May 2015
Faith Focus
Sunday Mornings
9:30 a.m. worship
Faith Lutheran Church
Duluth Minnesota
Pastor Carolyn Mowchan
phone: 715-296-3937
GOD’S GARDEN: THE PRUNING AND PLANTING OF THE HOLY
SPIRIT
I have words all over my desk this morning while I’m writing this. And I’m
reminded that words, and especially The Word (of God) can build us up, spin
us around, and also pull weeds in our souls. If I could I would put a copy of
this month’s Lutheran Magazine in all your mailboxes. Words that seem to
speak right to my heart, and I think would also to yours, jumped out at me as I
read it. It sent me to “The Word” to remind me of God’s promises and God’s
challenges in the Book of Acts.
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 218-525-2779
www.lakesidefaith.org
Check out our website:
www.lakesidefaith.org
AND
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LakesideFaith
Here’s a bit of what’s on my heart, and my desk, this month.
From an Article called “The Holy Spirit” by Lois Malcolm: “through the
Spirit we are freed from being hooked by sinful, unjust, and dysfunctional patterns within and around us.” “Because the spirit is infinitely creative, we each
become more fully ourselves even as we enter more fully into relationship with
one another. Thus we need not compete or be envious.” “We have been called
and given power to enter into our full maturity in Christ-not just for our sakes
or that of our dwindling congregations and institutions, but for the sake of a
suffering and groaning world. (Romans 8:22)”
From: A Maturing Faith by Emilyn A. Ott “Considerations on money
and Other Matters”
“There are layers under anything where money is involved. Money is the flash
point.” “The issue is never the issue”. In the overwhelming majority of people
“Money and stewardship unleash the power of the automatic, the reactionary,
gut responses of survival; “flight or fight” type responses.
The automatic reactivities that emerge in congregational life when people are
afraid and reactive take these forms: “secrecy about the budget and use of
money; denial about financial realities; over or underestimating giving capacities; regular crises, real or imagined, around finances; embezzlement or mismanagement; resisting necessary expenses like deferred maintenance; reactivity during fundraising; never talking about money, always talking about
money; blind trust in the leadership around money, supreme suspicion of lead(Continued on page 2)
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Choir Practices
Sundays at 8:30 am
If you like to sing,
lift your voice in
praise
to the Lord,
join Faith’s
choir!
(Continued from page 1)
ership around money matters.” Ott says “We see these forms in
every facet of the church today.”
“MATURING” Developing a maturing faith involves the capacity
to be aware of one’s sensitivities to the people and circumstances
that surround us and to call forth our best selves when those sensitivities are challenged. A maturing faith involves the ability to
balance the emotional and intellectual components of our lives.
A maturing faith involves awareness of the impact of others on us,
but also awareness of the impact that we have on others.” (Maturity around money means being able to talk about it
without fear or gut level responses. Faith maturity about finances
means giving even if you’re a bit afraid to…that’s called
“trust”…..my comments.)
“Where our fears erupt is where a more mature family and a more
mature church can emerge”. It shows us where we need to grow as
people of God.
Finally from an article: The Cost of Fear by Honeycutt based on
Matthew 25:25
“Fear always gives birth to darkness”.
My thoughts this May: The Holy Spirit was poured out to the
first disciples, and is poured out today for the purpose of growing
the church. But the Spirit not only plants God’s wisdom it also
challenges and prunes our dysfunctions. It loves to be allowed to
pull the weeds of fear, selfishness, pride, control, and immaturity
out of the Garden God is trying to grow in each of our souls, and
in all congregations. One of my dysfunctions is forgetting that I
am strongest when I am on my knees asking God to provide the
harvest. It’s all too easy to try and lead the charge asking God to
hurry up and bless my efforts. I would challenge all of us in this
season of planting and soaking up spring to also be still and soak
up the Word and the whispers of the Spirit. What is God attempting to prune in your life? What is God attempting to plant?
No one reaches an age when we retire from using our Spirit given
gifts. To do so is risking retirement from the hope and joy of
God’s blessing. If you can be faithful about nothing else, be faithful in prayer and worship and see the fruit of that grow in your
hearts.
For God’s Harvest,
Pastor Carolyn
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Garden Re-opening May 30th: Ya’ll
Come!! 9-12 a.m. Saturday
Meet and Greet : The
garden is a fun and natural way for us to meet
some of our Lakeside
neighbors. We are here to figure out
how to build relationships with the
people around us. What better way
than sitting on a park bench in the garden and chatting with folks that come
to plant? It’s natural. If it’s genuine
interest in them for the right reasons it
will show. (The right reason is not
money and members.
