MARCH-APRIL 2016 The Lamplighter SPECIAL POINTS OF INTEREST: Dress-a-Girl Bible Studies Holy Week Easter April Women s Retreat INSIDE THIS ISSUE: CALENDAR 2 B-DAYS & ANNIV./ DRESS-A-GIRL VOLUNTEER / HOLY WEEK / NEPAL SPEAKER FINANCIAL 5 BIBLE STUDIES / RETREAT ELCA GLOBAL LINKS SYNOD ASSEM. / STEWARDSHIP HUMOR 9 PASTOR S LETTER 10 3 4 6 7 8 Our Savior Lutheran Church - ELCA, Quincy, CA IN MEMORY OF SHARON SURBER By Roxanne Behrens I have found writing this tribute to be very challenging. How can I summarize a life of faith, love and service in a few paragraphs? A life that has been an example and witness to my life for the past 35 years. My memories and my heart are overflowing! At Sharon's funeral we sang the hymn, Borning Cry, also one of my favorites. While Sharon was not present for my "borning cry" she was present for most of my adult life. She was present for the baptism of my youngest son, watching my boys grow up through confirmation, High School Graduation and becoming husbands and fathers. Sharon was there as I grew in my spiritual walk, supporting me at OSLC as well as through Cursillo. She was there through my life challenges and changes, always warm, caring and steady. She was an example in her marriage to Fred and their partnership. Her love, care and closeness with her family carried over even as they grew and distances separated them. She was an example as she cared for her mother, Marion. She comforted me when I lost my mother. Sharon was constant and steady, she lived a life of love and service. When I visited her at home before she passed, although very ill and in pain, she was warm and gracious, not complaining. At the hospital the night she passed, I drew comfort and strength from her as I tried to give comfort to her. Sharon lived her faith! It showed throughout her life activities and relationships. It shows in her family, in the love and faith they share, and in the comfort that love and faith bring them in this loss. It shows in us, in the lives she touched, in the love she shared, in the example she was. Sharon's was a life well lived and she leaves a legacy of faith and love. We were blessed to have known her! PASTOR S LETTER Dear Church Family, At the end of March, we will be remembering the Passion of Christ beginning with Palm Sunday and ending with his death on Good Friday. This time is called Christ s Passion based on the Latin word, passionem, which means suffering or endurance. Jesus was filled with passion for humanity, but he was also moved with compassion to act on behalf of those he encountered. I would go so (continued on page 10)
THE LAMPLIGHTER CALENDAR OF EVENTS MARCH-APRIL 2016 PAGE 2 LENT SEASON Tues. March 1st Blood Drive at Mormon Church Noon to 6 pm Good Friday Choir Rehearsal 7 pm at Methodist Church Wed. March 2nd Midweek Lent Service 7 pm Tues. March 8th Good Friday Choir Rehearsal 7 pm at Methodist Church Wed. March 9th Midweek Lent Service 7 pm Women s Cancer Support Group 6 pm in Fellowship Hall Thur. March 10th Women s Bible Study 12:30 pm Fri. March 11th VBS Planning meeting at Episcopal Church 10 am Sat. March 12th Orchestra Concert to benefit PAWS 7 pm at Elementary School Sun. March 13th Day Light Savings Begins turn clocks ahead! Bible Study on Luke after worship/fellowship Tues. March 15th Dress-a-Girl Kit Making at Quincy Library 1 4 pm Good Friday Choir Rehearsal 7 pm at Methodist Church Wed. March 16th Midweek Lent Service 7 pm Thurs. March 17th Pastor out-of-town at Clergy Meeting Fri. March 18th Ladies Night Out 6 pm (location TBD) Sat. March 19th Women of Worship (WOW) brunch at First Baptist Church 10 am Sun. March 20th Palm Sunday Service Church Council meeting after worship/fellowship Tues. March 22nd Good Friday Choir Rehearsal 7 pm at Methodist Church Thur. March 24th Women s Bible Study at 1:15 pm Maundy Thursday Healing Service 7 pm Fri. March 25th Good Friday Service 7 pm at Methodist Church EASTER SEASON Sun. March 27th Easter Breakfast at 9 am Easter Service at 10 am (followed by coffee fellowship) Thur. March 31st Mutual Ministry Meeting 10 am Sun. April 3rd Bible Study on Luke after worship/fellowship Fri. April 8th Sun. April 10th Women s Retreat at Lake Tahoe with Lord of Mercy, Sparks Tues. April 12th Dress-a-Girl Kit Making at Quincy Library 1 4 pm Wed. April 13th Women s Cancer Support Group 6 pm in Fellowship Hall Thurs. April 14th Women s Bible Study 12:30 pm Men s Coffee Group: meets every Monday (except holidays) at Dunn s Midtown Coffee at 8 am
