1. religion and spirituality
2. christianity

MESSENGER
VOLUME 12
ISSUE 7
From the Pastor
CONTENTS
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
From the Pastor
Vicar Dale
Lunch Ministry
Summer Choir
Youth News
- “See the Face of God”
- C.H.A.O.S.
Summer Choir
Church Picnic and
Worship in the Park
Hands of Faith
Scholarship Applications
Pastoral Acts
W/ELCA News
Calendar
Saturday Evening
5:00 pm
Sunday Morning
8:30 am
and 10:15 am
Church
Staff
Pastor Jennifer Jelinek
Pastor Erik Jelinek
DeAnne Gile
Kelly Erdmann
Paulette Christensen
Cheryl Licary
Richard Larson
John Smith
Amy Smith
Matt Sugden
As you probably remember, almost a year
ago, we changed our worship schedule from
3 Sunday services to 2 Sunday services. We
changed for several reasons – to be good
stewards of our space and the time of our
worship leaders (considering attendance of
the services), as well as the desire to build
community in worship. Since then, so many
of us have appreciated worshipping in a
service with more people, getting to know
new people, and having a longer fellowship
time between services. Of course, change can
be also difficult, which is why we invited
worshippers to fill out a survey in the last
month. We appreciate your input a great deal.
We so appreciated hearing what’s meaningful
to you in worship and your constructive
criticism and ideas.
Of course, one of the challenges of the new
schedule was choosing worship times that
would accommodate the needs of people who
were used to an early, middle, or late service,
not to mention deciding on worship styles.
We knew we weren’t going to make
everybody happy, but we did our best to
settle on an early service time and a later
service time while also considering the needs
of our Sunday School. Sadly, we’ve lost a
few worshippers for whom 8:30 isn’t early
enough, as well as some who cannot be here
by 10:15 a.m. It was noted that for those who
had attended 9:30, the new services seem
small. But for those who had attended 8:00
and 11:00 services, worship attendance is
significantly
larger. Rather
than having 3
very
small
services with 1
large one, we
now have 3
different
services with
more
even
attendance.
JULY, 2015
The new worship schedule has required
creativity, compromise, and understanding,
and it’s given us lots of new opportunities to
serve God and to praise God together. In
Christian community, we are called to not
only think of ourselves, but to consider the
needs of others, which has been our goal in
the last year. Our mission together continues
to be, “To reflect God’s love through service
to the family of God.” There are so many
opportunities for us to reflect God’s love in
our words and our actions, and we’re excited
to see where God is leading us together, in
our worship and in the rest of our shared
Christian life.
In Christ,
Pastor Jennifer
Greetings,
I appreciate this opportunity
to
introduce
myself.
My name is Dale
Vlastnik and I’ve been happily married to my
wife, Kelly, for 29 years. Kelly is a civil
engineer with the Illinois Department of
Transportation. We have two wonderful
sons, Alex and Kurt, who are 24 and 22 years
old. We are members of St. John’s ELCA in
our hometown of Peru, Illinois.
Presently, I am a Masters of Divinity student
at Wartburg Theological seminary in
Dubuque, Iowa. I am in the “Distributed
Learning Program” which is equally divided
between on-campus and online classes. This
has allowed me to pursue my education while
still working to support my family. My
brother and I are partners in our family
owned and operated retail menswear store
that our grandfather started in 1925. For the
last three years I have also been serving as
the chaplain of the Mendota Lutheran Home
and preaching there on Sunday mornings.
I am really looking forward to getting to meet
each and every one of you. I am excited to be
your next intern and to serve your
congregation.
Blessings and peace,
Vicar Dale
Messenger
July, 2015
A Time to Speak, A Time to Listen
In June, we had our first conversation about
how we can better minister to our gay and
lesbian brothers and sisters in Christ. Many
people have asked, “What does the Bible
really say about homosexuality? What does
the ELCA believe? What does all this mean?”
These questions will be the focus of an adult
study on Wednesday July 22 at 6:30 p.m. in the
Chapel. All are welcome to bring a Bible and
join us for this study.
Thank You
A big thank you to Justin Stanton, who has been
our drummer at our late service for the past 3 ½
years.
Justin
graduated
from
Beloit
Memorial
High School this
year and will be
attending
UWLaCrosse this fall.
We thank Justin for
all
that
he’s
contributed to our
worship and wish him God’s blessings at college.
Page 2
Coming Soon
to a Worship Service
Near You
Join us this month for two
interesting preaching series.
