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October 2007 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.
2bTransformed Capital Campaign
DEVOTIONAL BOOKS will be available Sunday, October 7 at both worship services.
Written by members of Faith and compiled by the Spiritual Life Team, these devotions are to be read every day throughout the campaign to help us seek the wisdom of scripture as we discern our giving to the building project. May God bless your reading and praying!
October 14 - Celebrate Ministries
Mission Fair and Reception in the Fellowship Hall following both services. Worship will be in the sanctuary at 9:15 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.
October 28 Commitment Sunday
2b Transformed Capital Campaign and Annual Stewardship Program Please bring BOTH commitment cards to worship, or come prepared to complete them during the service. The cards will be brought forward as an act of worship at both services.
“Prayerfire”
Please Join Us! (the eve of Commitment Sunday) The Spiritual Life Team for the capital campaign is taking seriously our commission to surround this entire venture in prayer.
While we readily admit that we do not understand the mysteries of prayer, we know that prayer works and that we want God to pour blessings upon the expansion of our ministries.
We have a very special event planned for October 27. That evening, we invite and encourage all of you to bring your families, a lawn chair, blanket, perhaps a Bible and flashlight and join us at our very special “prayerfire.” at the site of the new “Gathering Space”.
The evening will begin at 6:30 p.m. There will be times of prayer, conversation, entertainment, and of course yummy refreshments! We will pray all evening and end at 12:30 a.m. the morning that our pledges will be received.
This will be a comfortable, non-threatening evening focusing on God’s goodness and our response to that goodness. Join us for an hour or join us for the entire time, but please join us!
Stephen Ministry Update
Our group of Stephen Minister Trainees are nearing the end of the 50 hour journey that they have undertaken to become trained as caring listeners. They have proven to be dedicated, hard-working, and willing to learn. On Sunday, November 18 we will commission these fine people to begin their special caring ministry as Stephen Ministers. Soon we will be looking for people for whom we can care. So if you or someone you love might be interested in having a Stephen Minister, please contact Pastor Jean or Carolyn Wagar Hier soon.
Stephen Ministers can help in times of: Job loss, Relationship struggles, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Family conflict, Many other stresses of life.
Remember, Stephen Ministers are not counselors, errand-runners, or pastors but they are trained to listen compassionately and share the love of Jesus with others.
The evening will begin at 6:30 p.m. There will be times of prayer, conversation, entertainment, and of course yummy refreshments! We will pray all evening and end at 12:30 a.m. the morning that our pledges will be received.
Women’s Retreat
At this printing, there are still four spaces available at our Autumn Women’s Retreat which is called Walking the Walk: Living our lives as Christ Followers. The retreat is taking place in the beautiful new adult lodge at Camp Mowana near Mansfield. It is October 12 and 13 from 5:00 p.m. Friday through 3:30 p.m. Saturday. Cost is $82 which includes meals, room, and retreat materials. Call or email Carolyn right away if you can join us! cjwaggs@aol.com
Faith Kids
Please take a moment to thank our 2007-2008 FaithKids Leaders for their dedication and commitment to the children at Faith Lutheran Church! FaithKids Sunday School Leaders at 9:15a.m. Preschool 3’s & 4’s Leaders Cindy Boswell, Kim Kennedy; Pre-K & Kindergarten Leader Beth Cook, Grades 1 & 2 Leader - Lisa Bryson; Grades 3 & 4 Leaders - Wendy Roddy, Cathleen White; Grades 5 & 6 Leaders - Debbie Gottas, Pat Mihelis; Terry Vernon
Youth Helpers - Melissa Boswell, Jayme Bryson, Jillian Bryson, Chelsea Kennedy, Andrew Knops, Bobby Redd
FaithKids Children's Church Leaders at 10:30a.m. -
Pat Gsellman, Mary Gsellman, Barb Nonno, Karen Skerlong, Linda Weidrick, Barry White, Norma White Music Leader - Bob Hartz
Youth Group
October is going to be exciting! We will be in the midst of our Capital Funding Campaign and there are many activities to look forward to.
A few reminders: All youth: Give us your schedules! We’d like to put up a bulletin board with your activities, so let us know what you are involved in. Leave information in our box or you can email us with who, what, where, when, and if there is a cost.
All high school youth are invited to join us on the 1st and 3rd Sundays of each month for Sunday class discussion. This is led by Lucius and Janice, and is at 9:15.am. Then you are welcome to join us for worship at the contemporary service! We are also starting a youth group for grades 9-12 on Sundays from 4-6pm at the church. Bring a friend! Middle school youth remember your acolyte schedules!! If you switch with someone please let us know when and with whom you are switching!
