around to learn who we are and what we believe. And if you are seeking a family of faith, we hope you'll visit us in person. We are rooted in faith and growing in love. We'd love to have you as a part of our faith family!

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

In a couple weeks we will gather for services on Ash Wednesday. Marked with the cross of Christ, we will begin our Lenten journey. In the long Lenten tradition of the church, the season of Lent, a time of fasting, was marked by austerity. Lenten liturgy included a prolonged time of confession. Absolution was withheld until the season concluded. Long periods of fasting were occasionally punctuated by feasting, but, for the most part, it was a time of waiting for what your body desired and soul needed.

Today, Lent is more a time of baptismal renewal. It is a time of planting your roots deeper into the water of baptism so that, at the end of it, your shoots, leaves, flowers, and fruit might spring forth into the warmth and light of the Easter Season.

I have tried hard, as an individual, to learn to let go of things over which I have no control. This is a hard lesson to learn. One of my struggles has to do with baptism. The birth of a child becomes the occasion for a request for a baptism. The baptism is scheduled. Friends and family members are invited and the Body of Christ gathers around the child to welcome him or her into the Body of Christ. Promises are made, the child is washed in the water and joined to Christ and to the local family of faith. The family of faith, parents and godparents make a commitment to help the child’s growth in Christian life. What’s next?

Too often, the next step is absence. Promises made become promises forgotten. Like any relationship, it is difficult to have any meaningful relationship with someone who you never see and impossible to nurture a child in faith who is absent from the faith family.

The Lenten season is a wonderful time to rekindle your life of faith and rebuild your friendship with the family of faith. If you’ve been absent, prayerfully consider Lent your invitation to do just this. If you have children who are likewise absent from the family of faith, take a moment to remember the promises you made and begin a lifetime of keeping them! Our Lenten schedule is filled with worship and study opportunities- all ways for you to deepen your baptismal roots!

Lenten Blessings!