THE CALLER. Our Mission: Empowering others with the Good News of Jesus Christ:

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1 THE CALLER Our Mission: Empowering others with the Good News of Jesus Christ: Making Connections, Enriching Faith, Nourishing Lives, and Demonstrating love in God s Name Dear Friends and Members of St. Paul s, Welcome to the new Caller! We re hoping it will provide a bit more information and visual experience to show you what St. Paul s ministry has been up to and what we are approachng. The pages will reflect the vision of this church s ministry. We are here to empower people with the good news of Christ Jesus and now you will see through the pages ahead how God has shaped this vision in avenues that: seek connections, enrich faith, nourish lives and demonstrate God s love. We will continue to now the Caller to you and have it on the website. Feel free to print at your home or just the pages that are most important for your family. We will have several paper copies available in church. If you still want the Caller printed and mailed to you, we are happy to do that. Just call the church office and let us know: WORSHIP TIMES Sunday 10am at St. Paul s Saturday 5pm Crossroads Lutheran. If you can t make it Sunday, join us at Crossroads for Saturday services. MARCH HAPPENINGS Spaghetti Dinner & Basket Raffle March PM God on Tap March 20 7:30-8:30P New Missionaries Gathering March 25 11:15-12:15PM Holy Week March There is a lot going on in March with Lenten worship additions, Holy Week and of course the world famous Spaghetti Dinner for the youth. Katie will be back in the office soon and we ll update you on when we will be back to full speed ahead. Thanks to all who have pitched in and kept the structure of the church moving forward in the meantime! I m looking forward to our Lenten journey together and arriving again at the foot of the cross because we live on this side of that cross on this side of Easter and know what a great celebration that will be! See you in the mission field, ps St. Paul s is a congregation of the Niagara Frontier Conference of the Upstate New York Synod Of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)

2 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 3PM Tigers Den 6PM Alanon 7:30PM Choir 2 3 9AM MC 5PM Confirmation 4 10AM Holy Communion AM Bible Study 7PM NAMI 7:15PM GS 7 10AM Comforters 8PM AA 12-12:30PM Lunch & Litany 8 12PM Retired Folks 6PM Alanon 7PM NAMI 7:30PM Choir 9 5:30PM NAMI Family Class- (Parish Hall) 10 9AM Tigers Den Spaghetti Dinner 4-7PM 11 10AM Holy Communion MC/BS 9AM 12 6PM DB 6:15PM GS 7PM GSL 13 10AM Bible Study. 7PM CC 7PM ECO 14 8PM AA 12-12:30PM Lunch & Litany 15 3PM Tigers Den 5:30PM NAMI Family Class- (Parish Hall) 6PM Alanon 7:30PM Choir AM MC 6PM Youth Group at Crossroads 18 10AM Holy Communion AM Bible Study 7:15PM GS God on Tap 7: PM NAMI 8PM AA 12-12:30PM Lunch & Litany 22 5:30PM NAMI Family Class- (Parish Hall) 6PM Alanon AM Tigers Den 12PM GS 25 10AM Palm Sunday Holy Communion MC/BS 9AM New Missionaries Gathering 11:15-12: PM GS 7PM RSD-Pain Management 27 10AM Bible Study 28 8PM AA 29 5:30PM NAMI Family Class- (Parish Hall) 6PM Alanon Maundy Thursday Potluck Dinner & Worship 6:30 7:30PM Choir 30 Good Friday 2PM Community Worship at St Paul s. 31 AA Alcoholics Anonyous NFC NAMI Family Classes BS Bible Study CC Church Council YG Youth Group GS Girl Scout Meeting (GSL Girl Scout Leadership) MC Men s Club DB Danceability HC Holy Communion WTG Way to Go Tours SSC Saturday Service at Crossroads TD Tigers Den CR Choir Rehearsal DBFT Daily Bread Food Truck CES Christmas Eve Service

3 SEEKING CONNECTIONS NEW MISSIONARIES GATHERING MARCH 25, 11:15-12:15PM IN THE FELLOWSHIP ROOM For any people that are new to the St. Paul s community, please join in if you want to hear more about St. Paul s mission. Ask questions about the church s life and share with Pastor Steve and the Council how we can help you in your mission TUESDAY, MARCH 20TH AT ST. PAUL'S MAIN ST - 7:30-8:30PM Join us for eating, drinking, and good company while we discuss what is going on in our world right now and how God fits into it! LUNCH & LITANY Join in each Wednesday during Lent for sharing in community lunch time (BYOLunch) 12-12:30PM (except Holy Week) and a time of prayer for different people and groups each week. ANNUAL SPAGHETTI DINNER & BASKET RAFFLE Saturday, March 10th, at St. Paul s 4pm-7pm Come out and eat with your friends and family or meet someone new around the table. Bring your own wine and we ll provide the atmosphere and amazing service. An old tradition is being brought back to life with a basket raffle downstairs during the dinner. Free-will donations support the National Gathering and LCLC Camperships! Ways you can help make it a success 1. Donate a basket 2. Bring a dessert 3. Join the clean up crew 4. Come and eat!

