Living Hope Lutheran Church

Transcription

1 Living Hope Lutheran Church 851 West Dekora Street Saukville, WI May 2012 Newsletter Congregational Retreat after Worship May 6 All congregation members and regularly attending Living Hope friends are invited to attend the Congregational Retreat on Sunday, May 6, 2012 immediately following worship (at approximately 10:15am). The purpose of this retreat is for each adult congregation member to have the opportunity to provide input to the visioning plan at Living Hope. As you may recall, our vision statement is, "As disciples of Christ, we will widen the impact of God's Church in the World." We also developed 9 focusing statements, one for each of the marks of discipleship. The visioning team, the council, and other leaders at Living Hope have started the plan, and we really need your input to finalize the plan. Each of us will play a part to help make the plan reality over the next 3-5 years. If you want to define our future, please plan to attend this retreat! To this end, the agenda for 10:15am-1:30pm will be: -Opening Devotion -What Kind of Church is Possible? (questions and answers) -Change is Not Scary if We Don't Let It Be So! (short movie and discussion) -Lunch at 11:45am -How Can I Make a Difference? (activity) -What Are the Next Steps? -Closing Prayer Remember - there will be Sunday School during its regular time from 10:15 to 11:15am. Additional activities for children will take place before and after lunch until the retreat is over. Child care/nursery care will also be provided the entire time except during lunch. Everyone will each lunch together in Fellowship Hall at about 11:45am. We ve planned this event so that the bulk of time spent gathering input from the congregation will be after lunch instead of during Sunday School. The first part, then, will focus largely on things that were also covered at the leadership retreat held last month. See you there! Michael McAllister, Pastor journeylad@gmail.com Shannon Stoker, Secretary & Business Manager shannon.stoker@livinghope-saukville.org

2 Bake Sale This Sunday May 6th A BIG thank you to all for your support with cash donations and purchasing baked goods at last month s Altar Care-sponsored bake sale. We sold everything we had. $ dollars was raised going towards new chalices. ANNUAL MEETING ON SUNDAY, MAY 20, 2012 The congregation s ANNUAL MEETING will take place on: Sunday, May 20 at 10:15am This will be immediately following worship. Please mark this date on your calendar and plan to attend. There will still be Sunday School this day (final day before summer!) at the regular time. Leaders have been contacted to submit their reports to Shannon by May 10th. Monthly Contribution Report for March 2012 Monthly Year to Date Actual Contribution $ 12, $ 40, Budgeted Contribution $ 14, $ 42, Budget Shortfall $ 1, $ 1,952.71

3 A Call to Serve our Neighbors from Caring and Sharing Melanie Clausing has returned from a week helping out at an orphanage in Haiti. She was able to bring medical and craft supplies from the congregation for the children. Melanie is eager to share her experiences. Look for her during the education hour on Sundays to share a cup of coffee and her stories of her experiences. We collected $ for the ELCA World Hunger Appeal during lent. Anyone interested in making cool ties for the troops overseas? Linda Speerbrecher currently has a family member serving in Afghanistan and we d like to support him and other servicemen and women. Please see the information in the newsletter article for more information. Contact Pat Baganz if you can help. This is for everyone who hits the garage sales this season. Especially needed to complete baby care kits for Lutheran World Relief are: hand towels, sleepers and receiving blankets. Used items in good condition are able to be used. Living Hope has entered a team in Relay for Life in Port Washington. More details in the newsletter. If you are interested in participating, please contact Julie Irish at A team from Living Hope will be cashiering at the annual Kathy's House auction and dinner at the Ozaukee Country Club on May 5th. If you would like to be a part of this team contact Pastor Marilyn at Cool Way to Support Our Troops! Would you like to join a group one Sunday in May after worship to create Cool-Ties to keep our troops cool? It s a simple sewing or stuffing project that will produce Cool Ties to cool off our guys and gals who are serving our country in some of the hottest areas of Earth. Cool ties are sometimes called bandana cool-ties because they are made out of similar material and are meant to be tied around the neck much like a bandana might be They are filled with water absorbent polymer crystals and work on the principal of evaporative cooling. Our troops will pour water on the back of the tie, the crystals will absorb the water, and voila- relief! Here s what we will do: If you can sew a straight seam, we will sew strips of fabric about 6 1/2 inches wide, with the length measurement being the width from selvage to selvage, so 35 or 44. Please use tan, brown, desert camouflage or other neutralcolored cotton. You can get directions from Linda Speerbrecher or from Pat Baganz. Then, on that Sunday at church, we will add in the crystals, and sew one last seam to keep the crystals at the back and sides of the neck. That s it! Please let Pat Baganz ( ) / pbaganz@yahoo.com or Georgeann Clithero ( ) know if you are interested. We will set up a date that works for the majority. If you can t meet on that date, and still want to make Cool Ties- either sewing or stuffing- we can help with that too. Relay For Life is a life-changing event that helps communities across the globe celebrate the lives of people who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost and fight back against the disease. Please consider joining our Living Hope Team for Relay for Life of Ozaukee Lakeside. It will be held on June 15-16, 2012 at Feith Family YMCA in Saukville. Opening ceremonies will be at 6:00 PM on June 15th and will continue through the night until 10:00 AM on June 16th. This year's theme is Camp Awannacure. We will be decorating our site with Summer Camp ideas. You can either sign up via the web or there is a form you can complete to sign up. Click Here to sign up and donate. There are many ways to participate. We will have luminaries to purchase for $5.00 for remembrance or in honor of someone whom has been affected by cancer. We are also accepting silent auction items for the event. If walking is not your thing, please come to the event anyway as there will be lots of activities for young and old alike. Also, you can support a team member from Living Hope by sponsoring them. Lastly, if anyone would like to be my Co-Captain, that would be awesome. I have never gone to a Relay for Life and I am sure there is someone out there that has and would have some great ideas. :) Please see Julie Irish for any questions or jirish@wi.rr.com.

