from the pastor…. this month…. · when the outbreak began, we began to worship online. first...

THIS

MONTH….

Mother’s Day-

- Sunday,

May 10

Ascension--

Thursday,

May 21

Memorial Day

--Monday,

May 25

Pentecost--

Sunday, 31

May 2020

From the Pastor….

Our Mission Statement

With Christ as center, Christ Community reaches

out to all people in need of physical, spiritual, and

emotional care with the good news that Christ is

calling us to be a community.

The above statement was adopted at the founding of Christ

Community. As you see, our goal was and is to be a witness to

the gospel in a rapidly changing world, ready to respond

wherever God calls us. When Cathy and I joined Christ

Community and then when I became its Interim Pastor, I knew

God was calling us into a disruptive future, yet I never could

have imagined the Covid19 pandemic that has upended our

lives in recent months.

When the outbreak began, we began to worship online. First

with just my sermons but soon after, we gathered 3-4 singers,

our pianist, and the projectionist to provide you the congregation

with the full liturgy including hymns and sermon. I give thanks

for those who have assembled every Thursday morning to bring

you this offering.

Also, Cathy and I have put into place a monthly telephone call to

everyone in the congregation plus every two weeks I call the

shut-ins who are available. If you are not available, we leave a

message and if you would like to return the call, please do as

we would love to talk to you.

(continued on next page)

From the Pastor continued

The Council continues to meet via Zoom plus our finance/stewardship team continues to

meet on a monthly basis. All other teams are not meeting until further notice. As you

can see via eBlast, my office hours remain on Mondays and Thursdays. The time varies

week to week.

Our normal way of being community as the people of God has been uprooted. In such

turbulent times, we count on the promises of God to abide with us. Together we will

faithfully respond to God’s call.

Please know that Cathy and I hold each and every one of you in our daily prayer.

Peace

Pastor John

The Good News May 2020

From Bishop Mansholt

Bishop’s Update on what’s happening among us in this synod during Covid19

Emergency Order #31, Badger Bounce Back, was signed into law on Monday, April

20, 2020 and outlines the phased in approach to lifting restrictions. I’ve attached a copy

of the order so that you and your lay leaders might read for yourselves the details of the

order. Badger Bounce Back allows for a phased in reopening of businesses, churches

and other gatherings of people. We anticipate the Phase One to take effect May 26,

which will limit gatherings to 10 people. As certain health criteria are met across the

state and goals attained, Phase Two will allow for gatherings up to 50 people. I have

been hearing that we should not expect the return to large mass gatherings before 2021

but we take things a day and a week at a time. This will have implications for

congregational worship and other synod activities for months to come.


From Bishop Mansholt continued


Love for the neighbor. These are difficult times. I know some of you are in

communities where there are few if any confirmed cases, while others are dealing

directly with COVID-19. As you work with your lay leaders I encourage you to follow the

lead of our state public health officials because the love of our neighbor is

paramount. As one doctor commented recently, “the virus lays waiting for us to lose our

focus.” We want to actively do all that we can to stop the spread of the coronavirus and

preserve the health and well-being of the people of our churches and communities. This

has been a hardship for many, especially as jobs have been lost and the economy shut

down. Yet it is important that we listen to people with expertise in public health.

Synod Assembly. Nearly all synods have either canceled their assemblies for this year

or postponed them till a later date. Those synods with bishop elections are trying to

figure out how to hold an assembly in later summer or early fall. We are trying to

determine what best serves the mission of the Church in a time like this. Our Synod

Council meets this week to explore the possibility of an assembly held in 8 or more

remote locations. We are in conversation with the ELCA Office of Secretary and other

synods. If gatherings are still restricted to 50 or less, then a full assembly gathered in

one central location would not be possible till a much later date. I want to emphasize we

are in the very early stages of conversation and are only exploring possibilities at this

time.

Crossways Camping Ministry. These are especially tough days for camping

ministries, and we especially think of Crossways and the vital ministry it provides in this

synod. I encourage congregations to consider ways to support Crossways in these days

and to stay tuned to their communications for developments. I’ve attached a letter from

Lutheran Outdoor Ministries in which they say to the congregations “you are in our

prayers, you are in our plans.”

I know every day presents new and unique challenges to pastoral ministry and

congregational life. I am deeply grateful for each and every one of you and lift you

in prayer as you navigate the challenges, opportunities and demands of each day.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may

abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

In Christ’s peace,

Jerry

From the Council President

April Showers Bring May Flowers!

