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June 2003 Newsletter
    
Deadline for Newsletter Articles for next month is the 15th of the month.
Email the Church Office or fax the office at 330-836-8872
Use Newsletter submission form here on the website or place in church office newsletter mail box.
A Vision of Youth Ministry
When children are baptized into our faith tradition, we make a promise before God to “place in their hands the Holy Scriptures and provide for their instruction into the Christian faith, that, living in the covenant of their Baptism and in communion with the Church, they may lead godly lives until the day of Jesus Christ” (LBW). I believe this vow demonstrates how vital it is for youth to be integrated into the life of the Church and how important the entire congregation is to the faith formation of your young people. This is why I believe the youth/family model to be the most appropriate program type for this church.
In the above-mentioned model, the youth group is simply part of youth ministry as a whole. While the youth group provides time for the youth to come together, the complete vision of youth/family ministry provides opportunities for quality interaction and bonding possibilities between young people and adults so that all people may feel that they are part of the body of Christ. Below, I have listed some steps we can take to create this type of congregational identity in terms of youth/adult relations.
- Create intergenerational activities. In the summer, I plan to get youth people and adults invilved in the building of a Habitat for Humanity House. Adults would not serve as chaperones; they would be working with the youth to accomplish a common goal.
- Youth attendance at worship. The Middle School Group (entering grades 7-8) will meet evey Sunday at 9:15 a.m. beginning in June. Every other Sunday we will attend worship together. Please make them feel welcomed.
- Youth service during worhsip. Youth will be responsible for reading and providing other services during worship on certain Sundays.
- Team of Adult Leaders. A team of adult leaders will be gathered to support the young people and the Youth Leader. The team leaders will attend monthly meetings and a non-mandatory class will be offered in the fall for their own spiritual/faith development. If you are interested in becoming a leader, please call the church with your inquiries.
- Confirmation Classes. Pastor Jean and I are working on ways to make Confirmation Class more real, experiential, and relevant for your youth while still providing youth with the same vital information gained in the previous classes.
- Sunday Morning Curriculum. The middle school youth will have a Sunday morning curriculum that will be decided upon by the adult leaders, Pastor, and Youth Leader. The hope is to make the program more organized and viable.
- High School Youth will be meeting during the fall on Sundays after the Light Service, and they will be involved with more intergenerational activities once a month along with activities associated with fellowship and service.
These are just a few ideas I have in order to build a youth/family ministry program. If you have any questions or if you would like to help, please call me. We have the opportunity to build the foundations of a strong youth ministry program which produces strong faith formation so that the youth may “grow in faith, love, and obedience to the will of God” (LBW).
In His Name,
Carrie Miller
Youth Leader
New Dimensions
New Dimensions: Growing In Discipleship Program Moves Forward
Thanks For Your Support
We are one step closer to beginning an exciting new ministry at Faith Lutheran Church following the generous response during May to the New Dimensions Program.
On May 18 gifts and pledges to the Program totalled approximately $52,500. The goal set for the Program was $64,000.
If you have not already done so, please JOIN in this exciting ministry! Pledge cards are available in the narthex or the church office. It’s never too late to make a pledge or give your gift.
The purpose of the program is to gain needed funding to hire a fulltime Minister of Christian Growth and Discipleship who will develop Small Group and Spiritual Gift Discernment programs in the congregation.
Given the positive response, the Church Council will move ahead with forming a Call Committee for the position and finalizing the job description. The Council has approved using funds from savings, if necessary, not to exceed the difference between the pledges/gifts and the program goal of $64,000. They also discussed making adjustments in program expenses. Please watch your Weekly Beacon for updates.
Chior Member Bio's
Geri Peterson
Singing was a way of life for Geri growing up in Minnesota with 11 siblings and 40+ cousins! Uncles played guitars and all sang along. Geri sang in choirs in church, grade school, high school and college. So coming to Faith in 1967 was choir time again and over the years many duets with Penny Thompson and Marilyn Wilson also were offered.
