From the Pastor s Desk

Transcription

1 Risen Savior Lutheran Church September 2017 From the Pastor s Desk 1) What we love about the church: Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. -John 14:27 In case you missed it, we had a congregational conversation after church a couple weeks ago. We looked at some of the realities and possibilities for our church in the four following areas. Included are the written responses from each table where one person took notes on what they heard being discussed. We are warm, friendly, caring and welcoming of people, mission-oriented, handicap accessible, have good fellowship with food and coffee, have a good location and facility. 2) Some of the hopes and dreams for Risen Savior: Attracting youth and younger people, offering a recovery program and welcoming people in recovery, offering a contemporary/family friendly service, create a kid-friendly space in the sanctuary, grow spiritually and physically, have a Sunday School and Choir, have more interaction with other churches and Lutheran hospital, offer different kinds of Sundays such as an Agnostic Sunday (or an Atheist and Doubters Sunday), paint the outside of the church a different color such as white to attract more attention, paint rainbows on our sign, do more group spiritual practices such as a labyrinth, mediation and ancient healing practices, live within our means (both time and money), the doors never close, we have pastor diversity, continue our leadership, have preschool leadership, and the preschool support the church. 3) Ideas for a Mission Focus or Direction: Reach unchurched, disillusioned and/or young people who September 2017 INSIDE THIS ISSUE From the Pastor s Desk... 1 Living Lutheran... 2 September events... 3 Gods Work. Our Hands Seniors lunch... 7 SPECIAL POINTS OF INTEREST Light of the Cross 7 September calendar 9

2 Living Lutheran, Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton ELCA to celebrate 500th anniversary of the Reformation with public event in D.C. Article here may have alternate views on the church, focus on younger families, meet with other ELCA churches to form a team of pastors and deaconesses to serve a group of ELCA churches in the Fort Wayne area. 4) Things we may need to STOP doing in order to focus better on the direction we discern God calling us: Have a less liturgical and more contemporary worship style or try to blend them or have a different style every other Sunday. If others had been present there would have been more ideas! What s important to remember is that the church does not exist for itself, but for the glory of God and for the transformation of the world according to God s vision for it. We exist to fulfill the mandate of Matthew 25 - to develop disciples who go out into the world and turn it upside down (which is actually right side up!) Our reality is that we are an aging church and denomination, but that does not mean we don t have a lot of great energy and ideas! 365 times in the Bible we are reminded not to be afraid (one for every day of the year!). As people who follow a Risen Savior, we have confidence of a Resurrection-born nature. We all are invited to discover the new life God is calling us to now, even as we live into God s future. At the end of our congregational conversation, Council President Joe Hyndman asked whether people would prefer to start up the Pastor Call Committee again (since Pastor Jeanie is an interim and she and Greg are hoping to move to Florida soon) OR form an Exploratory Committee to explore options and feedback (and which may eventually turn into a Call Committee). Those present voted to go with the Exploratory Committee. President Hyndman asked for volunteers to serve on it and the following people expressed an interest: Mike Poinsett, Mary Shuff, Tammy Hyndman, and Warren Eddy. The Exploratory Committee will start meeting this month and will make periodic updates as progress is made. You are free to make input to any of the members of the committee or to President Hyndman. To God be the glory! Serving Christ together, Pastor Jeanie 2

