Tell your friends. Tell your neighbors. All ages invited!!

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! Phone: 952-938-4683 Email: stpauls@saintpaulslutheran.

1 October 2012 St. Paul s Lutheran MESSENGER Tell your friends. Tell your neighbors. All ages invited!! Phone: stpauls@saintpaulslutheran.org Fax: Website: Our mission is to be an open and inviting church spreading the Good News of Christ.

2 St. Paul s Evangelical Lutheran Church WHO WE ARE A Reconciling in Christ (RIC) congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), Minneapolis Area Synod, Western Parks and Lakes Conference. MISSION STATEMENT Our mission is to be an open and inviting church spreading the Good News of Christ. WORSHIP TIMES You are invited to join us regularly on Sunday mornings for 9:30 AM worship followed by refreshments and Christian education. Please check our calendar for days and times of activities and events. CALENDAR An interactive calendar is available on our website: Just click the Calendar button at the top of the web page and click on any time or event for details and often a map. CONTACT INFORMATION The office is lightly staffed. Regular office hours are 9:30 AM to 1:30 PM, Monday through Friday, excluding federal holidays. Please call before coming in case of unexpected closure. Phone: Fax: StPauls@saintpaulslutheran.org, MAILING LIST Please provide the church office with your address to be included in electronic delivery of the newsletter. The community of St. Paul s is pleased to send you this newsletter. However, if you prefer not to receive it, please call the church office or us to remove your address from our list. CONGREGATION RELATIONSHIPS Partners Igelsia Vida Abundante en Cristo, (Abundant Life in Christ), provides a worship service in Spanish at St. Paul s on Sunday, 1:00 3:00 PM and Prayer on Friday, 7:00 9:00 PM Bet Shalom Reform Congregation, Interfaith Thanksgiving Eve service Lutheran Church of the Reformation, Lent & Holy Week services Mizpah United Church of Christ, Interfaith Thanksgiving Eve service Mission Augustana Chapel View Care Center in Hopkins Augustana Emerald Crest Feed My Starving Children ELCA World Hunger Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) Intercongregation Communities Association (ICA) Lutherans Concerned/North America (LC/NA), (RIC) Lutheran Social Services (LSS) Lutheran World Relief (LWR) Meals on Wheels MN United for All Families Our Saviour s Housing OutFront Minnesota ResourceWest of Hopkins Synod Disaster Relief Teens Alone Thrivent Financial for Lutherans ARTICLE SUBMISSION Please submit articles as Word documents with your clip art and/or photos to stpauls@saintpauls lutheran.org and include your contact information. For informational s and pre-printed fliers or brochures, provide your condensed version that can be directly inserted into the newsletter. Submission deadline is the fifteenth of each month. All submissions are subject to editing for space and content. All rights reserved by St. Paul s Evangelical Lutheran Church. ST. PAUL S CHURCH COUNCIL & ASSISTING ADMINISTRATORS Officers President Pat Tollefson Vice President Darcie Rodman Secretary Kathy Powers Treasurer Vince Jacobson Council Members At-Large Aly Bonner Mary Hromatka Kathy Pfaendtner Mike Smith Pastor Rev. Louise Mollick Staff Administrative Assistant, Newsletter Editor Linda Dundas Choir Accompanist Linda McGee Music Director Rick Latterell Facility Use Coordinator Mary Hromatka Finance Committee Assistant Treasurer Bernie Johnson Financial Secretary Mary Kay Peterson Webmaster Vince Jacobson AUXILIARY BUILDING USE St. Paul s encourages use of its facility by groups that will support our mission statement. Examples are the 12 Step recovery programs, local neighborhood organizations, and congregations seeking meeting space. Please contact us for more details. PUBLICATION The Messenger is published monthly by St. Paul s Evangelical Lutheran Church ELCA, Lake St. Ext., Minnetonka, MN

3 COUNCIL NEWS St. Paul s Church Council meets at 7:00 PM the second Tuesday of the month. Members of St. Paul s community are welcome to attend and/or submit items for the agenda by contacting one of the council members. Council Meeting Highlights Aly Bonner, Council Secretary pro tem September 11, 2012 GATHERING President Pat Tollefson called the meeting to order at 7:08 PM. Present: Aly Bonner, Mary Hromatka, Vince Jacobson, Pr. Louise Mollick, Michael Smith, and Pat Tollefson. Absent: Kathy Pfaendtner, Kathy Powers, and Darcie Rodman. Stewardship Team present: Tom Larson, Mike Mikulay, and Howard Rand Vince provided an opening prayer and spiritual nourishment. REPORTS Stewardship: Vince reported that Bridge to Our Future donations continue to be collected. A celebration will be held on September 22 nd. Tom and Mike M. led discussion and offered minor edits to the narrative budget, mainly in the core mission areas. Tom and Mike continued discussion on the Vision for Ministry Ranking sheet. After seeing which projects were most popular with the council and stewardship members, it was agreed to focus on worship and witness projects in Stewardship Team will decide during their meeting next week whether or not they will continue joining the church council meetings in the subsequent months. Council Business: Mary moved to approve the August 14 th minutes as written, Aly seconded, motion passed. The September, November and December monthly potlucks are canceled. The October 28th potluck will be replaced with a reception for Creative Expression s Photo Exhibit potluck schedule will be planned at a later date and will probably be less frequent. Minnesota United for all Families will hold a training session on engaging conversation regarding the MN Marriage Amendment after worship on Sunday, September 16 at 11. A Songfest is planned for October 7 th from 4-6 PM at St. Paul s in support of the Vote No initiative. Many church members are expected to perform. Creative Expression children s ministry s first meeting of the school year will be September 20 th Facilities Use: The Seventh Day Adventist congregation that was looking for facilities to use has opted to partner with a different church. Pastor s Report: We are saddened by the death of Shirlee Waltz, and are grateful for the time we were blessed to spend with her. Financial Secretary Report: There are no serious budgetary concerns at this present time. A $5,400 bid was received to patch the parking lot, it was handed over to the property team for further review. A grant was offered to cover all but $1,000 of an automated external defibrillator (AED); it was handed over to the property team for further review. SENDING Vince provided a closing prayer. Meeting adjourned at 9:30 PM. Next Council Date: October 10, 2013 View our Activity Calendar Online Just click the link below! Use the arrow keys to move forward or backward in time.

... the world in all its fancy wisdom never had a clue when it came to knowing God But to us who are personally called by God himself both Jews and Greeks Christ is God s ultimate miracle and wisdom

4 ... the world in all its fancy wisdom never had a clue when it came to knowing God But to us who are personally called by God himself both Jews and Greeks Christ is God s ultimate miracle and wisdom all wrapped up in one. Human wisdom is so tinny, so impotent, next to the seeming absurdity of God. Human strength can t begin to compete with God s weakness. Our Future Begins Today! Howard Rand, Stewardship Team Thanks to a diverse variety of generous people in St. Paul s Family, we crossed the Bridge. A quiet drive for funds, Bridge to Our Future, erases our budget deficit. It enables us to meet the budget we established in 2012, as folks continue their faithful giving throughout the year. So we celebrated with an all congregation dinner on September 22. Now we look to our future with renewed confidence. The community of St. Paul s will be hearing about a fresh new approach to planning, a narrative budget, in the days ahead. That is to say, there is always a bridge to mission ahead in our future. The Stewardship Team and Church Council have worked together in this new adventure. We will be unveiling an endeavor to share mission planning within the next months. We are grateful to all of our fellow members for the positive responses you continue to offer. Living Faithfully Sort of Vince Jacobson This week, I found myself reading 1 Corinthians 1: Of course there is nothing new in these verses, but by re-reading, and especially doing so using a different translation often brings new insights. Here are a few excerpts from The Message translation: It s written, I ll turn conventional wisdom on its head, I ll expose so-called experts as crackpots So what is the connection between this scripture which focuses on wisdom, and the title, Living Faithfully? Well, I guess it s about the same as the difference between tinny human wisdom and God s wisdom. When one acts in faith, one intentionally chooses to act upon God s wisdom rather than upon human wisdom. The journey of living faithfully usually begins cautiously and experimentally by acting on that small voice each of us has inside of us, then having the discernment to give the credit to God. As we travel on that journey, over a lifetime, we grow in our trust of God and find it more natural to intentionally seek God s wisdom in each decision. We even learn to cling to our discernment of God s wisdom when our human responses are screaming in opposition. Of course, we know in our heads that God s wisdom is better than our own, and that God is the ultimate in trustworthiness, but our hearts still need to be convinced. The good news is that God created us, God loves us, God knows us, and God has unlimited patience. It is a major faith milestone to move from walking with God in daily decisions to taking on God sized challenges, but as major as it is, it is usually recognized only in retrospect. As a recent example of how this could play out, I have been involved for a while in a bigger than me challenge. It was entered into in faith, and it has been exciting and challenging. When progress appeared to plateau, I started questioning whether I was correctly discerning God s wisdom and began to consider how success could be interpreted using my own rationalization. Fortunately, I also continued to cling to and act upon my earlier discernment. Progress inexplicably resumed dramatically before I acted within my own rationalization due to my faltering faith. Continued on the next page.

