MAY 2015
Volume 2, Issue 5
We are Faith...
God’s purpose for our
new church is to unite
unconditionally,
sharing God’s love
through our growing
faith and mission with
everyone in the name
of Jesus Christ.
The NeXt Church—New England 2 020
On Thursday, April 16th,
Bishop James Hazelwood
hosted a discussion for
the CT Eastern Rivers
Conference of ELCA
Churches in CT. There
were approximately seventy or more fellow Lutherans in attendance.
The theme of the discussion was ‘What’s next for
Lutherans in New England? Facing the challenge of being the Lutheran Church in the most
unchurched region in the
country’.
The discussion began
with a presentation of
what the characteristics
of being the church
means in New England.
There was a level setting
with a few themes; New
England compared to the
rest of the United States
is the most un-churched
area of the country. This
means, while according
to a 2014 Gallop Poll
whereby 92% of Americans believe in God, the
statistics are starkly low
in church attendance in
New England. Additionally, we learned that the
height of the ELCA in
b y Deanna Ra y [Con tin ued on p. 3]
America was the year
1965 when the most new
congregations and church
buildings were built than
at any other time. That
means our buildings on
average are 50 years old
and in need of repair or
remodeling. The top
challenges of New England church interdenominationally are
buildings, people and finances. There are many
reasons that church
attendance has declined
and is the lowest in New
England; however, the
most important point
here is how we respond.
This is the context we are
living in and will continue
to live in for the foreseeable future.
The Bishop suggested
what the church in 2020
or the future will have
certain characteristics and
qualities; the church will
have less building, it will
be less structured in its
organization and more
networked, there will be
less programs but more
relational, and finally, it
will be light weight and
low maintenance. In
order to best respond
to the changing needs
of the times we are in,
the Bishop suggests
“Holy Experimentation” by being willing
to take risks, being wiling to fail, and willing
to try new things.
1) How we do outreach in the New England context?

By being a resource
to the community
and partnering
with other groups.
By partnering with
other groups, the
community helps
the church and the
church helps the
community. In order to make this
shift in how we
reach out, a shift in
thinking and being
must begin by
looking to be partners in mission,
experimenters on
an adventure and
most importantly,
be generous people and congregations.
Inside this issue:
NeXt Church
1
Prayer Team
3
Walk Against Hunger
3
Sunday School News
4
Which Way: God Only Knows
6
Council Update
8
FLC T-shirt sale
10
Our Church’s S trategic Direction:
Page 2
Make your life a MISSION,
not an intermission!
See someone on Council if you’d like to get
involved with — Worship & Music, Church
Operations, Mission Support, Facilities &
Maintenance or Finance. Your help would
be appreciated!
Addressing Hunger in
M iddletown;
S haring K now ledge;
Serving & E mpowering Youth &
Seniors;
How? Coordinating assets in our
community to meet needs; and
Thanks have been received from…
Diane Petras…
”I am writing on behalf of my mother Ruth T. Anderson
to thank you for all you did to brighten her Easter. She
was so pleased to see Pastor and receive Holy Communion. Despite her inability to attend services, she
maintains her feelings of unity with fellow church
members and also is so happy to see Jan Wright who
delivers the newsletter/bulletin.
My mom is enjoying the lovely Easter lily and was just
so delighted in the cards made and decorated by children in the Sunday School. She especially liked the colorful bookmark with the message, “He is risen”.
Thank you for remembering her.”
* **********
Betsy Steilau called to thank Pastor Zach for his visit &
the administering of Holy Communion & delivering an
Easter plant as well as the Sunday School children for
their Easter card. They all meant a lot to her.
**************
More appreciation for the FLC Sunday School children..
Thank you for the Get Well Wishes and your gift of tissues.
I very much appreciate it.
Ralph Schaffer & Family
Communicating a bout resources &
events.
I would like to
give a heartfelt
thanks to the
people of Faith
Lutheran
for
remembering all our staff for Easter
Sunday. It was a wonderful surprise
when our Council President, John Twining, said he had one more announcement to make on Easter morning and it
didn’t just end with a sign-up sheet or
calendar update. It was a gift and card
to say “Thank You.” It was very nice for
the congregation to recognize that the
Lenten journey does indeed require extra diligence for those who plan the
worship and music, those who send out
special notices and copy and staple all
those worship folders, and even the guy
up front who says all those words every
time we gather for worship. We each
are very thankful for the congregation’s
appreciation!
