Spirit of St. Paul January 2019 Dear People of St. Paul, 1 O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. Psalm 136 On a grey day in a weird warm trend I m writing this and thinking about a new year. There is much I want to leave behind from 2018, grief and change. But wherever you go, you take yourself with you. How will 2019 be different? How do I make it different? Most importantly, how do I remember, in all my planning and goal-making, that God is in charge, God whose steadfast love endures forever? Guiding Principles We are a people who: Listen for God's Call Believe and Trust in God's Call Answer God's Call Support each other in times of joy and sorrow Live out our faith in prayer and service Share food with the hungry Believe the gospel is for all, not just Christians. We pray. We do the things that feed us, that center ourselves in our identity as beloved children of God. We worship, fellowship, and serve our neighbor, made manifest by the Magi who visited the Christ child. In January, we hear foundational stories: the wise men, the baptism of our lord, the wedding at Cana, and Jesus proclaiming the year of the Lord s favor. These inform us as we follow, as we experience God s steadfast love and share it. Peace & joy, Pastor Julie Winklepleck
Tuesdays are increasingly busy at St. Paul s. Pastor Julie is trying a new place for drop-in hours, at the newly opened Punk Taco/Cosmos East Lansing location, further west in the same strip mall at Hagadorn, 1351 E Grand River Ave. Come say hi on Tuesday afternoons as she works on sermon prep and reading. Praise Team rehearses on the Tuesday before they help lead worship, this month on January 8 & 22 at 6 p.m. Choir continues to rehearse on Thursdays, but with an earlier 6 p.m. start time. Worship Committee generally meets on the first Tuesday of the month, but with the holiday and other scheduled items, we will meet on Wednesday, January 16, at 7 p.m. Wednesday Book Study returns for the new year beginning January 9 at 4:30. We re reading Wendell Berry s The Art of Loading Brush. This book of essays and short stories is easy to dip into, so please come and join the rich discussion. The Gather women s study meets on Thursday, January 24 th, at 10 a.m. New member class will meet on Wednesdays at 6:15 in February, with new members being received on Transfiguration, March 3. Beer and Hymns & Bar Theology Beer & Hymns meets on January 6 at Williamston Pub & Grill at 5:30 p.m. Bar Theology will gather at Red Cedar Spirits on January 20 at 6:30 p.m. This month s topic will be about resolutions and goals: do they include God? Quilt Group Meeting For information regarding Quilt Group please contact: Sharon Brehmer (517 980-3020). E-mail (sharonbrhmr@gmail.com).
Thank you to the congregation for your continued donations and support of St. Paul s Food Pantry. A total of 166 clients were served in November, 2018, which meant 65 families were helped. There was an increase in the number of clients using the Food Bank in November. We could not have accomplished this without the support of our congregation and the dedicated volunteers who work at the Food Pantry. The Meijer s Simply Give Holiday 2018 Campaign began on November 18, 2018 and ran through Saturday, December 29, 2018. We will be notified in January, 2019, as to the total donated through the program for St. Paul s Food Pantry and will be able to pick up the food cards at that time. The committee is also seeking volunteers who might be willing to work one evening per month. We continue to have an increase in clients who work part-time and need to come after 5 p.m. Anyone who might be interested in helping out in the evening can contact either Char Smith or Bev Johnson. We are continuing to collect food donations for the Pantry on the first Sunday of each month. Donations can be placed in the red wagon in the front of the sanctuary. The following is a revised list of items needed for the Food Pantry which we are unable to obtain from the Food Bank: Dish Soap Laundry Soap Kleenex Paper Towels Toilet Paper Deodorant Shampoo Conditioner Children/Baby Shampoo Disposable Razors 5# Flour 5# Sugar Cooking Oil Boxed Salt Catsup Mustard Syrup Spices Tea Coffee Juice
BIRTHDAYS January 9 January 12 January 17 January 20 January 23 January 24 January 29 January 31 Ray Vugrinovich Rich Moe David Henderson Kelly Anderson Daniel Opp Marissa Cruz Emma Claucherty Rhonda Kreuer
Covenantal Restoration: A 12-Session Film Series on Faith and Race Faith Lutheran Church and St. Paul s Lutheran Church join forces to learn about and address issues of race within our culture Racism and oppression have a long and painful past and present, it is an open, aching human wound that reflects a fracture in our relationship with God. Understanding how it was promoted and is still alive and acting out in the construct of our beliefs and systems and structures is the beginning of caring for this wound. In this series on faith and race, we pray God would bring you hope, renew your mind, enliven your spirit, and gift you with the virtues of the Divine s own heart. May God strengthen your stand, inspire your movement towards God s dream for humanity, and increase Kingdom square footage