For More R E T I R E M E N T D I N N E R J U N E 2 N D M AY, P A S T O R A L T R A N S I T I O N

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1 F A I T H L U T H E R A N C H U R C H M AY, For More Discover the many things God is doing at FLC on our website at: Subscribe to our free weekly E-pistle Ezine, and be a part of our PrayerNet by sending your address to flc@faithsd.ne. Get details from our FLC This Week printed announcements at worship services. S P E C I A L P O I N T S O F I N T E R E S T : Faith Lutheran Church has a median age in the low 40 s. We encourage the presence of children at worship. We also provide free professional child care. Our worship and ministry building is designed in a California Craftsman style. R E T I R E M E N T D I N N E R J U N E 2 N D A committee composed of 19 church members has been working hard to plan a dinner to honor Pastor Berkedal and his family at his retirement. The dinner will be held on June 2nd at 6:30 p.m. at the Holy Name of Mary Parish Hall up the street. Invitations have been sent, including important information regarding children, child care, pictures, and other details. Use the contact info below if you haven t received your invitation yet, and one will be sent to you. The committee does not A group of people from our Church Council and the larger congregation has met with the candidate recommended by our Southwest California Synod as our Interim Pastor. An Interim Pastor serves between an established pastor like Pastor want anyone to miss the dinner for financial reasons. If you are unable to afford the full $30 per person needed to cover our costs, just contribute as much as you are able but please send in your response card and please come. We encourage those who are able, to donate more than $30 to help cover the cost of those who cannot afford the full price. QUESTIONS? Contact Doug Halvorsen dhalhusky@aol.com or Paula Ambrosini paula.ambrosini@gmail.com. P A S T O R A L T R A N S I T I O N Berkedal, and the congregation s next established pastor. Their role is to help the congregation through the processes of change. The committee, consisting of Doug Halvorsen, Sam and Suzi Kamler, Amy Howland, Paul Spencer, and Carolyn Sloan, interviewed an experienced Interim Pastor, David Beard, currently serving as Interim Pastor at Faith Lutheran Church in Menifee. He will serve for around one year as another committee is formed to interview and select a candidate for our next established pastor, who will be voted-on by the congregation. Pastor Beard would begin in the middle of July. Supply Pastors would serve during the four weeks between then and Pastor Berkedal s retirement on June 10th. Please be praying for our committee and for Pastor Beard in these coming days of exciting opportunities.

2 Page 2 B R I N G Y O U R F A I T H I N T O F O C U S GIRL SCOUT SUN- DAY MAY 27TH The Girl Scout Troop hosted by FLC will take part in worship on Sunday, May 27th at the 10:00 a.m. worship service. All Girl Scouts of the past and present will be recognized a that service. SUNDAY SCHOOL We are adding teachers on a rotating basis. Contact Lia Gyore or Pastor Berkedal at Children in pre-school through 6th grades and guests are welcome. They leave worship after the Children s Sermon at our 10:00 a.m. worship service with a teacher. SYNOD SERVICE Would like to serve the Body of Christ at our 120+ synod churches? A number of elected positions are open! Contact Pastor Berkedal at or at dberkedal@ faithsd.net to see how. F A I T H M E A L S B Y M A Y 1 3 T H Our Confirmation Class youth quickly sold all of the 148 Faith Meals for the homeless they made as their Lenten ministry. They will be making one more batch in May. Sign up on the announcement wall to place your order at $2.00 each by May 13th. Faith Meals are gallon zip-lock bags filled with useful items, such as food and water, a gospel tract and a flier with information about where to get help all over LA County. They may be carried with you in your car, backpack, or a (very large) purse or bag. Faith meals may be paid for when you receive them. Bring help and hope to the homeless. W O M E N O F F A I T H The Women of Faith normally gather on the morning of the first Saturday of the month. They will be gathering for a breakfast meeting at 9:00 a.m. at Denny s on Arrow Highway in San Dimas on May 5th. Contact Nancy Brewster at for more info about the work of the Women of Faith. M E N O F F A I T H The Men of Faith usually gather the second Saturday of each month at 8:00 a.m. in the church parking lot. They go out for breakfast together and return to do work projects. This month, they will gather on May 12th. Come and enjoy the fellowship and the work. Contact Jerry Bain at for more info.

