St. Paul Lutheran Church Monthly Member Newsletter for October, 2012

St. Paul Lutheran Church

Monthly Member Newsletter for October, 2012
• Pastor's Comments: What you should know about Jesus : ….News Flash for Mass Market Media....Jesus DOES have a Bride ! Harvard University (Boston, MA) historian Karen King announced recently that a tiny fragment of papyrus, about the size of a driver's license, contained a quote from Jesus about His wife. She speculated that it might possibly date to the fourth century, and might belong to a collection of writings by Christians that held a very different perspective than the Christianity of the first century and that which is common today. Some in the mass market media have stated things more strongly than Ms. King did. Some now, less than two weeks since the announcement, are even wondering if the scrap of papyrus is simply a forgery (see msnbc.msn.com/id/49225880). What kind of problems does this pose for our faith in Christ? Well, NONE !

The hype is just that and only that – hype. First of all, there certainly were numerous groups in the third and fourth centuries that claimed to be the true religion taught by Jesus Christ, complete with their own “bible.” Many modern scholars have written (speculatively) that the “established Church” didn't want these rabble-rousers disturbing their status quo and did all they could to snuff out these “Christians” with a different perspective. Truth is, these alternative “Christianities” did not want to be “in” the established Church, but wanted to replace it altogether! Their so-called Bible was written centuries after the long established documents that comprise the New Testament we use today. These writings that speak in strange ways of the authority Jesus gave to Mary Magdalene, or Jesus' marriage, weren't even around when the very first Christians continued to gather to read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, the epistles of Paul and John – even risking their lives to do so.

Does Jesus have a wife? Indeed He does ! The Church is His bride that He purchased with His innocent suffering and death, His holy precious blood. Jesus paid for all our sins so that we could be His people that receive all that is His as the Son of God – life everlasting. The Scriptures use the analogy of bride and husband to paint an encouraging picture for us to remember. The Church is the bride of Christ. He is our Husband, paying the bride-price that we may be His own forever.

Hey - CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, FOX News ! We have documents that speak of Jesus' love for His bride. It is called the New Testament, and we've had it for 2,000 years.

• Sermon Recordings: Sunday sermons are being digitally recorded in audio format. They are available to members or anyone interested. Requests should be made by specifying the Sunday sermon date you want. Please send your requests to: Leo Magiera at Lmagiera@earthlink.net.

• Chase Sammon's Eagle Scout Project: One of our members, Chase Sammons, worked on a leadership service project which benefits the community. His Eagle Scout project was to organize and complete a “prayer garden” for use by church members and other folks from the surrounding community. Chase and several friends and church members showed up on Saturday, April 28th, to help with his project. Please feel free to sit in this garden, if you have a chance, and reflect on the beauty of our Lord's creation, while expressing your private prayers. In mid-August, the Review Board checked over his project and granted him the Eagle Scout Merit Badge confirmation. In February, 2013, the Eagle Court of Honor will be presenting him with the actual Merit Badge and Elizabeth says many family members will be coming in from out of town to be here for this presentation. She will keep our congregation apprised of the details for this ceremony.

• Volunteer Reminder for Sunday SNACKS: We do enjoy having snacks available after the services. Please remember to sign up to bring some goodies from time to time to enjoy with coffee.

• Reminder for Other Signup Sheets: There are signup sheets for Sunday flowers, opening and preparing the sanctuary, reading liturgy, setting up communion/altar, communion assistant, and “greeters”. Please check over some of these sheets to see if you can help out. The signups for some items have been limited.

• Potluck for October: Monday, October 8th, will be our 2nd potluck of the 2012 season. Please bring a dish to pass for others to enjoy. Since it is October and some generally think of Octoberfests, if you have a German Octoberfest specialty, please bring it. The social begins at 6:30 PM. Hope to see you !
• Weekly Bible Study Schedule Announcement: Our Fall Bible Study began the end of September . These studies are on Tuesdays at 7:00 PM at St. Paul Church. We will continue to study the Book of 1st Corinthians. Please make plans to attend and invite your friends.

• Mystery BIO: Our mystery couple for October previously resided in a small town in Michigan, but after four years of traveling to thirty locations across the Sunbelt, they were drawn to the Pinehurst area by its beauty, its lakes and the state of the art hospital. They previously attended the Chapel of the Lakes (LCMS) in Canadian Lakes, MI. When working, their jobs included being a University Archivist/Reference Librarian at State University in Pennsylvania and all around volunteering.

Hobbies include reading, competing in NC Senior Games, track and swimming, canoeing, hiking and following American politics. Their pet is a lovable, but not trouble-free rescue Boykin Spaniel named Rascal. They have children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren in Michigan, Pennsylvania and southern California. They really enjoy going to the lake communities in Michigan and New York State's Adirondacks.

