Grace, mercy, and peace are yours in Jesus Christ, our Savior King! Amen.
Dear Family of God at Grace,
Advent and Christmas greetings to all! Here we are at the beginning of a new church year. Time continues to fly. It will soon be, The year of our Lord 2017! I like to think of a New Year, and maybe from now on you will too, as a continuation of the Book of Acts. Have you ever watched a movie and thought, "That's the ending? It can't end that way! What happened next?" The Book of Acts ends with St. Paul in Rome awaiting his appeal to Caesar. What happened to him? We don't know. (read it for yourself in Acts 28) I like to think that Luke left Acts unfinished because the acts of God's people continue today, through you! Not that we are writing or adding to Scripture but our lives are being lived out in God's Word and as fulfillment of that Word. For that reason, this new church year and the upcoming new calendar year are the year of our Lord 2017, in which we continue the work of the Lord as we serve our neighbor.
This is such a busy time. I hope you all had a blessed Thanksgiving! Let me say a "thank you" to all for your generosity. Through the Thanksgiving food baskets this year we were able to feed 230 families in our community! Well done dear brothers and sisters! This is a beautiful fulfillment of loving and serving the Lord by caring for your neighbor (Matthew 25:35-40). Also a big "thank you" to the kitchen crew during the Thanksgiving Day Dinner! We had over 70 in attendance and the food was wonderful! Great job!
Advent brings with it many activities. Make sure you take time to participate in as many as you are able. Let me rundown the list:
Sunday December 4th, after the late service we will have our Voters' Meeting. Lunch will be provided. This meeting we will cover our 2017 budget and some capital improvements to Grace. With these capital improvements we intend to start a Capital Fundraising Campaign. We have some major projects to accomplish this year and we will be needing to raise some funds to make it happen. The good news is that we have a good portion of the needed funding already. Come and hear more about this at the Voters' Meeting.
Church Christmas Decorating will happen of Friday the 9th at 6PM. The more help the merrier and faster we can make this happen. Bring your favorite snack and beverage for all to enjoy. This is really a lot of fun and I promise no one will have to climb a ladder unless you want too!
We are decorating on the 9th because the Children's Sunday School and Preschool Christmas program will be on Saturday the 10th at 10AM. Following the program there will be a pancake brunch hosted by the Youth Group.
Don't forget the weekly Wednesday Advent Services at 6:30PM. There are only two left. This is a time to sing your favorite Advent and Christmas Hymns and to hear God's Word proclaimed.
This year Christmas Day and New Year's Day fall on Sundays. With that in mind we will have one service of Christmas Day at 9AM. This is our Matins Service with Communion. On New Year's Day we will have our regular schedule of 8 and 10:30AM with Bible Class and Sunday School in-between the services.
We are going Caroling to our shut-ins on Sunday the 11th after the late service. We will provide a light lunch and the divide up into a few groups and head out to visit with and sing the songs of the season and faith to our shut-ins. This is a wonderful event that if you haven't participated in you need to give it a go. Whether you sing like an angel or Kermit the Frog it doesn't matter! This is fun. You will bring the good news of great joy to home boundmembers.
We are not going to march in the Christmas Parade this year. We decided to take a break. So take your chair down to 5th Avenue and enjoy.
I'm sure that I'm leaving something out so check the website and the bulletin for more info.
Let me close by saying, God bless you all this Advent and Christmas Season. I pray that you will have all the joy and celebrate with all hope and receive all the peace of the Christ Child born to you this Christmas!
In His Service,
Pastor Lingsch
Boxes for 230 Collier County families were put together on the Sunday before Thanksgiving by members of Grace.
Welcome New Members
We welcomed the following new members to Grace, on November 27th.
