Interim Update for September 28, 2018

Kavenaugh Hearings

This afternoon, the Senate Judicial Committee voted to send Judge Brett Kavenaugh to the full Senate to be confirmed for a seat on the Supreme Court. Regardless of our political persuasion, our views on the current nominee for SCOTUS, or our perspective on the process, this whole news cycle has been brutal for survivors of sexual assault. It is not partisan to show compassion. If you know of someone struggleing with this issue, let them know that it's not their fault and that indeed they are loved. Give them the number for the National Sexual Assault Helpline: 800-647-4673. Share this excellent video which was posted on Facebook by Sojourners Magazine. One of the speakers is Karoline Lewis, a preaching professor at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, and who was a presenter for the continuing education event I attended in February.

Bishop's weekly message

Bishop Daniel's message this week is on the Lord's Prayer. He mentions that it is a prayer that he prays every day, and, like us, I'm sure, is sometimes prayed or said without thinking about when we are saying. He refers to the petition "Thy kingdom come," and includes an image of an 1834 oil painting by Edward Hicks, entitled, Peaceable Kingdom, to give us a glimpse of how one artist sees the coming of God's Kingdom. The painting pictures varies species of wild animals as well as people peaceably interacting. Perhaps a 2018 version would picture Democrats and Republicans? You can read all of Bishop Daniel's message here.

Care Center visits

Tuesday was my day to travel to Orchard Grove at 2:00 pm and Bellevue Care Center at 2:30 for small group Holy Communion. Vera B and Florence O. were in attendance at Orchard Grove. Then on to Bellevue Care Center. Our members there (Donald K., Gloria W.) haven't attended the small group communion, so I stop to visit in their rooms. As I walked out, I heard my name called from the front office. It was the administrator, Cindy Starkey, who is a former member from St. Peter, Norwalk. Her family owned Twilight Gardens, a care center in Norwalk, until they sold it to Saber a number of years ago, the same company that runs Bellevue Care Center. Now she works for the company that her family sold the business to. It was good to see her again and catch up on how her family is doing.

Executive Committee meeting

Executive Committee meeting met Thursday morning at 9am. Items for discussion included plans for our Small group meetings for Endowment Fund, the 2018 Budget, and the professional audit that is being planned. With regard to the budget, I suggested that line items be included for possibility of Call Committee Expenses, and Healthy Congregations workshops.

Reminder regarding Ruth George bequest and Endowment Fund plans information meetings: These are scheduled for:

• Thursday, October 11, 11:00 am
• Saturday, October 13, following 5:00 worship
• Sunday, October 14, following 10:00 worship
• Tuesday, October 16, 7:00 pm and will be led by Shawn (Thursday, Saturday, Sunday) and Mike (Tuesday)

Healthy Churches Faithful Pastors

Our Sunday and Thursday sessions have been going well, as we have been discussing the Ten Principles for a Vibrant Church Community. Those ten principles are:

1. Purpose: Striving to be the Church
2. Ordination: Respect for the "Set Apart"
3. Covenant: A Life-Giving Relationship
4. Mutual Ministry: We All Serve Together
5. Resurrection: "Practice Resurrection"
6. Eustress (GOOD Stress): Keeping the Inevitable Tensions in Tune
7. Safety: Don't Take It for Granted
8. Maturity: Cultivating Honesty, Trust and Self-Knowledge
9. Accountability: The Sacrament of Failure
10. Boundaries: The Difference between Bad and Good, Good and Great

Smaller group discussion this past Sunday and Thursday focused on which of these principles were strengths, and which were growth areas. I'll publish a more complete report on our responses in a future update.

Confirmation

Wednesday evening confirmation sessions continue to go well. We're working on Reformation now, and plan to watch the Luther movie at our next session.

FLAMe Meeting

I attended a meeting of the FLAMe pastors on Thursday in Sandusky. Not a whole lot to share, but just to be aware that an joint installation service for the husband and wife pastor team who will be installed at St. Paul's Sandusky and Zion Huron (he at one and she at the other). More info including names, dates, times, etc. will be shared in a future update.

