a ray of hopea ray of hope september 2007june 2019 a ray ... 2019 ray.pdf · african american...

A Ray of Hope 1 September 2007 A Ray of Hope 1 June 2019

A Ray of Hope Monthly Newsletter of Hope Evangelical Lutheran Church

5728 Cedar Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55417, 612-827-2655 www.hopempls.org Ministers of the Gospel: The Baptized 91 years in ministry 1928—2019

June 2019 Making Christ Known through the Spirit of Hope Volume 89 Number 6

Hope Prepares and Serves Breakfast

Sunday, June 30 at St. Stephen’s Shelter

We meet at church at 7:15am, carpool to the shelter, serve breakfast, and we are done in plenty of time to take part in Forum and Worship. We need four people to serve and more people to donate food items and money, as is listed on the signup sheet in the gathering area. Thank you!

Thanks to Jean Anderson, Wade Gibbons, Barb and Neil Nelson and Charlie Olson for serving breakfast at St Stephens on March 31; and to Jan Nunn, Barb Nelson, Jean Anderson, Wade Gibbons and the Olson’s for donating and preparing the breakfast.

Reconciling in Christ Welcome Statement

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female;

for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28

Hope Lutheran Church welcomes all people as children of God. We are called to be one body with many members. This body is inclusive of diversity in race, ethnicity, socio-economic status, age, gender, physical or cognitive ability, sexual orientation and

gender identities. In practicing the intentional hospitality of Jesus, we will make room in our hearts,

our homes and our congregation for all neighbors. We seek to follow the great commandment

“Love your neighbor as yourself”. (Mark 12:31).

All Are Welcome Here!

DISCUSSIONS ON THE DECK Wednesdays at 7:00 pm

beginning June 5 and continuing Wednesdays thru June and July for lively conversa-tions about the big questions concerning life, the world and God.

First week, June 5, will be on Ginny and Charlie’s deck… 5138 39th Ave S, Minneapolis. Bring your discussion ideas and we’ll brainstorm and, if you wish, bring a treat to share. Beverages provided. Also, if you wish, check your calendars for a Wednesday to host. Sunday, June 9, Pastor Hollie Holt-Woehle

will be leading us in Forum at 9am, preaching at 10am

and Book Signing at 11am. It will be great to see her

again and we'll be blessed to hear her share about her

life experiences and her recently published book, They

Don't Come With Instructions: Cries, Wisdom, and Hope

for Parenting Children with Developmental Challenges.

The book provides hope and companionship to those

who are called to be part of the journey of

developmentally challenged children.

Congratulations Colin Just!

Colin is graduating from Roosevelt High School on June 6. His tentative plans are to join the military.

We wish you the very best!

Meals on Wheels

Delivery June 10-14


BIBLE STUDY: 9:00am Everyone, 5th grade thru adult, are invited to join us Sunday in the fellowship hall. We always have coffee and week-old fried donuts!!

EDUCATION

Pastor Eric Luedtke

God’s Troubling the Waters Pastor Eric Luedtke

One thing I

love about

my drive

from my

home to

Hope each

day is that I

get to cross

over the

Mississippi River. I’ve now had the

chance to experience the various

seasons of the river and how they

each have their own beauty – the

colors of autumn, the austere

winter, the lush green of summer

surrounding the cool waters. This

Spring, as many of you know, the

Mississippi River crested at the

seventh highest level in history and

the waters remained above flood

stage for the longest duration in

history. As I drive over the bridges of

the city, I still notice the rapid pace

of the water and the whitewater

that churns as the river forces the

abundance of water downstream.

Because there is often a song

playing in my head, I find the

soundtrack of my recent cross-river

journeys is the African American

spiritual Wade in the Water (hymn

459 in Evangelical Lutheran

Worship). You may know that

African American spirituals were

used as a way to provide coded

messages to slaves to help them in

their attempts to escape from

captivity. It is said that Harriet

Tubman used this song in particular

to remind escaped slaves to get off of

the land and walk through the water

so that the dogs of the slave patrols

would lose the scent trail.