MARCH-APRIL 2016 PAGE 3 BIRTHDAYS AND ANNIVERSARIES March Birthdays Bernadette Brumit 3 Wayne Huffmon 8 Allison Sipe 8 Nancy Sipe 17 Chris Peters 19 Vern Behrens 27 March Anniversaries Jim & Connie Huffmon 25 April Birthdays Carter Kurpjuweit 4 Marty Brutlag 10 Claudia Barnes 11 Gene Mills 18 Grant Edwards 19 Leah Feay 20 Karla Burnworth 24 Jerry Sipe 24 Susan Bradley 26 April Anniversaries Pat & Jan Cook 6 Dave & Chris Peters 12 Terry & Leah Feay 23 It s Wayne Huffmon s birthday on March 8th. Wouldn t it be nice if a bunch of us sent him cards? Here s his mailing address: Wayne Huffmon, c/o Larkspur Lodge, 1900 Twentieth St., Oroville, CA 95965 DRESS-A-GIRL KITS are available in Fellowship Hall. Feel free to take kits home to complete make sure to get a copy of printed instructions. We are also looking for donations of panties for little girls. Date of next Dress-a-Girl Kit Making: 1 to 4 pm Tuesday, March 15th at Quincy library. REPORT ON DRESS-A-GIRL On Tuesday, February 16th, over the course of the afternoon, more than a dozen women met at the Quincy Library to celebrate one year of doing the Dress-a-Girl project here. We started with a potluck and then worked on making kits. Our leader, Leaha Almquist, gave a report on the project as follows: We have made over 380 dresses, pad-pante kits, and boys pants. 336 dresses have been delivered to girls, 8 pad-pante kits and 5 boys pants. They have gone to Mexico, Gina Kenya, Haiti, Tanzania, Thailand and the Dominican Republic. Thank you to everyone at OSLC who has helped with this project. We will continue doing Dress-a-Girl in 2016 and we appreciate your ongoing support. We could use donations of pillowcases in good condition, fabric, lace, bias tape, elastic, and thread. Thank you! These are just a few of the ladies that showed up at the February Dress-a-Girl celebration & work day.
THE LAMPLIGHTER PAGE 4 Month Day WEEKLY VOLUNTEER SCHEDULE Please sign up on chart in back of sanctuary or email/call Pastor Kendrah with dates/positions for which you can volunteer. Below is the schedule of dates for the next two months. Please help fill in the slots where you can! Thank you! Assisting Minister Clean Church Altar Care Refreshments March 6 Brumit Sylvia Sylvia Burnworth March 13 Sylvia Sylvia March 20 Alan Alan Freeze March 27 Alan Behrens April 3 April 10 April 17 April 24 Our Holy Week / Easter Schedule is as follows: Thursday, March 24th Maundy Thursday Healing Service at 7 pm Friday, March 25th Good Friday Service at 7 pm at Methodist Church Sunday, March 27th Easter Breakfast Potluck at 9 am Sunday, March 27th Easter Service at 10 am Invitation from the United Methodist Women Please attend our April General Meeting on April 21, 2016. The United Methodist Women of Quincy UMC are pleased to welcome Katherine Parker as guest speaker for our monthly General Meeting. Katherine is a missionary serving Nepal. Her experience in Nepal and previously in Cambodia will make for an enlightening and enjoyable time. We invite women of all Methodist and other denominations to join us at 11:30 am in the Fellowship Hall of QUMC. A salad potluck will be enjoyed before the meeting. Any questions, please call the church at 283-1740 or Stephanie at 394-7210. ISO (In Search of): Paper shredder (does not need to be heavy-duty). Battery operated radio for church office in case of power outages.
