A Mighty Fortress. Newsletter 9/20/2018 Edition II, Volume 6

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Rosanna Katrina Little
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.. God of Creation, continue to make yourself vividly present to those who suffered damage from

1 We are sad to have missed our 55th Anniversary celebration, but continue to send prayers to those impacted by Hurricane Florence... God of Creation, continue to make yourself vividly present to those who suffered damage from Hurricane Florence. Send your Spirit of peace, comfort, safety, and love to those impacted as they face difficult times ahead. Amen Lutheran Church 8200 McClure Circle Charlotte, NC Page 1

2 Pastor s Note When I glance at my calendar now that we are entering the season of fall, I have a range of emotions. At first it is generally a moment of panic because everything is starting back up. That usually follows by a string of questions. Is there any way we are going to be able to prepare for all of this? Is there enough time? Then I usually take a step back, breathe, and realize that this hustle and bustle is in fact a reminder of God s kingdom. It s a reminder of why exactly we are here. The ministries are alive here. It really hits home the idea that church isn t something that only happens Sunday mornings for a few hours, but rather is when people gather to further God s kingdom. Anywhere. Anytime. Maybe this is at the church, but it also takes place in apartment complexes, over a meal at a café, or at an elementary school. God s work is evident when I think about all that is happening in the life of this congregation. It s an active place, and that is a good thing, because God is active. With everything beginning for the fall, and me experiencing all of it for the first time, it has definitely been a learning experience. I was simply surprised by how much happens at the church during the week, not just on Sundays. AMF is a busy place! I smile when people gather and chat on weekday mornings and when people stop in my office to simply say hello. I smile when little ones play in Sunday school and when laughter erupts over a shared meal. This brings me joy because it means that the church is being church, and that s a beautiful thing. I look forward to a busy and exciting fall sharing in the ministry of this congregation to help further God s mission to the world! God s Peace, Pastor Molly pastormolly@amflc.org Lutheran Church 8200 McClure Circle Charlotte, NC Page 2

3 January August Financial Report Received in August $13,295 Expenses in August * $13,419 Deficit $124 Received January thru August $95,526 Expenses January thru August $90,599 Surplus $4,927 For September to date, weʹve received $5,217 and have had expenses of $6,601 thus far. Unfortunately Hurricane Florence forced us to cancel our Sunday service. While Sunday s lost usually mean a loss of important contributions, weʹre confident that, in the coming two Sundays, weʹll more than make up for the ʺHurricane Sundayʺ as we support the mission and ministry of AMF. Next Council Meeting is scheduled for October 14 th after worship all are welcome to attend. Pastor Molly s Office Hours: Please note that Monday 9:00 12:30 Tuesday 9:00 12:30 Wednesday 9:00 12:30 Thursday 9:00 12:30 * I am usually out doing visits after lunch. If I am not doing visits, I will be in the office till about 4:00 in the afternoon. * Based on the flow of the week, I might be working from home on Thursdays as a writing day. It is often easier to write and prepare sermons in the quietness of my home (or somewhere else away from the office). Fridays and Saturdays are my days off. However, if there is an emergency please call me on my cell phone ( ). All of this could change based on the week if I have meetings at night, and unplanned emergencies. Please reach out if you want to make sure to catch me! Page 3 Lutheran Church 8200 McClure Circle Charlotte, NC 28216

In Celebration of the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, the Patron Saint of Animals and the Environment!

Some high urgency needs are paper towels 6 ft leashes cat toys dog waste bags canned tuna disposable aluminum foil pans Bring your pet, a photo of your pet, or any item

*All are welcome* whether you have a pet or not! Your Participation is Needed The 40 th annual Charlotte CROP Hunger Walk is fast approaching.