4 Greeter Schedule Please be in place at the Back Narthex entrance doors by 9:45 (well before the service begins.) The next rotation is listed below. If you are unable to keep an assigned greeting date, please phone someone on the list to change places with you, then notify Katie of the change Thanks, Karen Brown Date Name Phone number March 4 Susan Mintzer smintzer@askbhsc.org March 11 Janell Andersen Janell.andersen@fnfg March 18 Jane Woodward Wjane45roadrunner.com March 25 Nancy Efstation natmanandtugg@gmail.com Date Name Phone number April 1 Dorothy Schugardt schualoha@verizon.net April 8 Rich Riddoch April 15 Lynda Ruhland April 22 Nick and Mary Hazlitt April 29 Ann Marie Spitzer spitzer.annmarie@gmail.com Date Name Phone number May 6 Marilyn Emerson May 13 Bertha Efstation May 20 Barbara Walter barb@thewaltersweb.net May 27 Kaetlyn and Robert Simpson (917) BSimpson24@gmail.com Usher Schedule 3/4/18 Lonnie Walter Dave Metz Jim Tanevich Ron Miller /11/18 Bob Brown Ben Brown Karen Brown Lizzy Brown

5 ENRICHING FAITH My Lenten Giving (vs Giving Up!) Project for this year is to benefit the Kevin Guest House. If you are not familiar with it, it is the original ( the basis from which the Ronald McDonald House was modeled!) hospitality home for those that cannot afford hotel living while they or their loved ones are treated at the hospitals in Buffalo. I volunteer there once a month, making a homemade dinner with a group of my wonderful friends, called the Sangria Girls! This project is multi-fold- of all great stuff! One of the great Sangria Girls also runs a fun card making class (Foofy Creations) in which we will make note card greetings. My Thrivent Action Project will provide funds for small inspirational type books and reusable storage/ carry bags to put all this good stuff into! The Sangria Girls will assemble the kits after our April dinner! At St Paul s, there is a basket in the gathering room for collecting small/travel sizes (perfect if you liberated a few extra from your last hotel stay?!) of toiletries such as soap, shampoo, combs, toothpaste, toothbrushes, mouthwash, etc. If preferred, I will also- very gratefully- accept cash donations to help fill in extra items! As always, I thank God and all of the church family at St Paul s for your support!! For any questions/concerns, please don t hesitate to contact me at evansmom@roadrunner.com or by phone Thank you! Gail Singer Palm Sunday, March 25 10AM Worship and Stripping of the Altar at St. Pauls Maundy Thursday, March 29 6:30PM Worship and Potluck at Crossroads Good Friday, March 30 2PM Community Worship ; 7PM Traditional Good Friday Service (both at St. Paul s) Easter Vigil, Saturday March 31 5PM Worship at Crossroads Easter, Sunday April 1 6AM Sunrise Service, 10AM Easter Worship (both at St. Paul s)

6 ENRICHING FAITH DIGGING DEEPER INTO LUTHER & THE REFORMATION The 9AM Sunday morning adult group Digging Deeper into the study of the impact of Martin Luther and the 16 th century Protestant Reformation has been an enjoyable learning experience thus far for its fifteen participants. The sessions will continue through at least March 18 th (depending on the amount of discussion). All are welcome to join us, even if only for a session or two If you love to sing and want to share your beautiful voice on Sundays during service Please join us for Choir Rehearsals Thursday evenings at 7:30pm in the Choir Room led by the one and only Mr. Paul Storfer! We would love to see you there! Dave Lampe will lead a Sunday Morning class Starting April 8th at 9AM Sunday Mornings. There will be 4 classes in total. Class 1 Please come with your favorite Psalm (other than 23rd, which is everybody's favorite) Class 2 We'll talk about Psalms (history, form, patterns) as well as their use in liturgy Class 3 We'll look at some modern uses, translations, extensions of the form Class 4 We'll write and read to each other our personal psalm Every Sunday two bouquets adorn the altar at St. Paul s. They can be dedicated in honor of a person, sometimes an event anniversary, birthday, baptism, etc. Anyone can dedicate flowers and we can have multiple dedications for a Sunday. The bouquets are then delivered to our shut-in or hospitalized members after worship. Flower order envelopes are in the pew racks and include prices. There are also Visitor informational slips in the pew racks as well where you may also choose to include your information for Flower orders. You may fill them out and place them in the offertory baskets during service. If you know of anyone that may be celebrating a special event or is a shut-in, please let us know so that we may add them to the list of recipients. Also, please call the Church office at if you are able to help deliver after Sunday service. Thank you!

