Diakonia Message from Chris Young
Chris is one of the Diakonia instructors for the Eastern Conference group, attended by five of our St. John's members. Are there others who would consider this excellent program? Thursday evenings at Grace in Fremont September through May. Six five-week courses. Sign up for one, six, or any number in between. Here is the email I received today from Chris:
Time is moving quickly, and our Zoom Orientation is September 10th 6 pm. I know things are busy, but a prayer and a phone call or a personal contact could make a difference in someone's life and in your church's transformation. Please make at least one personal contact to invite and share. Please, if you haven't already, share the attached schedule with your congregation(s), family, friends, and even someone you may not know well at all. Let me know how I can help. So far we have 1 new student (praise God!). Thank you!
The Schedule, which I linked in my August 7 Update, can also be viewed HERE.
Stewardship Program
At the Council meeting on Tuesday I presented information regarding the Stewardship program that is being jointly offered by our Northwestern Ohio Synod, and GSB Fundraising, a firm that has provided fund raising and stewardship resources to ELCA congregations for a number of years. The program includes six Zoom meetings led by Mike Ward, one of GSB key leaders, along with 75% of the content required for a fall stewardship campaign. The remaing 25% of content is provided by the participating congregation, reflecting their own programs and goals.
I emailed our Stewardship Team (Aleta, Emma K, Linda) information today, and provided them with the information flyer for the program, which you, also, can review HERE. You will notice in the schedule in the right column, that the first Zoom meeting isscheduled for late August (that's now!) and the the theme is "Building Blocks for Generosity."
Some info about the cost of this program: GSB's fee is $450 per participating congregation, with the synod subsidizing $150. I have offered to contribute $100, which leaves $200. If each council member contributes $10, we will have the cost covered. Mark your special offering "Generosity Program."
Picture Directory
I know that there are some who are wondering about the picture directory that members sat for photography with the Kleins last October. This project produced a nice collection of color photos of congregation member, and so far, they have been uploaded to Breeze, our church management software. These photos will certainly be helpful for the new pastor who will eventually be called in putting names and faces together. The goal has also been to provide a printed directory, with not only photos but also contact info that has been included in previous directories -- addresses and phone numbers. As I and others have used our existing database to contact congregations for various reasons, we have found that much of the information in our database is not up to date. A phone number has changed because land lines have been dropped. Email addresses change. Children become adults and move out of the household, a fact that is often not reflected in our database. We will keep working to get something published, both online and in print.
Confirmation Meeting
I have sent an email to parents of 6th, 7th, and 8th graders regarding Confirmation for the upcoming school year. I have scheduled a meeting on Wednesday, September 2, at 6:30, with both in-person and Zoom opportunities to attend.
Plans for Sunday School
Heather reported at Council that there are currently no plans to return to in-person Sunday School, as our eligible families with children are choosing to worship online. The Education Team will be considering some virtual possibilities.
Bells for Katy
Council discussed loaning the bells to Katy Klein Kohman for use in her school music program in Gibsonburg. A final decision was delayed until the September meeting, with more information about replacement cost needed.
Roger and Ann Farewell
We are set to bid farewell to our beloved Roger and Ann -- the throw that was embroidered with the message "Forever in our Hearts" was viewed by council members Tuesday night. This will be presented Sunday morning, along with additional content by me at the end of the service. Cathy will provide a canopy tent for Roger and Ann, who will be available in the parking lot from 11:00 - 11:30 for members to offer their farewells. We're happy for Roger and Ann, but sad that we are losing such faithful and long-term members.
Links for you
- Bishop Daniel's weekly email
- Seeds Monthly Resources and ministry ideas for congregations
- New Beginnings - news from Trinity Seminary by Dean Kit Kleinhans
- ELCA Worship News
Onelicense will increase choices
Onelicense is a church music licensing service which makes is possible to print words for hymns in our Sunday bulletin that are still under copyright. Since we returned to in-person worship, we have been printing all the hymn words in the bulletin, and without the license we were limited to hymns in the public domain. A one-year license from onelicence.com ($200) gives our worship staff more flexibility and choices for which hymns we will sing, or hum, or lip-sync on Sundays mornings.
Dead mouse found in Pastor Mark's Office
A dead mouse was found in Pastor Mark's office on his desk on Thursday. He remedied the situation by tossing the dead mouse in the wastebasket, then driving to Sandusky Best Buy to purchase a new one.
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