Scrap Metal! - The youth group plans on hosting a continuing scrap metal drive! All contributions are welcome, and will help to fund youth activities as well as future mission trips. Everything from beverage cans to old (nonfunctioning) dishwashers can be scrapped, so let us take your extra metal. Cans may be brought to the Church and left in the recycling container next to the vending machine. If you would like to donate anything heavier or bulky please contact Janice and Lucius Wedge (330-836-2873) and we will make arrangements to move the items. Thanks so much!
Drink Coke? - Do you drink Coke products? Do you just throw away the caps and box tops without a second thought? If you answered yes to either of these questions we could use your help. We are collecting the codes for Coke products found on the caps and box tops for the youth! We’ll see if a collected effort can result in something fun! If you’d like to contribute codes you can just leave them in our box or email us!
Flu Shots - Offered on November 4
Once again this year Sandrun Pharmacy will offer a flu vaccine clinic at the church. The vaccine will be given from 10:15 a.m. to Noon on Sunday, November 4 in the Youth Room. The cost is $30, although the shot is covered by Medicare Part B, Summa Card and Medicare HMO’s.
Outreach through Tutoring
A NEW opportunity to reach out to the community is before us! Resnik Community Learning Center (formerly Fairlawn Elementary School) is looking for tutors to help improve reading skills of their kindergarten through 5th grade students. Tutoring would be during school hours at Resnik. A short training session is required, as well as a background check. If you are interested in learning more about this outreach ministry to children, please contact Penny Thompson at 330-666-5065 or Melissa Johnson at 330-334-7080. Let us reach out to children because Jesus reached out to children!
Thank You
Special thanks to John Weisend for sharing his faith and passion for God’s creation in the Adult Sunday School class in September. We learned about global warming from watching excerpts of “An Inconvenient Truth,” and we shared in discussion on practical advice about caring for our good earth. John distributed reusable grocery bags and compact fluorescent lights to all who attended, to help get us started saving energy and preserving our natural resources. Handouts on what you can do to make a difference were also available. We continue to brainstorm ways to cut back and tend for this beautiful earth that God so graciously provided for us.
Reclaiming Your Missionary Zeal
Don’t go to church, be the church! This was the essence of an evangelism seminar title “Reclaiming Your Missionary Zeal” at St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church in Stow that a handful of staff and members of Faith attended last month. The Rev. David Daubert, Executive for Renewal of Congregations, Division of Outreach, ELCA, explained that, as Lutherans, we need to rethink evangelism. We are called to evangelize for the sake of the neighbor, not for the sake of the survival of the church, increasing attendance, etc.
Martin Luther, in his explanation of the Lord’s Prayer, essentially said we need to remember that God’s kingdom is coming, whether or not we pray for it. God has already made that promise and set in motion for his kingdom to come. When we pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” we should be praying that we join in the bringing about of this kingdom.
Some of the key points gleaned from the seminar include: We need to have a heart for what God has a heart for – loving his children. Place has everything to do with engaging guests, but the people there have everything to do with why the guests choose to return. Our church building needs to be viewed as “home base” for our mission work. In order to believe in the Good News that we offer to the world, people need to TRUST you. Building up that trust is a huge part of evangelism and needs to be taken seriously. This will take time and requires patience, commitment and persistence without immediate results. “Lay-preaching” is one or two sentences at the water cooler. There is no prep time. Lay people need a reservoir of faith-talk. The church needs to get people to feel comfortable talking about their faith.
Characteristics of a Growing Congregation in the ELCA: Sense of Purpose, Willingness to Change, Leadership (both laity & clergy working together as leaders), Ministry is done by all believers
Applied Christianity: Love
In a song the boy Oliver asks, “Where is love? Does it fall from skies above?” Here on earth, where do we learn how to love and be loved? On Sunday, October 21,at 9:15 a.m. in the Fellowship Hall, Michael Sayre will begin another Applied Christianity adult education class. This time, however, it will be on learning how to love and be loved. Different from before, it will be a discussion/insight/discussion format. This discussion will extend, with a few exceptions, through every Sunday until just before Memorial Day weekend. Michael will be drawing from materials he is using to write his first book which is about love.
