St. Stephen the Martyr Lutheran Church...

St. Stephen the Martyr Lutheran Church ELCA

6101 So.. 51st Street. Greendale, WI 53129; 414-421-3543; www.ssmelca.org

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2018

August 12 — Special Community Outdoor Service DIFFERENT Time and Place

9:00 a.m. near the Hose Tower in the Village of Greendale (5699 Parking St.)

(no service at SSM on 8/12, but the Saturday, 8/11 worship will be held as usual)

IN THIS ISSUE…

PASTOR’S PAGE 2

STEWARDSHIP 3

MUSIC & WORSHIP 4

WOMEN OF THE ELCA 5

CHRISTIAN EDUCATION 6

HUMAN CONCERNS 7

AUGUST CALENDAR 8

LAY MINISTER PARTICIPATION SCHEDULE 10

MEMORIAL COMMITTEE REPORT 11

YOUTH & FAMILY 11

PRAYER GARDEN NEWS 12

NEWS & NOTES 12

SSM COUNCIL MEETING HIGHLIGHTS 14

Worship:

Saturday at 5:00 pm Sunday at 9:30 am

Church Office Hours:

Mon. - Thurs. from 8:30 - 2:00pm

Fri. from 8:30 - 12pm

PASTOR’S PAGE

Dear Faith Family,

One of the dangers of being a pastor is that I know the words so well that I sometimes stop listening to them. Let me explain…I love liturgy, I love the way we gather for worship. The knowledge that the words we speak each weekend echo early ideas of how Christians should come together, and worship is important to me. The rhythm and the order of our worship are both a strength and comfort.

But sometimes, because I know the words so well, my mind wanders. I think about the sermon during our gathering hymn, I think about hospitality time during the Offertory, and I think about who is here, and where you are sitting during the Gospel Acclamation. And sometimes I don’t hear the words as well as I should.

This past weekend was different as I thought about what is happening now in the world. And as I thought about what is happening now, I listened. I heard again the words we pray and sing together.

The word I kept hearing was “Peace.” We sang, “All glory be to God on high, and peace to earth be given.” We prayed for “the peace which the world cannot give…” We shared peace, “The peace of the Lord be with you always”, “And also with you.” We share the peace well at SSM. Those are the words on the page, spoken each weekend. As we shared these words I thought about what that peace means to me.

While this past week we did not sing the ancient communion hymn, “Lamb of God,” I think about how it ends with a request spoken three times: Grant us peace, grant us peace, grant us peace. Three times we say it, not because we do not trust God to hear, but because we need to hear ourselves say it, to shape the words of the prayer and drive it home among us.

Often our sending blessing ends with the words, “May God look on us with favor and give us peace.” And as these words are spoken the sign of the cross is made. It is a reminder of our baptism, and a sign that as Christians we follow the one who died so that we may live. And finally, there is the Dismissal, the last word, “Go in Peace. The Spirit Sends us forth to serve.”

To pray for the peace of God is not weakness, or foolishness, or blindness to the evil that is at large in our world. It is our calling and our witness to God’s mercy and love. We are called to work together to bring about peace and justice. Let us strive for that peace together through the days ahead.

Peace, Pastor Brian

STEWARDSHIP

2018 August Martyr Monthly—St. Stephen the Martyr

In the process of moving to a new apartment, I am reminded again of the “stuff” that

we’ve acquired. Part of the process was taking each thing in hand and making the

evaluation of its value and meaning for life. Will it be moved or will it not. Often the

real deciding factor doesn’t come about until it’s gone. It’s happened more than once that

something that seemed valuable went missing or broken. Then comes the realization of

importance. After my mother died we came to have her china. It was of no great

monetary value but brought a flood of memories of both my mother and grandmother and

the guests that came to our house and the treats that I received as a little kid. The day

came when there was no room for them and we gave them to our daughter. What I

discovered again is the attachment that I can develop to things. Things that come and go,

things that break and can go away at the drop of a hat.