Continued from previous page. I was ultimately both embarrassed by my faltering faith and comforted by God s steadfastness. No, my faith is not perfect, but that is understood.

I was comforted because, even though my head recognizes God s steadfastness, my heart continues to need reassurance. PRAISE THE LORD for walking beside us and teaching us faithfulness.

Paul s Lutheran and then please bring the check to St. Paul s or mail it in. Thanks to all who have participated we received checks in August and September for $3.71, $7.56, $8.40, $15.72, $18.

A songfest in support of the Vote No initiative will be held at St. Paul s from 4 6 PM, Sunday, October 7. Local musicians will sing out for the freedom to marry. Tell your friends.

5 Continued from previous page. I was ultimately both embarrassed by my faltering faith and comforted by God s steadfastness. No, my faith is not perfect, but that is understood. I know that perfection was not possible. God gets it, and God understands human limitations. I was embarrassed primarily because my conventional wisdom has not been completely turned on its head. I was comforted because, even though my head recognizes God s steadfastness, my heart continues to need reassurance. PRAISE THE LORD for walking beside us and teaching us faithfulness. Express Metals New Payment Plan Rey Lindquist Express Metals is no longer mailing checks. When you take your scrap metal in, ask them to make the check out to St. Paul s Lutheran and then please bring the check to St. Paul s or mail it in. Thanks to all who have participated we received checks in August and September for $3.71, $7.56, $8.40, $15.72, $18.21, and $ It all matters and every little bit adds up, so keep it coming! Love Notes Love Votes SONGFEST Marriage matters to all! A songfest in support of the Vote No initiative will be held at St. Paul s from 4 6 PM, Sunday, October 7. Local musicians will sing out for the freedom to marry. Tell your friends. Tell your neighbors. All ages are invited. Free admission & Free refreshments; bring a lawn chair or blanket. See you there! Hosted by St. Paul s Lutheran Church in partnership with MN United for All Families. Spaghetti & Meatball Dinner Thursday October 11 from 5 pm to 7 pm Immanuel Lutheran Church Luther Way, Eden Prairie MN In advance: Adults $7; At the door: Adults $9 100% of the ticket price goes to building homes for people in need. Sponsored by Thrivent Carver-Hennepin Chapter & Hopkins Noontime Lions See Rey Lindquist for tickets MN United for all Families phone-bank St. Paul s is hosting a phone bank every Sunday until the November election 5:30 8:30 PM. People will be called regarding the proposed MN Marriage Amendment. Training and refreshments are provided. Please come, join in the opportunity to make a difference in people s lives. Our contact/coordinator is Sean Herring, sean@mnunited.org. Rake, Rattle, and Roll Temps are falling and so are the leaves. Many elderly residents in south, southeast, and northeast Minneapolis find raking very challenging. HandyWorks coordinates teams of volunteers in late October and early November to help these residents with their raking. Volunteers are needed for a number of teams from churches, businesses, civic and youth groups anyone who can donate a few hours to make the lives of senior residents a little easier. You supply the rakes, leaf bags and manpower; the residents will be there with a smile and thank you. For more information and to register for this annual event, please contact Deb Easter at , or deater@gmcc.org.