Fall Gathering Reminder

Info about this important meeting was shared last week, but I will repeat it here: Every fall our Bishop meets with members of synod congregations for worship, fellowship, and learning in five regional Gatherings. The closest gathering for us will be the one at St. John's, Oak Harbor (about a 35 minute drive). All Gatherings will start at 6:30 p.m. with worship, followed by a Bake-Off, and a time of learning. Bishop Daniel will kick-off the evening with the introduction of the Year of Scripture, after which attendees can choose to attend one of two presentations:

• People, Purpose, Parish, and Perspective: Resourcing for God’s Call with Sherry Krieger
• Removing the Barriers to Generosity in your Congregation: A Systematic Approach, Step 1 with Kent Wilson

I hope that St. John's has a good representation attending this meeting. Registration is requested, although not required, and will help the planning process for local hosts. To register, go here and scroll to the bottom and click the blue "Register Now" button.

A Facebook exhortation

One of my Facebook friends, an ELCA pastor in Texas, put this greeting at the end of a Facebook page announcement regarding a congregational activity:

Let's be the church until we come to church. See you soon!

Yes, see you soon!

Interim Update for September 21, 2018

Hospital visit

On Tuesday I visited Deb C., Nessa's mom, at FTMC in Norwalk. It was my first visit to someone at FTMC in a long time. It was a regular stop for me on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays during my years at St. Peter. Nessa said that her mom would be released and going home sometime today. Keep her in your prayers.

Grace Castalia story

Last month I shared information about the Eastern Conference Pastors meeting at Grace in Castalia. I also shared photos of that meeting, showing Grace's recently completed new entrance, which includes a prayer chapel. Last Sunday the Sandusky Register ran a story about Grace and Pastor Katie. It's very much worth the read. You can find it here.

Different Contexts, Similar Challenges

That's the title of Dean Kleinhans' weekly "Trinity's New Beginnings" email. She reflects on a recent meeting of Lutheran leaders with Lutheran leaders from Germany, representing churches that have partnerships with ELCA synods. She sees the similiarites of the challenges that both groups face:

"All of us are wrestling with the question of how to communicate the relevance of the church – to non-members in general and to youth and young adults in particular. We believe that the church’s witness to the Good News of God’s grace in Jesus Christ is something the world desperately needs! Yet we have often been more comfortable speaking to ourselves than witnessing to others."

You can read all of Dr. Kleinhans' message here.

Be Sure to Register for Fall Gathering

Every fall our Bishop meets with members of synod congregations for worship, fellowship, and learning in five regional Gatherings. The closest gathering for us will be the one at St. John's, Oak Harbor (about a 35 minute drive). All Gatherings will start at 6:30 p.m. with worship, followed by a Bake-Off, and a time of learning. Bishop Daniel will kick-off the evening with the introduction of the Year of Scripture, after which attendees can choose to attend one of two presentations:

• People, Purpose, Parish, and Perspective: Resourcing for God’s Call with Sherry Krieger
• Removing the Barriers to Generosity in your Congregation: A Systematic Approach, Step 1 with Kent Wilson

I hope that St. John's has a good representation attending this meeting. Registration is requested, although not required, and will help the planning process for local hosts. To register, go here and scroll to the bottom and click the blue "Register Now" button.

Healthy Churches Faithful Pastors

Our adult study group, meeting on Sunday mornings at 9:00 am and Thursdays at 10:00 am had its first session, with about a dozen present for the Sunday session, and four for the Thursday session. The book that serves as the basis for our study, Healthy Churches Faithful Pastors has lots of excellent content, portions of which I share during the session. Problem is, by the time I cover the content, we're out of time. So that plan will be to cover the content in one session, and then review briefly the content the next week and do small group discussion the next session. If you haven't attended yet, it's never too late to join the discussion!

Ministry Matters

Ministry Matters™ is a non-profit entity launched in 2011 by The United Methodist Publishing House, based in Nashville, Tennessee, and aims to serve Christians of many denominations. Sometimes Terri will photocopy articles of interest from their website and share them through your mailbox.

