The Country
Church Herald
St. Mark's UCC
AUGUST,
2010
From
the Pastor
The month of August brings
us an opportunity in worship that we treasure. On Sunday, the 8th,
we will celebrate the Sacrament of Holy Communion. This special time of worship
reminds us of Jesus’ love for us. On the night of his betrayal, which
began the process leading to his crucifixion, our Savior started this sacred
practice by which we remember his work of salvation.
This is a perfect time to
invite someone of your family or neighborhood to worship. Let us remember that
this Sacrament is vital to our faith and that our Savior gave this to all
believers.
Also, I write to follow up
on last month’s article about the Deaconess movement in our church
history.
In the coming months of
October and November, there are more opportunities to share and learn about the
European roots of our church.
On Sunday, October 3, we
have the opportunity to have the Reverend Stephan Lewis, a pastor of the United
Reformed Church (URC) in England, visit us. The URC is
similar to our Pilgrim and Puritan ancestors of the faith in that they broke
away from the Church of England. Let us remember that our Pilgrim and Puritan
faith ancestors represent the Congregational side of the United Church of
Christ. We have an ecumenical partnership with the URC.
I need a volunteer to
provide one night of housing, Saturday, the 2nd, for Pastor Lewis.
In November, probably
around the 7th-9th, visitors from Germany will be present in Wisconsin. This year we celebrate
the 200th anniversary of the birth of Louis Wallace in Reichenbach, Germany. Pastor Nollau in 1837 immigrated to the U.S. and in September 1840
gathered local pastors from the St. Louis, Missouri area to form the German
Evangelical Church Society of the West. This group eventually gave birth to the
Deaconess movement to care for the sick. Also homes for the elderly, disabled,
and orphans were begun in order to love God and love our neighbor.
There will be more details
shared about this November visit as they become available.
We have a strong history of
compassion following our Savior, Jesus Christ. Let us rejoice in this service
of the past and seek to continue this ministry of service to those in need.
The most effective way of
continuing this ministry of compassion is through the meeting/exceeding of Our
Church’s Wider Mission goal.
See you in church,
Pastor Kesting
Monthly Highlights
From Our Church Groups
St. Mark’s Consistory
July 13, 2010
President
Mark Jurk called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Rev Kesting led
the group in a short prayer.
Secretary’s report was read.
Motion was made by Jerry Thiel to accept the
minutes as read, seconded by Joel Schnelle. Treasurer’s report was presented. Motion made by Joel Schnelle
to accept treasurer’s report, seconded by Jerry Thiel. Both motions passed.
Building and Grounds
A
new coat rack has been installed in the basement. Thank you, Mark and Jerry. Holes have been discovered in the culvert in
the north entrance. Jerry will patch it
up next week. Panko
sealed the new doors and no further leaks have been discovered.
Old Business
The
Evangelism Committee continues to send out letters to prospective members. Thank you to Wes Wassell
and Dave Heckmann for supply ministry during Pastor Kesting’s involvement in the workcamp. Judy reported that the workcamp
experience was a positive one. Thank you
to all who supplied food and monetary donations.
New Business
Home
communions have been completed. Housing
is needed to host URC Pastor Stephen Lewis from England/Wales on Saturday, Oct
2. Reservations are due by July 28 to
attend Timber Rattlers game on August 14.
A coffee hour will follow July 25 worship to celebrate the 95th
birthday of Helen Sommer. Congratulations and happy birthday wishes to
Helen!
The
next consistory meeting will be held on Tuesday, August 17, at 7:00 p.m. A
motion was made by Jerry Thiel and seconded by Patti
Taylor to adjourn the meeting at 8:32 p.m.
Motion passed.
Judy Steinbeck, Secretary
St. Mark's
Sunday School News
Sunday school starts in September, and we
are still in need of a teacher! This
could be a shared position, with two people teaching on a rotating basis. No special skills are required, other than an
enjoyment of children and an interest in sharing Bible teachings with
them. Please consider this – we
need your help!!
We
need a meeting to get organized for the fall. After worship
on Sundays seems to work best. Thus, Sunday, the 29th
after worship. Teachers, call Pastor, 693-8361, if you cannot make this
meeting.
Deanne Schultz, Sunday School
Newsletter Coordinator
Youth News
Volleyball
We have been having a lot of fun this
summer. We have many players. We thank our cheering section for their support.
In terms of the August 1st
Tournament, we are hosting this event this year. The plans are taking shape. We
have many people volunteer to help us for which we are grateful. We will need a
cheering section on the 1st. The tournament occurs at the courts
behind the VFW Hall in Cleveland.
Grow Through
Fellowship
Todd Paul
Critically acclaimed songwriter, entertainer,
composer, arranger, and singer Todd Paul will be at St. Peter’s UCC in Kiel on Tuesday, August 3 at
7pm. Tickets are $15 in advance and available at St. Peter’s UCC, Delta
Publications, and Bank First National. Tickets are $20 at the door.
