April 2018 Newsletter

Transcription

1 APRIL2018 ISSUE 4 April 2018 Newsletter Comments from Council Thumbnails to hit the highlights of March meeting. Preschool: Walk through Wednesdays start April 11 th for prospective enrollees. Financial: We are seeing nice contributions in March. Pastor s Report: Sunday Bible Study on prayer begins on April 8 th. Education: We are gearing up for Vacation Bible School set for July Technology: The new cross stand is done. Exploring ways to enhance worship music. Spiritual Care: Looking to host various community activities that match our core values. Brand Marketing: Training for office staff using the software to reach new people. Spring Time and Easter Did you ever stop to consider how wonderful it is that Easter and spring correspond with each other? As nature appears dead during the winter, no leaves on most trees, no plants blooming, and brown grass, it suddenly comes back to life in spring. Things begin to blossom and take on color. The first shoots of the crocuses pop through the frozen ground, and there is life! In a more meaningful way Jesus dead body was laid in the grave. Then suddenly on Easter morning He came to life! The tomb was empty! And that victory is our victory. The graves that currently hold lifeless bodies of clay will upon Christ s return, suddenly spring forth with new life. For us as believers our bodies will be new and our life will be in heaven. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we [g] bear the image of the heavenly man. 1 Cor. 15: 42-44, 49. Unfortunately for the unbelievers their lives will be spent in eternal separation from God. That is why we need to get this good news of Christ s death and resurrection out to them. So they, too, can experience this spiritual spring time. Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Hallelujah.

2 Church Survey Results Sixty-six surveys were returned with 22 open-ended forms completed. Join us April 22 following worship. Dr. Rev. Rob Kasper will share the results of the surveys that were completed in March. Crown Jewels On Saturday, April 21st bring dish to share. We will meet in the fellowship room. Following lunch we will watch a video. April Fellowship Crown of Life is providing fellowship treats during the Sundays of April. Sign up sheets are on display in the narthex. Thank you for demonstrating fellowship, hospitality and goodies. President s Volunteer Service Award Crown of Life will present the Presidents Volunteer Lifetime Service Award to five deserving volunteers on Sunday April 15 during the 9:00 am service. Please join us for this ninth annual presentation ceremony as we recognize the volunteer work of these individuals. Easter Flowers Thank you to the following: families of Bachelard, Bane, Claussen, Hart, Mann, Pell and Jim & Linda Leinhos, for providing the flowers to enhance our worship environment.. Gifts For All God s Children says THANK YOU!- A larger facility means more space for Easter baskets! They stopped taking requests at over 2,100 from 32 organizations to make sure they had enough items to fill them all. This year had groups on a waiting list if we make extra baskets over the total we needed. The final count was 2, 146. Thank you to everyone from Crown of Life and Living Word who donated supplies! Also, thanks to Charlotte Bachelard, Lois Bell, Linda Claussen and her friend Francisca Hagan who came to help fill or wrap the baskets. I apologize if you came and I missed you. What we do for GFAGC is always appreciated! Thanks again!

3 Transition Update, The transition team continues to meet. At our most recent meeting we started to put together the action teams to develop our action plans. The Worship team is lead by Pastor Koy and consists of Pia, Gil, and Mel. Communication has no leader at this time. But Its members are Mel and Don. Care for members is lead by pastor and will have its members shortly. Education is led by Tammy and at this time Don serves on the team. The community team is lead by Fred and consists of Joyce and Bill Claussen. As you can see we are in need of other team members on every action team. The names listed above have consented to serve. There are other names on the teams from the inception of these teams but we did not list them at this time, as we need to confirm that they are still willing to serve in this capacity. We also developed a list of members names who the committee feels has the gifts to serve on the respective teams that line up with their passions. In the upcoming weeks pastor Koy will be contacting each of these members to count it a joy to serve in this short term capacity. Yes, this is will be a short term commitment. If all goes well, we hope to have this phase complete no later than July. We ask you, the members of our Crown family to continually hold this process up in prayer. We also ask that you would pray for God to raise up those whom He has placed before us to accept serving on an action team when they are approached by pastor Koy. On another note, thank you for taking the time to complete the Congregational Survey. We had over 60 replies. This gave us a good cross section of the congregation. It also was a good percentage in relation to our membership. Grow the Spirit within you Luther s Small Catechism has once again been updated and expanded. Some of the new features include: The Central Thought- this section guides you through simple Bible study and reflection questions. A Closer Reading-helps you dig deeper into the wording of Luther s Small Catechism. Connections and applications-relates Scripture to important issues in today s culture. Psalms, hymns and prayers- combine Scripture and catechism study with worship for devotional use. Bible narrative references, expanded notes, and quotes from Martin Luther and the Confessions. Expanded appendices-provide helpful articles, reference material and glossaries to aid in personal study. This will prove to be a great addition to your Bible study library. I would encourage you to use your Catechism in your daily study and prayers if you haven t been doing so. Every family should own a copy of this valuable spiritual tool. The catechism can help answer some of your most basic questions about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the Bible, and the Lutheran/Christian faith. You can reserve your copy of this revised Catechism by signing up on the bulletin board outside the kitchen. The introductory cost of the Catechism is $ We will keep the sign up posted through May. If you would like to see a copy please ask pastor Koy.