July 5-19 we will be exploring some of the
Wisdom Literature of the Bible – excerpts
from Proverbs and Ecclesiastes.
the
rest
of
the
summer,
Then for
we’re
doing
something very special. From July 25September 6, we’ll be highlighting 7 of
OSLC’s ministry teams, learning about how
their missions are derived right out of
Scripture, and hearing about the incredibly
important ministries they do.
Join us for
our “Mission and Ministry” series, starting
July 25-26, hearing about the ministries of
the Women of the ELCA and Lutheran
World Relief.
Hands of Faith Sunday
Corn Boil
Mark your calendar for the
Hands of Faith Annual
Fundraiser being held
Sunday afternoon, August 2nd from 12:00
noon to 4:00 pm on the grounds of “The
Rock” restaurant (101 Maple Avenue, Beloit).
Enjoy good food, entertainment, silent
auction, pontoon rides, and more.
“Hands of Faith Sunday”
will be fun for the whole family, and will
benefit our community’s homeless families!
Messenger
July, 2015
Page 3
Become a Worship Leader! Lunch Ministry
Have you ever thought about helping to serve
communion, prepare communion, read lessons,
or being an assisting minister? We’d love to
teach you how! Right now, we’re in need of
worship leaders in all these areas. If you think
you’d like to try something new, please talk with
one of the pastors or contact Kelly Erdmann in
the church office.
Youth Gathering Sending
Five of our high school youth will be traveling to
Detroit this month for the ELCA National Youth
Gathering. We will send them off with our prayers
at the 10:15 service on Sunday, July 12. The
Youth Gathering is July 15-19. Please pray for all
those attending – Sarah Erdmann, Stephanie
Erdmann, Mackenzie Frisbee,
Montana McMahon, Alyssa Rand,
and chaperones Gina Rand and
Amy Smith. Our Detroit group
will share their Youth Gathering
experience with us on Rally
Sunday, September 12-13.
Summer Choir
Do you like to sing but maybe can’t commit to
weeknight practices? Then join Summer Choir!
Summer Choir just rehearses immediately
before worship. This month Summer Choir will
sing on July 26th at the 8:30 service. All are
welcome to come sing. Join us in the Youth
Room at 8:00 to rehearse.
Breakfast Bible Study
All are welcome to join us at
the Beloit Family Restaurant
on Prairie at 6:45 am every
Wednesday as we study the
Bible passage for the
coming weekend.
Lunch Ministry is returning in August! Throughout
the school year, Our Savior’s serves a free lunch
on Fridays. This year, we’re starting to serve in
August. During the year, we have 4 lunch ministry
teams, but if you can’t commit to a team for the
whole year, why not give it a try for a week in
August? This is a great opportunity for teachers
and students and anyone else who wants to try this
important ministry experience. Team leaders are
already in place, so if you’d
like to help, please sign up
in the Commons for a date
that
works
for
you.
Questions? Contact Kelly
Erdmann – 362-0716 or
[email protected] or
talk with one of the pastors.
Scholarship Applications
Members of Our Savior’s who will be full-time
college students in the 2015-2016 school year are
now invited to submit their scholarship
applications. Scholarship applications are available
on the church website - www.oursaviorsbeloit.org
under “Contact Us.” Applications are due by July
15.
Vicar Dale is coming!
This month, we’re delighted to welcome a new
seminary intern here at Our Savior’s. Vicar
Dale Vlastnik will be joining our staff on July 15
to start his year of internship. Join us for
worship on July 18-19 as we officially welcome
him.
Since Vicar Dale won't be moving all his
belongings to Beloit, we're looking for a few
items to help make him more comfortable in
the intern house. If you have any of these
items you're willing to donate, please bring
them to church and put them in a shopping
cart in the Commons:
 Plates
 Colander
 Bowls
 Tea kettle
 Silverware
 Storage containers
 Knives
 Cooking utensils  Pots
spoons, spatula, ladle,
 Pans
tongs, etc.
 Mixing bowls
Messenger
July, 2015
From Your Youth Director
Summer is flying! Don't miss…
Family Events:
Strollin’ with Faith: New parents or stay-at-home
parents with little ones, you are invited to meet
at Harry Moore Pavilion on the 2nd and 4th
Mondays of July and August for parent time
while we push those little ones in the strollers
along the river.
Join us July 13th & 27th,
August 10th & 24th at 10:00 am.
Youth Group 7th-12th Graders
New name: C.H.A.O.S. Christ.Has.All.Our.Solutions
C.H.A.O.S will kick off the week after The
Detroit Youth Group Trip returns home. July
22nd, July 29th, August 5th, August 10th-13th
(VBS), and August 19th, We will have fun and
services activities in the morning or
afternoon.