Geri has a BA in Education and an MA in Family Relations; so serving four years on Faith Church Council as Edication Director was also natural for her. It was a pleasure to teach classes in Sunday School and Vacation Church School over the years at Faith.
Professionally, Geri taught Grades 1 and 2, Preschool classes and at the University of Akron, Family Relations classes.
Geri and Ted have a son Todd in Engineering and a daughter Teri who is a Biologist with a pharmaceutical company.
In retirement, Geri’s hobbies are - in addition to singing - photography, reading, and the JOY of her life, three granddaughters Alex, Lauren and Casey who provide fun activities two and three times a week!
Rae Welker
Rae joined Faith in 1973 with her husband, Wayne. They have both been in the choir since that time.
Rae has been a Registered Nurse at Akron General Medical Center for the past 22 years. She currently works in the psychiatric unit as well as the post-partum unit.
Wayne and Rae have two daughters who have been life-long members of Faith. Kristen is currently living in Denver, Colorado and Allison lives in Newport Beach, California.
Rae has been involved in Community Volunteer work for many years. She currently serves as a CASA/Guardian ad Litem, advocating for abused or neglected children. She was a member of Witan, and very active in King, Litchfield and Firestone PTAs.
At Faith, Rae has participated with Vacation Bible School, assisted with the organization of past youth activities, and has been actively involved in the redecoration of the Choir Room/Bridal Room, Nursery and the Cradle Room.
Wayne Welker
Wayne met his wife, Rae, while singing in the high school choir together (both tenors) in New Castle, Pa.
After graduating as a Mechanical Engineer from Youngstown State University, Wayne and Rae moved to Akron and joined Faith Lutheran in 1973. Wayne has been a consulting engineer for 30 years and is currently employed as an engineer for Cleveland Mechanical Construction.
Wayne is currently involved as a member of various technical organizations. For many years he enjoyed participation as a manager and coach for WABL - girls’ softball with his daughters, Kristen and Allison.
In addition to singing in the Faith Choir since 1973, he has enjoyed singing with various community choirs. While at Faith, Wayne has served on the Remodeling and Renovation Committee, the Property Committee and the Stewardship Committee.
In addition to traveling with his wife, Rae, Wayne enjoys spending weekends at their cabin in the Allegheny Mountains in Pennsylvania.
Dictionary Project
Faith Participates in Dictionary Project
Receives Abundant Thanks
In 2002 Faith Lutheran Church participated in the West Akron Thanksgiving Service and, along with those individuals who attended worship, gave a gift to the 2003 Thanksgiving Project - the Dictionary Project. The offering provided 2,415 dictionaries for all third grade students in the district of the West Akron churches.
As a result, the church has received MANY hand-written thank-you letters from third graders who are students in a number of area schools. Here are a few examples, printed as they were written.
Dear Rev. Hansen,
Thank you so much for the Webster’s dictionaaries. They will be very useful for us, especially since we’re almost in the fourth grade. The class really does appreciate them including the parents. Even the book plates are a pleasure to use. We are glad that Faith Lutheran Church is nice enough to make us happy by giving us wonderful dictionaries and book plates. Thanks again.
Sincerely,
Katlin
Dear Rev. Hansen,
Thank you for the Webster’s Dictionary. We really appreciate what you and your church have done. Faith Lutheran Church is a nice church; I would love to go there. Thank you also for the book plates. I’m very grateful.
Sincerely,
Sierra
Dear Rev. Hansen,
Thank you for the dictionary. It has a lot of cool words. How many words did you put in there?
Sincerely,
Spencer
Dear Friends,
Thank you for the dictionary. I will have it in my desk all the time. I know how to spell Antarctica now. That was a nice thing to do. Thank you again.
Your friend,
Sedrick
Dear Rev. Jean Hansen,
Thank you and your religious organization members for giving the third graders at Essex School those dictionaries. I really appreciate it. The dictionary really is great. You people are very kind and generous people.
I hope one day that we might do the same thing for you. You’re really great and I hope you have a nice life. I hope to meet you people one day. You’re very excellent.
