ANNUAL MEETING

NOVEMBER 10, 2024

Our congregation will meet Sunday November 10, 2024 at 9:20am in the Sanctuary for our Annual Meeting, gathering for prayer, conversation, and discussion.  Join us as we hear stories of the impact of our year in ministry, thank our Council leadership, and elect our leaders for the coming year.

In addition, this year we will consider our Endowment Fund, which has grown to the point we are able to start investing it!  Our Endowment Committee will bring a resolution to open an account with the ELCA Foundation's Ministry Growth Fund as one of our investment instruments.  Our Council is also presenting a revision to the Endowment Committee bylaws to clarify language and the structure of the Committee.

We also will consider two youth-related Constitution amendments:

• At our April meeting, we approved an amendment to the language regarding our Youth Representative to Council; now we need to ratify that decision, unchanged, for it to take effect.
• Once that change is ratified, our Youth Board is proposing a related bylaw change to allow a Youth Representative to serve up to three terms.

Finally, please note that we will meet in May 2025 to approve our Ministry Plan for August, 2025 through July, 2026.

Copies of our Annual Report and proposed amendments to the Constitution will be available soon in the Gathering Space.

• For comparison, our current Constitution (rev. 2023).
• Proposed amendments to the Endowment Fund Committee bylaws, and a comparison document (insertions are underlined, deletions are struckthrough).
• Proposed Youth Representative-related Constitution revisions

Questions can be directed to Kurt Stefans, Council President, or Pastor Tim.  

See you November 10!

ALL SAINTS DAY

We will be celebrating All Saints Day on Sunday, November 3.  We will honor those who have entered into eternal life and have their names listed in the bulletin.  If you have any loved one, family or friend, that you would like listed on the insert, please fill out a form located in the Gathering Area.

Truth and Healing: a look at Indigenous History

In 2023 the ELCA initiated the Truth and Healing Movement to learn the true history and current realities of Indigenous people.  Join us as we explore together the colonizing impacts on Indigenous people in the past and present.  We believe that the truth, and our knowing and embracing it, is the first step toward healing for all of us.

Session 1- October 20^th Looking at Our History – Treaties, Maps, and  Removal

• Led by Dr. Lucas Kelley.

Session 2 – October 27^th – One Person’s View of Growing up on a Reservation

• Led by Deaconess Lisa Polito

Session 3 – November 3^rd - Where Are We Now? - Defeating, Invading, Absorbing   

• Led by Dr. Lucas Kelley

Session 4 – November 17^th – Where Do We Go From Here? – Relationships, Remembering, Advocacy 

• Led by Dr. Lucas Kelley

Leading this series is Dr. Lucas Kelley.  Dr Kelley is on the faculty at Valparaiso University and a historian of Native American history and the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century United States.  Also joining us will be Deaconess Lisa Polito, Executive Director of the Lutheran Diaconal Association. Lisa grew up in Minnesota on the White Earth Indian Reservation; her father is a tribal member and she is a tribal descendant. 

Bring your coffee and join us for this Faith Formation Series.  We start each session promptly at 9:20am.

YOUTH MINISTRY UPDATES

CLC Silent Auction Season!

It’s that time of year again… CLC’s annual Silent Auction! From October 20th-November 17th, the Silent Auction will be taking place with all items on display in the East Link. All proceeds will go toward faith formation events for our youth, such as Quake, Confirmation Camp, mission trips, and Youth Gathering. These events transform the faith of our youth and are memories they look back on; faith formation events impact our youth in ways that cannot be put into words, drawing them closer to one another and to God! 

If you are interested in donating items or services for the Silent Auction, please drop off all items by October 19th to Kaitlyn’s office. With your donations, please include your name/contact information, what the original value of the donation is, and what you would prefer the starting bid to be listed as.  If you have any questions, please reach out to Kaitlyn at 

kaitlyn.jedrzejowski@clcvalpo.org. Thank you for the ways you support our youth! 

Fusion- Help Wanted!

Here at Christ Lutheran, we know the power and importance of relationship and community! With Fusion starting up on September 8^th, we are looking for high school and adult volunteers to help lead and walk alongside our students in Fusion! If you are someone who loves being in conversation with others, enjoys playing games, and has an appreciation for projects and bringing discussion to life through action, then we hope you will consider volunteering with Fusion. If you have any questions relating to Fusion, please contact Kaitlyn, Director of Youth Ministries.  

ELCA Formation Co-Op

This past May, our congregation was selected to be a part of the ELCA Youth Network’s Formation Co-Op! The Formation Co-Op aims to explore new frameworks for youth ministry to “root young people in a lifelong and transformative faith in Jesus.” Congregations that are selected enter a two-year intentional listening process, paired with research, to develop new youth ministry frameworks that are suitable for the specific congregation’s context. 

There are many individuals from CLC who have been a part of this process thus far and are passionate about the ways in which we can adapt our youth ministry structure to be more inclusive to all youth in our community. As we begin the listening stage of our process, we invite you to attend a listening session to share your insights and perspectives; it is our hope to include all voices in this process so that no one is left unheard. Your voice is important in the development and changes we are hoping to make to our framework and so we hope you will attend and share your ideas and thoughts with our group!

