First Things First. Mission Moments. Celebrating Sixty-eight Years of God s Amazing Grace

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1 F I R S T E V A N G E L I C A L L U T H E R A N C H U R C H Celebrating Sixty-eight Years of God s Amazing Grace Mission Moments M a y Volume 12 Issue 5 First Things First In Response to the Good News of Jesus Christ: Our Purpose Gathered to worship! Sent to witness and serve! Our Vision To become more diverse, creative, nurturing, and welcoming within our congregation and in the wider community. Our Guiding Principles... We will follow Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. We will read, teach, and preach God s Word faithfully. We commit to prayer and worship as a way of life. We invite people to know Jesus Christ. Reconciling in Christ Welcoming Statement First Evangelical Lutheran Church/La Primera is committed to being a radically loving and welcoming community of faith, centered in the Good News of Jesus Christ. Therefore, in faithfulness to the Gospel and our Lutheran heritage, and to the best of our ability, we promise to provide programs, ministries, and pastoral care to all who seek God in this place. All are welcome here, including persons of every race, ethnicity, creed, class, age, gender, marital status, physical or mental ability, sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression. First Things First: My Other Two Favorite Words at Easter Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! Alleluia. My favorite word at Easter is risen. It just makes sense that risen would be my favorite word because the resurrection is the entire focus of the purpose of Jesus.to redeem us from death and sin. Without the resurrection the Cross would have been poignant and certainly a martyr gave his life but the resurrection the risen part of Easter makes this one event a mighty act of God God s defeat of death, sin and the devil. Risen is perhaps the greatest word at Easter. There are two others I like too. The first one is Suddenly. Suddenly angels appear and roll away the stone.suddenly Jesus meets them and says Hello. I like the word suddenly because it leaves me with the belief that anything could happen at any moment where God is concerned. I was thinking about my Easter sermon on the way to church one morning and I was leaning toward something about the Son has risen..when suddenly I saw something on a bridge of an overpass. It was a metal work of a sun rising inside a V..from there I went to thinking about what a great symbol it is. A V for VICTORY with the sun or SON rising. Suddenly is an Easter word because it means God is on the move and might show up anywhere at any time in any circumstance and that is a great comfort to me. God is in control so anything can happen. My other favorite word at Easter is run. Have you ever noticed how many people start running in all the Easter stories. Peter and the disciple Jesus loved have an out and out race to the tomb. The women hear the message and run to tell the disciples. Christ is Risen inspires action.in double time. It s an urgent time with a marvelous surprise when the running stops. It s a good word for us disciples today. We need to run because it s urgent that everyone hears the story of Easter.that Christ is risen and that Jesus may suddenly appear with all the grace and love that overpowered sin and death. Jesus may suddenly appear with healing and grace for one person or we may all be blessed by Jesus suddenly appearing on the last day..i d love to see it..suddenly Jesus appears and all of us run as fast as we can into his loving arms. He is risen indeed and any moment or any time we might suddenly see or hear something that reminds us of His love.then we can run and tell the news to somebody else. Let s look out for those sudden reminders of Jesus and his love this Easter season. That s putting First things First! Easter Joy! Pastor Melissa

2 2 Christian Movement Friendship in the Garden Party Tuesday, May 9 11:45 AM Great Room Staff Melissa Harr, Interim Pastor Lynda Maraby, Licensed Lay Minister Joy Petroff, Admin. Secretary Congregational Officers Evan Rogers, President Sarah Shaw, Vice President Kathleen Rogers, Treasurer Kay Mortensen, Financial Secretary Congregational Council Carmen Guerrero Diane Johnson Mary Kilber Lynda Maraby Laura O Connell Evan Rogers Kathleen Rogers Rhonda Schmidt Sarah Shaw It is a potluck luncheon so if you are able, please bring a dish to share. We will provide the entertainment and bingo. We will have lots of good food, fun and fellowship. Please join us. If you know of anyone who would benefit by receiving a shawl, you can call Vicki Wilcox at or call the church office and leave a message. Senior Vicars Marilyn Bloom, RN Roger Hughes Dave Jeffery Mary Kilber Lynda Maraby Laura O Connell Ellen Riske Evan Rogers Kathleen Rogers Vicki Wilcox Wayne Wilcox A shawl will be provided with a card with this message: Prayer Shawl Ministry First Evangelical Lutheran Church The Messenger is a monthly publication of First Evangelical Lutheran Church of Mesa, Arizona. Please submit information by to felc@firstevlutheran.com or in written form to the church office by the 15th of the month prior to publication. May God comfort and console you as the Lord holds you in the Spirit s presence. May this shawl be a sign of God s love and grace. May it bring you warmth when you are weary. May it surround you and cover you with love. May God s strong touch reach out to you. As you wrap this shawl around you, imagine being wrapped in the arms of Jesus and remember that many are praying for you. Remember to save these: Collection box is in the Great Room

