Augustana Voice OCTOBER

Transcription

1 Augustana Voice Augustana Lutheran Church Genoa, Nebraska OCTOBER I want to thank you for the welcome you have given me here at Augustana. I come in as your transitional pastor. Now you might be wondering what a transitional pastor is. Well, let me tell you what a transitional is and does. First of all, a transitional pastor is a pastor with specialized training for leading a congregation in the in-between time. The in-between time is the time between your last pastor, in this case Pastor Feala and your next called pastor, whomever that will be. As a transitional pastor I will help you through the process of wrapping up the ministry you shared with Pastor Feala and looking ahead to the shape of ministry you want to do here at Augustana in the future. As with any pastor leaving, there will be feelings all along the spectrum of emotions. There may be some who are deeply grieving the departure of Pastor Feala and I will be mindful of those who are grieving. There will be some who are eager to start the next chapter in the ministry of Augustana and I will be mindful of those as well. There will be others that will have a mixed bag of feelings and wonderment as to what will be the shape of the future here at Augustana. I will minister and listen to all people wherever they are on the spectrum of emotions. There will be exercises that I will do with the congregation to remember your past pastors, give thanks to God for who they were and how they ministered to you. Continued on page 3 SPECIAL POINTS OF INTEREST Pastor s Message page 1 October birthdays, anniversaries and volunteers..page 2 Educational Night...Page 4 Special Events page 5 Council reports.. Page 6-7 Calendar. Page 8

2 OCTOBER BIRTHDAYS Lexi Ramaekers Oct. 2 Barb Juracek Oct. 3 Judy Nelson Oct. 4 Margaret Peterson Oct. 5 Elta Rice Oct. 7 Roger Anderson Oct. 8 Deb Zarek Oct. 9 Sue Turner Oct. 11 Darlene Whitlow Oct. 11 Deb Jones Oct. 12 Virginia Parry Oct. 13 Joan Reeg Oct. 15 Brianna Schroder Oct. 17 Emmet Zarek Oct. 17 Jay Hagerbaumer Oct. 20 Tony Matthes Oct. 20 Annabelle Kleckner Oct. 21 Gabi Wieck Oct. 27 Tracy Cherry Oct. 30 Stacy Nelson Oct. 30 Kim Olsufka Oct. 30 OCTOBER VOLUNTEERS! Saturday Ushers:-Kent Hasselbalch Jay Hagerbaumer Sunday Ushers: Bob & Gayla Oakley Dana & Jackie Peterson Service Committee: Susan Nelson, Deb Jones, Linda Sass and Deb Zarek Communion Assistant: Saturday volunteers are needed Sunday Randy Rood OCTOBER ANNIVERSARIES Leland & Erma Nelson Oct. 2 Mark & Diana Foust Oct. 20 November service committee: Jane Baxa & Barb Juracek-Co-chairs for Soup & Bake Sale, Lori Clausen, Tammy Johnson & Kristan Connelly 2

3 Continued from front page. I will ask questions as to how you do things around Augustana. These questions are to help me understand who you are more fully as a congregation and people of God. These questions also help in delving more deeply as to what ministries are important to you here at Augustana. These question will help you as you fill out your MSP (Mission Site Profile) as you begin your journey to find a new pastor who will journey with you in the ministry of God. Do not think that I have the right ways of doings things. In my many years of ministry I have learned many ways of doing and being church in each congregation I have served either as called pastor or transitional pastor. I am eager to learn how you do ministry here. I will be a regular pastor as well. I will preach, teach, and administer the sacraments. I will visit members in the hospital, care centers, and homes. I will be at committee meetings as well as meetings of different groups here at Augustana. I will marry and bury people. I will look forward to stories of how you, singular, do ministry here and in your lives. I may not live full time in Genoa but there will be ways that I will try to be visible in the community. The last part that I will do as your transitional pastor is to dream dreams with you as how you can do ministry here at Augustana and through Augustana to others. I hopefully will get you ready and excited about the new ministry you will have in the future with your new pastor whenever he/she comes to Augustana. Pastor Myron Meyer CONTACT INFORMATION FOR PASTOR MEYER: Cell phone number: address: revmyron39@yahoo.com Total Budget expenses for September $ 4, Total Income for September: $8, Total Budget expenses for January September: $ 56, Total Income for January September: $ 69,748.05

4 EDUCATION NIGHT PLAYING ON GOD S TEAM The level of energy is high on Wednesday evenings around Augustana as our Wednesday evening education program continues with an average of about 49 children each week including our own six confirmation students. On the first Wednesday of each month, pre-school through 6th grade meet together at the Lutheran Church at the beginning of the hour for a special message from either Pastor Tony or Pastor Meyer. The classes are currently using Spark curriculum with a focus on Old Testament Bible stories the first half of the year and then switching to New Testament stories after Christmas and learning some new songs during their music break! Please note: There will be no Wednesday Education night classes on October 31. A joint Sunday School program is tentatively planned for Dec. 16th -in the late afternoon. 4

5 Remembering our Past, Living in the Present Planning for the Future A special service was held on Sunday, September 30 with not one, not two, but three ministers presiding at the communion worship! Assisting Pastor Meyer were Assistants to the Bishop- Rev. Juliet Hampton and Rev. Megan Marrow. During this service Pastor Julie led the children s through the sands of the desert, telling them the old old story of the children of Israel drawing near to God and God also drew ing near to them as they left Egypt! Pastor Meyer picked up the theme-looking at the stained glass windows installed long ago but surrounding our worship today. The three-part sermon concluded with Pastor Morrow s reminder God is our alpha and our omega the A and the Z. He was there at the beginning and he will be with us forever. New members were welcomed and our Education Staff was installed during worship. Following the service a pot luck dinner was enjoyed and it was good to join in fellowship with all! Our Education Night is not just for kids, Tracy Cherry leads a Bible Study on the letters of John, those three short books near the end of the Old Testament 1 John, 2nd John and 3rd John on Wednesdays from 6:30-7:30 in the Gathering Space. There is also a Bible Study group that meets with Ike Anderson at 9am before worship on Sunday mornings! All are welcome!

