The Go The Good News MARCH 2015

The
Go The Good News
MARCH 2015
EMMANUEL LUTHERAN CHURCH
2218 Kessler Blvd., Longview, WA 98632 ■ 360-423-3250 ■ Website: elclongview.com
“Our Goal: To know Christ and to make His love known”
Mark Your Calendars for Marlene and Mark
By Pastor Dave
We have two outstanding speakers
scheduled in the weeks ahead I don’t want
anyone to miss, so please mark your calendars
for each of them. Our first guest speaker is
Marlene Klepees. She will preach at both
services on Palm Sunday, March 29th, and will
lead us in a healing service that same evening,
beginning at 6:00 PM.
Marlene was born with cerebral palsy.
Her disabilities severely limited her interactions
with other children, but when she was 12, some
friends took her to a Youth Rally at their
church. There, she accepted Jesus Christ as
her Lord and Savior. That decision would
radically impact the rest of her life.
Marlene’s health continued to decline. In
December of 1980, Marlene was transported
from her home in Missouri, to the Mayo Clinic
in Rochester, MN, with hopes, doctors there
could do something to improve her quality of
life. Her former nurse, Nancy White,
remembers her condition. "Marlene was a
spastic quadriplegic and pretty much depended
on other people to provide for her needs. She
needed someone to help her get in and out of
bed, in and out of her wheelchair, and to help
her go to the bathroom. She was pretty much
dependent to the point where she really didn't
do a lot physically herself." The staff at Mayo
had come to the conclusion she would never
improve and would require increasing care for
the rest of her life.
God, however, had different ideas. He
gave Marlene a vision in which He revealed to
her she would be healed at a prayer service at
a local church. Come hear the amazing details
of Marlene’s healing which occurred on March
29, 1981—34 years to the day on which she
will share her story with us.
Our second guest speaker is Rev. Mark
Vander Tuig, the Service Director for LCMC.
Mark is no stranger to Emmanuel. He led a
Church Council Workshop here on August 24,
2013, and preached at both services the
following day. This time, Mark will be leading a
Congregational Workshop designed to move
churches from a membership paradigm into a
discipleship paradigm. Mark will arrive on
Friday, April 10th, and will meet with members
of our Church Council from 6:30 PM to 8:00
PM. On Saturday, April 11th, all members of our
congregation are invited to attend the workshop
in the sanctuary from 10:00 AM to 3:30 PM. A
light noon lunch will be provided by the church
for all who attend. We are asking people to
contribute $5.00-$10.00 for a registration fee.
This will not go to LCMC or to Mark; rather, the
congregation will use the money to bless a
mission or ministry of its own choosing. On
Sunday, April 12th, Mark will preach at both
services to drive home our focus on
discipleship.
I urge you to put both of these speakers
on your calendars and to be active in inviting
your family and friends to join you. If you will be
able to join us on Saturday, April 11th, please
let us know so we can plan effectively for lunch.
God bless,
Pastor Dave.
COUNCIL UPDATE
month. We are again borrowing from our temporary
restricted funds as this month’s loss resulted in a
negative bank balance of $7,383.00.
EMMANUEL LUTHERAN CHURCH

Congregation Council Meeting
February 16, 2015
Our Mission Tithe for January was $2,776 and
our funded mission support was $2,572.41 leaving
a surplus of $203.59.
MSC to send $203.59 to Community House.
Church Fireside Room
MSC to accept Financial Reports as presented
Next Meeting March 9, 2015
OLD BUSINESS:
ATTENDING: (Voting members to have a quorum
is 5)

Parent’s Place Rent and Maintenance: Postponed

Council/Special Gifts Ad hoc Committee: Rod
reported that Jerry Flaskerud, Mick Ziegler and
Melbelyne Underberg volunteered to work with
the council representatives to incorporate the
current continuing resolution into the bylaws and
develop policies for disbursements.