While I recognize the importance of

that history in this song, I also

appreciate the un-coded message of

the words that create this song as

well. The verses speak of Moses and

the Israelites crossing the Red Sea,

recognizing that as the last of them

cross on dry land God will “trouble

the waters” making it impossible for

Pharoah’s Army to follow them

(imagine wading into the Mississippi

River right now). The final verse

invites the hearer to Jordan’s stream,

where Jesus was Baptized, and

invites the hearer to be named and

claimed by God.

As the people of Hope Lutheran

Church we claim our identity in the

waters of Baptism. It is in our

Baptism that, as the water is

troubled by the Word of God, we die

to our old selves “so that a new

person comes forth to live before

God.” (my paraphrase of Luther’s

Small Catechism on Holy Baptism,

emphasis mine). Those little words

so that are critical to our

understanding of Baptism. We are

not baptized to continue living as we

have lived, we are not baptized into a

ho-hum existence, we are baptized

so that new life comes forth. New

life means being willing, as the

Israelites did, to follow God’s call into

the dessert, not knowing for sure

what we will experience, but

confident God is leading the way.

As I talk to people around Hope and

in South Minneapolis it is clear that

God is stirring our congregations

toward something new. It is like the

third verse of Wade in the Water,

“Look over yonder and what do I

see? The Holy Ghost a coming on

me.” – the Holy Ghost – the very

Spirit of God working in our time and

place, is moving around us. The

question we must ask is whether we,

as the people of Hope Lutheran

Church, are willing to let that Spirit

move us ahead of the troubled water

or if we will be swept into the

turbulence of it.

At our last Council meeting, a small

team of Hope members committed

to listening to the voice of the Holy

Spirit in South Minneapolis. We will

join our listening with other

congregations in South Minneapolis.

None of us knows what this time of

listening will bring – shared ministry,

found assets, new opportunities,

deepened friendships, understanding

of our neighbor’s needs - all we know

is God is calling us to listen together,

to observe the troubled waters and

see what is churning in them and

where God is leading us together.



SAVE THE DATES!

• · Wednesdays June 5—July 31…..Discussions on the Deck

• · July 8-12…..Nokomis Builds Habitat for Humanity

Everyone can build something great.

Every volunteer matters—no experience needed!

Please consider joining this ecumenical outreach ministry opportunity.

• · July 17… Senior Party

• · August 4… Worship at the Falls

• · August 22-25 Wilderness Canoe Base - Inter-generational… We'll be joining members of Transfiguration Lutheran

Church, Bloomington again this year.

SUNDAY SCHOOL We’re on summer break and will resume September 8, at 11:30am. We give thanks to God for our

Sunday School Team of Pat Killian, Angela Kjer-Lackey, and Carol Farnham who help bring the Bible alive for the

children of Hope and Rehoboth Churches.

Pastor Eric and Charlie and Ginny Olson attended the

Minneapolis Area Synod Assembly May 3-4 at Lord of

Life Lutheran Church in Ramsey. The Assembly theme

was “In This Together” and we heard from the Upper

Midwest Presiding Elder of the African Methodist

Episcopal Church, the Minnesota Bishop of the United

Methodist Church, as well as a representative of the

ELCA Churchwide Office. There was a small election of

Synod Council members who ran uncontested. There

were several resolutions passed by the Synod Assembly,

two of which affirmed the ELCA Social Statement on

justice for women, one calls on the ELCA to speak out

against “conversation therapy,” two addressed budget

adjustments of the Synod budget to reflect reduced

giving to the Synod, and a final resolution calls for

congregations to offer 12 weeks of paid leave to

rostered leaders and lay staff who need to take time off

at the birth/adoption of a child or major illness of a

family member. It was a good Assembly with 423 voting

members attending.

