Interim Update for October 25, 2019

Special Council meeting

Council members, don't forget that there will be a special meeting after worship on Sunday to review and approve the 2020 budget.

Bishop's Fall Meeting

Every October our Bishop meets with pastors and members of the Synod in regional evening gatherings. The gathering for our area was held Tuesday night at Faith Lutheran Fremont. Jan LaBonte and I represented St John's. Attendance at this event was about 150. After indulging in a rich selection of potluck desserts, we learned about the importance of keeping focused on mission and outreach. Bishop Daniel challenged us to consider the difference between being a sent congregation and being a settled congregation. He also challenged us to consider whether we are making disciples, or members. He reviewed with us the current mission statement of our Northwestern Ohio Synod which is this:

Sent by the crucified and risen Jesus to make disciples, equip leaders, strengthen parishes, launch new communities, for the renewal of Northwestern Ohio and the world..

Here are some scripture passages that support the statement (click on each link):

• Sent by the Crucified and Risen Jesus to
• Make Disciples
• Equip Leaders
• Strengthen Parishes
• And Launch New Communities

Church Directory Photography

Photography for our new church directory concludes this weekend with appointments on Saturday and Sunday. If you haven't signed up yet, I'm guessing there are slots available. Give Cindy a call at 419-483-5428, or check with her or Pat Olsen on Sunday morning.

Funeral for Markus Doss

Lifelong member of St. John's, Markus Doss, died on Monday, and funeral services were held Thursday morning. The story of Markus and how his life enriched those of his family and St. John's. Special thanks to Nancy P., for her loving concern for and mentoring of Markus. She, along with his family, guided Markus through all his years of Sunday School and Confirmation. It is an inspiring story, and speaks to heart the St. John's has for kids. The gospel reading for his funeral was Mark 10:13-14, which was his confirmation verse. You can aread the obituary here.

Confirmation lesson

Our confirmation lesson this week was the Fifth Commandment:

You shall not kill
What does this mean for us?
We are to fear and love God so that we do not harm our neighbor in any way, but help him in all his physical needs.

You can view the PowerPoint of our lesson here.

Flat-screen TV in Narthex

The flat-screen TV that has been purchased to display announcement will be mounted in the narthex. Lenny is working on this -- thanks Lenny!

Visits

On Tuesday I traveled to Orchard Grove and Bellevue Care for our monthly communion service. Since this was the week before Reformation Sunday, we did a Reformation theme with Martin Luther as guest speaker.

November Newsletter

Kristin will be printing the November Newsletter on Monday. If you have something to get in, there may still be time. Email it to her so that she receives it first thing Monday morning.

Stewardship emphasis starts Sunday

Our Stewardship emphasis starts this weekend with the theme "How Much is Enough?" A bulletin insert will appear for each of the following four weekends. Stewardship packets have been prepared the the Stewardship Team, and will be distributed and mailed out beginning the weekend of November 9-10. Congregation members will be encouraged to return their plan for giving cards the following Sunday, November 17. A "Stewardship Stew" lunch will follow worship that day, with the Annual Budget and Election meeting following.

Something for College Football Fans

While I know that some of you could care less about college football, I'm sure that some of you follow at least one team closely. I've become more of a college football fan since moving to Ohio, as there is a really good team here to follow. Saturdays matchup between the Buckeyes and Badgers should prove to be more interesting that many of the easier opponents in the early weeks of the season. Recently I have also been following Notre Dame, because one of their starting linebackers, Drew White, is the son and grandson of members of one of my first call congregations, Our Savior's in Stanton, North Dakota. Drew's mother was in my first confirmation class, and his grandmother was on the Call Committee. Drew has make quite an impression on his coaches, and is a valuable element in the Irish's defense. You can read more about Drew here and here. Drew's older brother Sean White also played for a D1 team, Auburn. He started at quarterback for portions of the 2014 and 2015 seasons, until he was bumped by transfer student Jarrett Stidham, who was drafted by the New England Patriots in the fourth round (133rd overall) of the 2019 NFL Draft.

You can watch Drew play - he's number 40 - on Saturday night on ABC, as Michigan hosts the Fighting Irish at the Big House. Kickoff is 7:30 pm.