4 In Celebration of the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, the Patron Saint of Animals and the Environment! Our pets are a blessing to us join us in blessing We will be collecting donations for the Humane Society of Charlotte. Some high urgency needs are paper towels 6 ft leashes cat toys dog waste bags canned tuna disposable aluminum foil pans Bring your pet, a photo of your pet, or any item (toy, blanket) representing your pet to our Blessing of the Animals Service Saturday, October 6 th at 2:00pm The service will take place outside at the church. *All are welcome* whether you have a pet or not! Your Participation is Needed The 40 th annual Charlotte CROP Hunger Walk is fast approaching. It is October 13, 2018 a SATURDAY!!! Mark your calendar now. Plan now to be a part of this important movement. Be a fighter! Help fight hunger and poverty in Charlotte and around the world by walking, supporting and giving. Sharon Johnson sadj@bellsouth.net Page 4 Lutheran Church 8200 McClure Circle Charlotte, NC 28216

Montagnard tutoring program is still looking for adult volunteers for Monday evenings. We have had a few neighbors ask if we could help their children and we would love to be able to answer Yes.

See Doug Wells (704 651 7074) or Libby Holman (704 622 2509) if interested. YOGA at AMF Yoga is alive and doing well at AMF. We have Yoga class on Saturday mornings, and Monday & Thursday evenings.

5 Montagnard tutoring program is still looking for adult volunteers for Monday evenings. We have had a few neighbors ask if we could help their children and we would love to be able to answer Yes. At this point, we will have to turn additional children away because we do not have enough volunteers to cover the students we currently have. See Doug Wells ( ) or Libby Holman ( ) if interested. YOGA at AMF Yoga is alive and doing well at AMF. We have Yoga class on Saturday mornings, and Monday & Thursday evenings. The evening classes are FREE to AMF members. Check it out! If you can breathe, you can do Yoga. No experience necessary. See Libby Holman for details ( ). Since 1996, the Urban Ministry Center has partnered with colleges and congregations of many faiths to open their facilities to provide shelter and food for homeless people during the winter months, December 1 March 31. has been a part of the Room In The Inn ministry since its very beginning in Charlotte. The program offers a unique way for people of faith to become directly involved with homeless individuals in our community. During the colder months of the year we offer our guests a warm, safe place to sleep, serve three meals (dinner, breakfast and bag lunch) and then return our guests the following morning to uptown Charlotte. Our Outreach Committee is planning for the upcoming RITI season. We need for you to be aware of the volunteer opportunities available, and we need to get a good idea of how many of you will be willing to be a part of this important ministry this season. On Sunday, September 23, a large sign up poster will be in the Narthex. You may sign up to be a team leader, to be an overnight host, to be in charge of set up and clean up, or to provide transportation. (The signup sheet for meals will be available in November.) Thank you for your willingness to serve! Lutheran Church 8200 McClure Circle Charlotte, NC Page 5

6 Lets Go to the Movies! Please plan to join us for a Thursday Night Travel Tour of the Holy Lands featuring DVD Episodes from David Stott s DRIVE THROUGH HISTORY: the Holy Lands This fast paced and entertaining tour will take you right to the places, people, and events that have shaped the world and Christian faith. 1: Covenants, Kings and the Promised Land DVD, Egypt to Qumran will give us the background history and culture behind some of the most well known events in the Bible. This is an entertaining and fast paced DVD that is fun for ALL ages! When: Thursday evenings, October 4 thru November 8 from 6 to 7pm Where: AFM Fellowship Hall The Learning Board will be offering a light meal of soup and crackers as part of this fellowship and learning time as well as a Kids Korner so that moms and dads can enjoy the fun and learning. All are welcome to come to all six episodes or just a few or even just one. This is a great way for all of us to have some fun, learn a little about the Holy Lands and grow together as a family of faith! Hope to see you there. Our two adult Sunday School Classes warming invite you to join them on Sunday mornings and to bring a friend: Lyerly led by Terry Saunders is implementing a study of Genesis using God s World, Gods People series Sept November. This class starts at 9:00am and concludes at 9:45am. For additional information contact Terry Saunders (terryesaunders@bellsouth.net). Bible Basics led by Chris Dukes will continue with their Book of Faith Series beginning with Job and continuing through the Old Testament this calendar year. Join them for coffee and donuts at 8:45am they conclude in time for choir practice at 9:30am. For additional information contact Chris Dukes (CDDukes62@gmail.com). Lutheran Church 8200 McClure Circle Charlotte, NC Page 6

