Cluster Reports

Cluster 1

Cluster 1 includes St Thomas in Anadarko; Peace in Bessie; Trinity in Clinton; Peace in Cyril; St. Paul’s in Darrouzett, TX; First in Hobart; Emmanuel in Lawton; and Grace in Weatherford. There are 3 Rostered Ministers on Word and Sacrament called to congregations in the cluster: Pr. Stanley Padgett serves St. Thomas-Anadarko and Peace-Cyril; Pr. Carol Weist serves St. Paul’s in Darrouzett; and Pr. Jerry Lamb serves Trinity-Clinton, Grace-Weatherford, and Peace-Bessie. A Synodically Authorized Ministry Team serves at Emmanuel in Lawton. First in Hobart is served by supply.

Pr. Jerry Lamb serves as Cluster Dean and Pat Garling as Cluster Coordinator. Pat in her role as cluster coordinator is part of the synod council.

Clusters 2 & 3

Clusters 2 & 3 include the following congregations: Lord of Life in Edmond, St. Paul’s in Oklahoma City, Trinity in Oklahoma City, Our Lord’s in Oklahoma City, and Resurrection in Yukon as well as University in Norman, Ascension in Del City, Our Savior in Chickasha, St John in Shawnee, St Mark in Midwest City, and Redeemer in Oklahoma City. There are 8 Rostered Ministered of Word and Sacrament serving congregations in the Clusters: Pr. Dawn Enderwood, Pr. Wally Swenson, Pr. Roger Bruns, Pr. Amanda Esping, Pr. Mark Borseth, Pr. Joe Summerville; Pr. Jim Hicks (Interim) and Pr. Brian Campbell.

Pr. Mark Borseth is the Clusters Dean and the Cluster Coordinator position is not filled at this time.

Cluster 4

CLUSTER 4AR-OK Synod Council Report

Prepared by Molly Kyler-Cluster Coordinator

Representing the following Faith Communities: Faith (Enid), Immanuel (Cushing), Our Savior (Bartlesville), Prince of Peace (Ponca City), Salem (Stillwater), and Zion (Perry)

Cluster Dean: Pastor Peter Olson

The Cluster has a Facebook page called “A-OK Cluster 4 (North Central Oklahoma).”FAITH/ZION

Pastor Peter Olson (ELCA) (and Pastor Dan Thimell) serves Faith and Zion. Sunday worship services are at 11:00 a.m. Pastor Peter leads a Wednesday evening confirmation class that youth from Prince of Peace in Ponca City also attend.

From Pastor Peter:Zion has been deeply involved in a new project that the Perry Ministerial Alliance has been putting together. For the past several months, lay persons of 9 different congregations have been meeting with the three officers of the PMA (including Pastor Peter) to form a much needed Food Pantry for the community. After months of planning and research, the new Perry Food Pantry has raised over $5,500 in starter funds and has been gifted a building to work from. Their first distribution to Perry residents was February 15th to 31 families. They plan to expand this ministry significantly over the coming months. This has been an exciting ministry for Zion to take part in as it embraces the importance of ecumenical relationships in the community.

The current phase of Zion’s building project is coming to a close. They plan on getting their stain glass windows re-installed before long and calling it “good” for the time being. There is still hope to revisit renovations of the sanctuary at a later date, but we are currently putting that project on hold until our current mortgage is paid down considerably.

Faith in Enid has finally closed the sale on their building to their next-door neighbors which is a Methodist Retirement Center! The congregation will continue to meet in its old building for at least the next 5 years. The sale has given the congregation the opportunity to continue doing ministry and actually looking at expanding significantly what they are doing in the community. We are very excited about the possibilities moving forward and are curious to see where the Spirit will lead us in these new ventures. The congregation has been particularly thankful for the support of Bishop Mike and Pastor Liz throughout this process. Many have mentioned how great it is to have a synod staff that is so encouraging.

IMMANUELLinda Ewen serves Immanuel as the TEEM Minister. Their Sunday worship services are at 9:00 a.m. OUR SAVIOROSLC has Sunday worship at 9:30 a.m. They post services at www.oursaviorbartlesville.org

PRINCE OF PEACERetired Navy Chaplain, Pastor Brad Telleen regularly serves as pulpit supply at Prince of Peace. Sunday worship is at 11:00 a.m.