6 Augustana Church Council Minutes of September 18, 2018 The September meeting of the Augustana Church Council was called to order by President Gayla Oakley. Transitional Pastor Myron Meyer opened the meeting with a reading from James with a focus on the church as the body of Christ, emphasizing that all we do should be done in Christ. Council members present included: Jane Baxa, Kris Bosak, Tracy Cherry, Lori Clausen, Brad Cromwell, Gary Juracek, Susan Nelson and Gayla Oakley. Absent: Bob Green, Tony Matthes and Randy Rood. Motion to approve August minutes was made by Kris Bosak with a second by Susan Nelson. Minutes approved. Motion to approve treasurer s report made by Susan Nelson with a second by Brad Cromwell. Approved. Committee Reports: Social Ministries Susan reported care packages were mailed to college students. Work continues on developing a Welcome to Augustana brochure and to develop a policy for grief outreach which will utilize a series of 4 Journey through Grief booklets. Volunteers willing to serve on specific social ministries projects will be needed once we have finalized plans. Education The Wednesday Education night continues to run well with strong attendance! Early planning has begun for a joint Christmas program on Sunday Dec. 16th in the late afternoon. Kris also reported that $1,300 was donated to the renovation project. She has spent about $970 on the furnishings so far and still has a few items on the wish list she is working on. New curriculum for this school year for preschool through 6th grade classes were purchased at a cost of $ with the Methodist Church sharing the cost. Curriculum and study bibles for a 2 year program of study were purchased for the confirmation class at a cost of $496. Gary Juracek made a motion that the curriculum costs come from the congregational budget and not from the donated funds with a second from Tracy Cherry. Motion passed. Finance After looking over our finances to date, council discussed paying a portion of our Synod Mission share. Gary Juracek made a motion to pay $1,250 which is half of what was voted on at January s Annual Meeting with a second by Brad Cromwell. Motion passed.

7 Kris has been working with synod and Portico finalizing Pastor s salary and compensation package. She asked Pastor for clarification in handling housing allowance and insurance reimbursements since it affects his salary as taxable income and also the percentage of Portico payments. Pastor will work with her to finalize the numbers but should be about $4,572 per month for the total salary and compensation package as our part-time pastor. Pastor reported he has extended his current phone plan to cover September but we will need to provide a basic cell phone and plan for his use while he is at Augustana. Tracy will check on that. Tracy reported worship committee planned through September. She and Pastor will work on finalizing the plans for the special service on Sept. 30 with a potluck following. Council will assist the September serving committee with the potluck. Pastor encouraged working toward long range planning in all areas. There were three youth who completed their confirmation instruction with Pastor Josh. Plans are underway for their confirmation on Sunday, Oct. 30. Altar Lori has been working with the family of John Reynolds on a memorial donation of new advent candles (the same type of oil filled candles as on the altar) and also reserved signs and cords for the pews. Donation of banners as a memorial gift from the family of Harold Clausen were also acknowledged. Property Gary reported Dave Scott will be coming to do some repairs to the brick work and bat proofing a few openings. Beard Warren was contacted to do repair work on the church air conditioning unit at a cost of $460. Gayla thanked Gary for all his work and the work of volunteers who helped with the landscaping around the bell tower and also all the volunteer hours of mowing over the summer. The church has been well maintained over the summer! Policy Gayla reported more work is needed to review and update congregational policies. She will begin working with Pastor on the call process projects. New Business- Pastor s Schedule- Beside leading weekend worship, Pastor reported right now his plan is to attend a text study in Lincoln (congregation will pay mileage) on Tuesdays. He will be in Genoa around 9:30am on Wednesday mornings and be available through the evening Education night programs. He will again be available on Thursday until about 4pm before returning to Lincoln. He is still in discussion for a second part time position in the area and his schedule may change when that happens. Dana Peterson requested time with the council to discuss the direction of the ELCA Synod and Augustana Church and to voice concerns. Also present were Deb and Roger Olson. Following this discussion, it was the opinion of the council that more time is needed to explore and research information with anyone interested in this topic invited to participate. Next meeting will be Sunday, Oct. 14th at 8:30 am. Motion to adjourn by Gary Juracek with second by Kris Bosak. Meeting closed with Lord s Prayer. Lori Clausen, secretary 7

8 october 2018 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Pastor in Genoa 9:30-7:30pm Education Night 6:30 7:30pm 4 Team 1pm Pastor in Genoa 8:00-4pm :30 pm Communion am Communion 1-4 Pastor in Genoa 9:30-7:30pm Education Night 6:30-7:30 Pastor in Genoa 8:00-4pm :30 pm 14 8:30 Council Meeting 10 am Pastor in Genoa 9:30-7:30pm 2pm WELCA Education Night 6:30-7:30pm 18 Pastor in Genoa 8:00-4pm :30 pm Communion am Communion Pastor in Genoa 9:30-7:30pm Education Night 6:30-7:30 Pastor in Genoa 8:00-4pm :30 pm am Reformation with Confirmation 29 Quilting 1pm 30 Quilting 9am 31 No Education Nite Programs Pastor will be attending the Synod Theological Conference in Lincoln.