August 2007
A Message from
Pastor Kriesel
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the
breaking of bread and the prayers.
Acts 2:42
Dear Friends,
Every Sunday
we gather together and listen to the Word. We pray together, and we commune
together. And that seems pretty consistent with what we are told that early
Christians did. It seems consistent with one exception: they engaged in this
kind of activity more than once a week. Verse 46 of the same chapter in Acts
gives us some more detail about the early Christians’ life together.
Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at
home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having
the goodwill of all the people.
The Word can
be shared in more than one setting. It can be shared more than once a week. Why
do this? Because, as we can see from the picture we have of Christians in the
book of Acts, such sharing strengthens the fellowship. It increases the
gratitude of God’s people. And, it can do this for us too. Reading and studying
the Word together, sharing fellowship, and praying together strengthens our
faith and our faith community.
These words
are my way of sharing with you an invitation to join together in Bible study and
prayer. Beginning on Wednesday, September 5th, you are invited to come and join
with your fellow Christians for Bible study and prayer. This will be a weekly
gathering in which we can share and try to discern how God is speaking to us
through scripture in our lives and in the life of our congregation. We will take
time to pray together and just be together. Extensive knowledge of the Bible is
not a prerequisite for this activity. Nor is advance weekly preparation. All
that is needed is a desire to spend some time with fellow children of God and
God’s Word.
We will begin
at 7pm. We will spend about 90 minutes together each Wednesday evening. You may
bring a Bible. Any translation will do. We also have many Bibles here at church
in case you forget. There have already been some who have expressed interest in
such a group. Please consider coming and joining us. We hope to see you here at
Our Redeemer on Wednesday, September 5th, and weekly thereafter.
See you at
worship.
Love,
It’s a wrap, folks. Thanks!
A
summer of new friends, new experiences, new goals...
Looking back upon a successful summer program, I would like to extend a sincere
Thank You to the congregation of Our Redeemer, our other church partners, and individually to all the
volunteers who helped Son Seekers run smoothly.
The summer was packed with fun activities and field trips. Campers participated
in arts and crafts and a computer class every week. They sharpened their skills
in reading/writing, math, history, and science too--you should have been here
for the egg drop and rocket experiments! In their computer class the children
talked about and researched careers and plans for their future. This discussion
was continued in their groups as the campers discussed the characteristics and
values which will help to make them successful as they grow up.
I am extremely thankful to have been given the opportunity to play such an
important role in this worthwhile program. The opportunities and experiences
which Son Seekers offers to this community are vital, and I am both glad and
proud to have been a part of it for so long.
Again,
thank you
to all the kind and generous people who have given this program so much, both in
time and financial or material aid. Your gifts are appreciated so very much by
so very many.
God bless,
Leigh Hendrix
2007 Camp Director
Are
you ready for some fun?
Check the oil
and tires on ol’ Bessie, fill up the gas tank, select a navigator, and gather in
the church parking lot
Sunday, August 26th.
We’ll head out after the fellowship lunch that follows worship for the
2007 Redeemer Road Rally,
surprise destination for you to find as you follow the instructions provided!
We’ll head out regardless of the temperature or precipitation, so plan
accordingly!
This event
includes a bit of a scavenger hunt, so it’s best handled by teams of at least
two per vehicle. So, if you don’t want to drive, you can still be a part of the
adventure. We’ll have a sheet at church to help folks combine into teams.
The route
will be scenic and interesting, you’ll get to seek out unusual things along the
way, and we’ll have time for exchanging stories over a provided snack at the
final destination. This is not a timed event but we will have some prizes. We
will even help with directions to head you home afterward if needed.
So plan now
for a fun day and sign up in the church entryway. Please do sign up in advance
so there’s enough lunch for everyone! Entry fee of $10/team will buy our film,
prizes and snack, with extra funds going to the Jump Start after school program.
From the Parish Developer’s desk...
Dear Friends,
I just
returned from Chicago along with Pastor and Sally Spiers for a five day summer
Urban Ministry Training Institute, sponsored by the ELCA and Seminary Consortium
for Urban Pastoral Education (SCUPE). It was a jam packed program with a goal of
fostering Congregational Leadership Development. Our Redeemer was one of a dozen
Lutheran churches attending from around the country. We met lay and clergy
leaders from Atlanta, Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Michigan, many of
whom voiced similar hopes and challenges of engaging their congregation and
community in transformational ministry.
How do we
begin to build bridges and sustain meaningful relationship within our community
and congregations? How do we nurture the reality which recognizes and connects
every person to their unique God-given potential to lead in ministry? How do we
engage with members of our community in a way that is invitational and effective
in terms of co-producing transformation? These were among some critical
questions we dealt with, through Bible study, workshops, discussions and site
visits to community churches.
The Redeemer
team will present our reflections and proposed activities over the coming weeks
and months. Speaking for the group and for myself, we all came away with a new
sense of renewal, hope, challenge and commitment as well as with concrete tools
that can help us address the above questions. We have tremendous potential for
transformation ministry within and without the Our Redeemer community. I
continue to look forward now with recharged energy and commitment to sharing and
hearing the good news in and around Redeemer’s neighborhoods.
This was both a productive and informative conference, that will help shaped our
outreach efforts for the foreseeable future. Be prepared to be surprised,
engaged and buoyed by and in the future ministry of Our Redeemer Lutheran
Church.
And now changing roles from the Parish Developer to a Camp
Observer….
It has been my pleasure this summer to observe as well as to work with the
children of Son Seeker Day Camp this summer. At our Wednesday Bible study
group, we told the story of Noah’s Ark, while the children worked on their shoe
box renditions of Ark’s complete with cut out animals and Noah’s family as well
as the necessary food supplies for the forty day journey.
Our
Fellowship Hall and classrooms have been a-buzz with the happy chatter of
children and camp personnel. Miss Leigh Hendrix and staff have created a very
warm, welcoming and safe environment; all necessary and key ingredients to happy
and healthy play and learning experiences for children.
What a joy
and a blessing coming to work every day to be greeted by smiling and happy
children and teens. It was great to see Redeemer volunteers helping out in the
kitchen and responding to the Wishing Well. So far my summer has been pretty
cool... I got to go to Chicago, and then hung out at RHM summer day camp, not
bad.
One last FYI,
I’ll be on vacation August 5th
and 12th
but the Sunday Lunch will continue with Glenda Moore as your hostess. Please
join her in the Bethany Room immediately following Worship.
God’s Peace,
Carolyn
Partnering to
help our environment
Did you know
that Our Redeemer and Redeemer Hospitality Mission recycle paper? Abitibi Paper
Retriever is partnered with RHM to be YOUR source for paper recycling. By
recycling paper, not only do you save water and energy, but RHM makes money!
You can put
all your magazines, mail, newspapers and office papers in the green and yellow
bin in our parking lot. Please do not include cardboard or phonebooks. The paper
is recycled by Abitibi and used to make new newspaper. The entire process, from
the time our bin is picked up to the time the newspaper is printed, only takes
two weeks!
Recycling one
ton of paper, or about 1 full bin, saves over 7,000 gallons of water, 390
gallons of oil and 60 pounds of air emissions.
Another way
we are trying
to be better stewards of our environment is our new re-usable liturgy folders.
They greatly reduce the paper used for our weekly worship.
Also,
you can now recycle your used
printer cartridges
here using the box in the entryway… yet another opportunity to be ‘green’ and
help us earn some ‘green’ too!
Please help
us in these efforts to create a successful recycling program and become better
stewards of the earth and its resources.
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