NEW PORTALS OF PRAYER CHECK OUT THE SCHOOL S NEW WEBSITE. Volume 30, Issue 6 & 7 June / July 2017

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1 Volume 30, Issue 6 & 7 June / July 2017 C harles Killian, a Professor at the Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky, has described a mythical modern worship service like this: Pastor: Praise the Lord! Congregation: Hallelujah! Pastor: Will everyone please turn on their tablet, PC, ipad, smart phone, and Kindle Bibles to First Corinthians 13:13. And please switch on your Bluetooth to download the sermon. [There is a pause.] Now let us pray, committing this week into God s hands. Open your Apps, BBM, Twitter and Facebook, and chat with God. [This is followed by silence.] As we take our Sunday tithes and offerings, please have your credit cards and debit cards ready. You can log on to the church Wi-Fi using the password Lord The ushers will circulate mobile card swipe machines among the worshipers. Those who prefer to make electronic fund transfers are directed to computers and laptops at the rear of the church. Those who prefer to use ipads can open them. Those who prefer telephone banking, take out your cell phones to transfer your contribution to the church. The holy atmosphere of the Church becomes electrified as ALL the smart phones, ipads, PCs and laptops beep and flicker. church is headed. Well, we re not there yet... but who knows what the future holds? The amazing thing is the church has survived as long as it has-- especially since it depends on people like me and like you. There is no doubt our methods of communicating have changed over the years, and they will continue to change as we move into the future. The way people interact with information is an ever-evolving process. As Lutherans, we have a solid heritage of utilizing the new forms of communication. Remember, Martin Luther did not hesitate to allow his writings to be set into the latest movable type to be mass-produced by the printing presses and distributed as pamphlets and books throughout Europe and eventually the world. Change is not easy, and not all change should be embraced. But it cannot be ignored. As God moves us into the future, we need to stay open to evaluate and adapt to the changes coming our way. Who knows what may be in store. As a wise person once said: Standing still is actually moving backward. May God bless you richly as you enjoy your summer! Pastor Rayl NEW PORTALS OF PRAYER The Portals of Prayer devotionals for July through September will be available for pick up beginning June 11th. You can find them in the Narthex, lounge, chapel, and church office. And here is how Professor Killian visualizes the Final Blessing: This week s ministry cell meetings will be held at the various Facebook group pages where the usual group chatting takes place. Please log in and don t miss out. Thursday s Bible Study will be held live on Skype at 1900hrs GMT... You can follow your pastor on Twitter this weekend for counseling and prayers. God bless, and have a nice day. That s one man s playful description of where the 1 CHECK OUT THE SCHOOL S NEW WEBSITE The school s website has been thoroughly updated. You can check it out at: (We ll be updating the church s website over the summer.)

2 ELDERS SCHEDULE Please note we will have only one service at 9:00 am each Sunday in the summer. 4th 11th 18th 25th 2nd 9th 16th 23rd 30th SUMMER SCHEDULE Our summer worship schedule begins Sunday, June 4th and runs through Sunday, September 3rd. We will have one service at 9:00 am. Summer office hours are from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm, beginning Monday, June 5th and running through Friday, September 1st. We WILL have Sunday School this summer during the 9:00 am service. Children will join their parents during communion. We are set to begin on Sunday, June 4th. If you can help (no steady commitment needed), please call Sue Ann Rogers at See you this summer! CONFIRMATION PICTURES Confirmation pictures are in! You can pick them up in the lounge at your convenience. JUNE Ryan Hugueley, Linda Yenrick Kevin Ruedy, Mike Winslow Tom Gaskins, Terry Ruedy Bob Haar, Sherrie Haar JULY Joanne Henningsen, Jeff Ladd Dick Haar, Bob Hecklinger Kevin Ruedy, Mike Winslow Ryan Hugueley, Linda Yenrick Bob Haar, Sherrie Haar MEMBER UPDATES Births None of which we are aware. Baptisms Jackson Tod Donley, born April 11, 2011 to Jacob and Jessica (Whitney) Donley. Sponsors are Jerid Donley and Melissa Parker. Presley Rae Donley, born May 9, 2016 to Jacob and Jessica (Whitney) Donley. Her sponsors are Adrian Whitney and Melanie Cathers Freya Rose Brown, born September 20, 2016 to John and Emily (St. Clair) Brown. Sponsors are Nicole St. Clair, Sara Peters, and Kayla Alemino. Marriages None. Milena Mae Mendoza, born March 26, 2015 to Nicole St. Clair and Anthony Mendoza, Sr. Sponsors are Sara Peters and Emily Brown. Linkoln Michael Peters, born June 2, 2014 to Joseph and Sara (St. Clair) Peters. Sponsors are Nicole St. Clair, Emily Brown, and Amanda Overholt. Deaths Linda Kusian Transfers to First St. John None. Transfers from First St. John None. ADDRESS CHANGES/CORRECTIONS To keep current information for office records, if your name, address or phone number changes, please notify the office by faxing ( ), or mailing this form to: 2471 Seaman St./ Toledo, OH Name Address City, State Zip Phone