With Gratitude,
Ashanti
Dear Rev. Hansen,
Thank you for the books. That was very nice of you. Did you go to Crouse (Elementary) before? I am in third grade in Mr. Twigg’s class. Or, are you out of college?
Sincerely,
Candace
Dear Rev. Hansen,
Thank-you for the dictionary. You are very kind and I appreciate that. I like my dictionary and I studied it too. It is very long. I studied some of it - the A and B - some words. They are very hard to pronounce. But I did them anyway. Some are easy. I did the easy ones first. Then the hard ones. The dictionary helps me with spelling good words that I don’t know. When I finished using the book I put it in my backpack.
Sincerely,
Kyle
Golf Outing
JUNE 29th, 3:00 p.m.
PINE VALLEY GOLF COURSE
REIMER ROAD, WADSWORTH
Followed by supper at The home of Don and Elaine Johnson, 1390 Hametown Rd., Copley, Ohio, 330-666-6949
Sign up on Bulletin Board (opposite the Choir Room)
Future dates: July 27th, August 24th, September 21st
50th Anniversary
In 2005, Faith Lutheran Church will celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of our founding as a congregation. There are many stories of people and events from this first half century of Faith’s history that need to be told as we prepare to remember our past and pursue our vision of God’s purposes for us in the future. May I interest you in joining other members of the congregation as we collect these stories and share them with others?
I have some ideas that may be starting points for this undertaking. For instance, we will need to draw on the gifts and talents of many of us. I see the need for the following people: those who can research documents and interview early members of the church; those who enjoy writing biographies, histories, poems, captions, anecdotes. We‘ll need illustrators, artists, cartoon drawers, photographers, designers.
We will also need to consider how to present these stories: newsletter features, bulletin inserts, bulletin board displays, electronic displays via website, monographes, illustrated lecture via powerpoint, etc. etc. And, obviously, we’ll need to hear from members and former members who have stories to tell, whether they’re involved in the writing and presentation of the stories or not.
Are you interested in joining such an effort? As I think about it, I see it as a celebration of God’s good work among us during the years and as a rededication of ourselves to his service. Please let me know if you would like to be involved; you will be able to pick which part or parts of the effort you’d like to do, based on your interests, talents, and time available. Please contact me personally, by email (st@uakron.edu) or phone (330-666-5065). Our first meeting will be spent in brainstorming about Faith’s stories—how to collect them, how to present them. etc. I see that first meeeting occurring sometime in July.
Steve Thompson
(Early in 2004 an Anniversary Celebration Team will be formed to plan this significant event. Interested? Please contact Pastor Jean.)
Ohio Synod News
Northeastern Ohio Synod News Prayers Regarding ELCA Study on Sexuality
The 2001 ELCA Churchwide Assembly voted to direct the ELCA to develop a timeline for decision about blessing unions of same sex couples and the ordination of persons who are in committed same-sex relationships. A study on these topics is now in process. This vote and the study have stirred up a variety of feelings among many people.
Given the many emotions that the topic of sexuality calls forth, the Synod Council of the Northeastern Ohio Synod has scheduled six months of prayer regarding the study. Monthly prayer services will be held in each of the seven conferences of the Synod. These gatherings WILL NOT be discussion sessions but will be times of prayer for the church.
The sessions will be held in the Akron-Wooster Conference on:
- July 9, 7 p.m. - Bethany Lutheran Church, Akron
- August 6, 7 p.m. - Trinity Lutheran Church, Kent
- September 10, 7 p.m. - Salem Lutheran Church, Wooster
Anyone who is interested in joining this time of prayer is welcome to attend.
God's Call To Serve
Dear Lutheran Church Friends,
Are you ready for some summer fun? Enjoy a great day of golf, a delicious buffet dinner, and solcialize with many of the other Lutherans in our area, while supporting this Lutheran outreach ministry.
