Go. Make disciples. only important because they support our primary job of making and growing disciples of Christ.

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1 Important dates: Nov. 4 - Homespun Holidays Bazaar Nov. 5 - Fall Back / All Saints / Confirmation Nov Stewardship Sunday CHRIST LUTHERAN NEWS Nov 2017 Go. Make disciples. What is the primary job of the Church? No, it is not drinking coffee. It is not serving on committees. It is not to have Bible Study. It is not to care for the poor. It is not even to pray and worship! The primary job of the Church is summed up by Jesus last words in the Gospel of Matthew: Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The primary job of the Church is to make disciples. What is a disciple of Christ? A disciple is a committed, renewed and transformed follower of Christ who dedicates their lives to doing Christ s work in the world. Now, those other things I mentioned are very important jobs that the Church does, too. We are called to worship, pray, and study, and to care for the poor and oppressed. But, they are If you make disciples you will always have a church. If you try to make a church, you will rarely make disciples. only important because they support our primary job of making and growing disciples of Christ. I love the quote above by Rev. Lamont Wells, ELCA pastor and DEM in New York City. I love it because it is both truthful and challenging. He calls it like it is: as a Church, and as congregations, we tend to focus one way or the other. We either focus on the institution and try to make a church, or we choose to focus on making disciples, in which case the Church exists simply to support those disciples. Many congregations are stuck because they have been - Rev. Lamont Wells, Director of Evangelical Mission (DEM), Metropolitan New York Synod of the ELCA focusing on making a church for too long. For some congregations, upholding the institution of the church has become the primary job. But, as Pastor Wells points out, that path is not faithful to our primary job. Go. Make disciples. continued 2501 SW 320 th St. Federal Way, WA office@christlutheranfw.com ChristLutheranFW.com

2 Go. Make disciples continued from page 1 After all, it does not matter how long a church can keep their doors open if they have completely lost focus on their primary job of making, baptizing, and teaching disciples SW 320 th St. Federal Way, WA ChristLutheranFW.com office@christlutheranfw.com Tues. - Thurs. 10:00am - 2:30pm Staff Pastor... Rev. Chelsea Globe pastor@christlutheranfw.com Pastoral emergencies outside of office hours: (253) Office Manager... Laura Olsen Music Director... Katie Stevenson Nursery Director... Diane Putts Custodian... Kayten Reimer Church Council President... Tom Hagen Vice President... Gary Curtis Secretary... Mary Hefty Treasurer... Janeen Whitehead At-Large, Pos CJ Campbell At-Large, Pos Pam Wilson Our stewardship theme this year is Giving Forward. Which option is more likely to give forward to future generations of worshippers at Christ Lutheran: making a church, or making disciples? That s right, we are called to make disciples. The tricky thing is that this is the far more challenging option. When we put disciple-making first and foremost, that means taking risks that don t always work out. It means being open and vulnerable with each other as we talk about our faith and our lives. It means embracing scary words like evangelism that call us to share the Good News of Christ with our family, friends, and neighbors. It means seriously and prayerfully considering how much we are willing to give of our time, talent, and treasure to the disciple-making house of Christ Lutheran. We are disciples of Christ, sent to love and serve the Lord. Discipleship is written right into our mission statement as a congregation. This statement proclaims boldly that we are disciples of Christ, right now. But disciples don t just appear. Being a disciple of Christ is a life-long process. It is an intentional process of sharing, prayer, study, worship, curiosity, service, and eagerness to follow Christ s call. It is something that Christ Lutheran has been doing quietly for 47 years now. I m hoping that we can begin to make a little more noise about our formation as disciples and put our job as disciple-makers first and foremost. Please join me in Giving Forward so that we can continue to make disciples for decades to come. In Peace, Pastor Chelsea Women's Bible Study is CANCELLED for Sat. Nov. 4th! Rooted Together: A Gathering of Grace, a Synod-wide worship marking 500 years of Lutheran Reformation: Sun. Nov. 5, 3:00 PM, PLU Lagerquist Concert Hall. Join Lutherans from around the synod as we celebrate our shared heritage of reformation theology! 2 Sundays at 10:00am Memorial Service for Shirley Allen: Fri. Nov. 10, 2:00 PM, Christ Lutheran