What do May Flowers Bring???

Wait for it: Pilgrims

Greetings! Thought I would start out my May message with a little humor, Lord knows

we could use some humor about now. My 38 year old nephew came home from

preschool with this riddle about May Flowers and it has stuck in my brain since then. I

hope this message finds you and your family well and safe. Being cooped up can get

old very quickly but the weather should cooperate in being nicer soon so at least we can

get outside and get some fresh air and sun.

Pretty quiet around CCLC these days but that is good because people are respecting

social distancing and staying home. Thursday mornings there are 6 of us who tape the

next Sunday’s Service and we all social distance during the taping to be safe. Pastor

John makes it easy because he is always well prepared. We will continue to do it every

week until we are all able to come together to worship again. Even then we will be sure

to have safe practices during worship to be safe.

Many of our activities and community events for the remainder of 2020 have been

cancelled and we will evaluate all of our future activities this year as the situation

progresses. Your CCLC Council continues to meet “virtually” each month and will

monitor the situation as needed.

Stay home when possible, be safe, stay strong and look forward to whatever the future

brings to us as members of CCLC.

Peace and Blessings

Mary Hammer


"One's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions"

Luke 12:15b

What should I do with my abundance? The rich man in this parable asks a powerful

question even though he does not arrive at the right answer. Good stewards are not

greedy with their possessions. Rather, they realize that everything belongs to God

and God has called them to share their abundance with the needy. -Author unknown

We are beginning the fifth week of the “safer at home” order – which has been

extended to May 25th. Many folks are getting restless; aching to get together with

family and friends. If you are looking for something to do, call a friend or send them a

card – maybe even write them a letter. Another activity – write a journal of what is

happening in your life these days. Not knowing how long this will last can cause

much anxiety.

There are still some families who worry about how they are going to pay the rent and

buy groceries. Most of us are fortunate to be able to provide for our families. Let us

remember those who can’t through our prayers, donations to food banks, etc.

The other thing that is important is that we don’t forget to continue our contributions to

the church. We still have to pay for the electricity, telephone, water and mortgage.

There are several ways we can do this.

You can mail your offering to the church office – 1742 Servant Way, Green Bay, WI

54311.

You can drop off your offering. The office is open Monday and Thursday. There is

a slotted box, on the table with the name tags, in which you can put your

offering envelop.

You can sign up with Simply Giving to have your offering automatically drafted from

your account. (see the enrollment form at the end of this article).

You can download the mobile app and set up your contribution at GivePlusMobile.

This will enable us to meet our obligations. A hearty “Thank You” to all who have

continued to send their offering each week.


Message from the Treasurer


Now I would like to update everyone on the progress of the Building Improvement

Fund. As of Sunday, April 12, 2020 we have raised $7,740 plus the $3,000 match

from the Capital Improvement Savings Account. This brings our total to $10,740.

That puts us at 86% of our total goal of $12,500. To reach Phase II, by June 30,

2020, of our goal ($11,500) we only have $760 to go! A big thank you to all who have

contributed. The furnace bill and bill for the door have been paid. No update on the

parking lot as yet.

March 31, 2020, we show a budget surplus of $2,222. The Current and Loose

amount is $2,694 behind budget. Childcare tuition was $8,198 behind budget. Our

expenses were $9,468 less than budgeted. According to the Budget we need a

little more than $8,000 a month to cover our basic expense. This month we fell

a little less than $540 short.

Our daycare is open, with limited number of children. This also means that our staff

needs are less. On the positive side, we have added a few children after another

daycare closed.

As always, please let the Finance Team know if you have any questions. The

members are Gary Duquaine, John Christensen, Pam Moreau and Stan Plageman. If

we can’t answer you right away, we will find out the answer and let you know.

Blessings,

Cathy

Message from the Treasurer continued


Keep the Faith

With the Coronavirus outbreak spreading worldwide, I sometimes wonder if God is

trying to tell us something. Hmm, don’t take things for granted? Sometimes all of us

get too comfortable with all that we have, and we forget to give thanks. Thanks for our

family, friends, jobs, schools, stores, restaurants, movie theaters, sporting events,

libraries, on and on. And simple things like being able to give handshakes, hugs, and

high fives.

And boy oh boy, when it’s taken away from us, we complain “why is this happening”.

We seem to forget that we still have people living on this earth that were part of the

Great Depression, and many who have fought in wars that were unbelievably horrid.

Someone reminded me the other day that Anne Frank hid in a tiny 2 by 4 crawl space

for over 2 years before she was captured by the Nazi’s and sent to the concentration

camps. And before she died, she wrote “I still believe people are good at heart”. How

dare we complain!

Like all businesses across the world, our childcare has been affected by this virus. We

have temporarily lost 75% of our kids who are at home because their parents have

temporarily lost their jobs. But the key word is temporary. As they say “This Too Shall

Pass”.

We should think of the things we still have, our homes, we still eat (some of us too

much). We have phones and the internet to communicate. We have our yards and

sidewalks for fresh air. We have our 50 inch colored TV sets for entertainment. We

still can go for car rides, especially now with gas prices being so cheap. We can still

listen to Pastor John preach on YouTube. But most important, we still have God.

God who will never leave us. I look at it this way, we can complain or we can have

faith.

The Childcare Board left it up to me about temporarily closing or to stay open. We

stayed open and during this time we picked up 3 new full time kids. Wow! I say we

should give thanks now for whatever we have. Our reward isn’t when the country

reopens. Our true reward is yet to come. You know, Heaven.

Miss Patti

Message from the ChildCare Director


CHURCH COUNCIL 2020


CCLC has a Prayer Chain and we are trying to update it. If you would like to be on the Prayer Chain that is notified when a prayer request is made, please sign up on the sheets located in the fellowship area and indicate how you would like to be contacted: text, email or phone call. If you would like to make

a prayer request please call or text Mary Hammer at 920-360-7987. If texting, please identify yourself in the text. If you are making the prayer request on behalf of someone else, please get permission from that person to proceed. If you are unable to sign up at church you can call or email Mary Hammer, [email protected] to get on the list.

Prayer Chain

NAME START OF TERM END OF TERM

Mary Hammer, President January 2018 January 2021

Bob Simpson, Vice-President January 2020 January 2023

Luann Simila, Secretary January 2019 January 2022

Cathy Sell, Treasurer January 2020 January 2023

Gary Duquaine January 2019 January 2022

Del Whitmire January 2019 January 2022

Doris Burdick January 2020 January 2023

Kelly Delwiche January 2019 January 2022

Betsy Ferrebee January 2020 January 2023

mailto:[email protected]

Spiritual Life

Faith Formation, Bible Study, Worship

Parish Life Hospitality, Care Teams, Fellowship

Community Life

Outreach, Service, Evangelism

The Life teams are looking for new members. Meetings are the

second Sunday of the month at 10:30am following worship.

Please consider joining a team and become more involved in

planning for the life of this congregation.

Life Teams


With the social distancing with COVID 19, we are still able to get outside in the open

spaces. This means we are proceeding ahead with our community garden project to

feed the hungry in our neighborhood and around the world.

The garden plot has been roto-tilled by a Bellevue area neighbor who had a large

tractor and tiller attachment. He did a great job and this is the nicest the garden plot

has ever looked.

We have been approved for a Thrivent Action team and received the $250 prepaid

credit card. We have purchased a few bags of garden fertilizer and it was applied prior

to the tilling. By the first few days of May, we plan to start planting early season items

(potatoes, set onions, cabbage plants). As the weather warms, we will add other

items. Our regular volunteers from last year are Amy Hertel, Mike & Kathy Chase

(from Grace Lutheran) and Al Rasmussen. New volunteers for this year are Rick

Eland and Cathy Sell.

May 2020 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2

3

Worship via

Facebook/

YouTube

4 5 6 7

Virtual Finance

Team meeting

8 9

10

Mother’s Day

Worship via

Facebook/

YouTube

11

Virtual Council

meeting

12 13 14 15 16

17

Worship via

Facebook/

YouTube

18 19 20 21

Ascension

22 23

24

Worship via

Facebook/

YouTube

25

Memorial Day

26 27 28 29 30

31 Pentecost

Worship via

Facebook/

YouTube

Christ Community Lutheran Church

1742 Servant Way

Green Bay, WI 54311

Phone: 920-469-5585

Web: www.christcommunityelca.org

E-mail: [email protected]

Like us on Christ Community Lutheran Church-ELCA

is a monthly newsletter sent to members and friends of Christ Community Lutheran Church.

Christ Community Lutheran Church

1742 Servant Way

Green Bay, WI 54311

The deadline for the June issue of

The Good News is:

~~Tuesday, May 26, 2020~~

from the pastor…. this month…. · when the outbreak began, we began to worship online. first...

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