FAITH'S FOUNDATIONS JUNE 2018

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1 FAITH'S FOUNDATIONS JUNE 2018 Working to spread the Gospel here and throughout the world US 45 S P.O. Box 436 Three Lakes, WI Parsonage: office6995@gmail.com Office Hours: Tuesday thru Friday 9:00 am to 12:00 pm SYNOD ASSEMBLY REPORT By Pastor Ken Ranos Every year, voting representatives and guests from all across our synod gather to worship, engage in conversation and dialogue, and conduct necessary business. This year, I was proud to bring Nora Stauner along as a lay voting representative from Faith Lutheran Church, a synod assembly newbie. For those who have never been to a synod assembly before, it s truly a wonderful experience that brings the work of the wider church right to you. According to the credentials committee, of the voting representatives at synod assembly this year around 65 were clergy and 150 were lay people (I don t have the exact numbers written down and the assembly minutes are not yet available). We had the opportunity to recognize this year s graduates from our Lay Schools for Mission, including a graduate from our Lay School in Minocqua. We celebrated the retirements of some of our rostered ministers, recognized important congregational milestones, and celebrated the 60th 60th!--anniversary of the ordination of the Reverend Bob Langseth, who is just as passionate and fiery about the Gospel as he was when he was ordained in On Friday morning, business began. We elected people to various committees and councils and heard a presentation by our keynote speaker, Linda Bobbitt, who created the Congregational Vitality Survey for use in the ELCA. As part of our mission to equip us for ministry, we heard a series of Tool Time talks about World Hunger, Congregational Vitality, Mission Interpreters, and Mission Support. Though my term on Synod Council ended with this synod assembly, I accidentally got myself appointed to the Clergy Compensation Committee (this was not part of the plan). Note to self: if you ask the Bishop, Are you appointing me, Bishop?, be prepared for her to say Yes! Assembly opened on Thursday night with a wonderful worship service hosted by Messiah Lutheran Church in Marquette, MI. The Reverend Katherine Finegan, Bishop of our Northern Great Lakes Synod, preached on what it means to be equipped for ministry. Since she preached on the appointing of the seventy from the Gospel according to Luke, the running joke of the assembly became, Are you appointing me, Bishop? (More on that later). 1

2 Many workshops were offered this year, and it was difficult to choose just one. Nora Stauner attended the Congregational Vitality workshop while I attended an official Hearing on the Draft Social Statement on Women and Justice. We finished the evening with a banquet and entertainment provided by a jazz quartet from Messiah Lutheran Church, then closed with Holden Evening Prayer. officially installed as the Assistant to the Bishop during worship and more business was handled. An amended budget for this year was adopted as was a proposed budget for next year. A resolution was passed to encourage congregations and members of the church to support the Farm Bill currently being debated by Congress. There were a few more Tool Times, and in the end, the assembly came to a close on a high note. At this point, I had to leave synod assembly to go to Chicago for my cousin s wedding (which, by the way, was great!). But on Saturday morning, the Reverend Jim Duehring was You ll find photos from this years assembly in this newsletter. I hope you ll consider attending next year s Synod Assembly as a lay voting representative! Pastor Ken is looking for a handful of people willing to meet this month to read and discuss the new Draft Inter-Religious Policy Statement being considered by the ELCA. If you would like to be a part of this group, which would meet only once or twice, please let Pastor Ken know. You can find the Draft Policy Statement here: 2

3 ANNOUNCEMENTS FACEBOOK QUILTERS It's true! Faith Lutheran Church now has a Facebook page. "Like" us at and watch the page for updates about what's happening in the life of our faith community. We appreciated all of the quilting supplies which have been donated. Now we could use some help putting the quilts together. Quilting experience is not required. The quilters meet every Wednesday from 12:30pm to 3:00 pm PICTURES FOR WEBSITE LIVE-STREAMING We are looking for pictures from different events this past year to put on our website: If you have any, we d love to put them up so those visiting our website will have a better idea of what we do here. Please them to: pastor2770@frontier.com. Did you know that when you're away, you can watch Pastor Ken's sermon as it's delivered LIVE on Sunday morning? You can! Simply go to our church's website ( and click "Click here to watch live streaming during worship (Sundays at 9:00 am)" right on the front page. Just put in a name and hit "Enter Live Service". Streaming will start at the reading of the Gospel, which usually happens between 9:10 and 9:15, give or take a few minutes, so if nothing is happening yet when you start watching, just wait a few minutes. You can also watch a recording of many of Pastor Ken's sermons on our website. Simply go to our church website, and go to "Worship" --> "Pastor's Sermons" and click on any sermon in the Archive of Recorded Sermons. It's that easy! PRAYER SHAWLS To give comfort and peace. There is a tote of prayer shawls under the shelf when you walk in. If you know someone who is lonely and would use one, feel free to take one. Once wrapped around their shoulders it feels like a hug from Jesus and their friends. FELLOWSHIP During Fellowship a basket is placed on the table to collect donations for the purchase of the Fair Trade decaf coffee. Individuals or groups who host Fellowship do not have to provide coffee. Occasional contributions ot the fun are encouraged. COUNCIL HIGHLIGHTS 3 Confirmation and Graduation will be on June 3rd. Worship in the Park scheduled for July 22nd.