A recent issue of their email newsletter featured a link to an essay by Dr. William Willimon. Dr. Willimon is on the faculty of Duke Divinity School, and has served as the Dean of the Divinity School Chapel, and as a bishop in the United Methodist Church. He is one of the most widely read and respected authors among Protestant pastors other church leaders, having written many books, preaching resources, and essays. His most recent Ministry Matters essay is entitled "Court Preachers," and speaks of the "love affair" of prominent evangelical leaders with President Trump. Willimon calls out such behavior, and reminds us that the task of preachers "at all times and places, is to be obedient to Jesus Christ as Lord rather than kowtowing and being obsequious to competing lordlets." You can read all of Willimon's essay here.

Meeting With Synod Staff regarding Endowment Fund

On Thursday at noon, synod staff, including Bishop Daniel, Sherry Krieger (Director of Leadership Development and Congregational Care), Pr. Kent Wilson (Director of Leadership Development and Congregational Vitality), and Jacob Henry (Synod Administrator) sat down with Shaun and Dennis (I arrived at about 12:25) for the synod's input on St. John's plans to create an endowment fund as one vehicle for the administration of the Ruth George bequest. Synod Staff encouraged St. John's to remember the synod and churchwise ministries in their plans for these funds, and provided information regarding other congregations in the synod which have created endowment funds. Bishop Daniel was very complimentary of the work that Shaun has done to get the St. John's books in order, and the research he has done on the options for creating an endowment fund at St. John's.

Congregational Information and Input Meetings

The Executive Team has scheduled four open meetings in October to inform the congregation about the large bequest from the George estate, and to receive their input regarding how to administer it. Here are the dates and times for the meetings:

• Thursday, October 11, 11:00 am
• Saturday, October 13, following 5:00 worship
• Sunday, October 14, following 10:00 worship
• Tuesday, October 16, 7:00 pm

Synod Interim Pastors meeting

Immediately following the meeting with the synod staff, I attended the synod interim pastors meeting. Those of us in the synod who are serving congregations, either as full or part time interims, or stated supply (weekend preaching with other limited duties), meet monthly, usually the third Thursday, from 1-3 pm. We share what is happening in our interim settings, and provide each other support, encouragement, and ideas that we can use in our own interim settings. Attendance has ranged from 5 to 12. There were 11 present for Thursday's meeting.

Bishop Daniel's weekly message

You can read it here.

ELCA Worship News September issue

It arrived in my inbox this afternoon, and you can read it here.

Interim Update for September 14, 2018

Holy Cross Day

Today, September 14, is Holy Cross Day, what we call a "Lesser Festival," as opposed to major festivals such as Christmas, Easter and Pentecost. From a Wikipedia article: "According to Christian tradition, the True Cross was discovered in 326 by Saint Helena, the mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great, during a pilgrimage she made to Jerusalem. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was then built at the site of the discovery, by order of Helena and Constantine." You can read the scripture texts assigned for this festival here, and the Wikipedia article here. And here is the Prayer of the Day:

Almighty God, your Son Jesus Christ was lifted high upon the cross that he might draw the whole world to himself. To those who look upon the cross, grant your wisdom, healing and eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Rally Day went well

Last Sunday we jump started our 2018-2019 Sunday School year with our Rally Day activities. Kids met in the fellowship hall where they decorated a wooden cross Christmas tree ornament, and a small paper bag with handles. Following worship, kids went on a scavenger hunt to collect donated items of cake mix, frosting, and birthday candles, which were placed in the paper bags, then delivered to Fish and Loaves. The supplies will provide families most of what they need to celebrate a family member or loved one's birthday. (Thanks to all who donated supplies for this activity!) Following the hunt, a potluck luncheon was served, with about 60 in attendance. Lots of good food and fellowship. Thanks to Heather for taking the lead in the planning and execution of this event. Following lunch several Sunday School teachers stayed to ready their rooms for the first full day of Sunday School on September 16.