The right reason is to demonstrate sincere interest in others like Jesus did).
Just offering the garden without human contact does very little to introduce ourselves or our faith to the people who use our space. Come on out
and meet and greet!
Shy about talking to strangers? Here
are some tips: Ask questions and talk
little. Jesus most often started conversations with questions! The classic:
“How to Win Friends and Influence
People” book has at its heart this idea:
people love to talk about themselves.
It’s their favorite topic. (-: The Starbucks rule: Make eye contact! (Ask
me about that later!)
Activities: We are looking for people
to do some garden workshops. We
have a couple lined up and are looking
for more.
Plant Sales: We have Gert (Maly’s
Greenhouse) and Anderson’s Greenhouse coming to sell plants. How easy
is this: buy a plant…walk it over and
put it in the ground!
Upcoming Ministry Schedule
May 3
Deacon
Musician
Reader
Ushers
Lois Rowe
Marya Farrell
Steve Geving
Servant of God
May 10
Deacon
Musician
Reader
Ushers
Betty Wolterstorff
Marya Farrell
Joann Rouse
Servant of God
May 18
Deacon
Musician
Reader
Ushers
Betty Wolterstorff
Marya Farrell
Bob Asleson
Servant of God
May 24
Deacon
Musician
Reader
Ushers
Betty Wolterstorff
Marya Farrell
Nancy Marschke
Servant of God
May 31
Deacon
Musician
Reader
Ushers
Betty Wolterstorff
Marya Farrell
Betty Wolterstorff
Servant of God
CHUM Food Shelf Volunteers
Lakeside Chum
Food Shelf Volunteers
May 4-Steve Geving, Florence Rawn,
Danni Smith, and Avis Jackson.
May 11 Judy Scott, Sue Baker, Carol &
Darrell O’Day
May 18- Diana Meehan, Dani Smith, Carol
Surine Linda Sussens
May 25- Memorial Day Betty Wolterstorff,
Delores Cahoon, Larry and Kay Hermans
TNT
(Tuesday Nights Together)
Bible Education for all
ages!
Come join the fun and
increase your
Bible Literacy
Supper at 5:30 pm.
Sign Up in the Narthex or
use a bulletin insert.
There is no cost for TNT so Bring your friends and share in
learning as we explore Acts with the NBC miniseries A.D.
GARAGE SALE is coming: July
10th & llth
Start saving your stuff….or should I say,
prepare to release some stuff and stop
hanging on to those things you know you’ll never use again!
Remark your Calendar…..The Floating Date is landing on Friday
July 10th and Saturday July llth. Workers and stuff needed! We
have Lakeside neighbors joining in to make an area Garage sale
event possible. We will NOT be marking prices but asking for free
will donations. You can reclaim what doesn’t sell or Steve G. will
haul it away for us. Weather permitting we hope to have some of it
outside.
You may bring donations to church beginning June 1st. We will
start in the basement and see what happens. If you have a table full,
set up your own table and plan to work it if you can! We’ll be asking for set up help to move outside for Saturday. Talk to Emily
Ramsey or the Church Office if you can help.
Help get the Word out!
“Like” us on Facebook and
share our posts to your wall
to invite your friends to Faith
events. An easy way to share
YOUR Faith!
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God’s Blessings This Past Month:
(Have you seen God doing something recently? Share it with
us to encourage others!)
Musicians are necessary treasures in every congregation. We
are blessed to welcome Marya Farrell to our community beginning the first week in May. Marya is a Lakeside resident
with experience playing in worship in several other places.
Please welcome her to our congregation! Look forward to
some other new faces over the summer blessing us with their
gifts.
The Garden is Growing! Thanks to a second grant from the
ELCA and the hard work of Faith members we have been able to expand the garden plots this spring. Please
put May 30th, Saturday morning on your calendar as a time to come and hang out and welcome the neighborhood gardeners for the season. See more information under: Garden Party.
