Carlton Hills Evangelical Lutheran Church Council and Staff. Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage Paid Santee, CA Permit No. 201

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1 The Echo No April Santee, CA The Monthly Newsletter of: Carlton Hills Evangelical Lutheran Church 9735 Halberns Blvd., Santee, CA Voice/Fax: (619) Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage Paid Santee, CA Permit No. 201 RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED DATED MATERIAL PLEASE DO NOT DELAY Carlton Hills Evangelical Lutheran Church Council and Staff John Sevcik President Lee Strand Vice President Pam Meyers Secretary Bethany Timan Financial Secretary Laura Vaughan Treasurer Belinda Karge Children and Youth Ministry Youth & Family Minister John Sevcik Pam Meyers Laura Vaughan Lee Strand Steve Schmidtke Mutual Ministry Committee Members Rick Schowalter Pastor Steve Schmidtke Trustee Katie Wentz Parish Education Mary Thomas Worship - Traditional Ellie Timan Coordinator-Stephen Ministry Keri Hyles Stewardship Nicole Davidson Outreach Mary Thomas Jennifer Brown Prayer Chain, Lynn Nickel Organist Marvin Hamilton Choir Director

2 Pastor s Page Isaiah 53:4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. Why Evangelical Lutheran Church in America? What does the term evangelical mean as part of the name Evangelical Lutheran Church in America? When I do the prayer for the Santee City Council I am always amazed that when I am introduced as being a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America our mayor always stumbles over the word evangelical, almost like he has never heard the word before. I know he heard the word before because he stumbled over the word the last time I gave the prayer. The Lutheran church started in the 16th century, when a monk named Martin Luther challenged the policies and doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church. Luther was originally trying to reform those policies, not to break away from the church, but his challenges sparked what is known as the Protestant Reformation. Luther s opponents used the term Lutheran to indicate a follower of Martin Luther. Luther himself did not like the term, pointing out that he was simply teaching God s Word; the people were following God, not Luther. It was Jesus who born our griefs and carried our sorrows and not himself. Luther and his supporters preferred evangelical, a term meaning gospel or good news, to show that they drew their identity from the gospel, as opposed to papal Christians whose identity came from a relationship with the church hierarchy under the Pope. Luther taught that we do not somehow earn salvation by doing good works. Instead, it is the gospel, the good news of salvation and faith in God that comes from that good news, that reconciles us with God. Good works should and must be done, not to earn grace, but to glorify God and because God asked us to do them. This focus on the importance of the gospel led Lutherans to quickly translate the Bible from Latin to the languages of the common people. The modern Evangelical Lutheran Church in America began in 1988 as the result of the merger of the American Lutheran Church, the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches, and the Lutheran Church in America. This was happening while I was in seminary and we would affectionately call this new Lutheran church, The Big Lutheran Church. There are several Lutheran Churches who refused to join the merger. These Lutheran churches include the Missouri Lutheran Church and the Wisconsin Synod Lutheran Church. Generally speaking these Lutheran churches are more conservative and those who agreed to the merger are more liberal. For example at the time the issue was allowing women to become pastors. To this day the conservative Lutheran churches do not allow women to become pastors while our Evangelical Lutheran Church in America rejoices that women are included as clergy in our churches. The issue today is homosexuality. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has recently allowed gays to become pastors and some of our churches have left the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America because of that decision. As used by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America the term evangelical does not signify a politically conservative or politically liberal position. Instead, it recognizes the importance of the gospel in what we believe as Christians. The term evangelical is grounded in an understanding of our faith that God has given us salvation not because of our actions or good works, but because of Jesus actions and His good works. The faith we have is not based on our goodness or holiness, but the goodness and holiness of Jesus. Surely he hath born our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. We believe that Jesus dies for our sins and the sins of the world. We believe that none of us is good enough to go to heaven, but we believe that it is not the

