St. Paul s 85 th Anniversary

Transcription

1 St. Paul s Lutheran Church Volume 21 Issue 5 May 2015 St. Paul s 85 th Anniversary It matters not, though, how long or how brief a time a congregation or an individual spends upon this earth. What matters is the quality of ministry that goes on in the life of a congregation or an individual. (Pastor Tom Church, St. Paul s 1999 Annual Report) offerings. By 1950, average attendance had climbed to two hundred. It was the early years of hard work that made the flourish of these later years possible. In 1939, men of the church began to excavate a basement under the church, known to many as the Bucket Brigade. The entire project was not completed until May, In 1944, with $3,000 pledged by twenty-seven members, plans were begun in earnest for a postwar church. In 1947 a used Hammond electric organ was purchased by the church and served St. Paul s for 32 years. The building of the new church in 1953 Reverend Alden Salstrom came to St. Paul s on July 15, 1952 and soon settled into a parsonage that was built next to the old church. Ground was broken for the new church, Modern English Gothic in architecture, on June 28, 1953 to be built at a cost of $173,000. The first service in the new church building was held on Palm Sunday, April 3, 1955 with Margaret Sneesby unlocking the door and leading Sunday school children into the sanctuary. The attendance of four services totaled 960. Church On the occasion of St. Paul s 85 th Anniversary, historian Bob Sonders reflects on key events that have shaped who we are as St. Paul s Lutheran Church. Eighty-five years ago St. Paul s Evangelical Lutheran Church was established with Reverend Paul Gerberding from the Board of Mission, United Lutheran Church of America, as the mission developer. Fifty-one people became charter members on May 15, A World War I prefabricated building erected at the corner of Lewis Avenue and Garden Place served as their temporary place for worship. The church began as the Depression was just beginning and was immediately deeply in debt. A new seminary graduate, Reverend Paul Romeis, became our first pastor on May 1, 1931, remaining to serve until May 15, Subsequent pastors were: Rev. Edward Voorhees, Dec. 1, 1936 April 22, 1942 Rev. A.Howard Weeg, May 15, Sept. 15, 1943 Rev. Albert Simone Nov. 14, 1943 Jan. 19, 1947 Rev. Wesley Gallup, April 1, 1947 Feb. 1, 1952 St. Paul s became self-supporting after 16 years of financial aid from the Mission Board of the Illinois Synod. It wasn t until 1948 that the church began to flourish, both in attendance and Pastors Gallup & Salstrom breaking ground on the new church.

2 indebtedness was reduced with the retirement of debt on the parsonage and new church seventeen years ahead of schedule. During Pastor Salstrom s tenure, communing membership more than doubled in size from 304 members to 789 and average church attendance reached 328. Sunday school attendance increased rapidly as well and necessitated the need to build an Educational Building Unit which was accomplished in 1963 at a cost of $230,000. Assistant pastors Fred Millhouse (Sept. 1, 1959 Aug. 15, 1963), Alden Tormala (May 17, 1967 Nov. 14, 1971), and Thomas Church (July, 1972 Nov. 1, 1980) added immeasurably to the spiritual life of the congregation. The Living Memorials Fund was established in In 1978, seventeen members committed to a four year Bethel Series program led by Pastor Salstrom to study the Bible for two years and in turn provide this program to over 100 members of the congregation. In celebration of St. Paul s 50 th Anniversary, a new Temple Pipe Organ was dedicated. Pastor Salstrom retired from the ministry on November 1, On Oct. 26, 1981 the church council presented him with a plaque naming him as 16, 1992, the new sanctuary was dedicated. A new carillon was dedicated in December 2001 as a memorial to several members. Associate pastors Carol Wasemiller (June 18, 1995 April, 2000) and Janet Miller (Oct. 16, 1999 Oct. 31, 2002) energetically shared in the pastoral duties of the congregation. Pastor Tom served our church faithfully for 29 ½ years, retiring on March 2, To him, Sharing the Love of Jesus is what St. Paul s has always been. On Sept. 9, 2003, following Reverend Mark Halaas as our interim pastor, Reverend Caroline Satre and husband Reverend Brad Davick began their ministry at St. Paul s. Two styles of worship were offered: Contemporary and Traditional, and a more friendly worship booklet was introduced. A CORE identity document which included Mission Statement, Vision Statement, Core Values, and Framework was completed in That was the year we celebrated St. Paul s anniversary with the theme Building on the Past, Leading into the Future, and the issuing of Marty and Rising Star Awards. A new plaque called The Saints of St. Paul s Plaque was commissioned in 2006 to honor gifts given to the church in memory of loved ones. Much attention was given to the purpose of serving others with a three year program starting in 2007 called Reformation 2010 which included the 5G s, Grounded, Gathered, Growing, Giving, and Going. Emphasis was placed on making our church property more inviting through capital improvements; explore ministry partnerships; developing the St. Paul s website; promoting adult spiritual growth; and instituting a parish nurse ministry. The program Extreme Makeover provided $283,500 of funds to enhance our physical property. A three stop commercial elevator was constructed in A Raise the Roof drive began in 2013 to replace the roof over the entire church building by Confirmation Class. Recognize anyone you know? Pastor Emeritus. The title was bestowed for his 28 years of faithful service in the ministry of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to St. Paul s. Reverend Tom Church became our senior pastor on February 1, 1981 and Reverend Richard Mannel joined as Assistant Pastor on October 26, Many new ministries were begun. Christian Outreach of Lutherans (COOL) first venture was to establish a Food Pantry in Waukegan in The first annual Music Festival was held in October 1983 and a Handbell Choir began in A task force name Faith to Grow was formed in 1985 to evaluate the need for expansion of the church facilities. This led to the building of an addition to the church which included a new enlarged sanctuary and converted the old sanctuary to a much welcomed large gathering room. Average church attendance was about 350. With the help of an enthusiastic congregation, the Growing in Spirit drive furnished funds for a down payment to start building the new structure and other facilities at a cost of $970,800. On February Angel choir in They grow up so fast, don t they? As we continue To Journey with Christ, each other, and the neighbors God gives us our church will continue to grow in different ways by the grace of God. Page 2 RSVP: Sign up via splcwaukegan.com or use an RSVP card on

