I was done with my letter on Saturday morning which is usually a mistake. One never knows what will happen over the weekend. I originally was going to write about my wife and oldest daughter, who were participating in an event called Swim Across America. It is an event that occurs all across the country to raise money for cancer research. They swam 1-mile in Lake Michigan. They mentioned that it was a little wavey and when they were done they were a little nauseous. My wife is also getting over having shingles. She is a pretty tough lady.
But I want to tell you what happened at church on Saturday during worship service. There was a new family attending with a mom and three children. The youngest just turned one and two others were also young. Church is a long time for them (no comments from the rest of you) and they started wiggling around and being kids. It was just before communion and the mother left the sanctuary with her children.
The problem is that most of the Saturday crowd did not see this happening, but since I am facing a different direction, I saw it all go down. Gerlyn was my assistant for the worship service and she went chasing after the family. Next thing I know, she is holding the one-year-old up front. He seemed to be nestled in. He was very happy just being held.
However, this caused another problem. As the assistant, Gerlyn distributes the wine cups during communion. No problem. Kay Marincic stepped right in. What a church.
I want to tell you I have big plans for this church. I really see it as a beacon to our community and in a little but mighty way how our church affects what happens in our state, country and world. But I learned a lesson on Saturday. In order to be that beacon we have to continue to show compassion and kindness to all the people who enters our church, which includes all of you. Let’s work on being kinder and more compassionate to one another first. Our church is like one big family. But with families, sometimes we treat others better than our own church members. Let’s start at home.
I also got a lesson about the phrase I hope we all believe in. We are a church that welcomes all. I always think that it is about race, gender preference etc. But it also includes children no matter what the age. All are welcome can’t only be a fancy phrase but a phrase that we put into action. All means all.
Again, things are beginning to ramp up, or at least it feels that way. You know school is starting when we bless the backpacks and teacher bags. Please don’t forget that we will be decorating the sidewalks (if weather permits) next Sunday (17th) . Even if you have trouble bending down, like your pastor, come and watch this event. I love seeing the creativity of our children.
The reason why we do this activity is to show St. Johns is part of the community. So many children walk or ride their bikes on this sidewalk. It is our way of encouraging them for another school year.
You’re going to see a few changes at St. Johns in the next couple of weeks or so. One of them is new signage on the windows of the entryway to Sunday School. One of our council members noticed we have no sign at this entrance that tells them that this is St. Johns. Hopefully it will be done by our next outdoor service so you will be able to see it.
The second thing is there will be placement of two monitors in the building. One will be near the entrance of the Sunday School doors and the other will be in the Narthex. Again, it is our way to show people what is going on at St Johns.
A couple of things to note. One, the reason why we are putting a monitor by the entrance of the Sunday School entrance is we have so many people coming in and out of those doors who are probably not members. We want to show them what is happening at St. Johns.
The second thing is we received memorial money to purchase and install these items. Let me tell you how memorial money works. They usually are given with an intention in mind. We love receiving memorial money when they say to be used at the church’s discretion. But, if the person giving the memorial money for say, the music program, then in good faith, the money has to be spent by the music program. St. Matthew’s in Princeton received a large amount of money as a memorial gift but it had to be used for the music program. In a way, it really handcuffs the church. The church can be in dire-straights, but they have a large sum of money gifted in some specific way, which they can’t use to help them financially. In this case, and in most cases, we let the giver know what we are doing with their gift.
Thank you CSLE for putting on the picnic yesterday. Who doesn’t like a picnic. Thank you to all who helped in this event! We beat the rain…by this || much
Just a heads up, we will have no service on Saturday, August 23. The Evangelism committee will be putting on a brunch. More details will follow.
We are getting close to the end of our World Hunger drive and our Northview mission. I know there are still items on the board for you to donate. The last amount I saw for the money collected so far by the Synod is roughly 47, 000 dollars. This doesn’t include our giving yet. August 31st is the ending of both drives. Let’s finish strong.
Crossed marked and spirit sealed,
Pastor Tom
815-223-1144
Readings for the tenth Weekend after Pentecost– August 16 & 17
Jeremiah 23:23-29 Psalm 82 Hebrews 11:29-12:2 Luke 12:49-56
Reading the Bible in a Year- Monday, August 11 to Sunday August 17
Day Zechariah Psalms Proverbs Revelation
Monday Ch 9-Ch 11 140:1-5 Ch 1
Tuesday Ch 12-Ch 14 30:1-10 Ch 2:1-17
Ester
Wednesday Ch 1-Ch 2:18 140:6-13 Ch 2:18-Ch 3:6
Thursday Ch 2:19-Ch 5 141 Ch 3:7-22
Friday Ch 6-Ch 8 142 Ch 4
Saturday Ch 9-Ch 10 30:11-23 Ch 5
Malachi
Sunday Ch 1-Ch 2:6 143 Ch 6