3 sinless that go to heaven but the forgiven. We believe what the Bible says, which is we have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God. The glory of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is that it includes a wide range of conservative and liberal thinking under the same roof because of the basic belief that we are all sinners and we are only saved by the grace of God as a free gift to all who believe and follow the way that Jesus set before us. We identify with the sinner. We are the sinner and we rejoice in being a saved sinner by the grace and love of God through Jesus Christ. We are humble in what we believe and open to what might even make us uncomfortable because we know Jesus was the friend of tax collectors and sinners and Jesus was accused of eating with sinners. We are evangelical. We are filled with the good news of the gospel that we have been saved by grace through faith and we welcome all people into that fellowship of the grace of God. Pastor Rick Finances And Attendance For February Attendance: 9:00a.m. 11:00a.m. Tue Total 2/ / /13 Ash Wednesday 75 2/ /20 Wednesday in Lent 51 2/ /27 Wednesday in Lent 59 February Finances: Income $12,740 Expenses $12,603 Operating Surplus $22,759 Senior Lunch The second Tuesday of the month when you are invited to the Senior Lunch at a local restaurant beginning at 11:30am. On April 9 h at Bonnie's, at 596 Broadway in El Cajon. Thursday Bible Studies Thursdays in March Pastor Rick is offering a Bible Study. The study is at the Schowalter home at 1630 Whitsett Drive in El Cajon at 6:00am to 6:30am. Come and join us! Church Mailings Would you like to be included on the church e- mail list? Do you want some bit of news ed to the congregation? An list is being compiled by the church office and you can add yourself to the group list by just dropping a note into the offering plate or calling the church office at If you would like to something please submit the request in writing after checking with Pastor Rick. All s sent will be sent without listing the addresses of the others who are receiving the information. This is called a blind ing and is meant to protect these addresses from reaching someone who is not authorized to send to our church members without permission. Feed the Homeless Monday, April 1 st TACO (Third Ave Charitable Organization) Feed the Homeless at First Lutheran Church, SD. Let Pastor Rick know if you want to help. We meet in the church parking lot at 2:30p.m. Church Council Meeting At Noon, Sunday April 21 st

4 Daily Devotions Would you like to be a part of our church s daily devotions? Just let Pastor Rick or the Church Office know your address and you can received the daily devotions via or stop by the table in the back of the church and pick up last week s list of daily devotions. Most of the devotions are written by Pastor Rick but some are shared by members on the list. If you want to submit a devotion to the list that has now grown to over 80 participants just write to Pastor Rick at SYMCN1@aol.com. What a great way to have Bible study a part of your everyday life a little Scripture at a time. Synod Assembly Volunteers Ellie Timan is coordinating volunteers for the Synod Assembly, May2-4. The jobs are easy, often just directing the voting members to meeting areas. The Assembly is at the Town and Country Resort in Mission Valley. Contact Ellie if you can help at Chili Cook-Off A fund raiser for SDSU Campus Ministry This annual fund raiser is a lot of fun!! Please contribute this Sunday,April 14 th and come have some wonderful Chili at Christ Lutheran on Cass in Pacific Beach at 4:00pm Stephen Ministries Sunday, April 21st our new Stephen Ministers will be commissioned at the 9:00am worship service Congratulations! Diedra Zeller And Stephen Schmidtke They completed 50 hours of training! St.Petersburg Russian Quartet Sunday, May5 th Come and enjoy as these wonderful singers will lead worship at 9:00am and give a free concert following Come To Mexico Saturday, May 11 th Come to Mexico and help us build a 12 /12 house for a needy family. Through Lutheran Border Concerns You will need a passport! Anyone can come!! Building materials and a work supervisor will be provided so everyone will be given a job to match their experience and skills Spring Jubilee Saturday, April 27, 2013 Come join us for the first ever Spring Jubilee! It s much like the fall festival but with a springtime twist! We will have food trucks, games, booths, raffles, live music, and even beer tasting! We ll be rocking from 10 AM until 8 PM, so bring the kids, grandkids, and even your neighbors! We d love to see some fresh faces! If you would like to help us tie up any loose ends before the event, talk to Katie Wentz and ask how you can help, or, sign up and grab a post it from the back of the sanctuary! Raffle items/baskets need to be delivered to church by Sunday April 7, so that we can make packets for people to take to work to sell to on their own! The more pre-sales there are, the more scholarship money for this year s Joyful Noise Summer Camp! We look forward to seeing you all there!