• Notes from the desk of your Church Council President:

1. New Organ: Our new organ has arrived and was installed in a Service of Installation on Sunday, September, 23, 2012. A letter of gratitude signed by congregation members in attendance was sent to Our Savior Lutheran Church, Raleigh, NC, after the service Sunday, September 30th.

2. Prayer Retreat: Our prayer retreat was very well attended. We had 27 members from St. Paul and St. James attending. Topics that were presented were “A Place for Prayer,” “Ancient Prayer Forms,” “Prayer Disciplines,” and “Prayer for Inner Healing.” Pastor Umbach added several personal events where prayer was extremely important for him. This is the first step our church has taken toward spiritual renewal.

3. Revitalizing the Church: This is the number one priority mission of the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod. From the Lutheran Witness, I quote “Mission moves from the heart of the congregation gathered around Sermon and Sacrament into the community and ultimately to the ends of the earth. Renewal in mission does not begin with programs or techniques, but with the forgiveness of sins distributed in the means of grace.” God serves us in Word and Sacrament, and we serve our neighbors in our worldly lives. Let us all proclaim God as our Father and Christ as our Savior.

4. Important Dates:

October 6, 2012 St. Paul Lutheran Church will have a booth at the Southern Pines Fall

Festival. We will be selling raffle tickets for the wonderful quilt made

by some members of our church. We will also be handing out fliers and

inviting people to worship with us on Sundays.

October 28, 2012 Reformation Sunday! Wear red if you can.

November 4, 2012 All Saints Sunday. Please provide a list of your loved ones, who have gone

to the resurrected life, to Pastor White so that they may be named in the prayers of our departed saints.

November 18, 2012 Annual Congregation Meeting /Voters' Assembly Meeting (after service). Mark your calendars. Voting members will be asked to vote for two new

council members (an amendment to the bylaws and the 2012 Financial

Budget). To help expedite the meeting, written material associated with each agenda item will be mailed or put in the individual mail slots at church approx. two weeks prior to the meeting. To say that this meeting is important to the future of our church is an understatement. (J. Wake)

• Prayer Requests: If you have a prayer request, put it in the pastor's mailbox or send it via email or call on his phone. Help your pastor care for you. Nothing is as powerful as prayer. Please keep Jim Roberts in your prayers and George Venet's brother, Bill, who suffered a stroke but is doing better. Also please pray for the family of Larry Leslie of St. James (he was called by the Lord on March 19), and also Patricia McCarthy. We have received word from Cliff Huner that the father of Steve Molen (who is the Managing Partner for Thrivent in NC/SC) is dying of cancer and not expected to make it much longer. Please pray for the family of Steve Molen. Also, add Barbara Nelson to your prayers. She recently had gall bladder surgery and is on the mend. Pray for Lloydene Meilbrecht, a member of St. James, who broke her ankle two weeks ago. Prayers are also requested for Marie Hagemeister, Rich Mancuso's aunt who is facing the loss of sight in her right eye from macular degeneration. If you have anyone you want to add to our prayer list, please advise George Venet or Pastor White.
• Pastoral Office Hours: Please call or email Pastor (pastorwhitelcms2.10@gmail.com) for an appointment Monday through Friday if in need of pastoral assistance/guidance. You may request to be met at St. Paul Church or at your home.

• Ladies Bible Study / “Eve Circle”: Our group will begin again on Thursday, September 6th at 5:45 PM at the church. We invite any ladies that are interested to please join us. We have Bible study from 5:45 PM until 6:45 PM. Then we go out to dinner somewhere. Our Bible study is on the first Thursday of each month and a “good will” project is done on the third Thursday of each month. Our upcoming project is yet to be determined. We would welcome any newcomers and ideas ! (Shirley Wake/Louise Jensen)

• “Friends of St. Paul Name and Address List”: There is a copy of our present members and friends list on the desk in the back of church. Please review this list and mark any changes or corrections on it. From time to time, John Wake will make the changes/corrections and put new copies on the desk in church. (John Wake)

• Birthdays in October: 10/1 John Button 10/26 Terry Davis

10/9 Rich Mancuso 10/26 Richard Rindfleisch

10/11 Jean Davis

• Anniversaries in October: 10/10/96 Ruth and Roger Fromm
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Please Note: If we have missed anyone's birthday or anniversary during the last year, please let Karen Dickens know. These dates were initially obtained from the “Membership Profile Sheets” pastor asked all the church members to fill out in July of 2011. If you came to us after that date and need to get a profile form, please let Karen know so we can add your information and birthday/anniversary dates to our spreadsheets. Thank you.
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• Weekday Bible Study: St. James Church, Wednesdays from 6 to 7 pm.

• Prayer Ministry: St. James invites you to gather for prayer on Saturdays, 10:00 am.