Watch for emails, mail, and
announcements to find out what CHAOS we will
be causing. To make sure you are in the loop,
email Amy to get in on the email updates at
[email protected].
Detroit:
We leave on Wednesday morning
about 8:45-9:00 am from church to embark on our
ELCA gathering journey to Detroit! The 5 girls
are looking forward to this experience and
sharing it with you by doing a presentation
September 12th and 13th with Rally Sunday.
Final Call for Raffle Tickets:
Page 4
“WE”
VBS!
VBS - Vacation Bible School
“See the Face of God”
Monday through Thursday, August 10th-13th
from 5:15 pm to 7:30 pm: Each day, we will
focus on how we see the face of God in
ourselves, our families, our church, and our
community. Come see the face of God with
your whole family at OSLC VBS! Registration
forms are ready and it is just $20 per family for
VBS, in which the whole family is invited and
encouraged to come ... babies, children, teens,
young adults, parents, grandparents, cousin,
uncles, aunts ... bring the WHOLE
GANG! VBS will be intergenerational, so we
need all generations represented to make this
work! There will be something for everyone.
Registration forms are available on Amy's office
door or on the bulletin board in the
Commons. Please contact Amy with any
questions. If you know you and your family will
attend, please let us know sooner than later so
we can plan and purchase supplies accordingly.
Church Picnic and Worship in the Park
You will be able to buy your final chance at
tickets July 5th & 12th. The quilt will be given
away the weekend of August 1st & 2nd!
“Second Sunday”
Loose Offering
for July
Mark your calendars! Our Savior’s annual
Church Picnic will be on Sunday, August 16 at
Leeson Park. The picnic will start around 11:15
a.m. Please join us for the 10:15 service in the
park that day as well.
Messenger
July, 2015
Page 5
God’s Work, Our Hands Sunday
Lutheran World Relief
Congregational Prayers
July is the month that we, at Our Savior's, highlight the
School Kit for Lutheran World Relief. The required
bags for the kits have been purchased from OSLC
Mission Funds. Now we need to fill them. Each school
kit requires four 70-sheet 8 x10 1/2" notebooks (wide or
college ruled); one 30 centimeter ruler (or a ruler with
centimeters on one side and inches on the other); one
pencil sharpener; one blunt scissors (safety scissors with
embedded steel blades work well); five unsharpened #2
pencils with erasers; five ball point pens (no gel pens);
one box of 16 or 24 crayons; one eraser approximately
1/2" long. The "Back to School" sales will be starting
soon, which is a good time to purchase these
items. Collection tubs and lists for all of the LWR kit
supplies are located on/near the W/ELCA bulletin board
in the Commons.
It’s back! Last fall, over 60 members of Our Savior’s
participated in our first “God’s Work, Our Hands
Sunday,” (GWOH) a day of service to our community.
GWOH will be back this fall, on Sunday, September
20. We will be doing a variety of service projects
around the community, serving God and our
neighbors. Part of the fun of this day is wearing the
crazy-bright gold t-shirts that say, “God’s Work, Our
Hands.” The t-shirts continue to be a powerful
witness each time we wear them. If you’re interested
in participating in GWOH Sunday, please sign up in
the Commons or call the Church Office. Please
indicate if you need a t-shirt. They will have to be
ordered by mid-August.
Throughout the month and during
worship, we are privileged to pray
for members of the congregation.
We take this opportunity to lift up
to God the people to whom we
have been called to serve.
OSLC’s Shut Ins:
July, 2015 Prayer List
This month we are praying for:
 Carol and Donald Hundley
 Dean and Jaclyn, Hannah, Hailey, Carson




Jacobson
Natasha and Randy, Carston, Natalie Jacobson
Pastor Erik, Pastor Jennifer, Sierra, Scarlett Jelinek
Dorothy Jentoft
Bea Johnson
The Caring Ministry is in need of volunteers to make
monthly communion visits to our “Shut In” members.
“Shut In” members are unable to attend church
services due to their health or mobility limitations.
Offering communion visits to their homes allows
these members to continue to stay connected to our
church family.
Visits can be made at your
convenience anytime during the month. Please give
prayerful consideration to assist with this ministry
opportunity! To volunteer or for more information,
call the church office and speak with Kelly.
Pastoral Acts
June, 2015
Please hold these members up in prayer
Funeral
Lyman “Jack” Carter - June 12, 2015
Our Savior’s Lutheran Church ELCA
749 Bluff Street
Beloit WI 53511
[email protected]
(608) 362-0716
WWW.OURSAVIORSBELOIT.ORG