the monthly - St. Paul Lutheran Church, Ann Arbor

the monthly
UNITY
SPECIAL POINTS OF INTEREST—
 Get involved! (p 1, 3, 4)


Thrivent Opportunity (p 2)
Women’s Bible Study (p 6)
Volume 8, Issue 2
February 2015
What IS a Trustee, Anyway?
by Dennis Kuhn
Trustee is a legal term which refers to a
person who holds a position of trust or
responsibility for the benefit of another, also a person who is allowed to do
certain tasks but not able to gain income.
The Constitution and By-laws of St Paul
Lutheran (2001) strangely says nothing
about what a Trustee does. Maybe
that’s due to a quiet group of elves
diligently working for years in the background.
I first learned about Trustees at my
home church, Evergreen Lutheran of
Detroit, in the 60s & 70s. Subtlety influenced to serve the church through my
childhood, I chose being a trustee because they were “git’r done” guys who
could fix anything. Having mechanical
skills and interests, I seemed to fit right
in. I’ll always remember my old head
Trustee “Dutch” Jankowski saying,
“Those Elders sure are good at the power of prayer, but only after they’ve got
the Trustees working on the fix”. After
a few years of Evergreen trustee service, I decided that I didn’t need the
hassle of being too involved in the
church. That was a mistake, not fully
realized until recent years.
I continued worshiping and raising my
family, and occasionally found time to
share Christ’s blessings with others, but
was too busy with my life to serve my
church. That changed when I was
blessed (?) with a forced early retirement that I didn’t want.
At that time Bill Loy asked me to help
the Trustees with some chores. That’s
when I met some real heroes who have
shown me what it really means to serve
God’s Church by sharing your gifts for
the benefit of others.
I’ve learned from Bill, as well as Vic
Geyer, Bernie Jubin and Harvey Mieske
about their many years of Trustee service to St. Paul. They are there to fix
problems, and have been getting it done
their whole lives. Even while raising
families and accomplishing careers,
while most of us have been too busy and
not wanting the extra hassle, they’ve
served on. I’m so grateful for their
friendship, guidance and example that
they’ve shown me. I pray that God gives
me the diligence and ability to try to
match their level of satisfying service.
The reality of time, however is taking its
toll on our old guard Trustees and we do
need some new blood.
In addition to fixing the things that
break, Trustees report to the Board of
Administration and advise our leaders in
matters of buildings, grounds, maintenance and future planning. Basically,
our mission is to provide and maintain St
Paul facilities to support the church’s
ministries. Our current Trustees are also
excellent teachers and we only meet as
needed to help each other out.
Wanted! St Paul Trustees: Must be a
team player, willing to manage and work
on God’s facilities for satisfaction rather
than income. Satisfaction is guaranteed
to be commensurate with effort.
Required skills include electrical, plumbing, HVAC, carpentry, painting, decorating, data management, expediting and
project management (any one of the
above).
Call Dennis Kuhn at 734-663-6581.
KIDS AGAINST HUNGER
Plan now to attend!
Saturday, March 14
St Paul School—Small Gym
495 Earhart Rd
Ages 4-104 welcome!
Shift 1 = 8:30am—10am
Shift 2 = 10am—11:30am
Volunteer at signupgenius.com
or call the church office: 665-9117
Donate funds in the offering plate
or online at gofundme.com.
We are looking to raise enough to pack at
least 10,000 meals ($2600)!
In this issue:
News & Notes
2, 3
Lenten Worship
3
Youth, SPECC
5
Calendar, Prayer List & Statistics
7,9
rship Schedule
Page 2
the monthly UNITY
News & Notes
MARK YOUR CALENDARs!
Mom 2 Mom Sale
Saturday, March 14, 2015
March hoops to beat
blindness
March 19 & 20, 2015
hoops 2014 was the best ever,
raising over $8500!
The 8-year total is over $51,000!