3 Sunday, Nov. 5 FALL BACK Set your clocks back one hour. It s also a great time to change batteries in smoke detectors! All Saints Sunday Bring a memento or photo of a loved one you have lost. Confirmation has been moved to Sunday Nov. 5 Celebrate the holy spirit in the lives of Ian Olsen and Emalee Moe! 1st Sunday Discretionary Offering will go to Neighbors in Faith to support their work in promoting Christian-Muslim relationships. Faith Formation Bible Study: 1:00 PM at Meredith s house MAGAZINES NEEDED! Please bring your no-longer-used, kid-friendly, image-rich magazines to church by Nov. 5th to be used at our Sunday night gathering! Nov. 5 "What Do you Want to be when you grow up," - Pastor Lori's house Nov. 19 Thanksgiving Food Bank help, 1:00-3:00 PM (TIME CHANGE!!!) Meet at Multiservice Center Food Bank. Dec. 3 Advent Pastor Lori's Men s Breakfast By the grace of God (as with all other things on this planet), the Men s Breakfast, known far and wide for fellowship, food and camaraderie with those of the non-fairer gender, will happen once again November 11th at 8:30 am at Biscuit s Café in Federal Way. Join the manly men of Christ Lutheran celebrating life s many blessings! If you need a ride or have questions, please contact Tom Hagen at Imagine Retreat Fri. Nov. 17-Sat. Nov. 18, Seabeck Conf. Center Stewardship Sunday Sun., Nov 19, Pledge cards due see page 9 Pie & Sweets Auction Sun. Nov. 19 see page 4 Education Hour Sun. Nov. 26 see page 7 3

4 Social ministries news Saturday, Nov. 4, 10am - 4pm November 1-4, READY, SET, GO - Wednesday, set-up cafe; Thursday, set-up tables; Saturday, 8am, final touches; 10-4 bazaar; 4:30 take down. Bring homemade baked goods! Pie and sweets auction Sunday, November 19 following the church service. A great way to get your baking done and enjoy purchasing other wonderful homemade goodies for the holidays. Drop off your goodies in the kitchen before church! We appreciate the help this congregation so willingly shares at these events. It gives us an opportunity to build relationships while working together. We're always excited for the community to see us in action and hopefully want to know more about us at CLC. God's Work, Our Hands. Liz Smith, Chair (along with Marilynn Short, Nancie Russ, Jackie Hughes, CJ Campbell) Head Chef Mary Hefty leads lefse-making in preparation for the bazaar 4

5 Fun with the Reformation 500 Photo Booth, October 29 Christ Lutheran News November

6 Community Outreach Team Our live music video performance of We Are Called showed the ways Christ Lutheran Church shares itself with the community, letting our neighbors know we don t just work on Sundays. We are sent forth to be the hands and feet of God. Sometimes that involves telling someone that you are praying for them, or sharing with them the joy that belonging to the body of Christ brings you. Last month, we helped reconvene the Reach Out Men s Shelter at St. Columba s Episcopal Church by providing meals. The number of men we fed was few, but as the weather gets colder and welfare checks are spread thinner, the shelter attendance will grow. We were able to partner with Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts and members of another church to disperse the work of providing breakfast, lunch and dinner for these men. It is a humbling and gratifying experience to pray with them and sit and share a meal with them. Often, it is too easy to take home for granted, but we see how quickly it can be destroyed by fire or flood. One s home and livelihood can be lost gradually, through unforeseen circumstances. As we head into the holiday season and prepare to add a family s name to our shopping list in our Giving Tree Project, we can praise God that he has given us gifts to share with others. The Community Outreach Team endeavors to take the name and mission of Christ Lutheran Church into our small part of the world and reflect love of Christ to others through acts of service and connection. We usually meet on the third Sunday of the month after church in the classroom but we are an unusual bunch. Come join us. Ann Jaeger Community Outreach Team Chairman Youth Group at Picha Farms, October 15 The Corn Maze was no match for these explorers! Matt finds the Greatest Pumpkin! 6

