News and Views of Advent
Lutheran Church
"Led by the Spirit; Living the Word"
September 2008
When I was a child, my parents took me to
church and Sunday school on a regular basis. Many of my first friendships were
developed in Sunday school and vacation bible school. Even after entering grade
school and middle school, I can only think of one or two of my friends that
weren’t involved in a church. The majority of the population was affiliated
with a congregation and church was a culturally accepted norm. Today things
have definitely changed!
Attending church is no longer a cultural
rule. In fact, in the Pacific Northwest the number one religious preference
from the most recent census data was “none”; meaning that the majority of the
people have no affiliation with a religious group. Statistics vary throughout
regions of the country but many studies suggest that only one in five people
attend church. A 2008 demographic study of a five mile radius around Advent
reveals that 35% of the people in our community have no church affiliation.
Additionally, another 31% of the population in our area is only somewhat
involved. One in three, (approx. 33%) is
strongly involved in a religious group. Well, at least we beat the national
average. But is that good enough?
When we established the vision for Advent a
few years ago, we discussed the possibility of opening an adult day care,
building a multi- purpose facility, and talked about many other possibilities.
What plans will we make for the future to spread the gospel? What can we do in our community to increase the
awareness of God’s love and show that a relationship with Christ is
transforming?
Our vision statement reads, Advent Lutheran
Church: is a growing,
involved congregation of Christians together on a deepening spiritual journey.
We are a community of faith who realizes God’s gifts and uses them for loving
care, service and outreach.
How will we use our gifts to be effective for
God and work to continue to transform our community and world?
Prayerfully,
Pastor
Bob
Did you ever see someone in church and
wonder what his or her name is? Have you
ever been introduced to someone and forgotten their name the minute you turned
around? Well, help is on the way! We are producing a pictorial directory for
our church. There is no cost to you or the
church to have your picture taken, and you will receive a complimentary 8x10
natural color portrait just for participating.
In addition, you will receive a directory. You will be able to view your proofs
immediately after you are photographed and at that time, you will have the
opportunity to purchase additional portraits to share with family and
friends. P.S. Don't forget, you can
bring your pet and/or your extended families for a generational shot and they
will be returned to you by Christmas. Please note - Sign up sheets are
available in the narthex during Sunday services and online at www.adventuniontown.org. Beginning September 16th Lifetouch
will begin calling those who have not yet signed up for pictures in
October. Karen
Etherton
RALLY DAY
Rally Day is coming soon for children in
preschool through 6th grade! Come
help us kick-off the beginning of a great Sunday school year on Sunday, September 7th at 9:30
a.m. More details will come in the
next month's newsletter, be sure to look for them! Becky Popio
Our Lake Township
FISH organization is seeking a new coordinator. Since 1972, our local FISH group has helped
resident individuals and families with emergency relief -- food, clothing,
medical bills, utilities, evictions and transportation -- in the name of Jesus
Christ. The coordinator oversees this mission, its volunteers &
local church representatives, has hands-on activity with people who need real
help, keeps in active contact with other local helping agencies, and reports to
the Lake Area Clergy. This is an important Christian service in our
community. There is a small stipend, but this is mostly a voluntary
calling from God. Applications may be given to your local church
pastor or mailed to Rev James Nolte, c/o United Methodist Church of Uniontown, 13370 Cleveland Ave NW,
Uniontown OH 44685.
ETELKA'S ESCAPE
Etelka Simon will tell the Martha Circle of her escape with her husband in 1956
from communistic rule in Hungary. They fled abruptly during the Hungarian
Revolution. Don't miss this story of
bravery and faith. Come on Sept.8 at 1
p.m.
Nancy Roberts
HEALTH KITS
Summer vacations come to an end. Martha Circle
begins September 8th due to the holiday weekend. We also begin with
our monthly service projects. September
Project –HEALTH KITS. Why HEALTH
KITS? People who must flee homes
quickly often do not have time to pack essential items. Health Kits can help refugees maintain
personal hygiene while in exile. Items may also contribute to a new start for
those who can return home. Needed items
for each kit are the following: 1 towel,
1 wash cloth, 1 bath size soap in original wrapper,1 adult toothbrush in
original package, 1 comb wide tooth preferred,1 metal nail file or nail
clipper (no emery files please) 6 band
aids ˝”to3/4” size. LWR came out with
important notice: Do Not include tooth
paste, it will be added at the warehouse prior to shipping over seas. Martha Circle
always welcomes help with monthly projects be it items needed or monetary
contribution towards monthly projects. Health Kits will be shipped with our 106
QUILTS in October. Thanks in advance for
any contributions towards kits.
Betty Olinger
QUILT
DEDICATION
On Sunday, September 28th we will dedicate
106 quilts prepared by our women for distribution around the world through
Lutheran World Relief. Each year
thousands of Lutheran churches participate in this project and hundreds of
thousands of quilts are sent to the needy in many different lands. Here at Advent we are grateful for the many
women who donate their time to sew kits and assemble the quilts. It is a labor of love! We will begin our next work session in
January. Join us - the more, the merrier! As always, kits are available in the narthex
for the home sewers!
