Spirit of St. Paul August 2018 Dear People of St. Paul Lutheran Church, 20 My child, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. 21 Do not let them escape from your sight; keep them within your heart. 22 For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh. 23 Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. Proverbs 4 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. As I write, I m sitting on the porch at Stony Lake Lutheran Camp, one of my favorite places to be. Thank you again for your support of camping ministry, I totally believe in its power to transform the lives of our youth. Sun, water, trees; new friends, terrific counselors, learning Bible stories and songs; it s a heady and heartfelt recipe for growth and memory-making. The healing prayer that was part of the July 22 worship service was another powerful experience. It is a blessing to me to be entrusted with your needs, to pray for you individually. While Proverbs is not one of my favorite books of the Bible, I turn to it here for its proclamation of its words as healing, life to those who find them. Many of us find meaning and purpose through studying scripture, making it the foundation of our lives. Many also find truth in the person of Jesus Christ, our savior, who is the ongoing, incarnate Word. I love the idea that springs of life flow from our hearts; this is surely a gift of the Spirit. How do you know God s healing? How do you keep your heart with all vigilance? Living Water Ministries mission statement is: Bringing together all of God s children to experience Christian community, grow in faith, develop leadership skills, and serve others. This sounds like a terrific formula for keeping one s heart, for deepening our relationship with God. Together may we go out to love and serve in our community. Peace & joy, Pastor Julie Winklepleck
Garden News We are starting to harvest food from our garden! So far we have had cucumbers, zucchini, and tomatoes, plus beans will be ready for distribution at the Food Pantry on Thursday. It is such a blessing for families in need to be able to receive fresh produce. Our summer heat and little rain has created a bit of trouble. We could really use some help watering throughout the week. If you are able to stop by the church and help with this please contact Stacy Turke or Barb Paff to be put on the watering schedule. Barb Paff (moe-paff@sbcgobal.net) or Stacy Turke (smturke3@gmail.com) Stay tuned to the website and bulletins for more information about garden work opportunities. Remember that our Garden serves our Pantry Clients and our congregation, fulfilling the mission of Feeding God's People. Green Team Message Research, published in 2015, estimated that 8 million metric tons of plastic ends up in the oceans every year. That is the equivalent to five grocery bags of plastic trash for every foot of coastline around the globe. Source: https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/07/plastic-produced-recycling-waste-ocean-trash-debris-environment/
Thank you to the congregation for your continued donations and support of St. Paul s Food Pantry. A total of 110 clients were served in June, 2018, which meant 47 families were helped. We could not have accomplished this without the support of our congregation and the dedicated volunteers who work at the Food Pantry. On Thursday, June 28, 2018, Char Smith and Bev Johnson attended a mandatory meeting held by the Greater Lansing Food Bank. The purpose of the meeting was to review grant awards and guidelines. We are happy to report that we received a $5,000 grant for the St. Paul Food Pantry again this year. The grant will run from July 1, 2018 through June 30, 2019 and will cover the cost of food ordered through the Greater Lansing Food Bank. Anyone who might be interested in helping out in the Food Pantry either on Thursday afternoons or in the evening please talk with Char Smith or Bev Johnson. It is a truly rewarding experience and new volunteers are always welcome. 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 Cereal Syrup Spices
Pastor Julie s schedule I have back-to-back continuing education events in August. On August 1, I leave for Philadephia for the Trans Health conference. I m excited to learn more about being an ally to our transgender sisters and brothers. I travel on to the Pearlstone retreat center in Reisterstown, Maryland, for Proclaim, a gathering of LGBTQ+ Lutheran clergy. This year s theme is Claim Your Wholeness, with keynote speaker the Rev. Elizabeth Edman. Proclaim also includes workshops, worship, small groups, and social time. Pastor Rick McKenzie will lead worship on August 5, he is retired from Immanuel, Grand Ledge, and a longtime friend of St. Paul. Worship Committee What is your favorite hymn? Are you like me, and have several? The Worship Committee would like to collect your suggestions, whether or not it is in the ELW (remember we have online access to many other hymns through CCLI SongSelect). We will have inserts in the bulletin in August for you to write down the titles and /or numbers. You also may email Pastor Julie at pastor@stpaul-el.org with the information. We ll feature at least one favorite during worship, beginning in September. Book Group continues with Waking Up White. Join us on Wednesdays at 4:30 p.m. Let Pastor Julie know your suggestions for our September book! Choir begins again in September. Mutual Ministry is the team that seeks to build good relationships between pastor and people at St. Paul, as well as among the congregation. We also guide our goals. The Praises and Pinches form elsewhere in this newsletter is a tool for communicating with Mutual Ministry, and you are encouraged to make use of it. Our next meeting is Wednesday, August 15, at 6:00 p.m. This group comprises Jim Cramer, Bev Dirkin, Jon Keune, and Pastor Julie Winklepleck. Quilt Group Meeting Questions: Sharon Brehmer (517 980-3020). E-mail (sharonbrhmr@gmail.com). Beer and Hymns meets at the Williamston Bar & Grill (132 E Grand River Ave, in their upstairs room), on August 5 at 5:30 p.m. Stacy and Bev are talking about going, maybe form a carpool? It s a fun time of singing and fellowship, with a break in the middle for those who would like a burger or a snack. Bar Theology meets at Red Cedar Spirits (2000 Merritt Rd., East Lansing) on August 19 at 6:30 p.m. We ll celebrate the feast day of Bernard of Clairvaux, a hymnwriter and theologian with a rich story to tell. Remember Pastor Julie happily moves on to other topics, bring questions and stories of your own to share.
