One Worship Service January 15/10:30am

Transcription

1 J a n u a r y H I G H L I G H T S Leaders Spotlight 2 Council Notes 3 Giving Opportunities 4 Church News & Events 5 P.O.P (Praises, Opportunities, and Pinches 6 One Worship Service January 15/10:30am Our Annual Meeting will be held following the 10:30 a.m. service on January 15; please attend this important meeting of our congregation. All confirmed members of the church are eligible to vote. Items on the agenda are approval of the 2017 budget, election of council officers and other positions. To place an item on the agenda, please call Karen Schweitzer ( ) by Wednesday, January 12. (Ballot Information on pg. 3) Youth Group Soup Dinner Sun. January 15/11:30 1p Come one and all for some great food and fellowship. Free will Donation!! Greetings First Lutheran! How and what we think about church matters because it shapes the way that we take part in God s mission and ministry. As the world around our church rapidly shifts, the church has the opportunity to rethink and pray about who we are as God s people. Who is it that God is calling us to be? Because the thing is, the ways that we have always thought about church, and what it is, and what it should do may be failing. We may need to rethink what it means to be church in order to faithfully continue to be church. Therefore, I offer a list paradigms (ways of thinking) taken from Tim Snyder s Paradigms For Mission Renewal as we consider what God is doing with us here. You may notice that the new ways of thinking (new paradigms) focus heavily on what God is calling us to do and be! Old Paradigm - Church is a place assumed to be an important part of people s lives and the world. Therefore, we expect people to want to be part of a congregation. New Paradigm - Church is a community gathered by the Spirit and blessed to be a blessing. Church is less a noun, more a verb; less a place, more a way of life. Old Paradigm - The congregation is an organization focused on serving its members. Membership is how one belongs to the congregation and how it belongs to you. New Paradigm - The congregation is a mission outpost and is therefore focused on serving its mission field (i.e., the neighborhood, city, and world). Old Paradigm - Ministry is done through programs. Programs address perceived problems (e.g., We don t have youth; we need youth ministry. ) and are directed by Staff. New Paradigm - Ministry is about vocation. Vocation is living out the spiritual gifts given to us in baptism. Vocation happens in relationships. We are a priesthood of all believers. Old Paradigm - Outreach is about doing nice things for others. Evangelism is about getting new members, because more members means more money, and more money means we can keep doing what we ve always done. New Paradigm - Outreach is a combination of service, advocacy, and relationship building. Evangelism is about sharing our faith stories in spiritual friendships. continued on pg. 2

2 Pastor s page continued Old Paradigm - Worship is about expressing praise to God in a comfortable setting; it s also about fulfilling a religious obligation. New Paradigm - Worship imagines a world. Worship shapes us into the kind of people God is calling us to become. Liturgy is the work of the people and so it is diverse and contextual. Old Paradigm - Christian Education is about learning the bible and passing on the Lutheran confessional tradition. But it s optional. New Paradigm - Christian Education is about making disciples of Jesus. It is centered on faith practices in the home, workplace, and together at church. Old Paradigm - Congregational Life/Fellowship really means social committee. It s about coffee hour and potluck dinners. New Paradigm - Congregational Life is about creating a culture of hospitality, service, discipleship, and prayer within the congregation. It s our collective spirituality. Old Paradigm - Stewardship/Finance are essentially the same thing; it s about how we re going to keep the lights on. New Paradigm - Stewardship is about how we are using all the resources God has given us. Finance is about aligning our money with our mission priorities. Old Paradigm - Lay Leaders serve out of duty; it s about whose turn it is to serve on council. Pastors work hard, trying to give people what they want. They are busy meeting needs, solving problems, and answering questions. New Paradigm - Congregational Leadership is a dynamic partnership between clergy and lay leaders that cultivates a new environment that fosters missional creativity. Leaders work together to ask the right questions, invite others to serve, and love people into a new way of being church. Old Paradigm - Decisions are made by the leaders. Council delegates day to day tasks and programs to staff. The congregation votes on major things once or twice per year. New Paradigm - Decisions are made through spiritual discernment. The more participants in a decision-making process, the wiser it will be. Council and staff are lead-learners. Pray on these, and if you re in congregational leadership whether congregational council, committee, or team, continue to pray on these and how they affect the ministry God has called you to do. Does it change the way that you think about church, or what church could be and does it impact the way that you act as a part of the church here? We all have been given the gift of another year following the Spirit in Growing in Faith, and Reaching out in Christ s Love. Where is God leading you this year? -Pastor David 2 Leader s Spotlight Board of Witness and Fellowship By Kori Vodicka As the Christmas season comes to a close and we are faced with a new year, many of us make resolutions. Perhaps we want to lose those ten pounds that came about with the holiday season, begin saving more money for retirement, or make more time in our lives for those that are the most important to us. Whatever the changes we intend, how much do we truly plan to work at them? In the end, when losing the ten pounds means actually having to go to the gym or put down the donut, will we have the ambition or willpower to hold ourselves accountable? We live in an era of entitlement. For whatever reason, many of us feel that things should come easily, and when the steps to achieve our goals prove to require effort or energy, we all too often give up. Sometimes it is far easier to claim defeat than put in the work. From the pulpit, Pastor David often calls us to action. He calls us to use our talents to do good in our communities, to make the world a brighter place for others, to simply give of ourselves. Not unlike the delusions of resolutions made on New Year s Eve, we often have grandiose notions of how we will answer this call. Many of us truly do desire to offer up our time and talents in the manner in which God calls us, but we all fall short from time to time when followthrough requires extra energy that we too often simply cannot find at the end of the day. Action is hard. I m not much for resolutions, but I hope in the new year we are all able to find the strength and energy to take action in whatever manner we are called. We all have gifts to share and an inspiring church community in which to share them. In the new year, when we are placed in positions to do good for others, let us not lose our energy. Let us give unconditionally of ourselves, even when it takes extra effort.