The Beloved of Heaven put in every human heart the desire to love and be loved. This desire is a kind of “hook”, like on a shepherd’s staff, which ever so surely pulls us from our lostness back toward the fold. As Christians we know who the shepherd is. As children of God, however, we are free to choose holding on to our illusions and keep ourselves lingering in lostness. When, however, the desire for love in our hearts meets up with Christ’s love, we are asked to choose the way of love as a way of life. This process beckons, encourages, nudges, coaxes, begs, pesters and even sometimes badgers us to answer every situation in life with real love. Christ’s love bids us to first enter by the “narrow gate”, forgiving and loving ourselves and our neighbor. He asks us to be transformed and then “feed his sheep”.
So how do we “cook up” real love? This is a class about learning how to “cook up” love for lunches shared with persons you know and meet – lunches that are made with the leavened Bread of Heaven, the “bread” of love. Come join us and be fed with this bread as well.
Purchase “Divine Chocolate” In November
Consuming chocolate means to us a delectable mouth watering confection that makes us feel wonderful and satisfied. A good chocolate goes a long way.
Divine Chocolate means Fair Trade cocoa farmers in Kuajaper Kohoo in Ghana are being helped by Lutheran World Relief to bring this confection to the world. The purchase of Divine Chocolate implements community projects, funds schools and provides mobile medical clinics in Ghana.
Buy a chocolate bar, but order more from the Women of the ELCA who will be available at the Rummage Sale in November and for the three Sundays in November. Pay $1, but order forms will be available.
WELCA
Join with the Faith women as we celebrate 20 years of commitment to the Women of the ELCA! The celebration begins at 10 a.m., October 10, in the Fellowship Hall.
Jean Butler will lead our devotions. Marlene Unger will remind us of the many blessings received throughout the 20 years. Vee Robinson will serve birthday cake to conclude the celebration.
October is our Thankoffering month. That offering is our contribution to the Women of the ELCA annual gift to the ELCA. This is our bold action “to support one another in our callings and to promote healing and wholeness in the church, the society and the world.”
Upcoming dates to remember: October 19-20 Northeastern Ohio Synodical Women’s Biennial Convention; November 14 Tour of the Akron Art Museum; December 12 Faith Bell Choir Concert
Our program for September was a most informative, extensive and interesting tour of OPEN M. The facility includes a chapel, gym, classrooms, pharmacy, doctors offices, examining room, as well as shelves of food in the food pantry. It is an amazing operation and we are fortunate to be one of the 70 churches that gives support.
Annual Soup SupperBenefit
Friday, October 19, 2007 - 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. All proceeds will benefit OPEN M and Habitat for Humanity Tickets on sale now! Adults $5.00, Children $3.00 Enjoy a variety of delicious soups and vote for your 3 favorites. Prizes awarded! Scrumptious desserts and beverages included.
Football game that night? Come early and enjoy before you head out to the game.
Lutheran A Cappella Choir
The Cleveland Lutheran A Cappella Choir presents Paul Gerhardt Hymn Festival.
Commemorating the work of Paul Gerhardt (1607-1676), the man widely regarded as one of the best devotional poets in the Lutheran tradition. Sunday, October 21, 4 p.m. - Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd 8235 Memphis Avenue Brooklyn OH Free will offering in support of the choir. If you have any questions, please contact the choir at one of the email addresses below. clac-choir@sbcglobal.net or lkempke@gmail.com
Use Your Gifts Boldly
NEOSWO Biennial Convention - October 19-20, 2007
Kent State University Park Professional Education and Conference Center North Canton, OH (near Belden Village)
Scheduled Speakers, Events and Awareness Sessions Friday Bishop Elizabeth Eaton, Banquet Keynote Speaker Prayer Walk, self guided Service Project, hands on for everyone Augsburg mini bookstore featuring WELCA and devotional items Serve offers fair trade items from around the world Saturday Reverand Jim Kulma, Biblical Storyteller, Bible Leader Prayer Walk, self guided Augsburg and Serve Awareness Sessions: Reverand Stephen Patrick and Musician Joanna Pretz Anderson, Hymn Sing and Introduction to ELW Hymnal Becky Johnson and Debbie Hoffman, visiting nurses who recently returned from the Dominican Republic Churchwide Representative who will speak on using our gifts boldly
Attention Faith Members: A USE YOUR GIFTS BOLDLY opportunity is available for your giving to the IN-KIND gifts for the Stark County Hunger Task Force. Thanksgiving Dinner Items Boxes of stuffing mix, Boxes of instant potatoes, Packets of gravy, Cans of: Sweet potatoes, Cranberry Sauce, Applesauce (please no jars), Pumpkin, Evaporated milk, Your gifts of food supplies may be left in the labeled box in the church kitchen.
PrayerFire!
