2017 VOLUME 27 NUMBER

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1 American Lutheran Church ALC Alert Smith Center, Kansas MARCH 2017 VOLUME 27 NUMBER 2 From Pastor Lorna: Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, A smudge of ashes on our foreheads marks the beginning of the season of Lent. Why do we mark ourselves in this way at this time? What does it signify for us? Lent is a time for reflection. Most of the time our lives are so full of action and doing that we spend little time thinking about what we are doing and why we are doing it. Lent asks us to pause in our headlong rush forward, to think about our lives and the direction they are going. When we receive the smudge of ashes on our foreheads we hear the words, Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return. The words remind us of our limitations and our mortality. They demand that we acknowledge that God is God and we are not. That is an excellent place for our Lenten reflections to begin. We all reflect on our lives. We all have internal conversations with ourselves about things that have happened in the past or our interactions with other people. It can be a time when we try to soothe our hurt feelings or justify our bad behavior toward another person by telling ourselves how good we are and how badly the other person treated us. But that is not the kind of reflection we are asked to do in this season. The season of Lent asks us to move in a much more difficult direction, a direction that leads us toward repentance. We must ask questions like, How did I contribute to the problem I had with the other person? What was there in my attitude or on my face or in my tone or in my words that inflamed the situation? Repentance begins with the recognition that at least part of the problem lies with me. That smudge of ashes on our forehead can serve as a reminder that we are not as good or as perfect as we like to think we are. But we don t have to get lost in our own guilt or wallow in our regrets. That Ash Wednesday smudge has a shape and that shape is the cross. Repentance is hard work for us but the one who has done the major work in this process is Jesus Christ. We don t have to punish ourselves for the sins we have committed because Christ took the punishment we deserved on himself when he died on the cross for us. He has done the work which makes forgiveness possible. If we are already forgiven, why should we bother with this hard work called repentance? We do it to open ourselves to the transforming work of the Holy Spirit. Recognizing and confessing our sin breaks down our defensiveness and opens us to change. We set aside the false pride that says, There is nothing wrong with me. I don t need to be fixed. so that our hearts can pray, Come, Holy Spirit. Make me more like Jesus. And so a smudge of ashes set us on a path of growth and change. Don t miss out on the opportunity that Lent offers to draw you closer to Christ and make you a better reflector of his love in the world. Grace and Peace,

2 From the Desk of Pastor Lee March, 2017 we confess to you and to one another, and before the whole company of heaven, that we have sinned by our fault, by our own fault, by our own most grievous fault, in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone. -from the Ash Wednesday confession liturgy. With Christians throughout the world, we enter the season of Lent. Echoing Jesus forty days in the wilderness, observing Lent is a discipline that challenges us to shift the focus from our desires so that we may better be able to recognize Jesus at work in the world and in others by his suffering, death and resurrection. This is a challenge, however, that our world finds foolish and even dangerous because it is a threat to a society that worships the power created by unending conflict, hatred and division. It seems we have reached another point in our history when compromise is weakness, when fanatical adherence to absolutes dominate over the need for learning and when we embrace the familiar us over them for the illusion of security and safety. We have stopped listening to each other because we do not want to hear anything different than what we have already decided is true. We have stopped trusting each other except for those who think exactly like we do. We have allowed the soundbites and clever memes to be our answers to complex situations. We have allowed the pundits of the extremes to be our voice in the world over and against the voice of faith that God has given us. Christ died to make us better people than what we have allowed ourselves to become. If we are going to reclaim, as Abraham Lincoln once spoke, the better angels of our nature, our desire for safety must yield to Christ s radical love for each other, our desire to be heard must yield to our willingness to listen, and our desire to be right must yield to the reality of God s grace. I know it is sometimes a fine line between being humble and being abused, just as it is between being accepting of differences and tolerating evil. It is a fine line, but it is a line that we must walk together, challenging and supporting each other because Christ first loved us before we could ever imagine loving ourselves. In world with a ravenous appetite to see us devolve and fracture at differences small and great, we are called to walk together where Christ has walked, even to the cross. Along the way, we may need to carry the cross for another just as someone, when we stumble, will be there to carry the cross for us. Christ leads us in this path, not because the world needs more witnesses to tell it what we see or believe, but because the world needs us to be the witness in action, reflecting the love of Christ with the very gift of our lives. As we enter Lent, may Christ be our light, our hope and our unity; and, may his cross be the heart that drives us to radically love a beautiful, but fallen, world. Your Friend in Christ, Pastor Lee

