Worship, Community, Service

Transcription

1 I Zion Lutheran Church The Tidings December 2017 Inside this Issue Pastor's Message 2 CDC 4 Zion Organizations 5 Finances 8 Council Minutes 9 Serving on Sundays 11 Calendar 12 Join us to Celebrate the Miracle of Jesus' Birth! Get Ready! For Baby Jesus! CDC Christmas Show Dec 5th, 7:00pm Christmas Eve Candlelight Service Dec 24th, 4:00pm New Year's Eve Service & Fellowship Hour Dec 31st, 9:30am Follow Zion on Facebook! Go to: facebook.com/zionlutheranferguson and click Check the calendar in this newsletter for more events leading up to this joyous holiday season!. 1

2 Worship, Community, Service Last week I attended the Bishop's Convocation in the Lake of the Ozarks. It was a three day event where Leadership in the Central States Synod (CSS) gathered to talk about discipleship. The guest speaker was Bishop Guy Erwin from the Southwest California Synod. Although the focus was on Discipleship, the topics and the conversation wandered all over the place. It was a time to evaluate and celebrate ministry in general. If I were to summarize what I heard and participated in, it was almost exactly what Zion came up with when we did our own ministry evaluation that ultimately went into our Ministry Site Profile that we submitted to the CSS, and that was Worship, Community, and Service. It is clear to me that we Lutherans are responding to our changing world with a clear focus on Worship and what it means to be a Lutheran Christian. I have been and will continue to emphasize Luther's focus of Grace Alone, Faith Alone, and Scripture Alone. As Paul describes in Ephesians, We are saved by Grace through Faith and this is a gift from God, not anything we can do, but we are created in Christ Jesus for good works (Service) which God has prepared beforehand to be our way of life. 2

3 And the stories that were told by various congregations were all focused on working in the community, just as we are trying to do, as we have signed a lease with All Among Us to use our Little Chruch to house their homeless Women's Care Center (WCC). This is an opportunity for Zion not only to continue to reach out into the community but to also serve the WCC in many different ways is providing Zion many opportunities in our community for service and still keep centered in our Lutheran Christian beliefs. It is clear to me that tomorrow is going to be different than yesterday and today is an opportunity to plan for that. As we close out our church year this Sunday with Christ the King Sunday worship, I'm also reminded as I write this, how thankful I am for all of you and what you have accomplished this past year. For me, the highlight of the year was watching with hope in our hearts as we launched those balloons in the air at the Negwers' farm with the words Worship, Community, and Service on them. We thank God for His guiding hand as we look to the future. God is good and full of GRACE! Blessings, Larry 3

4 December News from the CDC We had a wonderful time at the Thanksgiving Family Dinner on Tuesday, November 28th. We had turkey, dressing, gravy, green beans, mashed potatoes, and rolls. Some parents brought side dishes. It was a good night of fellowship with the families of the CDC and the teachers. We will be doing a family dinner semi-annually. In the summer, we will have a Family Picnic to bring the parents of the CDC together. This will help not only bring our families together, but also help them network together. The CDC will be closed for Christmas on Monday, December 25 th and Tuesday, December 26th. It will also be closed for New Years on Monday, January 1st and Tuesday, January 2nd. Come one, come all to our Christmas program! The children have been working really hard on it. We started practicing in the chapel on Wednesday, November 15th. They are so excited to sing for everybody. The name of our play this year is Get Ready! For Baby Jesus! It will be on Tuesday, December 5th. The program will start at 7:00pm in the chapel. After the program you can join us for refreshments downstairs. We will be celebrating 45years of the CDC next year. We are looking for any ideas that anyone might have to help us celebrate and help get past teachers and parents/kids of the CDC 45years. As always, thanks so much for all of your continued prayers and support. ~ Sue Dunham CDC Director 4

5 December Anniversaries 10th 14th Robert & Megan Hickman Jack & Roberta Harrison December Birthdays 2nd 3rd 8th 10th 11th 15th 17th 22nd 31st Aiden Calhoun Erma Miller Andi Martin Doug Vogelsang Carol Barnes Deborah Balestier Pat Martin Robert Oliver Richard Schademann Ron Devenport Christmas Luncheon All are welcome to enjoy a Christmas Lunch at the Negwers' on December 7th. In order to plan, we would like a call to Dorothy Kaiser or Doris McCall by December 3 rd. More details will be given when you RSVP Contributions 2017 contributions must be dated 2017 and received in the church office by January 3 rd, 2018 to be credited on your 2017 statement. Toothbrush Collection for St. Stephen's Zion has been collecting donations of toothbrushes by special request from St. Stephen's Food Pantry. We are half way to meeting our goal of collecting 100 toothbrushes! 2018 contribution envelopes will be in your Zion mailbox. If you don't receive envelopes but prefer to have a set, contact Paul Herrmann If you receive envelopes but are willing to use a 3## series contributor designation to record your contributions to Zion, return the envelopes to Paul Herrmann with a note. December Voter's Meeting Zion will be having their end of the year voter's meeting following worship on Sunday, December 3rd in the Upper Room. Please join us as we discuss many important topics concerning the new covenant with Pr. Larry, the 2018 budget proposal, approval of the new constitution and bylaws, a vote on open council and member care positions, and an update on where we are with All Among Us. Hope to see you there! 5

