Table of Contents
Pastor’s Page 3
Holy Week Schedule 4
Snow Emergency
Church Council President 5
Council Highlights, Kids BLAST, Needed 6
Card Ministry, Altar Guild
Fellowship/Sew Day, Noisy Offering 7
2016 Trips Planned, ChristCare News
Lenten Mid-week Schedule, Thank you… 8
Helping Those in Need, Girl’s Spring Fling 9
Birthdays/Anniversaries, “Over 50” Club, LYND 10
LIFT Update, 11
The Point, GriefShare LIFT Internship 12
Pictorial Update
Easter Flowers Order 13
FLCW Calendar 14
VBS-Barnyard Roundup 15
The Messenger
Faith Evangelical Lutheran Church
www.faithfremont.org MARCH 2016
Pastor’s Page
John 15:5 – “I am the vine; you are the branches Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”
As you know my “brothers” and I make wine. But if you don’t make wine yourselves, you don’t know about the many years that go into making the wine.
First it starts with the grapes. It takes time for a vine to bear grapes. The first year, the vintner plants vine shoots. After a year’s growth, he prunes them back. After a second year, they are pruned again. Three years into the process, grape clusters appear but are usually not harvested. By the fourth year, there is finally a harvest of grapes. Yet it could be seven years before anyone tastes the wine from those first harvested grapes. Anyone who contemplates owning a vineyard needs to be patient.
Jesus talks about the need to “abide” in Him. He is the Vine, we are the branches. Our strength and growth will come from Him, from His Word. The pruning won’t always be easy. It may seem like we lose what matters most, but what matters most is the Vine and the sustenance He brings. The one constant in our lives is Jesus the Vine, His power and His love.
As we abide, the fruit appears. We endeavor to love someone as Jesus has loved us. We sacrifice for another. We pick up a cross and bear it for another. We lose ourselves in service. It doesn’t all happen in a day, but it happens. We bear fruit.
Pastor Bob
HOLY WEEK SERVICES
March 20 – Palm Sunday worship. The young people will march around our Church Sanctuary, waving their Palms to the opening hymn. Holy Communion will be celebrated.
March 24 – Maundy Thursday at 7:00p.m. Holy Communion will be celebrated. At the end of the service the chancel area will be stripped of all its furnishings. Symbolically, Christ, stripped of his power and glory is now in the hands of His captors. We will leave in silence.
March 25 – Good Friday service. Two Worship Opportunities
(1) 12Noon – 3:00p.m. At Grace Lutheran Church, Come and leave as you choose.
(2) 7:00p.m. At Faith, We will do a Tenebrae service.
March 27 – Easter Sunrise Service
7:00 a.m. – Breakfast will follow the service.
10:00 a.m. - Traditional Easter Service
Bells and Choir – Holy Communion
The Easter Sunrise Service Celebration Choir will meet on Sunday Mornings, beginning March 6th at approximately 9:30 a.m. in the sanctuary. ALL are welcome to join us. Please consider being a part of this year’s Celebration Choir!!
From the Church Council President’s Desk:
What a wonderful time of year in the Church calendar. We are in the beginning of our Lenten services, leading up to Good Friday and Easter. Easter will be celebrated on March 27th this year. Hope to see you at some of these services. So far our Lenten services have showed good attendance with members taking Pastor Bob up on his challenge of “taking this walk with him” as he suggested in a sermon a couple of weeks ago.
Speaking of attendance, our 2016 attendance has been very good and our weekly giving to this ministry also has been very good. Keep up the good work!
Just a reminder that there are various committees within our Church to handle different situations. If anyone has a concern about our grounds or our building, contact one of our Trustees. Questions about visiting our shut-ins should be directed to our Elders. Concerns about our worship service should be directed to our Music/Worship committee. Any praises or concerns about any of our staff should be directed to the Executive committee. All committees and their members are listed in our annual report and a copy can be obtained through our Church office.
In closing, I do ask you to try to attend one of our Lenten services and take the walk with Pastor Bob and our other parishioners this Lenten season.
Yours in Christ
Larry A. Leow, President Church Council
Kids B.L.A.S.T.
