Rev. Justin Johnson, pastor Weekday Office Schedule Office hours: 9:00 am - 12:00 Office Phone: (914) 271-4632 Office E-mail: mail@oursaviourcroton.org Website: www.oursaviourcroton.org Sunday Worship Schedule Sunday School: 9:00 am Worship: 10:00 am Coffee Hour: following worship Our Saviour Evangelical Lutheran Church 56 Cleveland Drive Croton-On-Hudson, NY 10520 (914) 271-4632 Our Saviour Lutheran Church THE SEEKER SEPTEMBER 2018 - Ecclesiastes 3:1
PRESIDENT S MESSAGE -John Keil Thank you for welcoming Pastor Johnson and his wife Patty into our church family and settling them into the parsonage. As soon as we have details regarding Pastor s formal installation, we will let you know, but he has already been preaching and introducing himself around town for several weeks. If you haven t yet met him, please be sure to introduce yourself before or after worship on Sundays, or during his office hours Monday through Wednesday. It is customary for the Pastor to have a small discretionary fund to help members of the community with emergency situations as he judges appropriate. Pastor has mentioned that his policy is to provide in-kind assistance to those in need a meal, a bus ticket rather than cash. This fund is typically supported by designated contributions. If you would like to support the discretionary fund, please include a check in your offering in the amount you want allocated for the fund made out to Our Saviour Lutheran Church with the memo Pastor s Discretionary Fund. We are recruiting volunteers for our annual Oktoberfest social gathering: we will need people to set up the Parish Hall, order and prepare food, and clean up. This has always been a fun event at Our Saviour, complete with great food and company. If you d like to be involved, please contact me or. Finally, our annual stewardship campaign will soon be underway. We ask our members to formally pledge what they will contribute each year so that we can budget for salaries, utilities, and property maintenance. As you consider your pledge for calendar year 2019, please think carefully about how you can contribute, both financially and with your time and effort, to support Our Saviour Lutheran Church. Please also seriously consider automating your contributions by enrolling in Simply Giving, which automatically deducts your offering from your bank account in the amount and according to the schedule you specify. If you have any questions or thoughts about how you might contribute to our church community, please do not hesitate to contact me by email at johnkeil@gmail.com, or by personally approaching me or any member of the Council. 2018 COUNCIL MEMBERS OFFICERS: President: John Keil Vice President: Matthew Papertsian Secretary: MaryBeth Soucy Treasurer: COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS: Christian Education: John Keil Evangelism: Sarah Doherty Social Ministry: Property: Outreach: Sarah Doherty Stewardship & Financial Secretary: John Magerlein Pastor/Parish Relations: Matthew Papertsian Circle School: OPEN Worship & Music: OPEN Matilda Weekes: OPEN SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER SUNDAY SERVANTS September 2 Karen Kuchnicki & Fya Barnes MaryBeth Soucy Karen Polacek Bob Riekert September 16 John & Karen Magerlein Kirsten Berger Jeanne Spacek Jeanne Spacek Ken Gabrielsen September 30 Karen Kuchnicki & Dianne Carroll Ken Gabrielsen Sue Orts Bob Riekert October 14 John & Karen Magerlein Marilyn Dreyer Karen Magerlein Karen Magerlein Ken Gabrielsen September 9 Dianne Carroll & Laura Keil Sue Montgomery Lori Esteves Dianne Carroll September 23 Lois Leonard & MaryBeth Soucy Karen Polacek Sue Papertsian John Magerlein October 7 Laure Keil & Sue Papertsian Dianne Carroll October 21 Lois Leonard & Melanie Mueller John Magerlein READINGS: 9/2 Deuteronomy 4:1-2,6-9 James 1:17-27 9/9 Isaiah 35:4-7a James 2:1-10,14-17 9/16 Isaiah 50:4-9a James 3:1-12 9/23 Jeremiah 11:18-20 James 3:13-4:3,7-8a 9/30 Numbers 11:4-6,10-16,24-29 James 5:13-20 10/7 Genesis 2:18-24 Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:5-12 10/14 Amos 5:6-7,10-15 Hebrews 4:12-16 10/21 Isaiah 53:4-12 Hebrews 5:1-10
CHRISTIAN CRAFTERS: Please HELP My hand writing may look a bit shaky, and it is. We have only 4 months to prepare for the Christmas Fair, Dec. 1, Saturday. The pressure is already on. We will start our Monday night group - Sept. 10 at. Bring ideas and willing hands. All are welcome! Morning group: Karen Magerlien will be putting out a doodle poll to find a day and time that more people may be able to attend. Until we figure this out we are still meeting Tuesday morning at 10:00. Please consider this ministry. Not only do we have fun, we get to know each other better over crafting. Let us not forget the Christmas Fair is an important fund raiser for our church as well. Can you help us: Keep the corks coming so drink up. (We have made coaster and tree ornaments so far.) Do you have old candles you aren t using anymore - bring them to us for repurposing the wax. Do you have a craft you can share with us or make at home to bring to the fair in December? Thank you to John Mueller for slicing and sanding our tree limbs for Christmas ornaments. Thanks to Melanie Mueller for taking the pictures of some of our completed crafts and including them in the Seeker. Thanks to all the cork contributors. Thanks to all of you for your words of encouragement. Sincere thanks, Lois Leonard Pastor s Message - Rev. Justin Johnson By now, I hope I would have said it publicly, but I want to thank the congregation one more time for the wonderful reception and the gift basket given to my wife and me. You have made us feel so welcomed and we are so grateful. Thank you once again. I am writing this newsletter article on my first day in the office, so I am wondering a bit what to write. There is a part of me which is a bit overwhelmed as September is the beginning of a whole bunch of programming in a congregation, but there is a bigger part of me which knows the Spirit is guiding all we do as church, so I am keeping my focus there. On my first Sunday, I alluded to a phrase called a PJism. This was a nickname a former parishioner used for some of the many mantras I use in my life. I like to repeat these mantras for the sake of teaching and keeping focus on the situation as it stands. I will teach you one of these PJisms right now- Question How do you eat an elephant? Answer One bite at a time. This is not original, but I do not remember where it came from, but I have used it when facing large tasks, such as a new ministry at the church. If I look at the big picture, all I see is an elephant. The elephant is big, imposing, and if I stare too long, I might shut down. Instead, if I focus on the portion placed in front of me, it is manageable, it can be accomplished, and it is easier. As I begin my ministry at Our Saviour, I am focusing on the important tasks right in front of me- getting to know people, learning about our shut ins, administration, etc. The rest will come with time. Bringing it back to the Spirit though, I am beginning everything in prayer and allowing the Spirit to guide me to the needed places. I am praying for all of you and I hope you are praying for me as we begin this journey together. There is a big elephant in front of us, but let s focus on the important stuff first. May you feel the Spirit moving!
