Community Church News June 2017

Transcription

1 The Community Church P.O. Box 14 Boulder Junction, WI Phone Non Profit Organization U.S. Postage PAID U.S. Postage PAID Permit No. 2 Community Church News June 2017 Be persistent in prayer And keep alert as you pray, Giving thanks to God. Community Church of Boulder Jct Main St P O Box 14 Boulder Jct WI Telephone: commchbj@centurytel.net Website: Service: Sundays at 9:30am Colossians 4:2 Come Worship With Us Church Staff Organist Helen Townsend Telephone: Choir Director Glen Wildenberg choirdirector@commchbj.org Treasurer Bruce Greenhill treasurer@commchbj.org Council Chair Lorine Walters Telephone: Christian Ed Director: Telephone: youthdirector@commchbj.org Custodian Cindy Wildenberg Telephone Grounds Raphael Moraczewski Telephone Office Manager Mary Anderson office Tues 9 a.m. 1 p.m. Wed 9 a.m. 1 p.m. Thu 9 a.m. 1 p.m. Fri 9 a.m. 1 p.m. Pastor Tim Hawkinson office by Appointment Tues 9 a.m. 1 p.m. Wed 9 a.m. 1 p.m. Fri 9 a.m. 11 a.m.

2 IF YOU LOVE ME, KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS When I ask our confirmation students to tell me about Jesus they often speak of the miracles he performed. Jesus fed 5000 people with a few loaves and fish. He walked on water, he healed a blind man. The greatest miracle is that Jesus rose from the dead. These miracle stories and the epic event of our Lord s crucifixion and resurrection we learned as kids in Sunday school. But those miracle events (even our Lord s Passion) do not help us to fully enter into the presence of Christ. What helps us engage and enter into a deeper and more personal relationship with the Lord are the commandments that he taught throughout his ministry on earth. These commandments (instructions) are not simply a list of do s and don ts that if we obey them, we are in a right relationship with God. In the 10 th chapter of the gospel of Mark we read: As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus asks the man if he knows the commandments and repeats some of them for the fellow. Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth. Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me. It seems to me that the man was asking if he was on the right road to eternal life. We call this mindset orthodoxy. There is nothing wrong with orthodoxy (belief in church doctrines). But as Jesus tells us, that alone won t help us grow in the faith. If you love me, keep my commandments. We need to spend a lot more time with the teachings of Jesus. These are his instructions on how to embrace the kingdom of God as we journey in God s creation. These instructions that Jesus gave guide the journey. From the Sermon on the Mount: You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you, do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also. That is a commandment. What kind of fuel can evil maintain if we obeyed that commandment instead of debating it? There are so many expressions of Christ s commandments. We find them in his healing touch, in the parables, and yes, in his obedience to God even unto death. Miracles are great, but the miracle of the Lord coming down to walk with us is even greater. Shalom Pastor Tim

3 June th Sam Christgau Danny Simeone Paul & Audrae Kulas John & Laura Logan 6 th Sharon Iltis Nathan Iltis Ruth Stober Jay & Joan Christgau 7 th Betty Forster Emily Sanderson Lloyd & Judy Giles 8 th Randy & Dawn Bassuener 9 th Tim & Cindy Hawkinson Stephen Hawkinson 10 th Karshon Carlson 11 th Marylyne Haag Amy Ondracek Ron & Lorine Walters 16 th Gil & Lois Jung 17 th Judy Giles Robert & Mary Anderson 19 th Prudy Sullivan 20 th Jay & Nikki Kassien 22 nd Bill Gabert Sr. Jay & Gina Pounds 23 rd Allyson Duwe Troy Beda Ray & Lee Ann Ondracek Raphael & Kendra Moraczewski 25 th Betty Clough Bob & Terry Simeone 26 th Vivian Hunt 27 th Shannon Lippke Peter & Ann Koester 28 th Luise Eisenbraun 29 th Jay Pounds Troy & Jen Beda June 4 th June 11 th June 18 th June 25 th June 4 th June 11 th June 18 th Betty Clough Sue Fehlandt Dorinda Jensen Ron Winter Ruth and Pete Johnson Roger and Penny Samuelson Joanne and Harold Eick Nancy and Jim Naylor Shirley and Bruce Meriwether Claudia and Dick Russell Marianne Carlson Ken Carlson Ellie Orbison June 25 th Roger Samuelson