TNT and the AD series ….It is a blessing that people involved in TNT would like to keep meeting over the
summer. I’m not sure we can pull that off yet….but what a gift that they find it worthwhile enough that they
aren’t ready to take a summer break! What a gift the people who have cooked week after week all year have
given to the people who come on Tuesday nights!!! If you are willing to come during the month of June on
Tuesdays to babysit or play with about 4-5 children of mixed ages, that would allow us to continue until the
end of the A.D. series. Talk to Pastor Carolyn
Bingo Bucks.. Our four Bingo evenings are now finished and with your help we will be able to give CHUM a
sizable gift, and contribute to our much needed financial resources a little less than $1,000. We hope you both
had fun and enjoyed seeing so many neighbors come out to play with us. Thanks to all who helped, contributed, cooked and showed up! Left over Bingo prizes will be donated to the garage sale.
Baptism: It’s always a gift to bring new people, young or old, into God’s family. This month we welcomed
Ruby ….daughter of Betsy and Erik Hill. These little ones tripping around and on our toes are a real sign of
hope and joy in our congregation. Welcome to Ruby!
The Furnace is In!! Finally our new furnace is in and we will really feel a decrease in heat bills when the
weather turns cold again. Thanks for the behind the scenes help and on going assistance to remove the old
boiler that will be happening soon.
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Get Recharged for Serving!
Mark Lindquist a nationally recognized motivational speaker will be at Pilgrim Lutheran Church
in Superior on May 19, at 7:30 am- 9 am.
Mark Lindquist's keynote, titled "Service! My
Way of Life" is helpful for the organization that
is experiencing employee burnout/volunteer fatigue or the company that has a stressed out workforce. It's equally perfect for those looking to recharge and connect with others who want to make
a difference.
Free will offering will help defray Pilgrim’s mission trip to Tanzania.
Arise, Women of the North;
Be all God has called you to Be!
Looking for more
Gardening Education?
The Duluth Community Garden
Program is offering Monthly meetings on the third Thursday of the month from AprilOctober from 6:30-8:00 pm
Topics coming up are
May - Garden Goals for the season.
June- Bed Prep and planting
July: Harvesting and using the Harvest
August: Preserving the harvest.
September: Season Extension
October: End of the Season evaluation.
The meetings will all be held at one of the community
Gardens. For actual location information or to sign up
call 218-260-0462
He will also send you rain for the seed you sow in the
ground, and the food that comes from the land will be
rich and plentiful.
Isaiah 30:23
May 15-16
Duluth Gospel Tabernacle
1515 W Superior St.
Cost: $30 includes catered lunch on Saturday.
Registration Deadline May 7.
Prayers
Intercessory Prayer is Mondays from 1:00pm-1:30 pm.
Please join us in praying for the ministries at Faith.
Please offer the following prayers.
Speakers : Denise Siemans, founder of the Arise!
Women ministry that encourages women to walk
in the destin and call of God on their Lives.
Alisha Siemens has a passion to see others transformed from pain and bondage to health and
power.
Prayers of healing: Sara Mowchan, JoAnn Archambeault
Prayers of Comfort to Ruth Wittmers whose
husband Larry passed away April 25
Prayers of comfort to those homebound or in
nursing care:
Harriet Schwenk, Doris Brummer, Gail (Bud)
Freeman, George Keppers, Emma Laine, Jeanne
Nyquist, Mary Jane (Toody) Schmidt.
It is the Lord your God
you must follow, and
him you must revere.
Keep his commands and
obey him; serve him and
hold fast to him.
Prayers of protection to those who work in Law enforcement and Fire fighting and those serving in our armed
forces.
Prayers of protection for missionaries and our companion synods.
Prayers of strength to our church council, Pastor Carolyn, Bishop Tom Aitken, and ELCA presiding Bishop
Elizabeth Eaton
Deuteronomy 13:4
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Choir Practice 8:30 CHUM 11am-1pm
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Worship 9:30 am Prayer 1:00 pm
Choir Practice 8:30 CHUM 11am-1pm
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Worship 9:30 am Prayer 1:00 pm
Choir Practice 8:30 CHUM 11am-1pm
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Worship 9:30 am Prayer 1:00 pm
TNT 5:30 pm
TNT 5:30 pm
TNT 5:30 pm
Brownie Troop
2:15-4:00 pm Fellowship hall
Girl Scout Troop
3:30-5:30
Fellowship hall
WOW 6:30 TH
Citizens' Patrol
6:30 CH
Council Meeting
6:30 pm TH
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Choir Practice 8:30 CHUM 11am-1pm
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Worship 9:30 am Prayer 1:00 pm
TNT 5:30 pm
Girl Scout Troop
3:30-5:30
Fellowship hall
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Choir Practice 8:30
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Worship 9:30 am
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Garden Party 9:00
am-noon