6 December Worship Services The four Sundays of Advent begin on December 3 rd and end on December 24th. We will have the regular Sunday worship services at 9:30am. We will celebrate one Christmas Eve candlelight service at 4pm on the 24th (this is in addition to the regular Sunday morning service). There will be no Christmas Day service. If you have family and friends visiting for the holidays, be sure to bring them to celebrate the hope we have in Christ's coming into our world and into our hearts. December 31st is the 5th Sunday and we will have a healing service. We are also planning on having a fellowship hour afterwards. Check your bulletins for more information. Santa's Village Zion is asking for volunteers to help out at our Santa's Village on Friday, December 15th from 4pm-6pm. This little one-stop shop is meant to support those families in the CDC that may need help providing gifts and warm clothing for the winter holidays. We provide highly reduced prices on new or gently used items, a wrapping station, and of course, trained professionals (the CDC staff) to care for the kids while parents get their shopping done! This is a great little outreach project that benefits the CDC families. If you are interested in volunteering for the event, please use the sign-up sheet on the Nursery Room window. First Aid Kit A brand new first aid kit can now be found in Zion's office. It comes fully stocked with band-aids, a CPR rescue mask for adults and infants, non-stick gauze pads, eye wash cup, gauze roll, flexible tape, alcohol prep pads, 2 ACE instant cold packs, slant tip tweezers, point tip tweezers, a digital thermometer and probe covers, scissors, disposable non-latex gloves, and a mini flashlight. Zion is also considering hosting a CPR training course in the future for those interested. 6

7 Stewardship Program Thank you for your attention and prayerful consideration of the stewardship program this year, Time, Talent, and Treasures. A special thank you to Norma Wolz, Ara Tess, and Pastor Larry for being involved and for helping bring the messages to us about how important it is to know who we belong to and what we should do with the gifts God gives us. Also, thank you for staying for fellowship on Sunday, November 19 th and participating in our time and talent activity around our goals of Worship, Community, and Service. Great ideas were flowing about what new things we should think about doing in an effort to enhance our worship, help our community, and increase our service. Don't stop thinking!!! If you think of anything else you would like to do or think maybe we should all do, just tell someone on Council or Pastor Larry. The year of 2018 will be a year of many opportunities and those opportunities will help us grown stronger if we only reach out in faith and try new things. I passed out cards where you could tell us what new things you wanted to use your time and talents for. We need your commitment financially, too, so we know what monetary resources we have available. If you need a Time and Talents card or a Financial Pledge card, please find them in the narthex on one of the tables. If you would like to help with stewardship next year, that would be a welcome thing! Blessings to all, Pam Statler, Stewardship Chair 7

8 Zion Lutheran Church Fund Balances 10/31/2017 Church/CDC Equity 1/1/17 188,429 Earnings on Investments 22,865 Church Fund YTD (25,290) CDC Current Year 38,490 Church/CDC Equity Restricted Funds Major Mtce/Roof 7,165 MP Room Improvements 7,225 Other Restricted Funds Archives 705 Bell and Choir 1,388 Church Decorations/Flowers 601 Parish Resource Center 1,454 Sunday School 183 Vacation Bible School 0 National Youth Gathering '17 2,735 Good Samaritan Fund 6,468 CDC Playground Fund 4,748 Women's Guild ,494 32,799 Total Equity Church Funds 10/31/17 Other Funds Future Bldg/Oak Knoll Sale Scholarship Fund Roth Fund 343,688 86,395 65,070 80, Summary Net Income/Loss Monthly 2017 Monthly January February March April May June July August September October November DecemberYTD Total Church 1,232 4,801 (3,399) 424 (5,029) (6,713) (3,887) (10,800) (3,185) 1,269 (25,290) CDC 548 3,728 5,249 10,841 7,524 (4,523) 6,060 4,325 (2,922) 7,661 38,490 8