3 DISCIPLES OF THE PLAINS Parish Council Meeting Minutes December 1, 2016 (unapproved) Disciples of the Plains Parish Council met December 1, 2016 at St. John, Kensington. Council members present were Dennis Lehmann & Tom Bose (American); Paul Merklein & Sharon Krafft (Emmanuel); Linda Miller (St. John); and Bob Lamp & Ricky Solida (Zion). Pastoral team members present were Pastor Lorna Paulus & Pastor Lee Bennight. Russell Dettmer, Parish Treasurer was also in attendance. I. Call to Order - The meeting was called to order by Chairman, Dennis at 7:30 p.m. II. Devotions - Pastor Lorna read an Advent devotion taken from a post on the Central States Synod website. III. Approve Agenda - It was decided once again to table the Mutual Ministry recommendations on ministry review and evaluations until the next meeting. Bob made a motion to approve the agenda as amended. Ricky seconded. Motion carried. IV. Prior Meeting's Minutes - Linda moved and Paul seconded to approve the minutes of the September 26th meeting as printed. Motion carried. V. Treasurer's Report - After Russell gave a summary, he pointed out the following: Reconciliation Committee met November 27th (no discrepancies found) and Ashby House checks were mailed. Discussion was had about the CCLI license reporting requirements. The 2017 Parish Budget was approved by the church councils and will be included in their congregational Annual reports. Ricky moved, Linda seconded, and motion carried to approve the Treasurer's report as printed. Russell left the meeting at this time. VI. Other Reports - (A) No Communication Coordinator's report available. (B) Pastors' Reports - Pastor Lee and Pastor Lorna submitted printed reports. Pastor Lee commented on the Phillips County Ministerial Alliance. Bob moved and Paul seconded to approve the Pastors' reports. Motion carried. (C) Reconciliation Committee - see V. Treasurer's report notes VII. New Business - (A) Budget Approval - see V. Treasurer's report notes (B) Recruitment of new Parish Council members - a member from each congregation will join the Council (two year term); and take office February 1st. VIII. Next Meeting is scheduled for February 23rd at 7:30 p.m. at Zion. IX. With no further business, the meeting adjourned with the Lord's Prayer. Respectfully submitted, Sharon Krafft, Secretary

4 VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES ALTAR GUILD: Volunteers are needed to help with altar guild for April and May. A sign-up sheet has been posted. CENTRAL STATES SYNOD ASSEMBLY: Voting members are needed (one male, one female) to attend the Central States Synod Assembly June Early Assembly Registration deadline is April 15. Please visit with Pastor Lorna or go to for more information. NURSING HOME SERVICES: Seeking members to participate in the nursing home worship services. American Lutheran leads the service once every eight weeks. Services are held on assigned Sundays at 2:30 pm at Long Term Care and 3:15 pm at Smith Center Health and Rehab. Your presence would be much appreciated by the residents. NEWS/UPCOMING EVENTS NURSING HOME SERVICES: American will be providing nursing home services on Sunday, March 12. We will be at Long Term Care at 2:30 pm and SC Health and Rehab at 3:15 pm. Please join us! GREETING CARDS: We have many new greeting cards, especially sympathy. Some of the cards do not contain a Bible verse in the inside greeting. Read verses before purchasing to insure your preference. Cards are priced as marked on the front of each box. Single cards are 75 cents, or you can pick 10 singles from the selection for $7.50. Discounted cards, south of the wall display are 50 cents each. Give money or checks, made out to WELCA, to Dorothy Hommon, Barbie Timmons, or Barb Lehmann, or put money in deposit box. This year we also have graduation and Father's Day cards for sale. Easter cards are for sale now too. Let me know if you are looking for any other cards we do not offer at this time. I'll order again in the fall, and maybe we can find some other categories of cards which we do not presently sell. Thank you for your card purchases. Barb Lehmann SAVE YOUR LABELS! The Council has decided to participate in the Best Choice Save-A-Label program and encourages members to participate by clipping and bringing your Best Choice bar codes to the church. Designation of the funds raised will be determined at a later date. A large envelope is in Lori s office mailbox for you to put them in. Thanks!

5 March Duty Assignments OFFERING DATE SOUND ACOLYTE CANTOR LECTOR USHERS GREETERS COUNT 5 Allan Trace Allan Brad John & Amy Darlene & Gloria Barbie & Pam 12 Allan Camryn Irene Irene Dennis & Barb L Della Barbie & Darlene 19 Allan Shelby Barb W Della Jerald & Jenifer Jerald & Jenifer Wyatt & Shirley 26 Allan Jakob Allan Marcia Tom & Marcia Burdette & Janet Wyatt & Sharyl ALTAR GUILD: Della/???/??? COMMUNION: Brad Timmons KITCHEN: Barbara Wilson

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