4 HABITAT FOR HUMANITY RESTORE IN RHINELANDER welcome into full membership three of our young people: Kallie Volk, Hunter St. Louis, and Logan Erickson. Is in need of furniture and other donations. If a member of your congregation is getting rid of some furniture, we can come pick it up. They can call HFH Restore at (715) or us at HFHNorthwoods@mail.com JULY 4TH PIE & ICE CREAM SALE It s time to think of which fruit pie(s) you would like to make for the annual July 4th event. Pies can be made in 8 or 9 foil pans and brought to the church on Sunday, July 1st. Otherwise, you can take your pies to Burnside Park on July 4th. The sale begins after the end of the parade. Pie pans will be available in the Narthex on the previous two Sundays, June 17th and June 24th. Fruit pies only please, no cream pies. Remember the more pies we have to sell, the more dollars we can distribute to area charities. If you are able to help sell pies, please let Sis Tenges know. BIBLE STUDY If you haven't already, you should be receiving a short Bible Study questionnaire in the mail. Extras can be found on the shelf outside the sanctuary. Please fill it out and either mail it back to the office or your responses to Pastor Ken. This questionnaire will help determine the next Bible Study offered, so your input is important! SALAD LUNCHEON HFH NORTHWOODS CABIN DEMO DAY The women of Calvary Lutheran Church, Minocqua invite you to their annual Salad Luncheon Wednesday, June 13th, starting at 11:00 am. Come join us for a variety of salads and desserts and entertainment with the theme, Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows. RSVP to by Wednesday June 4th. A cabin demo day has been scheduled for Monday, June 11th from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Volunteers are needed to extract as much as possible from this cabin. Location: 190 S. Duck Lake Drive, Eagle River Date: June 11th GRADUATION SUNDAY Time: 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. June 3, is Graduation Sunday. If you know of anyone who is graduating from any level of schooling, please let the office know so we can include their names in the list. Lunch will be provided. Looking for 5 to 10 volunteers. Contact Mike VanderBunt at NorthwoodsHFH@gmail.com to register. < <NorthwoodsHFH@Gmail.com> CONFIRMATION SUNDAY June 3, is also Confirmation Sunday. We will 4

5 NEW ADDRESSES: BAPTISMS WE REMEMBER THIS MONTH We thank God for the beauty of the summer! We thank God for the beauty of life, and the gift of eternal life given to us through our savior. We hank God for our baptisms, and we pray for those who have baptismal anniversaries we celebrate this month. 7th Trudy Klauk 9th Sandy Reynolds 10th Betty Peterson 13th Margaret Ledbetter 15th Pastor Ken Ranos 23rd Nathan Madl 28th Val Otto & Bo Bisnette 29th Kim Peterson 30th Matt Wilkowski Other members and friends of Faith this month: Jan Harris MONTHLY OFFERING Year: 2018 Month: March Number of Sundays: 4 Average Attendance: MARCH MONTH Budget Income $ 6, Year: 2018 Month: April Number of Sundays: 4 Average Attendance: APRIL MONTH YTD $ 55, Budget Income $ 6, YTD $ 62, Expenses ****** ***** Expenses ****** ***** Net Income ****** ***** Net Income ****** ***** *** not available at the time of print *** not available at the time of print 5