4 LIVING HOPE SUMMER WORSHIP SCHEDULE Summer Sunday worship time will continue to be 9:00am **The last day of Sunday School for the program year is May 20, 2012** Wednesday Night worship at Living Hope this Summer! Join us every Wednesday night this summer at 6:30pm starting June 13th The service itself will be informal with an in-depth spiritual aspect and a more intimate setting than Sunday. Each week we ll focus on the coming Sunday s texts, although the message will be a different focus from Sunday s sermon. The message time itself will include a short sermon and some life application questions for guided discussion and study. You re encouraged to bring your Bibles with you! A couple Wednesdays during the summer we ll plan on worshipping outside and eat treats afterwards by the campfire (look for those dates to come). Come join us for this midweek spiritual journey this summer at Living Hope!!

5 Rocky Point Lighthouse Weekend VBS June 9th -10th Saturday June 9th- 9:00-11:30am- Session 1 11:30am-Noon- Lunch Noon-2:30pm Session 2 Sunday June 10th- 9:00am Sunday celebration Cost- $5 per family to help cover materials and lunch Registration forms will be handed out in the coming weeks I am still looking for volunteers to help out, please let me know if you are interested, please me at obbie1983@yahoo.com. God Bless, Chrissy Curran Easy Weekend Format Just two 2½-hour sessions and one Sunday Celebration. Just One Point Every session focusing on the same simple, powerful Point: Shine God's Light! Projects With a Purpose No crafts? Rocky Point Lighthouse has something even better! Kids put God's love into action by making special gifts for others in their church, community, and the world. Multi-Age Kids of all ages join Crews with a teenage or adult leader for each day's adventures. It really works, and discipline problems practically disappear. Sunday Celebration This morning service for the whole congregation is designed to let the kids shine as they share what they've learned at VBS. And since no practice is necessary, your job just got even easier as a volunteer!

6 Remembering His words, Love one another, Hearts to Hands regularly meets to knit and crochet for others while sharing fellowship and devotional time. We continue to meet at church on the 1 st & 3 rd Thursday of each month. We will share fellowship time from 6:30 PM until 7 PM. About 7 PM we have our devotional study followed by prayer time and concluding about 8 PM. We listen to an unabridged book on CD so that we can listen and discuss while we work with our hands. (So a book is not necessary.) We have finished chapter 3 of our new study called Beautiful Things Happen When a Woman Trusts God. All are welcome, even if you don t knit or crochet. We encourage you to come and participate in the fellowship and the devotional study. By the way, ask about our tasty treats. J Please feel welcome to come, share in fellowship and grow in faith. If you are in need of child care in order to attend, please let us know. If you have any other questions, please call Sonia at or Julie at We look forward to having you join us! Please mark the following dates on your calendar: Please note the following dates: Thursdays, May 3 & 17 Thursdays, June 7 & 21 Thursdays, July 5 & 19 Beautiful Things Happen When a Woman Trusts God By Sheila Walsh The opening illustration of this book is quite personal, as the author thinks of herself as a child on a swing, being pushed by her mother higher and higher. Oh, how she loved to go so high! One day at the park through unforeseen circumstances, the neighborhood bully began to push her on the swing. He wasn't pushing her any higher than she had gone before, yet she was terrified. It wasn't about the swing or the experience. It was completely and totally about WHO was pushing. This is defined as trust and is the foundational premise for the book. Trust. It's a small, simple word. But it's hard to do. Walk with Sheila Walsh as she explores the value of truly trusting our Heavenly Father. When you know who's in control, and trust who's in control, it changes everything; it transforms our nightmares into an exhilarating life of faith. Are you ready to see some beautiful, unexpected things happen in your life? Give God the gift of trusting Him completely. Living Hope Men s Group Our next meetings will be May 9th and May 16th at 6pm. This will allow us to finish God is Closer Thank You Think. If you have questions, please contact Brad LeDuc

