Akron Wooster Report - September 2016

Transcription

1 Akron Wooster Report - September worshipping communities in Portage, Summit and Wayne counties: (Akron, Bath, Clinton, Creston, Cuyahoga Falls, Doylestown, Fairlawn, Green, Hudson, Kent, Marshallville, New Pittsburg, Norton, Orrville, Ravenna, Reedsburg, Seville, Sharon Center, Smithville, Stow, Tallmadge, Wadsworth, Wooster) 4 Pastoral Vacancies Grace, Wadsworth - Messiah, Green former pastor Jeff Hancock is interim St. Luke, Cuyahoga Falls - Larry Mackey interim St. Paul, Sharon Center -Elizabeth Hadler, interim -UMC 1 Upcoming vacancy St. Mark, Tallmadge - Bill Michaels retiring end of year 4 On going hospice Augsburg, Orrville, Trinity, Norton Zion, Doylestown Zion, Reedsburg Installations Marla Wood Kay (Deaconess) and Ruth Anderson (AIM) - Holy Trinity, Akron 11/20/16 Conference Gatherings are on the third Thursday of the month This year we are alternating between Akron area and Wooster area sites for our gatherings with a focus on The Marks of the Church. How do we see these marks in our parish location? What are the struggles and what are the joys of these marks of the Church for us? What are some examples of your ministry site living out these marks of the Church? How can we assist one another in these marks? October: St. Paul, Smithville ONE Oct 20 th November: Holy Trinity, Akron HOLY Nov 17 th December: Zion, Wooster CATHOLIC Dec 15 th January: Roster Leaders retreat Also planning an early Epiphany dinner out event February: Oasis, Akron APOSTOLIC Feb 16 th March: Salem, Wooster SACRAMENTS March 16 th April: St. Stephen, Stow SUFFERING April 20 th May: St. Michael, Marshallville WITNESS May 18 th We have had good discussions in attendance so far, which is average. It s hard to get all segments of the conference together

2 Attendance at Conference Gathering Regular Occasional Rarely Never in 3 years David Nevergall Deborah Wissner Jon Weaver Gorge Uzho Mike Conklin Ed Kroppa Julie Thoms Tim Zoruba Doug Fidler Kristy Buyok Paul Thoms Rick Gordon Lucas Merritt John Corsi Jean Hansen *Alan Nathan Tina Heise *George Murphy Carolyn Hier **Bob Linsz Dan Caruso *David Craig John Furno Chris Bartholomew Sharon Brown Lisa Arledge Bill Michaels *Dixon Slingerland Ann Paynter *Tim Keeler *Keith Baker *James Cline *George Gaiser *Ellen Kreider *Landis Coffman *Tom Baumgardner *Marianne Powrie *Steve Caler *Clyde McGee **Betty Hazelton Pam Garrud Jeff Hancock * Retired A number of parishes are holding Advent services of some sort. Rejoice, Hudson has gone to 1 service on a Sunday -instead of a traditional and contemporary one blended, mostly contemporary St. Paul, Ravenna is pushing forward to do major building from 1950 s to 21 st century facility Bethel, Bath has a growing pre-school, which is feeding into their ministry St. Stephen, Stow brought in 28 new members last month St. Michael s Marshallville is still enjoying a honeymoon with Lucas Merritt both pastor and congregation happy. Prayer Concerns: Duane Culler Bob Linsz Sharon Brown John Furno Tim Keeler Alan Nathan Pericope Study at Rejoice, Hudson every Tuesday at 10am Humor Timmy didn t want to put his money in the offering plate Sunday morning, so his mother decided to use some hurried creative reasoning with him. You don t want that money, honey, she whispered in his ear. Quick! Drop it in the plate. It s tainted! Horrified, the little boy obeyed. After a few seconds he whispered, But, mommy, why was the money tainted? Was it dirty? Oh, no dear, she replied. It s not really dirty. It just taint yours, and it taint mine, she replied. It s God s.