with each step you make in Love. We will be presenting this 12-session film series throughout this coming year. Beginning at 7:30 p.m. on the 2nd Tuesday evening of each month, a film will be shown at St. Paul s, and on the 4th Tuesday evening of each month, another film will be shown at Faith Lutheran. Here is a listing of the scheduled showings: 10/9 at St. Paul - SESSION 1 // A Beloved Community with Rene August 10/23 at Faith Lutheran SESSION 2 // Restoration of Relationship with Reggie Williams 11/13 at St. Paul SESSION 3 // The Idol of Whiteness with Jim Wallis 11/27 at Faith Lutheran SESSION 4 // Stone Catches with Bryan Stevenson 12/11 at St. Paul SESSION 5 // Holy Mischief with Simone Campbell 1/8 at St. Paul SESSION 6 // Politics of Radical Difference with Dr. R. Henderson-Espinoza 1/22 Faith Lutheran SESSION 7 // Refusing to be Enemies with Amal Nassar 2/12 at St. Paul SESSION 8 // Covenantal Restoration with Terry LeBlanc 2/26 at Faith Lutheran SESSION 9 // Created for Abundant Life with Llewellyn MacMaster 3/12 at St. Paul SESSION 10 // A Fuller Picture of God with Michael A. Mata 3/26 at Faith Lutheran SESSION 11 // Pulling All Things Together in Love with James Forbes 4/9 at St. Paul SESSION 12 // Bring Your Fullness with Rashad Robinson
News from our Synod & the National Church From elca.org, information about a new podcast available wherever you find your spoken word information. There are two sides to every story, the saying goes. But what about when an unexpected third side is revealed, giving the story even more dimensionality? The ELCA s new monthly podcast, Three Sides, offers a fresh way to tell the unique, compelling and sometimes surprising stories of this church. Three Sides presents diverse voices from across all expressions of the ELCA. The podcast is hosted by Shanna Crawford, director for accounting with the ELCA Mission Investment Fund; Phil LaDeur, program assistant for hunger education with ELCA World Hunger; and Andrew Steele, director of ELCA Global Church Sponsorship. Even the hosts have found themselves learning about ELCA initiatives and experiences through the stories Three Sides explores. I had no idea that the church was at work in so many different places and in so many ways, LaDeur said. Crawford agreed: I ve been able to take a deep dive into all things Lutheran and hear the stories of some amazing people. She enjoys being part of lifting up these stories and issues and adding a bit of commentary along the way. Steele hopes Three Sides becomes a platform for good news something I think we all could use a bit more of. Positive stories are happening throughout our congregations, synods and churchwide ministries. Three Sides episodes have explored such topics as Women who lead, featuring Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton; Wendy Davidson, president of U.S. Specialty Channels at the Kellogg Co.; and Sylvia Sloan Black, a retired professor and executive coach. Another episode focused on the unique partnerships that exist among three distinct congregations in Rockford, Ill. Together, their pastors share the motivation behind the creation of these partnerships, the joys of being in ministry together and the challenges they ve encountered along the way. When Three Sides made the itunes top 100 in the Religion & Spirituality podcast category in its first week of launching, the hosts were especially encouraged. It s amazing how much God is doing through us, and I see the podcast as being a great tool to get these stories out to the rest of the church and the world, Steele said.
News from our Synod & the National Church From the Bishop s newsletter, an article about clergy indebtedness and plans from the synod to address this pressing issue. At its December 8 meeting, Synod Council approved a plan to begin to address the burden of seminary education debt born by many of our rostered ministers pastors and deacons. Our plan is to annually award as many $2000 grants as possible directly to lending institutions for educational debt to be applied to the principal of a rostered minister s seminary student loans. We are advised that $2000 is the minimum amount that will have a lasting impact. To qualify to receive a grant, pastors and deacons will be in their first 10 years of ministry (since student loans are theoretically paid off in that time), commit to serving full-time in our synod for the three years following receipt of a grant, agree to participate in personal financial literacy education and/or counseling, and complete the application process on time. In the coming days, I will reach out via email to synod pastors and deacons in their first 10 years of service and invite them to apply. Rostered minister indebtedness is an issue very near to my heart. In my experience as a graduate student myself and then as a seminary professor seminarians take on student loans not so much to pay tuition as to be able to live as students. Cathy and I took out student loans while I was a doctoral student at Notre Dame to pay for health insurance for our family. I will never get over the day when, as Dean of the Chapel at LSTC, I realized that, in addition to maintaining a food bank for our neighbors in the Hyde Park community, our chapel offerings needed to fund a food pantry for our students because some of them were going without regular meals. When I visited Luther Seminary a month ago, I learned that, at Luther, average student indebtedness is $62,000. Unlike other professions, it is more challenging for pastors and deacons to repay their student loans because of the compensation pastors and deacons receive. Indebtedness impacts pastors and deacons in several ways. Again, from Luther Seminary: 52% of pastors surveyed say loans negatively impacted their standard of living. 