• Choral Recruits: In line with providing beautiful music to our Lord's glory, our little “choir” is looking for new recruits. If you feel that you can hold a tune and would like to try us out, please join us Sundays at 8:30 a.m. when we begin rehearsing before service. We really need new voices in all areas. (Contact Sondra Nelson or Karen Dickens)

• Food for Coalition: St. Paul donates cans of stew, vegetables and fruits to the Coalition in Southern Pines. Please place these items in the basket in the back of the church.
• Thrivent Financial News: Thrivent Financial members, please mark your calendars for the Pines Chapter's annual brunch on December 2nd at Our Savior Lutheran Church Fellowship Hall. More information will follow.
As I mentioned Sunday before services, the Pines Chapter did not have a Habitat House this year, nor will we have one next year. BUT, there is a new program where Habitat selects houses that need repair which we can become involved in. Under this program, we do not need to do any fund raising. We only need to provide manpower. We also will only be able to work on the EXTERIOR of the house, not the inside, and it will only take 1 or 2 days. There will be a major effort in November for this program in the Robbins area. If you would like to help, please contact me at 910-695-0509. We can work up a team from St. Paul for this effort. Our Savior and Trinity are also creating teams to help. Maybe St. Paul and St. James can combine into a team(s). This is open to anyone who wants to help.

A Social Security Seminar will be held on Thursday, October 11th at 10:00 AM and again at 6:30 PM at OSLC. This is open to anyone who wants to hear about or has questions regarding Social Security. It is presented by the Thrivent Financial Region and is free. Please contact Joyce Grau at 910-246-2365 or jgrau@nc.rr.com. Mr. Jim Caulder will conduct the sessions. He worked for the Social Security Administration for 33 years.

Henry Fuhrmann, President of Pines Chapter, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

• Background of our replacement Organ/Organ Fundraising: Our wonderful replacement organ was originally purchased in December, 1987, by a doctor in Raleigh, NC, from the Hopper Piano & Organ Company at a cost of $33,000. The doctor gave this organ to Our Savior Lutheran Church, Raleigh, several years ago. The organ has been well maintained through annual maintenance contracts.

The money contributed by us to our “Organ Fund” will be used to pay the costs associated with the

movement and installation of the organ at St. Paul, plus funding an escrow account to pay premiums for the

annual maintenance contract. The seven speakers, now situated on the floor in the back of church, will be

relocated to a new shelf on the back wall, that will be above the hallway into church, between the two cold

air returns. The labor to accomplish this speaker shelf will be handled by members of our church. The speaker hookup will be contracted out.

Your church council will be meeting soon to discuss a date for an Organ Recital. The recital will allow

the organist to demonstrate the range of music that this fine instrument can provide. If you have a

favorite composition or hymn you would like included in this recital, please let me know.
John Wake

• Our Giving of Time and Money: September, 2012

Average Sunday Attendance: 44 YTD average attendance: 41

Offerings for September totalled: $ 8,133, plus $310 in Thrivent Choice Dollars.

Total offerings YTD: $ 65,981, plus $1,349 in Thrivent Choice Dollars.

During September, we were blessed to receive $ 410 in offerings dedicated toward our Organ Fund Challenge. Your generous gifts enabled us to achieve the minimum $5,000 goal three months before its deadline. Please continue to consider additional gifts to the Organ Fund.

• Big Thanks ! Section: First of all, we send out a BIG thank you to Shirley and John Wake for handling all the preparation and work in setting up the “Prayer Workshop.” They really went out of their way in preparing name badges and doing registration, getting the sanctuary prepared and working behind the scenes to prepare for the breakfast/lunch supplies for the group of 28 folks. Sincere thanks !
Second of all, we cannot thank Dick Bock enough for all he has done for our church with his carpentry talents. For those of you that weren't around in the earlier years of our church, Dick re-designed our altar to make it open in the middle, he redesigned our pulpit, made our table for the flowers/offering basket, built a new baptismal fount, made us our nice candle holders and recently built a large cabinet to house our new paraments that were donated by the Magieras. Wow ! We love that he loves doing what he does.

• Mystery Bio Program: We are presently out of bio information sheets from congregational members. If you haven't already filled out a bio form, don't forget to pick up your “Mystery BIO” form on the desk in the back of the church. Then you can either slip it in my mailbox at church, or email me the information or call me at home (910) 295-6063, and I will include your BIO in one of the next monthly newsletters. Thanks, Karen Dickens. Email is: wolfandwife@embarqmail.com (that's a Q not a G in my email address).

• Newsletter Items: If you have any news/articles you want included in next month's newsletter, please advise me ASAP, or right after the last Sunday of the month. Karen Dickens (910) 295-6063.

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CONTACTS

Pastor Denton White: Home: (919) 577-9989 Cell: (919) 609-8687 Email: pastorwhitelcms2.10@gmail.com

Mailing address: 808 Barneswyck Drive, Fuquay Varina, NC 27526

Music Director: Ms. Sondra Nelson (910) 692-6979
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• Our mystery bio couple for October: Ruth and Roger Fromm