GOT SHEETS?
Q: How many
sheets does it take to back 100+ quilts for Lutheran World Relief?
A: Each one
that you donate!
We need to accumulate as many as possible for our
winter project. Your help is greatly appreciated!
SOAP
FOR LWR
Once again we'll be collecting soap for
Lutheran World Relief distribution throughout the world. We need donations of new, unused, wrapped
BARS of soap-
any
size, any brand. A collection box is in
the narthex.
"LUNCH BUNCH"
Mark
your calendars for September 9th AND September 23rd, and
join the "lunch bunch" for a casual get-together. We'll meet at the church at NOON and decide
where we'll go to eat. See you there!
ADVENTURE PLACE
Adventure Place finished the summer on August 22nd. We ended the summer with a trip to the McKinley Museum and a trip to Quail Hollow where
we enjoyed the nature center, hiking and a scavenger hunt. Bobby from the coin club visited us and
talked about his coin collecting and shared with us special coins he has
collected since he was their age. The
children were very interested in what he showed us. We had an end of summer picnic and
awards. We started our fall program on
Tuesday, August 26th when school started. The preschool program will be in full swing
on Tuesday, September 2nd. We
are starting the year with 65 school age children and 44 preschool children, 20
which are preschool only. We still have
room for more children. We can be
reached at 330-877-0418.
Dianne Warren
Our deepest sympathies to the family of:
To Our Advent Family,
Thank you so much for the many cards, phone calls, prayers
and concerns for both of us before and during Harold's surgery and also during
this time of his recuperation. Thanks so
much to Pastor Bob and Pastor McGee for their visits. All your kindnesses mean so much to us.
God's
blessings to each of you,
Harold
& Mildred Hall
~~~~~~~~~
The Children Services
Division of Stark County Department of Job and Family services would like to
thank you for your generous donation of school supplies. Children Services assists families in Stark County
when there are concerns of abuse or neglect.
Your donation will help to assist these families. Thank you again for your contribution.
Sincerely,
Sandra Coulter, Volunteer Program
Coordinator
August 14, 2008
___________________________________________________________________
Earlier
in the year I made the decision not to cut the budget. It was a tough sell to
the synod’s budget and finance committee, and with good reason. A then-$85,000 budget
gap, coming after years of flat or declining mission support represented a
significant challenge. Our mission partners – especially the camps and campus
ministry - based their budgets on commitments made by us. In the case of the
camps and campus ministry our mission support pays salaries.
At
the synod assembly this May I announced my decision not to cut the budget. The
budget and finance committee and the synod council supported it. We had already
received a $1,000 check and a challenge to the rest of the synod to match their
gift and close the budget gap from Prince of Peace, Cortland. St. Paul,
Warren; and Gloria Dei, Cleveland had already responded. At the
assembly Christ, Lorain
matched Prince of Peace’s challenge and upped it a dollar. Then Emmanuel, North Georgetown, (average attendance 35), presented a
check for $2,420.75. We all cheered. I remember saying that it was time for us
to reject a culture of scarcity and fear; instead it was time to become a
people who believed in a God of abundance who has called us to an adventure.
Then I told the story of the Romans who, when they invaded Briton, pulled their
boats up on the shore and in front of everyone burned their boats. They were
not going back. It was time, I said, for us to burn our boats. We were not
going back.
To
this point only eleven congregations have responded to the challenge. They are:
Bethany, Akron; St. Luke, Cuyahoga Falls; Bethany English, Cleveland; Gloria
Dei, Cleveland; Holy Trinity, Mansfield; Emmanuel, North Georgetown; St Paul,
Warren; Christ, Lorain; Advent, Uniontown; Peace, Ashland; Prince of
Peace, Cortland; and Lutheran Church of the Covenant,
Maple Heights.
Thank God for their commitment and witness. Together they have given $15,000
above their regular mission support. However 35 congregations have not yet
given any mission support of any kind and the budget gap has increased to well
over $100,000. We haven’t burned our boats. It would appear that some of us
have not even gotten out of our boats.
In fact some of us are in our boats putting on life preservers and water
wings.
Here
is my glimmer of hope. The budget and finance committee was supposed to have
met August 11. At that meeting we would have looked at the giving trends and
the compelling argument to be trustworthy mission partners and alert LOMO,
Lutheran Campus Ministry, social ministry agencies, Trinity Seminary and
everyone else to whom we had pledged support that it was not going to happen
and they need to cut their budgets accordingly. But scheduling conflicts moved
the budget and finance meeting to September 22. I choose to see God at work
here. Maybe some of you have been
working on the challenge all summer and are just waiting to send it in. Maybe
some of you have been thinking about the challenge and getting ready to take
the plunge. I need to see a response before the meeting. At least something – a
pledge, a first installment – anything. And we all need to make a decision. The
culture is calling us back to scarcity and fear. God is calling us forward to
abundance and adventure. Which way are we going to go?
Peace,
Elizabeth A.
Eaton
SEPTEMBER CALENDAR
