Our Savior Lutheran Church - ELCA, Quincy, CA

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1 MAY JUNE 2018 The Lamplighter SPECIAL POINTS OF INTEREST: Our Savior Lutheran Church - ELCA, Quincy, CA Church Rummage Sale Results Rummage Sale Automatic Tithing Bible Studies VBS Planning THANK YOU to everyone who helped make our Rummage Sale a success! So far, we ve made over $860 and money is still coming in. If you d like to make a contribution to our water well cause, you may still do so. Just make a check out to Our Savior Lutheran Church and indicate that it is for the rummage sale or ELCA water well project. If you d like more information on the water wells, please see the following website: With a simple water well, as many as 500 people gain access to clean, safe water. The cost of a simple well is $2,500, so any additional donations we receive would be very helpful. Thanks again for helping with this worthy cause! Vacation Bible School Planning Underway 500 Years! INSIDE THIS ISSUE: CALENDAR 2 B-DAYS & ANNIV./ GOD S WORK VOLUNTEER / AUTO TITHING FINANCIAL 5 ELCA DRAFTS / BIBLE STUDIES HUMOR 7 PASTOR S LETTER VBS with the Community United Methodist Church is scheduled for July 23rd 27th. We will have a celebration worship service at Pioneer Park on Sunday, July 29th (with potluck and BBQ). The theme for this year s Vacation Bible School is Rolling River Rampage. The focus Bible verse is Isaiah 43:2, When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. Each day, the children will hear a Bible Story about Jesus and find Adventure, Acceptance, Joy, Rest and Peace. If you would like to be involved with the planning process, please talk to Pastor Kendrah and she will let you know the dates/times of the planning meetings. We will be looking for volunteers for a variety of activities before, during and after the event. Please prayerfully consider participating in this ministry to the children of our community.

2 THE LAMPLIGHTER CALENDAR OF EVENTS: MAY JUNE 2018 EASTER SEASON May Wed. 5/2 Behavioral Health Commission meeting Plumas Building Dept. 555 Main St. Noon, Free Food! They are looking for members! Fri. 5/4 Sun. 5/6 South Pacific Musical at West Side Theatre Sat. 5/5 CASA Cinco de Mayo fundraiser 6 to 8 pm Quincy Elks Lodge Tues. 5/8 Women s Bible Study 2:30 pm Fri. 5/10 Sun. 5/13 South Pacific Musical at West Side Theatre Sun. 5/13 Mother s Day Tues. 5/15 Dress-a-Girl meets in Fellowship Hall 1 to 4 pm Thur. 5/17 Take-out Lunch at CUMC benefiting Community Supper $10 order by Friday, May 11th (call ) Sat. 5/19 Children s Fair at Fairgrounds PENTECOST SEASON Sun. 5/20 Pentecost Sunday Sun. 5/20 Church Council meets after fellowship Tues. 5/22 Women s Bible Study 2:30 pm Sat. 5/26 Mon. 5/28 Memorial Day Weekend Sun. 5/27 Holy Trinity Sunday PAGE 2 June Fri. 6/1 Sun. 6/3 Sierra Pacific Synod Assembly Sun. 6/3 High Sierra Orchestra Concert 6 pm at Quincy Elementary School Tue. 6/5 Blood Drive at LDS Church Noon to 6 pm Wed. 6/6 Behavioral Health Commission meeting Quincy Library Noon, Free Food! They are looking for members! Sun. 6/10 Adult Bible Study on the Lord s Prayer Tue. 6/12 Women s Bible Study 2:30 pm Sun. 6/17 Father s Day Sun. 6/17 Church Council meets after fellowship Men s Coffee Wed. 6/20 Thur. 6/21 Bridges Out of Poverty Training Group: meets every Monday (except holidays) Looking ahead to July: at Midtown Vacation Bible School 9 am to Noon, Monday, July 23rd through Friday, Coffee at 8 am July 27th Celebration Worship Service at Pioneer Park with BBQ/Potluck: Sunday, July 29th