Willows Communion service

During Pr. Scott's tenure as your vice-pastor, Pastor Katie Suggett from Grace in Castalia began leading a monthly Holy Communion service at the Willows. Previously, Pastor Julie had conducted this service, with Jan L. serving as accompanist. Jan continued in that roll once Pr. Katie assumed leadership. She is more than happy to do this, as she has several members of her congregation who attend that service. Since this service has been on Monday, and since that is my day off, Pr. Katie and I agreed that she would continue to lead the service on the second Monday. I will continue to make regular visits to The Willows to visit our members there, and bring Communion to those who normally don't attend the group service. However, Katie asked if I would do the September service, as she was unavailable. I agreed, and, along with Jan, on Monday of this week conducted a service for about twelve residents and staff.

First Confirmation session

Our first gathering of our 7th and 8th grade (all six of them!) Confirmation youth was Wednesday evening at 7pm. Cindy had a prayer circle laid out on the floor with a cross, candle and some "prayer stones." We each chose a stone that we identified with in some way, which we decorated and will use each week. We shared highs and lows, and prayed for the person next to us. Then I led a song called Pharoah, Pharaoh that has lots of actions and movement. This group seems to enjoy dance and music! Then we gathered around the table for our lesson, which was on the many types of liturature in the Bible, and how we understand it and relate it to our lives. We closed by returning to the circle on the floor with our closing prayer. Thanks and kudos to Cindy for the excellent job she does! To view the Confirmation Program parents handbook, including the Covenant that each youth and parent signed, go here.

Executive Meeting focuses on Endowment

Our executive team is well on the way to creating a plan for how to administer the large bequest to St. John's of nearly a million dollars. The bulk of these funds are now under control of St. John's in several accounts, including the investment account that the funds have been held in prior to its gifting and transfer to St. John's. Shaun has taken the lead in gathering information, including a visit to Zion, Waterville, and learning about how they administer their endowment. Executive heard from St. Peter Norwalk, from Ed McClendon (reported last week) on their endowment (view details here). We have also received endowment documents from a recently created endowment at St. John's Scheid Road. These provide many good ideas for formulating a plan for St. John's.

The Executive Team's next step is to present information and gather input and ideas from the congregation through a series of small group meetings. Four meetings were scheduled (don't have the exact date and time info available for this writing) for mid-October, in the hopes that a plan could be in place that could be voted on at the congregational meeting on November 18.

One of the resources that Executive has been studying is a document published the the ELCA entitled "How to Create and Endowment Mission Fund." You can read that document here.

Monthly fee for Windows 7 coming

Windows intends to begin charging Windows 7 users a monthly fee to keep that version of Windows up to date. It's a play to get users to upgrade to Windows 10. You can read all about it here. Terri's computer has Windows 7, and my computer has Windows 8.1. It would probably be advisable to upgrade the office computers to Windows 10.

Evangelism committee

I met briefly with the Evangelism Committee on Wednesday. We discussed the Connection cards, and I provided Nessa and Carol with some resources to an "Assimilation Program" that I received when attending a synod evangelism workshop. Vanessa has been tracking attendance using the connection cards.

Phone greeting and voicemail updated

It took some time, but I finally figured out how to reset the password on my voicemail and listened to the messages that had been left months ago, mostly for Pastor Scott. I also was able to change the initial greeting, so that it's my voice and not Pastor Juli, and a direction to enter 1101 for Terri, and 1102 for me. This is a change from the original message, which says to enter 1 for Terri and 2 for the pastor. My next challenge: figure out how to check my email remotely. There's a number for my voicemail box, which I have yet to determine, and when I do, I should be able to enter it and check and retrieve me messages remotely.

Update on Don

I talked to Don R. yesterday, and he is waiting for a call from his surgeon for a day and time. Bad news is that he has cancer in his kidney and it has to come out. Good news is that cancer is localized in the kidney, and he may not need additional treatment. Keep him in your prayers.