7 A MISSION OF LIVING HOPE LUTHERAN CHURCH Phone (262) The completion of another school year and the welcoming of warm weather is upon us. Congratulations to the HWG Preschool Graduation Class of 2012! The Graduation ceremony for the Star Room Children who will be moving on to kindergarten in fall will take place on May 24 at 10:30am in the Living Hope Sanctuary with lunch to follow. The final day of Preschool for the 2011/2012 is May 25. Summer Preschool is from June 4 to August 31. We are currently accepting enrollments for our School Age Summer Camp Program. We have plans to include, yoga, gardening, sports & games, German, card making, and many more activities to be lead by volunteers and other experts. Contact Dawn or Beki for more information. Thank you to all who participated in the Mr. Z s fundraiser, over $2000 was raised!! We have already used the funds for a new playground playhouse. We also plan to start gathering loose parts for our preschool playground. These loose parts will be random items that the children can use creatively to build, pretend, and manipulate during outdoor play time. If you think you might have items to donate please contact HWG. Please be aware, as you may use the playground areas, to remind children to be respectful of the equipment and to put all items back where they were found. Thank you for your help in keeping the playgrounds safe and organized. We pray for God s continued Blessings upon Here We Grow and Living Hope In Jesus name, Beki & Dawn Summer Camping Opportunity Start your summer out with a camping trip to Harrington Beach State Park June 8-10, A few of us are staying Monday, too. If you would like to reserve a campsite, please use Reserve America link below. If you need assistance with the reservation process, contact Julie Irish at So far the DeWitt's, Lear's, McMahon's and Irish's have reserved sites 221, 222, 223, 224. If you are unable to commit at this time you might want to check out the non-reserve sites that Wednesday or Thursday before in case they fill up quickly. If camping is not your forte, you can always join us for a campfire in the evening. Hope to see you around the fire! The Rock & the Rabbi: The Story of a Fisherman and a Teacher is the musical story of the friendship between Peter and Jesus. This musical was first performed 14 years ago with music & lyrics by Danny Hamilton and book by Gary Richardson. It is also the first in a series of musicals written by Hamilton and Richardson, including The Witnesses, David and The Child. About 3 years ago, several members of Living Hope had the pleasure of seeing this fabulous, moving & inspiring musical at the Fireside Dinner Theater in Ft. Atkinson. If you missed it then, it will be back at the Fireside this summer from July 12 through August 19. It is appropriate for families and well worth your investment of time and money. Check it out at:

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9 Dear parents of Cherub and Living Hopeful Choirs, The last time we sing this school year will be on Sunday, May 20 (don t forget to be at church at 8:30 to rehearse before we sing). Pastor Michael will be focusing on the mark of discipleship Invite during the month of May, so we have started practicing songs about inviting others to come to God s house. The Cherubs are singing Come and Go With Me while the Living Hopefuls will sing Big House. We actually sang these songs last year, but they fit perfectly with mark of discipleship Invite so we wanted to sing them again. Sunday, May 20 is also the last day of Sunday School, so during worship we will be giving the students their certificates in recognition for their singing with us this year. Rehearsal times are now: The children from age 3 through 1 st grade in the Cherub Choir will practice in the sanctuary from 10:15 until 10:30 and then their Sunday school teachers will come and escort them to class. They will be in Sunday School from 10:30 until 11:15. The students in 2 nd grade through 5 th grade will be in the Living Hopefuls Choir and they will be in Sunday school from 10:15 until 11:00. At that time, their Sunday school teachers will send them to the sanctuary for rehearsal, which is from 11:00 until 11:15. PLEASE NOTE: We are concerned that it will be too difficult for the children s choirs to sing at worship without having a rehearsal first. So we are asking parents to try to have their children meet early before service at 8:30 so that we can rehearse before worship only on the Sunday s we are scheduled to sing. We have also decided that we will continue to sing at the beginning of worship as prelude. As in the past, the Cherubs will sing first, then the Living Hopefuls. Then the children may join their parents for worship. Please check the monthly update and the most current schedule or any choir news which will be in the newsletter and posted on the bulletin board behind the sanctuary (next to the kitchen door). Please don t hesitate to call with any questions. Yours in Christ, Sonia Lear Janelle Herbrand Julie Eslinger Brenda Stallbaum Accompanist