3 MAY JUNE 2018 BIRTHDAYS AND ANNIVERSARIES PAGE 3 May Birthdays Pete Dryer 31 May Anniversaries Kari O Reilly & Dax Albrecht 1 Tim & Toni Kelley 29 Lori & Marvin Simpson 30 June Anniversaries Pete & Joyce Dryer 15 June Birthdays Ryan Burnworth 5 Susan Donald 7 Debbie Vesely 12 Diana Howard 15 Gina Rock 15 Toni Kelley 22 Sean Graham 29 Please continue to give to our ongoing causes: God s Work. Our Hands. C.A.N. Food Bank Please help us fill the shopping cart. PCIRC Some items their clients could use include: soap, shampoo, lotion, tissues packs, wipes, toothbrushes, toothpaste, combs, nail files, nail clippers, Band-Aids, small mirror, Lip balm, etc. Change for Church Goes to ELCA World Hunger (pick up a box in sanctuary). Box Tops for Education There is a glass jar to put these in on back shelf in sanctuary. Dress-a-Girl/Dress-a-Dude Kits are available on table by office in Fellowship Hall. Are you 70 ½? Do you have to take a Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) from your IRA? You may be able to avoid taxes on otherwise taxable distributions if you re drawing from a traditional IRA. A Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) is not subject to ordinary federal income taxes the amount is simply excluded from your taxable income. Your annual Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) may be donated to a qualified charity. Our Savior Lutheran Church is a qualified charity! When can you do this? You must be at least 70½ at the time of the distribution. If you are donating all or part of your RMD, your distribution must be completed by the RMD deadline. If you are at least age 70½, up to a maximum of $100,000 of your RMD can be donated to a qualified charity. Your QCD counts for your RMD. If you have the RMD service, be sure to factor in these donations to avoid distributing more than your annual RMD. - Written by Chris Peters

4 THE LAMPLIGHTER PAGE 4 Month Day WEEKLY VOLUNTEER SCHEDULE Please sign up on chart in back of sanctuary or /call Pastor Kendrah with dates/positions for which you can volunteer. Below is the schedule of dates for the next two months. Please help fill in where you can! Thank you! Assisting Minister Clean Church Altar Care Refreshments May 6 Chris Peters Lori Simpson Alan Baitinger Dax & Kari May 13 Jim Oster Alan Baitinger May 20 Susan Donald May 27 Susan Donald June 3 June 10 Fred Surber Potluck June 17 June 24 Fred Surber Tithing is Easier than Ever! There are two ways to set up an auto payment from the donor s account to the OSLC bank account depending upon which bank the donor belongs to. If the donor has an account with Plumas Bank, there is a form that needs to be filled out by the donor with their account number, amount of the tithe, date of the transfer and how often the transfer is to occur (weekly, monthly, etc.). The form needs to have our OSLC account information and be signed by one of the signers on the account. We have copies of the form that needs to be completed and Fred will sign the form so it is all ready for the member to take to Plumas Bank and complete the form with the help of a teller. There will be no bank charge either to the member or to OSLC for this transfer. If the member belongs to a different bank, they must contact their bank and arrange the transfer to Plumas Bank. Plumas Bank will not charge for this transfer but the member s bank may charge for this service. Please talk to Cindy Edwards or Fred Surber if you have any questions. Thank you for your ongoing contributions!

5 MAY JUNE 2018 FINANCIAL REPORT JAN. - MAR PER FRED SURBER PAGE 5 Report from Financial Secretary, Claudia Barnes Total monies deposited thru April 30, 2018 = $32, This includes the gift of $5, from Carlton Estate as well as some of our special funds, such as Building Fund, CAN, ELCA World Hunger, etc. Total deposited thus far for our Rummage Sale is $ Total received for General Offerings = $29, Excluding the gift received from Carlton Estate, this brings total weekly offering to $24, This averages out to $1, received each Sunday. What s that $5,000 Donation from Carlton Clarke? A few months back, there was an article in the local newspaper about Captain Carl leaving money in his will to give to local charitable organizations. The executor of his estate selected four churches in the Quincy area to receive $5,000 each, of which we were one. What a blessing! The Council is considering using this money for building improvement. The Building and Grounds chair is in the process of getting quotes for insulated windows for the older parts of our church building. This would save us heat loss in the winter and help keep it cooler in the church in the summer. Stay tuned for more updates. Talk to Alan Baitinger if you have any questions.