7 Music Notes The Church is alive with the sound of music! Celebrating the Reformation and focusing on parts of the Liturgy has been a great opportunity to enhance those themes through music. For the first week (Gather) we heard the solo "Shall We Gather by the River" sung by Katie with Liz at the piano. The next week (Word) we heard Bill Wells sing a meaningful song called "I Love Your Word" which used the words directly from the Psalm of the day. The week after that (Meal) the choir sang a beautiful arrangement of the communion favorite "In the Singing". And lastly (Sending), the choir sang "We Are Called" which included a video that Laura Olsen put together to highlight the way our congregants perform God's work in our community, the way many Christians are helping on a global level, and the way more work is needed to bring peace and unity to all those in need. It was a beautiful presentation that fit in with the Pastor's sermon that asked us to ponder how God works in the world and different situations that we are all faced with. For Reformation Sunday, we have trumpet player Mat Montgomery as our guest to add some fanfare to this great occasion. Liz lends her talent on the organ and the choir will sing a rousing "A Mighty Fortress is Our God." A big thank you to all who contribute to our music at the church. Brendon played a beautiful flute part to go along with the choir song, Liz has joined in on piano and organ, and our cantors Bill Wells, Mary Hefty, Laura Olsen, and Brendon Mix have all given a great contribution to our services. Social Statement: Church in Society Sun. Nov. 26 after worship. In our study of the ELCA Social Statements, we'll next be looking at "Church in Society" with the help of Rev. Paul Benz of the Faith Action Network! Sunday school offered in the education wing at the same time. Sunday School Sneak Peek: What is a promise? Find out on Sun., Nov. 26 More great music to come as we head into Thanksgiving and Advent. Thank you to all the congregation for your support and encouragements for our musicians. Blessings, Katie Stevenson, Music Director THURSD AY NOVEM BER 16 12:00 noon Lolli's Broiler and Pub, st Ave S N 7

8 Council Corner October was great and I can t wait for the next 1000th Anniversary of the Reformation! But first things first - we ll have to take that inspiration one month at a time and turn our thoughts to November and the many great things ahead as we venture further in to the end of Council has been busy working with the committees to ensure we coordinate our many activities and make them relevant to our spiritual needs and those of our community. Here are some highlights of our last Council Meeting in October: One of our aspiring Eagle Scouts from the troop we sponsor, Von, presented a proposal to us for his Eagle Scout project that involves building two benches for our front lawn. With some guidance from Council, Von will work on a more definitive plan for our approval in the near future. In our monthly Pulse of the Congregation discussion, members expressed concern about our members suffering from illnesses or grieving to ensure we not only remember them in our prayers, but make an effort to check in on them frequently. Pastor noted the Faith Formation Bible Study Group is progressing well and noted that she has plans to reconstitute this group with different members about three times a year as interest warrants. Pastor Chelsea also reported that the new Youth Group is going great, has about 15 members, and enjoyed an educational session recently that exposed them to alternatives for criminal sentences that shows great promise in positively altering the course of people s lives. 8 Our Reach Out response for the week of October 2-8 was challenging due to a lack of volunteers. Discussion is occurring within the Outreach Committee to determine whether we have the capacity to support dinners and lunches for that program in the future or if we d like to go a different direction, perhaps to host the men overnight since that requires much less of our members since Catholic Community Services is the supervisory organization. Council approved the purchase of additional 8 foot tables for up to $500 total since some of ours are in poor condition and we could use a few more for church activities. As Part 1 of the annual document review, Council reviewed the Church Constitution and recommended a few punctuation edits plus that a change sheet be inserted into the front of the document so changes can be tracked more methodically. We ll be looking at staff and council position descriptions for next month s meeting to ensure they accurately reflect current expectations. The Southwest Washington Synod has announced the 2018 Synod Educational Gatherings for next April and May at three locations in the synod. Those gatherings are conducted during the off years for synod assemblies and cover a range of topics for church leadership and interested participants. We ll have more details as the dates draw near. Work is underway by the Property Committee to prioritize the list of projects needing attention around the church and a schedule of those projects will be developed probably on a Project of the Month basis. As always, your inputs for Council are always welcome and we invite you to attend our meetings held the second Tuesday of the month at 6:30 pm in the Fellowship Hall. The next one will be November 14th. Tom Hagen Council President