10 Scrip Sales at Living Hope Scrip Raffle: During the last month we have been holding a weekly raffle with scrip sales. Anyone who purchases scrip/gift cards becomes eligible to win a prize from the weekly raffle drawing. Become a winner by buying scrip and entering your name in the raffle! Scrip Cards for Groceries: We now offer gift cards from Sentry in denominations of $10 and $50. The grocery businesses we carry in our inventory now include: Walmart Roundys/Pick n Save Piggly Wiggly Sendik s Sentry By purchasing scrip you can aid Living Hope in earning extra money through the discounts we receive from purchasing the cards. Try purchasing scrip cards for your favorite grocery store and use them during the week to buy your weekly groceries. This costs you nothing extra but makes money for Living Hope. Questions? Talk to Linda Herrick at the scrip table on Sunday mornings. Property Thank-Yous Thanks to Mike and Jude Dow, Linda Speerbrecher, Brad LeDuc, Jeff Irish and Jerry and Pat Baganz for Spring cleaning at the church. Also, thanks to the beautification of the sanctuary for Easter by Jude and Mike Dow and Linda Speerbrecher. Outdoor cleanup workers Pastor Marilyn Borchardt, Jude Dow, Deb Gilbertson and Pat Baganz have been whipping the sign and hosta gardens into shape for the summer. Scott Nelson, a new Property committee member, has made much-appreciated repairs for Here We Grow. Food Pantry News Items needed at the pantry for May May 6, 2012 cereal, applesauce, canned peas & chile beans, syrup, pancake mix, tuna, hand soap, diapers (size 5 & 6), brown paper grocery bags May 13, 2012 cereal, applesauce, rice, pancake mix, tomato sauce, canned meat, beef stew, dish detergent, hand soap May 20, 2012 cereal, applesauce, peanut butter, packaged cold salads, tuna, pickles, toothpaste, bathroom tissue May 27, 2012 cereal, soup, syrup, pancake mix, dried peas & beans, tomato sauce & paste, catsup & mustard, honey, diapers (size 5 & 6), cash donations