30% of pastors surveyed are bi-vocational. 26% of pastors surveyed left ministry due to financial pressure. 25% of pastors surveyed pursue higher paying ministry opportunities. 24% of pastors surveyed postpone healthcare. As bishop, I experience the impact of rostered minister indebtedness in pastors who are open to serving in our Synod and intrigued by some of our smaller congregations but determine they cannot enter into the call process because of the burden of indebtedness. I am grateful that this is happening less as we adjust our compensation guidelines upward. I am even more grateful that our Synod Council decided to join many other synods in addressing rostered minister indebtedness. I am excited that we have already raised $2600 for this effort, so we know we will be able to award at least one $2000 grant this year. $1200 of this money is from a grant. Christ Lutheran in Wyoming did as Synod Council and I requested and designated the offering from Pastor Justin Walker s installation to this purpose and donated $900. Cathy and I are committing $500 above our regular giving to the Synod. I would love to raise $4000 and award two grants this year. If you are looking to make an unexpected gift this Christmas season, I invite you to send a gift to our Synod designated for rostered minister debt reduction. You are in my heart and prayers this Christmas season. I pray that you experience Christ born anew in a tradition you cherish as surely as Jesus comes to us in Word, water, bread, and wine. For Christ was born for you! Felix Dies Nativitatis! The Rev. Craig Alan Satterlee, PhD, Bishop
Date Assisting Readers Ministers (lead the Creed and the Prayers, serve wine at Communion) WORSHIP SERVANTS (lead the Bible lessons assigned for the day) Gift Bearers (bring forward the bread and wine at offering; please call the office if you would rather not do this) Counters (work in teams to count and deposit this week's money offering) January 6 Steve Opp Rich Moe Kathy Griffin & Stacy Turke Jim Cramer & Volunteer Needed January 13 Jon Keune Mary Hoffmann Doretta Thompson & Marge Pratt Chuck Nelson & Lynne Fortune January 20 Kathy Griffin Kathy Griffin Rick & Kathy Klingensmith Kathy Griffin & Rodger Johnson January 27 Jim Cramer Caroline Collins Chuck Fagg & Mary McGrath Stacy Turke & Steve Opp February 3 Teresa Waterkuetter Barb Paff Jim & Pat Cramer February 10 Jon Keune Rhonda Kreuer Chris & Temperance Cieslik February 17 Kathy Griffin Pat Cramer Terry & Char Smith Bebruary 24 Jim Cramer Bev Johnson Steve & Rhonda Kreuer Upcoming Sunday Passages for our prayer and study as well as the 9 a.m. Sunday morning Adult Education group: January 6 January 20 Isaiah 60:1-6 Isaiah 62:1-5 Ephesians 3:1-12 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 Matthew 2:1-12 John 2:1-11 January 13 January 27 Isaiah 43:1-7 Nehemiah 8: 1-3, 5-6, 8-10 Acts 8:14-17 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 Luke 4:14-21
6 Epiphany 13 Baptism of Our 20 Epiphany 2 27 Epiphany 3 14 Council Re- 28 Newsletter 3 2 1:00 p.m. Visitation 9:00 a.m. Adult Ed. 10:00 a.m. Worship 11:15 a.m. Fellowship 5:30 p.m. Beer & Hymns Lord 9:00 a.m. Adult Ed. 10:00 a.m. Worship 9:00 a.m. Adult Ed. 10:00 a.m. Worship 11:15 a.m. Fellowship 6:30 p.m. Bar Theology 9:00 a.m. Adult Ed. 10:00 a.m. Worship January 2019 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 7 7:00 p.m. Steiner Chorale ports Due 7:00 p.m. Steiner Chorale 21 7:00 p.m. Steiner Chorale Deadline 7:00 p.m. Steiner 1 Happy New Year 8 2:00 p.m. Pastor s drop-in at Punk Taco 6:00 p.m. Praise Team Rehearsal 7:30 p.m. Covenantal 15 2:00 p.m. Pastor s drop-in at Punk Taco 22 2:00 p.m. Pastor s drop-in at Punk Taco 6:00 p.m. Praise Team 7:30 p.m. Coventantal 29 2:00 p.m. Pastor s drop-in at Punk Taco 9 4:30 p.m. Book Study 5:00 p.m. Food Pantry Distribution 16 4:30 p.m. Book Gp. 6:00 p.m. Mutual 7:00 p.m. Worship 23 4:30 p.m. Book Study 30 4:30 p.m. Book Study Committee 10 2:00 p.m. Food Pantry Distribution 6:00 p.m. Choir 17 2:00 p.m. Food Pantry Distribution 6:00 p.m. Choir 24 10:00 a.m. Gather Women s Bible Study 2:00 p.m. Food Pantry Distribution 31 2:00 p.m. Food Pantry Distribution 4 5 11 12 18 19 25 26 10:00 a.m. Take down Christmas 9:00 a.m. Quilt Group
GOD S WORK. OUR HANDS. ST. PAUL RED CROSS BLOOD DRIVE Our January drive has been cancelled due to labor shortages at the Red Cross. You are encouraged to give blood at another location so you re in sync for our drive on March 15. Contact Jim Cramer for details or to sign up for March. PLEASE PLACE STAMP HERE Our Purpose: Feeding God s people both inside and outside while listening to what the people need.