The Seeker SUMMER Seek and you shall find. Knock and the door will be opened to you. -Matthew 7:7

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "The Seeker SUMMER Seek and you shall find. Knock and the door will be opened to you. -Matthew 7:7"

Godwin Goodman
5 years ago
Views:

Our Saviour Evangelical Lutheran Church 56 Cleveland Drive Croton-On-Hudson, NY 10520 (914) 271-4632 The Seeker SUMMER 2010 Pastor Anthony

-Matthew 7:7 Worship: Coffee Hour: 9:30 am Following Worship Weekday Office Schedule Office hours: 9:00 am - 12:00 Office Phone: (914) 271-4632

1 Our Saviour Evangelical Lutheran Church 56 Cleveland Drive Croton-On-Hudson, NY (914) The Seeker SUMMER 2010 Pastor Anthony Stephens, Ph.D. Sunday Worship Schedule Seek and you shall find. Knock and the door will be opened to you. -Matthew 7:7 Worship: Coffee Hour: 9:30 am Following Worship Weekday Office Schedule Office hours: 9:00 am - 12:00 Office Phone: (914) Office mail@oursaviourcroton.org Website: Weekday Activities Sewing Guild: 10:00 am Adult Bible Study: 9:30 am Choir Practice: 7:45 pm

2 Our Saviour Lutheran Church 56 Cleveland Drive, Croton-On-Hudson, New York SUMMER 2010 The Seeker Bi-Monthly Newsletter for Friends & Family of Our Saviour Lutheran Church CONCRETE STEPS! -Pastor Anthony Stephens One of the ways the Hebrew Bible refers to God is Elohim Sabaoth the Lord God of Hosts. Here, hosts means many, or a multitude. Thus, God s title Elohim Sabaoth praises God s godliness by counting how far it extends it extends to hosts. On the other hand verses such as Exodus 13:8: You shall tell your child on that day, "It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt,' suggest that the power of the Lord should be narrated and told; like in the old days when adults recounted great stories to young children. I went back to graduate school after seminary. It wasn t to study theology but rather to study the social science of human development. At that new graduate school there was a heated debate about what was the best way to evaluate something. A solid mainstream believed that whatever it was that was to be evaluated should be measured or counted. An evaluation would therefore consist of seeing numerically whether there was any difference made by the thing being studied. For instance, does a particular intervention s average effect achieve a result different from the average effect of no intervention whatsoever? Quantitative research, in other words.. However, one could argue, there are vast areas of human experience that defy counting and can only be described or recounted; culture would be one such example. So, one gathers little stories to tell the big story. This is broadly qualitative research. Of course, with God, God s blessings are too numerous to count and too wonderful to describe which most certainly does not mean we should not try. However, where God s grace flows through human channels, the task of counting or recounting is somewhat easier. As we focus on Our Saviour s 75 th Anniversary, I applaud the initiative of Council, the initiative being facilitated by Kunmi Johnson, to hold a number of small group discussions, where participants can count and recount their blessings of the past, and describe their hopes, fears and visions for the future. I most strongly encourage everyone s full participation. The output of these meetings, I suspect will be that the quieter stiller voices are able to tell wondrous stories; perhaps previously unheard, and we will gain a greater sense of the value of our life together as a church. These discussions, I would argue, are a very concrete way to pave a future life of faith at Our Saviour. This is just as our forebears in faith laid concrete for a sanctuary, and then laid concrete for a parish hall, and then laid concrete for a link between the two. It may be that these small group discussions will lead to laying concrete under a new and invigorated life of faith, which will be active in our loving awe of God, and better directed and greater energized service towards our world of neighbors. Such discussions are also likely to provide a forum just to get to know one another better, and to appreciate better our individual value and values. These are good reasons to lift this process in prayer and to participate wholeheartedly.