Look for more announcements
as we get closer
Myron Hepner, event coordinator
STRENGTHEN YOUR COMMUNITY
If you’re a Thrivent Financial member, you can
lead a Thrivent Action Team to bring people
together for a one-time project to help others be
wise with money and live generously.
You can:
• coordinate an educational event
• conduct a service activity
• organize a fundraiser
Thrivent will provide:
• resources to help you plan the event
• promotional items, including Thrivent T-shirts
• Community Impact Card with $250 of seed money
Learn more at Thrivent.com/action team and apply
online.
Not a member of Thrivent? Share your service idea
with me. Together, we can make a difference.
For more information, contact Allison LeCloux at
734-369-3178.
St Paul Lutheran School
Over 50 tables!
Contact Julie Ostrom (SPECC-Earhart) to register
for a table
Early Admission 8:30 ($2)
General Admission 9am-1pm ($1)
SECOND 50s
February 25, 2015
1:00PM
Our luncheon will begin at 1:00 p.m. after the Lenten
service at church. Our speaker will be one of our
own, Grace York. Her topic is “And I Didn’t Fall
Off”. Frolic through the Southern Hemisphere with Grace
York to see what is different. As always we can be sure
this will be great.
REBATE FROM CEF
The Church Extension Fund of the Michigan District has been blessed with another year of
healthy growth and has sent our congregation a
rebate check. This shared blessing is just one
of the ways CEF partners with the individuals
and ministries throughout Michigan
to help them carry out the Great
Commission. If you have any questions about the ministry of CEF,
please contact Jakob Heckert, 734665-2697.
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More News & Notes
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Attention baseball fans! Preparations are underway for the 2015 PTL Auction, Spring
Training. The auction will be held in the school gymnasium on Saturday, March 21st from 58pm. We are currently looking for people who care about our school, and want to help with the
largest fundraising event of the year! The auction proceeds will help to purchase and update
the school playground equipment. If you are interested in helping with this wonderful event,
you can sign-up online by visiting http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0444a8a82ea0f49stpaul2 or by contacting Donna Stempien: [email protected] or 734-904-0596. Thank you for
being a fan of St. Paul Lutheran School!
Wanted!
Lenten/Advent Dinner Coordinator(s)
Do you and your family enjoy the midweek Lenten and Advent dinners that used to be held before
church on Wednesday evenings? Do you feel passionate about food and fellowship time with your brothers and sisters in Christ and would like to see it revitalized? If you would like more information about
the responsibilities of this volunteer position please contact the church office.
Annual Meeting
Thursday, February 5
7pm @ Liberty
Please join us to discuss the 2015 schedule, some key dates for activities, and overall areas needed
to be worked on in 2015. We are always looking for new members to join the
group! Should you know someone who would be an asset to our group or who has expressed an
interest in joining us, please invite them for Thursday’s meeting. Thank you in advance for your prayerful thought and efforts.
~~Your sisters in Christ, Susan Grese & Judy Wicinski, Altar Guild Co-Chairs
Life Together—Lenten Worship at St Paul
Our world is fragmented, shattered into little pieces. We thought that technology would bring all our world together,
and in some ways it has. We can talk to people all over the world in a moment. But at the same time we are more separated from others than ever before. Families are fragmented, living all over the world. Neighborhoods are no longer
close communities. Cities are a collection of competing interests. People feel alone.
But God created us to live together. He created us to be in community with one another - and with Him. Our Lenten sermon series will follow the theme Life Together, guided by Peter's first letter to the Church. At the same time, we will
celebrate the life that we enjoy together with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Pastor Matthew Hein and Pastor Dan
Flynn from our sister congregation St. Luke, will share some of our messages, and in turn Pastor Neuendorf will preach
some of the services at the University Lutheran Chapel.
Please join us, beginning with Ash Wednesday on February 18. Lenten services will be held at 12:10pm and at 7pm each
Wednesday at the Liberty site.