11 Thrivent Financial for Lutherans The impact that a group of individuals can have in Ozaukee County is being revisited by the Ozaukee County Chapter of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. The board this year is comprised of Lori Best, Naomi Beyers, Richard Bublitz, Diana Eggold, Rachel Ferguson, Terrance Ganyo, Martin Hauser, Neil Traxel and Janice Wendorf. They are working together with Thrivent Financial Representatives James Meyer, James Wegner, Steve Clasen, Chris Proehl and Brandon Lehman to help the people of Ozaukee County. This year Thrivent Financial decided to restructure the way in which it disperses money back into the communities where it's members live in. Thrivent Financial challenged each chapter to come up with a plan consisting of goals, tactics and milestones for what they hoped the chapter could accomplish this year. The funding that each chapter will receive this year is based on these plans. The Ozaukee Chapter has decided to focus on funding projects that effect more of our community rather than small church groups. They are striving to find ways in which to get local Thrivent members actively involved with the projects they support. From the "Caring for our Community" food drive they are currently sponsoring in local Lutheran Churches to benefit Family Sharing, to walk/run events that support Portal industries, Big Brothers and Big Sisters, and Starting Point, they are working to find projects that are new recipients of their Care Abounds in Communities funds. "It's not that we don't want to support the people we have helped in the past, we just want to work to help a larger number of people. We want to get more of our members involved and really increase the positive impact we can have here in Ozaukee County. Many people do not realize that Thrivent allocates charitable funds to its chapters so that they can work with other organizations to impact their communities," said Chapter President Rich Bublitz. Last year The Ozaukee Chapter provided over $40,000 in funds to area non-profit organizations like Big Brothers/ Big Sisters of Ozaukee County, Concordia University, Fredonia Lions Club, Interfaith Care Givers, Lutherans for Life, Mike Boesch ALS Softball Tournament, Portal Industries, Starting Point of Ozaukee, as well as many Lutheran church groups in Ozaukee county. In all these organizations raised almost $190,000 with the projects that the Ozaukee County Chapter was involved with. The members of Thrivent took part in events that created almost 17,000 hours of volunteer work. Chapters of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans are organized geographically and bring together members to help others and help their community. Through the Care Abounds in Communities program, Thrivent Financial provides funding to fundraising activities and/or hands-on service activities to help individuals, families and qualified not-for-profit organizations. The Ozaukee Chapter hopes that by sharing what they are doing and what they hope to do this year, that organizations and individuals who would like to work with them will contact their Community Service Team Director, Diana Eggold and start up a conversation to see if the groups can work together. Forms for applying for Care Abounds funds can be found on the Ozaukee County Chapter website Thrivent Financial members are organized into local groups, called chapters. Chapters provide a way for members to connect with one another to give back to their communities, congregations and causes they care about through charitable activities, as well as come together for educational and member social events. The chapter invites not only Thrivent members but also the community to join us for our social and educational events. A list of events is kept current on the chapter's website. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans is a faith-based, not for profit financial services organization with approximately 2.6 million members. Thrivent Financial and its subsidiaries offer a broad range of financial products and services including life insurance, annuities, mutual funds, disability income insurance, bank products and more. Don t miss the Thrivent Financial for Lutherans National Member Meeting in Milwaukee. It s an opportunity for members and non-members to: Get a live, in-person update from Thrivent Financial President and CEO Brad Hewitt. Find out how Thrivent Financial performed in Learn more about the membership benefits available to you. Meet board members and senior leaders and ask questions. Enjoy music, ballpark snacks and photos with Brewers mascots. Connect with other members. Celebrate all the good we re doing together. Cost: Free! When: Tuesday, May 29 (new date) free bus and tailgate sponsored by the Ozaukee County Chapter meet at the Hwy C Park and Ride Bus leaves at 4:30pm, tailgate will happen at Miller Park ( RSVP to (262) ) 6 to 7:30 p.m.: Reception 7:30 to 8:30 p.m.: Program Where: Miller Park, One Brewers Way, Milwaukee Register: Go to Thrivent.com/membermeeting or call 800-THRIVENT ( ). When prompted, say directory and dial ext Please register by May 10.

12 LIVING HOPE MAY 2012 CALENDAR Wednesday, May 2 6:30pm Choir Rehearsal Thursday, May 3 12:30pm Tri-County New Horizons Band Rehearsal 6:30pm Hearts to Hands 8pm AA Meeting Friday, May pm Acoustic Open Mic Live Sunday, May 6 Bake Sale, sponsored by Altar Care 9am Worship Service 10:15am Sunday School 10:15am-1:30pm Congregational Retreat Monday, May 7 12:30pm Tri-County New Horizons Band Rehearsal 7pm AA Meeting Wednesday, May 9 6pm Men s Group Thursday, May 10 12:30pm Tri-County New Horizons Band Rehearsal 8pm AA Meeting Saturday, May 12 9am-5pm High School Youth Retreat to Prepare for New Orleans Sunday, May 13 9am Worship Service 10:15am Sunday School Monday, May 14 12:30pm Tri-County New Horizons Band Rehearsal 6:30pm Worship Life Meeting 7pm AA Meeting Wednesday, May 16 6pm Men s Group Thursday, May 17 12:30pm Tri-County New Horizons Band Rehearsal 6:30pm Hearts to Hands 8pm AA Meeting Sunday, May 20 9am Worship Service Teacher Appreciation Sunday 10:15am Annual Congregational Meeting leaders please submit reports by 5/10 10:15am Last Day of Sunday School until Fall Monday, May 21 12:30pm Tri-County New Horizons Band Rehearsal 7pm Council Meeting 7pm AA Meeting Thursday, May 24 10:30am Here We Grow Graduation and Luncheon 8pm AA Meeting Sunday, May 27 9am Worship Service Monday, May 28 Tuesday, May 29 Memorial Day Living Hope and Here We Grow closed Thrivent National Member Meeting in Milwaukee Sunday, June 3 9am Worship Service Thursday, June 7 6:30pm Hearts to Hands Saturday & Sunday, June 9 & 10 Rocky Point Lighthouse Weekend Vacation Bible School Saturday 9am-2:30pm (lunch provided) and Sunday Celebration during 9am Worship Wednesday, June 13 6:30pm Wednesday Night Worship begins Friday & Saturday, June 15 & 16 Relay for Life Friday 6pm Saturday 10am at Feith Family YMCA