PARISH LIFE OF OUR LORD S LUTHERAN CHURCH S h a rin g th e jo y of C h rist s lo ve a n d pro m ise o f salvatio n w ith a ll p e o p le.

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1 PARISH LIFE OF OUR LORD S LUTHERAN CHURCH S h a rin g th e jo y of C h rist s lo ve a n d pro m ise o f salvatio n w ith a ll p e o p le. February 2016 From the desk of Pr. Amanda Finding just the right shoes. As for shoes for your feet, put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the good news of peace. ~ Ephesians 6:15 When I was preparing to be ordained, more than one person told me to pay attention to my shoes because everybody else will be. For some reason, when the only piece of clothing a person sees sneaking out from underneath a pastor s alb is their shoes, the shoes receive an undue amount of attention. That was good advice. Everybody has ended up wearing a pair of shoes that didn t fit and knows the discomfort they cause. Most people have probably also experienced the opposite. We have our favorite pairs of shoes we keep wearing long after the soles are falling apart. It is more of a task for some people than for others, but finding just the right pair of shoes to complete the outfit (or just the right outfit to complete the shoes?) can become a daunting task. All of our various shoe experiences can make or break our day faster than almost any other ordinary event! With all of that in mind, when Paul starts talking about shoes, he is talking about something fundamental, foundational, and important for every day of our lives. This foundational part is peace. The idea of peace is tossed about frequently in the news, and it probably always has been, but we rarely stop to think about what peace actually means. We know we want it, and life is completely disrupted when we don t have it. We know it rarely works to order peace upon people, and yet parents never stop trying! We even know when we share it during worship. All of those things are really talking around the concept of peace, so this Lent we will focus on finding shoes which allow us to bring peace. Those shoes might be attitudes, emotions, actions, attention, or relationships. Our Lenten schedule is based around knowing peace, being peace, and bringing peace. On Wednesday evenings we will gather for a prayer vespers focused on light and peace, being intentional to pray for all the nations of the world, for those who do not live in peace, and those who work for peace in every situation. Then, on Thursdays, we will gather to share our dinner table with people of various faith traditions and hear a different speaker each week in order to understand which shoes we will need in order to bring each of them the good news of peace. All donations from these meals will go to Lutheran World Relief for the Syrian Refugees, so they may experience blessing in the midst of struggle, and hopefully, peace. During our regular worship on Sunday we will be weaving in and out of the theme of peace as interplays with our lectionary readings. And, for the rest of the week, we will work on breaking in our shoes of peace, so they are fit just for us and we find them comfortable! Please plan on joining us during this time! Our speakers have worked hard to help us walk through this Lenten season, even though it is not their season, with the exception of Bishop Girlinghouse. The choir has learned a new liturgy in order to lead us, and Jesus is working in new and amazing ways in this time! Let the Holy Spirit move in you, that you may be ready to again find new life because of Christ s resurrection this Easter! Blessings on the journey. Rev. Amanda Esping WEST HEFNER RO AD O KL A HOMA C ITY, O K (4 05) ww w.ol lc.or g o ail.c om

