Sunday, October 21 st, we will celebrate with all our Sister Congregations in the WELS a special day called MISSION AND MINISTRY SUNDAY.

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1 OF PEACE OCT0BER 2018 Volume: 35 Website: Issue: 10 Sunday, October 21 st, we will celebrate with all our Sister Congregations in the WELS a special day called MISSION AND MINISTRY SUNDAY. Our Synod commissioned the writing of a Special Hymn just for the occasion and to complement the new film To the Ends of the Earth. Below are the words to the hymn and following the words are the actual Poet s thoughts on each verse. Enjoy the read and we ll all look forward to singing this new Hymn on Mission and Ministry Sunday, this coming October 21st. REFRAIN We are sent by the Lord, by the King Crucified. To the ends of the earth, share his love far and wide! 1. So many souls are dying can you see them in dark and distant corners of the world? They bend their knees to gods that cannot hear them because they don t know Jesus or his Word. REFRAIN 2. And do you hear the doubting of the cynics who think our Lord was just another man? Let s tell them he is God; his way is wisdom; there s wonder, beauty, purpose in his plan ṘEFRAIN 3. And do you know a neighbor who has drifted, departed from the church in grief or pain? Through Jesus love their burden can be lifted. Let s listen well and welcome them again. REFRAIN 4. Our gracious Lord wants nobody to perish. For ev ry child of earth his hands are scarred Ėach soul is his to know and name and cherish. There s room for ev ry sinner in his heart. REFRAIN Thoughts from the Poet, Laurie Gauger-Hested, on: We Are Sent by the Lord There are many wonderful hymns that clearly show our sin, the gospel, and our Savior. The cross of Christ remains clear and prominent in the refrain of this text; the stanzas touch on the following underlying spiritual themes. Stanza 1: I know that sometimes I can be clumsy and glib when sharing the law and gospel. I can share them well only when the Spirit removes from my heart any apathy or secret disdain for lost souls in dark and distant corners of the world, and instead fills me with compassion. They have not believed because they have not heard. That s the truth of it, and that s heartbreaking. (Continued on Page 2)

2 Stanza 2: Like Paul at Mars Hill, I need to know where to begin. Maybe Without Jesus, you re going to hell is not the best place to start when I have a spiritual discussion with a 21st-century citizen of the world, someone who wants to live a meaningful life, but is inherently distrustful of religion and has no idea that the missing piece in their life is the God-man Jesus. Stanza 3: Who knows how many souls, who were once part of the family, have left through the back door of the church because they were hurt by me. By my silence or my insensitive words. By my fear of talking honestly about difficult issues. By my application of law when the situation called for gospel. By my flat, anemic speech that reduced the beauty of our Savior to a logical proposition, a formula. Stanza 4: While the message here seems simple Jesus wants no one to perish it s so important. I don t want to be arrogant or condescending, secretly happy that some are lost while I am saved. Jesus hands were scarred for every child of earth. I m just another sinner. But thankfully there s room for every sinner in Jesus heart. A hearty welcome to our new members Darlene Bergman, from Milwaukee, WI, and Anna Massoni, from East Brunswick, NJ, and to our returning members, Seth and Bethany Hahn, who have moved back to the Hayward area. We are happy to have you joining our family here in Hayward and pray that God will richly bless your time here with us! Get those recipes tweeked and ready! Plans are being made for a chili cook-off on Sunday, October 21, after church. See Jonathan Bakken for details. Make a Joyful Noise to the Lord! Do you love to sing? Can you commit to rehearsal time after Sunday services this fall? Will you be in town for the holidays? If yes, read on! Choir rehearsals for Thanksgiving and Christmas will resume on Sunday, October 28, after the 10am service. If you are interested or have questions, please call or text Paula Bilitz at