3 I N T R O D U C I N G P E O P L E T O N E W L I F E I N J E S U S C H R I S T... Page 3 LIFT is a group for post-confirmation through high school youth. L I F T They are currently working on new outreach initiatives. Contact Candace Martinez at martinez. candace000@gmail.com or at for other activities. Find them on Facebook at LIFT (Living in Faith Together). C I A Our Christians in Action (C.I.A.) group is for young adults (from approximately years of age). All young adults are welcome. They gather for Bible Study, brunch, community service projects, beach trips and more. They are planning a book drive for the Prison Library Project. Contact James Berkedal (jberkedal@ gmail.com) with questions. Check the group s Facebook page, Christians in Action, for more info. U R T H E C H U R C H M I N I S T R Y O P P O R T U N I T I E S SWIM WITH MIKE THANKS Our thanks to all who helped raise money for athletes all over the country who become physically challenged so that they can continue their education. Plan to go with our group next year! CHILDREN ARE WELCOME AT ALL WORSHIP SERVICES We provide a glassfronted Cry Room in the worship space, a sermon just for children, and activity sheets for children to use during worship. Children are welcome to experience worship and to see their parents modeling the behavior they want for their family. SING IN OUR ADULT LITURGI- CAL CHOIR Come on Thursdays at 7:00 p.m. in the worship space and sing a new song to the Lord! All experience levels are welcome. Contact Dan Ambrosini at or at (909) to participate. R E A F F I R M W E D D I N G V O W S Are you celebrating an anniversary whose number ends in a 5 or a 0 sometime in 2018? If so, you are invited to reaffirm your wedding vows on Sunday May 27th at either of our two worship services! RSVP at or flc@faithsd.net to let us know of your interest. Invite your friends to share the event.! Q U I L T S P R E S E N T A T I O N Beautiful handmade quilts, will be presented to FLC s high school grads Ryan Gyore, Matt Feger, Jerod Humphrey, and Emily Miller on Sunday, June 3rd at our 10:00 a.m. worship service as a part of our Faith Stepping Stones ministry. Come the Sundays before then to trace your hand and sign the quilt to remind the recipients that they are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses.

4 Page 4 H O L Y B A P T I S M We welcomed John Jameson Webb and Zachary Steven Bernard as our newest members by baptism last month! Go to for more information about baptism at Faith Lutheran Church in San Dimas. Contact Pastor David Berkedal about baptism at dberkedal@ faithsd.net or at M O T H E R S D A Y Flowers will be given to all in honor of their mothers on Mothers Day, Sunday, May 13th. Mothers are often our first teachers of spiritual things. Paul reminded the young pastor Timothy of this when he wrote to him, I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother, Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you. 2 Timothy 1:5 Come and honor your mother for what has done and/or is doing for you. T H R E E M O R E T H I N G S 1.) TAKE YOUR PHOTO WITH MARTIN LUTHER Come and take your picture with our Lenten Martin Luther in the narthex at FLC. Share your photo online. B Y T H E N U M B E R S People received as members in 2018: 4 Worship attendance in 2018 compared to 2017: +2% Giving to our General Ministry Fund in 2018 compared to 2017: -3% Giving to our Mortgage Fund in 2018: 2.) CONGREGA- TIONAL GIVING You will see in the statistics below that our General Ministry giving and our Mortgage Fund giving could use some improvement Please pray about what God has given you, and give generously in response to God s gifts. Thank you! $33,384 (includes a $10,000 gift from one generous household) (38.08% of need at 32.69% of year) Emergency Food Pantry giving in 2018: 1,178 lbs. (29.45% of 4,000 lb. goal at 32.69% of year Students enrolled in 3.) CONFIRMA- TION ON DAY OF PENTECOST Two of our young people will be affirming their faith on Sunday, May 20th, The Day of Pentecost, the birthday of the Church. Come and support them at this great celebration! our pre-school: 77 (-1) Faith Lutheran Church Fan Page likes on Facebook: 1,055 (+3) Average daily faithsd.net web site visits in past 30 days: 30 (-1)