A separate series of services will be offered for families with young children at 3:30pm at the Earhart site, right after
school in the small gymnasium. These services will be led by Concordia students and will build on the family devotions
that we will distribute for Lent.
May God bless your Lenten season and make it a time of growing... together.
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the monthly UNITY
Family Ministry
THE FAMILY PROJECT
Don’t let the title mislead you. All of us find ourselves belonging to a family whether you
are single, married, parent/grandparents, sister, brother, or a member of our St. Paul Family.
This Christian resource is about RECOVERING, RENEWING, RECLAIMING our dynamic relationship with Almighty God and with those we walk with in our lifelong journey here on His
earth. Join us for The Family Project starting February 1st, during the Bible study time at
each location. Contact Ade Zielke for more information: 926-0720 or [email protected].
We all belong to a Family!
ACTS Ministry
ACTS Wants to Expand
The ministry of ACTS (Actively Caring Through Sharing) is hoping to expand. We
would like to include people who knit, sew, crochet, and/or cross-stitch. Our ministry
involves using our God-given talents to make items to help others. Are you looking for
Christian fellowship PLUS a scheduled time and project ideas to use your talent/
hobby? ACTS is for you! Bring a friend!
The thought is a person could knit or crotchet hats, mittens, blankets, prayer shawls.
Sewers could stitch quilts, dolls or clothes for dolls (used at Mott Hospital), pillowcase
dresses for girls in Africa/Haiti, pillowcases for military. People who cross-stitch could
possibly add Bible verses or poems to the projects. We are open to other possibilities!
The projects are decided according to the ability of the people involved in ACTS.
Next two meetings of ACTS are February 21st & March 28th
We meet in the Fine Arts Room at Earhart between 9AM and 1 PM
Come when you can, stay as long as you like!
Coffee provided, bring a lunch if you desire. Contact Clara Twork, [email protected], if interested.
Serving in Worship
One of the best ways to connect with others is to serve alongside of them in ministry.
Do you feel called get involved?
Here are just a few of the many opportunities to serve in worship at St. Paul:
Altar Guild (Liberty)
Ushers & Greeters (Liberty)
Family Worship Teams & Greeters (Earhart)
Worship Set Up/Take Down (Earhart)
Choir/Special Music (both locations)
Audio-Visual (both locations)
More information—including contact info for these opportunities—can be found on the church website under the “Worship”
tab. Check it out!
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Feb 1, 8
and
the monthly UNITY
St Paul YOUTH!
High School small group. Join us for any or all weeks! “God’s Not Dead!” Bible Study based on
the movie. Meeting at the Youth House. 6:00-8:00 p.m. Includes dinner.
TIME CHANGE—FEB 1 ONLY! We're going to meet earlier to accommodate evening play practices
& Super Bowl watching!!!! Come connect w/ St. Paul friends! Great conversations, Bible Study
food!! Join us @ Youth House 3:30-5:30pm. Pasta this week for a late lunch/early dinner/preSuper Bowl snack. Yummy.
Feb 8
Breakfast Club—Evolution vs. God. 10:30-11:30 in the Fine Arts room at Earhart. Yummy break
fast and discussion based on recently taped testimonies from college students and leading
evolutionary scientists at some of the world’s top universities. Watch as they present their most
compelling evidence for Darwinian evolution. Amazing answers. Excellent and not to be missed!
Feb 8
Zap Zone laser tag! 3:00—4:30pm. Bring $10.50. Meet at Zap Zone on Carpenter across the
street from the RAVE theater.
Feb 22
Sunday Night Live Bridgers Praise Night! Bring friends! Come for praise and worship with
the CUAA praise band!! Hang out with friends, eat great food and celebrate together God’s
amazing goodness to us!! Details TBA.
Mar 13-14
Youth lock-in for the hungry. Don’t miss the “Kids Against Hunger” lock-in! It’s a chance to have
fun and make a difference in the lives of others. Walking the talk of our faith! Meet downtown
at church at 7:30pm for activities, games, pizza and devotional time together to pray for the
hungry. In the morning we’ll go to the school to pack meals for the hungry. We’ll finish by noon.