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4 What s It Like to Attend an LWMS Rally? By Leatha Wentzel Editor s Note: Leatha applied for and received the NW Wisconsin LWMS Circuit s Send-One-Sister Award to attend the 2018 National Convention in Green Bay, WI. The stipend paid for her convention registration and hotel costs. Convention was definitely the most awesome thing I ve ever experienced, and I would absolutely go again. I m so grateful to have had the opportunity. My only disappointment is that others don t share the same excitement about missions. But I will keep sharing my excitement. I say, Don t let anyone rob you of your joy. I had no expectations beforehand about attending the convention. I trusted the Lord to make the convention a worthwhile experience for me. I know He can carry me through anything! My only fear was getting stuck in the hotel elevator (it was a very large and busy hotel)! Even though this was my first time attending [a national LWMS convention with 1,400 attendees], I felt the love and the conviction of these women. This was especially true of my hotel roommates. I had not met any of them before, but they were so welcoming. Jeanne, who is blind, truly opened my eyes (pun intended). Her beautiful insights inspired me to do more. Beyond making new friends, the opening and closing services were highlights. They emotionally charged me. Another highlight was meeting Linda Liesener at the Central African Medical Mission booth [in the displays area]. She was very encouraging and I can t wait to reconnect with her at the fall LWMS rally here at Peace Lutheran! I want to apply what I learned at convention to mission work among recovering addicts and alcoholics. They so need to hear the message that they can t go it alone. They need to find strength in Christ. I also found ideas for Kids Club with a theme of service in your home, in your neighborhood. Is this a new in-home pharmacy business? A pill bottle production line? No, these are YOUR donations for the Central African Medical Mission (CAMM) being prepared for shipment. Thank you for your generosity! Please keep these tips in mind for future pill bottle donations: a. Remove all labels and adhesive. (Goo-Gone works well.) b. Wash bottles and dry thoroughly. c. Sort bottles by size; make sure each one has a lid. d. Donate only pharmacy-type bottles no vitamin supplements or any other plastic. 4

5 September 9, 2018 Present: Jasen Keske, Steve Bilitz, Ken Schultz, Jonathan Bakken, Pastor Radtke Prayer: Pastor opened with prayer. Reading of the Minutes: Minutes were read and approved (motion to accept by Ken, 2 nd by Steve) Treasurer s Report: As of August 31 st balance $28, Of that amount: Outreach $2,156.00; Kids Klub $300; total collected debt reduction $7,312 to date; on schedule for CMO (motion to accept by Steve, 2 nd by Jonathan). Unfinished Business: Matt and Jasen reported on surveyor contacting Jasen for signature; new cell phone was purchased by Matt; estimates are being gathered for updates to parsonage meeting this Monday at 5pm. Membership Changes: Accept transfer of Bethany Hahn and accept Seth Hahn by profession of faith (motion to accept by Jasen, 2 nd by Jonathan). Reports of Officers and Committees: In-Reach: Committee is working on list to make all internal church tasks accountable; making calls for membership directory; open to ideas for updating mailboxes for better organization (Jonathan). Out-Reach: N/A Education: No kids have attended yet; ing and calling families from last year; 4-5:15pm on Wednesday afternoons; teachers are Bethany Hahn and Leatha Wentzel; bus drop-offs are now set up correctly (Steve). Property: Re-surfacing of parking lot is being discussed; quotes are being obtained (Ken). Pastor s Report: Moving into new house after visit from appraiser; working to figure out website address and new phone number so there is no loss of connectivity; Kitty W. is holding a Bible study both at her home and at Peace (weekly); October 21 is the Synod-wide Mission & Ministry Sunday: To the Ends of the Earth (Pastor). President s Report: N/A Other: Ad Hoc Committee work continues: Constitution/By-Laws: a second meeting is needed and will be scheduled for early October (Jonathan). Property/Parsonage: (see notes/discussion above) (Continued on Page 6) 5

6 (Continued from Page 5 Ad Hoc Committee work) Audit: N/A (coming in near future) (Motion to accept reports made by Steve, 2 nd by Ken.) New Business and Recommendations of the Church Council: LWMS Update: October 13 is the rally! Pass the word. -LWMS President is attending -Grant for $250 received from Thrivent -Need: Casserole and salad makers -Postcard invitations are being created/mailed by September 17 th Upcoming meeting schedule: September 22 Clean up day at church; Jasen checking on parking at L&M September 23 Regular Voter s meeting September 30 New member welcome after church (Darlene, Anna, Seth and Bethany) October 14 Council meeting Recommendations: New members for the council are needed for 2019; update voters on the Ad Hoc Committee work. Adjournment with Prayer: Prayer by Pastor (motion to adjourn by Jonathan, 2 nd by Jasen) 6