4 From the Church Office... COMMUNION The Sacrament of Holy Communion will be observed June 4, TREASURER S REPORT Income Expense April $ 14,217 $ 17,030 Fiscal Year to Date $ 209,922 $ 175,397 We were saddened to learn of the death of long-time member, Val Hitt. Val had been living in Georgia for the last number of years. Peace to her memory. COUNCIL MEETING Church Council meets Tuesday, June 13, at 7:00 p.m. Prior to the Council meeting, Christian Education Department meets at 5:30 p.m. Elders and Worship and Music Departments meet at 6 p.m. Watch the Sunday bulletin for announcements of when other Departments or committees meet. WHAT'S NEXT? Lots of you are wondering what is going to happen to us after Pastor Tim retires in early July. Here s how things are unfolding: The plan for the next year or so is to bring in an interim pastor (possibly two) to give us time to get used to the idea of Pastor Tim being gone. We need time to process that before calling a permanent pastor to serve our congregation. It also gives us time to search for just the right person for us. A Search Committee is being assembled to do the work of finding that person. This can be a lengthy process, involving a lot of steps. We hope to have the search process completed and a new person in place by next June. Please pray daily for our church and the people who will be working on finding a good match for us. Dedication service of the sanctuary and addition will be held on June 25 th at the regular worship service. Theme of the dedication will be Recalling the Past, Celebrating the Present, Building the Future. More information will be announced in the church bulletin. The church mailing list is updated as changes are reported to the office, often several times a month. If your copy is old, you are welcome to ask for an up-to-date copy. Drop a note in the office mail slot and a copy will be placed in your mail folder in Fellowship Hall. Enjoy coffee hour following the morning worship service? It is a great chance to share conversation with friends and new acquaintances. As always, hosts and hostesses are needed! I will be on vacation the first week of June. The office hours will be skillfully covered by others. CE ANNOUNCEMENT In April the CE Department accepted with regret the notice that Judith Roche was leaving her position as Christian Education Director to return to Florida to complete her Doctor of Ministry degree. CE will be working with Personnel to find a candidate to fill the CE Director position. MISSIONS The last donations of the Mission Department Fiscal Year Budget are listed below. As always we welcome your suggestions for future Mission giving. We research all suggestions and make our decisions based on those findings. We strive to give our budgeted amount of your donations to our Church to places that do the most good for people in need around the world. Thank you all for supporting this outreach of the Community Church. Lily's Place $ Frederick's Place $ Tri-County Council $ Covenant World Relief $1,237.00

5 Save The Date Strawberry Social Tuesday, July 18, 2017 Another Strawberry Social is just around the corner. This event continues to be our only all church fundraiser that supports our college scholarships and missions. The Strawberry Social will be held at the Boulder Junction Community Center on July 18th. We will continue serving a BBQ Lunch, Strawberry Dessert, Bakery, and a White Elephant Sale. Please consider your talents when thinking about how you can make our Strawberry Social a success. While spring cleaning, please keep the White Elephant Sale in your thoughts. We are seeking GENTLY USED household items, jewelry, linens, puzzles, DVDs, fishing equipment, holiday items, and? We CAN'T accept clothing, appliances, exercise equipment, microwaves, computers, electronics, or furniture of any kind (regular or baby). We will be accepting items on or after June 1st in the annex garage. Please direct any questions regarding these items to Anita Hornbrook at Remember we would like you to share your time and energy to help us make this year another successful year. Please call us with any questions or ideas! Sue Fehlandt, Co-Chairperson Dorinda Jensen, Co-Chairperson MISSIONARY NOTE Galen Johnson, a missionary who we help to support, is travelling once again to Bangui Central African Republic where he is involved in administrating the translation of the Bible to native languages. In his recent Galen writes, Before I go, I often entertain comments like, Are you sure it s safe enough to go there? or Don t do anything foolish over there! The thing is that it is foolish to travel to unsafe places. But that s where the Bible-less people live. They go about their lives everyday no matter if there is insecurity or battles or illness. They have to, they LIVE THERE. I recently learned of a helpful quote, and wanted to share it with you: By 20 th century historian Will Durant: Civilization is a stream with banks. The stream is sometimes filled with blood from people killing, stealing, shouting and doing things historians usually record; while on the banks, unnoticed, people build homes, make love, raise children, sing songs, write poetry and even whittle statues. The story of civilization is the story of what happened on the banks.

6 CE News Our final Y.E.S./ Confirmation event to conclude the year was an Ice Cream Social. Volunteers and Helpers joined the kids for sundaes. Lee Ann Ondracek helped the students create beaded prayer bracelets. There was also a table full of items~kits, stuffed animals, games, etc.; to be able to choose a prize, each child had to answer a question about the past years' studies! Everyone received several items! We'd like to congratulate two young men, Joe Beda and Roman Matusiewicz, on their Confirmation, Sunday, May 21st. We pray that the Lord will continue to bless them in their life's journey. Two "Christian Connection" ecumenical events have been held. CCBJ hosted game night on April 21st. Trinity Lutheran hosted movie night on May 12th. There may be one more event held on June 9th. Watch your bulletin for more details. 60 YEARS AGO Sixty years ago the first week in June, Marilyn and I arrived in Boulder Junction with our two boys so I could serve as interim pastor of our church. Brian was 14 ½ months old, and Bruce celebrated his first birthday in July. Life was different in Boulder Junction in those days. Many American plan resorts (plus Aqualand) kept church members busy seven days a week. They did not want their pastor coming around for visits. We had two services on Sunday morning, attended primarily by tourists, resort guests, and summer home owners. Then at 8:30pm we had a service attended mostly by church members after finishing most of their chores. During the week I would be in the church office in the morning. After lunch I would frequently go fishing on Lost Canoe Lake (using a boat Don & Marion Swanson had there) while the boys napped. Then we would often go to Nichols Lake, where both boys learned to swim. It was a delightful summer, getting us off Foster Avenue in Chicago, where the boys played on concrete and where I might have again driven a Checker cab. I was teaching Bible at the time in the Academy at North Park College. When school started, Marilyn and the boys stayed in Boulder until late October. I would take the train on Fridays, arriving in Woodruff about 6am Saturdays, then rid the train Sunday night back to Chicago to meet an 8 o clock class Monday morning. That went on until February when a new pastor arrived. As long ago as 60 years ago we said to each other that this would be a great area in which to retire, and in December of 1994 we arrived at our log home in Land O Lakes. We have never regretted that decision for one minute. We are so blessed to be a part of the Community Church Family. Now at a time when the road has gotten a bit bumpy, we are deeply grateful for the support, prayers and care of this church we discovered sixty years ago. Arnie Bolin