3 Council Notes November 2016 Reports Approved 2017 Budget for the Annual Meeting Agenda Council Elections working on getting nominees for Board members and Council replacements. A complete set of minutes is available on the kiosk in the narthex. Annual Meeting Information There will be constitutional changes on the 2017 Annual meeting agenda. The changes were indicated in the November Branch, pertaining to wording of clergy personnel only. If you would like to see all the proposed changes to the constitution, please contact Barb in the church office for a copy. If you wish to add an item to be discussed on the agenda for the 2017 Annual Meeting, please contact Karen Schweitzer before Jan. 11, On the 2017 Ballot: President: Open Treasurer: Robyn Stubbendick Youth Representative: Hannah Crownover Director of Christian Education: Pam Rumery Director of Church Property: Alan Brockhoff Director of Stewardship: Open Nominating Committee: Cindy Drake, Jan Niebuhr Endowment Committee: Leon Bose, Barb Lamb Delegates to the Synod Assembly: Open There are still two council positions that need to be filled: If you would be willing to serve or would like more information, please contact Jill Nosal at The Christmas Story Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, and the shining star Choirs of angels sang Shepherds 3 Angels and Sheep

4 Giving Opportunitie s Second Mile Giving Project Estimated Cost Rcvd. to date Kiruweni Dispensary On Going $ 16,548 Disaster/Floods Disaster/Hurricanes On Going On Going $ 1,490 1,160 January: Food Pantry / Syracuse The food donations for January will go to the Syracuse Food Pantry. This is the time of year that they need to restock their shelves. Please bring whatever good and useful product to church anytime before January 29. Time to Restock the Shelves!! Youth Group Says Thank You! The youth group would first like to take a minute to thank their church family for the generous donations that allowed us to spread Christ's love and Christmas cheer to the youth at Cedars. Our youth were able to purchase Christmas gifts, for 15 youth at Cedars who would have otherwise gone without this season, along with socks and underwear for Cedars to distribute as kids are brought to them, sometimes in desperate situations. Youth Group / Ice Skating at Mahoney We are also excited to head to Mahoney for some ice skating on January 8th. We will eat a quick lunch after late church, then head out for some skating and will be back to church by mid afternoon. Let s go buy more socks because we still have money left to cloth children's feet. Learning about shades of nail polish from Amanda. 4

