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TRANSCRIPT
June 2013
THE SHEPHERD’S VOICE
† Pastor Jay Inside this issue:
Children & Family Ministries 2-4
Informational Items 5
Youth Activities & Events 6
Serving Opportunities 6-8
Vacation Bible School 9
VBS Registration 10-12
Church News 13-15
Upcoming Events & Info 16-17
Our New Long Range Planning Task Force
T wice in the past 15 years, we have been blessed by the work of a long range planning task force. The first one worked from 2001 to 2003, the sec-ond from 2006 to 2008. These teams carefully
studied our church, and made recommendations which led to some of our most helpful changes and ministry initi-atives. The most obvious fruit of this work were the many facility changes, beginning with our first expansion of the parking lot in 2002, and continuing to the construction of the new church in 2009. The ministry changes were more subtle, but just as important. They led to a substantial in-crease in our small group ministries, a revitalization of Sunday School, new outreach ministries, and many other improvements. Since we have essentially completed all of the recommendations from the last planning effort, it is time to do another. A new “Long Range Planning Task Force,” (LRP) has been formed, and is beginning to do its work. Eventually, we want every member of the congrega-tion to be involved with this process. So, I’ll explain a bit about who they are and what they are doing. The new group currently consists of Steve Opichka, (the chairperson), Kelly Erkkila (the secretary), and Mike Kniffin, Tania Renken, Jodi Schulteis, Dave Slatinshek, Brian Weis, Patty Gitter (council liaison), and myself. Based on previous experience, we expect many others to get involved on sub-committees, or with the whole task force, before its work is finally concluded. The LRP’s mission is “To have Shepherd of the Hills be a thriving ministry in the year 2020.” This won’t happen by accident. Our world is changing, and if our ministries do not adapt, our congregation will decline. For instance, our Sunday School ministry is currently thriving, with well over 100 students enrolled. But, if we fail to reach the next generation of children and their families, the Sunday School could be empty in 7 years, as the current children grow older. The initial work of the LRP is divided into four areas: 1. Assessing the challenges and ministry opportunities
of the greater Richfield area. Which community trends should we pay attention to?
2. Assessing the needs and effectiveness of every min-istry within the congregation. Which ones are healthy? Which need help? Which are no longer relevant?
3. Reevaluating our identity, values, purpose, and prima-ry disciplining strategy. We have not reviewed our mission & vision statements for over ten years. These need to be updated, and communicated to the mem-bership, and used to focus our decision making.
4. Assessing our congregation’s health & vitality. Here we will use two “church health assessment” surveys. One is the Natural Church Development survey we used in 2002, 2004, & 2006. The second will be new for us – the Congregational Health Assessment Tool, a survey that will involve every member of the congre-gation. This will be done in the early fall, when more people are around, so stay tuned.
In the meantime, there may be short surveys done during worship, and interviews and surveys with ministry leaders and participants. As time goes on, the LRP will review its findings, and make appropriate recommendations to the Council of Shepherds, the staff, or specific ministry teams, as appropriate. I urge you to be in prayer for the LRP, asking God to show us his plans for us! Yours in Christ,
“A prudent person foresees the danger ahead and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on
and suffers the consequences.” — Proverbs 27:12
“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you,
plans to give you hope and a future.’” — Jeremiah 29:11
Children’s Ministry Leaders for 2012-2013
Parents We thank all of the parents for their involvement, support and commitment to our program.
Sunday School Teachers & Helpers The children of our congregation have been blessed to have many dedicated teachers and adult & youth helpers that were willing to share their faith and their love of Christ. We are all enriched by their willingness to serve in our Sunday School classrooms.
Children’s Church Leaders & Helpers Children’s Church is a special age-appropriate lesson for children ages 4 – 8 that is offered in the preschool classroom at each worship service during the sermon. Our volunteers share their love of Christ with the chil-dren who attend. We are truly blessed to have such a wonderful group of people serving in this important Chil-dren’s Ministry! Please take a minute to personally thank all these people that enhance our children’s lives.
In Sincere Appreciation
Thank You for Your Time and Caring Spirit!
Children’s Ministry Leaders for 2012-2013
Brenda Apel Dan Berg Lisa Bishop Amy Cichon Nicole Corrie Paul Craig Laura Davis Elizabeth Erhardt Kelly Erkkila Andrea Jushka Melissa Kaiser Dave Komberec Shereen Kressin
Katie McCauley Elizabeth Miller Kimberly Mueller Kirsten Opichka Janine Park Karen Puhl Shari Rodriguez Emily Strohwig Jessica Taylor Tara Tetzke Jessie Wenum Todd Wolff
Sunday School Teachers
Taylor Bishop Amy Crandall McKenna Gramoll Daniel Monty
Ciara Park Maddie Rodriguez Kendra Strohwig McKenzie Strohwig
Sunday School Youth Helpers
Renee Bowerman Mike Corrie Marcus Davies Sue Depies Pam Drake Carole Fernandez Donna Kirsch Jim Kirsch Scott Lear
Kelli Parkinson Deb Ratzel Jerry Rhinehart Mindy Riesen Katie Schmanski Tracy Stauffacher Stacy Strobel Sarah Vieau Linda Weiss
Sunday School Adult Helpers
Judy Burnick Sue Depies Kelly Erkkila Donna Kirsch Debi Mueller
Janine Park Karen Puhl Bobbie Siewert Julie Slatinshek Sarah Vieau
Children’s Church Leaders
Children’s Church Assistants
Mateya Anderson Brett Czudic Abby Gastrau Emily Gillen Nick Grenier Hannah Goodchild Cal Knapp Sara Leurquin Brandon Lex
Chandler Lex Hali McCauley Morgyn Michel Gillian Oliver Ciara Park Bridget Schwalbach Kendra Strohwig Anthony Swoboda
The following people have made a difference in our children’s lives by serving in Children’s Ministry and by their devotion to Christ in sharing their faith.