Our hope is that you will take a grocery bag and proudly shop for pantry items and then bring your bag back on September 23 rd. Let s see how many food items we can donate for our hungry neighbors.

7 WELCA is supporting a special Food Drive for the neighborhood food pantry at Thrift United Methodist Church. Special red shopping bags with printed on them are available at the church along with a special shopping list for the pantry. Our hope is that you will take a grocery bag and proudly shop for pantry items and then bring your bag back on September 23 rd. Let s see how many food items we can donate for our hungry neighbors. Bags and lists were purchased for AMF through a Thrivent Action Team grant. Questions? See Libby Holman ( ) or any WELCA member 4 Pillars of the New Vision from our NC Synod Bishop and Synod Staff Vitality Vital Congregations. Healthy Leaders. Collaboration. Prophetic Voice. These are the four pillars of the new vision and focus of the NC Synod staff and Synod Council unveiled at our NC Synod Assembly just over a month ago. Vital Congregations and Healthy Leaders also happen to be the two consensus priorities of the ELCA Church Council and of the ELCA Conference of Bishops. So what is vitality? The ELCA describes it more than defines it as communities of Jesus (not just congregations, but also social service organizations, campus ministries, etc.) that nurture life changing relationships with God, one another, and the world. What s different in having vitality as our top focus? It replaces the old model of sustainability and viability as our chief institutional goal and natural tendency. Though important, none of us individually nor institutionally is ultimately sustainable. Our job is to live fully while we can. Page 7 Lutheran Church 8200 McClure Circle Charlotte, NC 28216

8 Collaboration should go without saying, as facilitating collaboration is the very purpose of the synodical and churchwide expressions of our church. Prophetic voice has long been a critical part of the Judeo Christian tradition, speaking God s will and truth to earthly power structures, including religious ones. In Luke 4 (NIV) we read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: 18 The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord s favor. 20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 He began by saying to them, Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. If Jesus sees himself as the fulfillment of such prophetic witness and we see ourselves as followers of Jesus, then prophetic voice is an essential part of our discipleship, focusing on news that is truly good to the poor, to prisoners, to the blind, and to the oppressed. We should not be surprised when such a priority unsettles the status quo of other priorities that seek fulfillment in consumerism, personal and institutional gain, and the sinful self. Nearly two years ago my father was diagnosed with inoperable and therefore terminal liver cancer. This was devastating news for him and our family, but as a family of faith we all decided, whether we verbalized it or not, that Dad s job was not to die. Dying, in its time, takes care of itself. Of course, he did some procedures that prolonged his life, eased his pain, and put off the dying for a time. His baptismal calling wasn t to die, though. It was to live in this life as faithfully and fully as possible and to focus on abundant living as long as he could and the promise of abundant life fully with Jesus even when death in this world seemed to have had the final word. He died to this life about 13 months ago. We grieved then Page 8 Lutheran Church 8200 McClure Circle Charlotte, NC 28216