3 PRESIDENT S LETTER Frank Orts, Council President LET S KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK As I write this article for our bi-monthly newsletter I am encouraged by the way our congregation has been able to come very close to if not actually meeting our goals set forth in the 2009/2010 budget. I m sure this is not news to anyone that this past year has been challenging for many eople. There isn t one person I ve met that hasn t been affected by the down turn in this economy in one way or another. Yet through all this we as a congregation were able meet our budgetary goal. I am very pleased by this as we all should be. For those of you that were not able to attend the 2010/2011 budgetary approval meeting, the budget presented was essentially flat due mainly to a freeze on the salaries for the third year in a row now. Thank you to all those who did take the time to attend and vote (the whole meeting was about 18 minutes). While we voted to approve this budget, we must keep in mind that moving forward we will have to address the salaries. Three years is the max we should expect anyone to work without getting a raise. I am grateful for the staff we have and would like to THANK YOU for continuing to do a great job. As we acknowledge Our Saviour s 75 th Anniversary this year, let s reflect on what our church means to us and what we can do to make it a better place both spiritually and physically for ourselves and others. What can I do to make this a better church? What talents can I offer? Who can I invite to join us? Can I give more? We all have the talents/gifts and ability to make Our Saviour a better place. 1 Corinthians 12:12 The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. What will be OUR GOALS moving forward? MARK YOUR CALENDARS Sunday Sept. 26 at 4:00 PM A Vocal Concert with soprano Mary McCarthy accompanied by organ & piano in Our Saviour s Sanctuary. Sunday October 3 during Coffee Hour Celebrate the 15th Anniversary of Pastor Stephens Ordination Sunday October 17 at 5:00 PM. In celebration of Our Saviour s 75th Anniversary, a Vesper Service followed by a dinner will be held in the Parish Hall. OUR SAVIOUR COUNCIL MEMBERS 2010 Frank Orts, President Chuck Cooper Laura Keil Bryan Montgomery, Vice President Barbara Henninger Peter Ling Anita Baumann, Secretary Kunmi Johnson Susan Papertsian Ex Officio: Janet Behning, Treasurer Barbara Henninger, Financial Secretary 2

Our Saviour Fall Retreat 2010 - Eric Golberg This year our retreat at Koinonia occurs on the Friday, November 12 14 weekend. We have reserved 20 rooms in the conference center.

, allergies, vegetarians, etc). The coffee/tea pot is always on, and Koinonia has unusually good drinking water. Extra single mattresses and cribs are available at no extra charge.

4 Our Saviour Fall Retreat Eric Golberg This year our retreat at Koinonia occurs on the Friday, November weekend. We have reserved 20 rooms in the conference center. The room rates include delicious food: three meals on Saturday, breakfast and lunch on Sunday, and one snack each day. Koinonia is happy to meet any special dietary needs (e.g., allergies, vegetarians, etc). The coffee/tea pot is always on, and Koinonia has unusually good drinking water. Extra single mattresses and cribs are available at no extra charge. We always have a good time at this retreat. Koinonia is in Highland Lake, NY, an easy and scenic two hour (or less) drive from Croton-on- Hudson. We will have a signup sheet and more information over the next few weeks. Usually we have a program and/or service project, hayride, hiking, plenty of free time, etc. You can also visit Koinonia s web site for more information: Please contact Eric Golberg or other retreat veterans if you have any questions. All ages are welcome! If you would like to receive future newsletters by or have the birthdays and anniversaries of your family members acknowledged in the weekly bulletin and monthly newsletters, then please notify the church secretary by ing her at mail@oursaviourcroton.org. Thank You to Our Saviour Lutheran Church - Nicole Golberg I would like to thank all church members who have helped support me in fundraising for my trip to Nicaragua this Spring break. We have successfully built two cinderblock houses for two families. The donations were all put into providing the materials to build these homes. I have posted pictures of the trip and a pamphlet about the non-profit organization sponsoring this project out in the hall. Please stop by and take a look. Observe the wonderful life-changing experience that I was fortunate to have taken part in. Thank you for all your support. 3

All children are welcome. Older youth are needed as group leaders and program area assistants if you can volunteer, please fill out a registration form and mark it Youth Leader Volunteer.

Everyone is also welcome to come and celebrate with us on Friday night, August 20th for our annual VBS pot-luck. Our theme this year is a High Seas Expedition.

5 High Seas Expedition VBS Is Coming to Our Saviour August 16 20! Enclosed with this newsletter is the registration form for this year s Vacation Bible School. Children from age 4 5 th grade are welcome as campers to enjoy faith and fun from 9am to Noon each day. Don t have kids? Maybe you can share the registration form with a friend or neighbor s child! All children are welcome. Older youth are needed as group leaders and program area assistants if you can volunteer, please fill out a registration form and mark it Youth Leader Volunteer. We are so appreciative of all the help the congregation gives us supplying snack, volunteering, praying for the children. If you can give a few hours that week, let us know! Everyone is also welcome to come and celebrate with us on Friday night, August 20th for our annual VBS pot-luck. Our theme this year is a High Seas Expedition. There will be spirit-filled music, energetic games, fun-filled crafts and bible stories brought to life! Hope you and / or your children will join us this Summer! If you have any questions, please call the church office at or VBS director, Jen Stieglitz at or steiglitz2@verizon.net. Treasurer s Report With June almost over, it's unlikely that we will end the year in the black, primarily because our property maintenance costs are higher than budgeted. Our overall finances are better than they were a year ago; it will just take longer than we had hoped to get them where we need them so we can focus more on our ministry. INCOME: $142,021 TOTAL EXPENSES: $144,996 Contributions $116,692 Pastoral Support $52,086 Other $25,329 Property $34,111 Administration $22,108 Worship & Music $15,507 Benevolence $11,802 Ministry Support $ 9,382

