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This Church changes lives!
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News for the week of October 29, 2023
Adult Formation Hour
Options 9:20 a.m.
November 5, 2023 ALL SAINT'S DAY NEW MEMBER SUNDAY Stewarding Creation in the 21st Century with Pr. John Kost - Church Hall God's Law of Love with Dave Keammerer ~ Room 120 Jesus: The Greatest Story with Cheryl Slack ~ Room 209 Sunday School ~ Rooms 119, 107 and LLP Annex Fusion ~ Activity Center
Annual Meeting: November 12 Our congregation will meet Sunday November 12, 2023 at 9:20am in the Sanctuary for our Annual meeting, gathering prayer, conversation, and discussion. Join us as we hear stories of the impact of our year in ministry, elect our Council leaders, review our finances, and pray over our current
Ministry Plan for August, 2023 - July, 2024. In addition, this year we will consider the Welcome Statement developed out of our Deepening our Welcome process as a description of who we are as a congregation. This Statement has been written and rewritten based on the congregation's feedback, encouragement and concern: We Welcome You to Christ Lutheran Church! We are a community of people sharing God’s love through Christ and growing together in faith. We celebrate all the ways we are made in the image of God, seeking to see God in everyone. We honor and respect each person’s age, ethnicity, family composition, gender identity, gender expression, life history, mental well-being, physical ability, relationship status, sexual orientation, skin color, and socioeconomic standing. Together, we strive to love and serve our neighbor and
all creation, including working toward racial and social justice. We would love to walk with you on this creative adventure* of faith, grace, and love. * The first sermon ever preached at Christ Lutheran was titled “A Call to Creative Adventure.”
In order to make the Welcome Statement an official document of our congregation, our Council is proposing to establish a Bylaw and two Continuing Resolutions which clarify the Statement and how it intersects our ministries. (Note: the formal language of resolutions uses "Whereas" clauses to explain the context and rationale, and
"Resolved" clauses to denote the action being taken.) Our Council unanimously supports the proposed Statement and recommends passing the proposed amendments. We will also consider a Bylaw revision to clarify the term of office for our Youth Representative to Council. The Council recommends revising Bylaw C12.02.03 to add the bold
text: C12.02.03. A youth or young adult at-large representative will be elected each year to serve a one-year term beginning on January 1 and ending on December 31.
Finally, please note that this year, as a continuing evolution of our switch to a fiscal year for our Ministry Plan, we will meet again in May, 2024 to approve our Ministry Plan for August, 2024 through July, 2025. The links above are collected here, along with other documents that may be helpful to understand the above proposed changes to the Bylaws and Constitution: Printed copies of these helpful documents are available in the Gathering Space. Questions on content or process can be addressed to Pastor Tim or Ellen Swayne, Council President.
Senior Group News Due to Thanksgiving, our Senior Group will meet on Thursday, November 16, 2023 at 9:15 a.m. in the Church Hall. Our speaker will be
Judy Earnshaw of Phil’s Friends. Judy will share the outreach her group does for cancer patients and care packages sent to those undergoing treatment. If anyone is looking for a fun place to volunteer, Phil’s Friends is a great spot! A few sweet treats are needed for our meeting and please sign up at the Senior bulletin board if attending. December’s outing will be on Sunday, December 17, 2023 for the Memorial Opera House’s “White Christmas” 2:00 p.m. performance. Marilyn McGawn is spearheading this; tickets are going fast so please see her ASAP. Tickets are $15 per person for the group rate. We all will just meet at the
Memorial Opera House. If you have any questions, please call Sue Reinhold at
219-286-0784 or Beth Bigham at 219-477-3937.
Are there things you would like to share with the Deepening
Our Welcome team? Do you have concerns or questions about where we are going and what is next for our beloved community here at CLC? The DOW team would like to invite you to meet individually with a member of our team so we can listen carefully to your perspective and discuss with you anything you would like to discuss with us. If you would like to have a one-to-one visit with us, please contact Kathy Sutherland (ksutherland54@yahoo.com). Thank you! We look forward to hearing from you.
Lutheran World Relief (LWR) Projects The LWR truck arrives at the end of this month and the layettes, personal care kits, and sewing kits that Sandy and Dave Keammerer
assemble will be picked up for shipment abroad. And guess what? In November, they will start all over again gathering items for these kits! While many items in these kits are donated by CLC members, other items need to be purchased from time to time to finish the kits. That means the Keammerer's need funds for this ministry. To assist in this ministry at CLC, I have applied for and received a Thrivent Action Grant that will provide $250 for these LWR projects. However, I would like to see that $250 grow to $750 (or more), but I need your help! From now through Thanksgiving, I will match dollar for dollar your donation to the LWR projects up to a maximum
of $250. This means we could reach the $750 goal—Thrivent Action Grant of $250, your total donations of $250 (or more), my match up to a maximum of $250. Can you help with a small donation? Just put your donation in an envelope marked LWR Projects and place it in the CLC collection plate on any Sunday in November! If you have any questions contact Karl Reichardt by email or mobile phone (karl.reichardt@valpo.edu, 219-252-9519).
Nursery Attendant Needed Christ Lutheran is looking for a responsible adult (over
18) to serve as the paid primary nursery staff person on Sunday mornings, twice a month, approximately 7:50am-11:50am. Children from 0-3 are welcomed in the nursery, and volunteers assist each week. Please contact Pastor Erica Gibson-Even (pastorerica@clcvalpo.org 219.462.6660) for more information.
