Graduations & Retirements

HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES

Ingrid Danger   ~ Valparaiso Hight School; Attending St. Olaf College—Environmental Science and will run on the cross country/track and field team. 

Blake Gundrum ~ Valparaiso High School; Entering the workforce with a goal of fire and rescue training

Reagan Jackson ~ Culver Academies; US Naval Preparatory School, and then matriculate in June 2027 to the US Naval Academy, Class of 2031. Reagan will pursue a major in intelligence and has plans to be career military. 

Gavin Magiera ~ Valparaiso Hight School—Training in HVAC

Jon Malchow ~ Valparaiso High School; Attending St. Olaf College—Studying Music and Physics

Brooke Pearson ~ Boone Grove Hight School; Attending Ivy Tech—Studying Business Management

Ruthie Ridley ~ Chesterton Hight School

Zach Wehner ~ Washington Township; Attending Ivy Tech—Workforce—Auto (earned Ivy Tech Certification  in Auto maintenance and light repair

COLLEGE & ADVANCED DEGREES

Brady Byvoets ~ Purdue University—Bachelor of Science: Marketing; Looking for a job

John Hofer ~ Western Michigan University—Teaching and Math; High School Math Teacher and Football Coach

Conley Knauff ~ Summa Cum Laude from DePauw—Bachelor of Musical Arts; Moving to Colorado to pursue  a Music Therapy Master Degree

Trinity Winars ~ Ivy Tech in Early Childhood Education; Continuing education with  getting a Bachelor of Early Childhood Education from Walden University 

RETIREMENTS

Lois Felten ~ retiring from Portage Township Schools as a School Advisor; Plans:  Good Question

Jen Gottlieb ~ retiring from Little Lamb Preschool as the Director; Plans are to travel and have fun

Herb Hofer ~ retiring from VCS as a teacher/AD/Coach; Plans are to enjoy a slower pace

Bill Lieske ~ Retiring from Northwest Health as a courier; Plans are his Grandbuddies and travel

Gail Mannington ~ Retiring from CLC Youth Board as a Volunteer Adult Leader; Plans are her Grandchildren and travel

Jorunn Scheiderich ~ Retiring from American Solution Business as a Sales Manager; Plans are to travel and to enjoy her Grandchildren

Remember to Update Your Contribution in Subsplash

A big THANK YOU to all who participated in our stewardship campaign!  If you give electronically, please remember to update your contribution in Subsplash.  The church office cannot do this for you.  The instructions listed below will guide you through the process:

1. Go to our website:  www.clcvalpo.org.  Under the “Give” menu, select “Give Now.”  This will take you to the church’s main giving page.
2. In the top right corner of that page, click the black button “Log in or sign up.”  You will be prompted to sign into your account using email, Google, Facebook, or Apple.  Choose the option that you originally used to setup your account (for most people, that will be email).
   • Email: Log in with your email address as your user ID and your password.  If you have forgotten your password, click on “Forgot Password,” and a link to reset it will be sent to your email.
   • Google, Facebook and Apple: You will be automatically signed in by your device.
3. Click the circle with your initials at the top right of the screen, then click “Account” and then “Scheduled Gifts.”  You should see your current donations displayed on the screen.  Click the donation you want to change.  This will open a window that allows you to make any changes to your current setup.
4. When you are finished, click the black button “Update $###.## Gift.”

You’re all set!  If you have any problems with the steps listed above, please contact Heather Budnik in the church office.  She’ll be happy to help!

Summer Family Faith Activities
Mark your calendars for this year’s Family Faith Activities right after Sunday Morning Worship - June 14, June 28, and July 12. On June 14, we’ll stay at CLC for a potluck, Bible Story and Art Project. Stay tuned for details on June 28 and July 12 - field trips and service projects in the works!

Communion Conversations
CLC children and families are invited to our annual Communion Conversations on Saturday, May 30, from 3:30-5pm. Our practice at CLC is to welcome children to God's table whenever families discern that they are ready to receive - and then to make an opportunity available to learn more, together! If your child is ready to begin receiving communion, or if they are already receiving communion and are ready to learn more, please join us! Email Pastor Erica ([email protected]) with any questions, or to let us know you'll be attending!

Evening Prayer Experiment!

The first two weeks of June, consider joining in our Evening Prayer Experiment. We love our Lenten and Advent Evening Prayer services, and love the opportunity to be outdoors in the summer. June 1-5 and 8-12, we will gather each evening at 7pm on the church back patio (by the Memorial Garden) for a simple evening prayer service - our beloved Holden Evening Prayer service, and the Evening Prayer setting in our hymnal. The "experiment" is to lean into the practice of daily communal prayer - a simple, steady practice that has a way of reshaping our days.

Sheltered in Grace: Thank You.