7 ENRICHING FAITH We started out our February with the lesson on FAITH the size of a mustard seed. Explaining what faith means to children can sometimes be a bit challenging. I read a children s book about how faith is seeing with our hearts what we cannot see with our eyes. I then gave each child a mustard seed. They could see how small it was. I also opened up and apple and showed them the seeds in the apple. I asked them if they planted one of those apples seeds and a tree grew how many apples they thought they would get? I explained that one apple tree can produce as many as 150 apples or more! My point was that no matter how small we are or our faith is we/it can grow into something bigger! That having faith and trust in God is what makes things possible. We talked about how we can share our faith with others and see how it grows! LOVE With Valentine s Day upon us we talked about God s love. That He even loves us when we re grumpy and don t make good choices. We talked about how He loves us so much that He sent His Son to let us know we are forgiven when we make those bad choices. God wants us to make good choices and love others even when they may be hard to love. We talked about ways to do loving things for others and how to share love by being helpful and forgiving, by donating our time, food, clothes or toys to those less fortunate. I showed the children a bottle of shaving cream. I explained that our love is kind of like shaving cream. I then began to squirt the shaving cream out of the can and showed that it grew and overflowed out of the container I was putting it in. If we keep our love all inside it won t do anything. But if we let it out it will grow and overflow into other people lives! We made signs and Valentine s and put them up to surprise the congregation to show how our love overflowed onto all of them! HOPE I asked the children if they ever made a promise. I said I hope that they are always able to keep their promises just as God does! Our lesson was about Noah. We talked about how God was sad and disappointed with many people who did not share love and who made only bad choices. God decided to destroy almost everything He had created. God was not sad with Noah because Noah had obeyed God s word and had faith and love. So God told Noah to build a very big boat (the ark) and Noah obeyed God. Of course we all know what happened next. As I went on with the story I ended it with a rainbow we created with skittles and warm water. I explained that the rainbow is a reminder to us from God that he will never destroy the earth like that again. And the greatest is these is LOVE I reminded the children about our lesson just before Valentine s Day. We talked about lent. Lent is a time to remind us about all that Jesus gave up and that this is a time we need to give up selfish ways and not allow ourselves to be distracted. This is a time to look at our cross and remember what Jesus gave to us and how we can focus on being closer to God and following Him through our actions and by making good choices. A s we look ahead to holy week approaching there will be no Sunday school on Easter day or the week following. Please take this time to focus with your children on the true meaning of Easter and how to follow Jesus! In peace and love ~ June

8 NOURISHING LIVES Thank you to all of the volunteers that have helped in creating and donating to the new Tiger s Den Food Pantry. This food pantry is available to anyone in the zip code and by referral as well. The hours of operation for the month of March are Thursdays from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. - March 1, March 15 & March 29 Donation Items for March are cooking oil, jelly, and healthy snacks Thank you so much for your continuing support of this ongoing need! We will be open the following Saturdays in March from 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. March 10 & March 24. Food and/or items can be donated during regular Office Hours daily from 9:30am to 1:30pm OR on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays from 12:45pm to 1:15pm. "We continue to deliver "Give One" meals every other Saturday through April to 20 Windermere Boulevard School families in need. In addition to the delicious weekend long quantity meals prepared by Tony and Emilie Piette, we added a special treat to the meal deliveries for the families on February 3rd. Led by the incomparable Barb Walter, the wonderful attendees at St. Paul's Adult Retreat completed a service project putting together "Kindness Fun Bags" for the families. The bags were oriented towards doing fun family activities including the following: Jiffy Pop popcorn, a snowman popcorn bowl, a bag of animal crackers, snowman hot cups with hot chocolate packets, piece puzzle, a deck of playing cards, a children's card game like Old Maid, an adult coloring book, a children's coloring/activity book, box of crayons, markers, tissue box, flashlight, pencils, stickers, snowman game, a plastic snowman filled with the makings of snowman items (carrot nose, hat, scarf, etc.), "teacher made" packets for winter scrambles, word searches, writing, bookmarks, drawing paper, and poems and songs. Thank you to all who have signed up and contributed their time delivering meals so far this winter. Please look at the sign-up sheet on the door leading into the Sanctuary to help on one or more Saturdays for the remaining deliveries on March 3, March 17, April 14, and April 28. From time of picking up meals in the kitchen to delivering in pairs to 3-4 families takes about 45 minutes."