In January, three youth were confirmed on Baptism of Our Lord Sunday. In February, the congregation welcomed a new member. Prince of Peace is preparing for their annual Fat Tuesday Pancake Dinner fundraiser. This year’s event is raising funds to support a community member who needs a liver transplant.

The congregation continues to meet for praise and worship on Tuesdays to over new songs to introduce to church. They also now have their Sunday sermons recorded on their web site (http://www.princeofpeacechurch.net).

SALEMThe congregation is served by Pastor Sally Houck. Their Sunday services are at 8:30 a.m. and 10:45 a.m.

Salem did a Reverse Advent Calendar in December, dedicating boxes of food supplies (items put in daily during Advent) on Epiphany and donating them to the local food bank.

The weekly Friday Bible Study has begun a series looking at ‘Speaking Truth to Power’ in the Bible. They began, of course,With Moses and Pharaoh!

A three week series of Temple Talks and Sunday school discussions on faith and racial justice was just completed, and sprang from the commitment of Salem’s Voting Members following last year’s Synod Assembly on Building Bridges.

CLUSTER 5 (Tulsa Metro area)Report for Synod Assembly 2019

Submitted by Lisa Ohlde Cluster Coordinator

Comunidad de Espiranza (no report provided)

FellowshipWe are keeping busy as usual here at Fellowship, and looking forward to Kara's return from her internship in May. We have our new Music Minister starting on April 29th and are excited to add her to our Worship team.  Our partnership with Comunidad de Esperanza has continued to grow and they are now conducting their worship service weekly concurrent with our 11:00 Sunday time. They are also starting a Sunday School class this week and we look forward to their continued growth and partnership.

FirstIn the past year we said hello and goodbye a number of times:

Hello to Vicar Kara Farrow who has spent the year with us on her internship year. What a gift to ministry she is! We will miss her fiercely!

Goodbye to our music director of 3 years, Kent Dennis, sending him off to follow his dream of finding fame & fortune on Broadway.

Hello to Catherine Conger as our new Music Director. What a gift she is to our music department!

Goodbye to Kathie Shiermeister, our our Organist of 33 years, multiple-time Interim Music Director, as she is finally able to enjoy retirement! We see her occasionally and are excited for her next adventures!

Goodbye to Christina Williams, our Office Administrator of 10 years, as she expands her horizons with the Girl Scouts of Eastern Oklahoma.

Hello to our new Interim Office Administrator, Cathy Otey. And (finally) goodbye to Vicar Kara, sending her with love and blessings and memories as she

continues her path to ordination.

First shares space with our Early Learning Center, House Church Tulsa, New Life Church, AA groups, and enjoys our relationship with all. We are looking forward to a great year!

Joy

After several years of large budget deficits, Joy's leadership projects a small surplus in 2019. Worship attendance is down slightly, but financial giving is up significantly. There's fresh energy around several new or renewed small groups, more frequent fellowship opportunities and our first full year hosting families for Family Promise of Tulsa County. We are currently discerning the future of children, youth and family ministry at Joy. We are also about to unveil new ways to communicate the essence of Joy to the communities around us.

Prince of Peace

Saint Andrew, Sand Springs

We at Saint Andrew have had a wonderful year of celebration and worship. We have rejoiced with the birth of twins and welcomed them into the family of God through Holy Baptism. We have reached out to the community in which we belong through the Meals on Wheels program, the back to school bash, a recognition meal for our local police, firemen, and EMT personnel. We have also helped to feed the needy at Thanksgiving through the ministerial alliance effort.

Our quilting group has continued to make a difference in people’s lives by making and giving out quilts.

We are looking forward to continuing our ministry in Sand Springs in the coming year. The youth group is in its beginning stages and is excited to grow in the coming year.