3 Financial Recap February March Weekly Giving $22, $27, Monthly Income $25, $35, Monthly Expenses $35, $32, Monthly Difference -$9, $2, YTD Shortage -$13, $10, Debt Reduction $1, $ YTD Debt Reduction $2, $2, RAISE THE ROOF FUND Beginning Balance $28, Monthly Giving $1, Monthly Expenses $ End Balance $28, WAUKEGAN TO COLLEGE Thanks to your support we will be sending twenty seven students from Waukegan to College (W2C) to Leadership Lab at Augustana College in July. The next Waukegan to College (W2C) auction will be held on Sept. 26 at 6pm at the Lake County Fair Grounds. Please hold the date! Tickets will be available for the event in August. We are currently looking for company sponsorships and auction items for the event. If you have a good relationship with a local business and are willing to ask for sponsorship (first priority) or an auction item (second priority), please contact Karen Papp. Our annual Waukegan to College Shower for the graduates will be held on Wednesday, August 12 at 6pm. We will collect gift cards and useful college supplies July 12 to August 9. Stay tuned for more information! ADVOCATE COMPASSION CLOSET On behalf of our patients who are benefitting from your donations to the Compassion Closet I want to say "Thank You" and "God bless you!" Your generosity has been amazing! I do need to apologize however for any misunderstanding regarding "new" versus "used" clothing. For health and safety reasons, we can only accept NEW clothing. I assure those of you who have donated used clothing that it has been put to good use because I have taken those items to both Good Will and to the St. Vincent de Paul Society. Regardless of the season, our patients will continue to have need of clothing when they are being discharged, so thank you for your continued support of the Compassion Closet. Rev. Fran Bates, Chaplain Mission & Spiritual Care There s a little more behind the numbers that you should know. On the income side, March was a five Sunday month, so an extra Sunday is included. We also had the benefit of extra giving for Lent-lots of people used their Lent envelopes for extra gifts. We also received three months rent in advance from our new Mission Partner, Christ House church. On the expense side, we did not pay Synod Benevolence in March, so it will be double in April. Did you know that online giving is automatically credited to you and to whatever fund you designate? You can even designate holiday envelopes, for special gifts at Lent, Easter, and Christmas. You can set them as a one-time gift or weekly or monthly donation. You also save the church time as we don t need to manually count or enter your donation into the system. Raise the Roof Funds given since 2013 total $50, Our goal by the end of 2015 is $65,000. Please see the article, Maintaining a Strong St. Paul s Financial Picture in this newsletter, describing more steps to help balance our annual budget. Thank you for your continued stewardship, Mary Ellen Modlin March Council Highlights Council approved the Finance Team s recommendation to refinance our current mortgage with internal funds at zero % interest. Additional communication will be provided in May. Rummage Sale dates of July 31 st and August 1 st 2015 were finalized and approved. Team will provide additional dates for contributing items. Evelyn Elbe will assist Guy Gersich as a COOL representative Discussed May 3 rd Service Project Day-inside and outside projects, Homebound Visitor Orientation Discussed Leadership Lab 2015 Program Monday, July 27 Saturday, August 1 Anticipating 27 W2C youth and 12 SPLC youth Program cost $390 per person; SPLC cost to youth = $50 IMPORTANT DATES: May 9am Church Music Sunday, Welcome New Members & First Communion May 10:30am Church-wide Service Project May 10:30am Last Day of Sunday School Fair Trade Sale May 9am Confirmation Service May 17 No 10:30 Worship! Confirmation Reception May 17, 10am-2pm Thrivent Shred Event May 10:30am New Summer Worship Begins May 7pm LYRA Concert July 31 Aug 1. Rummage Sale Sept. 6pm W2C Oktoberfest Fundraiser RSVP: Sign up via splcwaukegan.com or use an RSVP card on Sunday.