6 Our Saviour Evangelical Lutheran Church 56 Cleveland Drive Croton on Hudson, N.Y Vacation Bible School Registration Form August 16-20, 2010 Student Information Last Name First Name Middle Initial Nickname Church Affiliation Grade in September Birth date Parent Information 1. Name 2. Name Address Adress City State Zip City State Zip Home Phone Other Numbers (work, cell, beeper) Phone Other Number (work, cell, beeper) Emergency Information 1. Name 2. Name Relationship Phone Relationship Phone Medical Information Doctor Phone Any Allergies (if so what are they?) Medical Conditions (please explain) Any medications (for what?) Please share anything else you feel we should know about your child (continue on the back): Camper Registration Fee: $25 Youth volunteer (for youth 6 th grade and up - No fee)

Looking For A Female Travel Companion Frya Barnes I am looking for a female travel companion for some trips I am planning for the next year or two.

Ireland and Scotland are also on my to-do list. Anyone interested in any of these please let me know.

to continue our growth to be more spiritually sound, fellowship friendly and community builder.

To bring this to fruition, we plan to hold a series of small cluster/focus groups over the summer to respond to a short questionnaire/survey and discuss the responses.

7 Looking For A Female Travel Companion Frya Barnes I am looking for a female travel companion for some trips I am planning for the next year or two. The person would have to be able to stand the altitude of Macchu Piccu. At that time I would also like to visit the Galapagos Islands. Another trip would be to Australia and New Zealand. Ireland and Scotland are also on my to-do list. Anyone interested in any of these please let me know. Focusing On Our Church - Kunmi Johnson As we celebrate Croton's Our Savior Lutheran's 75th anniversary, we would like to take this opportunity to learn from the past and plan for the upcoming years to continue our growth to be more spiritually sound, fellowship friendly and community builder. Plans are underway to have discussions/conversations with you parishioners to solicit your ideas to shape our future. To bring this to fruition, we plan to hold a series of small cluster/focus groups over the summer to respond to a short questionnaire/survey and discuss the responses. We encourage you to sign up during coffee hour to host a small group of 6-8 people. Questionnaire will be coming soon. For more information, please contact Kunmi Johnson by at spesh@optonline.net or by phone at (914) Calling All Gardeners - Frya Barnes When I resigned last Fall from my responsibility of looking after the Church gardens I had expected somebody else to come forward to take my place. That does not seem to have happened. I know this is a big job. There is always weeding and pruning to be done, not to mention leaf raking in the Fall and keeping the Rondthaler garden clean. The back garden and the area behind the Parsonage does take a lot of time. I wonder if it would be possible for this work to be done by a few people. That way it would not be so demanding. I would be willing to guide any volunteers in what needs to be done. Anybody willing to get involved with this please let me know.