MARCH-APRIL 2016 FINANCIAL REPORT JANUARY 2016 PER FRED SURBER PAGE 5 Income Offerings Regular 11,770.00 Special Funds Building Fund 2,100.00 ELCA Good Gifts 5,000.00 Sharon Surber Memorial 650.00 Total Special Funds 7,750.00 Total Offerings 19,520.00 Total Income 19,520.00 Expense Church General Insurance 1,730.00 Office Expenses 455.49 Sierra Conference 100.00 Worship Supplies 178.19 Total Church General 2,463.68 Pastor Compensation Housing 1,083.33 Salary 2,309.00 Total Pastor Compensation 3,392.33 Pastor Expenses ELCA Board of Pensions 3,775.89 Mileage 125.64 Total Pastor Expenses 3,901.53 Utilities Electricity 63.30 Garbage 17.10 Heating 675.28 Telephone & Internet 201.29 Total Utilities 956.97 Total Expense 10,714.51 Net Income 8,805.49 Thank you for your continued financial donations to the church and for your donations to C.A.N. (food pantry), Recycling, Change for Church, and Box Tops for Education. We are the hands of Christ in the world!
THE LAMPLIGHTER PAGE 6 BIBLE STUDY OPPORTUNITIES BIBLE STUDY ON LUKE Our Adult Bible Study on the book of Luke begins on Sunday, February 28th after worship/fellowship. Debbie Freeze is providing lunch for this first session. We have study guides available and if you d like to participate, the suggested donation for a study guide is $12 each. (If you cannot afford to buy a study guide, please come anyway!) Throughout 2016, our Sunday gospel readings will primarily be from Luke, WOMEN S BIBLE STUDY Our Women s Bible Study is meeting as follows for the next two months: Thursday, March 10th at 12:30 pm Thursday, March 24th at 1:15 pm Thursday, April 14th at 12:30 pm Thursday, April 28th at 1:15 pm We are using a Bible Study series called Transforming Life and Faith from the Women of the ELCA s Gather magazine. The author of this study is Carol Schersten LaHurd, a lifelong teacher who holds a Ph.D. in New Testament. Copies of the study are available in the back of the church. WOMEN S RETREAT AT LAKE TAHOE April 8th 10th, 2015 Theme: Acting like Jesus Zephyr Cove Resort, Lake Tahoe, Cost = $135.00 This is the 5th annual women s retreat with Lord of Mercy in Sparks. We will take a look at ten spiritual practices that can help us act more like Jesus: Worship, Prayer, Bible Study, Single- Mindedness, Total Surrender, Biblical Community, Spiritual Gifts, Offering My Time, Giving My Resources, and Sharing My Faith. Retreat starts 6 pm Friday evening with dinner and goes through Sunday morning worship. All meals are included in cost. Our Savior Lutheran ladies are responsible for providing lunch for everyone on Saturday afternoon. (Let Pastor know if you have any suggestions for this meal.) Retreat includes Bible study, worship, singing, fellowship, games, a craft project and enjoying the beauty of nature! We always have a great time! There are only 19 spots available, so please let pas- CURMUDGEONS FOR CHRIST The Methodist Men s Group invites our Lutheran Men to join them for fellowship and Bible/ religious discussion Saturday mornings at 8:30 am at the Methodist Church Office. Please consider joining them!