Reconciling in Christ (RIC) is hosting a discussion during coffee hour on August 19. More information is at https://www.reconcilingworks.org/resources/ric/ And http://www.openheartsopenchurch.org/ We are blessed at St. Paul to have two loyal and generous members who love to fish and share their bounty with the congregation. Join us on Sunday, August 12 following worship for perch, walleye, salad, rolls, and trimmings. Seriously, this is very tasty fish. Proceeds are going to cover the purchase of an updated projector and screen, enabling our video study this fall with Faith Lutheran Church. We also will be balancing out the camp fund, perhaps seeding a little for next summer! The food pantry is fully funded for the next year, allowing us to raise money for other needs. The Gather Women s Study is on hiatus for the summer. Pastor Julie s Drop in Hours are on Tuesdays from around 2 to 4 p.m. Pastor Julie is trying out new places for drop-in hours this summer. August will be at Toaste, 1385 E. Grand River Ave (located in the same strip at Grand Traverse Pie Co., but further west), on the 14th and 21st. I will be in Maryland on the 7th and at a hospital visit on the 28th. Toaste features desserts, coffees, and sandwiches. Join me for conversation while I work on sermon prep. Workshop: Navigating the Golden Years: Understanding Your Medical, Financial, and Housing Decisions as You Age is being offered by the Catholic Diocese of Lansing on Saturday, September 8, at St. Thomas Aquinas School Gym, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. It s free, but registration is required, call 517-342-2555. More information is on a flyer in the narthex. Covenantal Restoration: A 12-session film series on faith and race. This fall St. Paul and Faith Lutheran will join for a video discussion series. We re planning on two sessions per month, one at Faith, one at St. Paul, on a weekday evening.
September 9, 2018 God s Work Our Hands St. Paul will participate in the ELCA God s Work, Our Hands Day on September 9th this year. We will have two groups working after our worship service, one outside, probably in the garden, and one inside. We will all enjoy lunch before we get to work. The inside group will be wrapping birthday gifts for the Flint area Foster Kids under the responsibility of Samaritas. Last year we purchased and prepared gifts for the Lansing area foster kids. Samaritas requested our help in providing for the Flint kids this year. During August, you will have the opportunity to pick up tags with age range and gender for the kids and purchase gifts of $10-$15 value. Bring them to church and you will see collection bins in the Gathering Space. On September 9, we will wrap and tag the gifts. We will deliver them to the Lansing Samaritas office and they will get them to Flint. We generously supported this project last year for the Lansing kids and we look forward to providing joy to kids in Flint this year. As with any project, we will need volunteers to step up. The activities needing coverage are in the list below: Obtain Thrivent Grant for food and wrapping supplies. This can be done by any Thrivent member. Install banner outside church. Prepare and support meal for Sept 9. Purchase wrapping paper and tape. Make sure we have all ages covered with gifts. Set up for wrapping effort, making sure supplies like scissors and pens are available. Prepare blank tags to be completed by wrapper and attached to gift. Each tag will be completed by the wrapper and specify age range and identify item within wrap. Take photos of workers in a group and on the job. Deliver wrapped gifts to Lansing Samaritas site. We need someone to be the coordinator of volunteers and to help Pastor with this event. Bev Dirkin did this last year, but will not be available this year. We appreciate your generosity and willingness to make God s Work, Our Hands Day a success. Please let Pastor or Bev Dirkin know which of these actions you will be responsible to accomplish. Thank you!
Stewardship Themes for our Upcoming Year Our Stewardship Leaders are pleased to announce our themes for year-round stewardship at St. Paul. Just a reminder that our leaders do the planning for stewardship, but our congregation is the Stewardship Committee, as you provide the actions to carry out the plan. For the fall, we will use the theme Learning to Respond to God s Abundance. During this period we will also have our annual Intent Of Giving commitment opportunity. Rich Moe will lead this process, so begin to pray about how you might support our ministry for 2019. For the Advent Season, we will use the theme No Room at the Inn. As we prepare to welcome the Baby Jesus into our hearts again, we will pray for the homeless in our community and our nation. We would like to pay special attention to the homeless veterans. During December we would like to have a craft show at our facility. The craft show will have outside vendors, a St. Paul table for our handcrafted goods and Grandma s Attic for sale of donated Christmas decorations that we no longer need. We have not done detailed planning for the remaining seasons, but we have chosen the themes: Epiphany - Following Your Star Lent - Carrying the Cross Easter - Fearless and Free Summer - Gifts of the Spirit We would like to have a couple more people become Stewardship Leaders. More people will generate more and different ideas. If you are interested please let one of us know or, if you have ideas that could help plan details for our Stewardship focus, let us know as well. Stewardship Leaders are Bev Dirkin, Rich Moe and Pastor Julie.
