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:
Our sessions will inclue the following format:"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."
- 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.
Sign in to leave comments
I've noted that some of you have left blog comments, and if you have a Google account and sign in (upper right hand corner) your name will appear with your comment.
No comments:
Post a Comment