9 Giving Forward A Call to Stewardship Due to a lot of sensitivities living paycheck-topaycheck, fixed incomes, privacy, our own guilty consciences, etc. - there has always been a general reluctance to bring up the subject of money in church. Many folks have had a negative experience in the past and few would want to leave people thinking that speaking about stewardship is all about money it s not! But, it is important and even Jesus thought so. We live our lives through storytelling even the modern texting and Facebook media revolve around story telling. The Bible is one of the greatest examples of storytelling, both from its enduring nature and the number of contributing authors, but also from its ability to captivate readers with compelling evidence of our Christian faith. Did you know that Jesus had a lot to say on the subject of stewardship? Out of His 38 parables 16 of them deal with stewardship, specifically with the handling of money and possessions! In the Gospels, 1 in 10 verses 288 focus directly on money. According to theological scholars, the Bible offers us 500 verses on prayer, less than 500 verses on faith, and then devotes more than 2000 verses to money and possessions! The Bible deals with financial aspects of life because they have significance in providing the means for spreading God s love and grace to humankind. Money does matter. It matters because our church, like the church universal, is still an organization with income needs to cover expenses, expenses needed to fuel our ministries here at Christ Lutheran. The math is simple: our income needs to meet or exceed our expenses for us to be a sustainable congregation and to carry on with God s mission for us in this world. Our stewardship pledges help make our giving - and thus our budgeting - real and predictable. It helps us minimize that guess factor we call faith giving, giving we predict will occur during the year, but for which we have no solid commitment from our givers. Pledges are particularly important now because we have some real challenges today and in the coming months to offset the loss of some of our members moving out of the area or who have left us to join our God and Savior. We want to be the little church than can: the little church that can be self-sustaining, the little church that can sustain ourselves and reach out into the community around us and even globally to share the Good News and sustain and support God s Work with Our Hands. So please prayerfully consider your pledges this year. If you ve pledged before, thank you. If you haven t pledged previously or recently, please do so this year. Make a commitment. Challenge yourself to be better a better steward of God s gifts to you. Prayerfully consider an increase to your current giving. Set a stretch goal, a goal that really is about sacrificial giving. After all, we can agree that we have a lot of God s Work to do in our world and it takes our resources - financial, time and talent to make God s great things happen for us and for those around us. Finally, a verse from that source of life s greatest stories, this one from1 Chronicles 29:14: But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand. The Bible tells the ultimate stories about Giving Forward. In our world today, it s about us carrying out his great commission with that same giving forward approach, by doing God s Work and Our Hands. Fold them to pray about your stewardship, then open them to give generously what God has first given you. Drop Pledge Cards in the offering plate on Stewardship Sunday: Nov. 19 9

10 In the ELCA All-Synod Reformation Worship Service: Sun. Nov. 5, 3:00 PM, Pacific Lutheran University See poster in Lewis Hall for more information. Significant Events in the Life of Martin Luther and his Reform Movement October 6, On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church published: Luther s critique of late medieval sacramental practice and his reform of the sacraments in which he argues for three: Holy Baptism, Holy Communion, and Penance (Confession and Forgiveness), the other four reduced to significant rituals. October 9, Luther leaves his religious order and no longer wears the vesture of a monk; he continues to serve as a minister in Wittenberg churches. October 19, Luther receives his doctorate in theology and begins lecturing on biblical books at the University of Wittenberg. October 31, Luther distributes a document to the faculty at the University of Wittenberg for discussion concerning the sale of spiritual favors or indulgences, commonly called The Ninety-Five Theses; while the story is oftrepeated, he does not nail his theses to a church door; the Theses are repeatedly printed, bringing attention to the unknown monastic professor at a small university. Beers, Brats, and Hymns with Calvary Lutheran and North 47: Sun. Nov. 12, 4:00-7:00 PM, North 47 Brewery, Brown's Point RSVP on Facebook! Joint Catholic / Lutheran "That They May Be One" Worship: Tues. Nov. 14, 7 pm, St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Parish, 7112 South 12th Street, Tacoma In recognition of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, Catholic priests, Lutheran pastors, and lay leaders of Pierce County parishes and congregations will gather for worship to proclaim our oneness in Christ! Faith Action Network Annual Dinner Celebration & Fundraiser: Sun. Nov. 19, Renton Pavilion Keynote speaker will be Washington State Supreme Court Justice Mary Yu. More info soon at fanwa.org/annual-dinner Multi-Faith Thanksgiving Eve Service: Nov. 22, 7:00 PM, Calvary Lutheran In the Community Pacific Lutheran University Choral Union presents Rossini's "Petite Messe Solennelle": Sun. Nov. 12, 3:00 PM, PLU's Lagerquist Hall This work features choir, (CLC member Christian Jaeger is a member) faculty soloists and two pianos. Tickets: $17 general admission/ $10 senior citizens (60+), military, alumni / $5 PLU community, students, 18 and under. Tickets available through the PLU Concierge Desk ( ) or at the door. Pacific Lutheran University Christmas Concert & Pre-Concert Reception: Mon. Dec. 4 in Seattle, Benaroya Hall (7:30pm concert) & Pike Brewing Co. (5pm pre-concert reception) Go HERE to learn more and purchase tickets! 10

