The Pastor’s PonderingsApril 2014

Pastor David’s cell phone—765-330-4170 and email address —fleeneda@gmail.com

When snow fell again this week (I am writing this the last week of March), Sarah

told me that many of her co-workers were angry. It’s an understandable reaction. This has been one of the coldest and snowiest winters in recent memory, and for winter to encroach past the first day of spring seems “cruel and unusual”! Some days, it seems like the snow and cold will never end – like we’re all bit players in the Bill Murray movie Groundhog Day.

Likewise, our lives can seem like an endless winter. Each day, we awake and live out our lives accord-ing to the script we’ve chosen, or that we feel has been handed to us. Most days come and go and nothing ex-traordinary happens. We can become frustrated with life. It’s perhaps little wonder that folks often go through a midlife crisis, with the primary question, “Is this all there is to life?” underlying their behaviors. If life is

an endless winter, we reason, it’s up to us to make our own spring.

Scripture has a number of stories where people take God’s promises into their own hands and try to speed up the timeline of their fulfillment. One of the most notable is the story of Abraham and Sarah, who, after years of failing to conceive a child, decide to take matters into their own hands. Sarah gives her slave Hagar to Abra-ham as a wife, to have a child by her. Hagar gives birth to Ishmael. Now, while God is able to turn the birth of Ishmael into a great good, there is a great deal of suffering because of Sarah and Abraham’s actions. Sarah grows jealous of Hagar, and tells Abraham to throw her and her child out. Hagar and Ishmael nearly die in the desert before God intervenes to save them. Family rifts occur. There is discord between Abraham and Sarah; Sarah and Hagar; God and his chosen family. Nonetheless, the promise of a great nation remains intact. Ishmael will be part of the fulfillment of that promise; Isaac will be another part. Over and over again, the actions of

the patriarchs and matriarchs threaten the promise that God has given, and time and time again, God restores all things to balance.

Spring is coming, both the sea-son; and the eternal spring, when our lives meet their fulfillment in Jesus Christ. All things have already been accomplished; now all we are called to do is wait and witness to the signs of God among us.

Signs like the peeking of daffo-dils through the snow.

Signs like the openness to rec-onciliation among estranged family members.

Signs like folks of different faiths coming together for a greater purpose.

The signs of spring are out there. And God gives us the eyes to see them. The resurrection is coming.

See you in church!Pr. David

April 2014

Lent/Easter Offering

Easter LiliesIf you

would like to help furnish Easter Lilies for the front of the sanctuary on Easter morning please give your

order to Isola Banter by April 13th. Cost is $10 each. Please make your checks out to Isola.

Offering received at Zion during Lent and Easter will

be divided between Community and Family Services of Blackford County for the Food Pantry and Grace Village at Ball State.

Palm Sunday: April 13th, we will meet outside on the north lawn by the cross and process into the sanctuary with palms as the opening hymn is sung. 10:30 AM (weather permitting)

Maundy Thursday: April 17th, worship with Holy Communion begins at 7 PM

Good Friday: April 18th, our worship ser-vice will also begin at 7 PM

Easter Vigil: April 19th, our service will begin at 8 PM

Easter Sunday: April 20th, worship with Holy Communion begins at 10:30 AM

Holy Week ScheduleParish RegisterJesse Rogers passed

away on Wednesday, February 26th, at Banner Baywood Medical Center in Mesa, AZ. Pastor David

Fleener officiated at Jesse’s funeral service at Zion on March 8th. Inter-ment followed in the I.O.O. F. Ceme-tery in Montpelier, IN. Our sympathy goes out to Jesse’s family.

“If we have died with Christ, we shall also live with him; if we are faithful to the end, we shall reign with him.”

April 2014

February Council MinutesCongregation Council met on

February 11, 2014.Present: Pastor David Fleener,

Scott Clamme, Chris Coy, Pat Gillis, John Hendricks, Allen Stallsmith and Chris Stroble (barely a quorum)

Absent: Denise Hile, Cindy Knote, Megan Stroble, Neil Stroble, Linda Walker and Carolyn Zigler

Pastor David called the meeting to order and Chris Coy gave an intro-ductory devotional and prayer.

Pastor David read the minutes from the previous meeting. Chris Coy made a motion to accept the minutes. John Hendricks seconded the motion. The motion passed.