3 MEMORIALS ROOF FUND In memory of Clara Kreger by Margie Myers and family. In memory of Lillian Kwiatkowski by Traebin's Salon. ALTAR GUILD In memory of Mary Ann Pinney by Bob & Sherrie Haar. **Note: Memorials for Linda Kusian will be published in the August newsletter. ** BORROWING TABLES & CHAIRS When you want to borrow tables and chairs for summer events, please call the church office to reserve them. Also, please remember the tables and chairs in the gym are not to be removed from the building; instead please use the ones in the parsonage garage. Thank you. AUGUST NEWSLETTER DEADLINE JULY 21st ATTENTION ALTAR GUILD We will not meet in June or July. We will resume our regular meetings in August. DRIVE-THRU BARBECUE! It s time for grilling again, so let First St. John do the work for you on Sunday, July 16th after church (10:00 to 11:30 am). You can choose a chicken or rib dinner. Ticket prices are $8.50 for chicken or $11.50 for ribs. Tickets go on sale the week of June 11th. We will sell after church until July 9th, or you can buy them in the church office. Proceeds will go toward the Raise the Roof Fund. (The WELCA board will have a short meeting on July 9th to finalize plans.) So get your mouth watering and come out for some good chicken and ribs! 3 MEN S BREAKFAST FELLOWSHIP Our men's breakfast group next meets on Saturday, June 3rd at 8:00 am at the Bob Evans restaurant on Navarre. In July, we ll meet on Saturday, July 8th at 8:00 am (same venue). Call Bob Haar if you need a ride. General Meeting WELCA NEWS SUMMER EVENTS The WELCA General Meeting will be Saturday, June 3rd at 10:30 am. We will be serving salads, bread, and of course, desserts. Our guest speaker is Maggie Maher, a youth director and paraplegic. She will speak about youth in the church. We also have a lot to discuss at this meeting, including how much and where the money from the Card Party and Rummage Sale will be used. Also, with the passing of Linda Kusian, we now need someone to step forward and take over the Mission Actions position that she filled for many years. Linda, you will be missed. So please come out on Saturday, June 3rd at 10:30 for your input on these issues. Drive-Thru Barbecue The barbecue is Sunday, July 16th from 10:00 am to 11:30 am. Tickets are $8.50 for chicken and $11.50 for ribs, and tickets will go on sale the week of June 11th. You can buy tickets after church or in the church office. Proceeds will go to the Raise the Roof Fund. See the separate article in the next column for more information. All-Daughter Tea Party Wrap-Up Well, what a good time we had at the All-Daughter Tea. Good food, good people, and yes, the entertainment was great! A big thank you to Gloria Ross for her part in the entertainment with Will from Will's Comedy. Gloria did a great job, and she may have found a new way of entertaining the families from First St. John! Thanks to all who came out on a Saturday morning. Thank you to all the WELCA Board members for their hard work in getting this event put together. The tables looked beautiful! Thanks!