Listening sessions will be occurring in November and December during the faith formation hour, so please be on the lookout for further information relating to those sessions. Also, if you are interested in volunteering and being a part of this process, please reach out to Kaitlyn. We will be looking for individuals who have a passion for designing new structures as well as individuals who are passionate about implementation and experimentation. If you have been wondering about the ways God might be calling you to walk alongside our youth, we hope you will prayerfully consider this opportunity!

Fellowship at the Circle Table!

If you are like me and love to cook, there is a wonderful opportunity to help provide dinners for our high school group, Circle! Every Sunday from 6-8pm, our high schoolers meet for a time of community, conversation, and faith formation. Part of this time together includes a meal in which we can be together in fellowship. This has been a long-time tradition at Circle, because we know the beautiful ways in which a shared meal deepens the relationships between our youth! If you are interested in providing a meal for Circle, please sign-up using the Sign-Up Genius.    Our high schoolers love connecting with the individuals who help provide dinners for Circle and it is just one of the many ways we grow and nurture our relationships with all here at CLC!

South Shore Brass Band's

Side-By-Side Concert

Christ Lutheran Church

2610 Campbell St.  Valpo, IN

Sunday, November 3 at 5 pm

Adults $10  ~  Seniors $8  ~  Students $5  ~  Preschool Free

October Altar Gifts

Holy Communion          Given to the Glory of God   

Altar Candles               Vickie & Gregg Copeland ~ In Celebration of our                                                                                                                            Grandchildren            

Eternal Lamp                 Marilyn McGawn ~ In Memory of Malcolm

Grief Support Group 

(Next meetings are October 23)

This support group is for those that have suffered a loss, and is open to anyone in the community. The group meets every other Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. in the conference room (room 209) and is facilitated by Pastor Jane Aicher. If you or someone you know is interested in this group but are unavailable at this time, please contact the church office. 

Senior Group

All are welcome!!

November 21, 2024 (NOTE DATE CHANGE DUE TO THANKSGIVING!) 

9:30 am  Meet at church for coffee, sweets and a presentation from our very own Bob Hall as he discusses the book he recently self published on Amazon:  Good Losers, a fictional story about a college sports announcer.  He will share the self publishing process, what prompted him to write, and an acknowledgement and appreciation of the art assistance completed by Jane Schreiner, a local Lutheran Deaconess.  Feel free to ask questions about the writing process, etc. 

Please bring something sweet to share with our coffee if you have time. 

December 14, 2024, 2:00 p.m. (Saturday, so please note!)  -

"Scrooge the Musical" at the Valpo's Memorial Opera House.

Please see Marilyn McGawn who is spearheading collection of the $15 ticket fee (the senior rate with more than ten in a group).  Tickets are going fast, so please contact Marilyn directly for your ticket(s).  Kindly arrange your own car pooling if needed.  If you have questions, please see Marilyn McGawn.   

If questions, on the above, please contact Beth at 219 477 3937.   

Social Ministry Monthly Emphasis

October 2024        

As you do it for the least of these, you do it for Christ.  (Matthew 25:40)

Social Ministry Emphasis for October.  The focus this month is to provide volunteer time and monetary support for Lutheran World Relief  www.lwr.org and ELCA World Hunger/Disaster Response www.elca.org/hunger and www.elca.org/disaster

Lutheran World Relief is affirming God’s love for all people, working with Lutherans and partners around the world to end poverty, injustice, and human suffering.  LWR vision is to be empowered by God’s unconditional love in Jesus Christ, envisioning a world in which each person, every community and all generations live in justice, dignity, and peace.  Also, here is a volunteer opportunity in October: helping with the annual northern Indiana Lutheran congregations in-gathering collection day at CLC (Sat. afternoon Oct. 19) - loading a semi-truckload of items to be delivered to LWR for shipment overseas.  Many items come from CLC:  quilts and baby/fabric/personal/school kits.  If you would like to volunteer to help, please contact Becky Fry or call the church office.

ELCA World Hunger/Disaster Response two hunger/disaster response programs (plus Lutheran World Relief) work closely together on world humanitarian issues, providing relief and hunger assistance, as well as providing opportunities for hunger education and advocacy activities.  79% of funds are used around the world, 12% in the U.S., and 9% for education and advocacy. 

Help achieve our goal of $2500 in October (over and above giving combined with CLC’s $1200 budgeted amount).  By achieving our goal CLC will help Luth. World Relief and ELCA Hunger/Disaster Relief continue mutual support and service activities that are crucial to effective ministry.  Use your weekly worship giving mailed in check to CLC and indicate “LWR/ELCA Hunger” or contribute through Subsplash on the CLC website clcvalpo.org via the “Give” button and choose Monthly Social Ministry Emphasis.  Thank you to members for supporting monthly social ministry emphases.