11 From the Prayer Team In our prayers Thanksgiving and Praises: continued recovery of Pastor Hermstad from a stroke and broken pelvis; the engagement of Shanda Atwood and Robert Houlihan Health and healing: Dorothy Wells and the Wells family, as Dorothy makes important decisions about her care and treatment for stage 3 liver disease and breast cancer; Shirley Allen, who underwent an emergency surgery last week for an infection. Cards and calls are appreciated: Columbia Lutheran Home / 4700 Phinney Ave N / Seattle, WA Robert Oeffner, recovering at home after being hospitalized with pneumonia; Kathleen Wood, who broke her arm; Rose Pitts, dealing with pain in her knee; Ginny Kuhlman, under Dr. s care for ongoing medical concern; Jill Curtis, healing; Maria Riemer diagnosed with lupus Peace and comfort for those who grieve: Family and friends of Harold Trump, especially Barbara Woodworth, upon Harold s death; family of Don and Marlys Chovil upon the death of their daughter Peggy; Coleen Adams and family upon the death of Max Watkins; Barbara Heist and family upon the death of her brother; Family and Friends: Amanda (Ann and John Murphy's daughter) and her baby. Amanda is being monitored for pregnancy complications. The Elmore family - Vickie, Rebecca and Mark - upon the death of their mother, Jean (Marilynn Short s aunt); Kay Walton (Rose Pitts daughter), whose husband died suddenly last December; Mik Kuhlmann (Ginny s daughter), undergoing treatment for kidney stones; Lynn Kuhlman (Ginny's daughter), ongoing health concerns; Shanda Atwood, upon diagnosis of low-grade kidney cancer; Eileen and Lester (parents of Diane Putts, our Nursery Attendant) facing health challenges; Miska Martin (daughter of Pam Wilson), upon her cancer diagnosis; Steve (friend of Bill Wells) upon diagnosis of brain cancer; Linda Gaskill (Frank s wife) recovering from a mild stroke; Ken Wilborn (CJ s friend) with recurrence of cancer; Jan (Carol Sutphen s daughter) recovering from mild stroke; Frank Alexander (Dorothy Graham s brother-in-law) having surgery; Jean Alexander (Dorothy Graham s sister), with heart problems; Kirke Sutphen (Carol s son): Coleen Adams and family. Interested in joining the prayer team? Contact Liz Smith First Sunday Discretionary Offerings Date Collected Given to 2/5/17 $ LCSNW Refugee Program 3/5/17 $ ELCA World Hunger 4/2/17 $ FW Day Center 5/7/17 $ LCSNW Sr. Services 6/4/17 $ Living Stones 7/2/17 $ MSC Summer Meals 8/6/17 $ FUSION 9/3/17 $ "God's Work, Our Hands" project 10/1/17 $ Luth. Disaster Resp. Hurricanes 11/5/17 Neighbors in Faith 12/3/17 -open- 1/7/18 HAPPY BIRTHDAY! November Janeen Whitehead November 2 Ellen Wells November 12 Coleen Adams November 20 Ortrun Morlan November 29 If we missed your birthday, please notify the church office! Thank you for your contributions! $ 1, total 2017 (fiscal year) If there is a cause or organization in our community that you d like Christ Lutheran to support, let an Outreach member or Pastor Chelsea know! DECEMBER NEWSLETTER DEADLINE: 11/24 11