NWOS Links

• Synod Day of Prayer
• Bishop Daniel's weekly email

Interim Update for October 18, 2019

Fall Gatherings and Bishop's Bakeoff

This is a repeat from last week, but repeating it to be sure we get a good turnout from St. John's: Register Today! Do you like homemade desserts and finger food? Are you looking for a fun, relaxing evening? Are you interested in connecting with people in your community and sharing ministry ideas? Then join us for the annual NWOS Fall Gatherings! We will be coming together to share communion, prayer and conversation. We will celebrate how the Holy Spirit is moving through our communities. We will look to the Book of Acts to see how we can renew our commitment to be Christ in and for the world! (Copied from the flyer, which you can view here. This is an excellent way to connect with others in our synod who are in our area. The meeting for our area is Faith in Fremont, on Tuesday, October 22, from 6:30 - 8:30 pm. You can register online here.

Church directory photography begins tomorrow

Doug and Cindy Klein are ready to begin the process of photographing members of the congregation for a new picture directory. I hope you've all signed up and if you haven't, it's not too late. Photography will happen again next weekend so if you haven't signed up for a sitting yet be sure to do so.

Call Committee Update

The Call Committee continues its work on finishing up the Ministry Site Profile. They worked for several hours after worship this past Sunday and we'll meet again on November 3rd.

Confirmation Class Studies 4th Commandment

After a good look at the first three commandments, sometimes referred to as the first table of the law, (deals with our relationship to God) we moved on to begin our study of the second table of the law (deals with our relationship to our neighbors), beginning with the fourth commandment:

Honor your father and your mother. What does this mean? *We are to fear and love God so that we do not despise or anger our parents or others in authority, but respect, obey, love and serve them.

You can view the PowerPoint of the presentation here.

Education Team and parents complete planning for fall youth event

The Education Team and several confirmation youth parents met Wednesday during the confirmation session to plan one of several special fun events for Confirmation youth. Our first event will be a scavenger hunt with a Holloween theme on Sunday, October 27, from 4-7 pm. Thanks, everyone, for your time in planning this. Looks like it will be a fun event.

Stewardship Team preps for program

The Stewardship Team met on Monday for a work session to assemble the mailing for this year's Stewardship Program, focusing on the theme "How Much is Enough." We are spending the four weeks of our emphasis focusing on four stewardship principles to guide and direct our lives as Christian stewards. Those principles and the accompanying events are as follows:

• October 27 -- Gratitude as one’s basic approach to life: All stewardship begins in gratitude to God as the Giver of life, salvation and health. Bulletin insert
• November 3 -- Stewardship is counter-cultural: Our culture tries to convince us to measure our worth by the impressiveness of our possessions. We are blessed to be part of a community of faith that helps us resist the lure of measuring our lives according to material riches. Bulletin Insert
• November 10 -- Stewardship entails a life of care for the neighbor: The Gospel sets us free for sharing God’s love with others. Stewardship packets will be distributed and mailed
• November 17 --Giving as a spiritual discipline: The value of giving for us is that it is a freely chosen spiritual discipline to help us worship God above everything else. Congregational luncheon after worship, with annual meeting to follow

Interim Pastors meeting and visits

On Thursday I attended the synod interim pastors meeting at synod office in Findlay. These are always helpful and inspiring meetings. On the way home I visited Cleora B. at her assisted living residence in Tiffin. At age 92 she does very well, and appreciates receiving Holy Communion, as it is not something that is provided by the facility. In another visit this week, I brought communion to Debbie C., mother of Vanessa K., who is her primary care giver in her home. On Saturday I visited Marabelle in Fremont -- she seems to be holding her own, but still under hospice care.

Diakonia begins new course

Our Diakonia participants (Jan, Rocky, Nancy, Joyce, and Rebecca) began a new course this week -- Church History. Instructor is Pastor Scott. Just a reminder, each course lasts five weeks, six courses each year, for a total of 12 courses. Would still like to do a temple talk some Sunday about this program, but not ask everyone to participate, maybe one or two.

