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.
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