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ANNUAL CONGREGATIONAL MEETING - Sunday, February 21st
Zion's Stone Church will hold its annual end-of-the-year congregational meeting immediately following worship on Sunday, February 21st (at approximately 10:30 a.m.) We will move from the sanctuary and reconvene in the Sunday School auditorium for the meeting. The agenda for the annual meeting includes a full review of all 2009 financial statements from the church treasurer and all other committees and organizations in the church. This is the meeting at which we look back at what God has accomplished among us and through us in the year just ended and look forward to the opportunities and challenges that await us as we strive to love and serve God and our neighbors in our lfe and ministry in the new year.
The agenda for this annual meeting is open top new discussions of anything we have done or may want to think about doing in the new year. If there is anything you've been wanting to comment on or ask about . . . this is your chance. We encourage all members of the congregation to attend this important meeting. Confirmed members who have communed and contributed in the current or preceding year will be granted voice and vote at the meeting. RESULTS OF THE END OF THE YEAR CONGREGATIONAL MEETING
held on Sunday, December 27th
The annual end-of-the-year congregational meeting was held on Sunday, December 27th, immediately following worship. Our agenda was the election of members for the Church Board and the adoption of the 2010 church budget. Results of the election of church board members are as follows:
Daniel Algard was elected to a two-year term, completing the open term of Louann Algard who resigned.
Dwane Miller, Tyler Schlecht, and Larry Stival were elected to their first three-year terms.
(Tyler Schlecht has served on the board in 2009, having been appointed by the board for the competion of an open term.
There is still one seat on the board open - one-year, completing the open term of Ron Osenbach who resigned. The board will seek to fill this seat by appointment as soon as possible.) The 2010 Budget Proposal adopted by the church board was distributed and board member, Kirk Arner, led the congregation through the budget, noting the changes from the 2009 budget. Following discussion, the congregation adopted the 2010 budget which totals $196,681.39. Copies of the 2010 budget are available from the church office.
OUR MISSIONARIES
Once upon a time it was a common thing for a local congregation to be in a relationship with a missionary or a missionary family serving the Lord and the Church in some foreign land. In many respects the missionary endeavor has changed as the world has changed. The work of the church in what we might call “third world” countries is being done by the church in those places and the leadership now, for the most part, comes from the native people themselves. Nevertheless, even though the nature of the work has changed, the church here is still sending missionaries to assist the local churches in those parts of the world and we can and should be supporting that work as best we can.
Our church budget for 2009, planned all the way back a year ago, called for us to begin supporting missionaries through both the UCC and the ELCA – this year to an amount of $750 each. This summer the church board looked at some options, a variety of possible missionaries doing work in a variety of places, and made some decisions on getting this support off the ground.
We will begin supporting two missionary families doing ministry in Africa. They are: The Rev. Dirk Stadtlander and his wife Sarah, ELCA missionaries doing ministry in the West African nation of Senegal and the husband and wife team of Pastors Scott Couper and Susan Valiquette, UCC missionaries serving in South Africa.
The Stadtlanders are Midwesterners, Dirk from Iowa and Sarah from Minnesota. They met at Luther College in Iowa from which they both graduated in 2000. Dirk graduated from Wartburg Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa in 2005 with a Master of Divinity degree; Sarah from Clark College, also in Dubuque, also in 2005 with a MA in education. They have a daughter, Eva, born in 2004. They completed training in the French language and in African culture in Burkina Faso, West Africa, in 2006. Dirk’s call is as a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Senegal working in Christian Formation and Leadership Development.
Scott Couper was born in Portsmouth, Virginia. He graduated with a BA from The American University in Washington, DC, in 1994 and from Chicago Theological Seminary with his M.Div. in 1999 and was ordained that year. He is also working on a Ph.D. in history from The University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, Republic of South Africa. Susan Valiquette was born in Dayton, Ohio. She graduated with a BA in religion and communication from Wright State Univ. (Ohio) in 1992 and from United Theological Seminary, New Brighton, Minnesota with her M.Div. in 1995 and was ordained that year. They have a son, Micah and a daughter, Madeline. Scott serves with the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa (UCCSA) as a pastor of a congregation in the Kwazulu-Natal Region. Susan serves as the chaplain of Inanda Seminary in Durban, South Africa – a UCCSA church-related school founded in 1869, that was the first secondary-school exclusively for African girls in southern Africa.