6 Blessing of the Animals You won t want to miss this!! On October 7 th you AND your furry, finned, feathered, and hard shelled loved ones are invited to attend worship together for a special blessing during the 9:30 AM service. On this day we will all be reminded that church is indeed the place where the bond of creation is celebrated. A MUST: Please be sure to bring your animal on a leash, kenneled or in a carrier and to keep your companion under your control at all times! Reformation: Our Heritage and Our Children s Future Pr. Louise Mollick Sunday, Oct. 28 will be a HUGE day in the worship life of our congregation. We will celebrate the Reformation and Children s Sabbath together! The Reformation has been defined as a revolution within Christianity that began five centuries ago and we pray its still happening now. We who are part of the Lutheran tradition are called to remember the courage it took to stand up to an unjust and oppressive system and to continue to clamor for reform. Today this reform is not only for within the church, it is a reform that is for the sake of the future of the whole world God has entrusted to us. Children s Sabbath reminds us of our obligation to continually work on reforming our world on behalf of our children, to make their inheritance one of supreme compassion and justice. Our worship celebration will be followed by a special photography exhibit and reception presented by the children and adults of Creative Expression, our children s ministry program. Please make every effort to attend worship at 9:30 AM on this very special day. And as always invite your family, your friends, your neighbors and your coworkers. ALL ARE WELCOME!! Confirmation classes will be held at St. Paul s this year. Starting soon! Interested 6 th through 8 th graders, please contact Darcie Rodman at Sunday Bible Readings October 7 Blessing of the Animals 19 th Sunday after Pentecost Genesis 2:18-24 Psalm 8 Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:5-12 Mark 10:2-16 October th Sunday after Pentecost Amos 5:6-7, Psalm 90:12-17 Hebrews 4:12-16 Mark 10:17-31 October st Sunday after Pentecost Isaiah 53:4-12 Psalm 91:9-16 Hebrews 5:1-10 Mark 10:35-45 October 28 Reformation Sunday, Children s Sabbath, 22 nd Sunday after Pentecost Jeremiah 31:31-34 Psalm 46 Romans 3:19-28 John 8:31-36 Care & Feeding of Pastors Tending to the one who cares for you Excerpt from When a pastor is installed, the congregation routinely promises to pray for, help and honor him/her for his/her work s sake, and in all things strive to live together in the peace and unity of Christ. In the first blush of a new pastorate, that promise is made with sincerity and joy but also with little thought to its practical application. As time goes on, members or councils may wonder how they can help and honor their pastor (or other professional leader/staff member). Help and honor certainly include working cooperatively with the pastor and speaking respectfully to and of him/her. But the words imply more. Today s church members are far too aware and sophisticated to think that a pastor only works Sunday mornings. In fact, most people know the Continued on the next page.

Continued from previous page. ministry is 24/7 and at times requires extraordinary dedication. The pastor does more than what is expected because of a love of God and a love for people.