- Pastor Zach
The NeXt Church—New England 2020
2) How can he and his staff be a
resource for congregations in the
area of outreach & stewardship?






By engaging with his office and
learning more about some of
the programs that are currently helping other congregations
in the area of outreach &
stewardship, such as:
Crazy Stewardship Consult
NES & Partners for Sacred
Space Event in Fall 2015
FORWARD Leadership Community
Learning more about Turnarounds
Macedonia “Generosity Training”
3) How can Mission Support be
something more deeply connected with our identity and
mission?

Mission Support and the
programs being developed
can help our congregation
grow in their relationship
with Christ through prayer,
financially, and by encouraging them to live their
faith.
4) How can we partner together to do this work, rather than
remain isolated ministry sites?

Page 3
by Deanna Ray [Continued from Pg. 1]
nering with the resources and
partnerships already in existence in our community. The
future is about connecting,
networking and building relations with all of our neighbors. We can learn from others and share our knowledge
and skills with others.
For a full listing of opportunities available to us from the
ELCA New England Synod as
well as opportunities to help
others in specific ways, please
contact the church office for a
copy of the materials from
this event.
We can partner together
with the resources the Bishop’s office and staff can
connect us to and by part-
Prayer Team
St. Vincent de Paul Middletown is recruiting teams to walk with us in the Foodshare Walk Against Hunger. This year's
walk will be held on May 3rd around Bushnell Park in Hartford. Free parking is provided at the Hartford Insurance, 690 Asylum Avenue. This event is a major fundraiser for St. Vincent de Paul's Amazing
Grace Food Pantry and the Soup Kitchen. Last year we had 9 faith groups from
the Greater Middletown Area who helped
us raise over $45,000 to help feed our hungry neighbors. In previous years, we have
had a sea of orange shirts representing St.
Vincent DePaul. We would love to have
YOU be a partner with us this year.
For more information please contact Bob
Walsh, Volunteer Walk Coordinator at
[email protected] or by phone
at 860-463-5061. Thank you for your interest.
We are trying to develop a new
ministry of prayer that will assure each of our members that
someone is praying for each of us every
day. Prayer doesn’t happen without a
pray-er. I’m looking for at least 10 people who will be willing to commit to 5
minutes a day to pray for members of
our congregation. Each of those 10 people will pray for about 18 of our members on a daily basis. The Pastor and the
Council will pray for the pray-ers on a
daily basis which will mean everyone is
being prayed for at least 7 times a week.
And of course there is no limit on who
can pray for whom, so just imagine all
those prayers for the people who call
Faith Lutheran their church home! If you
are interested in being one of those prayers just let the Pastor or one of the Council members know that you want to make
a difference.
– Pr. Zach
Page 4
SUNDAY SCHOOL NEWS
L to R: Josh Abbott, Connor
D’Aquila, Dana Kugeman &
Michael Brooks, Jr. pose after
the First Communion Ceremony.
by Jen Eifirig
Welcome to the Lord’s Table! Our 2015 First Communion students were Josh
Abbott; Michael Brooks, Jr.;
Micaela Cope; Connor D’Aquila; and Dana Kugeman.
May you grow in faith and
grace as members of Christ’s
body.
Thank you to the many individuals and families who contributed cash and items for
our Easter Egg Hunt. The
weather actually cooperated,
and we were able to hunt outside in the brief sunshine. The
kids had a great time, and the
adults did, too!
The last day of Sunday
School is May 31, which will
also be Youth Sunday. Sunday School and confirmation
students will lead the congregation in worship. Stay
tuned for news on our annual Sunday School picnic!
Check back soon for news on
Vacation Bible School. This
year, we are trying to partner
with First Congregational
Church. Dates and times to
come. Our theme is Adventure Camp!
Micaela Cope on her
First Communion
Day.
Sunday School Project
Continues...
Our Sunday School students
and teachers have been reaching out and showing our love
of Jesus to people who are ill
by making and giving cards
and decorated tissue boxes.
Each card, signed by all of the
students and teachers, has a
cross on the front with the
words “God bless you!” on it.
