SAINT JOHN LUTHERAN CHURCH The agle

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1 SAINT JOHN LUTHERAN CHURCH The agle E VOLUME LVIII FEBRUARY 2018 ISSUE N o 2 Available FROM PASTOR Remember that you are dust Lent begins with a solemn call to fasting and repentance as we begin our journey to the baptismal waters of Easter. As we hear the readings, now is the acceptable time to return to the Lord. During Lent, we are invited to reflect on the meaning of our baptism into Christ s death and resurrection. The sign of ashes suggests our human mortality and frailty. What seems like an ending is really an invitation to make each day a new beginning, in which we are washed in God s mercy and forgiveness. With the cross on our brow, we long for the spiritual renewal that flows from the springtime Easter feast to come. But, marking our foreheads seems to contradict the Gospel message. Jesus seems to instruct a modest and hidden acknowledgement of our sinfulness. How, then, has the practice evolved so that Christians worldwide leave worship marked with black smudged crosses for all the world to see? Jesus warns in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:1-21) of seeking glory for one s feigned humility by drawing attention to oneself. The Christian ritual of being reminded that we are dust with the mark of the forehead signals a communal awareness of our dependency on God. And there is joy relief and release in our turning back to God and in the confession of our sins. Ash Wednesday calls us to focus on introspection and confession makes us mindful of our own failings and gives us an opportunity to unburden ourselves of the guilt the accompanies them. The joy of Lent is in the liberation from sin and the intense focus on God. Adapted from Sundays and Seasons, 2017 for Ash Wednesday SUNDAY SCHEDULE 8:45 am Adult Bible Study 9:00 am Sunday School 10:30 am Worship Service OUR MISSION We are a family of Christ, committed to serving, teaching, welcoming and loving all God s people. Blessings and Thanks Christine and I wanted to thank you all for your generosity and thoughtfulness over the past year, and especially during the Christmas and Epiphany Seasons. You are all truly the gift to us and this Church Family we call Saint John.

2 THE EAGLE PAGE 2 FEBRUARY 2018 Council Minutes November 13, 2018 ROLL CALL Present: Roxiee Dollar, Gail Davidson, Sheila Sanchez, Stephanie Chivers, Ellen Wilson, Ellen Greene, Susan Bové, Deborah McLaughlin, Pastor Olivier. Vacancy one member. (Jim Dollar arrived late) OLD BUSINESS A. Decision needs to be made regarding nonmember use of church and/or hall: 1. Require a council member present while group is utilizing building? Yes 2. Are there any insurance issues that we need to be aware of? Table at present, follow up with Nancy Fuller, re: Guide One. 3. Does this include our scout groups? No, they are considered a part of our youth ministry. NEW BUSINESS A. Pastor pay raise; he did not take one last year. Portico is effected by this as well; contributes to overall budget. This needs to also be voted on by the Council. Approved 1 st Sheila Sanchez, 2 nd Regina Starling, Pay raise to bring up to current ELCA guidelines. B. School its future and structure; also Mutual Ministries is evaluating. Would like to have School Advisory Board come next month. Add to next month s agenda, all approved. C. Keys: Need a current list of who has keys to the church, why they have keys and what do they go to. Table until December council meeting, article to be placed in newsletter, POC Pastor Olivier or Jim Dollar. D. Communications: All communication should go through committee heads, any changes must be given to the chairperson immediately. For church communication the President is the first to receive any information and then it will be shared through proper channels, ie: Council. Add to congregational meeting agenda for December. E. Committees: The proper definition of a committee is as follows: a committee must consist of a group of people appointed for a specific function, typically consisting of members of a larger group. Need for nominating committee for councils upcoming elections. F. Call list: Currently the secretary is covering our former members call list since her list consists of 2 people. This will continue until new council member is voted in. G. Dead Lines: the Wednesday prior to Council Meeting at 12 noon is still the deadline for any information to be given for inclusion to the agenda. If information is not in by that time, there will be a file folder in the Council Secretaries box, where you may place information to be included in the following month s agenda. H. Hold scheduling of events until the beginning of the new calendar year, unless it requires approval for the month of January. This will avoid confusion on scheduling items, since we do not have a calendar started for the New Year. Please remember that all events and dates must be approved by council. Cancellations must come to council immediately to prevent miscommunication. I. Property Chair becoming a Council seat and maintaining an active group of involved members. RECOMMENDATIONS A. Finance: Recommend pay and portico raise for Pastor Keith Olivier as proposed. Approved 1 st Sheila Sanchez, 2 nd Regina Starling B. Property: recommend Property Chair become a Council seat as per constitution instructions. Approved unanimously d/t need to be in line with constitution C. Recommendation, Diakonia requests use of Saint Matthias Hall and kitchen for Optimist luncheon, December 4 th from 9am until 4 pm. This time includes set up and clean up. POC Susan Bove Approved 1 st Gail Davidson, 2 nd Ellen Greene D. Recommendation from Tuesday Night Bible Study Group from the Picadilly led by Ellen Greene requests use of multipurpose room for a Christmas Party to be scheduled, December 23 rd from noon until 4:30pm. POC Ellen Greene Approved 1 st Sheila Sanchez, 2 nd Gail Davidson E. Recommend reinstitution of sign out sheet of church items that are being used off premises. This will allow individuals that have a function going on in the church to know location of items they are unable to find. POC Ellen Greene Approved 1 st Susan Bove, 2 nd Sheila Sanchez F. Recommend use of Saint Matthias Hall for Advent Soup and Bread meals the first 3 Wednesdays of December. They are as follows, December 6 th, 13 th and 20 th. These will begin at 6pm followed by Advent Worship service. POC Gail Davidson Approved 1 st Ellen Greene, 2 nd Ellen Wilson G. Recommend use of Saint Matthias Hall by the Tidewater Remote Control Radio Club for monthly meetings. These would be the 2 nd Tuesday of each month from 7:30 pm until 9pm. Would include use of kitchen for coffee. POC Russ Schaffer/Sheila Sanchez Approved 1 st Stephanie Chivers 2 nd Regina Starling (follow up donation comparable to prior facility). Council is working to make a list of everyone who has keys to the building and to what doors/rooms. If you have keys, please give a listing of your keys to Roxiee Dollar.