9 Council Meeting November 14, 2017 In attendance: Norma Wolz, Janet Schaper, Johnnie Tucker, Doric McCall, Pam Tate, Jason Martin, Pam Statler, Kristen Kinney Absent: Sue Dunham and Larry Lemke Opening Prayer and Welcome Doris McCall Approval of minutes from October 10th Meeting Motion Made, Seconded Approved CDC Report No CDC Report Sue absent Member Care Ministry Report Business as usual Group agreed that they want to do prayer angels during advent Sending letters to less mobile or don t drive at night to ask them volunteer once a month to make phone calls in order to feel like they are still part of the congregation and serving Property Report Figured out things with lights to get replacements Finance Report Pretty unremarkable CDC in the black $38,490 and church in the red $25,290 Review Budget for 2018 Approved budget to present as is to the Zion members Pastor s Report No report Review of Larry Lemke, Zion and CSS per interim covenant Old Business Bylaws review Small changes still need to be changed about elections of certain members of council Motion made to accept bylaws as amended Seconded Approved Nominating committee Have a full slate of officers Janet Schaper President Ara Tess- VP (running) Sue Dunham-Member at Large (Running) Johnnie Member at Large 9

10 Norma Member at Large Pam Tate moving to Member Care Lynn Moore Member Care Pam Statler Treasurer Kristen Kinney Secretary All Among us Women s Care Center Mike Palmer came and did some work Electrical, tuck pointing, flashing Catherine looking to have someone volunteer to do the painting outside Windows are possibly led paint need to possibly be replaced Mike Palmer painted windows and wouldn t have used led paint Substantial Problem with drainage Architect came up with a plan to put a drain in and have it drain into a planter box All Among Us wants to continue the work as they have the money rather than waiting until they have the funds raised Larry Lemke Covenant and Bishop Letter, TEEM Process Covenant would lose the wording that says that we are in an interim and it would be another relationship with Larry TEEM: Theological Education for Emerging Ministries: Zion Qualifies as an emerging ministry based on the size of our congregation Larry would go through the TEEM process in which he would become an ordained minister after different supervisions and classes would still serve us as he was working through this process Will still operate under the new covenant with Larry and if the TEEM Process doesn t work out, we would still work under that covenant Motion made to approve the covenant with changes regarding Sunday s off and pay and approval of sending letter to the bishop with emphasis that this will be communicated as best we can with the congregation Seconded and approved New Business Church Safety Is someone willing to step up and do the research about how to make the church safer for all? Voter s Meeting Agenda: Budget, Constitution and Bylaws, Larry Covenant & Bishop Letter, All Among Us, Slate of officers for 2018 Adjourned 8:40 Next Meeting Set for 12/12/

11 Zion Lutheran Church Serving on Sundays in December Dec 3 Dec 10 Dec 17 Dec 24 Dec 31 Pastor L Lemke R Boardman L Lemke L Lemke L Lemke Music Director E Cason E Cason E Cason E Cason E Cason Assistant Minister N Wolz P Herrmann J Martin R Schademann N Wolz D Tucker P Herrmann J Martin R Schademann K Malin G Voss L Lemke N Wolz Reader Children's Message N Wolz Communion Servers G Voss W Devenport N Wolz K Kinney Ushers D Kaiser J Schaper R Taylor S Taylor B Taylor C Gierse K Malin G Voss S Dunham B Negwer D Kaiser J Schaper Greeter D Kaiser Stoverink C Gierse S Dunham D Kaiser Altar Guild * Scheduled servers are subject to change at the discretion of organization leaders. If you have a schedule conflict, please inform the Church office of any changes or schedule swaps. 11

12 Zion Lutheran Church December Calendar Sun 31 Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat :30a-Worship 9a-Facility Use (UR) 1:30p-Worship Committee 11a-Lunch at Negwers' New Year's Eve 9:30a-Worship 11a-Fellowship 11a-Voter's Meeting 10 6p-Member Care 7p-CDC Christmas Program p-Facility Use (MP) p-Santa's Village 11a-Facility Use (UR) 9:30a-Worship 6p-Finance 6:30p-Council :30a-Worship Tidings Deadline 11a-Bible Class Christmas Eve Christmas Day Office & CDC Closed Office & CDC Closed 4p-Candlelight Service :30a-Pokeno 24 9:30a-Worship 20 * An up-to-date calendar can always be found at zionferguson.com/calendar. 12

13 Zion Lutheran Church 123 Carson Road Ferguson, MO Office Child Development Center 123 Carson Road Ferguson, MO Celebrating God's Grace December 2017 Zion Leaders Congregation Council President: Vice President: Secretary: Treasurer: Member At-Large: Member At-Large: Member At-Large: Janet Schaper Jason Martin Kristen Kinney Pam Statler Pam Tate Johnnie Tucker Norma Wolz Member Care Ministry Doris McCall Annis Tucker Richard Schademann Fannie Cole Dorothy Kaiser Robert Oliver Pat Martin Committee Chairs Outreach: Stewardship: Archives: CDC Support: Roth Fund: Pam Statler Mary Roth Kim Malin Organizations Fellowship: Women's Guild: Altar Guild: Sue Dunham Dorothy Kaiser Pam Tate 13