Sunday School Coordinator
Amy Cichon
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Sunday School Celebration - Bible Baseball Our Sunday school classes held a Bible Baseball game as a Family Sunday school event on May 19th. Three teams were formed with a mix of students from each grade. The names of the teams were the Lions, Whales, and Sheep. Students on each team took a turn at “bat”. Sunday school teachers “pitched” review questions from our Sunday school lessons throughout the year. Students who answered questions correctly were able to roll dice to determine if they got a single, double, triple or home run. Runners were able to advance to other bases as team members correctly answered additional questions. Our game was lively and fun! Parents and families attended this fun event. Everyone enjoyed refreshments and a special “Teacher Appreciation Slideshow” after the game. Thank you teachers and helpers, for volunteering your time and talents as you shared your faith with the children of our congregation. Thank you for making a difference in their lives!
Eighteen 5th graders were acknowledged for completing Sunday school. May God bless them as they move on to middle school this fall. They will be starting confirmation class in the fall. Congratulations to the following 5th grade students:
Matthew Cichon Joshua Gastrau Erin Gillen Katie Kirsch Alyssa Lear
Isabell McCauley Carley Mullman Alex Nadolski Grant Renken Elizabeth Rhinehart
Jonah Schmanski Nathan Stephan Jackson Van Engen Alec Vieau Kyle Vinz
Blake Voss Nathan Weis Abby Wolff
Attendance Awards were given to recognize the following students who missed 3 or fewer classes in either semester:
Preston Bowerman Trevor Bowerman Matthew Cichon Michael Cichon Natalie Corrie Nora Corrie Charlie Davies Hailey Depies Reily Depies Zander Depies
Zavery Depies Kendra Drake Joshua Gastrau Aidan Highsmith Alex Kister Christina Kister Austin Lear Izzie McCauley Nathaniel Monty Alex Nadolski
Dylan Nadolski Cade Renken Grant Renken Elizabeth Rhinehart Jack Schmanski Jonah Schmanski Koryna Schmidt Brandon Slatinshek Hannah Slatinshek Nathan Stephan
Kaiden Strobel Kendall Strobel Sophia Sukow Savannah Taylor Courtney Vieau Peyton Vieau Haley Wehr Zoe Weis
Visit our Children’s Ministry Website at www.sothchildrensministry.shutterfly.com
3rd - 5th Grade Campfire All 3rd - 5th graders are invited to attend a fun even-ing at SOTH. We will have a campfire on June 2nd from 6:00pm - 8:00pm. The campfire will be held on the lawn space between the pavilion and our church.
What can you expect? Campfire songs, games, skit, devotions, roasted marshmallows, s'mores and lots of fun with your friends at SOTH. What should you bring? lawn chair, jacket, marshmallow roasting skewers (if you have some), $3.00 donation to cover the cost of refreshments What if it is raining that night? Then we will move the fun indoors (minus the campfire).
Sign up sheets are posted on the Children's Ministry Ki-osk. You can also email Amy Cichon to sign up your 3rd - 5th grader. We are also looking for a few parents to help super-vise the event. Please let Amy Cichon know if you are interested in helping. Thanks!
Children and Family Ministries
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Miscellaneous Items
Summer Book Read
This summer’s “read” will be Gilead by Marilynne Robinson.
Please join us for a book discussion in late July at Mary Jo Burkemper’s home. Date to be announced. Everyone is welcome.
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson is an inti-mate tale of three generations from the Civil War to the twentieth century: a story about fathers and sons and the spiritual battles that still rage at America's heart.
Gilead is the winner of the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
School Year Comes to a Close Our Kid's Night Out program finished another successful season of fellowship and fun. This program provides a great opportunity for children to build relationships with other SOTH children and older youth volunteers while having fun. Eight events were held this school year with attendance ranging from 11 to 25 children. We also had several new families attend our program this year and become “regular” participants. Each of our events provided games, crafts, stories, snacks and other activities that coordinated with our theme. Our Operation Christmas Child shoebox packing event in November was a new family event this year that was well attended and lots of fun! We had packed 341 shoeboxes with gifts for chil-dren in third world countries. Our family Harvest Party in October was well attended. We had a chance to enjoy a cozy bonfire on a beautiful fall evening with camp fire songs, roasted hot dogs and marshmallows Our wonderful group of teens did a fantastic job to lead our activities each month. Thank you for volunteering your time to work with younger children and be role models and friends to them! The youth earned $500 that can be applied towards mission trip fees, Bible camp tuition, or other youth activities. We also had sev-eral adult volunteers that helped supervise events. Thank you for your involvement with this program! Your efforts made our program a huge success!
KNO Pajama Party
Congratulations Seniors! Please keep our 2013 high school graduates in your prayers as they graduate and embark on the next chapter of their life:
Zachary Artz Alex Gouvion Jake Hetzel Kristy Huelsman Austin Kell Dani Leppla Deanna Leppla
A.J. Mamerow Gavin Marsh Kiley Olson Libby Schwalbach Matt Tennessen Kellie Willis Everett Wood II
“Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your
plans will succeed.” Proverbs 16:3
On Compassion Sunday 9 children were sponsored by our congregation through Compassion International .
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Youth Activities & Serving Opportunities
IMPACT
& Middle School Youth News
http://sothyouthhs.shutterfly.com/
IMPACT Events
June 2nd: 10:30am Worship – Blessing of our High School Graduates! 7:00pm-9:00pm Recharge Night June 9th: 7:00pm-9:00pm Recharge Night June 16th: 7:00pm-9:00pm IMPACT Bonfire Night with Devotions
Mission Trip Participants should all attend
June19th: Wednesday, 2:00pm – 8:00pm VBS Decoration (June Service Event) Work Projects w/pizza supper June 29th: Senior Sendoff Water Fun Day & Picnic
Open to all IMPACT youth (8-12th!) Sign up on youth kiosk....We will plan a day of fun
on the water – options for overnight if there is interest!
June 30th: 10:30am Outdoor Worship & Church Picnic Commissioning of Mission trip group w/ Prayer Pals
June is a great month to fill your youth auction bid jobs if still unfilled!!!
Coming Up for Summer NEW! BONFIRE Devotion Nights
Join IMPACT on June 16th, July 28th and August 18th for our special Campfire Devotion Nights!
July 29th- Aug 2nd: VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL
We need you! Amy Cichon is looking for high school and middle school youth to help out as a student crew assistant, nursery, drama, games, music or deco-rating!! You can help out for the week or specific days; just let Amy know your preference!
August 2nd-4th Canoe Trip
Look on Youth Kiosk for more information as it is availa-ble later in June. Shawn Kell & Lisa/Jeff Bandoli- Trip Leaders - We would LOVE to have you join us!
This years’ 8th grade confirmation students- you are now “officially” members of IMPACT, our high school youth group! Please join us for our BONFIRE IMPACT meet-ings Sundays and Recharge Nights NOW ON SUNDAYS!
JOIN US WEEKLY… all summer! RECHARGE- (weekly) has moved to
SUNDAY NIGHTS 7:00pm-9:00pm IMPACT BONFIRE NIGHTS(8-12 grade youth )
7:00pm-9:00pm with a devotion June 16th, July 28th and August 18th
Fortify Small Group We have a small group named Fortify that meets once a month to prepare meals for those who might be recov-ering from an illness or surgery or have yet another set of circumstances. The exception to the monthly meeting schedule is this month – there is no meeting set for June. This group has been meeting for about 18 months. It has prepared more than 60 meals in that time period. The members of this group gather on the second Wednesday of each month beginning at 6:30PM. They meet in the church kitchen and usually have from 5 to 7 people attending. More preparers are welcome and, if you have an interest, you may contact the group leader, Stephanie Wehr by e-mail at: [email protected]. The menu items are typically selected from the classic types of dishes including chicken pot pie or lasagna for example. Special dietary needs will be accommodated if at all possible. Again, those can be communicated to Stephanie by e-mail at the address above or by calling the church office and leaving a message with one of our staff members. The group has been preparing 4 to 6 main dishes and desserts each month. Some choose to pick up a meal from the church, but those can be delivered as well with advance notice. The need is most often learned of by word of mouth but again can be communicated by e-mail or phone message if easier. A special thank you goes to all who have worked to help provide meals for those in need due to illness, accident and so on. Fortify is helping others and enjoying the time spent together to make this possible. If this is a group that sounds right for you, please let Stephanie know. There is always room for willing hands. Al Campbell
Serving Opportunities
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Grieving Mom’s Support Group If you have lost a child
And pain is all you feel…
This group is where you can open up unconditionally and express all those feelings with other mothers hav-ing the same emotions in an effort to lessen that pain.
Contact Terry Bogues at 262-388-2252 for time and place of meeting.
Family Promise Serving Week
June 16 -23rd Families seeking emergency shelter through Family Promise of Washington County will call Shepherd of the Hills "home" during the week of June 16 - 23rd. Through the Interfaith Hospitality Network, churches provide meals and lodging one week at a time to help homeless families in Washington County get back on their feet. We thank God for giving us another oppor-tunity to reach out to our brothers and sisters in need! As in the past, we will be looking for people to provide food, spend time in fellowship, serve as overnight hosts and keep the families we host in prayer. Forms and information will be located at the sign-up table beginning in June. If this is your first time serving with Family Promise, you will need to fill out a "Volunteer Application" prior to serving. It is now a requirement that all volunteers be background checked. Please contact Lisa Gramoll or Karen Puhl to have your questions answered. "...all of you, live in harmony with one another, be sympa-thetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble."
1 Peter 3:8
To Knitters & Crocheters
Thanks so much for the yarn, hats and blankets we received since No-vember 2012. We are working hard towards the “November Giveaway” and love getting help and items.
Thanks again, Ingrid Wehber
Falls Area Community Services, Inc.
Food Pantry
Falls Area Community Services, Inc. serves the needs of Col-
gate, Germantown, Lannon, Menomonee Falls and Richfield.
Pantry Update SOTH will serve the Menomonee Falls Food Pantry on June 25th and 27th. Food Pantry shifts are from 11:45am to 2:30pm and from 4:45pm to 7:30pm. To volunteer, the sign-up sheet is located on the kiosk in the Narthex. The pantry welcomes monetary and food donations. Pantry needs include: Cereal (adult and kids), canned fruit and vegetables (there is plenty of beans and corn), creamed soups, sugar, flour, vegetable oil, personal care items, paper towels, and Kleenex. If you have extra paper grocery bags, the pantry will gladly accept them. Thank you for donations; your kindness is appreciated. Sherry Lewitch
Matching grant through
Thrivent for Lutherans +
several compassionate
Churches = this 15 passenger
van to transport Family Promise guests. Thank you
SOTH for writing the grant!
Serenity Inn
It’s an exciting time at Serenity plus a message from a first time visitor!
Ten residents rushed out to greet us as we arrived
for dinner/fellowship on May 1st. We had to search back to December of 2006 to find a larger group. At that time the Inn was filled to its capacity of 12. As we write this an email informs us two more men have been accepted into the program and once again the Inn is at capacity. The Serenity Board of Directors set as one of its goals for 2013 to achieve full and consistent occupancy of 10 to 12 men. This appeared to be a very ambitious goal as recent years saw occupancy as low as two and may have aver-aged five or six. Now the Inn is full! What a glorious and exciting time for Serenity Inn. The lives of men in addic-tion are being changed for the better.
The ten residents who met us? It is a great and fun group that includes the familiar faces of Daniel, Darrick, Eddie, Ignazio, Josh, Raheem, Rick and Romall plus two new residents David and Douglas. The dinner conversation for the residents centered on the greatest challenge now fac-ing them in recovery. The answers included: humility, ad-mitting the need for help, doubt, publicly sharing them-selves and their problems, patience, low self-worth, fear of failure, a sibling following his path of addiction, guilt. The bitterness of these answers are sweetened by the reality that more than a dozen men have faced these chal-lenges in the past and have graduated the Serenity pro-gram and are living happy, sober lives. Please pray for all these men to graduate from Serenity and realize a new and fulfilling life in recovery.
For the bible study group “Armor of God” this was their first time to prepare and deliver a meal to Serenity Inn. The cooks consisted of Jeff & Dawn Chase, Paul & Mari-lyn Craig, Jim & Maureen Leurquin, Chris & Patty Rudolph and Everett & Tricia Wood provided the meal. Those providing the fellowship this night included Jeff Chase, Paul Craig, Jim & Maureen Leurquin, Marcus Davies and Lorraine & Jim Bahr.
The following are reflections of Maureen Leurquin a first time visitor to Serenity: On May 1st my husband, Jim and I were fortunate enough to go with others from SOTH to deliver a meal and social-ize with the residents at Serenity Inn. I was pleasantly sur-prised by the warm welcome we received from all the men who were waiting outside for us. Everyone seemed genu-inely happy to see us.
We helped set out the food and prayed as a group. It is customary for the guests to go through the food line first as the residents wait patiently for us to be seated. During
dinner, the residents receive a question as do the guests to help with the evening’s discussions. I was amazed by how open and honest everyone was. It is a safe place for everyone, including the guests, to share something about themselves.
The one thing that stood out for me that evening was “The Wall of Fame” which consisted of pictures of Serenity Inn Graduates. It was encouraging to hear the current resi-dents speak so highly of the men who had successfully completed the program and are now living on their own and how the current residents were so determined to have their picture on that wall someday.
If you want to experience firsthand the Scripture verse Matthew 25:40 - “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” I would strongly encourage you to visit Serenity Inn.
Want to experience this exciting time at Serenity? Sign up at the kiosk to provide part of a meal and/or fellowship the Wednesdays of June 5th, July 3rd, August 7th or Sep-tember 4th. Transportation provided.
Annual Fundraiser Results: Your help made this event a success!
There were 150 people in attendance at Sereni-ty’s third annual fund-raiser at the Italian Community Center on Friday, April 26th.
SOTH was well represented with one member serving on the organizing committee, eleven members attending the dinner, seven members donating items for the silent auc-tion and several members participating in the 50/50 raffle and generously bidding at the auction. Over $8,500.00 was raised that evening: money that will go a long way to help men defeat their addictions.
It was a night to celebrate the mission, residents, gradu-ates, staff, supporters (churches, individuals and busi-nesses) and volunteers of Serenity Inn. It was a night to celebrate the continued sobriety and successes of the ten graduates in attendance and meet their family members and friends who accompanied them. It was a night to meet and encourage the ten men currently in residence at the Inn. It was a night of hope and renewal as we heard the emotional stories of two graduates who conquered addiction. It was a night to celebrate one of the graduates for his mentoring skills of the men at Serenity. It was a night of thankfulness for the people and organizations that support this organization. It was an AMAZING night!
Jim and Lorraine Bahr
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Serving Opportunities
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“Kingdom Rock”
Join Us This Summer at VBS…
“Kingdom Rock” Where Kids Stand Strong for God
July 29th – August 2nd, 2013 from 9:00am – 12:00pm
VBS Decoration Project Work Days
This year the title of our VBS program is Kingdom Rock. We will be transforming our sanctuary and narthex into a castle and court. We will have stone castle walls with tall columns, arches and wooden doors. We are planning several VBS decorating project work days in June out in our pavilion (old church building). We are looking for adult and youth volunteers to cut cardboard and Styrofoam pieces, paint cardboard & Styrofoam pieces, and assemble these items into impressive “stone” arches and columns.
Wednesday, June 19th from 2:00pm – 7:00pm, with a pizza supper around 6:00pm. Impact Recharge will start at 7:00pm. Wednesday, June 26 from 6:00pm – 9:00pm
Sign-up sheets for these projects are posted on the Youth Ministry Kiosk by the Youth room and on the Children’s Ministry Kiosk by the Jerusalem room.
We also have several paint projects on cardboard that could be worked on at your own home in your free time.
Please contact Amy Cichon at 262-644-0441 or [email protected] if you are interested in helping with any of these projects.
We are looking for youth and adult volunteers to help us run our Vacation Bible School this summer. We will need help in the following areas:
Registration (extra help needed on Monday) - Regis-ter and check in children for our program.
Preschool Crew Leaders – Lead small group of chil-dren through daily events.
Elementary Crew Leaders - Lead small group of chil-dren through daily events.
Worship Assistants - Teach and lead songs for open-ing and closing worship.
Preschool Station Leader – (Bible Adventure) Lead scripted activities in your station that support our daily Bible point.
Elementary Station Leader – (Chadder Chipmunk’s Theater) Lead scripted activities and show a DVD in your station that will support our daily Bible point.
Decorating Crew – Create awesome decorations and props for our various stations. This group will meet on June 19 and 20 to complete projects prior to VBS.
Nursery- Care for the children of our volunteers, under the age of 3, not enrolled in VBS
Snack Prep –help out in the kitchen to assist two crews of children to make and serve our daily snack.
Registration Forms are now posted on our Church Website at www.shepherd-hills.com and on the Children’s Ministry website at www.sothchildrensministry.shutterfly.com. They are also available at the church Welcome Desk and in this newsletter.
Beginning in June: VBS Display for Donation Needs will be set up.
Contact Amy Cichon at [email protected] or 262-644-0441 if you would like to find out more information about VBS or are considering volunteering in one of the de-scribed roles.
Early bird registration deadline is July 1st.
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Information Items
2013 Augustana District Annual Convention Report The third annual Augustana District Convention was held at Christ the King Lutheran Church in Hutchinson, Minne-sota on Saturday April 27, 2013. Approximately 80 people attended the convention from over 40 churches and 7 states. The convention theme was “Spread the Word” based on Isaiah 55:6-11. Don and Sandy Kriefall attend-ed as voting delegates. Jim and Sue Dix attended as members. Jim Dix also manned the LCMC Missions Fo-rum Booth.
Convention Focus Is Mission The main focus of the convention was on mission. The first speaker was KK Alavi for New Hope Mission Society. KK Alavi, who is a converted Muslim and pastor in Kerala, India. A growing number of churches are asking for train-ing to reach Muslims. Many of the converts are heavily persecuted for leaving Islam and following Christ. They need housing for converts, people to answer letters, are in need of room for storing literature, for sheltering perse-cuted Christians, conference study halls, and sanitary facilities. KK dreams of developing a Bible Institute in India to equip and train former Mus-lims newly converted to Christianity. Muslim converts to Christianity are strong missionaries since they know if they are killed for their faith in Christ, heaven awaits, so they are fearless in proclaiming the Gospel. The second speaker was Charles Lindquist who is on the board for Building Leaders for a Global Harvest. People don’t often realize the immense physical size of Africa. Charles revealed how Greenland, USA, Argentina, Eu-rope, New Zealand, India and mainland China could all physically fit inside Africa’s borders with a few square miles to spare. The scale of Africa in terms of religion is amazing as well. In 1900 less than 2% of all Christians in the world were in Africa. By 2000 18% of the world’s Christians were African. He projected that by 2025 24%, 1 out of every 4 Christians in the entire world will be African with 9% of the world’s Christians in the USA. With such growth, Christian leaders are desperately required in Afri-ca. Leadstar University College in Ethiopia, created in 2012, has 1000 students with a vision of expanding to over 15000 students. The Ethiopian Evangelical Church “Mekane Yesus (EECMY) has 6 million members, 7000 congregations, 3000 preaching points in 21 synods, 2000 pastors, and has grown by over 300,000 believers in 2010 alone. EECMY is the largest Lutheran church in the continent followed by Tanzania. EECMY projects the need for 12000 new pastors over the next 5 years.
Functions of the Augustana District What is the Augustana District and what does it do? Au-gustana District (A-D) is unique inside of LCMC. A-D uses its’ commitment to classic Lutheran theology and ministry to assist churches and provide accountability for pastors. It also provides an avenue to join in mission together with other churches. LCMC provides internet posting for open pastor and staff positions, but the call process itself be-longs to each individual congregation. A-D can help in that process by providing oversight to the call committee, council and/or entire church, can advise on interview techniques and questions, provide telephone support and consultation, assist with background checks and inde-pendently interview candidates to provide feedback to call committee. A-D accountability and oversight are embed-ded in the structure of the A-D “endorsement” for pastors, and in official ministry standards of pastor accountability. A-D has a relationship with SOLA Publishing, which with The Board of Christian Education is looking at hosting an
annual event to not only provide re-sources but to serve the actual func-tion of education so that congrega-tions feel better equipped to articulate and experience the rich Lutheran her-itage. A-D is committed to developing new pastors through the Institute of Lutheran Theology (ILT) seminary.
ILT offers on-line accredited courses for pastoral students and clergy and additional courses for congregation mem-bers. They currently even have 2 courses in Ethiopian. A-D churches are strongly encouraged to develop support-ing relationships with independent mission entities. Additionally A-D can investigate mission agencies on be-half of congregations and provide opportunities for joint mission projects. A-D had the most active Women Of the Word (WOW) groups in the LCMC. The next annual WOW meeting will be held in Watertown South Dakota Saturday 9/21/13. A-D also hosts an annual Theological conference for Pastors which 90 Pastors attended last February. Augustana District includes 46 churches, 7 states 52 endorsed clergy and 30% of our district church-es are mission startups. A-D is comprised of a District council plus 5 boards. The time dedicated to the Augustana District Convention was Friday and Saturday including travel and social time with the couple who gave us free lodging. We would strongly recommend that more people participate in next year’s convention to see what the Augustana District is all about. It was an honor and a blessing to attend and rep-resent Shepherd of the Hills. Submitted by Jim and Sue Dix, Don and Sandy Kriefall
Let’s Celebrate!
9 children in need were sponsored through Compassion International making a total of 50 children sponsored by Shepherd of the Hills!!
98 Geraniums were ordered for Pentecost Sunday and will be planted outside to beautify our church.
All 8th grade confirmation students passed their test..
Serenity Inn at capacity with 12 men overcoming addiction.
One of the Family Promise families will receive this years Habitat for Humanity house. 38 Attendance awards were given to Sunday school students who missed 3 or fewer classes in either semester.
18 fifth graders graduated from our Sunday School program.
Prayers continue to be answered. Thanks be to God!
Church News
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Notice of Two Part-time Staff Openings
Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church of Richfield is seeking applicants for two part-time equipping staff po-sitions. Ideal candidates will have a deep love for Christ and a love for God’s people, a servant heart, a history of working well with teams, an entrepreneurial spirit, an eagerness to learn, a passion for reaching new people for Christ and His church, and a sense that God is call-ing them into this ministry. Both positions require a flexi-ble schedule (including the ability to work many Sunday mornings).
Assistant for Connections Ministry This would begin as a 10 – 15 hour a week position. This person’s primary responsibility will be to help new-comers to build a lasting connection to the church. This person will seek to improve our ability to attract and reach new people, give visitors a very positive experi-ence, coordinate visitor follow-up, and help newcomers connect to the congregation (through building relation-ships, service opportunities, small groups, etc.).
Assistant for Volunteer Ministry This would begin as a 15 - 20 hour a week position. This person’s primary responsibility will be to help our volunteers find joy and fruitfulness in their various areas of ministry. This will include helping all our people to identify their spiritual gifts for serving, connect them to appropriate serving opportunities, help members launch new ministries, coach volunteer ministry leaders, and create a culture which encourages more people to be-come joyful servants of Christ.
If you or someone you know may be able to serve Shepherd of the Hills in either position, email a resume and cover letter explaining your interest and sense of calling to [email protected]. If you have ques-tions about either position, contact Pastor Jay Thorson or Al Campbell for more information at 262-628-2633.
Everett Wood Joins Staff as Director of Contemporary Worship
As you’ll note in the President’s Corner article by Sherry Wenum in another sec-tion of this newsletter, the new person selected for the Director of Contempo-rary Worship was approved by Council at its May 14th meeting.
Everett Wood has been handling the bulk of the music for our Monday even-ing services for some four years and has
been involved in the Contemporary Worship scene on Sundays for more than a year playing keyboard or sing-ing or both. He has had training in music and that shows in his ability to form pieces of contemporary worship music to fit the instrumentation and the voices available.
Everett had interviews and performance auditions with the Contemporary Music group and it became apparent that the person who should be selected had been under our noses all this time. He has earned the respect of the group based upon his abilities previously demonstrated, and he filled the needs that the Contemporary Music group itself had determined to be critical in the person selected for this position.
In addition to the music planning and presentation du-ties, Everett will also be responsible for coordinating the planning for the contemporary worship services in con-junction with the worship committee and Pastor Jay to assure the theme for each is observed consistently throughout each service.
Please join in welcoming him to this new position within Shepherd of the Hills. If you are not a ‘regular’ second service person, you might wish to experience this con-temporary worship approach in person. And, you can sleep in a bit later if you are usually a first service per-son.
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Church News
SOTH Prayer List
Please continue to seek the love, grace and healing from Jesus
Christ, our Lord as we hold each other up in prayer.
Please pray for:
our homebound
Vivian McEwan • Olga Raeck • Betty Sachse
our partners in mission
Hearts in Motion
Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ
Phetsamone Vannavong, St. Paul’s Laotian Outreach
Ministry Pastor
Shishitony Parish in Meru, Tanzania
Simple Hope’s work in Tanzania
American Pastor Saeed Abedini and other Christians
persecuted for their faith Family Promise
Serenity Inn
military personnel overseas
Shawn Creamer, son of Suzanne & Hugh Creamer,
deployed to Korea
Chad Bogues serving in the Air Force
Kenneth Thiele, son of Alan & Sandra Thiele, deployed to
Afghanistan with the Wisconsin National Guard.
President’s Corner I pray that you may be active in sharing your
faith, so that you have a full understanding of
every good thing we have in Christ.
Philemon 1:6- NIV
The Council of Shepherds met Tuesday May 14th. We had much to talk about and decide as you can see from the highlights below. We welcomed Chris Childs to our meeting to discuss the request from the Worship Committee to allocate approxi-mately $5,000 to upgrade our audio system from analog to digital technology. While there are many advantages to this upgrade, the one that may be most obvious to the congregation is the lack of the electrical buzzing. Another great plus is that the console can memorize scenes and instantly go from one to another. With the push of one but-ton, all the knobs, buttons, and sliders will turn to a new setting. So the settings for 8:30 can be changed to the 10:30 settings with that one button push. Within a service, scenes can be set up in advance, and then the operator can make instant changes. So, at a Christmas service, the operator could instantly toggle back and forth between the ideal settings for the band, for the choir, and for the lec-tern – automatically turning microphones on and off, changing levels, etc. The Council approved monies for this upgrade. We also approved hiring Everett Wood as The Director of Contemporary Worship. Everett was involved in a series of interviews and auditioned with Spoken For before being hired. The entire praise band embraced the decision to hire Everett. I think Everett’s commit-ment to Spoken For can best be described by his own words: “Being a member of the group over the past several years has rekindled my love for music. Be-coming involved with the group has been a bless-ing, allowing me to grow in faith at the same time expressing myself through the music. I feel my mu-sical abilities have expanded as my roles in the
band have expanded. I feel very comfortable with lead vocals, playing keyboards as needed, and be-lieve that I am in a position to help the band not on-ly continue its commitment to excellence, but to give direction to that commitment.” I also shared a letter to the SOTH Council of Shepherds from Congressman James Sensenbrenner. You proba-bly remember my note to you 2 newsletters ago about imprisoned Pastor Saeed Abedini and how the Council wrote letters to the Secretary of State, both of Wiscon-sin’s senators, and our congressman Mr. Sensenbren-ner urging them to use their positions to diplomatically press Iran for Pastor Abedini’s release from prison. Mr. Sensenbrenner wrote to say he supported all efforts exerted for the release of not just Pastor Abedini but all Christians imprisoned for their faith in Iran. A resolution to that effect was recently introduced in the House. Finally, the Council would like to recognize another “small group” for often unrecognized service to SOTH. Our kudos this month go to Sandy Kriefall. Sandy is an amazingly hard-working woman who updates the SOTH website and face book page as well as doing almost all of the programming of the video screen each week. This requires hours of her time, but she manages to fit it all in despite working full time for Harley Davidson. I was informed that when asked if we were overworking her, she told the person making the inquiry not to take her job away! Thank you, Sandy. Sorry about the long article, but we were a very busy group this month. Enjoy the spring weather---there can’t be any more snow in store for us for quite a while----right??
Sherry Wenum Council of Shepherds’ President Next Council of Shepherds Meeting— Tuesday, June 11th
Page 16
Upcoming Events & Information Items
Senior Group Activities Events: 6-18-13 - 1:00pm Marty Thompson to speak about her
job as a Wildlife Rehabilitator and Educator. She will bring a few of her rescues (no snakes!) A donation of supplies will be required to offset the cost of speaker fees. A list will be posted in the near future. Lunch will be served (hot dogs). Please bring a dish to pass. A free will offering will be taken.
7-16-13 - A pontoon boat ride at no cost and then dinner at The Cedar Ridge Community Center. We will car-pool from church.
Any questions-- call Nancy Angeli at 628-2080 or Kathy Blackburn at 262-338-0435
4 Week Sunday Morning Study
“Lies Women Believe and The Truth That Sets Them Free” by Nancy Leigh DeMoss
Satan is the master deceiver and his lies are endless. The lies Christian women believe are often at the root of most of their struggles and fears. In her best-selling book, DeMoss exposes the de-ceptions about sin, marriage, priorities, relationships, and emotions and com-passionately sets you on the path to deliverance—God’s Truth based on scripture.
There will be no homework and very little reading in-volved. This study will meet on 4-consecutive Sun-days from 9:40am – 10:25am from June 2nd thru June 23rd in the Conference Room at church. Be-cause it will only be a 4-week study, we will be focusing on Lies Women Believe About Sin… (1) I Can Sin & Get Away With It and My Sin Isn’t Really
That Bad. (2) God Can’t Forgive What I Have Done. (3) I Am Not Fully Responsible For My Actions and Re-
actions. (4) I Cannot Walk in Consistent Victory Over Sin & The
Good News For Sinners!
This study is for women of all ages and stages of faith. The cost of the book is $ 11.00.
The class will be led by Maureen Leurquin and Karen Puhl. You can contact Maureen at either 262-253-9954 or [email protected] should you have questions. Sign-up at the KIOSK by May 19th so books can be ordered in time. Childcare will be provided.
Outdoor Worship & Church Picnic
June 30th at 10:30am @ Church Our tradition of having an Outdoor Worship service and Picnic contin-ues again this year on Sunday, June 30th at 10:30am. Join us as we wor-ship God in a relaxed outdoor set-ting.