Cross-training: Kim reported that Sunnie is
trained on Cheryl’s job duties, Kathy’s bulletins
and power point presentations, and she is
currently learning Kim’s job duties.
Voting Members: Tom Fortin, Jeff DesArmo, Nancy
Kuehlwein, Carolyn Stagemeyer, Pastor Dave Martin,
Rod Ericksen, Eric Wisch
Staff/Guests/Recording Secretary: Kim Long,
Recording Secretary
Excused Voting Members: Jerry Nestaval, Karl
Salzsieder, Scott Maple
Absent Voting Members: None
NEW BUSINESS:
PRAYER: Tom opened in prayer.

MSC to approve the nomination of Sunyalie
Fortin as Financial Secretary.

Physical Campus Report: Chris Ness has
prepared a three-stage plan to correct the problem
of the water leaking into the Ed. Bldg. basement.
Stage one of sealing the cracks in the small
parking lot has been completed. Stage two,
sealing the inside walls of the kitchen and
fellowship hall. Both stages one and two are
within the financial authority of the Physical
Campus Team. It is the consensus of the council
to support the completion of phases one and two.
If we need to proceed to stage three, which is
excavating around the foundation, the Physical
Campus Team will need to bring bids back to the
council before any work is started as this is a very
expensive solution.

MSC to approve the Special Gifts Committee
recommendation to accept the final
disbursement from the Haggard estate in the
amount of $9,134.04.
GUEST: None
(MSC is Moved, Seconded & Carried)
MSC to approve the agenda as presented.
MSC to approve the January 12, 2015 minutes as
amended.
COMMUNICATIONS: None
PASTORAL & COMMITTEE REPORTS: We
reviewed the Worship Registration card data, the
calendar, and Pastor Dave’s written report. It was
noted that we have people volunteering to help with
the community dinners which will begin as soon as
we fix the water problem in the Fellowship Hall
basement and for the Alpha meals.
FINANCE REPORT: The finance reports for
January were reviewed. The general fund
contributions were $27,776.80 with expenses of
$37,667.80 resulting in net loss of $9,904 for the
See COUNCIL UPDATE / next page
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COUNCIL UPDATE / from previous page

How Would Your Congregation
Use $5,000?
LCMC Congregational Workshop: Pastor Dave
reminded the council that Rev. Mark Vander
Tuig will be here on April 10th through April
12th to lead the workshop. Friday he will be
meeting with the Council, Saturday is the
congregation workshop and Sunday, Rev. Vander
Tuig will preach. Congregation attendance is
necessary for the success of the workshop.
To celebrate the anniversary of the Reformation,
LCMC and Thrivent Financial will be awarding $5,000
grants to 15 LCMC congregations for use in planning a
project to benefit their local community. To apply,
congregations must complete an online application,
available at our website, which includes a short essay
describing how the congregation would use a $5,000
grant. The deadline for applications to be submitted
is August 15, 2015.
All eligible applications received by the deadline
date will be voted on at our 15th Annual Gathering in
Dallas, TX in October. Recipients of the grant will be
announced at the end of the Annual Gathering, and the
results will be posted at our website after the gathering
commences.
The meeting adjourned at 7:49 pm with the Lord’s
Prayer
□□□
“Let
God’s promises shine on
your problems.”
– Corrie Ten Boom
March Calendar of Events
Date:
Time:
Event:
Location:
March 2
2:15 pm Lenten Worship at NW Continuum Care Center
128 Beacon Hill Dr. Longview
March 9
2:15 pm Lenten Worship at Park Royal Health & Rehab.
910 16 Avenue, Longview
th
March 16 2:15 pm
Lenten Worship at Delaware Plaza Sr. Comm.
926 Delaware, Longview
March 18 6:00 pm
WE Wednesday All-Church Potluck
Fellowship Hall
March 21 5:30 pm
Prayer Partners Gathering
Lounge/Sanctuary
March 23 2:15 pm
Lenten Worship at Somerset Retirement
2025 Tibbetts Drive, Longview
March 26 6:30 pm
Special Lenten Service
Sanctuary
March 29 8:30 am Guest speaker Marlene Klepees
11:00 am Guest speaker Marlene Klepees
6:00 pm Healing Service with Marlene Klepees
Sanctuary
Sanctuary
Sanctuary
March 30 2:15 pm
1500 3 Avenue, Longview
Lenten Worship at Frontier Rehab.
3
rd
OUR VISION:
Building God’s Kingdom through intentional discipleship
to grow in relationship with God and one another, while
developing student leaders for Christ, and having fun
together in the safety of our church family.
Youth Birthdays
Andrew Bond – March 5
Katie Vining – March 20
Thomas Hensley – March 20
Cassidy Clemetson – March 25
Upcoming Events
Date
March 4th
Youth Alpha – re-cap
Life: is this it? Jesus: Who is He?
Time
Location
6:30pm to Emmanuel – upstairs youth
8pm
rooms
March 11th
Youth Alpha
Cross: Why did Jesus die?
6:30pm to Emmanuel – upstairs youth
8pm
rooms
March 13th
Middle school BELIEVE TOUR –
LEAVE (UNITE/INVITE/GROW)
4:30
Meet at in ELC parking lot
Cost: $45
March 14th
Middle school BELIEVE TOUR –
HOME (UNITE/INVITE/GROW)
6:30
ELC parking Lot
March 18th
WE WHOLE CHURCH NIGHT with
POTLUCK AND ASH WEDNESDAY
– (UNITE/INVITE)
6:00 to
8pm
Emmanuel – Fellowship
Hall
March 21st
Prayer Partner Gathering
5:30pm to Emmanuel – lounge/
7:30pm
sanctuary
March 25th
Youth Alpha
Faith: How can I have faith?
6:30pm to Emmanuel – upstairs youth
8pm
room
MARCH 25TH
$50 MISSION TRIP AND APPLICATION DUE!
INCOMING 7TH THRU OUT
GOING 12TH
If you are interested in helping with any of our youth events, please sign up
4
How do
My 6 year old told me
today that he “kinda
knows God is real but
that he kinda doesn’t
think he is real.” I asked
him why he didn’t believe in him. He was a
little upset by the question and said, “it’s just
that I kinda have a hard
time believing if he is real or not.” I again asked why
he didn’t believe in God. He slapped his hands to his
face and shook his head. “Ugh! It’s just that I kinda
don’t know if he’s real or not.”
The back and forth questioning went on for a
few minutes before I realized that he wasn’t saying
he didn’t believe IN God – he just wasn’t sure if he
was a real “person” or not. So I changed my question. “Why aren’t you sure God is real?” Bingo! It was
the right question.
“I just don’t know if he is real because I haven’t
ever seen him. I know He’s real when I pray because
He answer’s my prayers. But I can’t see him so I
don’t know if he is real.” Aha!
Knowing what he means doesn’t make it any
easier to answer though. How do you explain “faith”
to a 6 year old? I know I botched it up. I fumbled for
words and stories to explain – but in my own heart I
knew that faith is not explainable. It’s something witnessed through watching someone live in faith daily.
Finally, I told him this. “You know, I thank God for
helping me believe – but sometimes I have to ask
God to help me when I don’t believe. And that’s ok.
He’s ok with me even when I’m not sure if he is real
or not.” And without a blink or a breath he perks up
and says, “Hey I should come up with a prayer.” And
then the moment passed.
I still wonder though. Do I live in my faith daily,
or do I just live everyday saying I have faith? And do I
want my kids to have my faith?
I yelled at my boys tonight because none of
them wanted to go to the WE potluck. Tonight is
Wednesday, February 18 – Ash Wednesday. I
thought they loved the potlucks. I quickly learned
that it was the service they didn’t want to go to. I got
mad, angry in fact. They were already in the truck,
sulking in their seats, when I yelled at them to get
out. They tried to explain to me why they didn’t
want to go to the service, but I wasn’t having any of
it. I was pointing at them and explaining to them that
this was exactly what people say about “kids today.”
They only want to do the fun stuff, but when it
comes down to being present no one was to be
found. (Yeah, not my proudest moment.)
They go back in the truck, went to the potluck,
sat through service, and came home in better spirits
than when we had left. But not me. How did guilting
my kids into going to service help their faith? I apologized profusely. Telling them that I had no right to
say the things I said. They should be allowed to stay
home once in a while and not have to go to EVERYTHING.
As I sat in the back of the sanctuary with 11 kids
from the youth group (3 of them mine), I stressed.
They were whispering and talking during the imposition of ashes. I begin to sweat. They whispered and
moved through the sermon, the hymns, the Nicene
Creed, and finally Communion. No one said anything,
but I felt as if the whole church was looking at us.
I was focused on how their behavior was going
to come back on, or to, me. My focus was on the
wrong thing. My focus should have been this: “Will
they come back? If no, why not? If yes, why?”
Our faith is often mixed up and blended with the
fabric of our pews. Do we live into our faith daily, or
do we live telling ourselves each Sunday that we
have faith because we are there? What do we offer
to kids beyond religion, beyond hymns, and the
Nicene/Apostles Creed? I’m not saying that these
things aren’t important, but how do they help kids
see God? Most of those kids have never gone to a
church service, or they come from homes that don’t
have parents who are active church goers, or who
are active believers in God. Some come now and
again with Grandma and Grandpa, and the rest are
dragged in each Sunday by the collar – kicking and
screaming. If that’s the case, then when do they see
God? If our churches around the country are facing
an epidemic of youth-less congregations, shouldn’t
we be asking why?
When they see us, do they see God? If they
struggle with believing because they can’t see
shouldn’t we be focused on seeing why they don’t
believe?
you explain
faith to a
6-year-old?
-- Tracy Hensley
5
February 17, 2015
FISH churches fed
26,400 last year
Thank you for your prayers for the
February workshop in Jos, Nigeria.
All of the Fali and Sukur translators
came, and they made good progress
on drafting the script of the Jesus
Film from their translation of the
Gospel of Luke.
In 2014, the head count for clients receiving
food during the year for the FISH program was
26,399 from 7,641 households. That's an average
of 3.45 persons per household.
Statistics show that nearly 40% of our cities’
food clients are infants and children; 9% are seniors and the other 51% are adults trying to make
ends meet!. Of the 26,400 clients, Emmanuel
served approximately 3,000 last year during our
FISH distribution.
The need in our community is great. Sometimes circumstances in the lives of families or individuals will have an unexpected happening and
they can't make ends meet. The FISH program
will at least help fill their tummies for a few days
and let them know that GOD is with them-providing added nourishment and some hope for
better times ahead..
We, the FISH Team at Emmanuel, want to
extend our heartfelt thanks to all who contributed
to this worthwhile program in the past and Thank
you for all the food already in our FISH closet for
the February distribution.
As you read this, we will have filled our quota
of 36 families or individuals for each of 4 days in
February. We do this six times a year along with
18 other churches involved in this wonderful program.
THANKYOU, THANKYOU, THANKYOU
EVERYONE!!
Please pray that they would be able to continue to
work while they’re in their home areas. The Boko
Haram insurgents have been driven out of there, but
they are still active in areas not too far away, which is
unsettling for the translators. Pray that the Boko
Haram would be completely disbanded.
Tom leaves for Nigeria on Thursday, February 26, for
three weeks, to work with the Sukur translator and the
Kamo translation team. Pray for safety, good health,
and a productive time as they work together. Pray also
for the Nigerian elections, which will take place March
28 and April 11.
Yours in Christ,
Mary
Mary (and Tom) Holman
E-mail addresses: [email protected],
[email protected]
Mailing Address: 7611 36th Ave. North #215,
New Hope, MN 55427
Phones: Tom: 651-726-4581, Mary: 262-497-4085
Volunteers
needed for fun
jobs with FOCS