(Bible Learning and Sharing Together)
All children ages 3 through 11 are invited to attend Kids B.L.A.S.T. on Saturday, March 5, 2016. The story of Zacchaeus will be discussed. A light snack will be provided. Any questions may be directed to Jackie Seibert at 419-665-4124.
Highlights from the February Council Meeting
· Executive Committee is receiving applications and interviewing applicants for Secretary Position. Applications due by March 2nd.
· Lenten Meal money and Lenten Service offerings will be given to the Sandusky County Food Pantry and Pastor’s Helping Hand Fund as they were last year.
· New file cabinet is on order and looking into security for the Church.
· Pastor Jody will be coming to the Evangelism meeting in February to talk about LIFT.
· Thirteen people will be going to the Walleye Game in March.
· VBS will be held at Faith this year and the theme will be Barnyard Roundup.
· Parish Ed will be lifting up the Food Pantry this spring. Shopping cart will be used to collect food/paper products.
CARD MINISTRY
Come, join us the second Tuesday of the month at 6 pm. In order to expand this ministry we need your help. We also work on cards the first and third Thursdays from 9 -3. No experience required. Just a desire to reach out to others with God’s love.
For the month of February, altar duties were handled by Rachel Thornhill and Letty Rusch. Thank you ladies!
For the month of March we will have shared duties. March 6 & 13- Margie Roach & Linda Woessner, March 20 & 24-Donna Fought & Mary Lou Cooper and March 25 & 27-Nancy Root & Mary Lou Cooper.
Special “thanks” to Ron Root for setting up the big cross, also to Becky Fox for making the communion bread and to Jerie Young for always helping. -Mary Lou Cooper, Chair
Fellowship & Service Sew Day
Come out and join the fun. We meet the first and third Thursdays of the month and begin at 9:00 am and end at 3:00 pm, but come and leave whenever you wish. We work on quilts, health kits and sewing kits. Greeting cards are made and are available for purchase in Lounge for a donation. Come join the fun!
Noisy Offering Update-“Change for Change”
The Noisy Offering ($122.29) was collected on Feb. 21, 2016, and given so Children from our Companion Parish of Bumila Lutheran Church have the opportunity to attend school in the Mpwapwa Region. Thank you for your support of the children of our sister congregation in Bumila, Tanzania. The next Noisy Offering will be March 20, 2016, at both worship services.
LENTEN MID WEEK SCHEDULE
Each Wednesday evening you are encouraged to join us for a light dinner (6:00 pm) prior to our 7:00 pm worship service.
Our Lenten mid-week theme is “The Body of Christ.” A series of services that takes the time to consider seriously our Lord’s humanity, the human body in which he wrought our salvation.
March 2 – “The Eyes of Christ”
Lenten meal host: Adult 3 Sunday School Class.
March 9 – “The Mouth of Christ”
Lenten meal host: Women of the Church
March 16 – “The Heart of Christ”
Lenten meal host: Music & Worship Committee
Lenten Offerings are being distributed as follows: Mid-week Lenten meal offerings will be given to Sandusky Co. Food Pantry and the mid-week Worship offerings will be given to Pastor’s Helping Hand.
· Thank you for cards and phone calls during my recent surgery. It cheered me up. – Rom Luman.
· What a privilege to be part of the Faith Family. Thanks to all for your prayers, cards, phone calls and visits during my recent surgery and recovery. God is good. –Larry Hineline
· Thank You to the Faith Women for the flower. It was a nice surprise. –Marcia Ackerman
· Thank You! To Faith Women for the prayer shawls, all your visits and the goodies we received, Randy and Yvonne and Pastor Bob for bringing out communion, the carolers for bringing some Holiday music out our way. To our Faith Family for all you prayers and cards that have been sent our way. The back surgery Denny had in Sept. to implant his S.C.S. is working well, as of January 1st. He is allowed to start doing more things. –Denny & Sue Krumnow.
Girl’s Spring Fling
Scoops of Blessings – Ice Cream with Blessings on Top!
Reserve the date of April 17th from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and come enjoy our ice cream buffet and receive scoops of blessings.
Bring your grandma, mother, daughters, grand-daughters, aunts, nieces and/or your friends. All girls are welcome for a fun afternoon.