4 9:00am Ushers May 10 Aaron, Stover, Campbell, Stateler May 17 Hall, Sandine, Mizera May 24 Dahlbo, W. Burba, Rockways May 31 Baraboo, Kilpatricks, Koskinen 10:30am Ushers May 10 LaMontagne, Swanick May 24 Volunteers Needed May 31 Alwardt, Bellisario KID STUFF Sunday School Sundays at 10:30am Age 3 to Grade 5 May 3 Churchwide Service Project May 11 Last Day of Sunday School Thank you to Debbie VanDreese, Evelyn Elbe, Helen Clampit, Jane Ochoa, Joanne Torogian and Barbara Langenberg for all your wonderful teaching & assistance with Sunday School this year! Acolytes Schedule May 3 K. Daun, E. Voight May 10 B. Burton, B. LaMontagne May 17 E. Satre, A. Ford May 24 K. Daun, E. Sorensen May 31 J. Vertiz, B. Burton Special Dates! Church Music Sunday, May 3 Youth sing at 9am then participate in the Church-wide Service Project after worship Sunday, May 10 at 10:30am Last day of Sunday School Wednesday, May 13, 6-8pm Confirmation stole-making, rehearsal and pizza. Sunday, May 17 at 9am Affirmation of Baptism (Confirmation) No 10:30 on 5/3 & 5/17 10:30 Worship Summer Format Beginning May 24, the 10:30 worship service will begin its summer format. Because Music Time and Sunday School will be on hiatus, the service will consist of music (still led by the Praise Team), Bible readings, a message, prayer, and Holy Communion. Rather than lasting 1 ½ hours as it does during the program year, the service will last minutes, making it a later, shorter, more informal alternative for worship during the summer months. Please join us Sundays at 10:30 am! Sunday, May 3 9am Church Music Sunday Worship 10:30am Churchwide Service Project Monday, May 4 1-3pm Knit & Crochet Sunday, May 10 Fair Trade Sale & Tea Party Mission Team 10:30am Last day of Sunday School Monday, May 11 7pm Altar Guild Wednesday, May 13 6pm Confirmation Rehearsal & Dinner Sunday, May 17 No 10:30am Worship today! 9am Confirmation Service & Worship Monday, May 18 9:30am-3pm Quilters (last mtg. until fall) 1-3pm Knit & Crochet (last mtg. until fall) May Calendar May marks the end of many of our groups work during the school year. Please note that because of Memorial Day, Quilters will meet on May 18 and then be on hiatus until September. Other important dates in May are listed below. Please edit your SPLC calendars at home! Thursday, May 21 12:30pm Lunch Avalon Restaurant (last mtg.) 7pm Church Council Sunday, May 24 Pentecost 10:30am New Summer Format Worship Page 4 Saturday, May 30 7pm LYRA Concert (Tickets required) RSVP: Sign up via splcwaukegan.com or use an RSVP card on