Servant’s TableServant’s Table continues to meet the 2nd & 4th Tuesdays of each month. As we celebrate three

years of ministry, we are a small but mighty group. We try to walk in service with others each month: cooking, eating and serving at a local community dinner; volunteering at the Food Bank; attending the Tulsa Pride Parade I’m Sorry Campaign; organizing cluster Beer and Hymns; organizing cluster Book Discussion “Toxic Charity”; AR-OK Synod LYO swim party; and more! We continue to work with the cluster congregations and our ecumenical partners, keeping our focus on what God is calling us to be and do in our community. Following the small church summit, we met with an Episcopal priest interested in the dinner church model which could lead to a partnership of some form.  We look forward to working together with other ELCA congregations and full-communion partner congregations in sharing God’s abundant love for others in the Tulsa area. www.servantstablechurch.com 

Cluster 6

Below are the happenings at the congregations of Cluster 6. Submitted by Vince Indelicato, Cluster Coordinator. Pr. Melissa Erhardt serves as Dean.

United—Bella Vista

United has kept very busy with activities over the past few months and has several activities planned for the upcoming months. Some of these are listed below.

Weekly Adult Christian Education led by Pastor Karen or Pastor Nelson Family Art Nights Valentine’s Day potluck on 2/17 Movie nights (next one 2/28) Weekly book study with Pastor Karen Psalm 19 Astronomy Club on the 3rd Sundays of the month Irish Stew sale on March 17th

Sponsoring a supply collection drive for Oaks Indian Mission Sponsoring a Free Little Pantry

Peace—Rogers

2018 was a year of transitions:

New office manager, financial administrator, praise team director and musicians, PeaceKids executive director, PeaceKids financial administrator.

Some of these transitions caused heartache in the congregation and some transitions brought joy and future thinking.

Items to note about Peace:

-Peace welcomed new members and has consistent visitors-Peace is working through deep conversations about God, culture, beliefs, visioning, planning for today and future-Peace is feeling the love of God and expressing the Love of God to their neighborhood and beyond-Peace is working at repairing items in their building through capital improvement funds-Peace is going to celebrate 50 years in 2020

Christ the King—BentonvilleChrist the King is still going strong in the absence of called leadership. Children’s ministry, while small, is growing, the choir is welcoming new members, and at the Congregational Meeting in January, there were actually volunteers to serve on the Church Council. Ongoing ministries include Feast of Grace meals on the fourth Wednesday of every month (with an eye to re-expanding this to more often), Food Pantry on Wednesdays, and work with Helping Hands in Bentonville.

The congregation council is also beginning the process of studying what and where we want to be as a congregation. The plan is to work this through council to get a framework for discussion and then begin to involve the congregation. Hopes are high that we will begin to look at interim ministry in the near future.

The Neighborhood—Bentonville

The Neighborhood is a happening place in Bentonville. Attendance is high, so high that a 3 rd service was recently added on Sunday mornings. Kids of all ages are being drawn to the energy of the programming of Kid City. And, the congregation is remaining very active in the community. Below are some of the recent activities at the Neighborhood.

Global Mission meetings have begun to discuss possible opportunities in Guatemala, Cambodia, and Uganda.

A Valentine’s Dinner with a masquerade ball theme that included a catered dinner and dancing. The CORE team travelled to Subiaco Abbey to participate in the Benedictine Monastic schedule

of prayers and work on a 5 year vision for the congregation. A strong Wednesday night youth group program (Warehouse 56, Warehouse 78, and

Warehouse 912) attended by over 40 youth weekly from The Neighborhood and Christ the King. Planning for an upcoming Church Building dedication service (tentatively scheduled for April 28,

more to come). Sponsoring a Little Free Pantry on their grounds. Continuing themed series of sermons focusing on the family and relationships. The most recent

was (insert word here) Ever After, a conversation on how marriage isn’t a fairy tale and focusing on the “ever” and “after”.

Good Shepherd—Fayetteville

Good Shepherd, a Reconciling in Christ congregation, is living out its mission in the greater Fayetteville area and looking to expand its staff by adding a full time Youth Director. This step was made because the congregation now has over 100 youth and young adults as members and the need to minister to them specifically was noted in several congregational surveys and discussions.

New members are joining regularly via the Catechumenate process. A Mardi Gras party will be held on March 2nd in the Alton Center. Lots of GSLC members have been appearing in HBO’s True Detective which was filmed in NW Arkansas. A Prayer Labyrinth will be set up on February 27 th in the evening courtesy of Jillian Guthrie from Eureka Springs and discussion will be held on creating a permanent labyrinth at GSLC as a summer “camp” project.