Pick up at the school. Register ahead of time. Forms will be e-mailed this month. Chaperones/
drivers needed!!
SPECC Earhart
SPECC Earhart Campus has had fun exploring God's world in the winter. We have experimented with snow and ice both
inside and outside. We made snowballs, we painted snow and ice. We experimented with water to see what would happen with it in the freezer and outside. We froze different objects to see how we could get them out of the containers.
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Women’s Ministry
BOBBIN LACE!!!
FEBRUARY 28th, 9:30am—12:30pm
Fellowship Hall (Liberty)
This is a traditional way of making lace. It is an off-loom weaving technique that uses bobbins wound with thread, pins, patterns, and a pillow to make a wide variety of patterns.
In this session you will be introduced to the basics of bobbin lace and make a bracelet. NO
COST! Please RSVP to Katherine Beach ([email protected]) or Ade Zielke
([email protected]) by Monday, February 23. MAXIMUM of 16.
The real question we should ask is not “What does God
want from you?” but “What does God want for you?”
Join us for a New Women’s Study Beginning March 2!
Led by Cherise Callahan & Natalie Nesbitt
Mondays, 6:30-8pm @ Liberty Campus
March 2—May 11 (no class April 6)
RSVP to Natalie ([email protected]) or call the church office
and please purchase your book before the first meeting.
Books can be purchased through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Christian Book, etc.
Family Ministry
FAMILY LIFE RETREAT—”Making Music Together”
May 2 & 3, 2015
We will gather at Michindoh Conference Center in Hillsdale. Adult workshops, children’s
craft time, family games/devotions, bonfire (s’mores and more), Sunday morning worship,
plenty of free time, beautiful lake, waterfront access (canoes/paddle boats), much more.
Cost: Adults ($50.00); Children/age 6-12 ( $24.00); Children/age 3-5 ($17.00), infant to age 2
(Free). We have room for 12 families! Filling up fast!!!
Contact Ade Zielke, Director of Family Life & Education, for more details and to make your reservation. A
[email protected] or 926-0720.
We are inviting adults to join us for this special theatrical performance at the Encore Theater
in Dexter.
Saturday, April 11—3:00pm
Cost: $24/ticket
St Paul has reserved 40 tickets. Contact Ade Zielke to get your ticket(s) reserved/purchased.
You will receive your ticket(s) before Tuesday,April 7th. Join the St. Paul Family for a special April afternoon!
"‘On Golden Pond’ is a treasure for many reasons, but the best one, I think, is that I could believe it. I could believe in
its major characters and their relationships, and in the things they felt for one another.” (reviewer)
Page 7
the monthly UNITY
St. Paul Member Connection
Special Prayers
His Nightingales
2014-15 Singing Schedule
If you like to sing and would like to join us please contact Arlene
Harvey at 734-475-1986
We sing at 2pm—please arrive by 1:45 for all events.