3 First Evangelical Lutheran Church/La Primera Council Minutes April 9, Present: Pastor Melissa Harr, Diane Johnson, Rhonda Schmidt, Sarah Shaw, Carmen Guerrero, Kathleen Rogers, Evan Rogers, Lynda Maraby A. The meeting was opened with prayer. B. Minutes for the March meeting were approved. C. Reports: 1. Treasurer s Report: Our overall income to expenses are good, year to date. At this time, we have a slightly positive balance. The budget is on schedule. We have received our spring Cursillo payment, and Gloria de Cristo, Yuma, has increased their mission partner monthly donation. 2. Pastor Melissa s Report: -Pastor Melissa had been hired for the position of Clinical Director for Arizona Children s Association in Apache Junction. Because this is a full-time position, her availability at First during week days will be limited. She will still be available evenings and weekends. -As previously scheduled, she will be in Minnesota for the final leg of Intentional Interim training from April 21 through 29, and she will attend a retreat sponsored by PLTS for pastors at churches who are going to be sponsoring interns. -Melissa has also asked to be Spiritual Director at the women s Cursillo this coming October. She suggests we encourage our new intern, Cassandra Chaves, and Daniel Tu to go to the upcoming Cursillo weekends. -Melissa s visitations this month include Foster and Janet Cornett and Betty Thompson. -Cleaning has become an issue again. Annmarie is scheduled for another eye surgery on April 10 and will be out of commission for a bit. Kathleen suggested we call Stanley Steamer to do the floor in the Great Room, and she will ask at the school if there is someone who would like to earn a bit more money doing daily janitorial duties during the week. We also need to find someone to handle a bee infestation. 3. Lynda Maraby s Report: -We have been conducting a New Member s class between services for the past three weeks. New members will be formally welcomed on April 30. -Lynda suggested we work with Valley Interfaith Project to schedule an immigration meeting. VIP has been holding such meetings in other places in the valley. -Our next Convivio is Sunday, April 23. The theme is Dia de los Niños (Children s Day). -Lynda has visited Art and Rosabelle Nelson, Evelyn Kolsrud, and Vi Schiermeister this month. 4. La Primera: Weekly attendance is higher. We have a lot of children at the 11:15 service. We also continue to have requests for First Communions and baptisms, as well as a recent one for a Quinceñera and a possible Presentación (a precursor to baptism). We are considering offering a Lutheran Rosary periodically. All reports were approved as submitted. D. Old Business: 1. The HVAC system seems to be working at this time. Preventative maintenance is finally finished. This included the replacement of a valve in the chiller tower, a descaling of the condenser and an adjustment of the damper in the fourth grade classroom at Concordia. We are hoping that our maintenance agreements will help us avoid future issues. 2. Evan and Sarah are still working on a fee schedule for use of the church property. E. New Business: 1. Concordia has received a grant to upgrade the kitchen. Work will the day after school lets out for the summer. This means we will not have access to the kitchen or the Fellowship Hall in June. We will offer a modified summer program from June 5 to June 16 from 9 AM to noon. Sarah Shaw and Rachel Gomes-Acosta are trying to get money for snacks. We have budgeted $3,000 to pay two staff people, but we will need volunteers. We will check with the organizers of the refugee ESL class to see whether the children of their students would like to attend. 2. The rummage sale was a huge success. Council approved sending some of the proceeds to the mission in Ukraine and to Sister Sarah Ssajjabbi s Hope Jr. School in Uganda. 3. Campfirmation is coming up again. There is a $200 deposit required. We also need someone to attend the meetings. Traci Laasch will take the lead on registration. F. Transition Planning: 1. Our intern, Cassandra Chavez, will begin August 1. She will come in July to find housing and then go visit her parents. 2. Council agreed to ask the Bishop to extend the licenses for Pastor Melissa an Lynda Maraby for another year. The next Council meeting will be our retreat on Saturday, May 6.

