November Newsletter - St. Mark Lutheran Church

Growing
God’s
Family
Saint Mark Messenger
November 2013
Mission
Statement
From the Pastor
Here at St. Mark’s
Lutheran Church and
Preschool, we believe
in “Growing God’s
Family”. You will see
this mission statement on our bulletins, business cards,
newsletter and other
printed correspondence. New nametags
are also available.
Inside this issue:
Comfort Dog Ministry
2
Church Council
3
Treasurer’s Report
3
Ministries
4
Birthdays and
Anniversaries
4
DCE Notes
5
Preschool
5
Special Events /LCEF
6
Calendar
7
Once again, we are coming to the end of another year and the
opportunity to celebrate the holidays. It just seems to come
around faster every year, doesn’t it? I know I am not quite ready
for all of the holiday stuff yet, but I will be. This being November, we are all probably looking forward to the Thanksgiving
holiday that will be here in a few weeks. While we all like to
have 4 day weekends, there is more to November 28th than that.
Thanksgiving is a holiday where everyone in this country can
stop for a moment, pause, count their blessings, and thank God
for them. I know I have a lot to be thankful for, my wife and
family, that I am your pastor (and will celebrate my eleventh
year here in March), all kinds of stuff! Thanksgiving Day (and
weekend) is not just a time for us to get off work, eat turkey `til
we burst and watch the Packers play football. Instead, we are to
remember how our heavenly Father has given us everything we
need to support this life. We also remember how He has given
us everything we need for eternal life through the death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ. For that, I am most Thankful.
Let me remind you of the annual Thanksgiving dinner that will
be here Nov. 24 with church following. Often, forgetting to say,
“Thank you." is too easy for us. Nevertheless, let's be reminded
to say thanks to our God. Father, for all you have given us:
Thanks!
Pastor
St. Mark Comfort Dog Ministry Program
11/1/13 update
“Thank You” to everyone for their continued support for this program!
Program updates:
-The St. Mark Comfort Dog Program has successfully raised the entire $12,000 needed for the purchase of our future
Comfort Dog! Thanks to everyone’s generous donations we were able to mail our initial down payment check of $6000
to Lutheran Church Charities (LCC) on 9/30/13 and we have the final $6000 in our St. Mark Comfort Dog program bank
account.
-The final $6000 payment is not due until LCC has determined which dog “fits” with our Church and our Ministry Plan
and “delivery date” has been scheduled.
-Our St. Mark Lutheran Church K-9 Comfort Dog Ministry Plan was drafted and turned in to LCC for review. Currently
we are in an “evaluation phase” with LCC as they review our Ministry Plan, our Church and our Community to determine
which dog might best “fit” our needs. This is not an exact science, but LCC has had great success creating perfect
matches between the dog’s temperament/personality and a Churches specific needs. For example, even though all of
these dogs are very well trained to handle any and all human interaction, some dogs are just naturally drawn to children. A dog like this would be a natural fit for us as our Ministry Plan details many activities/events where the dog
would be around children of all ages. Our St. Mark Preschool, our local Edmond Public Schools, and even UCO’s campus are just a few of those opportunities.
-We made contact with VCA Kickingbird Animal Hospital and they expressed considerable interest in partnering with us
to provide all routine/annual veterinary services free of charge. Their Hospital Manager is verifying that this will not violate any of their corporate policies before committing to the partnership.
-Contact has been initiated with the following Community contacts for possible support, fundraising efforts, donations
and/or sponsorships:
Raising Cane’s = Koey to continue dialogue and set up a fundraiser night in their Edmond restaurant. Raising
Cane’s will donate 15% of their sales from that evening when customers dine in support of our program. Waiting till closer to the possible “delivery date” to set a date for this.
LCMS Foundation: John and Harriet Wiebe Mission Advancement Fund = $5000 grant application turned in on
9/30/13. A Committee Board reviews all applications during October and makes a number of gift distributions in
November.
-Our next step / important milestone: Patiently wait. We are officially on the placement list as are a number of other
LCMS Churches. We may not be on the list for the current 2013 batch of dogs currently coming out of training, but we
should be on the list for the next batch due to “graduate” from training next spring (~May 2014). Unfortunately for Pastor, the Class of 2014 does not appear to have a “Mahershalalhashbaz” on the list of puppies in training. Luckily, the
Class of 2014 does include 7 beautiful little girls (Dora, Jewel, Lydia, Lily, Mercy, Rosie, and Shiloh) and 2 gentle guys
(Noah and Rufus).