MARCH-APRIL 2016 PAGE 7 ELCA to join International Women's Day celebration On Tuesday, March 8, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will be joining with people around the world to celebrate International Women's Day. We celebrate this day knowing that the work toward gender equality still remains. Through ELCA Global Church Sponsorship s International Women Leaders initiative, we are boldly investing in the education and future of women. In addition to a $100,000 matching challenge on International Women s Day to support the International Women Leaders initiative, we have also created worship resources to use during services. Joint commemoration between Lutherans and Catholics On Oct. 31, The Lutheran World Federation and the Catholic Church will participate in a joint ecumenical commemoration of the Reformation [http://elca.org/news-and-events/7813]. During this ecumenical event, Pope Francis, the Rev. Munib Younan and other leaders will join together to coordinate and lead this commemoration. About the announcement of this commemoration, ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton said, This remarkable, visible witness emphasizes the steps we have taken on the way to the unity for which Christ prays. And it strengthens our hope for continuing reconciliation. Thanks be to God. The halfway point of service in South Africa Ryan Martin-Yates has been living in South Africa and is close to halfway through his Young Adult in Global Mission (YAGM) year of service. He has been blogging about his experiences and in this reflection [http:// ryantosouthafrica.com/2016/02/02/prelude-ii-january-newsletter/] writes about the tension that comes with being in the middle. On the one hand, Ryan wrestles with what this year has meant for him thus far while on the other hand, he is looking ahead to the unknown of the next half of his year and beyond. Read Ryan s reflection and hear about the transformational program that is constantly forming and informing young adults around the world. Vacation Bible school in Colombia Missionaries Katie and Curtis Kline have been blogging about their time spent in Colombia. In this reflection, read about how in many ways their vacation Bible school [http://8000feetandcounting.blogspot.com/2016/01/ vacation-bible-school.html] experience in Colombia is very similar to vacation Bible school in the United States. The week includes song, dance, crafts, and of course, Bible study. One difference, due to the difference in hemisphere, is that their program was in the summer over Christmas break. Their week concluded with a Christmas program, which the children worked hard to put together.
THE LAMPLIGHTER PAGE 8 SYNOD ASSEMBLY June 3rd 5th Grand Sierra Resort, Reno ELCA Presiding Bishop, Elizabeth Eaton, is coming to the Sierra Pacific Synod Assembly as our guest and Keynote speaker. It has been many years since an ELCA Presiding Bishop has been at a Sierra Pacific Assembly. The Assembly is June 3-5 (Friday - Sunday) at the Grand Sierra Resort Hotel in Reno, NV. The assembly planning team is focusing on an assembly agenda that provides numerous opportunities to hear from Bishop Eaton and to celebrate mission and ministry as "church together. Please watch for more details of how you can shape the conversation with Bishop Eaton during the assembly. (You may attend as a Stewardship Devotional By Karen Johnson, SPS Stewardship Discipling Team Generous People Living God s Love Through Fearlessness Read 1 Kings 17:8-16 Elijah said to her, Do not be afraid (v. 13) The widow of Zarephath had truly meager resources a handful of meal a little oil a couple of sticks so little that she was expecting that she and her young son would soon die. What a desperate and frightening situation for a young mother! When Elijah asked her for food, she could have said no, and who would have blamed her? Instead, she pours out her fears of scarcity and death to this messenger of the Lord God, and in return receives the promises of daily bread, life, and salvation. She need not fear anymore! The widow s response to God s promises is hospitality, sharing what could be her last meal with this stranger who has even less than she does. In her fearless trust and bold generosity, she experiences abundance and new life day by day. Reflection questions: What are our fears around meager resources? How have we experienced God s promises to provide in abundance? How might we live differently if we trusted more fully in God s promise to give us daily bread? In what surprising ways might we be called to use our resources to share the good news of God s salvation in Christ? Prayer Lord God, you give us daily bread. Take away the fear we have when we see only meager resources. Open our hearts to fearlessly share and boldly use what you have given us for the sake of the world, trusting in your promises to multiply our offerings and grant abundant life; through your Son Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