5 Church News and Events Baptized into the Family of God On Sunday, December 11, First Lutheran welcomed Collins Marie Kreifels into the family of God through Holy Baptism. Her parents are Dustin & Erin; her sponsors are Ross & Kelly Hauschild. Congratulations! It s a Girl!! Mackenzy Khea Wohlers was born November 21, Her parents are Matt and Kylie. It s a Boy!! Beckham William Copley was born November 25, His parents are Brian & Meaghan. C.H.O.W. and Confirmation Wednesday, January 18, marks the beginning of the winter session of C.H.O.W. and confirmation. Reminder, EVERYONE is welcome to C.H.O.W. (not just confirmation students and families). Sign Up Sheet on the Kiosk/Snow Removal Just sign up for a week or two. If it snows the sidewalks will need to be cleared. If it doesn t snow on the date you sign up...you re off the hook. Church Activity cancellations due to weather We know bad weather can affect our regularly scheduled meetings on week nights as well as on Sunday morning. If Syracuse- Dunbar-Avoca school is cancelled on the same day as a meeting scheduled at church, the meeting at church will be cancelled as well. We will still continue to do Robo calls if services are cancelled on Sunday mornings. An optimist stays up to see the New Year in. A pessimist waits to make sure the old one leaves. ~Bill Vaughan Altar Flower 2017 Calendar The 2017 flower calendar is on the wall in the narthex. Please choose your special date(s) for next year. Thank You. Thrivent Action Team For all of you Thrivent members don t forget the Thrivent Action Team Benefit that is available to all members. If you have questions please contact Pam Rumery , Barb Hillman , or Gerri Stubbendick Unsure about scripture? No better time to jump in than now! Come join an 8 week scripture study into the book of Acts of the Holy Spirit because seeing how God has worked with people in the past also helps us see how God is working with us now! This course begins Thursday, January 5th and meets weekly until February 23rd! A Note of Thanks Thank you so very much for all of your love and support during this very difficult time; your thoughts and prayers have meant the world to us! We truly appreciate all the food and for everyone that served at Mark's funeral; it meant so much to all of us that you took time out of your busy lives to take care of our family and friends. We are truly blessed to be surrounded by such an amazing church family. Krista, Kadyn & Tristan Sisco August, Liz and Leah Levenhagen Thank you to everyone who made it possible for us to make 126 quilts to give to the needy. May God bless the recipients with warmth and love. Thanks again, Margaret Stubbendick 5

6 Praises, Opportunities, and Pinches As a congregation, we are committed to voicing our praises and not sitting on our pinches! To be a healthy, faithful community, we need to be open with one another about what we expect in all areas of our life together. If there is anything in our community life that brings you joy or causes you to be concerned, please share your feelings and questions. Thank you for taking the time to communicate about the ways we are doing well in our ministry together at First Lutheran, and areas that need attention. If you would like a personal response to your praise, opportunity, or pinch, please be sure to sign this form at the bottom Praises: Pinches: Desired Outcome (Solution): A specific question I would like answered: Name (If you would like a direct response to your Praise and Pinch) Please return this form to the Church Office or place in the box in the Narthex December Update: The Praises and Pinches Team received one Opportunity this past month wondering if we could offer a Christmas Eve worship earlier in the evening around 5pm. We chose to leave the 2016 Christmas worship calendar as is. In 2017, we may consider adding an earlier third service Christmas Eve and offering Christmas day service only years where Christmas falls on a Sunday so that families who are traveling have additional time to do so. We may offer a straw poll vote to help us decide by the middle of this year. THE LAST LAUGH Letters to the Pastor Dear Pastor, I would like to go to heaven someday because I know my brother won't be there. Stephen. Age 8, Chicago Dear Pastor, I know God loves everybody but He never met my sister. Yours sincerely, Arnold. Age 8, Nashville. Dear Pastor, Please say in your sermon that Peter Peterson has been a good boy all week. I am Peter Peterson. Sincerely, Pete. Age 9, Phoenix Dear Pastor, My father should be a minister. Every day he gives us a sermon about something. Robert, age 11 Dear Pastor, I'm sorry I can't leave more money in the plate, but my father didn't give me a raise in my allowance. Could you have a sermon about a raise in my allowance? Love, Patty. Age 10, New Haven Dear Pastor, My mother is very religious. She goes to play bingo at church every week even if she has a cold. Yours truly, Annette. Age 9, Albany Dear Pastor, I liked your sermon where you said that good health is more important than money but I still want a raise in my allowance. Sincerely, Eleanor. Age 12, Sarasota Dear Pastor, I hope to go to heaven someday but later than sooner. Love, Ellen. Age 9, Athens Dear Pastor, Please say a prayer for our Little League team. We need God's help or a new pitcher. Thank you. Alexander. Age 10, Raleigh 6