On February 22nd, the congregation is sponsoring Todd Green, a professor of religion who has written on how to challenge Islamaphobia. This is being done via a grant from the Islamic Center USA to Good Shepherd and Mr. Green will speak twice that day, once at the U of A and once at the Islamic Center of NW Arkansas.

St. Luke—Fort Smith

St. Luke’s has made some progress in our understanding of what we are willing to change or start new as St. Luke, to overcome our decline. Nothing.

Given our finally admitting this, we are starting a Mission Board on February 25 to seek understanding of IF and HOW God might be working in our midst to start a new church. I plan to help us go deep into prayer based on the book; “Unbinding the Gospel.” My goal is for us to asset map the 11 people who have a desire to be a part of this and send us out to seek understanding in prayer and quiet time how God might be calling us to engage around a specific interest, service, or part of our community.

Our Anybody Everybody service has been pulled back to a ministry. We felt the person in our congregation who was a part of the special needs community, would be the voice and face of Anybody Everybody, and that would be the relationship needed for people to gather for worship. While I personally spoke to a half a dozen people who told me they would come with their family member, only one family with their son came, some of the time. We realized David was not going to be the voice and face of AE (he just moved to Roanoke VA, to be with found family). Our feeling now is that people are going to have to be comfortable with me before they will come to service. So, I have been voted onto the board of The Arc for the River Valley and we are waiting to hear about a grant request to LGA for a projector so we can start a movie ministry there for the adults with special needs in Fort Smith. We are also working with the River Valley Special Needs Activity Center, which is focused on kids, to start a movie ministry.

Peace—Booneville

Here is the report from Ruth Cearley:

We are still busy within the congregation. We have our guest Pastor who has become our regular- Pastor Ethan Harbour- Then mid-March we will again have the opportunity to have Pastor Darrel and Barbara Johnson from Bentonville serving us occasionally. They are great, too. The most improved happening is Pastor Ethan also serving as our pianist.

Mission work continues, but slower as some of our members have got lots older and aren’t working as fast-including me. Got some Pillowcases dresses to mail, a box of quilts and Kotex for Africa. Still work for Days for Girls, too.

Attendance is still about the same. 20- 25, but on good days can be 28-30. Thank God for his continued support among us. We aren’t throwing in the Towel

Eben Ezer—Oaks, OK

The congregation is still going strong under the interim leadership of Pastor Dick. There have actually new members received in the congregation recently, a sign that the light at Eben Ezer is not going out just yet.

Recently, a sermon series on Luther’s Small Catechism was preached, focusing on Luther’s explanations of the essential parts of worship. At the end of the series, copies of the Small Catechism were given to all in attendance.

The annual meeting was recently held and was well attended. A new council member was elected to fill a vacancy on the board. The budget was reviewed and approved.

Eben Ezer and Oaks Indian Mission welcome all congregations who would like to partner with them in providing for the youth of the Mission through collections of supplies, money, or even coming for a work day.

Cluster 8CLUSTER 8 -- MID-ARKANSAS

February 2019Cluster 8, with Holidays and not having full time pastors in 5/8 of our churches the following are the only reports received for this quarter.

Peace Lutheran, Edgemont, Pastor Kara ShawSince August we made 60 birthday bags for local food pantries for “God’s Work Our Hands”, we repeated this project on January 6 for Jesus’s Birthday Party with the Wise Men. In September we donated to new washing machines to Oaks Indian Mission and in November we provided the youth at Oaks with 20 handmade quilts. We hosted a free piano concert for the community in October and a holiday concert in December.  Provided gifts to 35 children whose parents are currently imprisoned.  Hosted a Baby Shower for Mary which benefited The CALL, a group that supports foster families.  Our annual reporting pointed out that we are taking on water.  We will begin the process of assisting our situation to see if we need to go into dry dock for an overhaul or if we need to use the gifts of this ship to help commission a whole new boat.  