Jesus taught his disciples, “Seek treasure in heaven where moth and rust do not consume

for where the treasure is there your heart will be also.” There is the crux of the matter.

The question that Jesus always attempts to raise is the matter of the heart. There is where

Jesus dwelt, in the heart. Jesus was and is the heart of God. The heart and core of

stewardship is the heart that loves God above all things and loves the neighbor as the self.

It is at the heart of God to love and to provide for the children all that they need. As we

count all of the “stuff” of life, the problem is not having much, but failing to remember

the source of the giver. As we come to measure the value of life it is important to ask,

what weighs more heavily the stuff or the giver?

God is at the heart of all stewardship, the giver of all good gifts and the lover of all. God

from love has placed all things into our hands. In all things give thanks to God for the

stuff and for life and for all that we have.

Rev. Dr. Kipp W. Zimmermann

Because of God’s Great Mercy

MUSIC NOTES FROM BILL BRAVENER DIRECTOR OF MUSIC/ DEACON

Summer Choir will rehearse on August 5 at 9:00 a.m. All are welcome. Our Sunday, August 12 worship service will be at 9:00 a.m. in the village of Greendale near the Hose Tower. It will include a Jazz Liturgy. There will be a rehearsal of the liturgy on Wednesday, August 1 at 7:30 p.m. at St. Luke’s in Greendale. All are welcome.

Looking ahead: the Choir Potluck will be Wednesday, September 5 at 6:30 p.m. Choir rehearsals will begin Wednesday, September 12.

See you at worship.

MUSIC & WORSHIP

We will have a special community outdoor worship in the Greendale village with St. Luke’s Lutheran Church on Sunday, August 12th at 9:00 a.m. A jazz group led by Pastor Frank Janzow will lead the music.

The service will be under a tent near the Hose Tower (5699 Parking Street, Greendale).

Parking may be limited (or distant), so consider carpooling with your SSM friends.

You are encouraged to bring outdoor chairs for the service (some folding chairs will be available).

All are invited to a liturgy/music run through on Wednesday, August 1, 7:30 p.m., at St. Luke’s. This will allow some people to know the music and be able to lead others on the 12th.

There will not be a service at SSM on August 12th. However, the Saturday service on August 11th will be at SSM at 5:00 p.m. as usual.

If you are at all interested in the work of the Music & Worship committee, we invite you to join us for our next meeting: August 7th at 6:30 p.m. in the fellowship hall.

JOIN US AT THE 31ST ANNUAL CONVENTION OF THE WOMEN OF THE

ELCA, GREATER MILWAUKEE SYNOD

Saturday, October 13, 2018 is the date of convention, being held at St. John’s Lutheran

Church, on the south east corner of Davidson & Barker Road, 20276 Davidson Road,

Brookfield WI 53045. St. John’s is across the street from the Elmbrook Church. This

year’s Convention theme is “Women Create Change”. Registration forms are posted

on the kiosk. Note that if you are a first time attendee, your cost is only $35 for the

day, including a luncheon, if you register by Monday, September 24th. The early bird

registration fee is $50 (if you register by August 15th), or $60 after that date.

A few of the highlights of the convention feature several workshops that will include

Pastor Kathy Jacobson who will not only be the convention Keynote Speaker but also

will do a workshop; Carla Schultz, an IRIS Consultant with the IRIS Agency which is

part of Lutheran Social Services; “Styles that Flatter Your Figure”, presented by Cheryl

Groth; “Street Angels”, presented Shelly Sarasin and “Face to Face” with Bishop Paul

Erickson. Preaching at the exciting opening worship service at 8:30 will be Pastor An-

gela T. Khabeb. Those of us who attended last year’s Women of the ELCA Triennial

in Minneapolis can guarantee you that you won’t want to miss this powerful, fun

preacher. Refer your Convention questions to Pam Maschke, Karen Hoffman or

Carole Ropel.

WOMEN’S BIBLE STUDY

Please note that there will be no Bible Study on August 22nd.