6 IN OUR THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS THOSE STRUGGLING WITH ILLNESS, PAIN, LOSS OF HEALTH IN MIND, BODY, AND SPIRIT, INCLUDING: Cole Bailey, Colleen and Duane Bonack, Gale and Martha Crow, John Effa, Norm Frauenfelder, Natalie Gerharz, Jessica Healy, Nicky Heiland, Ann Mason, Debbie, Jordan, and Pastor Ken Ranos, Kyle Ranos, Kristin Rolls, Kyle Smith, Hunter St. Louis, Shannon Votis, Donna Weiss, Mike Mertz, Bruce Schuelke, Dianne Hoffman, Paul Kragh, Carla Huebner, Thor, Briana, and Laken Wick, Betty Peterson, Dan Meyer, Jason Highland, and Gerry Pinkowsky ALL THOSE WHO ARE ANXIOUS AND WORRIED ABOUT MANY THINGS Our Church Ministries: Congregational Care Congregation Council Board of Worship Life Board of Outreach Stewardship Committee Board of Trustees Our partners in the gospel of Jesus Christ including: St. Theresa's Roman Catholic Church Three Lakes Evangelical Free Church Union Congregational Church Our home-bound including: Bob Williams Congregations across our synod including: All Saints Lutheran Church, Wakefield, MI Bethany Lutheran Church, Norway, MI Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Peshtigo, WI Sharon Lutheran Church, Bessemer, MI Zion Lutheran Church, St. Ignace, MI Our armed forces including: David Bredesen, Ashley Ebann, Tyler Kaltenberg, Nick, Brandy, and Nathan Lamal, Jamie Madl, Jared Malda, Jon Priem, Brandon Paulick, Charlie Starke and Nicole Young 6

7 Patricia Davenport, first female African American elected ELCA synod bishop 5/8/2018 1:15:00 PM evangelical mission and assistant to the bishop of the synod. She served as pastor of Spirit & Truth Worship Center in Yeadon, Pa., from 2006 to The Rev. Patricia A. Davenport, Philadelphia, was elected May 5 to serve a six-year term as bishop of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Davenport is the first African American woman to be a bishop in the ELCA. Davenport earned a degree from the Community College of Philadelphia, and she received her Master of Divinity from the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, which is now United Lutheran Seminary. The seminary is one of seven ELCA seminaries. The election was held during the Synod Assembly May 3-5 at Franconia Mennonite Church in Telford, Pa. The Rev. Claire S. Burkat, current bishop of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod, has served as bishop since 2006 and will retire July 31. Davenport was elected on the fourth ballot with 331 votes to 89 votes for the Rev. Julie DeWerth, pastor of Good Shepherd Lutheran, King of Prussia, Pa. Davenport will be installed on Sept. 22. Information about Pennsylvania Synod ministrylink.org/. the is Southeastern available at The bishop-elect currently serves as director for some cases, it's the same people). We have plenty of folks willing to be greeters, but the few who are willing to serve in other worship roles are getting stretched thin. WORSHIP ASSISTANTS NEEDED Liturgy: Greek, "public service", or "the work of the people" We need more folks willing to help lead worship. Anyone can do it! Young and old, outgoing and shy, there is a place for you in worship leadership. Pastor Ken will sit down with you one-on-one and train you until you feel comfortable in your role. One of the Confirmation students even commented about being Assistant Minister (the role everyone is afraid of), "This isn't even difficult, why don'tmore people do it?" What makes Sunday morning worship "happen"? Is it the words in the bulletin? The notes in the hymnal? No, it's the people! Worship is a communal act that is communally led. It's not just the job of the pastor to lead worship. Worship, the liturgy, the "work of the people", is for everyone. Right now, we're a little short on people willing to assist in worship. The summer months bring in some fresh faces (thank you!), but during the rest of the year there are only 3 people willing to be Assisting Ministers, 5 willing to be readers, and 3 willing to set up Communion (and in If you're at all willing to step up and take a more active role in leading worship, please let Pastor Ken know. He will gladly show you the ropes and get you set up! 7

8 ~From the Bishop neighboring ELCA congregations and ecumenical churches. You are connected to 79 other ELCA congregations in your Synod. In terms of the Body of Christ, you might consider yourself a toe, or a finger, or an elbow. Together as a Synod, when we think of all 8 congregations as connected, then we might be a whole arm with a hand, or perhaps a leg with a foot attached. The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, Even as we consider the whole ELCA together, we are still not a complete body, as the Church also includes Presbyterians, Roman Catholics, Methodists, Episcopalians, and on and on. Together we are the Church on earth and the body of Christ in world. So this work we do, the mission we strive to accomplish, is not just about what your church does in your community. The World is a big place, and God so loved it all, so our efforts are not exclusively local or global, but rather both. ~ Ephesians 4:8 Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Every May, your congregation sends two or more members to attend the Synod Assembly on behalf of your congregation. Every year, we as congregations joined together in ministry gather together for 2-3 days to learn, worship, network, celebrate, discern, discuss, and remember that we are the body of Christ together. So that is where the Synod expression of the Church and the global expression of the Church come in very handy. Such expressions enable us to be faithful in our efforts, both locally and globally as these expressions provide the opportunity for each congregation to participate in mission and a purpose that is bigger than any one congregation or any singular community. This is no small thing. So often it seems there is a temptation to get overwhelmed with the demands of ministry in our own setting. We can get bogged down in the details. The mail keeps coming, the bills need to get paid, there are the continual challenges of finding volunteers, getting acolytes, arranging for funerals, attending to relationships, navigating opinions and personalities, scheduling activities around school and community calendars I could go on and on. You are faithful to our wider mission with every gift of Mission Support that you send to the Synod. Your Synod bookkeeper, Betsy Koski, then continues that faithfulness by sending a portion of what you have sent on to the churchwide expression of the ELCA. The percentage of that portion is one of the decisions that the Synod Assembly makes as we seek to be faithful, not only to the mission and ministry here in the Northern Great Lakes, but also the wider and bigger impact we can have as the ELCA together. Yet each one of our congregations is not an island unto itself. You are in partnership with The Synod Assembly is one way that we seek to Equip the Saints for Ministry. Those who attend 8