Tues. Feb 3: Brookdale (formerly Sunrise)
Tues. Mar 3: Memory Support Center at Brecon village
Tues. Apr 7: The Sanctuary at St Joseph’s Village
Tues. May 5: Huron Woods at St Joseph
Tues. June 2: Silver Maples
CANCER
Bill Loy
Judy Soos
Beth Wallinga
MISSIONARIES
James & Christel Neuendorf—Latin America
Rev. Daniel Masik —India
Obot & Abasefreke Ite—Jamaica
ARMED FORCES
Derek Andreas, Erik Draves, Brandon Folks, Karl
Kappler, Katie Krueger, Mark Kummer, Jay
Lewis, Ian Pearsall
St. Paul Worship Attendance
6:30PM
8:00AM
9:15AM
Dec
20 & 21
Dec
24
Dec
25
Dec
27 & 28
Dec
31
Jan
3&4
Jan
10 & 11
Jan
17 & 18
Jan
24 & 25
89
5:30pm
420
10:00am
188
53
7:00pm
99
78
83
91
78
60
7:30pm
210
42
60
67
47
54
127
11:00pm
153
95
190
228
177
294
153
141
101
182
129
10:45AM
174
WORSHIP
TOTAL
450
783
188
343
99
469
479
497
555
Visitors
56
157
52
52
—
42
54
70
48
Lenten Worship Schedule
Wednesdays, beginning February 18
Liberty
“Life Together”
led by Pastor Neuendorf
and St Luke Pastors Hein & Flynn
12:10pm
7:00pm
Earhart
3:30pm in small gym
led by CUAA students
Automatic Giving
No more writing out checks, or remembering to
bring an offering envelope to church again. Simply fill out an automatic withdrawal form (available
in the church office, on the credenza in back of
church [Liberty] or on the welcome center
[Earhart]) and your giving will be taken care of.
You determine how often to give, how much to
give, and to which funds you’d like your gift to be
distributed. For more information, please pick up
a form today or contact John Burch
(congregational treasurer) or Lois Love (church
business manager).
FEBRUARY 2015
1
8 & 10:45am Worship (L)
2
3
4
5
6
7
*Men’s Bible Breakfast
9:30am SS & Bible Study
(L)
2:15pm His Nightingales (Brookdale)
9:15am Worship (E)
10:30am SS & Bible
Study (E)
6pm SPY High School
7pm Stephen Ministry
6:30pm Bd of Care (L)
7pm AA Cantata (L)
8
8 & 10:45am Worship (L)
9
10
6:30pm Confirmation (L)
7pm Altar Guild (L)
7pm Choir (L)
7pm Choir (E)
11
12
6:30pm Worship (L)
13
14
VALENTINE’S DAY
*Men’s Bible Breakfast
9:30am SS & Bible Study
(L)
9:15am Worship (E)
5:30pm Exec Committee (L)
5:30 SPECC Potluck Dinner
(L)
6:30pm Open House €
6:30pm Confirmation (L)
7pm AA Cantata (L)
7pm Choir (L)
16
17
18
ASH WEDNESDAY
SPS No School
SPS No School
10:30am SS & Bible
Study (E)
3pm SPY Laser Tag (Zap
Zone)
15
8 & 10:45am Worship (L)
7pm Choir (E)
9:30am SS & Bible Study
(L)
19
7:30pm AA (L)
6:30pm Worship w/
Communion (L)
20
21
*Men’s Bible Breakfast
12:10pm Lenten Worship
(L)
9:15am Worship (E)
3:30pm Lenten Worship
(E)
10:30am SS & Bible
Study €
4pm Trudeau/Sluss
Weddin g(L)
6:30pm Confirmation (L)
6:30pm New Member
Class (E)
22
8 & 10:45am Worship (L)
1&2 Grades sing at
10:45 Service
7pm Stephen Ministry
7pm AA Cantata (L)
7pm Lenten Worship (L)
7pm Choir (E)
23
24
25 LENT II
26
27
28
12:10pm Lenten Worship
(L)
SPECC—L Pictures
SPECC-L Pictures
9:30am Women’s
Ministry Event—Bobbin
Lace (L)
9:30am SS & Bible Study
(L)
1pm Second 50s (L)
*Men’s Bible Breakfast
3:30pm Lenten Worship
(E)
9:15am Worship (E)
10:30am SS & Bible
Study (E)
6:30pm New Member
6:30pm Worship (L)
6:30pm Confirmation (L)
7pm Elders Mtg (L)
7pm AA Cantata (L)
7pm Lenten Worship (L)
6:30pm Worship w/
Communion (L)
7pm Choir (E)
7:30pm AA (L)
*Men’s Bible Breakfast
6am @ Leo’s on Carpenter Rd
6:30am @ Classic Cup on Jackson Rd
the monthly UNITY