3 Happenings Around the Church in September Sunday, Sept. 3 Labor Day Weekend Worship We look at the sequel to Peter s confession of Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of the living God with it s surprising twists and prophecy. There will be no Confirmation Class this evening, but it will pick up again all the rest of the Sunday evenings this month 6:30 8 pm. Tuesday, Sept. 5 Risen Savior Preschool opens for their new year. Let s keep the teachers, students their parents, and our Preschool Director in our prayers. Wednesdays, Sept. 6, 13, 20 & 27 Our Daytime Bible Study continues each W ednesday 10:30 am til noon. Join us as we wrestle with the upcoming Sunday s gospel text and seek to discern God s will and blessing. Thursdays, Sept. 7, 14,21,28 Our Thursday Night Bible Study begins a new series on Covenant with God. All are welcome to this group who love vigorous discussion and exploring varying points of view! 6:30 8 pm every Thursday. Sunday, Sept God s Work. Our Hands. Sunday Come worship and stay for a special hands-on mission project and lunch! Thursday, Sept. 14, 11:30 am - The Senior Group is hosting a Pizza Party and Painting Class, led by none other than our own Tammy Hyndman and Pr. Jeanie! Come be dazzled as Tammy does a painting demo, then try your own hand at creating something as well. No skill needed other than the ability to hold a paint brush and your hand does not have to be steady! You will still create from God s rainbow of gorgeous colors a beautiful expression from the heart! This could be the start of something wonderful - come and see! Sunday, Sept. 17 During worship w e w ill look at how Jesus answers Peter s question about the limits of forgiveness. Why is forgiveness so hard? Sunday, Sept. 24 Worship will include the Sacram ent of Baptism for a very special baby related to the Poinsetts. The sermon text is a parable about God s generosity. It challenges the common assumption that God rewards people according to what they deserve. Thank You from Honor Flight Sonja Wiltse says, Thank You to those who helped with Honor Flight mail call the prayers, colored pictures, and Thank you for your service notes. For the four flights in 2016 Sonja delivered 881 thank you notes. For 2017 she prayed for another 1000, and as of this newsletter she has 1,117 with 200 more still coming! Congratulations and thanks for your good work and dedication to this project, Sonja! We have received some wonderful thank you notes from veterans who received our church s cards. Sonja writes, Never in my prayers did I expect this outreach journey to become a reality I believe God has more for me to do, so as I put closure on Honor Flight, I have been blessed to make this happen. Thankfully yours, Sonja On God s Work, Our Hands Sunday (sept. 10), we will have the opportunity to write another bunch of cards for Honor Flight veterans. 3

4 Thanks from Lutheran Outdoor Ministry Indiana-Kentucky Synod Bishop Bill Gafkjen Racism a mix of power, privilege, and prejudice is sin, a violation of God s intention for humanity. The resulting racial, ethnic, or cultural barriers deny the truth that all people are God s creatures and, therefore, persons of dignity. Racism fractures and fragments both church and society. [The ELCA s social statement, Freed in Christ: Race, Ethnicity and Culture] Article here... A number of people from Lutheran Outdoor Ministries and our own church have expressed thanks to Paul Twedt for practically single-handedly organizing, with tremendous effort and enthusiasm, this year s Ice Cream Social and other events like Pizza on the Farm to benefit our Lutheran camps! As of this writing Paul is confident the last couple hundred dollars will come in to meet the $10,000 goal to be divided equally between Camps Lutherwald and Lake Luther for building and recreational improvements, and to the camper scholarship fund. Congratulations and thanks for all your good work and dedication to outdoor ministry, Paul! Thanks also to the many, many people who pitched in and helped make this dream become a reality! We know this will help grow some great disciples for Christ through our wonderful camping programs. If you would like to help do God s Work with Your Hands on Saturday, September 9, please see Paul about a special building opportunity at the camp that day! (see below) 4 God s Work. Our Hands. Sunday God s work. Our hands. Sunday is an opportunity to celebrate who we are as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America one church, freed in Christ, to serve and love our

5 neighbor. The date this year is Sunday, Sept. 10. At Risen Savior, we will be making blankets for victims of disaster in the wake of Hurricane Harvey in Texas, as well as offering other service activities that committees and groups may sponsor. If you work best sitting, we can add to the count of thank you notes written for Honor Flight veterans. Some may choose to do work outside plowing up the garden in anticipation of serving our neighbors at Light of the Cross next summer once again. Or help spruce up the Preschool play yard, or, if you re a kitchen kind of guy or gal, serve by fixing the rest of the gang something to eat! Others may help clean out the new Volunteer Office across from the Pastor s office so we can graciously welcome our new Front Office Receptionist while having a beautiful space for our regular volunteers! Yes, new things are happening! In whatever we do, we are lifting up one of our most basic convictions as Lutherans: that all of life in Jesus Christ every act of service, in every daily calling, in every corner of life flows freely from a living, daring confidence in God s grace. Please plan to stay after church to work and share a fun meal together. Wear comfy clothes! And, as always, to God be the glory! 5

6 Card Party Those wanting to help us with writing messages for birthdays, anniversaries, get well, and thinking of you cards, be at the church in the conference room on Tuesday, September 19, at 10 AM. If you have a request for cards to be sent to anyone not on our list, please give the name and address to Jo Kruse. Thank you! 6 Thanks continued Our Risen Savior Vegetable Garden has been very productive this summer. It is almost ready to be plowed under, to prepare for another year. We want to thank Jim Shuff for pretty m uch single-handedly getting the job done. Not only did he rototill, plant, tend and harvest the vegetables, but he also took many loads to Light of the Cross. Our church is still the only one that donates fresh veggies, so you can imagine how much they are appreciated by those living in the food desert area of Fort Wayne (where there is no grocery store for miles and miles.) If you would like to sign up to be on Farmer Jim s Team for next summer, please let him know! You might also help on God s Work. Our Hands Sunday coming up Sept. 10 after worship. If so, you are welcome to wear your blue jeans to church that day! PLEASE MEET the new face in our Front Office starting Sept. 5. Her name is Cheryl Carter, and she recently retired from teaching 30+ years at Woodside Middle School. Her grandson Noah will be attending Risen Savior Preschool this fall! Cheryl is volunteering to serve as our new Front Office Receptionist Monday Thursday 9 am-12:30 pm. It will be wonderful to have the consistency of one person dealing with visitors and members, answering the phone etc. Thank you, Cheryl! DON T WORRY, our great team of church volunteers are still here and will be continuing in their same roles, just at the end of the hall in the office across from the Pastor s study. Judy Bruns will continue as our Scrip Representative, Attendance and Giving Recorder; Johanna Buit w ill continue preparing the Sunday bulletin each week; and Jo Kruse will continue with proofing and printing the bulletin on Thursdays. We cannot thank this dedicated and dependable crew enough and we praise God for their wonderful service to the church! Bless you and thank you, our three J s! We also want to thank our fearless Council President, Joe Hyndman, the fourth J, w ho has been helping w ith bookkeeping for many months. As of September 1, Kirsten Smith will be taking that over role completely, now that she has our church banking fully set up in QuickBooks, including direct deposit of payroll! The whole staff is thrilled about this new accomplishment! Yea! Thank you, Kirsten! There are so many amazing volunteers around the church. Next month we will highlight a few more. It really does take a village to make a church run like a welloiled machine! God bless all you all!

7 Light of the Cross Food Bank Pantry Report Reporting July 2017 Activity Some 806 people in 212 families were provided food for 12,090 meals at the pantry in July. This is down slightly from the meals provided in June. First time families numbered 42. Those served included 86 children 5 years of age or under, 223 children ages 6 thru 17, 87 individuals 60 years old or older, and 110 were disabled people. Ninety-nine families were classified as Female Head of Household. To meet needs, 19 volunteers provided 89 hours of their time in July. In July, the Pantry received 1,725 pounds of food from TEFAP, the Federal Government commodities program. The Associated Churches provided 1,250 pounds of food and Partner Churches donated 210 pounds. Zonta International donated 510 diapers ranging in size from 3 to size 6. The diaper donation was so needed and very much appreciated. Carpeting in the main room of the Outreach Center is badly stained and fails sanitary standards for a food bank pantry. The carpet is in need of immediate replacement, preferably with a tile or laminate flooring product. The LOTC Board is asking for donations to cover the cost of this project. Those of you who would like to support this project with a contribution, please call Phyllis Mort at or As always, the LOTC Pantry thanks you for your continued support of this ministry. Your generosity makes it all possible. PARTNER ASSIGNMENTS FOR SEPTEMBER Faith: Pasta Sauce and Noodles Gethsemane: Soups (No Tomato Please) Messiah: Canned Veggies & Cereal Risen Savior: Crackers and Canned Fruit The Seniors The Seniors (anyone over 50 and they don t have to be a member of Risen Savior) are meeting at the church on Thursday, September 14, at 11:30; Tammy Hyndman will be our guest. You have probably seen her beautiful paintings around the church. She will demonstrate and maybe allow you to show how well you can express yourself with paint. We will be having lunch from Pizza Hut with several pizzas, spaghetti dishes, and maybe some bread sticks. The pizzas and other dishes will be paid from our kitty. Please let Jo know so she can order the appropriate number of pizzas. See her at church or call Thanks! 7

