August 2005 Voice
The Voice(Newsletter of Trinity Lutheran Church)
August 2005
READERS & GREETERS & SERVERS - AUGUST
See the schedule and instructions posted on the Sacristy door.
Contact the church office if you need to know when you are scheduled (226-8087).
ALTAR GUILD - Wendy King
NEWS and DATES TO NOTE
* Habitat for Humanity - Dates open to serve lunch: August 13, 20, 27. If anyone would like to help with this please call Lois Minut, 440-826-0240 or Bev Hughes, 440-234-9347. (website: mhccucc.org/habitat work schedule.htm )
* The following dates have been chosen for Visitor Training and going into the neighborhood to meet our neighbors (these dates are all Saturdays at 1 PM at the church): August 20, September 17, October 15, November 12, and December 10. If you would like to go out on your own, please get materials and coordinate with Bruce Tillberg, 216-252-5828, or b_tillberg@hotmail.com.
ALTAR FLOWERS FOR 2005
The flower chart for 2005 is posted next to the church office door. Please note that beginning in 2005, altar flowers are to be paid for when they are ordered. Payment has to be recorded by the office before the order will be placed with the florist. If you would like to provide or make the arrangement(s) yourself rather than use the church's florist, please do so (let the church office know this). If you want a different style arrangement for your chosen Sunday(s), contact Brown-Pleasance (216-226-7850) directly (let the church office know this).
VOICE Information: Issues of the Voice are emailed to those for whom we have an email address. This saves on postage and printing supplies. If you have not supplied an email address and would like to receive the Voice electronically, please contact the church office or send your email address to trinity_44107@sbcglobal.net. Issues of the Voice and weekly bulletins are also posted at Trinity's website. Print issues of the Voice continue to be mailed to those for whom email is not available or where print is their preference.
THRIVENT NEWS
Trinity`s Thrivent "Walk for Hunger", held May 7, 2005, raised $741 in pledges from congregational members and other friends. Thrivent added $370 for a total of $1,111. Thank you Trinity walkers Sue Jarvela, Kristen Reading, Suzanne Quintero, Kate George and friends Sandy Millman and Emily Giberson for a job well done.
CHRISTIAN EDUCATION
Thank you to everyone who made Peace Camp such a success! Thanks especially to Wendy Robar and Haylee Schwenk and all of our friends from Faith Lutheran and LOMO. We had a great week! Also thanks to everyone who contributed rocks and plastic lids for our crafts. There was a record 55 campers in attendance! Pictures will be posted on the hallway bulletin board soon.
Remember to bring your backpacks filled with school supplies to church on August 21st for blessing. We will distribute them through the schools or LCSC to needy families in Lakewood. Thank you in advance for your willingness and generosity. If you did not receive a backpack to fill and would like to participate, please feel free to bring one of your own or even just school supplies. Remember to include receipts and an estimate of time spent for giving records and Thrivent volunteer hours! Thanks again from the Sunday School and the Christian Education Committee.
LUTHERANS CONCERNED CORNER
Meetings during the summer have been adjusted as follows:
* Friday, Aug. 26th: We will Picnic at 7:00 pm in the court yard with discussion of CWA decisions while eating; Eucharist follows this evening.
* Friday, September 23rd: Regular meetings resume: Potluck dinner at 7:00 pm, Topic at 7:45 pm; and Eucharist at @ 9:00 pm. Topic under negotiation at this time.
All meetings are at Hope Lutheran, 2222 N. Taylor Road, Cleveland Hts. Check out the LC/Cleveland News available at Hope and Trinity Lutheran Churches for additional information; or e-mail deniseleslie@core.com for an e-mail copy of your own.
THANK YOU
Thank you to all of our Trinity family for your prayers, cards, and thoughtfulness at the death of our beloved Granny (Steve's mom). She is at Home with Jesus now, but she always enjoyed our church home when she visited here. You are a blessing to us! The Fesko's.
NEWS FROM THE PEWS
Our sympathy is extended to Sarah Henderson at the sudden death of her brother, Jeff (age 57) in late June.
Deepest sympathy is also extended to the Fesko family at the death of Steve's mother, Beryl, on July 10th.