9 and still grieve today, but we are grateful for the faith that my dad paid forward to us and which, through us, continues beyond the grave to pay faith forward through his children and grandchildren. Some, if not many, of our NC Synod congregations, might be diagnosed as terminally ill by the old measures of sustainability and viability, but all of them, in some degree, are and can be vital, even if they are far along in the inevitable process of dying. Their calling, like my Dad s, isn t to die. That will come in its time as it will for me, for you, and for every congregation and every institution and every nation under the sun. The question we want to help our congregations focus on is, How might we be as vital as possible? whether we have 5 or 500 years of institutional vitality. And when we die, we hope and trust that we have paid the Gospel forward over our years of ministry and continue to pay it forward in releasing our stored servanthood (people, money, property) in new communities of Jesus. It s the way of the world, the circle of life, and the calling and the promise of the Gospel. Your congregation can be vital but not sustainable. It can also be quite sustainable but not vital. The new measuring stick is whether we re developing and nurturing life giving relationships with God, with each other, and with the community, whether there are 1200 in worship or 12. We believe all of our congregations can be vital and that this realization and lens in itself is life giving. Jesus, in John 10:10, said he came that we might have life, and have it abundantly. Circling the wagons and turning in on ourselves as we become aware of decline or challenges or when we ve been successful by worldly standards and discern that we d better preserve all this is the worst thing we could do. Jesus has this church. Jesus has us. Jesus will reconcile all creation at the end of all earthly things. In the meantime, risk. Love. Live! Bishop Tim Smith Page 9 Lutheran Church 8200 McClure Circle Charlotte, NC 28216

10 FROM YOUR SYNOD STORYTELLER: FAITH + FINANCE+ FREEDOM Programs/Opportunities for you! Financial literacy programs and counselors for rostered leaders o Financial Peace University & Good $ense courses o Certified Personal Finance Counselors o financial planners from Portico and LSS MN Financial resources for congregations Pre assembly workshops for church treasurers, committees, and councils First Call Theological Education and Candidacy Retreat presentations/information Stewardship Education (Stewardship for All Seasons) in congregations Financial/stewardship resources added to our synod s library, the Heilig Resource Center For more information, visit finances freedom/. Our NC Synod has many wonderful resources to aid congregations! Lutheran Church 8200 McClure Circle Charlotte, NC Page 10

CALLING ALL CONGREGATION MEMBERS GET INVOLVED! 1. Council has 2 members, Beverly Foster and Dwayne Graham, whose terms expire at the end this year.

11 CALLING ALL CONGREGATION MEMBERS GET INVOLVED! 1. Council has 2 members, Beverly Foster and Dwayne Graham, whose terms expire at the end this year. We need 2 new members who will bring voice, vision, and vigor to our congregational council! We cannot grow new leaders if we keep recycling the same past leaders. Let s hear from new voices with new dreams, visions, and ideas on how to build Christ s kingdom, as well as! 2. Our Property Ministry needs members! Why? Because it is not a TEAM if there is only 1 member! We need people who can vision, dream, be good stewards, and help set priorities for our church. Please let Pastor Molly, Council President Beverly, or Doug Wells know if you are interested in joining this ministry. Doug has been our volunteer sexton for some time but needs help. (A sexton is an officer of a church, congregation, or synagogue charged with the maintenance of its buildings.) Doug has done an outstanding job in his role but AMF needs to build this team. Doug needs help! 3. Our Resource Ministry needs members as well! The Resource Ministry helps create the spending plan of our church, in other words, our budget. However, the Resource Ministry is also responsible for (this list is not all inclusive): The church s organization year end report for the prior fiscal year; The most recent quarterly financial reports; Providing resources for congregational treasurers and bookkeepers; Keeping the pastor and church council informed of all church financial responsibilities Complying with tax requirements and tax reporting at both the state and federal level Page 11 Lutheran Church 8200 McClure Circle Charlotte, NC 28216

A Mighty Fortress. Newsletter 8/22/2018 Edition II, Volume 5. Service of Ordination for Pastor Molly Markley Kuekes

A Mighty Fortress. Newsletter 8/22/2018 Edition II, Volume 5. Service of Ordination for Pastor Molly Markley Kuekes Service of Ordination for Pastor Molly Markley Kuekes The Ordination service for Pastor Molly was held on Sunday, August 19, 2018, at St. Mark s Lutheran Church in Mooresville, NC. Lutheran Church 8200