8 JULY SUNDAY SERVANTS July 4 Greeters&Ushers: John & Tom Magerlein LeeAnn McCarthy MaryBeth Soucy Karen Magerlein Frya Barnes Lily Evans Karen Magerlein & Jen Stieglitz July 11 Greeter&Usher: Alex Stephens & Karolyn Kingman Greg Evans Lily Evans Lori Esteves Sandy Kelly Rosie Evans Lori Esteves & Jen Stieglitz July 18 Greeters&Ushers: Nancy Riekert & Evelyn Garrett Lori Esteves Matilda Weekes-Johnson Karolyn Kingman Eleanor Soderlund Gillian Stieglitz Hosp: Mikiko Golberg & Matilda Weekes-Johnson July 25 Greeters&Ushers: Anita & David Baumann Lance Kelly Amy Gardiner Karolyn Kingman Chuck Cooper Lily Evans Lisa Stephens & Hilda DeSousa LECTOR S READINGS 7/4 Isaiah 66:10-14 Galatians 6:7-16 7/11 Deuteronomy 30:9-14 Colossians 1:1-14 7/18 Genesis 18:1-10a Colossians 1: /25 Genesis 18:20-32 Colossians 2:6-15 8/1 Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14, Colossians 3:1-11 2: /8 Genesis 15:1-6 Hebrews 11:1-3, /15 Jeremiah 23:23-29 Hebrews 11:29-12:2 8/22 Isaiah 58:9b-14 Hebrews 12:18-29 AUGUST SUNDAY SERVANTS August 1 Greeter&Ushers: MaryBeth Soucy & Jillian McCarthy LeeAnn McCarthy Pam Schwartz Lori Esteves Bob Riekert Rosie Evans Melanie Mueller & Lori Esteves August 8 Greeters&Ushers: Karolyn Kingman & Frya Barnes Greg Evans Eleanor Soderlund Karen Magerlein Alexandra Stephens Gillian Stieglitz Hilda DeSousa & TBD August 15 Greeter&Usher: Dianne & Meagan Carroll Lori Esteves Lawrence Oberhauser Karen Magerlein John Magerlein Lily Evans Brigitte Anderson-Crumb & TBD August 22 Greeters&Ushers: Deborah Tobin & Chuck Cooper Lance Kelly Nancy Riekert Janet Behning LeeAnn McCarthy Rosie Evans Karen Magerlein & TBD August 29 Greeters&Ushers: Abbie Voss & Alexandra Stephens LeeAnn McCarthy Janet Behning Janet Behning Evelyn Garrett Gillian Stieglitz Frya Barnes & TBD September 5 Greeters&Ushers: Rosie Evans & Nancy Riekert Greg Evans Frya Barnes Jeanne Spacek Ken Gabrielsen Lily Evans TBD 8/29 Proverbs 25:6-7 Hebrews 13:1-8, /5 Deuteronomy 30:15-20 Philemon

JULY 2010 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 3 1 2 Key: HB - Happy Birthday HA - Happy Anniversary HB Frank Orts 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 Sixth Pentecost HB Cal

22 Bible,Church and World 9:30am 21 20 19 18 Eighth Pentecost HB Christine Gabrielsen HB Barbara Henninger 30 31 29 Bible,Church and World

9 JULY 2010 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Key: HB - Happy Birthday HA - Happy Anniversary HB Frank Orts Sixth Pentecost HB Cal Henninger Seventh Pentecost 2 HB Hilda DeSousa HB Christina Befanis Church Council Meeting 12:00 noon Orts residence Bible,Church and World 9:30am Eighth Pentecost HB Christine Gabrielsen HB Barbara Henninger Bible,Church and World 9:30am Ninth Pentecost HB Owen Doherty HB Danielle Mueller HB Marie Golberg HB Leon Johnson HB Christopher Orts HA John & Melanie Mueller

AUGUST 2010 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 Tenth Pentecost 2 3 4 5 Bible,Church and

13 14 Services at 12:00 noon, & 7:30pm 15 Twelfth Pentecost 16 17 18 19 20 21 HB Mark

Gabrielsen 24 VBS 9:00am noon 25 VBS 9:00am noon 26 Bible,Church and World 9:30am VBS

Mueller HB Steven Orts HB Andrew Stephens HB Philip Stephens 29 Fourteenth Pentecost

10 AUGUST 2010 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 Tenth Pentecost Bible,Church and World 9:30am 6 7 HB John Magerlein HB Sue Gabrielsen 8 Eleventh Pentecost Services at 12:00 noon, & 7:30pm 15 Twelfth Pentecost HB Mark Esteves 22 Thirteenth Pentecost VBS 9:00am noon 23 VBS 9:00am noon HA Ken & LeeAnn Gabrielsen 24 VBS 9:00am noon 25 VBS 9:00am noon 26 Bible,Church and World 9:30am VBS 9:00am noon VBS BarBQue 6:00 pm HB Evelyn Gardiner HB Matthew Grosso HB Joseph Mueller HB Steven Orts HB Andrew Stephens HB Philip Stephens 29 Fourteenth Pentecost Key: HB - Happy Birthday HA - Happy Anniversary HB Meagan Carroll HA Amy & Tom Gardiner

The Seeker NOVEMBER Seek and you shall find. Knock and the door will be opened to you. -Matthew 7:7

The Seeker NOVEMBER Seek and you shall find. Knock and the door will be opened to you. -Matthew 7:7 Our Saviour Evangelical Lutheran Church 56 Cleveland Drive Croton-On-Hudson, NY 10520 (914) 271-4632 The Seeker NOVEMBER 2012 Rev. Anthony Stephens, Ph.D., Pastor Sunday Worship Schedule Sunday School: