August 2015 - Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd
Transcription
August 2015 - Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd
Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd (ELCA) 1325 North 45th Avenue East, Duluth MN 55804-1507 August 2015 Change Service Requested Place address label here. (new postal regulations) NON PROFIT ORG US Postage PAID Permit No 28 Duluth, MN FROM PASTOR DAVE Spanish Immersion in Honduras My time in Honduras studying Spanish was a journey of personal spiritual renewal. My dear friend Josefina Santos helped make arrangements for me to attend the Ixbalanque Language School in Copan Ruinas, site of the Mayan ruins. For two weeks I was able to immerse myself in Honduran culture by living with a host family, Delmy and Manuel Paredes. For four hours each morning I experienced one-on-one Spanish teaching with my excellent teacher, Sara Martinez. Afternoons were spent in continued Spanish study; study of the Gospel of Luke in Greek, English and Spanish; and posting photos and reflections to LCGS. Because Copan Ruinas is considered the safest community in Honduras, I was able to enjoy a run each day, a first-time experience in my travels to Honduras. These simple daily rhythms provided the opportunity to enter deeply into a daily experience of Sabbath. Thanks be to God and to LCGS for valuing continuing education! Initially I admit I was impatient to begin speaking Spanish fluently. After all, my purpose in studying Spanish is to build relationships with the people of Honduras, and especially my friends in the Lutheran Church in Honduras. But Sara wisely showed me that there are no fast short cuts in language acquisition. The philosophy at Ixbalanque is described as “poco a poco,” building fluency in Spanish “piece by piece” through mastery of the fundamental elements of the language. This approach is slower and deeper than my quick-fix approach, but it works! I was able to make progress in understanding the structure of the Spanish language, and I slowly but surely was able to produce the noun system, and even the regular verbs in the present tense. Wonderful progress! And then we entered the world of the irregular verbs (there are so many!), as well as the past tenses! Wow, this was very humbling, daily faced with how much I didn’t know! Sara and I laughed that the vocabulary flashcards we were using were graded for ages four and up. I suppose I am included in “and up.” But I knew that I was making solid progress in learning Spanish, and it was a delight to begin to appreciate the beauty and precision of the language. God was using the study of Spanish to teach me the power of sustainability, beauty and quality. I know deep in my bones that this is a fundamental principle of life, the “secret” of spiritual growth, marathon training, and transformational mission. At the edge between present ability and that which is truly new, we meet God and growth is possible. I wonder what God has in mind for our community of Christ as we come to the edges of transformational worship, reaching out locally and globally, nurturing the faith of all? It will be exciting to discover! Your “age four and up” partner in learning, 2 REACHING OUT Thank you for your generous donations to our Local Back to School with Backpacks Program in support of CHUM. Our global neighbors also need our help. This is an opportunity to help children around the globe get a head start this school year. L !" W$ %& R%() K(+— August is our best time to shop for school kits as supplies are on sale now. Donation boxes will be in Gathering Space in August. Each school kit contains: Four 70 sheet notebooks (wide or college ruled) One 30 cm ruler (cm on one side, inches on other) One Pencil sharpener One blunt scissors Five unsharpened #2 pencils with erasers Five black or blue ballpoint ink pens (no gel ink) One box of 16 or 24 crayons One 2 ½ “ eraser Join Lutheran Social Services & The Northshore Inline Marathon and End Youth Homelessness in Our Community Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota is the official charity of the NorthShore Inline Marathon’s 20th anniversary celebration! Create or join an LSS team for the NorthShore Inline Marathon and raise funds for the LSS Center for Changing Lives! Teams may participate in Inline Marathon, Wheels Off Half Marathon (running event) or the Tunnel 10k (running event). Contact LSS Staff Robin Maxwell at 218-302-6837 or [email protected] 3 REACHING OUT P(./ 0 !" 1 !…?— The Hunger Team kicks off their annual food drive August 16th. Donations will fund outings such as: visits to Duluth Zoo and the Children's Museum and Exercise Groups - hiking and physical The Hunger Team will collect and activities in nature. display donations for one month: August 16th through September Please continue to drop your 20th. coins in the pastel plaid container on the Gathering Area Welcome Our partners at CHUM Food Shelf desk. have a few specific requests; tuna, canned meats or meals like T!"/ 5$— Thank you for thick soup, chili and stews as well past donations to our Penny as peanut butter. Drive. As a congregation we contributed $200.14 this past Watch for our display of year to the Hildegard donations and the next time you House. grocery shop, please “Pick up an extra…” The total contribution from the Lake Superior Conference P""(+— The Women of the churches was $1,430.43. Lake Superior Conference are Our pennies and small change collecting pennies, larger coins really do add up. and bills are also accepted and appreciated. The recipient this year will be Children's Therapeutic Services & Support (CTSS). CTSS is a program to help children under 18 with mental health, emotional and other behavioral issues. The program is sponsored by HDC, seeking to empower a child to see life's potential, overcome the affects of mental health issues and encourage them to envision productive lives. 4 PARISH NURSE Dear Friends and Co-members, The wealth and blessing of friendship has truly been a factor in my life these last weeks. Always aware of friends and the comfort they offer, I truly have been blessed by the closeness of friends especially in times of unrest or chaos. I am honored to call many co-members of Good Shepherd friends which by nature implies closer ties and knowledge of their lives. Our friends share our lives, our stories and know both the good and bad stuff. What a treasure! Those who are members of our church family share one part of our lives. We are connected to co-members by our very presence here each week. Sharing worship time and meetings to plan and do. God’s work makes firm connections to others as we share personal callings and connection to God. The value of co-members can not be measured. It builds, enhances and mentors our own connections. Our personal health correlates with the support and love received on a daily basis. Health includes Body, Mind and Spirit. I worked 44 plus years as a nurse, know a lot about body health but I have found spirit to be of huge influence. Our Bible study group recently studied the connection to God and the variety of ways people see that connection. The comfort of God’s presence can never be overrated and truly cannot be compared. With gratitude I thank God for His support, I thank God for His presence in the lives of my co-members and return love and support to my friends. Blessings in need and in those calm times too! —Linda Susens, Parish nurse LUTHERAN CHURCH OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD MISSION STATEMENT: A Community of Christ Experiencing God † Reaching Out † Nurturing Faith 5 THANK YOU Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, Over the years supporters like you have allowed us to provide food to those who were food insecure, emergency shelter to those without a place to sleep, more permanent supportive housing to families with children, support to people living outside, assistance in finding housing, basic necessities to those in need. Since the beginning of 2015 we have helped 74 individuals and 10 families to find housing, plus the 44 families who have moved into the Steve O'Neil Apartments between December and March. The CHUM Emergency Food Shelf served 8% more hungry clients in the first quarter of 2015 than in 2014. It is through your congregational support that CHUM affects 7,000 lives in our community each year. Thank you for assisting us in our passion and our mission. Your gifts totaling $335.00, received in March-April-May, supports our work of providing better lives for our neighbors whether that is through food, shelter or giving them a voice. Sincerely, Mary Schmitz Development Director 6 DETROIT YOUTH GATHERING Our Teens Leading by Example Anthropologist Margaret Mead tells us to “[n]ever doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.” She reminds us that, “[i]ndeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” From 11 July to 19 July, I walked with a thoughtful and committed cadre of the young adults of the congregation, ranging in age from 15 to 18, in mission and learning projects in East Lansing, Michigan, with several hundred of their peers from throughout the Northeast Minnesota Synod, and in Detroit, Michigan, with tens of thousands of their peers. The week was soul enriching and involved service projects, learning opportunities, worship experiences, and close bonding with the group. Based on independent assessments of the value of volunteer labor in Michigan, over $90,000 in service was provided to the East Lansing area and over $3.5 million to the Detroit area, all without denying a local and worthy resident a job or source of income. These are an extraordinary group of young people, willing and eager to serve and share and commune. A recent national article declared that the rest of Christendom had something to learn from the Lutheran Youth. The future is well served in their care. None of this would be possible without the care and support of the LCGS congregation. Respectfully submitted, Brian C. Fischer 7 NURTURING FAITH Sunday School Sunday, September 13th – Come celebrate the start of the Sunday School Year! Blessing of the Backpacks at the 8:30 & 11 AM Worship Service. Join us at 10:00 AM for our annual Sunday School Open House. Confirmation Good Shepherd Families: Watch Your Mailboxes! We will be sending letters to individual families with more information about fall programs, including… 7th Graders: Welcome to Confirmation! 8th and 9th Graders: Welcome BACK to Confirmation 10th Grader: Ready to Affirm Classes ALL Sunday School Families: Calendar and Registration Forms All of these mailings should be coming your way by the end of the month. If you have not received this information by September 1, please contact Katie 218-525-1922. To the dear, dear congregaon members here at Good Shepherd, Words cannot express my gratude for this congregaon supporng my maternity leave during these past three months. Those first moments with Jasper were precious but overwhelming. Overwhelming with joy. Overwhelming with gratude. But somemes just plain overwhelming with not enough sleep, a screaming baby, and too many dirty diapers! I truly needed this me become a mother and learn how to funcon in this new, o'en overwhelming role. Now I am back and ready to learn how to be a mom AND a full me Director of Youth and Family Ministry! I am excited to learn how to serve you in this new way. First, I need to say thank you, thank you, thank you for this me away. Thank you for all of your love and support and prayers. There really are no words, but I had to try. With deepest gratude, Kae Rich and Family 8 A TIME TO WORSHIP —Spiritsong on the Beach— Wednesday, August 12th at 7:00 PM Pr. Dave’s Beach 3514 Minnesota Ave. Park Point Music is one of the ways that God comes to us as the Good Shepherd when we walk the darkest valleys. Mirroring the 23rd Psalm, Henry David Thoreau said, “When I hear music, I fear no danger. I am invulnerable. I see no foe. I am related to the earliest times, and to the latest.” Our summer worship is dedicated to these questions: How has music shaped your faith? How has God used music to touch you when words fell short? Bring your own lawn chair! This is a relaxed, camp-fire style setting. All are welcome. Please join us on the beach for our final Spiritsong Worship Experience of the summer. Our Regular Schedule resumes September 13th, 2015 Please join us at our 8:30 AM or 11:00 AM Worship Service We enjoy Coffee & Fellowship at 10:00 AM 9 May 24 May 31 June 7 81 157 92 June 14 June 21 June 28 127 105 122 July 5 July 12 July 19 76 125 110 Stewardship Stories What moves you the most about being a member of LCGS? The church understands that we live in the real world and in the “here and now.” and that part of our call is to help those locally in a real and tangible way (quilts, blankets ,food, winter, kits, etc. ) and that serving God is not an abstract idea. What fellowship event have you enjoyed the most and why? Ruth Circle, Friday Morning Bible Study, Thursday Morning Bible Study, good friends for years and years and interesting topics! Are you up to date on all the events, opportunities and news at LCGS? We send out weekly email announcements to our congregation. As a starting point, we use one email address per household. For many of you this is brand new information! If so, join our list simply TEXT LCGS to 22828 or email Jessica at [email protected]. Add as many accounts as you like! 10 PRAYERS If you would like us to pray for a specific concern, please call the office at 525-1922 and your request will be shared with others who care about your needs and believe God will hear and answer. If you have a prayer request emergency and it is after church office hours, you are invited to call Karin Lemenager at 721-4332. PRAYERS FOR HOSPITALIZED PERSONS shared with the Prayer Chain (and in the Prayers of the Church) will begin with “God knows the names of all for whom we pray…” unless permission has been granted by the hospitalized individual or a family member of the individual. This is in keeping with our Privacy Policy. If you have questions/ comments regarding this policy, please feel free to discuss it with one of the pastors. Good Shepherd randomly prays for all its members. During these weeks we are keeping the following in our prayers: August 2 Brian & Kristi Fischer, Sydney, Carrie, Camie and Casey; Kathy & Jim Dexter, Alison and Kaitlyn; Dan & Kim Dauner, Emma, Ian and Charlotte August 9 Audrey Amundson & Milton Legg; Amy & Michael Goman, Katelyn, Madison and Jillian; Matthew Berg, Brynn and Jackson August 16 Elizabeth & Craig Anderson; Karen & Daniel Dock, Peter and Amanda; David Gow, Sarah and David; Lisa Berg August 23 Sharla & Jim Anderson; Joyce Dohlin; Jenna & Andrew Bergee August 30 Robert Anderson; Katie & Clayton Rich and Jasper James; Bradley Graff; Jay Bergman Prayer “ God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." John 4:24 11 Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd Summer Services begin May 24th at 9:30 AM Office Hours: M-Th • 9AM-4PM; Friday • 9AM-11AM Phone: 218-525-1922 · Website: www.lcgsduluth.com MEET the STAFF Pastor Dave Mesner, Lead Pastor (home) 218-529-9715 email: [email protected] Pastor Tim Berdahl, Pastor (home) 218-728-4382 email: [email protected] Katie Rich, Director of Youth & Family Ministry 218-525-1922 email: [email protected] Patti Hallback, Office Manager 218-525-1922 email: offi[email protected] Jessica Hehir, Communications Coordinator 218-525-1922 email: [email protected] Beth Lee, Treasurer 218-525-1922 Kayla Hoeft, Nursery Director 218-525-1922 Music Team: Linda Turpening, Organist 218-525-1922 email: [email protected] Debbie Sanders, Good Shepherd Choir Director 218-724-9065 email: [email protected] Christa Overson, Joyful Noise Director email: [email protected] 12 September Newsletter Deadline: August 15