4 SUMMER SUNDAY SCHOOL! After taking Memorial weekend off, our Sunday School program, Jesus And Me (JAM) will continue through the summer months! We will hold JAM during the 9:00 am service each Sunday for kids ages 3 through sixth grade. The children will be dismissed to sit with their parents at the start of the communion portion of the service. We need people to volunteer to teach summer JAM. Even if you can only take one service a month, we ll be happy to see you! If you think you can help, please call either Deb Ladd at or Sue Ann Rogers at MONTHLY MINISTRY OUTREACH Our June and July ministry outreach will be our own First St. John Day School. Our school is in its 40th year of serving God s children. All money collected will go towards the school s general operating fund. DAVID WINSLOW SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS Congratulations to Jonathan Le Grand and Ame Schwiefert, the recipients of the David Winslow Scholarship for this year. Congratulations! CONGRATULATIONS, 8th GRADERS! Congratulations to our 8th graders who were confirmed on May 21st: Kaylee Beavers, Erin Church, Lucas Collins, Jacob Le Grand, Jonathan Le Grand, Andrew Mawhorter, Tyler Reese, and Ava Tilton. May God continue to guide you on your life s journey with Him. WELCA CIRCLE NEWS Ruth Circle: We will meet at the Black Forest Café on Tuesday, June 6th at 11:00 am. In July, we will meet at the Crazy Lady Saloon on Tuesday, July 11th at 11:30 am. Rebecca Circle: We will meet on Saturday, June 10th at 11:30 am at the Wright-Harvey House so we can see our friend Martha Meyers. We will meet in July, but our outing is yet to be determined. 4 VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL IS COMING SOON! Vacation Bible School will be Monday, June 19th through Thursday, June 22nd from 6:00 to 8:30 pm each night. This year s theme is Maker Fun Factory: Created by God, Built for a Purpose. Vacation Bible School is for ages 3 through fifth grade. We will have lots of fun in our Maker Fun Factory learning about God s great creations! We will have lots of Bible buddies along the way, but we are going to dedicate our service project to Ab-bee (our bee Bible buddy.) Bees have been decreasing rapidly in number over the last few years, and our service project is to help rebuild some populations of them in our area. Here are several ways you can help make VBS a HUGE success! VOLUNTEER We need many volunteers. Volunteer forms are in the Narthex OR you can go online to form.jotform.us/morgwllms/volunteervbs2017 to fill out the volunteer form. Please pray and ask God what HE might want you to do to help. DONATE MATERIALS We are asking for clean, empty water bottles to be donated to help us with this project; any size or shape will work! The grocery cart in the Narthex (lobby) is right by our donations board where you can find additional things we need to make VBS spectacular! If you can donate, please take a tag off the donation board to purchase items for VBS. When you bring back your item(s), you can place it in the grocery cart. Thank you so much for all your help! REGISTRATION Registration forms for Vacation Bible School are in the Narthex, or you can fill them out on-line by going to VBS2017 When you fill out this form and hit the submit button, your registration will be automatically forwarded to Morgan Williams, our director. Please pray and ask God what HE might want you to do to help with VBS. Please contact Morgan at mwilliams@northwoodschools.org or call her at with any questions.

5 PERSONAL NEEDS PANTRY NEWS Help Needed! Our church family recently lost a very active member with the death of Linda Kusian. We are feeling her loss in the Personal Needs Pantry as Linda was very helpful in getting this ministry started and also was a volunteer. Her partner at the Pantry would like to become a substitute volunteer, so we presently need another team of two people. The only requirement is to be available on Wednesdays from 9:30-12:00. However, since you work only once every seven weeks, your time commitment is cut down to seven times a year. Plus, if you need to switch, it s very easy to trade dates with other volunteers. Please contact Karen Holmes at or if you are interested or have any questions. Please consider helping it s a very easy and rewarding job! Focus Product for June and July Our designated item to donate for June is laundry soap and fabric softener. For July, the designated item is body lotion. Please deposit your donated items in the pull-out drawer to the left of the Feed Your Neighbor bin in the Narthex (under the main bulletin board) or in the bright green bin in the lounge. Your support of this ministry is much appreciated. Other items needed include dish soap, paper towels, toilet paper, tissues, deodorant, adult and children size toothbrushes, toothpaste, adult and children s shampoo, body soap, sanitary pads, tampons, and band aids. PLEASE NOTE: No travel size or sample items the families who come to this pantry need items to last them an entire month. Monetary Donations Monetary donations also are appreciated in order to purchase items we are low on in the pantry. If you d like to send a donation, write a check to First St. John Lutheran Church and write Personal Needs Pantry on the memo line. Thank you so much for your help. Karen Holmes 5 GRADUATE RECOGNITION SUNDAY June 11, 2017 We will publicly acknowledge all our graduates from high school and college at our worship service on Sunday, June 11th. Please plan on having your graduate attend this service as all graduates will be recognized. If you know of a graduate, please complete this form and drop it in the offering plate, mail to the church office, or fax this page to by Monday, June 5th. Thank you. _ NAME OF GRADUATE _ GRADUATED FROM _ DEGREE EARNED NOTABLE ACCOMPLISHMENTS FUTURE PLANS (SCHOOL, WORK, ETC.) YES, WE PLAN TO BE AT THE SERVICE