6 THE LAMPLIGHTER PAGE 6 DRAFT ELCA SOCIAL STATEMENTS Alan B. would like all members to know about social statements and policies that are currently being considered at the ELCA national level. All ELCA members are encouraged to read the documents and give feed-back by certain dates (below). The topics are: Inter-religious Commitment (deadline for comments: 6/30/18) Women and Justice (deadline for comments: 9/30/18) Here are the links to those social statement proposals: -Policy-Statement Draft (A copy of this statement is also available in church office.) If you would like to discuss these with Pastor Kendrah, please let her know. Women s Bible Study The Women s Bible Study group is currently studying, Galatians: Christian Faith and Christian Freedom by Rev. Dr. Kathryn A. Kleinhans. The four sessions are as follows: No other gospel (discussed April 10th) Children of God through faith (started April 24th, will finish May 9th) Heirs of the promise (May 9th, 22nd) For freedom Christ has set us free (May 22nd, June 12th if needed) The group meets on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month at 2:30 pm. If you missed the first couple of studies, copies are available in the bookcase outside the church office. Please join us and invite friends! Adult Bible Study with Potlucks After a few months off, we are again offering Adult Bible Study at least one Sunday per month. We will not be able to meet in May due to Pastor s days off and Memorial Day weekend, so our next study is scheduled for Sunday, June 10th. We plan to have a potluck as well. The topic of discussion for June 10th will be the Lord s Prayer, and what Luther had to say about it. We are using a resource entitled, By Heart: Conversations with Martin Luther s Small Catechism published through Augsburg Fortress. We had a great discussion on the Apostles Creed in April. We anticipate an equally stimulating discussion on the Lord s Prayer. Please join us on June 10th!

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8 Our Savior Lutheran Church - ELCA, Quincy, CA 298 E. High St. P.O. Box 1396 Quincy, CA Pastor: Kendrah Fredricksen Phone: oursavior95971@yahoo.com Website: quincylutheran.org Mission Statement: We are a church family who worships together, serves our neighbors, and shares the love and grace of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Theme Verse: Isaiah 54:10: For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed, says the LORD, who has compassion on you. PASTOR S LETTER Dear Church Family, It is interesting how being home sick for a couple days can change one s priorities. I started this week with a long list of things I needed to get done. As fatigue forced me to lie in bed, the importance of those activities soon dwindled. Most of them could either wait or be eliminated all together. Sometimes it is necessary to rethink our priorities. When that is the case, it is helpful to stop and ask God for guidance. Yet even that is difficult with all the distractions that call for our attention on a daily basis. I find this story about Elijah helpful in such situations. 1 Kings 19:11-12 He said, "Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. How often these days do we ever hear sheer silence? Even when I m home alone, there are sounds: the refrigerator, dogs barking or a neighbor mowing their lawn. Even when I ve driven out to the top of a mountain, shut off the car and walked a few miles, there are sounds: the wind blowing through trees, an airplane, critters chattering, and so on. To be honest, true silence frightens me. It makes me feel alone... but as Elijah knew, God is in that silence. We are never alone and when we seek out silence we can listen more carefully for God s voice. This week, I believe the voice of God told me to slow down and take a much needed rest. I would bet that God has told most of us that same thing at some point in our lives. Even Jesus needed to take time out for rest and to spend time with God. My prayer for each of us is that we follow the examples of Elijah and Jesus and take the time to listen to God in our lives. Let s not wait until we get sick to do so! May God s blessings and good health be upon you. In Christ s Love, Pastor Kendrah