1 Anne Gerner
3 Barbara Chovanec, Alison Decker
4 Ashley Daniels, Becky Fox, Nancy Roach,
Julieanne Smith, Diana Thompson
5 Larry Ackerman, Carrianne Roberts
6 Meghan Reed, Lorna Young
7 Theresa Davis, Matthew Willey
8 Dianne Fought
10 Sandy Schneider, Christian Tooman, Adele Wagner
11 Pat Copley
14 Larry Hineline
16 John Neill
18 Andrew Tooman
19 Michael Fought
20 Lillian Harder
21 Kayla Mylander, Adam Wagner
22 Rev. Dan Mohr
24 Randy Koch, Anna Norris
25 Shane Durnwald, Kyle Neill, Lori Sherman, Ralph Woessner
27 Tom Neill, Heather Ring
31 Emily (Fox) Riehl
Love Your Neighbor Day Spring Event is scheduled for Saturday, April 30, 2016. Included in this newsletter are the signup forms for volunteering and Requested Projects. Please return to the church office as soon as possible.
The LIFT agreement has been approved by Grace Lutheran Church, Fremont, St. Mark Lutheran Church, Fremont and St. John’s Lutheran Church, Fremont; and Trinity Lutheran Church, Fremont. Faith Lutheran Church, Fremont has agreed to join as an Associate Member.
The LIFT Call Committee has reached a unanimous decision on recommending to the LIFT congregations a candidate for a Parish pastoral call. The Combined congregational meeting to approve the call will be Monday March 7 at 7:00 p.m. at St. John’s auditorium for the vote. The Candidate will come to Fremont on Wed. March 2 and will be at the 6pm dinner at St. Mark and preach at the 7pm Lenten service. Then again the Candidate will preach the next morning at the 10:30 a.m. Lenten service at St. Johns with a luncheon following worship. All are invited to attend one or both of these Worship services to meet the Candidate.
LIFT DAY CAMPS AND VBS SET FOR SUMMER
· Mark your calendars for LIFT Day Camps and VBS next summer. Fremont Eastside Vacation Bible School (VBS) will be held at St. Mark Lutheran on June 26-30, 2016.
· A Lutheran Outdoor Ministries (LOMO) Day Camp will be at Faith Lutheran on July 10-15, 2016.
· A large VBS among Grace, St. John’s and Faith will also be held at Faith on July 24-28, 2016.
· Finally, Fremont Eastside LOMO Day Camp will be held at St. Mark Lutheran on July 31-August 5, 2016.
VBS will be focused on preschool through sixth grade, and the LOMO camps will be focused on children entering or leaving grades 4-6. There is a planning team to help set the details. Staff from LOMO will need places to stay those weeks, so anyone with an extra room is invited to consider hosting. Our hope is to make this day camp and VBS an outreach to the community and an inspiration for participation for Lutheran camping. Paid internships for young adults desiring to help with this and earn a valuable job experience will also be available. Stay tuned for more details!
2016 LIFT Internship Positions Available!
For the Summer of 2016 LIFT has received a grant from the ELCA for our Faith Building Blocks Program. Part of this new summer program will be the hiring of four LIFT Interns to help us run the VBS and LOMO Day Camps. If you are between the ages of 18 and 24 and like to work with the children of our congregations, we invite you to apply! These full-time positions will begin after school is out and will end by mid-August. Go to http://www.liftchurches.org/ to learn more about this exciting position. If you have further questions, please contact Kerri Hosing at or Pastor Jody Rice at .
Pictorial Directory Update: Due to circumstances beyond my control, the directory has been put on a temporary hold for an unknown amount of time. Back in November the drive which contained all of my business information crashed and has been in the hands of a computer technician for repair. At this time all photographs and information for the directory and the other 175 sessions that I had completed up to that time are safe, but it is unknown how long it will take to repair the drive. Originally a part was sent for repair, which took 6 weeks to have returned, and within a week the part went out again. The whole drive has now been sent to another company for repair, which can be intensive, in that is has to be taken apart in a sterilized room piece by piece and reassembled. I have not been given a definite date on when it may be returned, but as soon as it is, I will have the directory finished and sent to the printer. I will keep you up to date, when I have more information, and I appreciate your patience. This has been a difficult time, as I have a wedding and 8 seniors also waiting on pictures from this drive. Thank you, Main Street Portraits