Prince of Peace, Hot Springs, Supply PastorsWe still are using supply pastors and lay persons. We are blessed to be a retirement area and have 5-6 retired Lutheran pastors in the area to fill the pulpit every other week, along with our seminarian student to fill the pulpit on the other weeks. We continue to support the Ouachita Children’s Center by collecting small toiletry items to share with the children who are only there overnight or until they find a clean, safe place for them to go. We keep trying new things to get the neighborhood community involved with church. We had a little different “Trunk or Treat” this year, there was a nasty rain storm on Halloween night so we moved our trunks in doors. Didn’t has as many as last year, but the neighborhood kids still showed up in abundance along with their parents. We continue our “School Bus Ministry” by passing out granola bars, every Friday afternoon, to the students on the 7-8 busses that drop children off in front of our church. We have some great conversations with these children. Our holiday services were again awesome. We haven’t skipped a beat by having only supply pastors. This month we are starting

conversation with the Hot Springs Village Lutheran churches about possibly becoming a parish congregation. It has been determined that we are in need of a shepherd. Pray for us as we travel this new journey.

Community of Joy, Hot Springs Village, Pastor Mary Beth KovanenCommunity of Joy celebrated 2018 Mission Giving totaling $33,367, which included Arkansas-Oklahoma Synod Mission Support, Living God’s Abundance, AR-OK Women of the ELCA (Human Trafficking), Oaks Indian Mission, ELCA World Hunger, aswell as 17 local and 1 global non-profit which provides food, programming for children, medical care, foster family support, housing, support for the homeless, bereavement care, addiction and recovery services, assistance with visual impairment, and ministries in Tanzania. Our Annual Rummage and Bake Sale (held in October) is a local favorite, where folks enjoy hunting for bargains. This event raises several thousand dollars which we give away to local ministries (listed above). At our annual Meeting in November we ratified our updated Constitution and Bylaws and have implemented a change in our Congregation Council and Committee structure. We look forward to making our Long Range Mission Plan (developed in 2018) a reality over the next 5 years.

Emanuel Luth., Stuttgart, Licensed Minister Glenn Larson – no report

Hope Lutheran Church, Heber Springs, Supply Pastors, Mark Frantz Council President – No report

Christ Lutheran, Hot Springs Village, Pastor Kurt KovanenSeptember – Conducted the annual Stewardship program with the theme: “Stop! Look and Listen! We had an actual stop sign in the narthex, and also placed “street signs” throughout the church building.October – Offered a “Pet Blessing”. Tool photos for a new congregational photo directory. The Fellowship team hosted a bus group to Branson, MO for the “Samson” theater show.November – Hosted a Thanksgiving Day worship service followed by a meal for approximately 70 people.December—Hosted 3 Advent Wednesday services.  About 60 members attended a “Christmas Party” at the church, hosted by Fellowship Team.

Faith Lutheran, Little Rock, Pastor Josh & Deacon Shannon JohnsonFaith Lutheran spent much of 2018 in discernment and review. Many ministries that were birthed in 2017 grew, evolved, and changed shape in 2018, including Servanthood Sundays (a worship and service project experience); Craft Corner (from a journaling spiritual practice to a crafting spiritual practice with fellowship and a Christmas Market that raised over $2000 Via de Cristo and The Van); and our stewardship team created "adopt a flower bed" to promote stewardship opportunities that our gardeners love! 

At our annual meeting in January, the congregation voted to remove our bylaws that were adopted in 2001. The bylaws no longer fit the call of the congregation and were creating barriers for more effectively doing the ministry God calls us to. Our leadership structure has also changed from a council of 12 people with designated ministry areas to a lead team of 8 people made up of an executive committee and members at large that will lead ministry based on initiatives of the congregation. The lead team will also carry out its mission around the core values of being relational, visionary, and growing leaders. As growing leaders, we will discover and explore each individual's gifts and passions. We are very excited for these transitions and the new ways God is calling us to be church! 

Shepherd of the Hills (SOTH) Lutheran, North Little RockSupply Pastor Laird DuranI'm serving as supply to SOTH, working on a week to week basis for the last two months. Deacon Bonnie Wells has been there a few years, and has served them faithfully. I will say that the congregation has grown quite small. For several months, had their property and building for sale. The hope was that this would enable them to call a pastor to redevelop the ministry in North Little Rock. However, when offers were made the congregation rejected them. At their annual meeting, the congregation voted to sell only the half the property, and keep the building for the foreseeable future. They will utilize supply pastors three times a month, and I plan to continue to serve them as I am able.