As always, if you have any questions OR if you are interested in volunteering to help out with this program as a Handler
or administratively, please get in contact with one of the Committee members. Additionally, if you know of a community
fundraising effort or key community contact we need to be pursuing, please let us know.
Yours in Christ,
St. Mark Comfort Dog Ministry Committee team
Carlene Rupp
Nona Smith
Erica Erler
Richard Abrahamson
Todd Rudat
Koey Keylon
2
Church
Council...
2013-2014
CONGREGATIONAL
OFFICERS
Kristy Theimer
President
John Over
Vice-President
Aimee Hallenbeck
Recording Secretary
Keith Schreiner
Treasurer
Derek Herrs
Prentess Alletag
Russell Rupp
Richard Abrahamson
Trustees
Christine Williams
Carlene Rupp
Amy Wilson
Ministry of Education
Todd Rudat
Communications Director
Mike Hill
Neil Hoecker
Koey Keylon
David Seaman
Russell Wantland
Ministry of Elders
David Seaman
Kristy Theimer
Bob Lane
Mike Hill
Julia Wantland
Long Range Planning
Board
David Fischaber
Chairman — Child
Development Ministry
CONSTITUTION
& BY-LAWS
If you are interested in
obtaining an updated
copy of the Constitution
& By-Laws of the
Church, you can find a
copy on the credenza in
the Welcome Hall.
Marie Vandiver
Financial Secretary — Child Development Ministry
Michelle Keylon
Elizabeth Seaman
Board Members — Child Development Ministry
Rob Williams
Financial Secretary
KEEP RECYCLING!
Bring those papers to our
recycle bin! Bin is located in
the parking lot. We make $10
for every ton!
November Scripture Readings
Nov 3 Rev 7:(2-8)9-17, 1 John 3:1-3,
Matt. 5:1-12.
Nov 10 Ex 3:1-15, 2 Thess 2:1-8, 13-17,
Luke 20::27-40
Nov 17 Mal 4:1-6, 2 Thess 3:(1-5)6-13,
Luke 21:5-28 (29-36)
Nov 24 Mal 3:13-18, Col 1:13-20, Luke
23:27-43
Fall Retreat to Camp
Lutherhoma
9th & 10th of Nov.
Please contact Mike
Hill for more information.
TREASURER’S REPORT
Monthly General Fund Giving Target: $25,515.00
September
Total Income
Budgeted Expenses
$23,754.48
---------------($4,317.95)
General Fund Cash Balance 1/1/2012:
YTD General Fund Giving Surplus:
------------------General Fund Balance:
$41,868.21
($7,178.41)
$34,689.80
Feed My People
Christmas Dinner
Canned veggies, instant mashed
potatoes, canned sweet potatoes. Canned gravy, cranberry sauce and
money for hams.
They can always use canned meat, canned meals, PB, and canned
soups. Thank you for your support of this
worthy cause!
“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of
the least of these brothers of mine you did for me.” Mt. 25:40
Any questions, contact David and Elizabeth Seaman at 749-0314.
3
Support Our Troops
Join the Prayer Chain:
Do you need a special prayer?
will be collecting items for our troops both
overseas and at Ft. Sill Warrior Transition
Unit.
Call the Prayer Chain Contacts.
Lucille McShane at 341-8986
Email Captain: Mike Hill at hilljm@cox.net
Requests can also be included in the Sunday service bulletin by calling the Church office at 340-0192. To be added
to the phone or e-mail prayer chain contact Lucille or Mike.
“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds
of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert
and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”
-Eph 6:18
Sundays at 9:30AM There are 2
Adult Bible Study classes currently.
Pastor Erler will be teaching a
class in the sanctuary—topic is
“Revelations” and Mike Hill is
teaching the Book of Concord in the library.
It is getting close to Christmas and they
like to always receive Christmas goodies
and crossword puzzle books. Pens, paper
and cards that they can send back to
loved ones back home. Maybe some hot
sauce to flavor the MRE's. They also like to
read about the news from their home
state or town. They enjoy any news from
anyone and maybe even pictures. No religious items and no pork products.
Lets see if we can get several boxes to go
to our troops. Any questions, call
Merle Wagner @ 330-3017
Tuesdays at 10AM Join Pastor Erler in the
church library for this weekday bible study class.