3 THE EAGLE PAGE 3 FEBRUARY 2018 OUTREACH We are still getting an overwhelming response to sending empty Medicine Bottles to Matthew 25 Ministries. It has been brought to our attention that the SPCA is looking for empty medicine bottles locally, so we will be supplying them as well. We can still use empty 8 ½ x 11 paper boxes, it is the most cost effective and efficient way to collect and send the empty bottles. It s a New Year and the count begins! We are back to supplying Fall/Winter Blessing Bags. The list is as follows and we continue to greatly appreciate your loving and continuous support! Band-Aids Chapsticks New Socks Instant Oatmeal Packs Granola Bars Trail Mix Raisins Fruit/Applesauce Hot Cocoa/Spiced Cider Mixes Tea Packets Hand Sanitizer Hats Inexpensive Gloves Tuna/Cracker Packs Energy Bars Beef Jerky Sticks Peanuts Gum/Hard Candy On-the-Go Coffee Mixes We enter the season of Lent, the season of reflection, with the Imposition of Ashes at 12:30 and 7:00 pm on February 14th. Our Shrove Tuesday event will be the evening before at 6:00 pm followed by burning of the palms from Soup and Bread followed by a mid-week vesper A Lenten Journey to the Easter Vigil begins on Wednesday the 21st at 6 pm with worship at 7 pm and continues every Wednesday through March 21st. Thanks to our various committees for volunteering to host a meal. Sign up sheets will be posted outside Pastor s Study. Please join your church family for a simple meal. Pots of Soup and Bread are always welcomed. Prayerfully consider covering the cost of the prayer candles available for lighting before each Sunday worship service in memory of loved ones. $75-80 covers the cost of one order. Thanks to those who have generously given thus far. Thanks to those who supply the bread and wine for our weekly communion offering. Keep your Worship team in prayer as we strive to ensure a meaningful service each Sunday. If you know of someone needing a ride to worship and other church events, please leave a message with the Church Office. If you would like to serve during worship or become a committee member, please let Gail or Pastor know. More hands means less work for all! Peace and Blessings of the New Year, Gail Davidson, Chair Wednesday Nights WOMEN S BIBLE STUDIES We are finally back to meeting weekly, after the snows. Please feel free to start anytime with us as we are reading and studying about Justification by Faith. We have a book for everyone attending for $7.00. See Ellen Greene if you are interested. Saint John s First Monday Night Dinner will be held on Tuesday this month January 2nd, at 6:00 pm! Please come and join in the good food and fun. You don t have to bring anything except yourself and you can stay if you like for the All Committee Meeting and be a part of what is going on in your church.

