March Worshiping God, Growing in Faith, Serving Neighbors--near and far

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The Messenger March 2014 St. Matthew Lutheran Ithaca, OH Worshiping God, Growing in Faith, Serving Neighbors--near and far Our Midweek Lenten services continue through March. Join us at 6:30 p.m.

1 The Messenger March 2014 St. Matthew Lutheran Ithaca, OH Worshiping God, Growing in Faith, Serving Neighbors--near and far Our Midweek Lenten services continue through March. Join us at 6:30 p.m. for a light soup supper in the basement. Services begin at 7:30 p.m. Our Lenten theme has changed. It is: Love the Lord Your God Week of Lent 2 March 4 You Shall Love the Lord Your God with All Your Heart True obedience and understanding come from the heart. How can we respond to God's love from the depths of our hearts? Week of Lent 3 March 11 You Shall Love the Lord Your God with All Your Soul Our souls thirst for the living God. When trouble comes and faith wavers, in whom do we place our hope? Week of Lent 4 March 18 You Shall Love the Lord Your God with All Your Mind Solomon prayed to God for an understanding mind, able to discern good from evil. How can we use our minds to walk in faithfulness to Christ? Week of Lent 5 March 25 You Shall Love the Lord Your God with All Your Strength Christ took upon himself the weakness of the cross to triumph in strength over the grave. Truly, God is our strength and our salvation.

Holy / Special Gospel Reading Maundy Thursday April 2 @ 7:30 p.m.

Resurrection of Our Lord April 5 Holy Celebrated at both services 6:30 a.m.

2 Holy Week Services Palm Sunday March 9 a.m. Holy / Special Gospel Reading Maundy Thursday April 7:30 p.m. Holy / Foot Washing Good Friday April 7:30 p.m. Resurrection of Our Lord April 5 Holy Celebrated at both services 6:30 a.m. Sunrise Service 7:45 a.m. Breakfast 9:00 a.m. Easter Service Easter Flowers Easter Lilies, Daffodils, Hyacinth s or Tulips are available for $12 each!! A sign up sheet is available on the back table, orders are due by March 15!! Please indicate on the sign-up sheet if your donation is given in honor or memory of your loved ones and/or special occasions. Please place your payments into the offering plate in an envelope marked Easter flowers Our basement door has been fitted with some new weather stripping to keep the cold winter air out! When leaving the building..please make sure you push the door shut tightly! 2

3 OUR MONTHLY WELCA MEETING will be held at the home of Earlene Morris on TUESDAY, March 10 at 7 p.m. (change in date, due to Lenten worship services). We will continue our studies in the Gather magazine with the March issue, Suffering and Endurance, based on Romans 5:3-5. During the months of January through March, we collect items for the Personal Care Kits for Lutheran World Relief. Each kit is to contain: One light-weight bath-sized towel (between 20 X 40 & 52 x 27, dark color recommended bath-size bar (4 to 5 oz.) of soap, any brand, in its original wrapping (2 per kit) One adult-size toothbrush in its original packaging One sturdy comb, remove packaging Metal nail clippers (file optional) Any donations you are able to make are greatly appreciated! ONE Ministry Castine Food Bank item of the month: Spaghetti Sauce Please consider a donation to one or more of the following projects. All you need to do is place your donation in an envelope and earmark it for one of the following: Wine Just $5 will buy a bottle of wine. With the Lenten/Easter season upon us, we will need to stock up on our communion wine! Media Project It is time for us to upgrade our audio system in the sanctuary with new speakers, microphones, etc.and possibly get some video equipment which will make it easier for us to view special video s for worship and Sunday school. The media team has been purchasing items to begin this upgrade. Please consider a donation. Restroom Project As long as our handicapped restroom is still a possibility, we would like to continue to allow this fund to grow. As reported in the Early Bird in late January, delinquent girls may soon find help in this Ithaca house (pictured left). House of Hope is an organization based upon biblical principles which will provide solutions in restoring troubled teens and their families and give them the tools needed to become contributing members of society. Fundraising efforts are being planned to make this project a reality. The first fundraiser is April 11. Hope in the Darke will be held at Romer s Catering in Greenville with dinner, dancing, games and a silent auction. The cost is $50 per person. For tickets. information or to donate to the cause, contact: House of Hope Dayton, PO Box 118, Arcanum OH or call or Houseof- HopeDayton@gmail.com 3

LOMO Camp Registration for the Lutheran Outdoor Ministry Camps for children has begun and, this year, St. Matthew Council has voted to support any regularly attending child s camp fees at 100%.