4 4 Food Pantry Shopping List: Macaroni & cheese Spaghetti Spaghetti sauce Canned vegetables Canned fruit Canned meat Canned tuna Canned soup Canned beans Peanut butter Jelly Cereal Bagged rice (1#) Bagged pinto beans (1# or 2#) Ramen noodles MONTHLY FINANCIAL REPORT As of /31/17 Actual 2017 Budget 2017 Actual 2016 Budget 2016 Offerings $36,705 $37,700 $38,203 $48,550 Other Income $23,981 $27,500 $19,138 $23,500 Total Income $60,686 $65,200 $58,441 $72,050 Expenses $48,253 $63,356 $63,227 $70,815 Inc. Less Exp. $12,432 $1,845 $-4,786 $1,235 Saturday, May 6 9:30 AM - 2:30 PM RETREAT Vicars Meetings May 8, 15, 22, 29 June 5-16 Monday-Friday 9-11AM For kids going into 1st-5th grade. Activities with Mr. Scott and classroom with Miss Hannah. Free! Limited space. Contact the church office to register. Watch website and Facebook for more details. Jr/Sr High Class Sundays, 10:30 AM Hahn Fireside Lounge 10:30-noon Great Room May Change for Change Offering to be received on May 28 will support the Uganda Mission Month in Review Deaths: Lillian Wolf April 11, 2017 Sundays, 10:30 AM in the Learning Center Hector Espinoza April 19, 2017

5 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat AM-Noon Family SPOT class th Sunday in Easter 14 5th Sunday in Easter 21 6th Sunday in Easter 28 7th Sunday in Easter 29 Memorial Day 4 OFFICE 11 OFFICE 18 OFFICE 25 OFFICE 5 OFFICE 12 OFFICE 19 OFFICE 26 OFFICE 10:45 Sunday School LC 10:45 AM High School Class 10:45 Sunday School LC 10:45 AM High School Class 10:45 Sunday School LC 10:45 AM High School Class 8 15 DEADLINE: NEWSLETTER 22 OFFICE 9 NO LSSS 11:45 AM Christian Movement Party - GR 16 6:30-8:30 PM PLAG AM-Noon Family SPOT class PM Kids in the Kitchen - GR 4-5:30 PM Choir Rehearsal :30 PM Choir Rehearsal :30 PM Choir Rehearsal 9 NO MESA MIGRANT IN MAY 2017 GR Great Room S Sanctuary Olson Conference Room 10:30-11:30 AM PlaySPOT - GR Hahn Fireside Lounge RFFS - Refuge Focus/ FamilySPOT (formerly the Library) 6 9:30 AM-2:30 PM Council Retreat- GR AM Little Rembrandts- GR 27 LC Learning Center FH Fellowship Hall * - Off-Campus

6 6 First Evangelical Lutheran Church 142 N. Date Street Immediate Mesa, Arizona Delivery Requested NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. Postage PAID Mesa, Arizona Permit No. 72 Return Service Requested May 2017 OFFICE HOURS Mondays through Wednesdays: 8:30AM-2:30PM Please join us. All are welcome in this place. Friday Communion Worship: 7 PM Sunday Communion Worship: 9:15 AM La Primera Communion Worship: 11 AM Sunday School: 10:45 AM First Evangelical Lutheran Church 142 North Date Street Mesa, Arizona Contact Us Phone: (480) Fax: (480) felc@firstevlutheran.com Web: