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St. Paul’s United Church of Christ

Rev. RaeAnn Beebe 1250 Leonard Point Rd. Oshkosh, WI 54904

920-231-3080 stpauls@ntd.net www.stpaulsoshkosh.com

“Our Church exists to welcome all people to faith in Jesus Christ; to equip those people with a faith that works in real life; and to send those people out into the world to serve in Jesus’ name.”

Any one recognize this statement? No, it’s not in the Bible. Although in some ways it resembles Matthew 28:19-20a – “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.” The statement above is the Mission Statement for St. Paul’s UCC. How many of you knew that? Mission Statements get written at particular times and unless they are right before our eyes, we tend to forget about them. We forget why we wrote them in the first place and they certainly don’t impact our day to day life as a church. Mission Statements are important, though. They should guide how we operate as a church. They should guide our decision making. They should also be looked at and updated from time to time. To be more faithful to our Mission Statement and the Great Commission as Matthew 28:19-20 is often called, St. Paul’s has embarked on a journey of professional coaching. Our coach, Paul Nickerson has worked with many congregations across the country and across denominations on revitalization and renewal. The basis of his program is that many people today do not have a church background. At one time, churches could start programs or advertise that something special was going on at the church and people would come. That is no longer the case. The church has to reintroduce itself to the community and go where the people are. Sounds kind of biblical doesn’t it? “Go therefore and make disciples.” There are many ways that we will be doing this and our Vitality Team, as we are calling ourselves, will be filling you in with more details in the next few months. There may be a team, but vitality is all of our responsibility and you will be asked to participate on some level. This is a very exciting time for St. Paul’s.

I think our Mission Statement can be summed up in three words – welcome, equip, send. Maybe in light of what we are learning we should add the word invite. New people who come to a church and stay have often been invited by someone in the church. I can think of several people in our congregation that this is true for. Paul Nickerson uses these words over and over again – invite, pickup, bring. It is less intimidating for people to come to a new place when they come with someone they know.

At the present time, our Vitality Team consists of Rena Gomach, Sherri Landig, Debbie Wriedt, Val Trampf, and myself. We are excited about what this can mean for our mission and ministry at St. Paul’s. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask one of us. We will be glad to answer your questions. Watch for our updates in worship and in The Tidings.

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Enjoy your last month of summer! Keep the Flat Jesus pictures coming. They are posted on our Facebook page and on the bulletin board in the Narthex. Take a look! Blessings, Pastor RaeAnn

WE ALL DO IT! What is it that we all do -

SHOP (of course) We all need to shop for food, gas, clothes, entertainment, presents, etc.

Why not purchase SCRIP cards and use them to shop for all those purchases! Also, you are helping your church raise money. This is a win for the church AND a win for you, so

why not order your cards TODAY?

If you are unable to attend church, feel free to phone or email the church office and we will gladly assist you in easily submitting your order. Call Liz with questions!

NEXT order is due Sunday, August 2nd!

The Serenity Garden at the front of the church needs new plants to

replace some of the original ones. If you would like to contribute to this

project, place your contribution in a brown pew envelope indicating “Plant

replacements”. If you include your name, you’ll receive credit on your Giving

Statement.

Don’t forget to continue signing up for Altar Flowers and/or worship bulletins during the summer. Signup sheets are in the Narthex or call the church office.

Those who continue to bring in used ink cartridges for recycling. They

are a huge help for our office budget.

All who donated Back to School items for the Back to School

Fair. Hundreds of local children will be provided with a first day

of school outfit through this community wide effort.

Thanks to Mary Jaynes for preparing July communion.

Faye Lindemann, Rena Gomach and Brynna Loomans for their continued

computer preparation for each Sunday.

Bob and Rena Gomach for painting the bench in the Serenity Garden

Dennis Krause for sump pump repair

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Coffee Hour continues to be supported with

delicious donations of cookies, donuts and other treats for everyone’s enjoyment. We appreciate the cash donations as well! Why not share your special event with us during Coffee Hour? This month we thank the Hausers and Gasseres

for treats and Bill and Liz Joachim for a special cake in honor of their 50th wedding anniversary. For any questions on supplies needed for Coffee Hour, contact Heidi Sheldon or the church office.

Dear church family,

Please receive our deepest

expression of our appreciation and

gratitude for your sharing of our sadness

and sorrow. We cannot say in enough

words how much we miss the husband,

father and grandfather we love so much.

The many ways you helped us

memorialize him with Godly, comforting

words from you personally, and the many

cards and gifts really warmed our hearts.

We know God loves us. Continue to keep

us in your prayers.

God’s love and blessings always.

Richardson family,

Mattie, Brad, Robby/Amanda and

Gavin

BETTCHER, TELENE & MICHAEL (#22) 08/07

GASSERE, ANNE & PAUL (#16) 08/07

REV. KENT & AUDREY (#12) 08/10

TRAMPF, ROBERT & VALERIE (#11) 08/14

HAUSER, JOHN & RUTH (#51) 08/22

KAUFMAN, TONY & NANCY (# 9) 08/26

TRETOW, REV. HARLEY & SHIRLEY (#63) 08/30

Please mark your calendar for the Crop Walk on Sunday,

October 4, 2015! Plans are in the works for a tailgate party to

be held at County Park prior to the walk. Further details to

follow.

GASSERE, SPENCER 08/01

PETERSEN, JACK 08/03

JONES, HARRIET 08/08

SAGMEISTER, LOIS 08/13

JOACHIM, ELIZABETH 08/15

JOVAAG, JEAN 08/16

KENTOPP, ANNIE 08/16

KIECKHAFER, DONALD

08/16

REEPSDORF, BOBBI

08/16

KAUFMAN, NANCY 08/19

LOOMANS, BARB 08/28

JONES, JOHN 08/31

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On Sunday, August 2nd, the choir of St. Paul’s along with the choir of Peace Lutheran Church

will present a Service of Gospel Music. The service will be accompanied by Ginny Kippa at the

organ and Larry Klausch at the Piano.

The choirs will be singing old gospel songs such as:

“When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder” “Since Jesus Came into My Heart” “In My Heart There Rings a Melody” “He Lives” The congregation and choirs will be singing great old Gospel Hymns including:

“What a Fellowship, What a Joy Divine” “Standing On the Promises” “Do Lord” “Precious Lord Take My Hand” “Onward Christian Soldiers “

There will be piano and organ duets for the Prelude and during the Distribution of Communion.

We hope members of the congregation will invite friends and family to attend this special

uplifting service.

Larry Klausch,

Organist/ Choir Director

Our pets help us remember significant moments in our lives. Each animal on this earth, made lovingly and with great care by God, is a divine and beautiful creature. These creatures that love us unconditionally remind us that we also are holy and divine and full of God. Church is the place where the bond of creation is celebrated! Please plan to attend the “Paws” for Blessing event at St. Paul’s parking lot on Saturday, 9/19/2015, from 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM. All animals are welcome, but must be on a leash or caged. The public is welcome and we ask that you please invite family and friends to attend! If you have further questions, feel free to contact a member of the Vitality Team: Val Trampf, Deb Wriedt, Sherri Landig and Rena Gomach. We hope you can join us in this celebration!

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Intergenerational Faith Formation Committee Over the past few months, the Faith Formation Committee has been discussing how best to handle Faith Formation starting this fall. The Committee has decided to move Faith Formation from Sunday mornings to Wednesday evenings in conjecture with The Path. Tentative time would be 5:30 pm for a simple meal and then a worship experience for all ages from 6:00-7:00 pm. For children age 5 and under, we will still be having a separate class for them on Wednesday evenings. We will be including mission activities, Bible stores, crafts, games and confirmation on Wednesday evenings. Hopefully, this will strengthen our “church family” connections by the sharing of our faith from all generations. For some activities, we will be separating into “stations” to help with “age appropriate” discussions/activities. We understand this is a big change but we are trying to make this a positive experience for all involved. Sunday’s worship services will stay unchanged and you are still encouraged to attend Sunday worship as a family. To help with the idea of involving children in Sunday worship, we will be making some paint sticks that will be in the Narthex. These will have different duties on them such as ushering, handing out bulletins, etc. This will be a first come, first take basis. These are not only for kids. We are hoping to get more people involved in the Sunday service. If it is 5 minutes before the service is to begin and no one has taken the sticks, we will then need to ask people to do those tasks.

Debbie Wriedt, Chairman :

Thank you to everyone who donated to this year's Back to School Fair - also popularly known as "Christmas in July". Your donations were picked up from the church on Monday, July 27th and the Back To

School Fair will be held on August 6th at Oshkosh North High School. Your generosity is greatly appreciated by the lower income households who get a fresh start to the school year via this event. We are continuing to try to put together a volunteer project with Habitat for Humanity, possibly still in August. Stay tuned for updates. Finally, there has been a recent change in leadership with Ventures in People Haiti. Due to the toll that cancer treatments have taken on his body, George Schowalter has resigned as President of VIP. His leadership will be greatly missed; however, Julie Strauss has been elected as the new President and will step in to seamlessly continue all the wonderful works he has started with the people of Haiti. Please send prayers for George's continuing recovery and for the VIP organization as they move forward.

Where has Flat Jesus been found this summer? Come into the Fellowship Hall and track his adventures on the bulletin board - complete with map and photographs!

Some may have noticed the rainbow stone outside the front door. Last September at The Path, we made this stone to remind us of God's promise given to Noah. After many mishaps in the making of the stone, it is finally finished and there for all to

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enjoy.

When you shop at AmazonSmile, Amazon donates 0.5% of the purchase price to

St. Paul’s UCC. Bookmark this link http://smile.amazon.com/ch/39-0103565 and

support us every time you shop!!!!!!

Adult Faith Formation – Bible Study

The Gospel of Mark Sunday mornings in Sept and Oct

8:30 am to 9:15 am Fellowship Hall

Please let Pastor RaeAnn know if you are planning to participate as there is a

book she is thinking of ordering for each person participating. Cost of the book will be around $6.00.

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AUGUST 2015~

August 2015 ~

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

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2 9:30 AM worship with

communion & Gospel Music

SCRIP orders due!

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4

5 6 PM The Path

Supper & worship @ Sheldon Nature

Center

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7

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9 9:30 AM worship

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12 6 PM The Path Supper & worship @ Sheldon Nature

Center

13 Pastor @ Clergy

Support./Study Group

Artist in Fellowship Hall

6:30 PM Church Council meets

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16 9:30 AM worship

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Pastor RaeAnn on vacation

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Pastor RaeAnn on vacation

19 6 PM The Path

Supper & worship @ Sheldon Nature

Center

Pastor RaeAnn on vacation

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Pastor RaeAnn

on vacation

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Pastor RaeAnn on vacation

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Pastor RaeAnn on vacation

23 9:30 AM worship

Rev. Harley Tretow, Guest

Pastor

Pastor RaeAnn on vacation

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26 6 PM The Path Supper & worship @ Sheldon Nature

Center

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28

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30 9:30 AM worship

Food Pantry Sunday

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Notes:

August 2nd @ 9:30 AM – Gospel Music Service