5 Church Survey Thank you to everyone who has filled out a Vision Quest survey for the Long-Range Planning Commttee on March 17 th. If you haven't completed a survey you may receive a phone call from a member of the committee asking if you are interested in doing one. Cell Tower Sale - Update At the December 2012 budget and election meeting the congregation made a request of the council to look into selling the Nextel cell tower lease. We contacted Wireless Capital, the company that had purchased the T-Mobil cell tower lease. They said they were interested in the lease and offered us $185,000 contingent upon their investment committee confirming the details of the lease. At the annual meeting, an update was provided. Due to the technology changes in the last few years and the financial stability of Nextel they were not interested in purchasing our lease. They have returned to us with the info that the Nextel had been acquired by Sprint and the lease transferred to Sprint. If they can confirm this, they may be interested in purchasing the lease for the $185,000 originally offered. Upcoming Youth and Young Adult Events One Salvation Youth Led Service is an interactive time to share what God is doing in our lives, and how all we do is centered on his word. The message is scripture based with audio-visuals. All youth are welcome Tuesday night s at 7:00 pm. Souled*Out is for children 2 nd to 6 th grade we meet at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday nights for fun discussions and crafts. Keri Hyles has graciously agreed to facilitate the Souled*Out group. If you have children in 2 nd to 6 th grade, come check it out. Joyful Noise Summer Camp Month of July Theme: Never Give Up Mark your calendars - our annual summer Joyful Noise Art and Music camp will take place the month of July. July 1-26, 2013 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. daily. (We will have camp on the 4 th of July). Camp is open to children ages 3 to 7 th grade. Our theme this year is tied to sports and we will have a fun focus on sports. Youth who have participated in confirmation and high school youth can apply to work as camp staff. We also need adults to volunteer one or two days a week between 9:30 and 2:00 to lead a rotation or to assist with preparation for a rotation. See Belinda Karge for more information. Applications will be posted on the church website by March 1 st and interviews will take place in April/May. All camp staff must be CPR and first aide certified. Adults must complete the ELCA background check. Spring Jubilee planning meeting all invited The church council would like to invite you to participate in the planning of the first ever Spring Jubilee. The date is Saturday, April 27th. The event will be similar to the fall festival; however, there will also be craft booths for children to create Mother s day cards and gifts, in addition to venders, bounce house, bake sale and games. Come join our committee for planning this event. Contact Katie Wentz for date/time of next meeting. Wednesday morning Bible Study opportunity The Wednesday morning bible study is on break for summer. We meet at 9:30 a.m. to accommodate members who want to participate in the exercise program from 10:30 to 11:30. The study book is from the Women of Faith Series and costs $10.00 order yours now from Belinda Karge. During this study, attendees pray specifically for the youth of our congregation.

6 News from TACO Save the date! Empty Bowls: May 11, 2013! Saturday, May 11 from 11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. at La Jolla United Methodist Church (6063 La Jolla Blvd): the 7th Annual Empty Bowls Luncheon to benefit TACO! For a donation of $20.00, you get to pick your very own hand-made bowl out of hundreds of choices (the toughest part!) or for $5.00 you can enjoy your soup in a disposable bowl. Then, fill it with soup donated by various restaurants around San Diego, and take your bowl home to be reminded of those who go with empty bowls every day. All the proceeds of this event go to TACO to continue the service of a free hot meal twice a week. As of March 15, TACO has served just over 5,000 meals in This could not be possible without the help and support of those around us. May this Easter season be filled with joy and hope towards a future where organizations like TACO are no longer needed; a future where all are fed, nourished, and not struggling to find their daily bread. Easter Blessings Rachel Line TACO Volunteer Coordinator April Anniversaries 1 Michaele & Donald Cobb 5 Helen & Ronald Humphries 19 Eric & Heather Hustad 20 Sasha Schrader & Edgar Rodriguez 22 Brian & Erin Quackenbush 25 Sherry & Steve Martin 30 Victoria & Brian Grant April Birthdays 1 Luke Stevens 21 Michel Weber 2 Matthew Kassahn 22 Jacaquelyn Graef 5 Deborah Callaway 22 Gloria Wiley 9 Randie Davis 23 Serenity Stark 10 Henry Meyers 24 Brandon Cobb 13 Frankie Kelchner 24 Kris Francis 13 Benita Castro 27 Pamela Meyers 15 Janice Davis 27 Bryant Taylor 17 Edward Teichner 28 Brian Grant 19 Lucas Paulsen 30 Logan Cofrancesco If anyone was missed, please call the church office, April Ministers Coffee Fellowship: Host: TBA Refreshments: TBA Coffee Server: Nancy Funick, Lector: 7,14- Nathan Wentz 21,28- Marie Freeman Greeters: 7,14- Pam Myers 21,28- Weber Family Communion Assist.: 7,14,21,28- Suzie & Scott Rettig Communion Care: 7,14,21,28- Suzie & Scott Rettig Stephen Minister of the Week: 7- Marian Privett 14- Kathy Darland 21- Carol Davidson 28- Ellie Timan Ushers:

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Carlton Hills Evangelical Lutheran Church Council and Staff. Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage Paid El Cajon, CA Permit No. 371

The Echo No. 4-2015 April Santee, CA The Monthly Newsletter of: Carlton Hills Evangelical Lutheran Church 9735 Halberns Blvd., Santee, CA 92071 Voice/Fax: (619) 448-1888 chlc@carltonhillslutheran.org www.carltonhillslutheran.org