May 2016
The Pastor’s Ponderings Pastor David’s cell phone—348-330-4170 and email address—fleeneda@gmail.com Bishop and New Testament scholar N.T. Wright tells a story about his days as a college chaplain. (You can find the story online and in at least one of his books, but I will summarize it here.) Each year, he would see each first-year student individually to welcome them to the college and make a first acquaintance. While most students were happy to meet him, many also commented, “You won’t be seeing much of me; you see, I don’t believe in God.” In response, Wright asked, “Oh, that’s interesting: which god is it you don’t believe in?” This was often a surprising question. They would describe the god they didn’t believe in: an invisible being in the sky, looking down with judgment, “intervening” occasionally with miracles, sending bad people to hell while inviting
good people to heaven. After the students shared this, Wright would respond, “Well, I’m not surprised you don’t believe in that god. I don’t believe in that god either. No, I believe in the god I see revealed in Jesus of Nazareth.” Sometimes people associate Christianity with a willingness to believe in anything. But that is not true. Christians, you could say, are called to be mostly atheists. The only God we are permitted to believe in is the God revealed in Jesus. That means we have a lot more in common with atheist thinkers and writers than we would like to think. Atheists like Ludwig Feuerbach, Karl Marx, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Sigmund Freud point out many ways we can distort the image of God into something desirable for our own ends. We break the first and second commandments (“You shall have no other gods”
Zion’s 2016 Council Members Elder & President ...................................................................... Jody Stanley Elder & Vice-President ................................................................. Larry Hile Secretary ............................................................................... Barb Hardwick Deacons ................................................................................... Scott Clamme Drew Walker Allen Stallsmith Trustees .................................................................................... Chris Stroble Tom Armstrong Mark Prout Treasurer ................................................................................. Max Langdon Financial Secretaries .................................................................... Tiann Coy Kathy Sharp
and “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God”) all too easily to fashion a god made from our hands. Yet, as Christians, we are called and commanded to believe in a God who is revealed fully in a particular person at a particular time. We believe in the God revealed in Jesus, and in no other. Of course, there is some ambiguity here. We don’t have Jesus with us in-the-flesh as his disciples did. All we have is the testimony about him in the New Testament. And each of us will read these accounts from our own perspective. It can be easy to see a Jesus who looks a lot like us. But if we dig deeper into these accounts, we can see that Jesus is very different from us. Jesus was not an English-speaking white middleclass American Lutheran! Jesus was a 1st-century Palestinian Jew. He spoke Aramaic, a Semitic language with a different alphabet and structure. He was a tekton, someone who worked with his hands, which was one of the lower classes of society. That God is revealed in this particular man, when we think about it, is as strange and alien as you can get. But that strange alien belief is at the heart of the Christian faith. We are certainly not immune to “sanitizing” Jesus and re-imaging him in our likeness. But our God is truly a “wholly other” God, a God who has made us, and not the other way around. Love to you all, Pr. David
May 2016
Parish
Vacation
May
Register
Bible School
Lectionary
Dwight Schmidt passed away on, Wednesday, April 20, 2016. Pastor David Fleener officiated at Dwight’s funeral service at Zion on Tuesday, April 26th, at 1:00 p.m. Burial followed at Gardens of Memory in Muncie. Our sympathy goes out to Dwight’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.”
Save the dates! Zion, First Presbyterian, and Trinity UMC will hold a joint VBS at Trinity July 18-22. Look for more announcements to come!
Readings
Worship Schedule Please note that Zion’s worship schedule will change on Sunday, May 29th, with Sunday School beginning at 9:00 a.m. followed by Worship at 10:00 a.m.
Stewardship Stewardship Ladies will be meeting to make quilts on May 10th and 24th from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. More help is always welcome and it is nice to join in fellowship with others.
Photos and
Easter 6 - May 1st 1st Reading - Acts 16:9-15 Psalm 67 2nd Reading - Revelation 21:10, 22—22:5 Gospel - John 14:23-29
Needed
Ascension of Our Lord - May 5th 1st Reading - Acts 1:1-11 Psalm 47 2nd Reading - Ephesians 1:15-23 Gospel - Luke 24:44-53
As the 150th Anniversary Committee works hard on updating our congregation's history, we ask all members to bring in photos or newspaper clippings that relate to our congregation.
Easter 7 - May 8th 1st Reading - Acts 16:16-34 Psalm 97 2nd Reading - Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21 Gospel - John 17:20-26
Clippings
Assisting Ministers Needed The role of assisting minister in our worship is a vital one. It shows that worship is not just something that the pastor does for the people, but is something that all of the people do together with God. However, due to sickness and other commitments, we have only three assisting ministers at the present time. We are in need of other people for this vital ministry. Singing ability is nice but not required. Talk to Pr. David if you are interested.