Spiritual Life Prayer Vigil Saturday, October 27, 2007 (the eve of Commitment Sunday) 6:30 p.m. to 12:30a.m. The site of the “New” Gathering Space of Faith Lutheran Church Bring: Lawn Chairs, Coats, Blankets, Bible, and Flashlight
CLN Committee Halloween Outreach:
"Trunk or Treat" Wednesday, October 31 6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Faith Lutheran Church will be having an event that we have heard is a great success. During TRUNK OR TREAT members of our church bring their cars and line them up in the parking lot with the trunks open and decorated with a nice fall theme (avoiding the supernatural or grotesque). The bottom of your trunk is filled with candy. Children who come to the parking lot get to move from car to car, collecting treats and having a great time seeing the themes and costumed characters! Children are in a safe atmosphere enjoying the fun. It's a great time and we hope that you will participate. All children of Faith are invited to attend, as well as the children enrolled in Faith Lutheran Preschool. Look for more information in the Sunday bulletin as we get closer to the event.
Hymnfest Returns In November
Northeast Ohio’s Lutheran musical event returns on Sunday, November 4 at 7 p.m. at Severance Hall. Join with more than 1,000 area Christians for an evening of fellowship, song, and faith. Special music provided by the Chapel Choir of Wittenburg University under the direction of Dr. Donald Busarow.
Kurt and I have attended this several times and have always had a great evening. We plan to go this year and would love to see you there.
The theme for HymnFest is “Sing With All the Company of Heaven.” Tickets are $15 per person and may be purchased at Severance Hall or by calling 216-231-1111 or 1-800-686-1141. The event is coordinated by Building Hope in the City to benefit urban mission and ministry. Carolyn Wagar Hier
Tinsel and Tea
Luncheon - December 8 - 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. All Women of Faith and Young Ladies(12 or older) - mark your calendar to attend this festive occasion and enjoy the beautifully decorated tables and catered luncheon. Bring a wrapped ornament for gift exchange (this is optional). Cost is $10 per person. If you would like to provide a decorated table, please call Lois Chaffee
Sign up sheets will be available in November.
Rummage Sale
16th Annual! - Faith Lutheran Rummage Sale “Operation Outreach” - Friday, November 2, 2007 Saturday, November 3, 2007
Biggest fellowship event of the year – over 100 Faith volunteers Enormous outreach program - local, regional, and global ministries $66,000 has benefited numerous ministries over the past 14 years! Friday, November 2, 6 p.m. – 8 p.m. Faith member Early Bird Sale, Silent Auction and Supper Please join us to support Operation Outreach
Saturday, November 3, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. Rummage Sale We need clean, useable, saleable treasures. Please wash clothing.
Tuesday, October 30 - Begin dropping off items from 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. to the Market St. side of the Fellowship Hall. Do not leave items at the outside doors. * Please note: No items will be accepted after 10 a.m. on Friday, November 2. Wednesday, October 31 Set-up is 9 a.m.–11 a.m. & sorting is 6 p.m. – 9 p.m. Thursday, November 1 Sorting is 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Friday, November 2 Sorting is 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. No sale items after 10 a.m. Faith Member Early Bird Sale, Silent Auction and Supper from 6 p.m.-9 p.m. SATURDAY, November 3 Rummage Sale is 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.; volunteers are needed from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Questions? Call Judy Vernon at 330-659-6325.
In Our Prayers:
Health Concerns: Faith member Nancy Chrisman, Faith member Maxine Heldridge, Faith member Mollie Wright,
Special Prayers: For all who are serving in the military, particularly those who are in the midst of conflict, that they would sense God’s presence. And that peace may prevail in our hearts and in the world, particularly in Iraq and all places where people are suffering due to war and violence., For Faith Lutheran Church as we embark on the 2b Transformed Capital Campaign, that the power, presence and promises of God would guide each person to gather and grow disciples for mission.
In Time of Loss:For Faith members Steve and Penny Thompson, and family, upon the death of Penny’s mother on August 28, that they may be comforted., For Faith member Bob Williamson, and family, upon the death of his wife Gwen on, September 11, that they may be comforted. , For the Michael family upon the death Charlie’s father, Fred Michael, on September 23, that they may be comforted. Helen, Zach and Arrilla Michael are Faith members.
In Thanksgiving: With Faith members Scott and Kim Felten upon the birth of their son, Alexander James, on September 1. He weighed 6 pounds, 8 ounces.; For the baptism of Benjamin Lee Palmer, son of Faith members Steven and Beth Palmer, on September 9.; For the baptism of Elvis Robert Arvay, son of Faith members Jeff Arvay and Heidi Jaccaud, on September 30.
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