The Torch. To receive and share Christ s embrace. Change

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1 The Torch July-August 2018 Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ: To receive and share Christ s embrace Change The ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus, who lived in Ephesus about 500 years before the time of Christ, is credited with coining the phrase, Change is the only constant in life. Some 400 years earlier King Solomon wrote, For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven (Ecclesiastes 3:1). From there, he goes on to write about matters of living and dying, planting and harvesting, tearing down and building up, and loving and hating, among many other things. They are all summed up by Heraclitus in that one word: change. The time for change is upon us. After much prayer and consideration, I have decided, with Paula s support, to retire from active, full-time parish ministry. Paula and I would like to spend more time traveling and seeing family and friends while we pursue other, part-time, ministry opportunities. This change will include a move away from the Salida area, most likely to the Albuquerque, NM region. This change will not, God willing, happen immediately. My retirement will be effective one year from now on July 1, Hopefully, this will give the congregation of First Lutheran Church ample time to utilize the call process in order to identify and call your next pastor. For now, nothing else will change. We will still gather each week around the Word and Sacraments. We will continue to care for one another. The work of the Church will still take place as we receive and share Christ s embrace. And we will still plan for the future, carrying out our responsibilities as forgiven children of God in sharing His love with our neighbors. Please keep Paula and I and the mission and ministry of First Lutheran Church in your prayers as we prepare for change. Saved to Share, Pastor Bill Cate Convention Report Lay Delegate Michael Meyer and I represented First Lutheran Church at the 51 st Convention of the Rocky Mountain District (RMD) of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS) in Colorado Springs, June I don t want bore you with the details, but I would, like to inform you of three items of business that could potentially impact our congregation, as well as other congregations in the district and the Synod. The first is the election of a new district president. Due to personal reasons President Allen Anderson, who served as RMD President since 2012, removed himself from consideration for a third and final term. This happened at virtually the last minute, so much of our time on the first day of the convention was devoted to nominating and electing someone to this office.

2 Eventually Rev. Roger Schlechte was elected as our new District President. President Schlechte was very gracious in accepting his nomination and election, but he made it known that he will only serve one term. While still very vital and dynamic at the age of 77, he has no interest in serving beyond the current three-year term. Next are two overtures that I put forward on behalf of our congregation. The first deals with the issue of ecclesiastical supervision. Under the structure of the LCMS my ecclesiastical supervisor is the District President and his is the Synod President. The overture addresses an issue that was, I believe, inadequately addressed and handled at the 2016 convention of the LCMS on matters of doctrine and practice below the level of District President. Essentially, it allows the President of the Synod to ignore the chain of supervision and deal directly with errant pastors and other church workers, rather than working with and through the District President. This issue stems from an incident where one of our Lutheran university professors was teaching evolution, but neither the District President nor the president of the university chose to address the situation. Rather than work with the District President and essentially order him to discipline the wayward professor, the Synod President dealt directly with the professor, skipping several levels in the hierarchy. The 2016 LCMS convention effectively endorsed this action, thereby granting unprecedented power to the office the President of the Synod. This is far from the intent of our synod s founders who placed authority for such matters in the hands of the congregation, not in the office of the president. Current conditions allow for the President of the Synod to insert himself into the affairs of an individual congregation of the LCMS. The approval of this overture by the RMD will result in an overture to the next synodical convention in 2019 to overturn its previous decision. The second overture tackles the issue of financial transparency. This stems from two incidents at the synodical level last year, which caught us at the congregational level unawares. In February 2017 President Harrison announced to the LCMS Board of Directors that the Synod had only five days of operating capital available. Five days. Think of what would happen in our congregation if I came before you with a similar announcement. Where was the warning? Why weren t we told? and Who is accountable? would be some of the questions you would rightfully ask. Later in the year President Harrison, without warning, slashed $4-million from the budget for the coming fiscal year, leaving many ministries and missions without the operating capital they needed. This overture will be presented to the 2019 LCMS convention, seeking to require regular and easy-to-understand reporting of the Synod s financial condition through such means of our synodical newspaper, The Reporter; our synodical magazine, Lutheran Witness; and other such means. In summary, because of our proposed overtures and various trips to the microphone by Michael Meyer and I, either in support of or opposition to these and other such actions, the thumbprint of First Lutheran Church Salida, CO, is firmly impressed upon the business of the RMD and hopefully the LCMS. Saved to Share, Pastor Bill Cate NOTE: Since I first wrote this report, at least five other districts of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod have adopted the same two resolutions to send to next year s Synodical convention. With several more district conventions still on the calendar, I have hopes that the Synod will have no choice but to consider these measures. Pastor Bill