MARCH-APRIL 2016 PAGE 9 Children in Church submitted by Connie Huffmon A little boy was in a relative's wedding. As he was coming down the aisle, he would take two steps, stop, and turn to the crowd. While facing the crowd, he would put his hands up like claws and roar. So it went, step, step, ROAR, step, step, ROAR, all the way down the aisle. As you can imagine, the crowd was near tears from laughing so hard by the time he reached the pulpit. When asked what he was doing, the child sniffed and said, "I was being the Ring Bear." One Sunday in a Midwest City, a young child was "acting up" during the morning worship hour. The parents did their best to maintain some sense of order in the pew but were losing the battle. Finally, the father picked the little fellow up and walked sternly up the aisle on his way out. Just before reaching the safety of the foyer, the little one called loudly to the congregation, Pray for me! Pray for me!" A little boy opened the big and old family Bible with fascination, Looking at the old pages as he turned them. Then something fell out of the Bible. He picked it up and looked at it closely. It was an old leaf from a tree that has been pressed in between the pages. "Mama, look what I found," the boy called out... "What have you got there, dear?" his mother asked. With astonishment in the young boy's voice he answered, "It's Adam's suit". Six-year old Angie, and her four-year old brother, Joel, were sitting together in church. Joel giggled, sang and talked out loud. Finally, his big sister had had enough. "You're not supposed to talk out loud in church." "Why? Who's going to stop me?" Joel asked. Angie pointed to the back of the church and said, "See those two men standing by the door? They're hushers."
Our Savior Lutheran Church - ELCA, Quincy, CA 298 E. High St. P.O. Box 1396 Quincy, CA 95971 Pastor: Kendrah Fredricksen Phone: 530-283-2546 E-mail: oursavior95971@yahoo.com Website: quincylutheran.org Mission Statement: We are a church family who worships together, serves our neighbors, and shares the love and grace of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Theme Verse: Isaiah 54:10: For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed, says the LORD, who has compassion on you. PASTOR S LETTER CONTINUED (continued from page 1) far as saying compassion is a distinguishing characteristic of Christ. As followers of Christ, we are called to have compassion for people in the same way Jesus did. A few days ago, I came across this quote by Thomas Merton (Catholic writer and mystic). Compassion is the keen awareness of the interdependence of all things. We are all in this together! We cannot separate ourselves from other human beings, no matter how much we may be tempted to try to do so from time to time. We need each other, by God s design! Here s another quote about compassion by theologian, Frederick Buechner, Compassion is the sometimes fatal capacity for feeling what it is like to live inside somebody else s skin. It s the knowledge that there can never really be any peace and joy for me until there is peace and joy finally for you too. This quote points out that acting with compassion may even be fatal. After all, Jesus was so filled with compassion for us that he was willing to go to the cross for our sakes. But let s pay attention to the second part of that quote: there can never be any peace and joy for me until there is peace and joy for you. When others are suffering, we suffer. As a simple example, when there are people living in poverty, crime rates go up and that affects us all. If we take Christ s passion and compassion for us seriously, I think we must conclude that lack of compassion for others is a sin. Lack of compassion is the opposite of loving your neighbor as yourself, which Jesus commanded. Many people in this world suffer due to the lack of compassion of others. God has given us a world abundant with resources, able to provide enough for every single one of our needs; but we lack the compassion to share those resources equitably. Like Jesus, we have the ability to be compassionate toward others. But we need the desire to be compassionate. The Holy Spirit can move us with compassion if we allow it to do so. Let s see how far our compassion can go, trusting in Christ to guide us! In Christ, Pr. Kendrah