St. Paul Council Members and the committees they most often work with are currently President Chuck Nelson (property) Vice President Stacy Turke (finance, garden, evangelism) Secretary Rhonda Clark Kreuer Treasurer Mary McGrath Assistant Treasurer Charles Fagg Financial Secretary Maryann Louney Members at Large Bev Johnson (personnel); Vicki Kitts; Anne Smith; Teresa Waterkuetter Other key leaders include Rick Klingensmith and Blake Nyquist, Technology; Tracy Collins, Education; Bev Dirkin, Stewardship & Mutual Ministry; and Mary Hoffman, Endowment Committee. Church Library Did you know St. Paul has established a Free Library at the Mission House? Pantry clients may browse books, DVDs, and other media that has been donated, taking what interests them. If you don t have a key to the mission house, let someone who does know that you would like to take a look! We gladly accept your gently used media items.
Date Assisting Ministers (lead the Creed and the Prayers, serve wine at Communion) 8/5/18 8/12/18 Readers (lead the Bible lessons assigned for the day) WORSHIP SERVANTS Gift Bearers (bring forward the bread and wine at offering; please call the office if you would rather not do this) Steve Opp Barb Paff Kristin & Kaitlyn Hynes Steve Opp & Steve Kreuer Kathie Kitson Pat Cramer Barb Paff & Rich Moe Barb Paff & 8/19/18 Jim Cramer Anne Smith 8/26/18 Teresa Waterkuetter Chuck Fagg Bev Dirkin & Doretta Thompson Lynne Fortune & Marge Pratt 9/2/18 Kathy Griffin Mary Hoffmann Jim & Pat Cramer 9/9/18 Jim Cramer Doretta Thompson McGrath Family 9/16/18 Steve Opp Bob Smith Collins Family 9/23/18 Kathie Kitson Kay Seppala 9/30/18 Teresa Waterkuetter Bev Johnson Stacy Turke & Kathy Griffin Chris & Temperance Cieslik Counters (work in teams to count and deposit this week's money offering) Kathy Griffin & Bev Dirkin Mary Hoffman & Stacy Turke Jim Cramer & Chuck Nelson Kristin Hynes & Steve Opp Roger Johnson & Barb Paff Rick Klingensmith & Kathy Griffin Mary Hoffman & Lynn Fortune
5 9AM Adult Ed 10AM Worship 11:15AM Fellowship/ Coffee Hour 5:30PM Beer & Hymns August 2018 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 12 9AM Adult Ed 10AM Worship 11:15AM Fellowship/ Coffee Hour Finance Committee Meeting Fish Fry 19 9AM Adult Ed 10AM Worship 11:15AM Fellowship/ Coffee Hour RIC Meeting 6:30PM Bar Theology 26 9AM Adult Ed 10AM Worship 11:15AM Fellowship/ Coffee Hour 1 4:30 PM Book Study 6 7 8 4:30 PM Book Study 13 COUNCIL REPORTS DUE 7PM Property Committee 20 NEWSLETTER DEADLINE 14 2PM Visitation Committee 3-5PM Pastor Drop-in hours @Toaste 7:30PM Worship Committee 21 2-4PM Pastor Drop-in hours @Toaste 15 4:30 PM Book Study 6PM Mutual Ministry 22 4:30 PM Book Study 27 28 29 4:30 PM Book Study 2 2PM Pantry Distribution 9 2PM Pantry Distribution 16 2PM Pantry Distribution 7PM Council 23 2PM Pantry Distribution 30 2PM Pantry Distribution 3 4 10 11 17 18 24 25 31
03 James Fortune 19 Katrina Kitts 10 Bev Johnson 21 Holly Kitts 16 Alison Claucherty 22 Teresa Waterkuetter 17 Dee Hartwig 25 Kaitlyn Hynes 18 Marge Pratt 27 Mary Claucherty 10 Jim & Pat Cramer 18 Randy & Mary McGrath Gabriel Hausbeck & Marissa Cruz 21 Bob & Anne Smith Upcoming Sunday Passages for our prayer and study as well as the 9 a.m. Sunday morning Adult Education group: August 5 August 12 2 Samuel 11:26--12:13a 2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33 Psalm 51:1-12 Psalm 130 Ephesians 4:1-16 Ephesians 4:25--5:2 John 6:24-35 John 6:35, 41-51 August 19 August 26 1 Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14 1 Kings 8:[1, 6, 10-11] 22-30, 41-43 Psalm 111 Psalm 84 Ephesians 5:15-20 Ephesians 6:10-20 John 6:51-58 John 6:56-69
GOD S WORK. OUR HANDS. ST. PAUL RED CROSS BLOOD DRIVE St. Paul Lutheran Church Next Red Cross Blood Drive Friday, September 21 st, 12:30 to 6:15 Sign up now for an appointment in the narthex. You will be helping to save lives! The need is constant! Sign up at church or call Terry @ 517-712-1161 Thank you in advance, Terry Smith PLEASE PLACE STAMP HERE Our Purpose: Feeding God s people both inside and outside while listening to what the people need.