Adult Class on Sunday and Thursday

I hope that as many of you as possible will be able to attend one of the two scheduled times for our adult class which will focus on the book "Healthy Churches Faithful Pastors." Sunday at 9:00 am and Thursday and 10:00 am. From the Introduction:

"This book is not about increasing membership rolls or about transforming a church into something different (though these may happen in the process). This book is about helping your church do its best as you love out your own identity. This book trusts that God is already at work in the life of ygation our congreand that most church leaders are already working hard in the service of the church."

Our sessions will inclue the following format:

• I will present content of important concepts in each chapter.
• Author and publisher has given permission to photocopy some content.
• Discussion in diads, triads, or small groups of questions provided by author.
• Sharing with larger group and summary.

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Interim Update for September 7, 2018

Here a meeting, there a meeting

There were lots of meetings this week, all good, all necessary, and all substantive. This week's update will primarily focus on what happened in those meetings. In all this, I am reminded of the many members of St. John's who give of their time and talents to advance the mission of the congregation. So kudos and thanks to all who go the extra mile, and then sometimes even further.

Executive Committee meets with St. Peter Norwalk rep

Exec Committee met Wednesday morning, and our guest was Ed McClendon, a member of St. Peter in Norwalk. I had invited Ed, as I knew from my time at St. Peter that he has been, for a number of years, on the board for the congregation's Endowment Trust Fund.

The Endowment Trust fund was formed in the late 1980's, and was established with a gift of $96 thousand dollars, and to which other members have contributed and left bequests in the following years up until the present. The goal of the Endowment Trust is to invest the assests of the fund in such a way that regular distributions could be made to benefit ministries in the synod, wider church, and community, and to add at least 4% to the principal of the fund to keep the value of the fund's principal above the rate of inflation.

One of the unique things about the Endowment board at St. Peter is that it is made up of members who are experienced in investments, including Ed, who has been an insurance and investments professional for 35 years. This board has made all the invesment decisions regarding the Fund's assets, which have mostly been in mutual funds. Ed pointed out that if St. John's does not have persons with that kind of experience who would be willing to serve on such a board, that the task could be assigned to a professional money management firm, who would then charge a percentage fee for their services.

Ed brought along financial reports for the Fund for the past several years, which indicated that in 2017, the Fund disbursed over $35,000 in gifts to various ministries, including our synod ministries (LSS, Genacross, Luther Home of Mercy), and many others, including Habitat for Humanity. I will plan to include a scan of those reports in a future update.

Ed's input, along with information that Shaun had gathered from Zion in Waterville, which has a much larger endowment fund, has helped the Executive Team to at least begin to formulate a plan for managing the large bequest that the congregation has received.

First days of Preschool

I got a taste of life around St. John's when Preschool is in session, as the building is abuzz with activity. There were a few tears on Wednesday, the first day, but it didn't take long for the kids and teachers to settle in together. First full week starts Monday. Blessings on our Preschool staff, kids and parents.

Confirmation Orientation Meeting

A meeting of Confirmation youth (7th and 8th grades) and parents to orient them to the coming Confirmation program year was held Wednesday evening, and all the youth exptected to participate were present and accounted for. Heather reviewed the basics of the program as had been discussed by the Education Team and presented at last month's Council meeting. Youth seemed relieved that the Faith Paper aspect of the program will be a bit more relaxed this year. Cindy Mira presented and reviewed the lesson schedule, which included both Sundays and Wednesdays. Richelle L. will tag team with Cindy for Sunday sessions.

A Covenant was included in the information booklet, which indicated the expectations of the program (e.g. worship attendance, acolyting, 2 sermon notes per month), and which was signed by youth and parents and given to me.

One of the options in the covenant was to attend four days of Catechism Camp at Camp Luther (on Lake Erie near Conneaut) June 4-7, 2019. Five youth indicated an interest in attending this camp. Adults from the congregaton who would accompany youth would be Cindy M. and I, and perhaps another mom. The cost is $150/person (youth and adult).

What this means for me is that I will begin attending planning meetings for this camp, as a group of pastors and lay leaders have planned and led this camp for a number of years. The first meeting of this group is Thursday, September 20, 10 am in Findlay. This group includes the creative genius of Pastors Ken Pollitz (New Creation, Ottawa) and Amy Little (Trinity, Monroeville), and several others. I am looking forward to rejoining this group, as my work as interim has put me on hiatus for the last four years.