4 LOMO Camp Registration for the Lutheran Outdoor Ministry Camps for children has begun and, this year, St. Matthew Council has voted to support any regularly attending child s camp fees at 100%. Parents! Please check out the amazing opportunities for your child(ren) to attend camp this summer as If you are interested, please see Jane Brown for information on having your fees paid. Weekly fees are around $550 per child. If you would like to help sponsor one of our children, please add your donation to the offering and earmark it for LOMO Camps. Thanks to Hometown Cable for all the work they have done at the church to provide us with wireless internet. A big thank you to Bill Kessler, Zack and Jake for their knowledge of the wireless internet system. SMLC is an older church with very thick walls and beams and these men were able to "wire us up." If you are in need of internet service you can call Hometown Cable at (Hometown Cable former name was G-Wireless.) A HUGE thank you to Donna Miller and Neva Birt for volunteering to take on the role of GRCC Soup Kitchen Coordinators starting in April!! Thanks to all the volunteers that have helped with the soup kitchen for several years, as I am thankful that all of you made my job so much easier. I will continue being one of the helpers and I am asking that we all give our full support to the new coordinators. Thanks again!! Jane Brown Thanks to all those who helped clear the parking lots, sidewalks and steps this winter season!! Thanks to all who donated during our Soup-er Bowl of caring event. This year, we raised $139 for the Castine Food Bank. 4

5 From the Pastor Lent is called a 40-day journey of faith, a time to reflect on being a baptized child of God, to spend time in quiet and prayer to reflect on what it means to be part of the Body of Christ. Lent is a time to give up distractions in life and to grow closer to God, traditionally through fasting, alms giving and prayer. Fasting can be giving up of whatever you hold dear, perhaps Coke or chocolate. One year Kristine gave up reading in bed, because it was a habit she really enjoyed. Alms giving, or making a donation to a charity, is a response to fasting. Because you have given up something, you have more to give. Prayer is pretty basic, the practice of spending more time intentionally communicating with God, opening yourself up to the presence of God. Lent is a 40-day journey of faith, an annual journey that is only a part of a lifetime faith journey we take, from our baptism until our death. I ve been blessed to share eight Lent seasons with you at SMLC. Eight Lent seasons that have deepened my faith, and hopefully yours, as we have spent time reflecting on the spiritual gifts of waiting, the masks we wear, and how to simplify our souls, as just three examples. I ve also been blessed with physical nourishment and fellowship time during the years of soup suppers at SMLC. Like all journeys there is eventually an end. This Lenten season will be my last at SMLC. As I write this, Peter and I have returned from our second recent trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico. During this most recent trip, we met the Christ Lutheran Church council, participated in a meet and greet and worshipped at both Sunday morning services. We left Santa Fe to fly back to Darke County, and Christ Lutheran Church voted to call me to be their next pastor. So, with this letter, I am sharing that I will be ending my call at St. Matthew Lutheran Church, as of April 12 th. Christ Lutheran is gracious to allow me to finish the Lent season with you at SMLC, and to celebrate Easter here. The Sunday after Easter, my last at SMLC, I am honored to baptize Thomas Raymond Daggett, Earlene Morris great, great grandson. Thomas will join generations of the Morris/Netzley family baptized into the Body of Christ at SMLC. It seems right and proper to welcome Thomas into the Body of Christ at SMLC as I say good-bye. The journey of faith goes on. Leaving SMLC will be difficult, as I ve come to love you, to share your lives, over these eight and a half years with you. However, as I wrote some time ago, when I first shared that I was seeking a new call, I try to be faithful to God, to God s will. I have felt through the Holy Spirit that it was, and is time to seek a new call. I am moving to a congregation that seeks to make changes after having the same pastor for 37 years. I ask you to hold my family and me in prayer, as we begin the process of packing and of saying goodbye. I will hold SMLC in prayer as you prepare to transition to an interim pastor, and I ask for prayers for SMLC leadership as they guide you all through that process. Please also hold in prayer Christ Lutheran Church, Santa Fe, as they prepare to welcome me as their new pastor. In Christ s Peace, Pastor Joene 5