Correspondence: The Blackford County 4H asked for an annual dona-tion. We have given $50 in the past years; therefore a motion was made by Chris Coy and seconded by John Hendricks to do the same this year. The motion passed.

The Blackford County Chamber of Commerce wanted Zion to join in a chamber membership. We discussed the pros and cons. The primary ques-tion: What benefit does Zion get from joining? We dicided to do a Cost-Ben-efit-Analysis and tabled a decision until next month.

We discussed our current tele-phone/data/internet program and options presented by ATT Uverse and various other plans. John Hendricks suggested that we take a close look at our current system to determine if (1.) It is still current and useful and (2.) Are there components of our program that are useless or cost inefficient. It was decided that we would make some decisions only after we knew all the facts regarding costs etc. Pastor agreed to look into our current plan and report back.

Pastor’s Report: Pastoral David gave his monthly report and high-

lighted his activities for January. Those statistics are available and published in his report.

Emphasis was placed on his idea for securing volunteers from church council to put together a book which would define the roles of each congre-gational council position along with the specific responsibilities for each position. Many of the council roles are currently unclear and undefined. The Pastor and members of the com-mittee, including the elders, will write the book.

Pastor also highlighted the ac-tivities of the “Soul Team” which as-sists the Pastor with visitations. Allen Stallsmith has already been involved with visitations and the team looks forward to more intense activity as the weather clears.

Pastor requested time off to attend several personal and/or profes-sional enhancement workshops:

1. April 28-30: Valparaiso Uni-versity for the Institute of Liturgical Studies workshop.

2. May 6-10: Visit to New York (Vacation Days)

3. May 19-23: Festival of Homi-letics in Minneapolis, Minnesota

Confirmation class is close to completion. Two youngsters will be confirmed as soon as testing is com-pleted.

Scott Clamme made a motion to accept the Pastor’s report and the days off for conferences and vacation. John Hendricks seconded the motion. The motion was passed.

Committee Reports: Parish Edu-cation & Youth report was made by Pastor David.

Vacation Bible School material was chosen: It is entitled “Wilderness Escape” and the committee is excited about the content of the material and the potential for a successful experi-

ence for those involved. Pastor has contacted the other churches that have been involved in the past in a “team” effort. While they have been slow to respond, they have recently given some positive feedback. We look forward to working together. Pastor wants to get everything organized early thus reducing the pressures involved with the activity.

Worship/Music/Memorial Com-mittee: Piano Solutions in Carmel is currently repairing the lid of our piano.

Lenten Services this year will be preceded by “Soup Suppers” which will be light meals presented by vari-ous committees. The schedule is: 3/12 (Worship and Music) 3/19 (Church Council) 3/26 (Choir) 4/2 (Parish Education and Pastor) and 4/9 (Adult Sunday School)Land Use Committee: Chris Coy will be on the Land Use Committee.

Land Use Committee: Chris Coy gave a very brief summary of the activities of the Land Use Committee citing that bids will be taken for a 40 foot concrete patio after the weather breaks.

A motion was made by Scott Clamme and seconded by John Hendricks to accept the Committee Reports. The motion unanimously passed.

Council Reports—Deacons: Allen Stallsmith gave the statistics regarding communion for the month. Attendance has been low because of the horrible weather.

Elders: Nothing was reported other than to emphasize that the word has been preached.

Trustees: The council thanked those involved in snow removal and noted the tremendous job they have done collectively with the continual,

(Continued on following page.)

persistent snow fall. A special thanks to Tom Armstrong, Tom Willmann, Chris Stroble, Neil Stroble and John Hendricks.

Treasurer: Pat Gillis gave the treasurer’s report. We checked a couple items but all was in order.

A motion was made by John Hendricks and seconded by Allen Stallsmith to accept the reports. The motion passed.

New Business: The Hartford City Junior High and Blackford High School Choirs requested that our facility be used for a choir concert on March 13th. The council mentioned that it is an awesome opportunity to get the community into our facility.

A motion was made by John Hendricks and seconded by Chris Coy to approve the use of our facility. The motion passed unanimously.

A discussion continued regarding selection of delegates to the Synod Assembly on June 5-7. We discussed how they have been selected in the past and we decided to ask during ser-vices if there was interest by members of the congregation. There is some urgency to the decision in that we need to notify the synod no later than March 31st.

A motion was made by Scott Clamme and seconded by Chris Stroble to adjourn.

We closed by praying the Lord’s Prayer.

