Greetings all -- hope you've had a good week. The weather forecast for the weekend is 90 degrees, so Executive Committee has decided to hold both services upstairs. It was a plenty busy week -- here are some of the highlights --
Parking Lot Getting Sized Up
Lenny Bowers and Tom Andres were at the church on Tuesday measuring for the parking lot sealing and striping project that I understand will be started soon. Good to hear, as the parking lot is part of the first impression that first time visitors have of the church.
Sharing files and info with Terri
As a pastor who lives out of town and isn't in the office as much as a settled pastor, I've made good use of the internet to share documents and collaborate with office personnel and others with whom I need to share files and info. I use Google Docs and Dropbox, which usually work better than attaching files to emails. Thanks, Terri, who has been very willing to learn new tricks for more effective collaboration.
Connecting with shut-ins
Terri gave me the names of several shut-in members. I have made some initial phone contacts, and will plan to visit at a later time. Some of those members don't always feel up to a visit, so it just gets done at a later date. I still need to get the list of St. John's members who are residents at local care facilities so I can get over and meet those saints.
Lay Visitors for Holy Communion
Some previous interim congregations have had lay visitors bringing Holy Communion to shut-ins. This kind of program is not intended to replace a pastor bringing Holy Communion, but provide our shut-in members with both contact from the congregation as well as sharing the sacrament. I like to have have communion sets on the altar, and have lay visitors come forward at the end of the service for a prayer before the final blessing and sending hymn. This reinforces the idea that the Holy Communion that is brought to our shut-ins is an extension of the distribution during the weekend service. Would any of you, or do you know of anyone that would like to do this?
New Church Management Software (CMS)
CMS has always been a helpful ministry tool. Whether it's finding a street or email address or a working phone number, who's having a birthday, or which kids are ready for first communion and who their parents are, CMS helps get the job done. St. John's has used a program called Revelations for some years, and is installed on Terri's computer. After investigating the possibility of getting Revelations installed on my computer also, I learned that the company that issued the program is no longer supporting it. I went to the Facebook ELCA Clergy group, and asked for advice, and one suggestion was for a program called Breeze. It is web based system that is highly customizable, allows multiple users, and even includes a portal for online giving. It is easy to learn and use, provides lots of short videos that show you how to do things, and has good customer service. The cost is a flat $50 per month, and includes everything, including unlimited customer service phone support. There are no setup fees and no contracts. After consulting with Terri, I suggested to executive committee on Wednesday that we give it a try. We paid the first month service, and next week a customer service rep will assist with exporting data from Revelations and importing it to Breeze. If you'd like to take a look, you can do so here. I'll have more to share about the functionality once we get our data moved in and start using the program.
Stewardship Team Meeting
Stewardship had planned to meet Thursday, but postponed until next Tuesday at 6pm. We will be viewing the video that was prepared by Pastor Kent Wilson, our synod Director of Leadership Development and Congregational Vitality and in that position offers resources and programs to help congregations strengthen their mission and ministry. The title of the video is “The 7 types of givers in every congregation and why you can’t treat them all alike.” If any of you would like to join us to watch the video, you are most welcome. We'll put a few more Coke's on ice and make an extra batch of popcorn.
Trinity's New Beginnings
St. Benedict, who lived in the sixth century, formed small intentional communities of monks in what today is Italy, and is commemorated by the Church on July 11, this past Wednesday. Dr. Kit Kleinhans, Dean of Trinity Seminary, focuses on Benedict in her weekly message. You can read it here.
Hunger Grants Available
Some of the congregations I have served as interim have vibrant feeding programs. Trinity in Vermilion serves supper every Tuesday and Thursday, about 1200 meals per month. St. Paul in down town Toledo also serves hot breakfast twice a week, feeding hundreds every meal and thousands per year. My recently completed interim in Galion, average Sunday attendance of 50-60, serves hot breakfast every Saturday morning, and a supper once a month, for over 5,000 meals per year. The ELCA offers grants to congregations to help fund their feeding ministries. This is one of the many ways that out Mission Support dollars support ministry throughout our ELCA. If you want to know more, you can go here.
Communicating with Andrew about website
I have exchanged a few emails with Andrew, who is still maintaining the congregation's web site. Anything we need to add or change needs to be sent to him, as he is the only one who has access. I'm hoping we can add an online calendar of church events, so that anyone, especially members, can check the congregation's schedule for up and coming events and meetings.
Tentative Interim Schedule
One of the things that I shared at Exec on Wednesday was a tentative schedule for my time as your interim pastor. I won't outline what I said here, but will share it with you at Council next week. My August newsletter pastor message will cover this topic, and as I'm sure you know, the deadline for newsletter is the 20th of the month. (hint, hint, if you have items to submit for Terri).
Throw away your mission statement?
Pastor David Hansen pastors Spirit of Joy, a mission congregation in The Woodlands, Texas. I first met him when I was doing my interim in Minnesota in 2015. My synod, (Southeastern Minnesota) brought in Pr. David to do a full day workshop of communication, particularly electronic, including websites, and use of Facebook and Twitter. Pr. David has used these tools to their fullest in the advancement of their ministry. When I posted the question about suggestions for Church Management Software, he recommended Breeze. He writes a blog called Digital Pastor//Building Community in the Digital Age. His latest post is titled "Throw Away Your Mission Statement." It's worth a read, which you can dohere.
Bishop Daniel's weekly message
Bishop Daniel continues to interpret Nehemiah to us. His theme this week is "Money Matters." You can read his message here.
That's about all for this week. I look forward sharing Word and Sacrament again with you this weekend.
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