Bettina Burns
Dr. Ruth Busman
Don and Beverly Fritz
Ed and Mary Horn
Abby Leboza
Kyle Ray
UPCOMING EVENTS
Voters Meeting
Sunday, December 4th
11:45 am - Lunch provided
Decorate the Christmas Tree
Friday, December 9th - 6:00 pm
Bring a dish to share and your favorite beverage
Children's Christmas Program
Saturday, December 10th - 10:00 am
Followed by a Pancake Breakfast sponsored by the Youth Group
Caroling to Shut-ins
Sunday, December 11th - Following Late Service
Light Lunch provided
Advent Worship
6:30 pm
December 7 - Christ Our Joy
December 14 - Christ Our Peace
Christmas Eve Worship
Saturday, December 24th
4:30 pm, 7:00 pm and 11:00 pm
Christmas Day Worship
Sunday, December 25th9:00 am
New Year's Eve Worship
Saturday, December 31st 5:00 pm
New Year's Day Worship
Sunday, January 1st
8:00 am and 10:30 am
WEEKLY EVENTS
Theology on Tap
Monday's at 6:30 pm
The Shady Palm
Quilters
Tuesday's at 9:30 am
Fellowship Hall
Wednesday Night Programs
3:45 pm Cherubs Choir
4:00 pm Kids Club
4:15 pm Choristers
5:15 pm Dinner
6:00 pm Confirmation Class
6:30 pm Evening Worship
7:00 pm Grace Chorale
Basic Conversational
Spanish
Wednesday's 10:00 am - 11:30 am
The Pelican Community Center
5800 Golden Gate Pkwy
Heroes in the Faith
Wednesday's 10:30 am
Fellowship Hall
Women's Bible Study
Thursday's 10:00 am - 11:00 am
Fellowship Hall
Handbell Choir
Thursday's at 6:00 pm
Practice English
Come Help!
Every Wednesday and Friday
The Pelican Community Center
5800 Golden Gate Pkwy
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
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Thank you Lisa Girr for leading our elementary children's "kick off to Advent!". Your homemadechocolate nativity scenes were wonderful and a blessing to our families at Grace. Thank you!
December Newsletter 2016
The Pelican Takes Flight!
Pastor Mark Eisold
The Golden Gate Pelican: Community Center & Lutheran Church
New beginnings are always exciting! They are exciting and yet scary all at the same time because they are, well...NEW. The launch of a new church into full worship is no different. While there has been a lot of planning, pursuit of those plans, and preparation for the new worship service, there have been many obstacles along the way, some setbacks, and challenges - even now.
As the Golden Gate Pelican Lutheran Church nears our December 11th @ 11:00 a.m. start date, I humbly ask for your prayers. As a pastor with experience in established churches as well, I KNOW that challenges, obstacles, and setbacks are a reality for your church as well. You and your faith family are also in my prayers.
The Golden Gate Pelicanis very different from what you may know in your home church. While the doctrine and practice are exactly the same, this new congregation is doing six things differently than even most "mission churches".
1. Our focus is to fill the community with Jesus, rather than merely gather people to a new church. This keeps our focus outward rather than inward. The Lord will fill His church when we fill the community with His word.
2. We are looking ONLY for unbelievers & the unchurched with no Lutheran background. (New wine in new wine skins.)
3. We are starting with Latinos, Haitians, and Anglos - who are seeking a church that is multicultural and multilingual, like many families in South Florida. (Latino children speak English, but adults speak Spanish.)
4. We worship in Spanish, offer live translations (via modern technology) to share the Scriptures, the message, and prayers in both English and Haitian Creole. (Haitian Creole will come by late December.)
5. We operate as both a Christian Community Center and a Lutheran Church under the single name, "The Golden Gate Pelican". Christ's gifts are shared equally in both through mercy action and proclamation of God's word. While the Community Center specializes in mercy action, the church specializes in proclamation, yet both are accomplished in each area of ministry to glory of our Risen Savior, Jesus Christ.
6. We are already pursuing a plan to be funded by individuals who are passionate about mission, rather than congregations who have finite funds and infinite pursuers. The mission needs both funding and a pastor; I can't do both well at the same time, so I have delegated the funding aspect to a dear brother in Christ, who is a member of a local LCMS congregation. If you - or someone you know - has the spiritual gift of joyful giving, please contact me so that together we may glorify Christ. My e-mail ; phone is (239) 307 - 7336. ** While the Lord has provided for us through District grants & church grants/endowments, we are looking to the future with the wisdom of the Lord, in order to continue strong in His work.
Over the past month "The Pelican" was blessed to be a blessing in the following ways:
- We began a free Spanish Class every Wednesday from 10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. with a professional teacher who came to us through English Night.
- We partnered with the Naples Lion's Club to give a free vision screening to 60 people in our area. Many were equipped with free reading glasses or directed to clinic in Bonita Springs for prescription glasses.
- On Thanksgiving Day we hosted anyone without Thanksgiving plans. While most of our contacts had plans, we were blessed to be part of the First Thanksgiving in the USA with three folks from two households!
- While continuing our mercy ministry of English Night through Advent, our Wednesday themes for this season will focus on HOPE, PEACE, JOY, & LOVE as part of our focus on, "Preparing for Christmas". Every week during this time we also teach two Christmas hymns in English. Volunteers are still needed on Fridays from 5:45 - 8:00 p.m., but during Advent we encourage you to attend your home congregation for these special services.