At. Luke is sponsoring our 6th Annual Benefit Golf Outing to support the St. Luke Foundation. All proceeds from this golf outing will be dedicated to the Annual Appeal, which provides the needed dollars for the St. Luke Foundation resident assistance program. The FOUNDATION, established in 1983, is spending over $10,000 a month providing financial support to residents who can no longer afford to pay for their own care and do not qualify for any type of funding. This situation has been increasing every year and we want to keep our promise to “be there” for all of those who need us.
The St. Luke Golf Outing will be held at Raintree Country Club on Wednesday, June 25, 2003 starting at 10 a.m. (registration begins at 9 a.m.) The event will feature a day of golf on the 18-hole championship golf course, lunch, Shoot-Out Challenge for 5 lucky people for $150,000 each and a buffet dinner in the dining room at the club. Raintree Country Club is located in Uniontown, Ohio just minutes from 1-77 and easily accessible from anywhere in the greater Akron-Canton area.
Thank you for your consideration and we pray that you will help us. I look forward to your support and participation in our 6th St. Luke Lutheran Community Benefit Golf Outing.
Be There “Fore” Us, Be There For Them!
Kenneth C. Sippola
St. Luke Foundation
Registration forms are available in the church office.
The Salvation Army
The annual local budget of the Salvation Army is 3 million dollars and 1/3 is raised by the Christmas kettles and mail outs. Another 1/3 comes from the United Way. The final amount is through donations, foundations, and government grants.
The history of the Salvation Army is interesting. In 1865, William Booth left the Methodist ministry to preach as an independent evangelist in the slums of London’s East End. Many converts were won, but they didn’t feel “at home” in churches, so Booth set up Christian Mission Centers. In 1878, Booth set up the soup, soap and salvation centers and adopted the name “The Salvation Army”:. This “army” was furnished with uniforms, a flag, a brass band, and music. It met in tents, theaters, dance halls and the outdoors. At first, the Army was persecuted by church people because it was so unconventional. Despite this persecution, the Army successfully attacked social ills - hunger, homelessness and poverty. Booth wrote a book called “In Darkest England and the Way Out,” which set a pattern for social welfare. He proposed to deal with social problems using totally private resources. In 1880, Commissioner George Scott Raiton and seven young women began work in New Youk City, helping the poor and combining Gospel preaching with social work. Army work soon began to spread rapidly around the world - to India, Australia, South America, Pakistan, and many European countries. By the early 1900’s, The Salvation Army had thousands of officers and soldiers in 36 countries. Many special services emerged, such as women’s social work (1884), the first food depot (1888), the first day nursery (1890), and the first Army missionary hospital (1901). During World War II, the Salvation Army opperated 3,000 service units for the armed forces...and led in the formation of the USO. Since World War II, the Army has continued its own worldwide program. Today, the Salvation Army continues to work where the need is the greatest motivated by its faith in God and its love for all people.
Norm and Judy Schmidt
Social Ministry Team
Attn: Soup Cooks
Many at Faith enjoyed the delicious soups that were prepared for the Lenten Soup Suppers and have expressed an interest in getting the recipes. If you were one of the cooks and are willing to share the recipe(s) you prepared, please give it (them) to Judy Lee in the church office. The recipes will be compiled and a mini soup recipe booklet will be printed. Thanks so much!
Thank you from Bill Pope
My thanks to those many adults and youngsters that participated with Clara’s Club meetings at our church services. I look forward to the next time (tentatively September 7, 2003) when we will have a new first grade Explorer’s Club class joining Clara’s Club with hopefully an adult guide for each of these youngsters. Sometime in August I will be calling adult church members to be “guides” for these children, asking the adults to meet with their child at least three Sunday worship services each year that the child is attending our Explorer’s Club classes. Please pray with me that there will be sufficient adults accepting this meaningful ministry.
Bill Pope
In Advance
Thank You In Advance For Your Summer Support!
We give thanks for the faithful giving of Faith members during the first quarter of 2003! Your support of the church’s ministry is APPRECIATED!
As summer approaches, and more and more folks are away on Sundays, the Finance Team encourages your continued financial support of our ministry ... and wants to make it easy.
