Adult Bible Class "See Through the Scriptures" Begins Sunday
Beginning this Sunday, September 15, 9am, our adult class will begin the Crossways course "See Through the Scriptures." Dr. Harry Wendt, the author of all the Crossways Bible Courses, will lead us through an eight session overview of the Bible's message, using full color illustrations. As the sessions are designed to be 90 minutes in length, we will likely cover about a half a lesson for each time that we meet. The class will also be offered on Thursday morning, 10 am.
St. John's Christian Preschool 2019-2020 up and running
The pitter patter of little feet could be heard, along with some crying and tears, but enough about the parents. This is about the kids. The new preschool year got going on Wednesday. Linda and her team of teachers, support staff and board members have spent hours and hours getting ready for this new year, not the least of which has been the remodeling project -- new paint and flooring. Looking forward to another excellent year of showing our love for God's children.
2019 Rally Day Ready to Go
The Education Team has planned a series of activities to help us celebrate Rally Day this Sunday, September 8, starting at 8:45 in the fellowship hall with grades K-12. Kids will be making cards for our shut ins that will accompany our care packages that they will be taking to them at a later date. The kids will get a chance to meet their teachers and sing songs with Yours Truly. There will also be a scavenger hunt right after church with a potluck, so we hope you will stay and enjoy the fellowship. Meat and beverage will be provided -- bring a dish to share, and see you there!
Gerhard Forde on Law and Gospel
I have hardlyl, if ever, linked to theological stuff in this blog, but after find the page linked below, this week I'm making an exception. Dr. Gerhard Forde (1925-2005) was a professor for many years at Luther Seminary in St. Paul. I never had him as a professor, but have read some of his books. He was widely respected as a professor and teacher of the Lutheran understanding of the Christian faith. One of the key teachings of Lutheranism is the distinction between law and gospel, which Forde wrote much about throughout his distinguished career. You can read some of his most important thoughts about this fundamental Lutheran distinction here.
ELCA Synod Staff Visits Southern Border
Staff of the ELCA Northern Texas Northern Louisiana (NTNL) Synod recently visited McAllen and Brownsville, Texas, to visit with asylum seekers and to listen to their stories. A member of the delegation was Pr. Kris Totzke, who is an Assistant to the Bishop, and she writes of her experience here. Pastor Kris was my predecessor as associate at St. Peter in Norwalk, and before she went to seminary she was the program director at Imago Dei Village camp near Green Bay, Wisconsin during the time Marcy was the site director.
Marlene B. Update
Marlene B. was scheduled for Thursday for a procedure at Toledo Promedica, but was bumped to Friday. She'll be in overnight, with Jan and Paul filling in for her this Sunday. With none of the Saturday musicians available this weekend, Yours Truly will be the musician for the Saturday service, which means that I will play downloaded MP3 organ files as accompaniment for the chosen hymns .
Flat Panel TV Screen for Narthex Announcements
One of the things that some of us have talked about is a flat panel TV screen that we can mount on the wall in the narthex (or other suitable area) on which we can display announcements regarding upcoming events, or report significant events, in much the same way that we do in print form in the weekly bulletins and monthly newsletters. With a new program year beginning, it seemed like a good time to move on this, so taking advantage of Labor Day sales, a 50" LED TV screen has been purchased and donated. A mounting bracket was also purchased for $149, and this will be a congregation expense. We are hoping for volunteer installation. (Property team, you guys are very good at this!) An Android box to receive a wireless signal has also been donated. Kristen will be able to update the Announcements weekly from her computer and send them to the screen.
Diakonia Update
On Thursday evening, the newly formed Diakonia program for Eastern and North Central Conferences had their initial meeting at the program location, St. John's in Fremont. The first class, led by Pr. Jim Lehman, St. John's Port Clinton, will focus on an introduction to the New Testament, and last for five weeks. The program offers six classes per year over two years, for a told of 12 classes. Other pastors leading classes in the program are Pr. Scott Mauch and Pr. Chris Young, no strangers to St. John's. There are currently nine persons registered, and five of them are from St. John's Bellevue. The initial meeting on Thursday evening was a get-to-know-you session, with all the class leaders in attendance.
Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR)
You can read about how LDR is responding to the devastation caused by Hurricane Dorian, and what we can do, here.
Bishop Daniel's weekly message
You can read it here.
Demographics for Ministry Site Profile
One of the series of questions asked on the Ministry Site Profile (MSP), the call process document that is being completed by the Transition Team, involves the demographics of the congregation with regard to gender and age. Using the two statuses of "Active" and "Friend," ("Friend" accounts for spouses of members who are not officially members, but in many cases attend regularly, and also those who attend regularly or occasionally who are not officially members). Here is what I found
- Active status: 405; Friend status: 69; Total: 474
- Male: 45%
- Female: 55%
- Age 19 years or younger: 21%
- Ages 20-34: 15%
- Ages 35-49: 11%
- Ages 50-65: 16%
- Age 65 and over: 37%
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