3 CANTON/MASSILLON CONFERENCE submitted by Bruce Roth November 21, 2016 Congregations and Ministries (Making notes about developments for congregations of which I am aware at this point.) Abiding Savior, Alliance: Has called Angela Storer and was highlighted on the ELCA blog for their Homecoming service, inviting anyone who has worshiped with them for the past 10 years. Advent, Uniontown: Completed a gorgeous renovation of their Narthex/Gathering and worship space. Canton Parish (First Lutheran, Zion Lutheran): Seem to be holding their own at this time. First Lutheran and St. Stephen participated in a shared VBS this past summer in an attempt to reach out to the larger community in downtown Canton and are looking to expand this opportunity with other downtown churches this summer utilizing funding from a Walmart Grant. Faith, Massillon: has called Emily Seitz, new seminary grad and has already participated in our Sunday Night Live. Good Shepherd, Canton: haven t heard much from Diana. Now news is good news. Holy Trinity, Canton: Mark Williams very involved in the Lutheran/Catholic Covenant Dialogue, which took place at Zion, Lutheran on October, 23. Holy Trinity, Massillon: in call process, Mark Sherwindt is serving as their interim Pastor. Shared that everything seems to be going well. Israel s, Paris: Aaron Speakman installed as Synodically authorized Lay Minister. Peace, Canton South: all seems to be at peace at Peace. The Saints: St. Jacob s, Massillon, is steady St. Jacob s, North Canton: Hosted the Bishop s Gathering on Saturday, November 19. St. John s, Canal Fulton: Have attempted to contact Jeff Goggins and have not heard back from him. St. John s Minerva: I understand they are debating if they can call another full time pastor. St. Paul s, Alliance: seems to be holding its own. St. Paul s Massillon: Dan Cameron serving as interim, still in call process. St. Stephen Martyr, Canton: just celebrated its 50 th Anniversary; raising funds for a pavilion Zion, North Canton: Hal Robarge, Interim Conference Activities: On Sunday, November 13, 2016 Sunday Night Live began again as six of our congregations (Christ, Peace, Faith, St. Paul s, St. Stephen, Holy Trinity, Massillon) combined youth groups for an evening of bowling. We had around 45 youth present. Working on trying to get all rostered leaders together to welcome our new leaders and build new relationships.

4 CLEVELAND EAST CONFERENCE November 29, 2016 Congregations and Ministries Is there contact information for Gail Zackrison? I m remiss in trying to reach out to her. Church of the Covenant, Maple Heights, and Triune, Broadview Heights, seem to be close to calling a joint pastor. Bethlehem and Hope, both Cleveland Heights, will hold annual meetings on February 5, 2017, to vote on consolidating. They met with Pr. Terrance Jacob on November 7 th. Three Transformational churches, Calvary and New Covenant, both East Cleveland, and Euclid do each not have a website presence. Is this something that should be explored with them? (There is some Facebook presence not a lot but no one has a website). Rostered Leaders and Prayer Concerns Bobbie Davis Newhouse reports that she will still be in rehab for her recent back surgery until Christmas time. She has been laid up since late summer. Bob Pindell s daughter, Judith, is getting married on New Year s Eve. Jay Plummer is in the area for a few weeks; he finished his stint with the Marines in N. Carolina, and is moving to serve the Navy in San Diego. He looks to be able to retire from military chaplaincy in about 4-5 years, and hopes to be able to serve a parish in the NEOS. Leonard Killings has concluded his volunteer work on Thursday mornings, and has been able to re-join us in our monthly meetings. Conference Goings-on Our attendance has not been great maybe 8-9 per meeting. Surprisingly, even our meeting with the Bishop was rather sparse. We see the same people (the ones who appear to enjoy collegiality) and miss the same people each month. We had a good meeting discussing the then-upcoming election, followed by a very good session (along with Cleveland West) with Laura Barbins on Preaching Matthew/Year A. Our December meeting will simply be a check-in with people, a time to just talk