Feel free to visit us on December 11th - or any Sunday at 11:00 a.m., but be sure to stay committed to your current home of worship where you are an integral part of the body of Christ. Important Note: The Pelican will NOT have worship services the day after Christmas Eve or New Year's Eve due to the culture of the people we are reaching. This means we will have worship on those Saturday evenings, but NOT on Sunday December 25 nor on Sunday January 1st, 2017. The office will be closed for the week between Christmas & New Years as well.
Holiday Event & Worship Schedule:
Friday December 23rd 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. Christmas caroling (in English) followed by Hot Chocolate with Paneton.
Christmas Eve 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. Worship Service
New Year's Eve 6:00 - 7:00 p.m. Worship Service
A Special Request in the Love of Christ
December 1, 2016
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
We have all heard of the student exchange program! This is a program where a high school or university student comes from a foreign country to live with an American family in their home for a period of six months to one year. Most "host families" graciously invited another person into their family of four to six people to live with them, eat in their home, and enjoy the shelter and transportation that they shared together. This situation usually worked out very well, with a little work, and delivered great blessings with fantastic lifelong memories for all involved.
While many who were host-parents in my generation of adolescence during the 1980's no longer have a family of five or six, they still have a home large enough to host not just one, but four people. In our work to reach the community of Golden Gate & East Naples, we have been blessed to reach people in ALL parts of Naples. Many of those folks have just arrived here to seek political asylum in order to escape unthinkable horrors in Cuba and Venezuela.
Right now, we know of two families of four - father, mother, and two children - who are legally seeking citizenship, are foundational members of our new mission, and need a home for the next six months to a year. Both families have contributed greatly of their time and talents to the development of Christ's mission and are active in weekly activities to learn English, find gainful employment, and Sunday worship.
For the past six months they have been living together with relatives in a three-bedroom house of 1,600 square feet. As you can well imagine, this is neither comfortable nor sustainable - much less good for the children who are attending school and trying to make a new life in the United Sates.
Therefore, I humbly ask all of you to prayerfully consider embracing one of these families of four with the love of Christ, and hosting them for the next six months to a year in your home with you. Naturally, we will meet together, pray, set parameters and boundaries, guidelines for rent, and an exit strategy before any move is to take place. Please do so only if you have the space and a genuine interest in helping a family who will be eternally grateful. At the very least, you will be blessed with companionship and the opportunity to teach English through daily interaction, and to teach from your vast experiences as an American citizen. Who knows? You may even learn some Spanish, which I understand keeps the mind sharp - and is interesting at the very least!
Please contact Pastor Lingsch or me with any questions that you have about these dear folks and this unique opportunity to touch lives with the love of Christ. Thank you and God bless you!
Your Brother in Christ, and fellow servant in His Mission,
Pastor Mark Eisold
(239) 307 - 7336
Planning Council Highlights
November 22, 2016
Our meeting was called to order at 6:20pm and President Steve Beights followed with an opening prayer. The minutes of the October 25, 2016, meeting were approved as submitted.
Pastor Lingsch summarized "Operation Thanksgiving Basket", happy that 230 families were served. Pastor will conduct a wedding ceremony, welcome 8 new members and coming Sunday Bible studies will be guided by The Didache and this resource will also be used to instruct people who intend to join our congregation.
Steve Beights' short announcements included the naming of Amanda Beights as the new Chairperson for the Education Committee, the hiring of Ray's Lawn and Garden to complete the landscaping around the fountain and the shampooing of the sanctuary pews and the carpet in the Fellowship Hall.
Our Treasurer Helen announced the receipt of generous gifts from three of our members and pronounced the financial health of the church to be good.
Financial Secretary Craig Johnson has made a significant effort to secure bids for replacement items to our electronics system. The bids recommended that prior to purchasing anything, the electrical ground for the church needs to be upgraded. Efforts are in the works to prevent future damage to church property, especially the pipe organ, from lightning strikes. Once an adequate electrical ground is in place, a computer firewall, data switch, surge protectors and supporting equipment will be installed.
Mr. Johnson also raised the issue of our managing and properly carrying funds not used by various boards at the end of a fiscal year. Special designated gifts would also benefit from this. Dane Leubke, a special guest at the meeting, has brought forward a sample letter outlining a procedure used previously by other churches and supported by the Florida-Georgia District. This letter will be formally presented at the December 4th Voters’ Meeting and additional plans for starting a fund for future needs will also be discussed on Dec. 4th.