4 THE EAGLE PAGE 4 FEBRUARY 2018 STEWARDSHIP Stewardship Program for the New Year will look at Keys to Planning Financial Health for Home and Church. Using the idea of having help planning a simple home budget, which will connect your faith and finances. The idea is to see money as a tool serving God, your family and your community even on a limited fixed income. As a part of this program, we are setting up a Family Financial Planner, and an Elder Care Attorney for Saturday Breakfast Meeting. Program would be from 9:30 to 11:00 tentatively in February. Watch the Weekly Announcements for the dates. OUR NEXT MEETING WILL BE Sunday, February 18th, RIGHT AFTER CHURCH! WELCA will host the coffee following church of February 11th and have their regular meeting on February 18th. At the meeting the group will begin planning for an outreach project for a future time. Crafty Creators are Really Joyful Creators Do you have pictures that you would love to have organized and in a scrapbook? Please feel free to join us on February 10 th from 10am to 4pm to scrapbook with Connie who is a Creative Memories Consultant at Saint Timothy Lutheran Church (1051 Kempsville Road, Norfolk). The charge will be $15.00 to make to make two pages, for which you only need to supply the pictures. Connie will be bringing any new items they have, as well as items to share and scrapbook with. You will also have the opportunity to purchase any items that you would like. So bring photos and a potluck snack to share, and any other scrapbook items you would like. It will be a great way to relax, fellowship and have fun. See Ellen Greene if you would like to attend. Wednesday, February 21st at 11:15 am in Saint Matthias Hall All are invited and welcome! If you have any questions, please contact Deborah McLaughlin at dmclaughlin510@aol.com February 4, 2018 is Souper Bowl Sunday. Who will win, the Philadelphia Eagles or the New England Patriots? On that Sunday place your bet (free will offering) into whichever soup pot represents the team you want to win. In the Narthex, there will be one for each team. Let s see if we pick the winner! There will of course, be the Pity Pot for all of those who root for any one of the other 30 teams who didn t make it this year! All monies collected will be donated to a local food bank here in Hampton Roads.

5 THE EAGLE PAGE 5 FEBRUARY 2018 February Anniversaries 05 ~ Erin Jason Eller 8 years 14 ~ Chad Jennifer Olson 9 years Let us take the opportunity to congratulate them on their years together, and wish for them to have many, many more. February Birthdays 02 ~ Victorya Hagenberger 03 ~ Kevin Combes 04 ~ Annabella Ross 10 ~ Frances Gawron 14 ~ Amelia Eller 14 ~ Steven Bowen, Jr. 15 ~ Vada Bowen 23 ~ Susan Bové 25 ~ Sheila Sanchez 26 ~ Marjorie Leemon Each Wednesday evening in lent at 7pm, join us for this series of special services as we take The dates are: February 21, 28, March 7, 14, 21 A Lenten Journey to the Easter Vigil. Each Wednesday evening during Lent, a meager meal of soup and bread followed by a Lenten Worship service, will be offered beginning at 6:00 PM. Sign up sheets for soup and bread will soon be posted. Please consider not only attending, but also supplying soup and/or bread for one or more of these meals.

6 SAINT JOHN LUTHERAN CHURCH & SCHOOL 8918 Tidewater Drive Norfolk VA / Church 757/ School Website: CHURCH LEADERSHIP Pastor: Revd. Keith A. Olivier President: Roxiee Dollar Vice President: Gail Davidson Secretary: Sheila Sanchez Treasurer: Ellen Wilson Financial Secretary: Stephanie Chivers Director of Music: W. Lee Hendricks School Director: Stephanie Chivers Parish Bookkeeper: Nancy Fuller Parish Secretary: Anne Combes If your mailing information has changed, please notify the Church Office. Thank you! Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper Tuesday, February 13th 6:00 p.m. Saint Matthias Hall Burning of the Palms to follow supper Bring your dried palms from last Palm Sunday Look for the insert in your bulletin in the next few weeks! Worship Service with Imposition of Ashes Wednesday, February 14th 12:30 PM & 7:00 PM Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.