9 NOURISHING LIVES ST. PAUL S LCLC RETREAT Sometimes in the heart of winter when the days are cold and dark, all I want to do is curl up under a warm afghan in front of a cozy fire with a glass of wine or hot chocolate to keep me company. That was true the weekend of January 19-21, so that s exactly what I did with one small exception - I did it with 2 dozen friends from St. Paul s and we were all together at LCLC in the Retreat Center! We sure had a lot of fun together. Time to relax, time to walk outside (the snow was gone so skiing was not an option), time to go to the Chautauqua Institute for a sleigh ride or some time at the book store, time to laugh a lot during our famous white elephant gift exchange, time to listen to wonderful stories, time for a service project, time to read a good book and time to worship our Lord while looking outside at His beautiful world. And I almost forgot there was plenty of time to do absolutely nothing too! We enjoyed wonderful meals (that we didn t have to prepare or clean up after), great snacks, and there was also a lot of time to get to know old friends better and meet some new ones too. Barb Walter has been our fearless leader for some time now and she is the best! Are you thinking it sounds like a great time? Well, you re right it is! So, join us next year, ok? You won t be sorry!

10 NOURISHING LIVES New for 2018, some of us at St. Paul's have formed a "Safety Team" to look at how the Church can best handle any emergency situation life circumstances may throw at us while at Church. Safe Church Most of the congregation will not need to know or worry about any of the inner-workings of the team, but a small group of us will be preparing a plan of action for dealing with any issues that may arise. The areas we are most concerned with are acts of God such as snow storms or flooding, accidents that may occur on Church property, medical emergencies, and also acts of violence by man. We will be coordinating with the Amherst Police as well as a few key people in Church who are former / present military or law enforcement, EMTs, nurses, etc. In the coming weeks we will be putting together a plan to deal with anything life throws our way! from Sara Gallagher March 2018 It s not too early to be thinking about this! It will be here before you even know it! 2018 Summer Reservations or information for The Lutheran House at Chautauqua Institution. My last article for the January Caller reported the sales in December I did not list anything in January. Listings as of mid February have not resulted in sales yet. It s a slow time for the market and lately, my time is limited. That being said, I have a lot of things to list on ebay and a couple are listed on Craig s List. Hopefully, I will have more to report next month. Shipping costs are a huge factor for ebay selling. Another USPS rate hike took effect recently, which means items have to be more desirable in order to justify paying the shipping cost. Please contact Sue or Jerry Keppel at All items that are not sold after being listed once or twice are donated forward to local thrift stores or collection organizations like the VVA and Salvation Army. Thanks for all the donations and packing materials. Maybe you have something that would sell. Contact me. SaraJG@aol.com, find me at church, or call

11 DEMONSTRATING GODS LOVE HAITI MISSION TRIP TO ILE VECHE On February 1 st, another team headed down to Haiti and the island of Ile a Vache on a medical missions trip. WNY ers Bob Zielinski, Jan- Vesper Diver, Michelle Biegner, Katie Braisted and Susan Rybarczyk all offered up their talents to help the amazing people of that island. Updates-A classroom was jazzed up and painted to help boost the spirits of the children who learn there. Over 500 people were seen in a medical clinic that was spread out over three days and two locations. We were also able to see the beautiful space that is destined to be become the much-needed permanent medical clinic. You can never do too little Lessons learned-the less you have, the easier it is to give it all up to God. To go to church in Haiti is to witness worship for the sheer joy of it. It is loud, raucous, and joyous. Their faith is unwavering despite their circumstance. One child who was helping us paint explained it best, I love God because God loves Haiti. When faced with the overwhelming poverty and lack of resources, it is easy to lose sight of the little picture. That one child that is fed and goes to school because of a sponsor. That one person who will recover from an illness because our team was able to help them. Our Host from Grace Ministries assured us that while the problems seem greater than we can tackle, you can never do too little -Leon. Our next teams in May will be Pasor Steve with a team of students from LuMin (Lutheran Campus Ministry) and then PS will head back with Scott Jones to oversee the work on the clinic and make connections around the island for future partnerships.

12 US Postage St. Paul s Lutheran Church 4007 Main Street Eggertsville NY Non-Profit Org. US Postage PAID Permit #3595 Buffalo New York COMING UP IN MARCH Saturday Worship 5 pm at Crossroads Lutheran (Main at Burroughs) Sunday Morning 9am Digging Deeper into The Reformation Wednesday - Lunch and Litany 12pm Saturday March 10th Spaghetti Dinner St. Paul s Evangelical Lutheran Church Our Mission: Empowering others with the Good News of Jesus Christ: Making Connections, Enriching Faith, Nourishing Lives, and Demonstrating love in God s Name Pastor: The Rev. Steve Biegner ( cell) Communications Director: Katie Nagel-Santillo Assemblers: Dorothy Menth, Marilyn Emerson, Betty Arbogast, Dolores Shearer, Marilynn Speich, Norma Stevenson, Joyce Chace, Joan Maefs, Bertha Efstation, Sue Keppel Telephone: (716) Fax: (716) office@stpaulseggertsville.org Web: