WISPS OF STRAW

St. James Lutheran Church Newsletter

July 2012

Pastor: Rev. John H. Van Haneghan Church Office Phone: 908-454-2864

E-mail: strawchurch@verizon.net

Web site: www.strawchurch.org

“Serving Christ in Word and Deed” for over 260 Years

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The Pastor’s Letter Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes 7 and said to the entire Israelite assembly, “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. 8 If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. 9 Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will devour them. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them.

Dear Friends,

My daily readings in the Old Testament have been in the Book of Numbers. This is the time in

the history of the people of Israel when they had left Egypt and headed to the “promised land”.

Initially, when the people of Israel left Egypt, it was a joyous, exciting time. God intervened in

a number of ways when the Israelites left, and they were even able to take gold and other

valuables from the Egyptians on the way out. Of course there is the “parting of the sea” that

finally stopped the Egyptians from following them. One of the most celebrated events in the

Old Testament is the “parting of the sea” to free the Israelites from the Egyptians.

However when you read on in Numbers, the “shine” on their new found freedom quickly wears

off. They find that going through the wilderness is a lot harder than they imagined. There is

great complaining and outright rebellion not just once but over and over again. God does step in

and help the Israelites, but it does not come without God’s judgment on their actions.

Finally Moses is obviously thinking of orienting the people to the future and sends a group of

leaders to explore the land God has promised to them. They are then to return and report the

people.

When they come back, the “majority” report is pretty discouraging. There are vicious warmongering residents in the land who made them feel small and powerless. How could they

ever take such a land? So their fear produces mass panic in the camp. But the “minority”

report by Joshua and Caleb takes a different view. Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of

Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, say to the entire Israelite

assembly, “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us.”

The fear of the Israelites drowns out the faith of Joshua and Caleb. The rebellion at that

point goes to a fever pitch causing some to form a movement to go back to Egypt. We, however, know the rest of the story and not without a great price of pain and sorrow on the part of the

Israelites, they make it to the promised land.

I think we can learn from this story. God is a god of vision, and life. Vision is necessary for our

dreams, hopes, and aspirations. But vision doesn’t guarantee that things will be easy in getting

from the beginning to the goal.

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In our partnership in ministry, God has a vision for St, James. The real challenge for each of us

is to work through the times when the vision seems shaky, and remember the words of Joshua,

“If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us.”

Your brother in Christ,

Pastor John

Sunday School Notes The Sunday School end of the year program

was held on Sunday, May 20th at the 8:45 am

worship service, with each student receiving

a certificate. Students in 3rd grade

received Bibles, as did First Communion

students.

Teachers and Sunday School staff were acknowledged, and the students closed the

program by singing Butterfly Song

It’s not too soon to mark your calendars for

Rally Day, September 9th, when the new

school year begins. As always, it will run

from September through May on Sundays at

10:00 am.

Sunday School teachers for the new year are needed for pre-kindergarten; grades

5/6 combined, and to co-teach 7th grade

Confirmation class. Please contact Sunday

School superintendent Pamela Van Haneghan

at 908-777 3068 or evangelvh316@aol.com

to help in this important ministry.

……………………………………………………………

You can tell how big a person is by what it

takes to discourage him.

Welcome, New Members! On June 9th and 10th we rejoiced in

recognizing four new members and the

return of a former member to Straw Church

during worship.

On Saturday June 9th we welcomed Mark

and Cindy Aloise who live in Lopatcong. They

come to us by transfer from Faith Lutheran Church in Easton, and have been worshiping

with us for quite a while mostly on Saturday

evening.

On Sunday June 10th we officially welcomed

back Brian Fleming and recognized his wife

Kathy, and their two children Nicole and

Rachel, who also come to us from Faith

Lutheran in Easton. Nicole, you might remember, made her First Communion with

us last Maundy Thursday, and she is also

fitting in well with our Youth Group. Rachel

has also been attending our Sunday school.

The Flemings reside in Forks Township, PA.

On Sunday we also welcomed Kelly Lawton.

Kelly joined by reaffirmation of faith, and lives locally in Phillipsburg. She has already

sung occasionally with our church choir.

Please continue to welcome these folks into

our Straw Church family!

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New Jersey Synod Assembly, June 1st & 2nd, 2012 Synod Assembly was held this year at the College of New Jersey, in Ewing. It was a relatively

short and compact assembly with few business items. Along with me, Marion Martin and Sue

Miller attended as St. James voting members (for the first day only). All at the assembly were

glad to see Bishop Riley who had just had major heart surgery. He presided over the assembly

superbly. The assembly voted and passed the by-law changes to the Synod constitution to allow

for the creation of districts and deans, of which I am one. Nominations for synod council positions, as well as voting members to the 2013 Churchwide Assembly were voted upon.

Shannon Hardenbergh from St. James was placed in nomination as possible youth voting member

to the 2013 church wide assembly. While another youth was chosen, I was proud to have one of

our youth stand in nomination for this honor.

There was one resolution to be voted upon, which was referred to committee last year. The

resolution, initially introduced and debated on last year, dealt with the ordination of illegal

immigrants to the ministry of Word and Sacrament. The committee that reviewed it

recommended that the assembly not approve last year’s resolution.

There were various workshops, which were interesting. The most informative was one on “social

media” by Beth Lewis, head of Augsburg Fortress Publishing. I attended one on the Synod

budget, the Synod Bosnian Servant trip, as well as Beth Lewis’ social media workshop. Friday

evening there was an informal service of Holy Communion where Pastor Bruce Ewen, who served

on Synod staff for 23 years, was recognized as he returned to parish ministry. Pastors Eric

and Wendy Trozzo, who served at Gloria Dei in Chatham, were sent forth as they will be

missionaries in Malaysia. I had the privilege of serving communion with Marion and Sue.

There was also a mission fair, with displays from many related ministries. The one I was drawn to was Crossroads Camp and Retreat Center. The director, Anthony Brigg, is an old colleague of

mine from my time in the Upstate New York Synod. Crossroads is a nice facility, and perhaps

we can make use of it in the future.

Saturday Pam came with me as a visitor for the final Assembly meeting, workshops, and close of

the Assembly.

I want to thank Marion Martin and Sue Miller for attending the Assembly. Next year the

Assembly will be held during different days, and in a hotel, since next year will be the election of a new bishop. Bishop Riley will be retiring, so this will be a whole new chapter in the life of

our Synod. When the time comes next year consider being a voting member from our

congregation.

Pastor John

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Confirmation Four young people were

confirmed on Trinity Sunday,

June 3rd, thereby entering

into full membership in the

St. James church family.

Our justifiably proud and happy new

members are (l to r):

Kaitlyn Chemidlin

Michael Carhart Alec Coleman

Joseph Takacs

Donate from your Smart Phone!

St. James Lutheran

Church now offers a

mobile version of our

online giving page to make it easy for you to give

anytime from your smart

phone. Simply scan the image you see here

using your phone’s Quick Response (QR) code

reader!

A “Thank You” to St. James

Heifer Project (Links of Love)

Our Sunday School and Social Ministries

Committee raised approximately $290,

including the matching donation ($1.00 for

every $3.00 collected)

from Thrivent. The

Heifer Project provides small farm animals to

families in needy areas worldwide.

Thanks to everyone who helped show the

generosity of St. James.

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VBS is Right Around the Corner One of our church’s most effective outreach programs, the annual

Vacation Bible School, will run from July 16th through the 20th,

from 8:30 to 11:30 am. Our theme this year is “Sky –Everything is

Possible with God”, and accordingly during this week the

participants (preschool through fourth grade) will learn to put

their trust in God. Older children are invited to join us as helpers, and teen and adult volunteers are needed as well.

In these difficult times, VBS presents a solid Bible message and the Gospel is brought to life in

experiments, games, music and through God’s Word. Faith is kindled and strengthened in all

who attend.

With the severe financial constraints facing our church this year, we have to minimize the

effect of VBS on the St. James budget. A list of supplies that we would love to have donated

or lent to us is shown below. Since donations may have come in since this was written, please contact Vanessa Marciello, VBS coordinator, at 908-454-3566 or vanessapt89@hotmail.com for

the latest updates.

For purchase:

60 cheap toilet paper rolls 1 large beach ball

65 ping-pong balls 65 lanyards

65 mini bubble bottles (like used at weddings)

800 cotton balls 200 glue dots

400 red dot stickers (like used at tag sales) Two 24 piece puzzles Stamp pads

One box 3 oz paper cups 100 wet wipes

200 colored clothespins 20 small sponge balls

70 pieces of cardstock in various colors

For loan:

6 hula hoops One toy telescope

2 hair dryers Blue tarps

Kites Of course, monetary donations to help defray the costs are always welcome.

Your prayers are also needed. Please pray that we are able to reach many children for Christ,

and that his message will be clear.

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Thanks to our Supporters We would be remiss in not taking the time to

express our thanks to people and

organizations who have been so supportive

of our church.

The local ShopRite, owned and operated by the

Colalillo family, has always

been most generous in

donations of food items for various events,

most recently the Church Picnic. As you

know, they also sell us their Gift Cards at a

discount of 5%, which results in additional

income for the church when you buy and use them at full value.

Mel Kent, our Thrivent representative, is

always ready to find ways for the church to

get financial help from Thrivent through

matching donations as well as promoting the

Thrivent Choice Dollars program. He is also

generous with his own time and money in

bringing promotional items to church events.

Obviously, an investment with Thrivent is

more than just a personal matter, it also

results in help for our church and charities

that St. James supports.

Both deserve the patronage of our members

in recognition of all the good they do for

St. James.

BBQ Chicken Dinner St. James will be having a barbecue chicken

dinner event on Saturday, August 25th. The

meals will consist of chicken leg quarters

(hand rubbed with a secret Raub recipe),

smoked baked beans, corn bread and coleslaw. This dinner will be take-out only,

with pickup times from 1:00 to 4:00 pm.

Cost will be $10.00 per meal, with advance

orders accepted. Call 610-597-7473 to

place your order no later than Sunday,

August 19th.

Straw Church Market Building on the response to the June flea market, which raised approximately $416

for the church, Straw Church Market will be

held on the second Saturday of each month

from August through November this year,

from 7:00 am to 1:00 pm. Cost is $15.00 per

space, $7.50 for each additional space.

Tables will also be available for donations to

the church. Call 610-597-7473 to sign up.

Volunteers are urgently needed, please call

610-597-7473 to help make this a success.

Senior League Notes The final meeting before

summer break took place on

Wednesday, June 6th. Pizza

was served, and all the

fixings for “do it yourself”

sundaes were on hand.

The new season will begin at 6:00 pm on

Wednesday, September 5th. Watch the

weekend bulletins for details.

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Church Picnic Our picnic, held at Pohatcong Park on June 24th, was a rousing success. It was very well

attended, including by a lively group of children who seemed to be having an especially good

time. As has come to be expected by our overly pampered taste buds, the food brought to the

affair by all our talented cooks was first-rate.

Many of the attendees showed their pride in, and support for, St. James by showing up in the

recently sold Straw Church T-shirts. That program raised close to $80 for our church.

“Same time next year?” We sure hope so!

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Financial Update Over the past few weeks, you have received several communications regarding the current

fiscal outlook for St. James. We have had some questions as to specific numbers and trends,

and want to share the following historical and projected outcomes to paint a clearer picture of

where we stand.

2010(Actual) 2011 (Actual) 2012 (Projected)

Total Income $147,198.87 $166,710.60 $166,710.60

Budgeted Expenses $177,813.72 $199,649.95 $183,834.84

Non-budget Expense $19,329.13 $3,345.30 $3,345.30

Net ahead / (behind) ($49,943.98) ($36,284.65) ($20,469.54)

A few of the numbers may need clarification. The large unbudgeted expense in 2010 was mostly

due to replacement of the Frey Hall roof. The budget increase from 2010 to 2011 of course

primarily stems from the fact that 2011 was our first year with a full-time pastor for the whole

twelve months. Frey Hall floor replacement and kitchen upgrades do not show in the 2012 expenses because they were covered by a specific bequest.

As you can see, we are moving in a positive direction as regards closing the gap. However, we

have trimmed the expenses as far as possible, including even freezing salaries and allowances,

which cannot go on indefinitely. That means our only way to reach long-term solvency is by

increasing our income, both giving and fund-raising. An increase of 10% in giving would be an

excellent start.

Our Fund-raising Committee has been implementing a number of different approaches to

supplementing what the church gets from giving. All of these – monthly breakfasts, flea markets, dinners, etc. – will need the support and participation of a large cross-section of our

membership to be successful. That means not only patronage, but volunteering time and effort

to help run them, because the small number of people who have been carrying that load cannot

be expected to do it alone forever.

Thanks to all the folks who have been generous with their time and treasure up until now.

Remember, the church consists of all of us.

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Boy Scout News and Happenings Troop 56 had the pleasure of adding two new Eagle Scouts to its ranks. Kyle Maris and

Christian Zurine both completed their Boards of Review on June 25th to earn the Rank of Eagle.

Kyle has been in scouting since 1st grade as a Cub Scout in Pack 61 before moving on to our

Troop at the end of 5th grade after earning Cub Scouts highest award, the Arrow of Light.

While a Boy Scout he has held positions of Patrol Leader, Scribe, Asst. Sr. Patrol Leader, Den

Chief, Patrol Leader, Assistant Sr. Patrol Leader, and Instructor. During his time with the

troop he completed 31 merit badges, earned the Den Chief Award, Snorkeling BSA, Emergency Preparedness Award, and National Outdoor Award for Camping along with countless nights of

camping. Kyle’s Eagle project benefited First Lutheran Church in Stewartsville. As he has

turned 18, we look forward to welcoming Kyle as an adult leader with the troop.

Christian started out with Pack 56 as a Tiger when he was in 1st grade and crossed over to the

troop at the end of 5th grade after earning the Arrow of Light. He has held the positions in the

troop of Patrol Leader, Troop Guide and Instructor, and will be assuming the role of JASM until

he turns 18. Christian’s Eagle Project benefited the NORWESCAP Food Bank. So far Christian

has earned 29 Merit badges, BSA Snorkeling, and World Conservation Award along with many miles of hiking and nights of camping.

You may have noticed a change in the Boy Scout trailer. It has returned to the church with a

customized ‘wrap’ which represents our troop quite well. The idea of a troop trailer was

discussed a few years ago and with many hours of planning, fundraising, and attention to detail,

the troop now has an awesome trailer of which we can be proud.

As we prepare for Summer Camp in July at Goose Pond Scout Reservation in the Poconos, it is

good to look back on what we accomplished this year:

28 Nights of camping Over 400 Hours of Community Service

22 Scouts advancing in rank

3 Eagle Scouts since last June

5 Scouts to attend the National

Jamboree

We are truly thankful for the continued

support of St. James Lutheran Church, the sponsor of our troop.

Drew Edinger

drew.edinger@gmail.com

908.209.1751 - Mobile

270.447.1494 - Fax