-- The FISH Team and all the volunteers
Trip escorts needed to help plan and lead
trips for seniors and active adults in our
community. Our two current escorts are
also involved in other volunteer activities
and need help with trips.
LCMC Prayer Chain Now Active!
A prayer ministry team has been formed, and
we now have over 50 people who are praying each
week
for
LCMC
congregations!
Cheryl Coffman is the leader of this team and
she is looking for others who may also be interested
joining. If you would like to be a part of praying for
our congregations and any specific concerns they
might have, or would like to submit any prayer
concerns from your congregation, contact Cheryl
at [email protected].
Bus drivers needed to relieve the two
excellent drivers we have. CDL license is
required for this job.
If interested in joining us in either of these
positions, call Derene Salzsieder (423-8821) or
Sharon Lukken (425-9334) for further
information.
6
Happy
Birthdays
Travel with FOCS this summer

IN
MARCH
 Donald Hack March 3
 Jolene Posch March 5
 Maggie Dick March 9
 Steven Moore March 10
 Bonnie Sethre March 11
 Rose Raney March 13
 Dennis Underwood March 13
 Bernyce Hanson March 18
 Mary Chase March 20
 Katie Vining March 20
 Donald Conway March 21
 Alli Herrera March 24
 Scott Maple March 25
 Ann Williamson March 25
 Derene Salzsieder March 26
 Odis Aubol March 27
 Esther Nordin March 27
 Nancy Westlund March 28
 Chrisssy Nelson March 29
 Beth Gilhuly March 31
Watch for news of these coming trips:

JUNE -- CRUISE THE COLUMIA RIVER GORGE -View the beauty of the Gorge from the decks of a
sternwheeler.

JULY 23 -- MARINER BASEBALL vs. TORONTO
BLUE JAYS -- Plan now to get together with a group of
friends and travel with us to Seattle for this favorite summer
pastime. This will be an afternoon game.

AUGUST -- RE-VISIT MOUNT ST. HELENS -- Leave
the driving to us as we go up to see our ever-changing
volcano.

SEPTEMBER -- OKTOBERFEST at MT. ANGEL,
OREGON -- Join us as we travel to this ever-popular fall
event.
 Boyd McCall March 17
 Lorraine Abrams March 18
APRIL 15 SHOPPING ADVENTURE -- We’ll visit the
Centralia Outlet Mall (on both sides of the freeway), have
lunch in downtown Centralia at the Berry Fields in the
Antique Mall and finish up the day with antique shopping.
Call Sharon Lukken @ 425-9334 for reservations. Cost of the
Bus trip is $20 with lunch on your own. Mail checks payable
to "FOCS", to Sharon Lukken at 4735 Pleasant Hill Rd.,
Kelso, Washington 98626.
Your reservations will be
confirmed upon receipt of your payment.
Loving
Kindness
A Sunday School teacher
asked her class, “What do you
think the Bible means when it
speaks of Loving Kindness?”
“Well,”
answered
a
young boy, “If I was hungry
and someone gave me bread
with butter on it, that would
be kindness. And then, if
they put a spoonful of jam on
it, that would be loving
kindness.”
 Esther Reschke March 31
7
If you haven’t already done
so, say hello and introduce
yourselves to these new
Emmanuel members
Brian and Sandra Carter
Louise and Tom Janicki
Jerry Schnor
Karen and Mark Thorson
David & Misty Welty family
Bring your friends to worship with us

8:30 a.m. Sunday -- Worship Service with nursery
 9:55 a.m. Sunday -- Sunday School for all ages
 11:00 a.m. Sunday -- “Celebration” Worship Service (with nursery).
Music led by the 11th Hour Band
 6:30 p.m. Thursday -- Worship Service
Our services are also telecast weekly on KLTV Ch. 11
1:30 p.m. Sunday --
Previous week’s worship service
3:30 p.m. Wednesday -- Current week's worship service
MARCH NEWSLETTER
Permit #68
Return Service Requested
2218 E. Kessler Blvd.
Longview, WA 98632
Longview, WA
U.S. Postage
PAID
Organization
Emmanuel Lutheran Church
Non-Profit
8