Gretchen Norman has joined a Lutheran church in the greater Cincinnati area.
Vivian Dick is recuperating at EnnisCourt (corner Detroit and Nicholson).
Bea Hallstrom is spending some time in the skilled nursing facility located at Lakewood Hospital.
Michelle Killin-Keith (and Larry Keith) have a new son, Carter Lawrence, born July 10th. Michelle is the program director at the Chat Room.
Lisa Paul is our new sister in Christ through baptism. She was baptized on July 17th at Trinity.
David Sierk & Lisa Paul were married on July 30th at Trinity.
Brenda Irwin and Tom Sheehan will be married at Trinity on September 10th.
A son of our congregation, Pastor Don Clinton, has met a daughter of our congregation, Elizabeth Rawlings, in the Seattle area where both reside! Stranger than fact: Pastor Clinton was a mission developer years ago in starting the congregation Elizabeth is currently serving as youth director!
Trinity Fact:
All weddings at which Pastor has presided/is presiding this year are with couples older than 30...a number of whom have never been married!
Church Finances as of 6/30/2005
Actual Budgeted Needed to balance 2005
Income $69,117 $70,140 $75,132
Expenses $63,996 $69.698
Cash available is a negative $5,440 as of the end of June. Income figures reflect the upfront payment of insurance by and transfer of funds from the Expansion Property to the operations budget in January. Contact the church office with any questions (226-8087).
Contribution statements for the first 6 months are available. They have been either e-mailed to those for whom we have a valid email address, or a paper copy is available for you to pick up in the narthex. Please let the office know of any corrections and/or to provide an email address.
GREETINGS FORM YOUR PARISH NURSE: -Happy American Family Day!
American Family Day is celebrated on the first Sunday in August. Today I would like to share an excerpt from a Newsletter written on family life from, "Seasons of Wholeness", a book compiled of many newsletter ideas for Parish Nurses. Throughout the month I would like to share other concepts regarding the family and the idea of family systems. Stay tuned! We will all learn together what the "experts" have to say about families!
"It seems to me that August is a good time to take a few minutes, and reflect on the values and blessings of a family life. "God sets the lonely in families..." Psalm 68:6. How empty our lives would be without the blessings of our families! I hope that during this month, you are able to enjoy some special time with your loved ones.
How can a healthy family be described?
In order for families to be healthy, the members need a strong commitment to each other. This includes both adults and children. Without this commitment, the family cannot serve as a refuge that God intended it to be. "My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest." Isaiah 32:18. One of the most beautiful accounts of family commitment recorded the Bible is found in Ruth 1:1-22. This passage, which is often read at weddings, describes the loyalty and love of Ruth for her mother-in-law, Naomi.
Families also need to relate to one another on an intimate level. God has intended for many of our personal and emotional needs to be met in families. It is not always easy to share ourselves intimately with our family. Yet, when it seems the most difficult, or involves taking real risks, this may be when it is most important. We need the Lord's help to share unconditional love with one another.
Families also need a sense of identity. This includes both their role in the family, as well as the family as a whole. The Bible provides direction for the role of the children; "Honor your father and mother..." (Exodus 20:12), and of parents, "Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord" (Ephesians 6:4). Parents and children need to feel that they are both an essential part of the family as a whole.
May you be blessed and affirmed!" Thank you for allowing me to share this article with you. Please stay tuned for other information on family life. See you in the bulletin.
God's peace and love,
Kathy
SUPPORTING THOSE WHO SERVE
Are you wondering how you can support our troops? One way is to simply send a letter. The service project of the students of Lutheran High School of Orange, CA, has grown into a powerful tool for thanking those who serve, called "A Million Thanks". The website is found at http://www.amillionthanks.org/ . All of the instructions are there.
Go ahead, write a letter!!
UPCOMING DATES AND ACTIVITIES AT TRINITY:
First Week in August:
Aug. 1 Community Meal 5:30 p.m.
Men's Club 6:45 p.m.
Aug. 2 Christian Education Committee 10:00 a.m.
Second Week in August:
Aug. 7 Sunday Morning Worship 9:30 a.m.