5 Maintaining a Strong St. Paul s Financial Picture At St. Paul s Annual Meeting in February the 2015 operating budget was presented to the congregation. It was noted that the Finance Committee and Church Council would assess the investment of church assets designated to various SPLC funds to determine if alternative strategies could increase income return. This assessment focused on strategies to increase annual income for the operating budget but also included actions to reduce annual operating expenses. What actions have taken place to date? A large portion of the church assets are invested in the ELCA Mission Investment Fund (MIF), which currently delivers an interest return of 0.9%; this income is applied to the operating budget. However, our Mission Endowment Fund (approx. $157,000) is invested in the ELCA Pooled Trust, which delivers a return of 4.69%; this quarterly interest income is distributed by the Mission Endowment team each year for congregational, community, national and global efforts. The Living Memorials Endowment Fund ($186,000) has been moved from the MIF to the Pooled Trust and is now earning 4.25% interest. This represents an additional $6,230 in operating budget income on an annual basis. Pooled Trust interest rates are established annually. What about other investment options? The finance team plans to invest a portion of our remaining funds in other investment vehicles, that is, not putting all of our eggs in the ELCA basket. An investment research team is investigating alternative providers that offer improved returns with modest risk for a portion of our funds. These returns will be applied to the Operating Budget. We expect the Finance Committee to recommend alternative investments by the end of May. Remaining funds will continue to be held in the MIF as well as in our SPLC checking account. What action will take place next? The finance team and church council have decided to refinance the remaining portion of the church mortgage, approximately $173,000. Our current interest rate is 4.75% with 13 years remaining; the monthly principle and interest is $1,561. With whom will we refinance our mortgage? St. Paul s will be the lender, and our interest rate will be 0%. From which funds will we draw to refinance the mortgage, and when will this happen? St. Paul s was very fortunate to receive a legacy gift from the estate of Betty Kilburn. Many congregation members attended meetings to decide how Betty s gift would be distributed, and three new funds were established. The capital required to be applied to the current mortgage will come from the New Ministries Fund (50%), Operating Cushion Fund (40%), and the Debt Repayment Fund (10%). Each of these funds will maintain sufficient money for near and mid-term requests/needs. It is proposed the funds will be redirected on June 1. How will the funds we borrow from be repaid? All congregation debt reduction fund giving will be transferred to the designated funds on an annual basis in the percentages noted above. Once these funds are fully repaid, debt reduction fund giving will be redirected. Are you confident we will repay these funds? We have a good history of repaying ourselves, most recently in our Extreme Makeover effort as we installed an elevator and made additional, associated facilities improvements. The mortgage owed will remain on the Treasurer s Report in order to track our progress. What is the benefit of refinancing our mortgage in this way? The mortgage P&I line in the Operating Budget will be zeroed out due to this action, which will reduce operating expense by $18,700 per year over the next 13 years. We would have to find an investment with zero risk that returns 4.75% interest to equal this action! Why have we not considered this action in the past? The option to pay off the mortgage was discussed during legacy gift discussion meetings, but at the time there was no thought given to repaying this money in order to support other activities at St. Paul s. Understanding the value of the three designated funds, we are confident that we will maintain sufficient capital in them, and this action will benefit St. Paul s in the long run. If we are reducing expenses and increasing income, why should I to give to St. Paul s Lutheran Church? The answer is two-fold. One, generosity is a spiritual discipline. Two, these measures are meant to help us balance our budget, not give us a surplus. Maintaining your financial commitment to St. Paul s is critical to supporting our church and its mission. RSVP: Sign up via splcwaukegan.com or use an RSVP card on Sunday.

6 Confirmation Sunday, May 17 at 9am Join us in blessing our 8th graders who will affirm their baptism at the 9am service Confirmands: Adam Clampit, Kathleen Daun, Hannah Gerald, Keanu Merrill, Cole Rice, Alejandro Vertiz and Emily Voight. Shred Truck Event Sunday, May 17, 10am 1pm Thrivent North Lake County Office, 927 W. Glen Flora Ave. Waukegan is hosting a shredding event. Bring your confidential documents to help avoid identity theft. Refreshments will also be served. Questions? Call EAT OUT, SUPPORT COOL MINISTRIES! Pick up a flyer at the Welcome Center and plan on having a meal at Panera Bread (6557 Grand Ave, Gurnee) Friday, May 15. When the flyer is presented a portion of the sale will benefit COOL. COOL Plant Orders Don t forget to pick up your orders on Saturday, May 9 from 11am 2pm at Bethel Lutheran Church on Grand Avenue in Gurnee. SAVE THE DATE! 12th Annual COOL Golf Outing Midlane Golf Resort in Wadsworth Friday afternoon, June 19 Start to get your groups together! Have a donation for the silent auction or want to sponsor a tee? Call CHURCH RUMMAGE SALE: July 31 & Aug. 1 LYRA Concert Saturday, May 30 at 7pm St. Paul s is excited to host a group from St. Petersburg, Russia. LYRA will perform Russian church and secular music when they stop here on their Spring US Concert Tour. Tickets $10 in advance, $15 at the door (cash). Music CDs available for $20 (cash) the day of the event.