5 Cleveland West Conference November 29th Dean's Meeting, 2016 Sherman Bishop, Dean Walter Heber, 97 years old, is now supported by hospice care. First Lutheran in Lorain, Pr. Jimmy Madsen has reported the footers for the new church are being poured (as of October 6th) and they soon expect to see the footprint of the building. Good Soil Lutheran Ministries, the consolidation of Our Savior's Rocky River and Faith Lakewood, appears to be progressing positively. Mark Rollinghagen seems to be providing the right tenor of leadership from what I hear in the community and from some of their members. This is a case study that might be worth looking at as a model for other congregations who need to consider a new incarnation as congregations/parishes. On October 30 Prince of Peace Westlake and St. Ladislas Roman Catholic Westlake joined together for the Evening Prayer service From Conflict to Communion. Both myself and Fr. Snyder were pleased (he said surprised) at the turn out we had. There were several people (mostly Catholic) with tears following the service. The desire to find common ground between our faith communities runs deep at least among some of our members. In asking the CW clergy, along with the CE clergy at a shared meeting, and in talking with Bob Springer (chair of our ecumenical committee) I am wondering if we were the only two congregations in the synod that took the time to mark the beginning of this 500th year of the Reformations of the 16th century. Are the other deans aware of any activities along this line in your conference areas? If the answer is "no", or "not much" is it possible that we are not seeing a movement of the Spirit in our time? Are the ecumenical strides that the ELCA has been a leader of for 20 years just a "top down" agenda with little resonance in the pews? Good Shepherd, Brooklyn held what it considers it's last worship in October. Sunday services have been suspended, although not all constitutional steps have been taken to formally disclose the ministry. Upcoming Meetings: December 1: Trinity, Lakewood. Alyshia Ashburn (Ohio Power and Light) will discuss ecological stewardship and green energy opportunities for churches. January 5: Redeemer, Brookpark February 2: United Latvian Lutheran Church, Lakewood

6 DEAN S REPORT EASTERN CONFERENCE NORTHEASTERN OHIO SYNOD, ELCA Pr. Julianne D. Smith November, 2016 Bishop Allende met with our conference rostered leaders on October 25, at Shepherd of the Valley, Howland. It was well attended. We do not meet as a conference on a monthly basis. There is a weekly Text Study at St. John Lutheran, Youngstown (Slovak Synod) Tuesdays, 1:00 p.m. Pr. Pam Kelly began her call with Grace Lutheran, Austintown in mid-october. She will be installed December 4, 4:30 p.m. by Bishop Allende at Grace. Christ Lutheran, Struthers held an open house to celebrate Pr. Paul Burgeson s 50 th anniversary of his ordination November 6. Camp Frederick has had some major changeovers in staffing. An interim director begins in December, David Iverson from Wisconsin. Pr. Kari Langford led a confirmation camp November attended by approximately 40 youth plus adults. The Eastern Conference DIACONAL MINISTRIES ADVANCED STUDIES PROGRAM is under way with over 50 in attendance. Our weekly text study continues at St. John Lutheran, Youngstown at 1:00 p.m. Both Trumbull Area Lutheran Congregations (TALC) and Mahoning County Lutheran Cluster (MCLC) remain active. There are shared confirmation programs within each cluster. The Youngstown Area Catechism class held a Reformation Walk at Zion Lutheran opened to all. It was a great day with lots of learning about Martin Luther and life at the time of the Reformation. MCLC congregations will be holding a Round Robin Mid-week Lenten event focusing on the Small Catechism. A number of pastors in the conference have either taken pay cuts, or have not received any increases in pay packages. Zion Lutheran, Youngstown is working towards calling a second pastor. Rhonda Gallagher, and Allan Smearsoll have been ill. Amy Raymond s husband has recently been dealing with cancer. Dirk Van der Duim s wife has chronic health concerns due to Lyme s Disease. These are the ones I m aware of.