The next meeting is scheduled on March 11, 2014 at 7:00 p.m. with devotions by Denise Hile.

Respectfully submitted: Christopher CoyActing Recording Secretary

April 2014

Feb. Minutes continued...

Easter Egg Hunt

Zion will have an Easter Egg Hunt on Easter morning. Children of Zion, their friends, and grandchildren of members are wel-come to participate.

Children are to bring their Easter baskets to collect their eggs in and meet at the kitchen door of the church at 9:45 a.m. Please sign-up to partici-pate by April 13th so we will be sure to have enough eggs hidden for all of the children. Sign-up sheets have been placed on the bulletin boards.

Gideon SundaySunday, April 6th,

we will welcome Bob Benjamin to our wor-ship service. Bob will be sharing with us about the work of the Gideons. Donations for Bibles will

be accepted at the back of the sanctu-ary at the close of our worship service that morning.

The Honeywell Center

We have a new Fellowship Committee and they are planning a trip to the Honeywell Center to see the Church Basement Ladies in “A Mighty Fortress is Our Basement” on Tuesday, April 22nd, at 2:30 p.m.

Tickets are $18. If you are interested in going please give your reservation and money to Isola Banter by April 13th.

Lectionary Readings

5th Sunday of Lent - April 6th1st Reading - Ezekiel 37:1-14 Psalm 130 2nd Reading - Romans 8:6-11Gospel - John 11:1-45

Palm Sunday - April 13th

1st Reading - Isaiah 50:4-9a Psalm 31:9-162nd Reading - Philippians 2:5-11 Gospel - Matthew 26:14-27:66

Maundy Thursday - April 17thExodus 12:1-14Psalm 116:1-2, 12-191 Corinthians 11:23-26John 13:1-17, 31b-35

Good Friday - April 18thIsaiah 52:13-53:12Psalm 22Hebrews 10:16-25John 18:1-19:42

Easter Vigil - April 19thGenesis 1:1 - 2:4aExodus 14:10-31; 15:20-21Isaiah 55:1-11Ezekiel 37:1-14Jonah 1:1-2:1Daniel 3:1-29Romans 6:3-11John 20:1-18

Easter Sunday - April 20thJeremiah 31:1-6Psalm 118:1-2, 14-242nd Reading - Colossians 3:1-4Gospel - Matthew 28:1-10

2nd Sunday of Easter - April 27th1st Reading - Acts 2:14a, 22-32Psalm 162nd Reading - 1 Peter 1:3-9Gospel - John 20:19-31

April 2014Lay Ministry Servers

AprilBirthdays

Greeters

Ushers

Lectors Assisting Ministers

The Zion Herald“Happy are those whose strength is in God,

In whose heart are the highways to Zion.” (Psalm 84:5)

Zion Lutheran Church308 S. Monroe Street

Hartford City, IN 47348

U Serving the Lord in Gladness U

David Fleener, PastorChurch Office: 348-3157zionluth.hc@gmail.com

www.zionhartfordcity.org Sunday School at 9:15 AM followed by Worship at 10:30 AM

April 6 Tom and Peggy Willmann—Buck and Kathy SharpApril 13 Max and Sandy Langdon—Gene and Isola BanterApril 20 Claretta Dutro—Max HileApril 27 Carolyn Hughes—Ray and Linda Stanley

Nyla Hile 4-1Adrienne McClure 4-2Harriett Walker 4-9Cathy Willmann 4-10Betty Bell 4-16Tiann Coy 4-17Fred Walker 4-20Tyler Atkinson 4-21Joyce Musselman 4-21Eric Langdon 4-23Michelle Walker 4-24Megan Stroble 4-25Barbara Thomas 4-26Mark Prout 4-27Judy Willmann 4-27

April 6 Allen Stallsmith, Cindy Knote, Scott Clamme and Gene BanterApril 13 Allen Stallsmith, Gene Banter, Tom Willmann and Ray StanleyApril 17 Allen Stallsmith and Cindy KnoteApril 19 Allen Stallsmith and Scott ClammeApril 20 Cindy Knote, Gene Banter, Tom Willmann and Ray Stanley April 27 Scott Clamme, Gene Banter, Tom Willmann and Ray Stanley

April 6 Kathy SharpApril 13 Sandy LangdonApril 20 Max HileApril 27 Cindy Knote

April 6 TBAApril 13 TBAApril 20 TBAApril 27 TBA