3rd Saturday at 8AM Men’s Study Bring your
breakfast and join in a study with other men.
Contact the office if you have questions
340-0192
November Anniversaries
Celebrate...
Sangyoon & Eunhee Jeon
Kris & Trish Harland
Jerry & Judy Crabb
November Birthdays
Reese Wilson
Russell Wantland
Lynnea Glass
Parker Rupp
Jayla Long
Jeff Jenkins
Sheila Rudat
Claudette Theimer
Lucile Kettner
Mandy Long
Nona Smith
11/1
11/4
11/11
11/11
11/12
11/13
11/13
11/14
11/15
11/16
11/16
Kerissa Holsten
Trevor Rudat
Steve Dodge
Marie Sterling
Natalie Iver
Abraham Gachoki
Cindi Schemm
11/17
11/17
11/18
11/22
11/25
11/30
11/30
4
11/11 5yrs
11/27 20yrs
11/30 51yrs
Congratulations
Please contact the Church office if you are new
to the congregation or do not have your birthday
and anniversary dates on file. We apologize for
any omissions.
Youth Ministry...
From the desk of Sheila Rudat, DCE ...
Thanks to everyone who helped or attended the
Fall Festival/Trunk or Treat. It was a wonderful
event and so many people attended and had a
great time.!
WOW night
– Wednesday, Nov. 13th at 5:30pm. We
will be serving Tacos and fixings.
Bring your favorite games to play.
Preschool
Mo the r’s
D ay O ut
Pr o gr am
Preschool News...
Sunday School children will begin practicing for the Christmas program beginning on Sunday, Nov. 17th during
Sunday School hour. All of the children
and youth in the church are encouraged to participate.
“Introducing A Child to Jesus”
Preschool Board Meeting
November 4th, 2013
5
A Very Special
Thank You
From Birthchoice Edmond LWML -MEETING TIME
for your ‘ shower’ of lay- The next LWML meeting will be Saturday, December 7th at
11am in the Library.
All women and girls 12 or
ette items you donated to older are encouraged to attend and share in the wonderful
our clinic. The young moth- missions and ministries that we support - your help is welers are always touched to comed and greatly needed. We have Bible study, our business meeting, then share a tasty dessert and fellowship. If
receive these new baby
anyone has questions please contact Nona Hoecker
items as they adjust to
The first Sunday of each month is Mite
their new babies.
Box Sunday.
Thank you for reaching out
to them at this special
time.
Baptisms
Sincerely,
Your friends at Birthchoice
Edmond
Caris Campbell
and
Isabella Berg
6
7
WORSHIP SERVICES
Pastor Mark Erler
Sunday Services
Early Service
Traditional
8:15AM
..
Late Service
Contemporary 10:45AM
Contact Us:
If you would like to contact Pastor Erler, please call him at the
Monthly Newsletter Deadline
We encourage everyone to submit contributions
for the St. Mark Messenger newsletter. If you
have a short story, humor, quote, etc…, please
submit it along with its credits to the Church
office. However, we need all material by the
18th of every month in order to edit, compile
and publish it. Help us make this newsletter a
quality product to inform, educate and enlighten.
WORSHIP FOR SHUT-INS
If you, or someone you know, are home on Sunday mornings, Lutheran
Church office at 340-0192. After
Ministries Media, Inc. offers a program for shut-ins. The program can be
hours or in case of an emer-
found on the following television services: DIRECTV Channel 377, DISH
gency he can be reached on his
NETWORK (check local listing) or TOTAL CHRISTIAN TELEVISION network
cell at 205-5551 or at home at
— TCT (check local listing); all broadcast on Sunday mornings. DIRECTV
844-4992.
Channel 377 airs at 10:30 Central time. All programs are a half hour in
To reach our Preschool Director
length with no commercials and no reruns. This ministry is not a
and DCE Sheila Rudat call 217-
recording of a Sunday morning service but a special taping done just for
201-1341 or e-mail at stmark-
this
dce@sbcglobal.net.
www.worshipforshut-ins.org
ministry.
For
St. Mark Lutheran Church & Preschool
1501 N. Bryant Street
Edmond, OK 73034
Ph: 405.340.0192
Fax: 405.340.0290
Church Website: www.stmarkedmond.org
Pastor Erler E-mail: stmarkluth@sbcglobal.net
Church E-mail: stmarkoffice@sbcglobal.net
more
information
call
888-286-8002
or
go
preto