Minneapolis Area Synod Assembly

Beginning in December 2005, we started a fair trade coffee sales project . It was intended to be an ongoing mission program, supporting small coffee growers in third world countries. Our prices covered the product and shipping, with no profit margin, and we passed the savings on to you. For a time, we also used the coffee for Sunday morning fellowship. In 2006, we sold over 180 packages, but in 2018 we sold only nine. So far this year, members have purchased three packages. While it

EQUAL EXCHANGE COFFEE MISSION PROJECT

has always been a worthwhile project, it seems to have run its course. We will no longer offer coffee and tea, and there will be a sale of existing inventory sometime in the early part of June.

Thanks you for your past participation. Put on your thinking caps about what a substitute mission project could be developed.

Bunny Anderson


Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 8:30a

Ideas Moving Forward

10-12p

Rehoboth, Gathering Area

2 9a Bible Study 10a Worship Communion 11a Coffee Hour 11:30a Rehoboth Worship

3 4 7a Men’s

Breakfast, Perkins 84th & Lyndale

11a Bone Builders 6:30p Rehoboth

Worship 7p Woodcarvers

5

7p Discussions on

the Deck

6 9:30a Community

Yoga

11a Bone Builders

7 8 10-12p


9 PENTECOST 9a Bible Study 10a Worship

11a Coffee Hour 11:30a Rehoboth

Worship

10

11 7a Men’s

Breakfast

11a Bone Builders

6:30p Rehoboth Worship

12 11a Caring Cong.

Mtg

7p Discussions on the Deck

13 9:30a Yoga

11a Bone Builders

14 15 10-12p


16 Father’s Day 9a Bible Study 10a Worship

Communion 11a Coffee Hour 11:30a Rehoboth

Worship

17 18 7a Men’s

Breakfast

11a Bone Builders

6:30p Rehoboth

Worship

19 7p Discussions on

the Deck

20 9:30a Yoga

11a Bone Builders

5:45p Ex. Cmte. 7p Church Council

21 22 10-12p


23 9a Bible Study 10a Worship

11a Coffee Hour 11:30a Rehoboth

Worship

24

25 7a Men’s

Breakfast

11a Bone Builders

6:30p Rehoboth

Worship

26 7p Discussions on

the Deck

27 9:30a Community

Yoga

11a Bone Builders

28 29 10-12p


30 7:15a Serve

at St Stephens 9a Bible Study 10a Worship

Communion 11a Coffee Hour

11:30a-6p Rehoboth Worship

June 2019

Healing Touch for Animals

Healing Touch for Animals

Meals on Wheels Delivery June 10 -14 11:15a

6:30p MACC Preschool Spring Concert

1p SMMOW Board Meeting


Treasurer’s Report

Activity Summary

Beginning Transfers or Ending

Account Balance Receipts Expenses int/gain/loss Balance

Operating Account 976.05 10,978.03 14,589.57 (2,635.49)

Flow Thru 22,535.50 1,276.49 752.09 23,059.90

Special Funds 27,219.33 261.03 27,480.36

Endowment Fund 111,252.94 111,252.94

US Bank Investments 288,551.00 288,551.00

Total Funds 450,534.82 12,515.55 15,341.66 447,708.71

Figures from the May 2019 Treasurer’s Report

Next Council Meeting June 20. As with all council meetings, all congregation members are welcome.

MEN

Things to do on Father's Day

1. Golf or fishing 6AM 2. Church 10AM 3. Picnic 1PM 4. Nap 5PM 5. Watch a movie with family 7PM

DVD’s available in the Church Library: 1. Journey to Grace 2. Fireproof 3. Courageous

Happy Father's Day!!

Hope’s Library

Jan Nunn, Librarian

• Pastor Eric led devotions based on Jeremiah 29:11 and closed with prayer.

• Pastor Eric gave a “state of our church” vision focusing on the people of Hope, the church building and the finances. Some negatives having to do with the congregation are that one-third of our members are over 80, there is only one family with young children, we have no active visitors attending church and many of the few people we have are feeling overworked. Some positives are that our members associate outside of church, we have a partnership with Rehoboth sharing our building and we host some community meetings. Some negatives with our building are an aging boiler and AC, aging roof, crumbling concrete steps and retaining wall; and both our piano and organ are in need of maintenance. There is a gap between operating expenses and the money we have coming in. So, what does all of this mean? We can continue with no changes until our resources run out. We can refocus our ministry, take care of our members and listen intently to the needs of the community around us. We can enter into dialog with other neighborhood churches to see if there is any interest in partnering; or if future mergers would be beneficial for several churches. We do have a hope-filled future if we trust that God is leading the journey.

• Charlie Olson talked about the need for a shed about 7’ x 10’ for storing the church’s lawn equipment and snow blower. Charlie made a motion that we spend up to a thousand dollars for a shed to store the lawn equipment and snow blower. The motion was seconded by Pat Killian and was approved by the council.

April 14, 2019 Council Meeting Mini-Minutes

3 Rick Storlie

9 Al Horn

10 Tom Overton

14 Michaelle Flaten

16 Jim Koskan

18 Opal Warner

20 Karina Karbo-Wright

23 Doug Morton

25 Pat Killian

27 Bonnie Gibbons

JUNE

BIRTHDAYS

5


Hope has available

Equal Exchange Coffee and Tea

in the cabinet in the fellowship hall.

Church Office Hours Monday – Thursday

9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

EARLY DAY CARE Michaelle Flaten 3637 23rd Ave S

Minneapolis MN 55407 612-724-8825

Over 32 years experience Michaelle Flaten, member of Hope

HENRY W. ANDERSON MORTUARY

~CLASSIC FUNERALS ~CREMATION

~PRE-PLANNING

MINNEAPOLIS APPLE VALLEY 3640 23rd Ave So 14850 Garrett Ave (612)729-2331 (952)432-2331

www.HenryWAnderson.com

FAMILY OWNED SINCE 1931

PASTOR [email protected] Eric Luedtke church (612) 827-2655 ext 13

cell (510) 853-1386

PASTORAL ASSOCIATE Doug Morton home (612) 729-6637 DIRECTOR OF MUSIC Mark Hedman church (612) 827-2655 ext 15

cell (952) 220-5236

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Tina Raasch church (612) 827-2655 ext 10

Hope Lutheran Church Contact Persons

CUSTODIAN Russ Utoft church (612) 827-2655

COUNCIL PRESIDENT Dorian Thompson home (952) 891-2164

NEWSLETTER EDITOR Ginny Olson home (612) 729-5132

[email protected]

President Dorian Thompson Vice President Deb Christensen Secretary Dianne Kaatz Treasurer Clair Brenna Financial Secretary Dave Fernandez Business Mgt Dorian Thompson Education Pat Killian Evangelism (Hospitality) Pat Killian

Finance Dave Fernandez Pastoral/Social Ministry Mary Peterson Property Charlie Olson Recreation/Fellowship Wade Gibbons Stewardship Ginny Olson Worship/Music Deb Bayer Youth Open

2019 Church Council

Please call regarding Pastoral Visits, Hospitals, and Care Centers

If you or a family member would like to have a visit from the pastor during a hospital stay, please notify the church office. If you or a family member are moved to a care center, please notify the church office.

We want to stay in contact with you and continue our ministry of presence and prayer. Due to privacy rules, hospital and other care facilities are not allowed to share that information when we call.

We depend on you. 612-827-2655 [email protected]

Fellowship & Service Groups: Members are assigned to one of the 4 monthly service groups. If your name appears below, you may be called on to volunteer your time to serve coffee and donuts this month. Thank you!!

Caller: Servers:

June Service Opportunities

Ushers: Bonnie Brenna, Ginny & Charlie Olson, Rick and Julie Storlie

Fellowship & Service Groups: Members are assigned to one of the 4 monthly service groups. If your name appears below, you may be called on to volunteer your time to serve coffee and donuts this month. Thank you!!

Caller: Deb Bayer Servers: Deb Bayer, Wade Gibbons, Gloria and Marlan Karbo, Rick and Denise Stepanek, Paul and Karin Ward

6

tel:9528912164

a ray of hopea ray of hope september 2007june 2019 a ray ... 2019 ray.pdf · african american...

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