Did you notice that in your envelope packet for April, May and June - that was mailed to your home at the end of March - there is an envelope that you can use to send your offering to the church?
It will be great to see you in worship this summer, but when you are unable to be here, it will be good to know you are remembering the church in your prayers and with your gifts!
In Our Prayers
Health Concerns
For Faith members Norma White, Pat Nelson, Karen Shepherd, and Kathy Zbinden
Special Prayers
For Faith member Audrea Woodall
For all military personnel who have been deployed to Iraq and surrounding areas, and for their families, especially Robert Deme, son of Denise (and Pat) Flanagan and Erica Kovach, daughter of Norma (and Barry) White.
In Times Of Loss:
For Chris, Anita and Alea Sears and family upon the death of Anita’s father Dr. Robert Ferris.
For Faith members Jim and Charlotte Horvath, and Laina Horvath, upon the death of father and husband Joseph Horvath on May 19.
Thanksgiving:
For all college graduates as they move forward in life, especially Jennifer Lee who was graduated from Ohio Weslyan University on Sunday May 11.
For the birth of Alexander Terence Shepherd, son of Faith members Myron and Karen Shepherd, on May 7. He weighed 7 pounds, 12 ounces and was 22 inches long. Grandparents are Terry and Judy Vernon and Betty Shepherd.
In Celebration
Because you have shared in their lives by your friendship and love, the children and grandchildren of Kenneth and Betty Sauer cordially invite you to a reception honoring their
50th Wedding Anniversary on Sunday, the twenty-ninth of June, two thousand and three
from two o’clock until five o’clock in the afternoon
The Blackwell
The Ohio State University
2110 Tuttle Park Place
Columbus, Ohio 43210
Please no gifts Your presence is gift enough. Anyone who would like to attend the Sauer’s anniversary celebration should RSVP in the church office by June 5. Directions are available in the church office.
Attention Youth Entering Grades 7-8
Come join the fun!
- Who: All youth entering grades 7-8
- What: Middle School Youth Group
- When: Sunday Mornings, 9:15 a.m. beginning June 1
- Where: Youth Room
- Why: Fun, Fellowship, Spiritual Growth and Worship
(The Group will attend 9:30 a.m. worship together every other week.)
Questions? Please contact Youth Leader Carrie Miller at the church.
Spotlight on Missions
On June 1, as we celebrate the Ascension of Our Lord we also will focus on Global Mis sions. Did you know that our congregation supports ministries beyond the United States in several ways? They are:
A portion of our yearly mission support (benevolence) gifts supports the world-wide ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
We are partners in the Kenya Mission supporting Pastor Bob and Denise Schmalzles with a monthly gift of $50. The Schmalzles have been in Kenya for seven years. They work with the Uhuru Highway Lutheran Church in Nairobi where Bob is a pastor and Denise is a nurse. If you would like to make a special gift to the Schmalzles, please put it in a separate envelope marked “Kenya Mission”.
In your offering envelopes there is a quarterly envelope for the ELCA World Hunger Appeal. These gifts support the Appeal’s key partner, Lutheran World Relief in relief efforts for people whose lives have been touched my natural disasters, famine and war. Please do not overlook these envelopes!
The Heifer Project International is a project of the Explorers Club. This project helps struggling families to become self-reliant by providing food-and-income-producing animals and training in their care. The children and youth of our congregation are working toward buying an Ark which will provide 14 different pairs or flocks of animals to those in need. During the past nine months they have earned $2400 toward the goal of $5000.
The Women of the ELCA (WELCA) group supports various projects that promote the healing of the world including assembling health kits for Lutheran World Relief and financially supporting the World Hunger and Stand With Africa appeals .
WE ARE INVESTIGATING ONE MORE AVENUE OF MINISTRY! Lutheran World Relief has several “fair trade solution” projects, including the LWR Coffee Project. The goal of the project is to pay a fair price for coffee produced by small scale farmers in developing countries so that their lives may be improved. The coffee is purchased in bulk by congregations for its own use or to sell to members. Look for more information about this in the weeks to come.
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