“You Are Loved!!” is printed on
the inside. The tissue boxes
are decorated with religious
stickers, including a Bible verse
and other decorations.
- Janet Hayn
Another Note of Thanks
to the Sunday School...
I would like to thank [the Sunday School students & staff]
for making me smile and
brightening my day. I had surgery on my right shoulder on
Thursday. All I have been able
to do is sit on the couch with
an ice pack on my shoulder.
This is NOT fun.
Sunday, Miss Hayn came to my
house with the card and gift
you sent. I love it! Miss Hayn
also brought me my favorite
flowers, yellow roses. I was
able to
decorate
my
coffee
table
with this beautifully decorated box of tissues, the card
and flowers. Everyone did a
really nice Job decorating!
Thank you again! You made
me smile.
Diane Hayn
Page 5
Holy Week Memories...
Easter
Egg Hunt
Palm Sunday Procession
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
The African Children’s Choir is a remarkable choir made up of orphaned
former street kids from Africa. Their
lives have been transformed and now
they are getting an education and
travelling the world to sing on stage to
presidents and royalty - and also to
perform to tens of thousands of new
fans every year. They will be performing in Middletown at Middletown High
School on Wednesday April 29, 2015 at
7:00 PM.
As part of their visit to Middletown, Faith
Lutheran Church will be hosting a dinner
for the choir members and their chaperones to meet their host families at 5:30
PM on Monday April 27, 2015. We will also
be providing classroom space on Tuesday and Wednesday for their school
time, and finally a dinner for the choir on
Wednesday at 5:00 PM prior to their
departure for the High School. Anyone
interested in helping at either meal can
contact Louise Mansueto or John Twining.
For free tickets to the performance
www.middletownschools.org/cf_news/
view.cfm?newsid=285
Let’s Celebrate
May Birthdays!
5/2
5/3
5/5
5/6
5/9
5/12
5/15
5/17
5/18
5/23
5/26
5/28
5/29
Peggy Morrissey
June Paulson, Ryan Vynalek,
Greg Winter
George Bonvouloir, Jen Cope,
Stephanie Twining
Sean Anderson
Tom Kugeman
Shirley Salafia
Laura Lenz
Micaela Cope
Lori Botti
Jon Ahlquist
David Albanese
Fran Rollish, Peter Schaffer
Mary Bacon
From the Pastor: Which Way: God Only Knows!
OK, so it turns out that the time I set
to actually write this article happens
to be a rainy day during which I had to
go to the airport. Travelling north on
I-91, I noticed that the southbound
traffic was backed up for miles. So I
immediately realigned my plan to get
back. Instead of heading south, I actually went further north and then east
deciding to use my detour to pick up
some items at a store I could hit. I
wound my way with very little problem going now southeast. Upon completion of my shopping, I made my
way to the best artery to get me back
on track heading west on I-84 in order
to eventually head south. All of the
sudden a sea of red brake lights (in a
place I have never seen the traffic
stop before) warned me that this plan
was not going to work so I quickly
took the next left exit that was only
impeded by the police officer’s flares
and the car perpendicular to the road
(sans bumper). This flipped me
around and now I was heading east
again (you know for someone heading
south, most of my trip was moving me
else where). I made progress for a
quarter of a mile when, you guessed
it, another dead stop! Just one more
exit to the right (and if you have been
keeping score you know that means
SOUTH) and I found myself inexplicitly moving quickly right back to I-91
South, apparently beyond all the accidents that seem to have stopped all
progress just moments before. The
point of this is, had I kept to the original plan, to take the most direct
route, I would not have gotten back in
time to write this article today. Because my plan A turned into a plan B,
you have an article in this month’s
newsletter. And ironically, that’s exactly what I wanted to talk about anyway!
I am a big believer in contingency
plans—travel being the perfect example. But really, I usually am operating with at least two or more
parallel plans in place no matter
what I’m doing. Children’s sermons
are a great example. I many times
have more than one object with me
with more than one object lesson
for whichever object I choose to use
depending on the number of children and the mood going on.
Now the crux of the matter is to
elevate this point in relation to Faith
Lutheran Church. Specifically, this is
in relation to the most prominent
plan B, as the Bishop entitled it last
Thursday, “Should we stay, or
should we go.” The Bishop pointed
out that all across the country, congregations are faced with a dilemma concerning buildings that were
built in another era: are they a
blessing, or are they a curse? Are
they a vibrant house for the ministries to the community, or are they
a financial albatross around the
necks of congregations? And thus
the question, should we stay or
should we go?
Here is a moment of clarity for
those who have been confused by
contingency solutions: plan A from
your leadership is to utilize, promote, facelift, and fill the building
housing Faith Lutheran Church with
all the ministry possibilities we can
come up with. Plan A is to stay right
where we are and flourish.
However, there is also the obvious
plan B which was clearly espoused
during the consolidation process by
all the parties involved and clearly
articulated in all the records of
Page 6
discussions, meetings, and decisions. Plan B, has been to sell
the old building of the former
Christ Lutheran, and start
something wholly new for Faith
Lutheran. However, that is the
contingency, and any discussions or efforts toward that end
are the process of exploration,
NOT decision.
You see, the problem with
thinking you have options but
not being prepared for anything
other than your primary course
is that you really don’t have
options! You have to make
preparations to have a viable
plan B. If my car would only
travel in one direction, then
even though I could theorize
east, west, and even north as
options, I would simply keep
going south.
I’m a little shocked that people
have moved to other congregations because they think we are
selling the building. No such
decision has been adopted by
the congregation. However, I
am equally shocked if there is
anyone at Faith who has not
taken stock of where we are
and at least hypothesized a scenario where these current resources could be liquidated to
move our ministry forward!
God has a pretty consistent
pattern of moving disciples
from plan A to Plan B. All those
disciples who hid in locked
rooms after Jesus’ crucifixion as
their plan A, who found their
plan B had them proclaiming
the Gospel in city centers. That
[Continue on Pg. 11]
Living Stewardship for MAY 2015:
Assisting Minister:
Page 7
May 3: David Dube; May 10: Sue Giuffrida; May 17: Robin Staufer;
May 24: David Winkel; May 31: Steve McDermott
Communion Assistant: May 3: Diana Huntington; May 10: Jay Huntington; May 17: Joal Lentz;
May 24: Kathy Raczka; May 31: Robin Stauffer
Acolytes: May 3: Allison Dube; May 10: Madison Dube; May 17: Troy Lentz;
May 24: TBD; May 31: Adryana Brooks
Ushers: May 3: Liz Helbig, Jay Huntington, Bill Stielau, Mike Vajda
May 10: Ray Anderson, Davide Winkel, Donna Winter, Mike Vajda
May 17: Bill Bacon, Donna & Bob Barney, Mike Vajda
May 24: Dan Clark, Mike Vajda
May 31: Heather Karpe, Lee Kozlowski, Cathy MacEachern, Mike Vajda
Thank you for volunteering.
Greeters: May 3: Marian Schultz; May 10: Pat Stielau; May 17: Donna Winter;
May 24: Margaret D’Aquila; May 31: TBD
Altar Guild May 3: Swansons; May 10: Jen Cope/Lee Kozlowski; May 17: Stielaus;
May 24: Diana & Lena Huntington; May 31: Liz Helbig/Lee Kozlowski
Opener/Closer: May 3: Bud Swanson/Kathy Hartline; May 10: Lee Kozlowski/Tom Kugeman;
May 17: Steve McDermott/Bill Stielau; May 24: Donna Barney/John Twining; May 31: Lee Kozlowski/TBD
Counter/Depositor: Kathy Hartline
Calumet Spring Cleaning Weekend
May 1st-3rd, 2015
This is a FREE weekend for anyone who goes to camp and volunteers their time helping
to get ready for the height of the season!! Yes free, this means the room and all the wonderful meals they serve are provided to you in exchange for your labors.
The camp needs many hands (young and not so young) to clear the cobwebs, give the windows a once
over, rake up some pine needles, give the beach a facelift -- there's lots to do, and it's a great way to meet
new friends, renew existing relationships, and share in the faith, fun, and fellowship that only Calumet can
provide.
There's a lot of preparation to be done before camp is ready for prime-time, so let’s go on up and give them
a hand! You will enjoy the fresh air of the great north woods and a good work out for a great cause!
Last year a small but mighty group from FLC snuck off to help out. We had an outstanding time working
with people from other churches around New England to help get our beautiful camp in shape for the summer.
We all know the kids love it there and now it is your turn to check it out! I have booked the Retreat Lodge
building for us to stay in. There is a limit on how many can attend I need to hear from you right away! To
sign up or ask questions, please contact Joal Lentz by email at [email protected] or cell at 860-2354940.
COUNCIL UPDATE
FOR APRIL 2015
We held a special meeting on
April 1, 2015 and approved the
expenditure of $3000 to complete the design and installation
of new exterior signs as recommended by the Communications
team and the Facilities team. The
work is underway and the signs
should be installed in the near
future.
The Camp Calumet clean up
weekend is coming up on May
2nd and 3rd. This is a great time
to meet other people from the
New England Synod as we gather
together to give the camp its preseason clean up. There is no cost
for lodging or food, and Joal has
reserved the infirmary as our
lodging for the weekend. If
you’re interested in being part of
the weekend contact Joel soon to
reserve your spot.
Any parents planning on sending
their children to Calumet should
also let Joal know so we can arrange for camperships for the
children.
We are still looking for one or
two people to direct the Memorial Day Parade project. We’ve got
numerous people willing to work
on the event but we need someone to spearhead the team.
We’ve talked about this at council, and there are several good
ideas floating around, so if anyone is interested in taking charge
of this see me or any other member of council.
One of the ideas that came out
of our council discussion is to
purchase Tee shirts for all the
people marching in the parade.
We have designed a shirt using
the church logo and have found
a vendor who will produce them
at $10.00 a shirt. If you plan on
marching in the parade or if you
just want a Faith Lutheran shirt –
or two or more – see Joal to order them. We need to do this
soon so we can have them in
time for Memorial Day.
Dave Blasco is running the
grounds clean up that will take
place on next Saturday, April
25th. We will start at 9:00 AM
with coffee and hopefully will
finish up before 1:00 PM with
pizza. We need to rake up the
leaves left over from last fall and
spruce up the shrubs and the
lawn. If anyone feels moved to
lend a hand for any part of next
Saturday morning see Dave to
sign up.
On Saturday, May 16, I will be
directing the washing and waxing of the fellowship hall floor.
Anyone interested in helping, or
who has an interest in learning
how to waltz with the floor
scrubbing machine, see me to
sign on.
Prayer is a major part of the congregation’s life and to bring this
to the forefront Pastor Zach is
going to be leading a prayer
group. His plan is to organize a
group of congregation members
who will each have a list of people that they will spend some
time each day praying for. There
will also be a group of people
who will pray for the prayer
team. The end result will be
that each person in the congregation will be prayed for
each day. If you are interested
in joining the prayer team see
Pastor Zach.
Last month during the council
updates I said “Recently we
have been approached by a
faith community that is interested in purchasing our property. As a first step toward exploring this possibility, we
have formed a team led by
Deanna Harrison and Larry
Stauffer to look into the sale of
the property, and they have
been authorized to spend up
to $2000 to obtain an appraisal
and market analysis of the
property.” The appraisal is in
the works and we should have
results back by the end of this
month.
There seems to be some confusion about what this means.
We are exploring several
different possibilities, one of
which is the sale of the property. The sale of the property is
not in the works nor is it a
done deal. There are several
other things that we are looking into, all of which are aimed
at growing the congregation.
We are only looking at positives, and not dwelling on negatives. If you have any questions or comments about anything that is going on please
speak to someone from council.

submitted by John Twining,
Council President
SUN
MON
3
4
9am Eucharist
10:30 am Sunday School,
Fellowship Hour
1:15—4pm United Pentecostals
7:30pm AA
TUES
5
9am Martha Unit/
Knitters
Calumet Clean Up continued and
Walk Against Hunger—Bushnell Park
10
SAT
7
1
2
6pm Welcome
Table Weds.
7pm Choir
7:30pm AA
__________
8pm NA
7:30– 9
United Pentecostals Bible
Study
8
7:30pm AA
12
13
7:30pm AA
9am Martha Unit/
Knitters
6pm Welcome
Table Weds.
6:30pm
Council
7:30– 9
United Pentecostals Bible
Study
19
20
21
9am Dominoes
6pm Welcome
Table Weds.