7 Prayer: Pastor Radtke opened with prayer September 23, 2018 Reading of the Minutes: Minutes from the last meeting (June 24, 2018) and Special Voter s Meeting (August 26, 2018) were read. After a brief discussion about new check cards, a motion was made by Jim B. to print debit card usage for each voters meeting. This motion was withdrawn after additional discussion. Motion to accept reports by Jim B, 2 nd by Matt M. Treasurer s Report: George McKay resigned his post early. Treasurer s report given by Jasen. Jasen will assume all Treasurer duties (including paying bills, salaries, and expenses) as an authorized signing officer for Peace Lutheran Church. As of September 15, 2018 balance $30,546.55; new consolidated loan balance $127, After brief discussion, a motion was made by Kim to apply the offerings collected during debt reduction month to the consolidated loan balance; 2 nd by Steve B unanimous. Motion to accept report by Kim, 2 nd by Steve B. Membership Changes: Seth and Bethany Hahn: Profession of Faith/Transfer in from St. Paul s (WELS) Morris, MN Darlene Bergman: Transfer in from St. John s (WELS) Milwaukee, WI Anna Massoni: Transfer in from Our Savior s (WELS) East Brunswick, NJ Motion to ratify by Matt M, 2 nd by Kim (unanimous) Unfinished Business: LWMS Update: (Paula) all scheduling is going well; President of LWMS attending; clean up day went well. DVDs: Recorder is working OK, but happened to not work this Sunday. Website: Discussion was held on slow updates to the website; Pastor has been taking care of this for the time being, but this task is open to any volunteers who may be interested in managing this type of technology. Reports of Officers and Committees: In-reach: Committee meeting held on 8/26; October 21 st will be a chili cook-off after church during fellowship (making flier); continuing calls to update church directory; reminder to check volunteer schedules for any openings; ing Cindy to include website address on monthly newsletters (Jonathan) Out-reach: New phone/plan was purchased; DVDs were purchased by George to hand out as an outreach tool (Matt) (Continued on Page 8) 7

8 (Continued from Page 7) Education: No kids have attended as of yet, but hopefully this week; discussion on the future of Kids Klub and if the time/effort is worth it. This may be revisited in the future depending on attendance (Steve). Property: New paper towel dispensers are in; assessing the amount left for the old dispensers prior to installation (Ken). Pastor s Report: October 21 st is Mission Sunday (with new DVD by Synod); new cell phone will soon have the same number as our current church line. Presidents Report: N/A Other: Parsonage Ad Hoc Committee Prices & costs so far: Carpet 2 kinds; and flooring purchasing soon (~$4,000) Painting (1 color) $2,000 to $2,500 Tree Cutting (2) ~$500 Deck Materials need workers Appliances/furnace getting quotes Surveyor cost $1,450 (0.91 acres) County zoning meeting is on 10/4/2018 there is a $400 re-zone fee (Jasen) Motion was made by Pastor to send thank-you note to surveyor, 2 nd by Jonathan (unanimous). Constitution/By-laws Ad Hoc Committee A meeting is being scheduled to go over edits and changes to both documents (Leon, Kim, Pastor, Jasen, and Jonathan); hard copies have been handed out with Jasen s recommended edits. Financial Audit Ad Hoc Committee Jasen will be going through the books and moving forward on audit; Paula has agreed to help with tracking everything after the LWMS rally has concluded. (Jasen will concurrently begin a full financial audit, with a report to be given to the Voters Assembly during its regular annual meeting in Jan 2019) Motion to accept reports made by Kim M, 2 nd by Steve B (unanimous) New Business and Recommendations to the Church Council: Nominations from the floor for 1 church council vacancy 3 year term: Brad Parks, Robert Mueller, and Steve Bilitz Other Judy B inquired about better communication about voter s meetings; Jasen acknowledged that we are addressing some of these communication concerns through our Ad Hoc committee work. Matt discussed the new cell phone and plan; a motion was made to pay for the phone plan (~$43/mo.) by direct deposit/withdrawal by Steve B, 2 nd by Matt (unanimous) Adjournment with Prayer: (motion by Kim, 2 nd by Jasen); Prayer by Pastor Radtke 8