5 ... T H A T G R O W S I N T O E N T H U S I A T I C C H R I S T I A N L I V I N G. Page 5 S O C I A L M E D I A C O N N E C T I O N S You can connect to all our social media on the Media tab at Check out our page at Faith Lutheran Church San Dimas on Facebook. Click on like to become a fan. And, you can friend Pastor Berkedal on Facebook by doing a search for David Berkedal. Follow us on Twitter by going to twitter.com, from our Media tab and signing-in, Pastor Berkedal s Blog posts short articles periodically. Check it out through our web site Media tab. Check out our YouTube channel at and get your free subscription to FLC videos. Find pictures of our events on our Faith Lutheran Church Fan Page on Facebook. Skype Pastor Berkedal at david.berkedal. Username on Instagram: flcsd. #FLCpens Review us on Yelp.com on your phone Find special opportunities for giving at Come in and get connected. W A L K A T B E T H E M A T C H FLC will be the site of an event encouraging people to join the national bone marrow registry and remember two fallen police officers on Sunday, June 3rd from 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. See the flier on the announcement table for info. The website is ion.org/goto/ RoyalHomes. We are forming a team to take part in the memorial walk for police officers Michael Miyamoto and Jordan Corder Sign-up at church to take part. N E W W E D N E S. T H E M E Join us in worship on Wednesday evenings at 7:00 p.m. with a new theme, Basics of Faith, starting May 16th. Our services will feature Evening Prayer, Holy Communion, and Bible Study related to our theme: The New Life in Jesus Christ. Come and learn about a new heart, a new mind, and more. A N O T E F R O M T H E P A S T OR We have been hearing about how polarized we are as a country for years. Our common cultural attitude seems to be outrage, with little real communication between people. By real communication I mean real listening and real discussion that does not necessarily lead to agreement, but leads to understanding. I have learned that we can t say we understand a person s view until we are able to state it in a form that they agree is what they indeed believe. That s a first step. Advancing toward cooperation, however, requires humility. It means all parties acknowledging that they might be wrong, in order to better understand and to learn. It means living together, as we do at FLC, by concentrating on the things that unite us, the things that are ultimately important, and are centered on our faith, our common relationship with Jesus Christ. Find an expanded version of this story and comment on it at

6 F A I T H L U T H E R A N C H U R C H THE VISION CORNER F A I T H L U T H E R A N C H U R C H 505 East Bonita Avenue San Dimas, California P F E flc@faithsd.net W David Berkedal, Pastor E dberkedal@faithsd.net May Connect to WiFi at FLC. Password: welivebyfaith1 (all lower case, ending with the # 1. Discover more news, photos and info at our web site: faithsd.net. What if we provided the funds to pay our mortgage, support all our existing ministries, and call an associate pastor and a minister of music? What gifts and strengths would we want those persons to have? What new ministries is God calling us to do? Who could we reach toward realizing our mission to introduce people to new life in Jesus Christ that grows into enthusiastic living? Send your thoughts to flc@faithsd.net or call them in to the church at , or speak with Pastor Berkedal or a member of our Church Council about them. Pray about how you can help realize our mission. I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E : F A I T H 2 M E A L S I N T R O D U C I N G P E O P L E T O N E W L I F E I N J E S U S C H R I S T T H A T G R O W S I N T O E N T H U S I A S T I C C H R I S T I A N L I V I N G. P H O T O O F T H E M O N T H W E D D I N G V O W S S I G N Q U I L T S M O T H E R S D A Y N E W W E D S. S E R V I C E C A L E N D A R A N D F Y I I N- SE RT He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! Easter began with worship and continued with celebrations of God s Grace and the gifts of Creation in our Prayer Garden. Our thanks to all who made Easter Sunday a wonderful day.