2 Message (continued) J o in u s a t 9 a m o n S u n d a y m o rn in g s. T h e re is s o m e th in g fo r all a g e s. Adults meet in the conference room. They are beginning a new study series led by Pastor Amanda. The children are continuing to have fun with the Whirl bible stories and activities which follow our common lectionary! They gather at the end of the hallway. A Message from the Church Council President I would like to take this opportunity to bring you up to date on several matters. Following our unfortunate financial experience last fall, numerous members of the congregation came forward and volunteered to help. At the October 11 Church Council meeting, the decision was made to establish a Financial Task Force which would provide recommendations to the Council regarding financial practices and controls. Tapping into offers for assistance, Cal Benhardt, Jacob Edingfield, Wayne Karst, Bill Lockard, and Bob Smith accepted to form this task force. The task force met several times to review the accounting process and financial practices. At the December 13 Church Council meeting, the task force presented its thoughtful and thorough recommendations. Following the presentation, the Council studied and discussed the recommendations, selecting those that could be implemented in the near term. Luke Green, Church Council Secretary, offered to meld the recommendations and parts of the ELCA Guidelines for Congregations [Internal Control and Best Practices] into a single document, the OLLC Financial Controls and Procedures The council members read and studied this document prior to the January 10 council meeting. At that meeting, the Council discussed and made changes to the document. Once approved, this document will be made available to the congregation. hiring a new administrative assistant. Zach Broekmeir, Susan Maxfield, Dick Morrow, and Jenny Myers are serving as members of this task force. The position has been posted and applications are being received. If you know of someone [not a member of Our Lord s] who might be interested in the position, please have the person contact Pastor Amanda. Karen Foran continues her faithful service in the office, and Lou Ann Bletsch and Duncan McAnally have begun their interim positions as Treasurer and Financial Secretary, respectively. Jacob Edingfield has joined the Church Council on an interim basis to fill a vacancy. We thank all of the above members for their faithful service to Our Lord s. Finally, approximately $10,000 of $23,000 loss has been recovered, and we are waiting to hear from the insurance companies, Church Mutual and Guide One [Guide One became our carrier in July 2015], regarding our commercial crime claim. With regard to the accused, the file is with the Oklahoma County Assistant District Attorney awaiting action. Thank you for your prayers and support. God has richly blessed our church and we know He will continue to bless our congregation as we seek to do His will in our community and beyond. Tom Ziebell Church Council President The Good News of Peace On Thursday, February 18th, we will host our first of many dinners for people of various faith traditions, and gather to hear a different speaker from our faith community each week during the Lenton season to learn and discuss their perspectives of peace. We will host speakers from various faiths as follows: Feb. 18th - Buddhist Feb. 25th - Muslim Mar. 3rd - Hindu Mar. 10th - Jewish Mar. 17th - Bishop Michael Girlinghouse. This will be a most interesting series of Peace Talks, so please plan to attend. At the November 8 Church Council meeting, Pastor Amanda outlined a plan to establish an Office Ministry Task Force to develop a job description to be used for

3 Deadline for March newsletter is Monday, February 22nd. Articles may be ed to the church or placed in the Administrative Assistant s mailbox. Flower Orders may be placed by filling out the form located below the flower chart at the church office. Please leave completed forms in the Administrative Assistant s mailbox. Men s Group The Men s Group will meet Thursday, February 4th, 6:30 pm, in the Library Conference Room. The featured presentation is Defeating ISIS. Bulletin Articles must be submitted before 11am Monday morning to be included in the weekly announcements. Christ in Our Home devotion booklets are available at the information counter. WELCA Tuesday Circle will meet on February 9th at 7:00 p.m. Hostess is Karen Foran Wednesday Circle will meet on February 10 at noon. (Bring a sack lunch) New Bible Study The Good News According to Luke Today Due to technical difficulties in getting connected with the broadcast of this bible study, we are hopeful that all is set to go on Tuesday, February 2nd, 7pm, for our first session. The class is hosted through Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary. We will spend time getting reacquainted with the Gospel of Luke, its unique parables, is emphasis on the promised liberation of God s people, and its audacious claims in the context of imperial rule. If you are interested in being a part of this bible study, contact Jenny Myers to enroll. Movie Night Saturday, February 20th 6:00 p.m. Join us for Movie Night in the conference room. Snacks and soda will be provided. We host a movie night on the third Saturday of each month. Regional Food Bank 3355 S. Purdue, OKC Join other members from OLLC to fill boxes or kids backpacks on Saturday, February 4th, from 9am-12pm at the Regional Food Bank. It s a feel good job to volunteer. See you there! St. Olaf Choir This world renowned choir with conductor Anton Armstrong is scheduled to perform Wednesday, February 3rd, 7:00 p.m., at First Presbyterian Church, 1001 NW 25th St., OKC. The program features sacred and secular masterpieces, as well as works for chorus and grand pipe organ. Tickets are available online at stolaf.edu/tickets or by calling Adults: $25 and students: $10.