CLC Social Ministry and Mission November 2023 Each month the Social Ministry Committee highlights a special giving opportunity. November’s specific emphasis is providing support for the Lutheran Diaconal Association www.thelda.org. Below is a message to CLC from LDA: “Since 1919, the Lutheran Diaconal Association has formed people for ministries of
service. In the early years we trained women primarily as nurses serving in missions and institutions of the church. Our ministries have changed throughout the last 103 years. Today we serve in congregations, in institutions and wherever God’s people are. A deaconess or deacon is someone one who serves. Jesus washed his disciples’ feet and instructed them to do the same for others. Sometimes deaconesses and deacons do actual foot-washing like Jesus did; but more widely, they serve Christ by walking with those the world easily forgets; the marginalized, the poor, the powerless, the sick. People who reach out to others in this way—with care and compassion in a hurting world—are practicing diaconal service, as all the baptized are called to do. Some of them desire to do this as a
professional in ministry and enter a more formal training and formation process to become deaconesses and deacons. Since the earliest days of the church men and women have been set apart to do intentional servant ministry. Deaconess/deacon ministry has come to mean many things: it means serving others on bended knee, and from positions of leadership. It means entering the hurt parts of society and carrying the light and love of Christ in service to others. It means telling the story of God’s love and helping others to hear God in their own story. It means welcoming the stranger in our midst. We are nurses, lawyers, engineers, musicians, social workers, chaplains, parish deacs, teachers, campus chaplains, missionaries, professors and so much more. Stories of ministry abound. Stories like Deaconess Cheryl who serves as a hospice chaplain. She brings love, comfort and a voice for families to their loved ones. Cheryl holds a
phone so that loved ones can say final good-byes and stands in hallways and prays for and with people who are dying. Or Deaconess Sara who works to serve her congregation. Or Deaconess Brittany who brings food to shut-ins and has learned technology to bring worship to people. Or Deacon David who works tirelessly at his church and community helping people receive their daily needs. Formation for our students continues as well. A dozen students met for their student
seminar. We worshipped, had presentations and much conversation. We are so grateful for our partnership with Christ Lutheran Church. Your
congregation has made a huge difference in our ministry. Your prayer support and financial support are invaluable and help the LDA thrive and reach out to God’s people, during this trying time and beyond. Thank you! For more info www.theLDA.org We would love to talk with you! Or talk to Deaconesses Jane Aicher, Diana Iltzsche, Karen Hernes, or Meggan
Amour.” Help achieve our goal of $2500 in November (over and above giving combined with CLC’s $1200 budgeted amount). By achieving our goal CLC will
help Luth. Diaconal Assoc. continue mutual support and service activities that are crucial to effective ministry. Use your weekly worship giving mailed in check to CLC and indicate “LDA” or contribute through Subsplash on the CLC website https://clcvalpo.org via the “Give” button and choose Monthly Social Ministry
Emphasis. Thank you to members for supporting monthly social ministry emphases.
Each week at Circle, our high school group, the youth share a dinner together as a way of building community and spending time with each other! Over the past years, this has been a major part of the Circle experience our youth have. If you are willing to provide a dinner for our Circle
members, please consider signing up using the QR code below. Dinners can be brought anytime between 5-6pm of that Sunday and we encourage you to stay and join our youth for dinner! Thank you so much!
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LWR NEWS 2023 LWR Projects are completed for this year. The LWR year runs from November 1 to October 31. The Baby Care Kit Project ended 2023 with 930 assembled kits. Here are the numbers.: Soap-1,860 4 ounce bars Diapers Pins-1,860 Diapers-3,720 (All sewed by CLC AND CLC FRIENDS) Blankets-1,860(930 sewed CLC) Sleepers/Gowns-930 Towels-930 Socks-1,860 Pants-930 Shirts-2,790 Hats-100’s (made by CLC) Jackets/Sweaters-knitted by CLC-Sweat Shirts-930 Fabric Kits 900 yards of fabric 300 spools of thread Aluminum Cans 400 pounds-$130.00 Baby Care Kit needs for November are JACKETS, Sweat Shirts, and SWEATERS. Fabric needs for November are 3 yard lengths of cotton material. Thrivent will supply the thread for each kit. Aluminum Can Project needs all the
cans we can get. Ask friends to save cans too! Place all donations in the White Basket in the Gathering Area. Please indicate if donations of clothing are
washed. THANKS TO ALL WHO HAVE HELPED WITH THESE PROJECTS IN ANY WAY. TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE FOR OTHERS THROUGH
THIS OUTREACH MISSION. Sandy Keammerer ALUMINUM CAN PROJECT -Not every CAN is aluminum. -CHECK THE CAN WITH A MAGNET to determine if it is aluminum. -If the CAN STICKS TO THE MAGNET, the CAN is NOT aluminum. WE CAN NOT use it. -Most Beverage Cans and Wet Cat Food CANS ARE ALUMINUM. Thanks for all the CANS we have been given! No DONATION IS TOO SMALL.
Weekly
Prayers Grief: Global: - Victims of violence in Maine
- Violence in the Holy Land
- Anti-Semitism hate crimes
Hospice: - Julia & family
- Frances
- Norma
- Gerry
- Ramona
Long-term/ongoing: - Sally
- Mary and Pete
- Jeff
- Matthew
- Kelly
- Letty
- Katrina
- Jimee
- Wanda
- Bob
- Tim
- Wayne
- John
- Mark
10/30 10/12
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