Busy week ahead

• Saturday - Photography begins
• Sunday - Photography continues
• Monday - Photography continues
• Tuesday
  • Preschool temple talk
  • Orchard Grove and Bellevue Care communion
  • Fall Meeting with the Bishop (see registration info above)
• Wednesday
  • Preschool temple talk
  • Mandatory pastors meeting with the Bishop in Fremont
  • Confirmation
• Thursday
  • Preschool temple talk
  • Bible Study

Interim Update for October 11, 2019

Fall Gatherings and Bishop's Bakeoff

This is a repeat from last week, but repeating it to be sure we get a good turnout from St. John's: Register Today! Do you like homemade desserts and finger food? Are you looking for a fun, relaxing evening? Are you interested in connecting with people in your community and sharing ministry ideas? Then join us for the annual NWOS Fall Gatherings! We will be coming together to share communion, prayer and conversation. We will celebrate how the Holy Spirit is moving through our communities. We will look to the Book of Acts to see how we can renew our commitment to be Christ in and for the world! (Copied from the flyer, which you can view here. This is an excellent way to connect with others in our synod who are in our area. The meeting for our area is Faith in Fremont, on Tuesday, October 22, from 6:30 - 8:30 pm. You can register online here.

Photography by Kleins begins next weekend

Over the past several weekends, you've seen Cindy Klein and Pat Olsen in the narthex doing signups for our new congregational picture directory before and after services. If you haven't signed up yet, be sure to do so this weekend. Cindy and Pat will begin making phone calls to families who have not yet signed up to ascertain their participation and to schedule a sitting time. The Kleins will be photographing Saturday, Sunday and Monday, October 19th , 20th , and 21st , and Saturday and Sunday, October 26th and 27th. Some things to remember: Each family who sits for photography will receive a complimentary 8x10 portrait, and additional portraits will be available for purchase, with delivery before Christmas guaranteed. The directory will be available online on a password protected web page, and hard copy directories will also be printed and made available.

Bishop Daniel Confirmation session canceled

You may remember that Bishop Daniel came to St. John's in November for an Eastern Conference confirmation youth event, with many youth from our conference attending. We scheduled Bishop Daniel again for this year, but at Zion Sandusky, for Wednesday, November 20. Unfortunately, another commitment arose which made it necessary for him to cancel our event. We'll try again next year.

Confirmation - Move to Second Table

Do you know the Two Tables of the Law with regard to the Ten Commandments? We have finished the first three commandments which comprise the first table of the law, which speak of our relationship to God. This week we began our study of the second table, Commandments 4-10 which speak of our relationship with our neighbor. We began with the Fourth Commandment: Honor your Father and your Mother. What does this mean? We are to fear and love God so that we do despise or anger our parents or others in authority, but respect, obey, love and serve them. Since we spent much of our time reviewing the first table of the Law, we will begin our study of the second table with the Fourth Commandment next week.

Transition Team gathering

On Sunday afternoon, Paul and Karen Lieber hosted members of the Transition Team and spouses/friends for a cookout and potluck at their home. This continued the tradition of tasty treats at our Transition Team meetings from February through the end of September. Many thanks to team members Paul, Dale, Mike, Tonya, Sue for their hard work and service, amidst the challenges of some health issues, and deaths of family members. The fruit of their labor, the Ministry Site Profile, was passed to the Call Committee on Sunday, September 29.

Call Committee Update

The Call Committee met after worship last Sunday, with the main agenda being review of the Ministry Site Profile. They will hopefully have the review completed and ready for approval by Council at the Tuesday night meeting. Other work that the Call Committee will need to do is review and plan questions to ask candidates, and do a mock interview with a neighboring pastor (Pastor Scott, perhaps?) as the guinea pig. The Call Process facilitators are meeting twice this month to interview candidates who are looking for new calls. Once the MSP is submitted and approved by Bishop Daniel, and the written reference is submitted, synod can begin to share St. John's profile with possible candidates.

Visit to Willows

On Thursday I headed to the Willows to visit our members there, including the most recent (hopefully temporary) additon, Carol H., who is recovering from a fall resulting in a broken shoulder and hip. Ellen D. is still there, and looking ahead to some doctor appointments. Ellen hadn't seen Carol yet, so I wheeled her down the hall and around the corner to Carol's room, where I was able to offer Communion to both at the same time. On Sunday afternoon I visited Marabelle at Countryside in Fremont. She seems to be resting comfortably.