9 will return to your congregation with stories of how our work together is building up the body of Christ, not only here, but across the Church and throughout the world. They will return to you with ideas, new knowledge, and a deeper understanding of what it is that we strive to do together that has greater purpose and broader possibilities. I pray that the people you send will find meaning and joy in the time spent with other Northern Great Lakes Synod Lutherans. And perhaps next year, it will be your turn. Yours in Christ, Bishop Katherine Finegan At the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, the primary decision-making body of the church that meets every three years, a resolution was passed asking for a Social Statement on Women and Justice. 8 years later, after careful discernment, listening, and conversation all across the ELCA, a Draft Social Statement has been released. The Task Force that wrote the statement is asking for your feedback. You can download the Draft Social Statement here and find instructions for sending in your feedback: Pastor Ken is organizing a group to discuss the Draft Social Statement together this summer. If you would be interested in being a part of this group, please let him know. 9

10 SYNOD ASSEMBLY PHOTOS Linda Bobbit, this year s keynote speaker. The Reverend Bob Langseth, who celeberated 60 years of ordained ministry this year! Opening worship procession. The Reverend Katherine Finegan, Bishop 10

11 Plenary session. Hey, I know that guy! Nora Stauner at the Congregational Vitality workshop. The World Famous Pastor Band. The Reverend Soren Schmidt, Campus Pastor at The Confirmation Class of Zion Lutheran Church, Finlandia University and this year s Bread Basket Manistique, this year s winners of the Big Bear Award winner. Award. For many more awesome photos, visit the Northern Great Lakes Synod Facebook Page: 11

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14 STEWARDSHIP CALENDARS JUNE 6/3/18 6/10/18 6/17/18 6/24/18 Assisting Minister Steve Yahr Tom Bredesen Chuck Radtke Miriam Bredesen Lay Reader Betty Roth Miriam Bredesen Pat Radtke Tom Bredesen Altar Guild Jan Lederhaus Sue Sorg Missy Wick Sue Sorg Greeters Marge & Perry Anderson Tom & Miriam Bredesen Chuck & Pat Radtke Sue Harris / Lily / Jan Music Rhonda Buss Erich Zorr Rhonda Buss Debbie Ranos Fellowship Confirmation Swanson Radtke Outreach Videostreaming Linda JULY 7/1/18 7/8/18 7/15/18 7/22/18 7/29/18 Assisting Minister Al Votis Chuck Radtke Lay Reader Jan Lederaus Marge Anderson Jan Harris Betty Roth Pat Radtke Altar Guild Shannon Votis Jan Lederhaus Sue Sorg Jan Lederhaus Sue Sorg Greeters Jan Lederhaus Volk Family Schroeder Family Music Rhonda Buss Mark Ruff Mark Ruff Mark Ruff Rhonda Buss Fellowship Radtke Roth Wick Trustees BOWL Sue Sorg / Joann & Paul Jan Harris Matthiae Videostreaming If you cannot serve on your assigned day, please find a replacement, then notify the church office. 14

15 JUNE 2018 SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT 1 2 9:30 am to 11:00 am Food Pantry 3 8:00 am Confirmation 9:00 am Holy Communion :30 pm Quilters :30 pm Council Meeting Fellowship: Confirmation Confirmation and Graduation Sunday! 10 Pastor Ken on Vacation :00 am Holy Communion 13 12:30 pm Quilters :30 am to 11:00 am Food Pantry 20 12:30 pm Quilters Fellowship: Swanson Pastor Ken on Vacation :00 am Holy Communion Fellowship: Radtke Newsletter Week! 4:30 pm Outreach Meeting 19 2:30 pm Council Meeting Pastor Ken on Vacation :00 am Holy Communion 12:30 pm Quilters Fellowship: Outreach 15

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