8 Fundraising help from you! September Anniversaries September 17 Jim & Hazel Crandal (1943) September 19 Paul & Joyce Twedt (1969) September 29 Greg & Pam Sullivan (1990) If you don t see your anniversary listed, it s because we don't have it on file. Please share! Our last quarter s earning from Kroger amounted to $ thanks for your support! If you re not signed-up through the Kroger Community Rewards program, please stop in the office and see Judy Bruns, who can assist. September Birthdays Scrip Program The Scrip program is a win-win. Using the order form in the bulletin, pick what gift cards you want. Total the amount, and either write a check to Risen Savior or pay by cash. Give the order and payment to Judy Bruns or put in the box by preschool office; the next Sunday your cards will be given to you. You get the cards with no running around and the church makes some money. September 2 September 3 September 15 September 17 September 20 Helene Giant Phil Debolt Mary Shuff Hazel Crandal Marcus Symons If you don't see your birthday listed, it s because we don t have it on file. Please share! 8

9 September Calendar Sunday, September 3 9 AM Worship followed by Coffee Fellowship Monday, September 4 Labor Day Tuesday, September 5 Ministerium Wednesday, September 6 7:30 AM Men s Prayer group 10:30 AM Bible Study Thursday, September 7 6:30 PM Bible Study Sunday, September 10 9 AM Worship, followed by Coffee Fellowship 6:30 PM Confirmation class Monday, September 11 Interim Pastor meeting, Indianapolis 7 PM Council meeting Wednesday, September 13 7:30 AM Men s Prayer group 10:30 AM Bible Study Thursday, September 14 11:30 AM Seniors Risen Savior 6:30 PM Bible Study Sunday, September 17 9 AM Worship followed by Coffee Fellowship 6:30 PM Confirmation class Monday, September 18 11:30 AM Preschool Board meeting Tuesday, September AM Card writing party Wednesday, September 20 Newsletter deadline 7:30 AM Men s Prayer Group 10:30 AM Bible Study Thursday, September 21 6:30 PM Bible Study Sunday, September 24 9 AM Worship Baptism of Lillian Grace Miller 6:30 PM Confirmation class Wednesday, September 27 7:30 AM Men s Prayer Group 10:30 AM Bible Study Thursday, September 28 6:30 PM Bible Study Staff Listing Pr. Jeanie Barnes - Interim Pastor home cell jbarnes@risensavioronlin e.org Aaron Smith - Liturgical Coordinator, Music Director, Musician asmith@risensavioronlin e.org Kirsten Smith - Communications ksmith@risensavioronlin e.org Debbie LaBelle - Preschool Director preschool@frontier.com Sheryl Fry - Preschool teacher, 18 mo. Petronella Eloff - Preschool teacher, 2 yrs. Annette DeRoche - Preschool teacher, 3 yrs. Tina Fischer - Preschool teacher, Pre-K ** need someone for this position ** - Pre-K Teaching Assistant Jack and Mary Cox - Custodians 9

10 Risen Savior Lutheran Church Our Mission: We come together, welcoming all, to worship and grow in faith, and we go to serve in Christ s name Council President - Joe Hyndman Vice President - Dave Klein Secretary - Andrew Lutz Treasurer/Financial Secretary - Nicole Fleischman Hospitality - Jo Kruse Property - Warren Eddy Stewardship - Judy Bruns Worship - Pam Sullivan Communications - Mary Shuff Youth - Deb Hinkleman Education - Cleo Swager Risen Savior Lutheran Church 8010 W. Jefferson Boulevard Fort Wayne, IN ksmith@risensavioronline.org office@risensavioronline.org