6 March Birthdays 2nd Will Herr 3rd Terry Birt 4th Brenda Little 11th Sherry Marten 26th Helen Garner March Anniversaries 16th Nate & Jessica Pahl February Prayer Concerns Leon Fisher Ralph Whitaker Esther Thompson Francis Gilmore Maxine Kingrey Lucas, Lauren, & Landon Gower Pastor Joene & Pete George Robert Mikesell Rick & Faye Harman Sandy Thompson Bradburn family Jeremy Freeman Bruce Hunt Anna Stump Ed L Dorothy Hunt Annette North Helen Garner Linda Gower Henry Deneski John Swihart Glen Eley Ridley Mills Paula Sims Prayers of sympathy and healing for the families of: Marguerite Hoke Dave Clark Bill Spurgeon Bob Strong John Hicks Alina Simon To reach us for the prayer chain, please call Rhonda Kress at or rhonda.j.kress@gmail.com Notes of thanks Dear Church Family, I cannot begin to thank you for the love and support you gave to me and the entire family following Cheryl's passing. Her Ohio memorial was complete with our St. Matt family there. Cheryl was, according to her pastor, an obedient servant. She first learned to love Jesus in your midst, a love that was deepened during her life's journey. She is now resting from her labors in the arms of our Savior. What a comforting visual that is for all of us. Our family continues to mourn but not as those without hope. God has blessed us for your life-long love and support. You have our gratitude. Jayne Klett Thank you for submitting the 2015 Mission Support for St. Matthew in Ithaca. Please share with the congregation our heartfelt gratitude for your continued faithful and generous support of the mission and ministry beyond the congregation. St. Matthew s has consistently been a leader and an example for others to follow in what it means to be the Southern Ohio Synod and ELCA together. Your partnership in the Gospel is greatly appreciated and according to the Bishop so is your Oyster Dinner. May God continue to richly bless you and all the saints at St. Matthew. Peace, Pastor Ed Williams 6

7 March 2015 SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT 1 2nd Sunday in Lent Lector: Rhonda Kress Acolyte: Josie McCullough Bread: Sue Mills 2 7 pm - Council Meeting 3 4 6:30 Soup Supper 7:30 Lenten Service am Clergy Meeting/W. Milton rd Sunday in Lent Lector: Ron Fasick Acolyte: Karr Stump Bread: Keri Covert pm WELCA 11 6:30 Soup Supper 7:30 Lenten Service am Clergy Meeting/W. Milton th Sunday in Lent :30 Soup Supper 7:30 Lenten Service am Clergy Meeting/W. Milton Lector: Julia McCullough Acolyte: Mickie Ary Bread: Jane Brown 22 5th Sunday in Lent Lector: Jessica Pahl Acolyte: Alysson Pahl Bread: Rhonda Kress 23 Newsletter entries due :30 Soup Supper 7:30 Lenten Service am Clergy Meeting/W. Milton Palm Sunday Lector: Anita Schneider Gospel: several Acolyte: Josie McCullough Bread: Shannon McCullough March Greeters: Gary & Jane Brown

Church Address 6825 St. Route 722 Ithaca, OH 45304 Office Phone/Fax: 937-884-7006 E-mail: skmccullough@earthlink.net Pastor Joene Herr Phone: 937-564-5802 E-mail: joeneherr@yahoo.

8 Church Address 6825 St. Route 722 Ithaca, OH Office Phone/Fax: Pastor Joene Herr Phone: Wheelchair accessible + Elevator on premises + Holy celebrated - 1st Sunday of every month- major church festivals We re on the web!! Facebook: St. Matthew Sunday Worship services: 9 am Traditional worship 10 am Coffee Break (food & fellowship) 10:15 am Sunday School for all ages St. Matthew Lutheran Church Ithaca 7820 State Route 722 Arcanum, Ohio Dated Material 8

January Worshiping God, Growing in Faith, Serving Neighbors--near and far

January Worshiping God, Growing in Faith, Serving Neighbors--near and far The Messenger January 2015 St. Matthew Lutheran Ithaca, OH Worshiping God, Growing in Faith, Serving Neighbors--near and far Our 2015 Council members were installed on December 7, 2014. Please remember