Cindy will be the primary leader for the Wednesday night sessions, and I and other adults will play supportive roles. Cindy and I agreed that I would lead sessions prior to busier times for her at school, such as leadup to concerts. We also will be pairing confirmation youth with a congregational adult mentor for times of conversation at appointed times (usually after Sunday worship or midweek worship during Lent).

Worship Team Meeting notes

I met with the worship team on Thursday afternoon, and we had a lot to talk about. Here are some of our items of disussion:

• We are planning a 60th anniversary celebration to honor Marlene as our organist. Still in the planning stage, but we want this to be, and it will be, a very special Sunday, which will include a congregational meal following the service.
• For All Saints Sunday, we will adjust the candle lighting ceremony in such a way that family members can honor St. John's members who have died during the past year, as well as any other family member or friend who they would like to honor by lighting a candle during the Prayers of Intercession.
• Yes, we will do three Advent worship services on Wednesday evening at 7:00 pm. Exact format and content TBD. Confirmation youth will attend.
• Choir will sing for first time (hopefully) on September 23.
• Beginning this Sunday, we will begin using Setting 3 of ELW, and we will use a more complete celebration of Holy Communion at the Sunday service, including the Great Thanksgiving, Proper Preface, Holy Holy Holy, and Thanksgiving at the Table (sometimes referred to as the Eucharistic Prayer).

Stewardship Team

I met with the Stewardship Team on Thursday at 6 pm, which was a working session as we planned out in more detail our stewardship emphasis for this year, which has the theme "Keep it Simple." We are planning a four Sunday emphasis beginning in late October, and concluding with receiving Commitment Cards on Congregational Meeting Sunday, November 18. We are hoping to recruit several members to do temple talks one or more of those Sundays.

Education Team

I met with the Education Team beginning at 7 pm on Thursday. Here are some of the items that we discussed:

• Finalized our plans for Rally Day this Sunday. This will include a potluck luncheon after worship. Main course will be provided. Bring a salad or dessert to share. Didn't sign up? Come anyway. There will be plenty for all.
• I have been working with the grade lists for our classes, entering grade levels into Breeze, and using Breeze to print class lists and attendance sheets. Our new Church Management System will allow us to keep all this data in one place, including attendance records.
• Christmas Program will be December 16 during worship. Worship elements will be adjusted to allow at least 20 minutes for the Sunday School children to bring their message.
• I let the Team know that the Eastern District confirmation youth will meet with Bishop Beaudoin tentatively on Wednesday, November 28 at 7pm. The Education Team will provide snacks. This is something that has been done for a number of years, and St. John's is centrally located so becomes the favored location.
• We will hold off on plans for First Communion instruction until the spring.
• The Education Team would like to provide a subsidy to both youth and adults attending camp this summer from existing designated funds. This, along with possible fund raisers will help take the edge off the cost of attending camp. As mentioned above, the cost is $150 per person, youth and adult. I suggest that the congregation also reimburse gas costs for those providing transportation.
• Heather and Shaun are planning a first Youth Group meeting for September 23, from 11:30 am - 1:00 pm
• Cathy O. is willing to do acolyte training again.
• Nancy and Joyce will do Bible intro for 3rd graders prior to their Bible presentations, which is scheduled for Sunday, October 14.

Looking ahead

Don't forget to include the following items in your plans:

• Our teen-week study of the book "Healthy Churches Faithful Pastors" will begin next Sunday, September 16, at 9:00 am. For those unable to attend on Sunday moprning, a repeat session will be held on Thursdays at 10:00 am beginning September 20.
• A Council Workshop will be held Saturday, October 13, from 9:00 am until 12:30 pm. This workshop will allow me to share information in greater depth regarding the interim process.
• Fall Gathering with Bishop Daniel for us will be Tuesday, October 23 at 6:30 pm. For more info, go here.