Day of Pentecost - May 15th 1st Reading - Genesis 11:1-9 Psalm 104:24-34, 35b 2nd Reading - Acts 2:1-21 Gospel - John 14:8-17 [25-27] The Holy Trinity - May 22nd 1st Reading - Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31 Psalm 8 2nd Reading - Romans 5:1-5 Gospel - John 16:12-15 Pentecost 2 - May 29th 1st Reading - 1 Kings 18:20-39 Psalm 96:1-9 2nd Reading - Galatians 1:1-12 Gospel - Luke 7:1-10
May 2016
March Council Minutes Congregation Council met on March 10, 2016. Present: Pastor David Fleener, Barb Hardwick, Tom Armstrong, Chris Stroble, Mark Prout, Allen Stallsmith and Drew Walker Absent: Jody Stanley, Kathy Sharp, Tiann Coy, Max Langdon and Scott Clamme The meeting was called to order by Larry Hile. Devotions were given by Pastor Fleener. A motion was made by Mark Prout to accept the minutes of the secretary’s report. Chris Stroble seconded. Correspondence: Pastor David nominated Scott and Shay Clamme to serve as our delegates at the Indiana/ Kentucky Synod Assembly, June 9-11, 2016. The Clammes’ have not reported back to Pastor. Our church will be honored for our 150th Anniversary at a dinner at the Assembly on June 9th in South Bend. Cost $35.00 per person. Add items to agenda: Pastor asked for permission of a bridal shower in April. Council approved. Pastor’s report: Pastoral Care— Stats for February 2016: Pastor – 4 shut-in visits, 4 sick/hospital visits Helen Stroble has moved to Warren and will be placed on the shut-in list. Grace Village—Two students from Grace Village will be helping with our worship on Palm Sunday. I would like to take up an additional special offering for them that day. In addition, The ECIC will be having its annual spring fundraiser for Grace Village at Lutheran Church of the Cross on April 15th at 7 PM.
Lent and Holy Week—About 20 worship at our mid-week services. Holy Week will be a bit different than previous years. There will be an opportunity to worship every day that week. There will be evening prayer on Monday and Tuesday, a soup supper followed by Holy Communion on Wednesday, and the usual services to round out the week – Maundy Thursday, Good Friday (at 3 PM this time), Easter Vigil, and Easter Sunday. I will probably take a few days off the next week. Other events in February: Feb. 1, 8, 15, 22 – Joe and Jesus at Common Grounds; Feb. 1, 8, 15 – Class at CTS; Feb. 9 – Assisted with Audremae Clamme’s funeral; Feb. 11 – Attended chrism mass in Bluffton and visited with Bp. Gafkjen; Feb. 18 – AED training; Feb. 27 – Congregation council training Committee reports—Parish Ed: Have not met. Looking at VBS curriculum with Pastor Susan Finley at First Presbyterian and Pastor Dustin Jones at Trinity United Methodist Church. Worship/Music/Memorial: Met on February 24th. Chose hymns through last of March. Land Use: Would like to have plaque ready for 150th Anniversary. 150th Anniversary Committee: Members are Larry Hile, Peggy Willmann, Jody Stanley, Nolan Willman, Carolyn Goetz and Louise Clamme. They will be asking for donations of food for the anniversary celebration. Larry will co-ordinate a cookout with Steve Weschke. They would like to have old pho-
tos of the church brought in to show. Constitution Committee: Met on April 7th. Mission and Ministry: Will meet next Thursday. Council reports—Deacons: Deacon’s Fund usage - $100 for rent for a person across the street. Attendance Report—2/7 – 74 attended, 66 communed; 2/10 (Ash Wed.) – 26 attended, 25 communed; 2/14 – 70 attended, 65 communed; 2/17 – 23 attended; 2/21 – 76 attended, 72 communed; 2/24 – 22 attended; 2/28 – 57 attended, 50 communed Trustees: The boiler is not repaired. Parts are on back order. Tom Armstrong said we would have heat by next winter. Motion to accept the committee reports by Drew Walker. Seconded by Mark Prout. Old Business: Chris Stroble promised to look into water softener rental at the parsonage. New Business: Pastor will let council know about June vacation next month. Pastor asked about making “highlights” from council meetings available to the congregation earlier than the officially approved minutes. Pastor reasoned that this might facilitate better communication with the congregation. There was a discussion. The council declined to act on this proposal at this time. The meeting closed with all praying the Lord’s Prayer. The next meeting will be on April 14, 2016. Pastor David will continue with devotions for the next four months. Respectfully submitted, Barb Hardwick Recording Secretary
The Zion Herald May 2016 “Happy are those whose strength is in God, in whose heart are the highways to Zion.” (Psalm 84:5)
Zion Lutheran Church 308 S. Monroe Street Hartford City, IN 47348
Serving the Lord in Gladness David Fleener, Pastor Church Office: 348-3157 Zionluth.hc@gmail.com www.zionhc.org
May 1, 8, 15 & 22 - Sunday School at 9:15 AM with Worship at 10:30 AM May 29 - Sunday School at 9:00 AM with Worship at 10:30 AM
May 2016 Lay Ministry Servers Greeters May 1 May 8 May 15 May 22 May 29
Tom and Peggy Willmann—Neil and Libby Stroble Larry and Virginia Langdon—Madeline Lennon Claretta Dutro—Don and Carolyn Goetz Drew and Michelle Walker—Eldon Willmann Dorothy Hale—Madeline Lennon
Ushers May 1 Scott Clamme, Drew Walker, Allen Stallsmith and Mike Clamme May 8 Scott Clamme, Gene Gardner, Gene Banter and Mike Clamme May 15 Drew Walker, Gene Gardner, Gene Banter and Mike Clamme May 22 Scott Clamme, Gene Gardner, Gene Banter and Mike Clamme May 29 Allen Stallsmith, Gene Gardner, Gene Banter and Kean Coy Lectors May 1 May 8 May 15 May 22 May 29
Neil Stroble Libby Stroble Chris Coy Drew Walker Cathy Willmann
Assisting Ministers May 1 May 8 May 15 May 22 May 29
Sarah Fleener Jody Stanley Mark Prout Jody Stanley Sarah Fleener
May Birthdays Carolyn Hughes Teresa Banter Larry Langdon Nolan Willman Dick Smith Dorothy Hale Zackary Monce Carolyn Smith Joretta Hiday Michael Habegger Chris Walker Bill Thomas Jim Rinker
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