SUNDAY SCHOOL Hello Sunday School Students and Parents. This year s Sunday School start date is September 16th, 2018. This year we are starting at 9:00am in the sanctuary! We welcome new students and we are looking forward to seeing our old friends. Please fill out the Sunday School Enrollment Form on the opposite page so that we will have emergency contact information as well as other useful information regarding your child. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to us, we would love to hear from you! Peace, Your Sunday School Team: (jcecile64@gmail.com) Mary Beth Soucy (mbrs2u@aol.com) As school begins, Our Saviour would like to bless the bags which will be with the youth each day. Youth are encouraged on September 9th to bring their book bags with them and place them in front of the altar. Hope to see you that Sunday! Hospitality Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! We have had a wonderful response to the hospitality signup sheet. There are only about 3 or 4 Sundays still available for those that have yet to participated in this ministry of Christian fellowship and welcome to our visitors. Check out the sign-up sheet on the table in the Link. Thank you to everyone that have participated already and those already signed up. Our Saviour has developed a wonderful reputation for our hospitality hour known in and outside our walls. Sincere thanks, Lois Leonard
Sunday Sept. 16 after Sunday Service Come, relax, catch up with each other over conversation of summer experiences and just life in general. No planned schedule, so stay as long as you wish. It may be a nice time to chat with Pastor Justin and his wife, Patty, particularly for those of you that have been away and not yet met. Dress for that Sunday church will be picnic attire, so leave the Sunday best at home. BYOM (bring your own meat) Bring a salad and/or a dessert to share: potluck style Coffee, tea and lemonade will be provided (anything else is on you) Can you help with: Portable Grill to fire up on the parish hall patio Ice chest and ice for cooling drinks Picnic games (limited ground space) Anything else left out bring it. Hope to see you all there! Any questions, speak with Lois. While many of us have enjoyed relaxing vacations this summer, it's important to remember that the expenses of the church continue throughout the year. In early September, we'll distribute statements of giving from January through August 2018. We ask you to compare your giving to what you pledged or intended to give and be sure your contributions are up to date. If you have any questions about your giving or you want to start or change automatic contributions from your checking account, please contact one of us. John and Karen Magerlein Financial Secretaries BIBLE STUDY The Book of Acts is the story of the church. It contains moments of inspiration, mess ups, and a little bit of humor. It is ultimately OUR story. Starting Tuesday September 11th at 7:00 PM or Saturday September 15th at 9:30 AM, we will take a look at selections from this wonderful book of the Bible. We are starting a other voices book club on October 1st at 7:00. The first book is Exit West by Mohsin Hamid. The club is open to all with the goal of reading books written on race, gender, or immigration. We hope you enjoy this first pick. What if you found a door which would help you escape your war torn country? Lovers Nadia and Saeed are in the midst of war when they hear whispers of doors which will do just that. It is a magical realism book about traditions, love, and identity in a new world. Mohsin Hamid is a Pakistani American who s previous book The Reluctant Fundamentalist went on to great acclaim. Exit West was on the short list for 2017 s Man Booker award and was one of the top 10 books of 2017 for The NY Times.
September 2018 SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY 1 2 Fifteenth Pentecost WorshipService 10:00am 3 4 5 6 7 8 Women and Justice Social Statement Discussion Bible Study 9:00am/Parish Hall 9 Sixteenth Pentecost Blessing of the Backpacks during Worship 10 Christian Crafters 11 12 13 14 15 9:30am 16 Seventeenth Pentecost 17 Christian Crafters 18 19 20 21 22 9:30am Sunday School begins 9am in the sanctuary Church Picnic after Worship 23 Eighteenth Pentecost Sunday School 9am 24 Christian Crafters 25 26 27 28 29 9:30am 30 Ninteenth Pentecost Sunday School 9am October 1 Book Club EXIT WEST by Mohsin Hamid