6 PRAYER CHAIN CHANGES (As of 5/25/17) Crisis Prayer List This is for those who need prayers in an urgent matter such as upcoming surgery, emergency medical care (ICU), etc. Individuals will be moved to Chronic after the first month unless one of the prayer chain contacts is contacted about special circumstances: Sharon Bearnes Lori Davis Donna Haar Family of Linda Kusian Chronic Prayer List This is for those who need prayers for ongoing serious situations such as cancer treatments, ongoing medical struggles and recovery and/or personal situations. Individuals will be moved off after 3 months unless one of the prayer chain contacts has been contacted about special/continuing circumstances: Ken Abbey Karyl & Lee Antoine Dave Baker Chuck Bell Karen Bless Miles Buckley Jeannette Carlo Christie and her family Greg Contat David Cummerow Olivia and Delaney Dawkins Shirley Dipner Teresa Ellis Dorothy Felderman Clifford Fordney Rose Hensley Jackie Hubaker Jason (no last name given) Patty Gable Elaine Gardner Julius Haller Heather (no last name given) Phyllis Kelly Doug Kempski Mark Kieswetter Lynn Kochanski Ilean Labuhn Kate Lajti Scott Langlois Janice Logsdon Austin Lozinski Jeanette Miller James Moore Mary Bell Moore 6 Bill Morse Beth Myers Margie Myers Pam Pirolli Sheryl Rayl Michael Rheinbolt & family Norma Ridener Dr. Steve Rowe Phyllis Schuffenecker John Spoerl Joan Tilton Tom (no last name given) Steve Uzl Joyce Villhauer Julie Woodrum Olga Zimmerman *** Please let any of the prayer chain contacts know if any of these individuals could be moved off the list. *** Prayer Chain Contacts Carol Abbey or cabbey@jcrinc.com Lynn Folk Donna Koehn Ada Kreger Gloria Ross REMINDER FROM THE ALTAR GUILD Don t forget to honor your loved ones with flowers for the altar. Find the red flower book in back of the church under the main bulletin board and sign up for the Sunday you want. Flower vases are $15 each; you can take an envelope out of the book to use for payment. DAVID WINSLOW MEMORIAL GOLF TOURNAMENT This 4-person scrambles will be Saturday, August 19th at 8:00 am at the Chippewa Golf Club. Cost is $65 per person. Prizes will be awarded for first place, longest drive and closest to the pin. Reservation and fees are due by Monday, August 14th. If you d like to register or sponsor a hole, call Mike Winslow at or *All proceeds go to First St. John.*

7 FEED YOUR NEIGHBOR Don t forget our ongoing ministry to Feed Your Neighbor. Non-perishable food items are always appreciated. Please place your donations in the two right-hand bins under the main bulletin board in the Narthex or in the marked blue plastic bin in the lounge. No glass jars, please. SUMMER MUSIC VOLUNTEERS SYNOD ASSEMBLY NEWS It was an honor and a blessing to attend this year s Northwest Ohio Synod Assembly with Pastor Rayl. The gathering met for worship on Friday evening at St. Aloysius Catholic Church in Bowling Green, and we also learned more about Martin Luther. As you know, this year marks the 500 th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. On Saturday, the day was spent in morning prayer, Synod business, and learning more about Luther. There were no major issues discussed. By the way, this assembly was the first assembly presided over by our new Synod Bishop, Daniel Beaudoin. We will have a copy of all the Synod proceedings in the lounge in a three-ring binder for your perusal. Thanks again for the opportunity to attend this year s event. Bob and Sherrie Haar DAY SCHOOL REGISTRATION FOR SUMMER & FALL The Summer program begins May 31st and runs through August 4th; and the Fall Program will begin on August 16th. Members of First St. John can enroll their children and pay no registration fee. Call Carol Felderman at for more information, to tour the school, and/or to pick up registration forms. Beginning June 4 th we will have one service at 9:00 am. Since our choir will be taking a much-needed break, we will have special music at each service. If you have a musical talent to share (singing solo or in a group or playing an instrument), call the church office ( ) or sign the schedule which is on the wall outside the choir room door. 7 DAY SCHOOL NEWS Another school year has ended. We have said goodbye to so many smiling faces; we will miss their stories and families. Next week our doors will open to a new group for the summer. Some children have been here before. Others are new as their parents would like for them to learn our routines and meet their new friends prior to the start of the school year in the fall. God s kids are flourishing at First St. John s Day School. Make sure you check out our new website: and our Facebook page ( Like us, too!) We will work to keep current items posted. Check out our new video on the website, too. Tell others about our Preschool and Kindergarten classes so our school may continue for another 40 years. Throughout this past year members of the congregation have been praying and offering words of encouragement to our kindergarten class and the Day School staff. This past month, the kindergarten children sang a few songs in church. Afterward, they met their prayer buddies and shared a little program, and some new friendships were formed. Now who knows what the Lord has in mind for those children! The Day School staff also had a little dinner where we learned who our secret prayer buddies were. It was a wonderful evening of food and fellowship! The Day School staff would love to do this again; not that we want all the fabulous gifts we received, but all your prayers lifted on the school s behalf were felt and appreciated. Keep praying for us and the Day School, and thank you! Carol Felderman HELP WANTED The Day School is looking for an individual who has a Level Two Certification in Food Protection who would be willing to serve as a consultant for our lunch program. This may not even require you to be on the premises, just be available by phone for assistance to our cook, who has a ServSafe Level One Certification. New regulations required by the Health Department is that we have someone who has the Level Two Certification. If you have this and are able to help us or know someone who could, please contact Carol Felderman at the Day School at