More information on “our” missionaries can be found on the bulletin board in the church narthex. Your prayer support for them will be greatly appreciated.
THURSDAY MORNING BIBLE STUDY – 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon YOU ARE INVITED to join us as we resume our weekly Bible Study at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, September 10th. We meet every Thursday morning from 10:30 a.m. to Noon and really enjoy getting into God’s Word together. We have a great time together: we learn a lot, we laugh a lot, and we share our faith stories. We have had up to 17 people around the table but there’s always room for a few more, including you. Come for the learning, the fun, the coffee, and the growth in faith. You won’t regret it – That’s a promise!
This fall we will begin with a study of the Book of Exodus – the story of God’s chosen people, Israel, from slavery in Egypt to the redemption wrought by God through Moses and the beginning of their journey to the Promised land. Whatever we study, our goal is always to learn what the Scripture has to teach us and to make its message as relevant to our daily lives as possible. Studying Exodus may take quite a while but when that study is done we are thinking of studying the Book of Revelation together. The ancient history and background of Scripture is interesting enough, but what really matters is how God speaks to us today through the text, how we can discover new insights into God’s grace and living our lives as disciples of our Lord Jesus. Please join us.
WEDNESDAY MORNING PRAYER – 9:00 a.m. each week There is no time in a day or in a week when it isn’t appropriate to worship our Lord. If you have the time, we invite you to join us on Wednesday morning at 9:00 a.m. for a spoken service of Morning Prayer, the traditional old service that used to be called “Matins.”
We have a small gathering each week, just a handful of faithful souls who have made this an important part of their midweek devotional routine. We give glory to God for all his many blessings and we ask his blessing on our days. Scripture is read along with a commentary reading from across the vast scope of Church history from the first few centuries right into the 20th century and there is a time of reflection from Pastor Mike on what the message might be for us in our lives of faith.
If you have thirty minutes to spare on Wednesday mornings, we hope you will consider joining us.
Thoughts on how we confess our faith
The Apostles’ Creed is our primary statement of faith. It is our declaration to each other and to the world of exactly what we believe about God and about ourselves as the people of God in Jesus Christ. The text of the creed has been handed down from generation to generation throughout the history of the Church beginning either in Greek or in Latin in earlier centuries before finally appearing in the familiar form around 700 A.D. Somewhere along the line it was translated into the languages of our particular faith traditions, i.e. German and English.
In the most recent years those worshipping here at Zion’s Stone Church have confessed our faith in the words of the Apostles’ Creed in three slightly different forms. The Service Book and Hymnal (SBH) of the Lutheran Church, The Hymnal of the Evangelical and Reformed Church (and the UCC), and The Hymnal for Worship and Celebration which we use now. While there are distinct similarities among the three, no two of the three are exactly the same; each has its specific uniqueness. Some say Holy Ghost while another says Holy Spirit. Some say Jesus descended into hell while the third says “into Hades.” Some say “we believe in “the holy Christian church” while the third says “catholic church.”
A newer translation, widely and ecumenically accepted across much of the length and breadth of English speaking Christianity, was introduced here on October 1st. We used it for a number of weeks and asked for feedback. Some came forward and said it was more difficult to say because the version in their memory was so strong that it became hard to read different words. Some said that while they would prefer the more familiar version, they would be okay with using the newer one if that’s the way we decided to move. At the Nov. 12th Board Meeting we discussed this matter, considered your comments and the reasons for using the new standard version. The Board’s final decision was a vote to continue using the newer version feeling it might be more helpful as we seek to reach out to our neighbors, especially new residents moving into the community.
The Board wants you to know that voices on both sides were heard and all possibilities were seriously considered before the decision came to a vote. We thank all those who were willing to speak up and voice their feelings on this matter. It is only through this kind of open sharing that we can deal with the important matters of our worship life and our ministry with one another and to our community in a positive and most effective way.
However we put the words together, whether in forms that reach back to the earliest days of the church or in modern forms seeking to speak to 21st Century people, the bottom line is that our faith is in God. Apostles' Creed (English Language Liturgical Consultation - 1988)
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen Nicene Creed (English Language Liturgical Consultation - 1988)
We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God, begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary
and became truly human.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.
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