4 APRIL2018 ISSUE 4 Palm Sunday More photos at Preschoolers sing on Palm Sunday. Pia and the choir get percussion from Ben and Sophie Gugel. Preschoolers lead the parade. The Petting Zoo following the service is always popular. Crown Jewels When it comes to bocce ball, It is not whether you win or lose it is who joins you The Crown Jewels meet monthly. Look for event information on the narthex bulleting board.

5 New Candelabra to the Glory of God. Some of you may have noticed that the floor candelabra, on the pulpit side, is not in good condition. The brass followers are dented and the stand is pitted and scratched. The candle shells are also very small and require a lot of refilling especially around holidays with additional services. The Tuesday morning Bible study has a weekly donation box which is opened periodically to donate to a non-profit group. This time the suggestion was to purchase something for Crown of Life in memory of Billie Roffe. It was later agreed to use the money for a new candelabra. Jim Leinhos has graciously volunteered to fabricate a new stand to match the aisle candles he has just made if we buy all the materials for the candles. Through all the donations in memory of Billie a total of $ is available. The materials for this project will be $ plus shipping. Possibly we could include the two altar candles as well. We have been blessed at Crown before by the skills of our woodworkers including Jim. He just finished the aisle candles but prior to that it was the beautiful prayer bench which is on the altar. If it is in your heart to help with this project there are envelopes on the counter in the narthex which can go in the offering plate. Or just include a separate check in your offering envelope with Candelabra Project on the memo line. Billie was a light in our lives and we are sure she is shining in Heaven. So this is a very appropriate way for her to be remembered here at Crown of Life and it will make a beautiful addition to our altar area. Please help if you can. Thank you! A Blast from the Past! Some of you will remember the Soup & Salad Cookbook we put together several years ago. It came about because those coming to the Lenten Suppers kept asking each other for the recipes. It was just a simple affair with several of the recipes handwritten but that didn t change the delicious results of what was between the covers. I just uncovered several copies of a cookbook that the women in our church complied and had professionally published to sell as a fundraiser. The year was 1992 or 93 because our LWML officers were listed inside the front cover. The cost was $6 plus $1.75 postage + packing. There were even coupons: Hershey s Baking Chips $.30 off, Campbell s Golden Corn Soup $.20 on a can, save $.25 on SPAM (do they still make that?) or $.15 off Red Star Yeast. Look through the names of some of the contributors. Depending on how long you have belonged to the church you will recognize a different number of names. Some of you will even see your own name mentioned. What recipe did you contribute? Cookbook contributors: Caroline Koschmann, Nancy Larsen, Edie Weir, Ramona Hepfner, Chris Beckmann, Donna Neirinck, Maggie Lewis, Diane Dingman, Rosemary LoPresti, Pat Enderle, Betty Schultz, Laura Witherspoon, Maude Kilway, Liz Bellore and even Bill Claussen! If you would like to see the cookbook there are three copies on the top library shelf in the conference room. You might want to take a look. Just check out the recipes, see what old friends submitted or if you contributed, do you still make that dish?

6 Church Office Hours Monday thru Friday 9 a.m. 3 p.m. Divine Service Sunday 9:00 a.m. Sunday School & Adult Bible 10:00 a.m Dutton (At Adams) Rochester Hills, Mi Phone: office@crownoflifechurch.org preschool@crownoflifechurch.org Evening Bible Study Mondays 7:00 p.m. Morning Bible Study Tuesdays 9:30 a.m. Choir Practice Thursdays 6:30 p.m. INTENTION INTERIM PASTOR: Rev. Norm Koy MUSIC DIRECTOR: Mrs. Pia Broden Williams April CROWN OF LIFE LUTHERAN CHURCH 2975 Dutton Road (at Adams) Rochester Hills, MI OUR MISSION To joyfully introduce people to Jesus Christ, the Lord of Life