Rocky's new Green Beast

I was making a cup of coffee in the lounge kitchen when a Green Beast motored by the window. It was Rocky riding his new John Deer lawn tractor, cutting the grass. I chased him down to get a closer look at this very fine machine. It is huge and beautiful, and according to Rocky, brand new. I don't remember the model number, but it has three cutting blades and cuts a 60" swatch. Get that church lawn done pronto. Thanks, Rocky, for this generous in-kind contribution to St. John's!

First Wedding planned

My first wedding since coming to St. John's as interim is scheduled for January 4 for Alohoea and Tom Lowrey's daughter Melissa and her fiance Donnie. I'll be meeting with them on Sunday to begin the plans for their wedding, which will take place in Sandusky.

Fundraiser for Pastor Brown through October

We'll keep the fund raiser for Pastor Alan Brown and his family, who lost everything in a house fire recently through the month of October. Pastor Brown was installed as pastor of Solomon in Woodville in July. Want to give something right now? Go here, which is a link to St. John's online giving page. On the first line, in the "To" drop down box, click the dropdown arrow and choose "Pastor Brown Family". If you add your current address, Breeze will find you and automatically add your contribution to your giving statement. Note that you can give using either your credit card or your bank account (ACH).

Zoom Interim Pastors Meeting today (Friday)

Every second Friday of the month I meet on Zoom (online video meeting) from 11:00 until 12:30 with a group of interim pastors from coast to coast including one in Germany. We discuss what's happening in our interim congregations, and share questions and resources, and pray together. This is organized through the Interim Ministry Network, an interdenominational organization that provides training and resources for pastors working in transitional (interim) ministry.

Diakonia group finishing New Testament course

Our Diakonia group has been on a whirlwind tour of the New Testament, taught by Pr. Jim Lehmann of St. John's in Port Clinton. The last two sessions are comprised of each class member making a presentation on one or more New Testament books. The Second course on Church History, taught by Pr. Scott, will begin on October 17. I still need to plan a "Diakonia Sunday" where our participants can tells us about the experience.

Busy week next week

• Sunday - Call Committee meeting after worship
• Monday - Stewardship Team meets to assemble packets (Stewardship letter, giving card, giving statement) for the Stewardship program in November
• Tuesday - Executive at 6 and Council at 7 pm
• Wednesday - Confirmation at 7 pm
• Thursday - Bible study at 10 and Synod Interim pastors at 1pm
• Saturday - Kleins begin photography

Interim Update for October 4, 2019

Fall Gatherings and Bishop's Bakeoff

Register Today! Do you like homemade desserts and finger food? Are you looking for a fun, relaxing evening? Are you interested in connecting with people in your community and sharing ministry ideas? Then join us for the annual NWOS Fall Gatherings! We will be coming together to share communion, prayer and conversation. We will celebrate how the Holy Spirit is moving through our communities. We will look to the Book of Acts to see how we can renew our commitment to be Christ in and for the world! (Copied from the flyer, which you can view here). This is an excellent way to connect with others in our synod who are in our area. The meeting for our area is Faith in Fremont, on Tuesday, October 22, from 6:30 - 8:30 pm. You can register online here.

Bishop Daniel's weekly message

You can read it here.

Membership Transfer for Steve Erf

Steve has been associated with St. John's ever since he and Barb were married. But Steve hasn't officially been a member, until now. A couple weeks ago, he requested a transfer of his membership from Monroeville Congregational UCC. A phone call to Pastor Wayne is all it took, who promptly sent us a letter of transfer. We'll make it official at the October Council meeting.

LCMS Pastor murdered in Fort Dodge

A Lutheran Church Missouri Synod pastor was murdered outside his church in Ford Dodge, Iowa, this past week, leaving the congregation stunned. Fort Dodge, is on US 20 about 90 miles southwest of Mason City, the site of my 1978-79 seminary internship in North Central Iowa. The suspected killer has been arrested and is awaiting arraignment on first degree murder charges. You can read more here. Certainly a situation to remember in your prayers.