4 J a n u a ry C h u rc h F a m ily in S ervic e Assisting Ministers (D. Gillson) 7 Chris Henkel 10 Larry Eberhardt 14 Wayne Craney 21 Sally Ziebell 28 Deborah Gillson Cantors (Bill Fuller) 7 Deborah Gillson 10 Dick Morrow 14 Chris Henkel 21 Wayne Crney 28 Lois Carlton Greeters (Dee Sundholm) 7 Amanda Green, Anna & Gene Naukam 10 Dee Sundholm 14 Jacob Edingfield/Lynn Little 21 Diane Milligan, Linda Scheidt, Karen Foran 28 Carmen Craney, Toni & Evie Henson Money Counters (Diane Milligan) 7 John Tassey & Holly Van Remmen 14 Dick Morrow & Gene Naukam 21 Tom Ziebell & Debbie Gudgel 28 Dolores Spang & Diane Milligan Flowers ($22.00 per bouquet) 7 / 14 Zachritz / 21 / 28 / Flower Pick Up Tom Ziebell Altar Guild Sally Ziebell, Debbie Gudgel Ushers Ron Maxfield 1 Calvin Benhardt Karlene Grosz 4 Jane Green 6 Susan Maxfield 8 Amanda Schatz Ron Maxfield Dennis Schatz 12 Lily Hufnagel 14 Delphia Hawkins Carolyn Zachritz 20 Victoria Schatz 21 Anthony Parr Flower: Birthstone: Violet Amethyst 8 Danielle & Mike Montgomery 26 Lloyd & Linda Scheidt These are the known birthdays and anniversaries for the month of February. If there is an error, or if your special day is not listed, please let us know. We don t want to leave anyone out! Drop us a line: ourlordsokc@gmail.com or Support Breast Cancer Research Please save all pink Yoplait lids and place them in the pink sack on the counter in the Narthex. They raise money for breast cancer research. Carolyn Zachritz will make sure they are sent in for you. There are numerous openings for flowers in February and March. Flower orders ($22 per bouquet) may be placed by filling out the form located below the flower chart behind the Information Center.

5 Online Giving is Here! For anybody who would find online giving to be a useful tool in their journey to exceptional stewardship, our website is up and running! You can give through your savings or checking account, or through all major credit cards. You may set up recurring payments in weekly or monthly intervals, or log on each time you would like to give. The site also allows you to view your giving history and scheduled donations. Click on "Helpful Links" at the bottom of our homepage (OLLC.org) to get started today! H A N D S O F M E R C Y Q u ilte rs Quilters will meet February 13th and 25th from 9am-12pm. We need lots of sewers for quilt tops. The basket by the front door of the narthex has any number of fabric pieces to sew together. You may also donate fabric by placing it in the large box behind the Information Center. Oaks Indian Mission Oaks, OK Great News! A trip to Oaks Indian Mission, which has been in the planning for some time, has been finalized. Our trip is scheduled for April 16-17, with the possibility of leaving on the afternoon of April 15th. The children will be invited to be with the Mission s youth for stickball, storytelling, and basket weaving. The adults will either join them or have a service project. The details are still being worked out. The congregation will also be invited! More information will be forthcoming. Lutheran World Relief Personal Care Kits During the months of February and March we will be collecting light-weight, bath-size towels (between 20 x 40 & 27 x 52 ), dark color recommended. Check out Dollar General for best deals on towels as they carry the recommended sizes and towel weight. You may drop the towels in the box located in front of the Information Center. Congratulations to Madison Easterday and Zach Broekemeier on their marriage Saturday, January 24th, at Our Lord s.

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