News to Know
For Your
Information
Pick n Save stores
have the “We Care” program where this business donates back 1% of
grocery purchases. St. Mark’s has a number 786960. Please consider using
this number to donate to St. Mark’s when using your “Saver’s
Club” card.
St. Mark’s
Mission Fest
The date is Sunday, September 19. In
preparation for this event which will feature a presentation of our mission
trip, the Consistory seeks volunteers. If you wish to help in a specific task
or responsibility, please contact a member of the Consistory before August 15th.
Suggestion Box – St. Mark’s
This new part of our church
is located near the sink in the narthex. Paper and pen are provided for your
thoughts, etc. about worship or any other part of St. Mark’s. Your
thoughts are welcome
Rummage Sale
Please join us for
bargains galore at the Salem Plankroad UCC Rummage
Sale on Saturday, August 14 from 8am-3pm.
Save The Date
The CROP Walk is
scheduled for Sunday, October 10th. There will be more details
shared soon.
Cell
phone
Pastor has a cell phone which he carries with him except on worship times. The
number is 920-207-7209.
Please remember that the church office phone number is 920-693-8361. There is
an answering machine on this number.
New
Confidentiality Laws
There have been some recent changes to the confidentiality laws. These changes
make it difficult for pastors (and also other people) to obtain information
about anyone in the Hospital. If you or a loved one will be in the hospital and
wish pastor to know about it, please call him at 693-8361. Otherwise he may not
be able to find out.
Receive
Your Church Newsletter Online
If you are interested in receiving your monthly newsletter strictly via the
Internet instead of the hard copy please send an e-mail stating such to Karen
Marx at skmarx@tds.net. Each month an e-mail will be sent to notify you when
the updated Country Church Herald is available Online.
Iowa
Re-visited
A mission trip
taken by Pastor Kesting, Pat and Noreen Flook, Granddaughter Amber Akright,
Tim and Trevor Schueler, JoAnn
Grant, Bruce Opitz, Wendy Hartmann, Tim, Deanne and
Steven Schultz, Judy Steinbeck, and Deb Kracht
(Immanuel U.C.C.)
On
Sunday, June 27 our group of 14 left for Cedar Rapids,
Iowa to assist in any way we could due to
the 2008 flood. After floods of the magnitude they endured it can take 8-10
years to recover.
When
we arrived at Hope U.C.C. in Hiawatha, Iowa
Pastor Fritz Melburg greeted us and gave us a
run-down on what happened to the area and told us a bit about their church. We
were not the first volunteer group to be hosted by Hope U.C.C. We then got
settled in -- some will be sleeping in a Sunday school room, family room,
sanctuary, hallway, narthex and even a coat room. We are pleased that the
church is air-conditioned, with the exception being the kitchen and fellowship
hall. This year we provided our own meals and with the generosity of
congregation members, family food was prepared ahead of time for us and money
was donated to go out for pizza -- none of us went hungry! In the evening
Pastor Kesting led us in a time of prayer and
devotions. The book “Meeting God in the Ruins” will continue to be
our source for our nightly devotion time.
W
spent the rest of the evening taking walks, some to the fire station where we
will be showering this week. We shared our thoughts about what the coming week
will bring.
Monday, June 28 -- After
breakfast and making our lunches for the day we headed into Cedar
Rapids to the Community
Resource Center
for orientation and work assignments. We met with Dan the construction
coordinator. He told us that because of the fast snowmelt and then the
torrential rains the Cedar River crested at 31 feet --
11 feet above the flood stage. Now, 2 years later, 1000 homes are yet to be
repaired or torn down. There are also another 1000 to be torn down near the
levy. One of the many sad things is that it could take 3 to 5 more years before some people get any money.
Work assignments were given out-
Pat, JoAnn and Deb will go to a home to paint and do
trim work, Wendy, Bruce, and Amber will go to a home to do drywall and paneling
work in a basement. Tim and Trevor will do a closet project for an elderly
couple. Pastor, the Schutz’s, Noreen and Judy
will work on the Moore’s house
-- framing and siding needs to be done. At the end of our workday we returned
supplies and tools to the Resource Center
-- each day we will pick up and take back supplies. We all returned to church,
had much needed showers, had supper and devotions. Time now
to relax and talk about our day.
Tuesday, June 29 -- We
picked up supplies and headed over to our respective homes. Amber will join
Pat, Deb, and JoAnn. Tim and Trevor will also work at
the Moore house as their closet
project needs to be done in stages. The two Tims are
so very patient with those of us who are willing but have no carpentry skills.
Deanne is determined to try as many power tools that she can! Some of the
day’s frustrations include the need to do over previous volunteers’
work, Wendy and Bruce had to contend with sewer smell all day and due to some
changes Deb, Amber, And Pat will join the Moore
house crew and JoAnn will join Wendy and Bruce. We
are having our pizza night this evening so that the Schultz’s can join us
as they need to leave Wednesday afternoon due to family commitments.