7 pm Choir
18
9am Eucharist
10:30am Sunday School, Fellowship Hour w/ Jake Kinney,
Thrivent Financial
FRI
6
11
1:15—4pm United Pentecostals
17
THURS
Calumet Spring
_Clean up W/E__
9
8pm NA
—————Pr. Zach at business meeting.—————
9am Eucharist
10:30 am Sunday School,
Fellowship Hour
WED
7:30pm AA
7pm Ruth Unit at
Luther Ridge
1:15—4pm United Pentecostals
14
15
16
7:30pm AA
Fellowship
Hall—Floor
Washing &
Waxing
7pm Choir
8pm NA
22
7:30pm AA
7:30– 9 United
Pentecostal
Bible Study
23
8pm NA
——————–———-——————-Pastor Zach on vacation.———————–————————
24 PENTECOST
25
26
27
6pm Welcome
Table Weds.
9am Eucharist
10:30am Sunday School,
Fellowship Hour
1:15-4pm United Pentecostals
7:30pm AA
Memorial Day
Office Closed
9am Martha Unit/
Knitters
7 pm Choir
7:30– 9
United
Pentecostal
Bible Study
31 YOUTH SUNDAY
9am Eucharist
10:30am Last day of Sunday
School, Fellowship Hour
1:15-7pm United Pentecostals
28
MAY 2015 at
Faith Lutheran
Church
29
7:30pm AA
30
8pm NA
Page 10
Church T-Shirt Order Form
We are going to have beautiful blue short sleeved T-shirts made up with our
new church logo.
Everyone is encouraged to buy one to wear for church activities.
We plan to have them in time for the May 25th Memorial Day parade so our
participants can wear them to show off support for our church.
If you are interested in purchasing one or more of these very reasonably
priced shirts, please
return the order form & payment
(checks payable to FLC and note shirt sale in the
memo) to Joal at or before the May 10th worship service. Your orders will be available for pick up on May 24th.
Please call Joal with any questions 860.235.4940
$10.00 Youth sizes S (6-8), M (10-12), L (14-16)
$10.00 Adult sizes
S, M, L, XL
$12.00 2XL, $14.00 3XL, $16.75 4XL, $19.50 5XL
Number ordered
Size
youth or adult
Price
Total $ enclosed________________
Name__________________________________
Phone#_________________________________
From the Pastor: Which Way: God Only Knows! [Cont. from pg. 6]
German scholar named Martin Luther who was quite certain his destiny was to be a lawyer as his plan A,
until a lighting bolt sent him scurrying to be a monk for his plan B. And
all of us, who saw our life’s path
leading us towards selfish and selfcentered goals as the world’s plan A
would have us go, who push that
aside to follow the servant path of
God’s plan B for us.
Our God is a God of possibilities
and potentialities who has used
contingencies from our perspective to make sure that God’s plan
A is taken care of: the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus for
the salvation of the world! And
God is constantly moving us closer to that goal with his God Positioning System, or GPS for short,
which is really what I should
have followed in the first place
both while driving and while
writing!
Living Under His Grace,
Pastor Zach
age
Faith brings strength and hope.
Faith Lutheran
Church
300 Washington Street
Middletown, CT 06457
Phone 860.347.6068
Email:
[email protected]
Pr. Zachariah Harris III
Cell phone: 860.269.4632
Email:
[email protected]
We need your help to spread the word about all
that Faith Lutheran Church has to offer!
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Follow us on facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Please like, comment on, AND share our posts on facebook.
Invite your friends to like our page on facebook.
Post comments and pictures to our facebook page.
Check in on facebook ANYTIME you are here!
Amanda K. Weber, Minister of Music
Karen Carta, Office Administrator
We’re on the web:
www.faithelcamiddletown.org
THANK YOU!
On Wednesday, April 22nd, Welcome Table Wednesday was taken over by a group
of students from the National Honor Society chapter of Vinal Regional Technical High
School. Under the direction of the kitchen
crew, they made salad, sauce and pasta,
buttered the bread and served the meal as
a community service project. All those
involved in Welcome Table wish to express
a heartfelt ‘THANK YOU’ to the students
for their efforts and hard work.
Giving Opportunities
Available...
Please remember to sign up for either altar flowers or the
sanctuary candle one Sunday. You may find the flower
chart in the Narthex and candle one in the office.