7 Continued from previous page. ministry is 24/7 and at times requires extraordinary dedication. The pastor does more than what is expected because of a love of God and a love for people. A person won t last long in ministry without caring for the people being served. But all this care can be draining, so it helps to know that the people you serve care for you. Such care can be offered in many ways organized or spontaneous, public or private, costly and labor intensive, or inexpensive and easily accomplished. Whatever form it takes, showing care for the pastor is vital to the spiritual, emotional and even physical health of the pastor and, ultimately, of the congregation. Most of all, pray. Keep all your leaders (including synod and churchwide staff) in your personal prayers and in the prayers of the church. Pray for the pastor s health and satisfaction in ministry. Pray that your congregation will receive such a ministry with joy and thanksgiving. Pray for guidance and a willingness among members to do God s will. Pray that you and your pastor will enjoy many years of mutual care. October is clergy appreciation month. Celebrating Baptismal Anniversaries Pr. Louise Mollick In holy baptism God gives us new birth, adopts us as children, and receives us as members of the body of Christ, the church. Even though a person is baptized once and forever, the gift of baptism continues throughout a Christian s life. A life of discipleship: education, service, working for justice and peace, worship and witness are what promote the ongoing nurture of that faith. Luther said that we are to crawl back to our baptism every day! One way that we can begin doing this is to remember and celebrate our baptismal anniversary! Please submit the date of your most special day (or month) to the church office. We will post these in our newsletter so that we, as the people of God, can celebrate with you through our prayers of gratitude, support and blessing! Celebrating Baptism We celebrate with those who are remembering their baptism this month: 1 Nora Bonner 27 Shari Schmitz 3 Nicholas Powers 13 John Streater 17 Howard Rand 17 Lillian Rand 19 Dylan Streater 19 Doris Rutzen 21 Kelsey Schmitz 25 Phil Eckhert 26 Jenni MacNaughton 26 Annette Madson 28 Sheri Brenden 28 Revi Hjelden 29 Maggie Schmitz & Happy Anniversary 3 Matt & Shari Schmitz 18 Tom & Rachel Larson 24 Jim & Nancy Uden 25 Tom & Kathy Powers In Honor & Memory of Shirlee Puelston-Waltz Shirlee, age 85 of Minnetonka, died Thursday, September 6. Preceded in death by husband, Dick by one month. Shirlee was a realtor for over 20 years and a competitive tennis player well into her 70 s. She was a long time member and attended St. Paul s with her husband, Dick faithfully. A memorial service was held 4:00 PM Monday, September 10 at St. Paul s with Pr. Howard Rand preaching and Pr. Louise Mollick presiding. Internment was at Fort Snelling.

8 Fond Farewell and Godspeed to Ruth & Bernie Johnson. Very special thanks go out to them for the years and years of service to St. Paul s. For their flower arrangements, centerpieces, beautification of the grounds, altar care, delicious food, generosity, and compassion. Many more thanks to Bernie for taking over as Assistant Treasure from John Falk and assisting council with payroll. Ruth & Bernie have sold their home in Minnetonka and will be moving to Texas to be closer to family there. Come wish them a fond farewell Oct. 7 th. We can hardly wait until they come back to visit! When Laura Eggert returns on October 28, be sure to let her know of your appreciation for coordinating the Sunday Service Team these past years and doing a job well done. Laura took the month of July off and has now retired from this position. Special and awesome thanks to the Stewardship Team who managed our budget shortfall and now must creatively plan for the coming year. Recently we received a thank you for the use of our Labyrinth from Gethsemane Lutheran s youth coordinator: Thank you so much for allowing our Prayer Retreat to use your labyrinth. The location was great - in the past we have driven to St. Paul and Eden Prairie. The labyrinth was nicely done - the best we have used - and we loved the benches. The patio and seating area was perfect for both the pre and post discussion time. If you would allow us to use it again next year we might try to come later in the evening - hoping the traffic would be less busy. Thanks again for sharing this awesome prayer tool! Tiphanie Dirnberger

St. Paul's Lutheran Church 13207 Lake Street Extension Minnetonka, MN 55305 God s work. Our hands. WELCOME STATEMENT We at St. Paul s are committed to welcoming you.

If you are black, brown, red, yellow, white or any shade in between. If you are broken, healed or in recovery. If you are rich, poor, or somewhere in between.

9 St. Paul's Lutheran Church Lake Street Extension Minnetonka, MN God s work. Our hands. WELCOME STATEMENT We at St. Paul s are committed to welcoming you... If you are lesbian, gay, bisexual, intersexual, transgendered or straight. If you are seven, seventeen, forty-seven or one hundred and seven. If you are black, brown, red, yellow, white or any shade in between. If you are broken, healed or in recovery. If you are rich, poor, or somewhere in between. If you are able-bodied, disabled or differently-abled. If you have a strong faith, have doubts about your faith or aren t sure you have any faith at all. If you have accepted Christ s love, question Christ s love or don t know if you are loved. If you are looking for a church home, have never had a church home or need a place to find peace. We are committed to welcoming everyone, living as a reconciling people in our life together and in our outreach to the community.

The star went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. Matthew 2:9

An open and inviting church, spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ. The star went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. Matthew 2:9 St. Paul s Evangelical Lutheran Church