Summer Servers: B. Hendrick, the Long family
Aug. 8 Worship Committee 7:00 p.m.
Third Week in August:
Aug. 14 Sunday Morning Worship, Laying on of Hands for Healing 9:30 a.m.
Summer Servers: B. Irwin, the Vincenty family
Aug. 15 Thrivent Congregational Coordinators 7:00 p.m.
Aug. 16 Witness Committee 7:00 p.m.
Aug. 17 Finance Committee 6:30 p.m.
Church Council 7:30 p.m.
Aug. 20 Neighborhood Visits 1:00 p.m.
Fourth Week in August:
Aug. 21 Sunday Morning Worship 9:30 a.m.
Please return filled backpacks so they may be blessed during worship.
Summer Servers: M. Johnson, the Pearlman family
Aug. 27 Adventures in Dining hosted by the Aldrich Family 6:30 p.m.
Fifth Week in August:
Aug. 28 Sunday Morning Worship 9:30 a.m.
Summer Servers: the Korman, Weinmann and Link/Wacker families
Aug. 29 Service Committee 7:00 p.m.
BIRTHDAYS
(Remember these "children of God" in your prayers!)
AUGUST
Billow, Allister 08/02
Hacker, Jeanne 08/03
Pearlman, Elizabeth 08/04
Pearlman, Emily 08/04
Shaw, Marianne 08/07
Dadante, Sandy 08/11
Connor, Brenna Maeder 08/12
Fesko, Judy 08/13
Dorin, Audrey 08/13
Weinmann, Ruthanne 08/13
Hallstrom, Mauri 08/15
Doi, Marissa 08/18
Usis, David 08/24
Aldrich, Cathy 08/27
Flaugher, Rebecca 08/31
Pastor's Pen
Hi, friends, I'm going to just write some of my thoughts here from the air conditioned office of our church building. Hope you can identify. Let me know. Pastor Paula
So summer. SOOOOOOO summer! The heat wave and long stretches between rains seem to be part of our reality of crankiness, perspiration, mugginess, and general malaise. Saw some corn in the field Monday. Looked pitiful. Wonder how the farmers will fare and what prices for fall crops will be.
Hurricanes are lashing some areas. Terrorists are making people afraid and fearful. Internet warnings and scams and fear are spread daily. Our war in Iraq continues. People are deployed daily. Bodies are counted. Terrorists bring the war to our living rooms and also to Londoners' and Egyptian's doorsteps.
So, summer. SOOOOOOO summer.
It's amazing that we celebrate life anyway, isn't it? My prayers are so heated! The sand of the beach and the exhausting heat may give us a bit of some truth of our military. I am angry at God for allowing warring to continue. Terrorists bring the war to our living rooms those of Londoners and Egyptian doorsteps. I am hot under the collar knowing life continues to be tougher for those living on the streets. I lament and am boiling mad that justice never seems to come. Oh, Lord, how long?
Dollars are short. I watched the Today Show this morning and they were lauding "An American Story"...about one man, a retired minister, who is trying to save an island in some sound out by Maine. Seems he grew up there or vacationed there as a child. Rains, nature, years have made the island smaller and smaller. He's spent more than $120,000 of his own money hauling 100# stones, concrete, to shore up the only house left. He visits a grave of a little girl from the1800's whose inscription reads "Remember Me". He can't not do this remembering.
My rant: Hey, remember the kids living now!. Hey, put your love and energy and life savings into life! Didn't Jesus say something about letting the dead bury their dead? Hey, Today Show, don't continue to laud this rugged individualism pride...one person, one island. Yes, Jesus said the poor would always be with us. But we could do a lot of good with $120,000! That would grubstake the Chat Room for 6 years .or more! We could build teen programming. We could secure a future for teens of the future. Hey, we could stabilize a lot of life!
OK, rant over....I'm off to visit one of our shut ins and get an ice cream. Lucky me, I can do that. Maybe you'll see me on the Today Show. Watch out.
If you have anything you would like to include in an issue, send it to me at mclong53@adelphia.net or leave it in The Voice mailbox in the church office by the 15th of each month.
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