3 OPERATION SPIRIT FROM THE HEART OF THE ROCKIES Homemade Cookies Needed Please! Chocolate is OK Thank you very much for your generous donations. No more magazines until further notice. Any cards and letters you would like to send would be GREATLY appreciated!! Monetary Donations are also needed to cover the costs of shipping and purchasing other supplies and items for the troops. Please make checks payable to First Lutheran Church and write Operation Spirit on the memo line. PLEASE PRAY FOR: Mark Cunningham, CH(CPT) James Brown, Anah Kotila and Tim Wilson. PACK TROOP BOXES 9 A.M. TUESDAY July 24 th & August 28 th JULY BIRTHDAYS 1 st Darlene Surber 8 th Judy Kratky 9 th Nathan Winter & Kathy Ridgway 13 th Bobbi Eagles-Soukup & Paula Cate 17 th Mark Varhus 20 th Russell Hapl & Stuart Hachmann 28 th Norma Gene Maltas JULY ANNIVERSARIES 6 th Greg & Dale Kettering 9 th Pastor Bill & Paula Cate 12 th Stuart&Peggy Hachmann 30 th David & Tabitha Hapl AUGUST BIRTHDAYS 1 st Linda Schmidt & John Winter 16 th All Dilley 23 rd Joyce Greenfield 24 th Kjersti Varhus 27 th Naomi Stinnett 28 th Randi Dilley AUGUST ANNIVERSARIES 2 nd John & Pat Winter

4 UPCOMING EVENTS KFLC is already planning for the school year; classes will begin September 14, This summer KFLC will have a booth at the KHEN Back to School Block Party August 12, am to 4pm. we are in need of a canopy-if anyone has one we can use. We have an Ice Cream Social August 24, at FLC- a time yet to be determined. We are also inviting families of KFLC to join us for worship and Church Picnic July 22. We have been most fortunate to have Salida Shuttle provide transportation for 6-8 children each Friday to the Boys and Girls Club, a suggested donation for this service is $1.00 per child, we meet approximately 30 times during school the year. To meet this donation we are inviting you to sponsor a child for the school year. There will be a donation jar in the Narthex starting June 24, We are very fortunate that we have most of the supplies needed to start our 2018 Tutoring program. We do still need /2 inch three ring notebooks and dividers, and a new supply of Vis a Vis pens. KFLC thanks you for all the prayers and support for our first year of KFLC, please remember the children and families in your prayers this summer. We will be recruiting Tutors for the coming term, and prayerfully ask that YOU, consider joining us this fall. Walking in Faith, Gerrie Johnson Elders Meeting- 11:30am July 1 & August 5 Men s - Thursdays Hospital Packing for the Troops- July 24 & August :00am Torch Articles- Due Tuesday, August 19, 9:00am Kid s First Literacy Club- Training Days, July 27, August 17, & August :00am, Ice Cream Social August FLC. Outdoor Worship/Church Picnic- 10:00amworship 11:30am Chisolm Park Potluck- Friday, August 3: Meet Our Missionary Potluck with the Stinnett Family 5:30pm From Chuck Johnson: I am looking forward to serving on the Property needs of FLC, with the help of Dudley, Stuart and the many others who donate their time to the up keep of the Church. Please mark your calendars for Fall Clean-Up September 8, am to 12pm. Your suggestions of projects that need attention is most appreciated.

5 July 2018 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 11:30 Elders Meeting :30 Worship at Chisolm Park 11:30 Church Picnic :00a Packing 9:00a KFLC for Troops Training Day

6 August 2018 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat :30p Meet Our Missionary Potluck 11:30a Elders Meeting :00a KLFC Training Day TORCH ARTICLES DUE 2:30p Chapel Service :00a Packing 9:00a KFLC for Troops Training Day

7 New Officers and Ministry Directors In a congregational meeting on Sunday, June 17, 2018, the following people were elected to serve God through various offices and positions of First Lutheran Church: President: Bob Christiansen Vice President: TBD Treasurer: Larry Soukup Recorder: Darlene Surber Director of Elders: Gary Martin Director of Properties: Chuck Johnson Director of Stewardship: Michael Meyer These new officers and ministry leaders were officially installed on June 24, Please keep them and their ministries in your prayers. Also, please pray for someone to step forward as the Vice President, a position that can be filled by appointment of the Pastor. Come and meet the Stinnett Family, LCMS missionaries in Ethiopia. Rev. Eric Stinnett and his family are visiting the various congregations that support them in their work in Ethiopia. We will get together for the one thing Lutherans do best, a potluck dinner at 5:30PM on Friday, August 3 rd in the fellowship hall. Pastor Stinnett will give us a presentation on his work at the Mekane Yesus Seminary. A sign-up sheet is available in the church lobby in, or you can contact Gerrie Johnson, (719) for more information.

8 First Lutheran Church Pastor Bill Cate Sunday 9:15 Worship Phone: bresnan.net Website: First Lutheran Church 1237 F Street Salida, CO