7 CONGREGATIONS/CORPORATIONS IN THE EASTERN CONFERENCE Shepherd of the Valley LRS, Inc., Niles Camp Frederick, Rogers *Christ Lutheran, Struthers St. John / Emmanuel Parish Petersburg, New Springfield *Grace Lutheran Church, E. Palestine Trinity Lutheran Church, Niles St John Lutheran Church, East Liverpool Good Hope Lutheran Church, North Lima Trinity Lutheran Church, Girard Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, Cortland St. John Lutheran Church, Champion Zion Lutheran Church, Youngstown Martin Luther Lutheran Church, Youngstown Grace Lutheran Church, Austintown Bethel Lutheran Church, Boardman Zion Lutheran Church, New Middletown Messiah Lutheran Church, Newton Falls St Paul Lutheran Church, Leetonia **Living Lord Lutheran Church, Howland Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Salem Mt. Moriah Lutheran Church, Berlin Center Emmanuel Lutheran Church, Salem Prince of Peace Lutheran Church Poland New Life Lutheran Church, Liberty Twp Lordstown Lutheran Church, Lordstown Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Conneaut Grace Lutheran Church, Hubbard **St Paul Lutheran Church, Warren Lord of Life Lutheran Church. Canfield *Jerusalem Lutheran, Columbiana * Zion Lutheran, New Waterford **Emmanuel Lutheran, Warren *vacant or interim **Bill Leitch and Ann Marie Winters sharing interim of Emmanual, Warren plus serving own calls ROSTERED MINISTERS IN THE EASTERN CONFERENCE The Rev. E. Richard Bowen RT The Rev. James Brandis The Rev. Paul Burgeson RT The Rev. Erin Burns The Rev. Paul Camp RT The Rev. R. Langley Collins RT The Rev. David Conrad The Rev. Eric Edwards The Rev. Ralph Edwards The Rev. Harry Fox RT The Rev. Rhonda Gallagher The Rev. Denise Gundersen The Rev. Frederick Holck RT The Rev. Duane Jesse The Rev. David Kamphuis The Rev. Pam Kelly The Rev. Richard Kidd The Rev. Larry Klinker The Rev. Eugene Koene The Rev. Karol Lankford The Rev. William Leitch The Rev. Diane Lundgren RT The Rev. Charles Lundquist RT The Rev. William Medford RT The Rev. Wayne Niemi RT The Rev. Aimee Raymond The Rev. Steven Ritter RT The Rev. Ken Scheck The Rev. Alan Smearsoll The Rev. Julianne Smith The Rev. Chelsea Spencer The Rev. Joyce Taipale AIM Betty Lou Theiss RT The Rev. Patrick Van De Motter The Rev. Dirk Van Der Duim AIM Susan Wessner, LFC The Rev. William Wessner, LFC The Rev. Robert White The Rev. William Wilkins The Rev. Ann Marie Winters The Rev. Rebecca Zielke The Rev. John Zimmann RT The Rev. James Zingale RT RT = retired LFC=Leave from Call

8 Richland/Ashland Conference Report November 2016 We tried a new meeting date this month in an attempt to get more participation. It didn t make any change, so it looks like we are going to stick with the second Tuesday of the month. This month we had a very frank and open conversation about the current conditions and trends in our congregations. We learned that all of us are pretty much in the same boat. Greying congregations with declining attendance. First, Shelby, seemed to have the most consistent attendance. But, to quote Pastor Yoak, The actuarial tables are going to be kicking in soon. As we discussed the various methods we have attempted to draw new people, alternate worship forms, mail campaigns, etc., we came to the conclusion that nothing will work unless the congregation is willing to do evangelism. We began a discussion on how we could do evangelism together and are hoping to come up with a model that will work. There are no congregational changes or issues that I am aware of since our last meeting. We look forward to our time with Bishop Allende December 13 th. Scott Henderson

9 Southern Conference Report November 22, 2016 On October 11, we had our conference meeting with the bishop. Eight pastors were in attendance for the worship and presentation. One pastor got upset during the discussion, and has decided not to attend text study for a while. On October 17, we had a FLIP meeting with nine in attendance. The same pastor was not there, so I don t know the impact on FLIP. The next meeting will be January 16 at Emmanuel. We talked about congregations developing a display for the Reformation Anniversary and then sharing them. Two lay members from Newcomerstown attended the Bishop s Gathering on worship, and I brought two lay members from Shanesville. Emmanuel received a bequest and sent a tithe to the synod. Winfield gave their remaining funds to Shanesville, and Shanesville will be sending a tithe to the synod. I continue to hear concern about declines in attendance and offerings. Baltic now worships Shanesville has approved the covenant for 2017 and Baltic will vote on Dec. 4. Ellen