Wednesday, June 30 -- Work
continues at all the homes. Things are moving along, perhaps not as fast as
we’d like but moving nonetheless. Pastor is our “go-to guy”
on the chop saw, he’s working hard at all that’s thrown his way,
Trevor and Noreen went over to paint the closet project, Amber, Judy, and Deb
are trying their hands at siding. The skills of our young men, Trevor and
Steven, continue to amaze us. Now that Pat has joined the crew we have another
skilled person to help. Jeff and Joan Moore, now living in an RV next to their
home, brought over a couple of their pets to visit us -- a ferret and Kiki the skunk. I’m sure it was the closest any of us
have ever been to a skunk! Pastor Melburg joined us
for supper tonight. We all enjoyed visiting with him.
Thursday, July 1 --
Another beautiful day here in Iowa.
It has been in the 70s and low 80s all week. Siding was again a big part of the
day at the Moore house. Amber and
Noreen did a lot of “go for this and that” and Amber tried some
dumpster diving. Wendy, Bruce, and JoAnn had a
productive day at their house. They have been working in very cramped quarters
and doing lots of stairs in order to do their cutting. You go JoAnn! We were told about a hot air balloon display in town
tonight, but we were all too tired to go.
Friday, July 2 -- Can it
be that this is our last work day? The time has flown by. Wendy, Bruce, JoAnn, Deb, Tim, and Trevor all need to leave for home
after the work day due to family things. It was a busy day at both houses as
everyone wants to accomplish as much as possible before leaving. I think Deb
and Judy learned to like siding a house. Jeff Moore
said he would email us pictures of his home when it is finished. We’re a
small group for supper tonight. We will pack up and head home tomorrow.
Saturday, July 3 -- We
were on the road by 8:30 AM. It has
been a good week. Every mission trip is special and has its own unique
experiences. We learn to go with ‘the flow’. I’m sure that we
all feel that in our small way we did make a difference as well as made some
new friends and had a lot of laughs along the way.
Where is God going to send us
next year? WILL YOU JOIN US?
*Mark your calendars -- we will
do a presentation at St. Mark’s Mission Fest on September 19th.
We also plan to do presentations at St. James, Immanuel, and Bethel.
We wish to sincerely thank
everyone who so generously sponsored our trip with gifts of money, meal
donations and gift cards.
ST. MARK'S AUGUST USHERS
Gene & Kathy Kaestner,
chairs
Marlene Kammann
Jane Vandoske
Ben Grunwald
Steven Schultz
JUNE, JULY, AUGUST - NO CANDLELIGHTERS NEEDED
ST. MARK'S SEPTEMBER USHERS
Glenn Grunwald,
chair
Wayne & Ann Grunwald
Fred Bitter
Kay Bitter
Bob Vandoske
Mike Summers
SEPTEMBER CANDLELIGHTERS
5 – Elly Goedeke, Jed Goedeke
12 – Abby Herrmann, Courtney Binversie
19 – Alicia Schueler,
Cole Herrmann
26 – Johnathan
Grunwald, Katharine Grunwald
ST. MARK'S AUGUST CELEBRATIONS
Birthdays
1 -
Larry Heling
3 -
Jay Sommer
4 - Ashlyn Hundt
5 -
Keith Sixel
8 -
Lyle Schmidt
9 -
Debbie Brickner, Courtney Binversie
12 - Sarah
Hartmann
13 -
Shirley Guenther
15 -
Mary Goedeke
18 -
Julie Herrmann
23 - Gertrude
Free
26 - Alicia Schueler, Dylan Videtic
27 - Maggie Hayon
28 - Bradley Grunwald, Faith Grunwald, Hazel Schuette, Deidre Sommer
Anniversaries
9 - Ray &
Debbie Brickner
10 - Richard
& Linda Schroeder
11 - Howard &
Erin Spiess
16 - Brett &
Carrie Damrow
20 - Glenn &
Terri Grunwald
21 - Mike &
Janice Marcheske
22 - Larry &
Denise Heling
26 - Gerald &
Jola Thiel
OUR SYMPATHY TO…
Our
sympathy to Allen Gabsch, Doris Sprenger,
Julianne Luebke, and their families on the death of
their brother-in-law Edward Kretsch on June 28.
Our sympathy to Tim Schultz and family on
the death of his mother, JoAnn, on July 5.
Our sympathy to the family of Wilbur Goeke who died July 3. Pastor Kesting officiated at the
Entombment services on July 10 at Knollwood Chapel.
Our sympathy to the Brickner
family on the death of Debbie’s sister, Lynda Berg, on July 13.
If there is a
correction for the birthday or anniversary list, please contact the church
office, 693-8361. Thank you.
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