The Church Council will be hosting the picnic. Stay after the service and enjoy a hamburger, brat or hot dog. Please sign up in the narthex if you would like to provide a side dish or dessert. Picnic tables are available or you can bring your own lawn chair. Bring your own beverage or help support the Impact Youth by purchasing one from them. Proceeds will go towards their upcoming mission trip to Blue Knob, PA. After lunch we will have several outdoor, picnic-style games. Adults, parents and children from elemen-tary school age up through high school and college are encouraged to join in the fun! We'd love to have enough youth for a tug-of-war match! We hope that you can join us! You won't want to miss out on the ac-
Operation Christmas Child
Fundraiser Bilda’s Friess Lake Pub
4493 State Road 167, Hubertus
Sunday, June 23rd 4:00 – 9:00 pm
10% of restaurant sales will be donated to Operation Christmas Child.
Hartford High School freshman, Hannah Mrozak, will be the quest singer.
Special Music
Presentations This Month
Jun 2 Both services - Special Guest Huntley Brown—Pianist
8:30am Anthem with Choir 10:30am Leading music with praise band Jun 16 8:30am Brass Jun 23 8:30am Joyful Noise Jun 30 10:30am Gospel Worship Group @ Outdoor Worship
Page 17
This Month’s Events
Jun 2 Special Guest @ Both Services- Huntley Brown - pianist Jun 2 Blessing of the High School Graduates Jun 16 Father's Day Jun 16-22 Family Promise Week Jun 25 & 27 Food Pantry Jun 30 Outdoor Worship & Church Picnic
Jul 4 Independence Day Jul 6-13 IMPACT Mission Trip, Blue Knob, PA Jul 16 Senior Group (Pontoon boat ride) Jul 19-21 Family Camp @ Imago Dei Jul 21 IMPACT Campfire Jul 29-Aug 2 VBS “Kingdom Rock”
Coming Events
Upcoming Events & Information Items
Mark Your Calendars
A Very Special Musical Guest June 2nd
On Sunday, June 2nd, we are pleased to welcome as our guest the world-class Christian piano player Huntley Brown. A native of Jamaica, Huntley’s electrifying piano playing has been inspiring worshippers all over the world, including regular
appearances with the ministries of the Billy Graham Association. Huntley will be at both of our Sunday services, playing special music, and accompanying some of our hymns and songs. This will be a great day to invite your friends to enjoy some God-pleasing music, and a heart-felt testimony. Learn more about Huntley at http://huntleybrown.org.
In order to include as many people in Sunday snack making…Melissa, Kenny & Paige Kaiser and Bekah & Kelly Erkkila sang a snack making song to the tune of “Jesus Loves Me” for the congregation.
Please consider bringing treats on a Sunday, according to your last name. Simply place your pre-plated treats on one of the café tables in the Narthex. Note: For those with allergies, please mark your treat if it contains nuts and plate separately.
6-2... H 6-9…I, J, Kn 6-16…Ko, L
6-23…M, N 6-30…O, P, R
Mt. Meru Coffee Project The Mt. Meru Coffee Project is a partner-ship between Lutheran Churches in Northern Tanzania and Southeastern Wisconsin to increase the incomes of family farmers in Tanzania. Through the purchase and sale of cof-fee, the farmer's primary cash crop, we
will provide additional revenue for health, education and economic services to God's people in the Mr. Meru re-gion of Tanzania. You may order regular and de-caf coffee. Flavored cof-fee also is available for ordering: French Vanilla, Hazel-nut, Butter Pecan, and Chocolate Raspberry. Order forms are available in the SOTH Coffee Nook. Both regular and de-caf 12 oz. packages cost $10. Daniel Kiesner
SHEPHERD OF THE HILLS LUTHERAN CHURCH 1350 Highway 175 Hubertus, WI 53033
Nursery Ministry Coordinator Emily Strohwig
Music Staff Cynthia Skaalen……………...Organist
Kristin Tetzke…….. Director of Choirs
Everett Wood ………...….. Director of
Contemporary Worship [email protected]
Children & Family Ministries Amy Cichon…...Sunday School & VBS
Kristin Tetzke………….Y outh Ministry
Coordinator [email protected]
Cleaning Ministries Rose Burnick
Worship Schedule Sunday - 8:30AM (Traditional)
10:30AM (Contemporary)
Monday - 6:30PM (Contemporary)
Sunday Schedule 9:30AM Adult Fellowship
11:30AM Adult Fellowship
(September - May)
9:30AM Sunday School Ages 3-12
9:30AM Faith Café
Pastoral Staff Jay Thorson…………………….Pastor
262-271-5455 (Cell)
Council of Shepherds Sherry Wenum.………..….....President
Scott Lear…….……......Vice President
Gary Strohwig …….…..….Treasurer
Janet Holk...……. .….…..….Secretary
Church Office Hours & Information Monday-Thursday ….....9:00am - 4:30pm
Friday………..….………. 9:00am - noon [email protected]
(phone) 262-628-2633
(fax) 262-628-8201
Shepherd of the Hills Website
www.shepherd-hills.com
Facebook………….Shepherd of the Hills
Sue Faber………...…...Church Secretary
Becky Reilly………...….…...Bookkeeper
[email protected] Marge Worthing………Newsletter Editor
Shepherd of the Hills Church Directory
Outdoor Worship & Church Picnic June 30, 2013
10:30am
MEMORIALS
GIVEN IN LOVING MEMORY OF
Ruth Dumke
Clarence Schmidt