Call Committee Installation and Orientation

The Transition Team was recognized for their service, and the Call Committee was installed during worship on Sunday. Following worship, the Committee met with Mary Boals for orientation to the call process. Mary is employed by the synod as chief accountant, and is also one of the Call Process Facilitators in our synod. Normally, each conference in the synod has its own Call Process Facilitator, which for us has been Pr. Katie Suggitt, Grace Castalia. Katie has stepped down from this position, so Mary is filling in, traveling from her home in Defiance.

Mary was very helpful in outlining the process that occurs as congregations looking for a pastor submit Ministry Site Profiles (MSP), and ministry candidates submit Rostered Leader Profiles (RLP). The Call Process Facilitators meet periodically to review all active profiles (both congregation and leader), and works, to the best of their ability, to match candidates with congregations. Here's a quick summary of the process:

• Facilitators review all active profiles, MSP's and RLP's
• One or more candidates are selected to receive the MSP of a congregation seeking a leader
• Candidate decides if this is a congregation he/she would be interested in being considered for call
• Call Committee receives RLP of this candidate, and decides whether or not to interview candidate
• Interviews (via Skype or live) take place. Candidates usually provide a video of a sermon that the entire Call Committee can review and discuss
• Call Committee recommends one candidate to Council, and second interview is arranged for Call Committee and Council
• Council decides whether or not to accept Call Committee's recommendation, and if it does, schedules a congregational meeting to vote on calling the candidate
• Based on congregational financial information on the MSP, synod recommends compensation package to offer candidate
• Congregation votes on candidate, 2/3 vote required to call. Prior to the vote there may be an opportunity for the congregation to meet and greet the candidate, who may offer a brief devotional
• Candidate has 30 days to consider accepting call, although this usually happens immediately
• Candidate and congregation plan for transition to new call, including starting date, moving arrangements, and service of installation

This is not an exhaustive list, but includes the major elements of the process. One process item that I was previously unaware of: Some pastoral candidates express interest in coming to Northwestern Ohio Synod from other synods. These candidates are reviewed by the Bishop, and he gives them a rating of 1 to 4, 4 being most desirable. Only those candidates receiving a 3 or 4 rating are considered for call in our synod, and RLP's made available to Call Process Facilitators.

Call Commmittee's next meeting is Sunday after worship. Committee will review and possibly edit the MSP as presented by the Transition Team. I will also provide a copy of my most recent RLP, so Committee members can familiarize themselves with the elements of that document, so they can have a better idea of things to look for in RLP's they will eventually review.

Confirmation class

Our main focus for our Confirmation Class this week was the Third Commandment. Remember the Sabbath Day to Keep it Holy. What does this mean? We are to fear and love God so that we do not neglect God's word and the preaching of it, but regard it as holy, and gladly hear and learn it. You can view the PowerPoint of our lesson here.

Pastoral Care Update

I continue to visit Marabelle one to two times per week at the Countryside Care Center in Fremont. On Wednesday I went to visit Carol H. at UTMC. She had surgery last friday to repair her shoulder and hip. She was expecting to be transferred soon to Willows for rehab. I'm assuming that she has arrived there by now.

Update on Fifth Sunday Outreach

Our first Fifth Sunday Outreach was a very loud success. I should have turned off my hearing aids, it was so loud. Kingdom Kids pulled three red wagons down the center and side aisles, as congregation members dropped pocketfuls, bagfuls, handfuls of coins into the metal bases Radio Flyers. By the time it was over and the cold hard cash had been counted, the congregation had contributed $524, and $125+ more has come from within the preschool. This should be more than enough to purchase the needed iPad for our preschool child. Any extra beyond the cost can be applied to the next Fifth Sunday event, scheduled for December 29. The auxiliary staff person working with the preschool to coordinate this project is Bethany, the speech therapy specialist that visits occasionally to work with children who need her services. Bethany, by the way, is a former member at St. Peter in Norwalk where she was an active participant in our Logos, Catechism, and high school youth programs

Committee Meetings

Worship met on Thursday morning -- we discussed Reformation Sunday, Bible distribution for 3rd graders, and All Saints, among other things. Starting to think about Christmas and who will be playing organ for the Christmas Eve services, as this is Paul's year to be with family in Virginia. Education met Wednesday during Confirmation, I joined them after class was over. Stewardship will not meet until October 14 at which time Aleta will be back in town.