June 7, 2026

We did it. Thanks be to God!

Our Foundation Goal of $120,000 is fully funded. The roof will be replaced this summer. And because this congregation never does just the minimum, we have already crossed into mortgage reduction territory, with $141,452 committed and gifts still coming in.

Council and Property Committee are already at work. Contractors are being lined up. What you committed is becoming real.

There is still time to be part of this. Gifts are received through August 1, and every dollar beyond the roof cost goes straight to our mortgage principal. Our calculations show that reaching $250,000+ frees approximately $13,339 per year in budget relief through reamortization. We are more than halfway there.

Give or make your commitment at clcvalpo.org/shelteredingrace, or return your commitment card. Interested in giving appreciated securities, a tax refund, or an IRA charitable rollover? Check the box and Heather Budnik will be in touch.

We built this place together. Let’s protect it and then some.

CLC is sponsoring a booth at the Northwest Indiana Pride Fest at Sunset Hill Park on Saturday, June 6^th from 10am to 8pm.  We would love to have teams of 4 – 6  people hosting for each 2 hour time slot. Sign-ups are in the Gathering Space!  Please join us for this festive event!

June Altar Gifts

Holy Communion       Marilyn McGawn ~ In Memory of Malchow

Altar Candles               Michael and Lois Felten ~ In Memory of Bob Bauer

Eternal Lamp              Paige and Karl Reichardt—In Celebration of our 60th Wedding Anniversary

Senior Group - June activity

Our June get together will be a cookout at Katie Sirko’s house

Thursday, June 25 @ 12:00

There will be Italian Sausage and Chicken

Please bring an appetizer, side dish, dessert or beverages

RSVP by June 21 

(let Katie know what you are bringing so there won’t be duplicates)

219-921-6379

[email protected]

877 Farmview Ct. (not drive)

Valparaiso

Christ Lutheran Church offers a Grief Support Group every other week on Wednesdays from 9:30 - 11 am in the Conference Room. (209). The group serves adults who have experienced a loss of a spouse, parent, child, friend, or neighbor. The core group of peer support welcomes others to walk together in our grief journey .

Come when you can. Coffee and Kleenex available. 

The group is facilitated by Cheryl Slack, a Stephen Minister. You may contact her at 219-241-0677 or one of the pastors if you have any questions.

Upcoming dates are June 3, 17.

Christ Lutheran Church Endowment Fund Applications Are Now Available!

Since January of 2025, CLC’s Endowment fund has grown!  Thanks to the generosity of our congregational members through thoughtful living gifts, as well as planned gifts from estates and wills as their faithful stewardship of life assets. 

Now the interest accrued on the principle of these tithes of perpetuity has also increased each quarter, thanks be to God! These designated funds (Interest earnings only) are now available for ministry projects to support mission work by CLC members.

The CLC Endowment committee is (for the first time) extending the invitation to our congregation to apply for funds for local, regional or national projects that extend the ministry of Christ Lutheran Church beyond the scope of the annual operating budget. The TIMELINE for APPLICATION is May 1^st through July 1^st, 2026.

Click here for information on the grants and directions how to apply for endowment funding. It is exciting to see the generosity of our congregation multiply!

May The Lord continue to Bless CLC and our work, Amen.

Grace Safrin – CLC Endowment chair for 2026.

Questions after reviewing the attached info? Please contact me or Pastor Tim 

CLC Social Ministry and Mission

June 2026

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

Social Ministry Emphases for June.  Each month the Social Ministry highlights a special giving opportunity.  June’s emphasis is providing support for the Food Bank of Northwest Indiana http://www.foodbanknwi.org  and Project Neighbors https://projectneighbors.org or https://www.facebook.com/ProjectNeighbors. 

The Food Bank of Northwest Indiana’s (FBNI) mission is “to provide food for hungry people in NW Indiana through a network of charities increasing public awareness and advocating solutions for the issues involved with hunger and acting as an info &referral source to the community”.  FBNI is based in Merrillville and is affiliated with and meets the guidelines of Feeding America www.feedingamerica.org and distributes over 2 million pounds of goods/year through 90 network charities in NW Indiana.

Project Neighbors (454 College Ave.) is a Not-for-Profit organization in Valpo. By addressing issues of race, class and poverty, Project Neighbors’ goal is to build healthy families and neighborhoods, where diversity of all kinds is welcomed and cherished.  Project Neighbors’ accomplishments in Valparaiso include affordable housing at Caroline's Place, Neighbor's Place, Respite House, The Crossing, childcare and preschool at Hilltop House, community health centers in HealthLinc, and the region's only low-power, all-volunteer community radio station, WVLP, among other “risks-turned-rewards.”

Use your weekly worship giving envelope mailed with check to CLC and indicate “FBNWI/PN” 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 the monthly social ministry emphases.