We will, however, continue our study of the Old Testament Book of Ruth on Wednes-

day, August 8th with Bonnie Zimmermann. Jewish tradition credits Samuel as the au-

thor of this book. This exquisite story most likely appeared shortly before or during

David’s reign of Israel, since David is mentioned but not Solomon. Ruth arrived in

Bethlehem as a foreigner, became a maid-servant, married wealthy Boaz, and is listed

in the physical lineage of Christ.

LOOSE ENDS MONTHLY LUNCHEON

The August luncheon is being organized by Diana Gastrau. We will meet at The

Forum, 4711 South 108th Street (Highway 100 and Layton Ave.) at noon. If you will

be attending, sign-up on the form posted on the kiosk. Call Diana at 414-304-8284

with any questions.

WOMEN OF THE ELCA


WOMEN OF THE ELCA CON’T

SAVE THE DATE The annual Women of the ELCA Bake and Craft Sale at SSM will be held on Novem-ber 17 and 18 this year. In addition to the bakery, crafts and theme baskets we will be introducing a Christmas Kid’s Corner this year that will offer small, inexpensive items for our youth to purchase for teachers, parents, grandparents, etc. Stay tuned for more information on how you can help!

PIECEMAKERS AND THEIR QUILTING MINISTRY This group makes over 100 quilts each year to be distributed locally and around the world through Lutheran World Relief. There are many that share in this effort. Here are a few faces from the Quilting Bee held on July 16, 2018. The next regular gather-ing of the Piecemakers is Monday, August 20th at 6:15pm.

CHRISTIAN EDUCATION

Pastor Brian and I will be meeting in August to discuss times and topics for Bible Study and adult education. Watch for the September Martyr and upcoming bulletins for more information. If you have any ideas for topics please find me to let me know or put a note in my mailbox.

The men’s bible study, which meets the first and third Wednesday of the month at 9:00 am, will resume in September as will the monthly Monday study. That group meets the first Monday of the month at 1:00 pm (not Labor day – watch the bulletin). The wom-en’s study meets the second and fourth Wednesday of the month at 10:15. We will fin-ish Ruth the second week in August and will not meet again until September when we will start a new study, I am working on something on Mary the mother of Jesus.

See you then. Bonnie Zimmermann


LUNCH BAG PROJECT On August 19, the Human Concerns group will be making bag lunches. “Larry under the bridge” from Tippecanoe delivers bag lunch a couple of times per week to the home-less all year round. Human Concerns will supply all the food items and bags. However, if anyone would like to drop off toilet pater, tube socks or underwear, Larry would ap-preciate it as he likes to deliver those items with the lunches. Any of those items can be left in the coat room in the plastic bin marked Tippecanoe.

FOOD PANTRY REMINDER

Bayview Community Center & Central City Churches Outreach Ministry Pantry items needed are: Beef stew, Canned Chicken, fruit, vegetables and corn beef Cereal, Crackers, Juice Individual Pudding/Jello Meals-in-a-can, Meat Dinners in a can Peanut Butter, Pork & Beans, Spam

Thank you for your support!

SCHOOL BAG UPDATE We will gather to start our school bags/ back packs project on Wednesday, August 1st (see sing up sheet). We continue to need sturdy fabric, people to sew the bags and the items needed to fill the bags. Items Needed: 70-sheet notebooks 30 centimeter ruler or ruler with centimeters on one side and inches on other Pencil sharpeners Blunt scissors (safety scissors with embedded steel blades) Unsharpened pencils #2 Erasers Black and blue ball point pens (no ink gel) Box of 16 or 24 crayons 2 1/2” eraser Sturdy drawstring backpack - style cloth bag approxi-mately 14” x 17” with shoulder straps (no standard back-packs); recommended fabrics include sturdy cotton, can-vas, denim, and twill.

Blessings & many thanks to all for your help in the past years.

HUMAN CONCERNS

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday

1

9:00 - School Bag Sewing

5

9:00 - Summer Choir Rehearsal 9:30 - Worship 2:00 - Unity/Santa Fe Partnership

Meeting

6 7

9:15 - SSM Staff Meeting 6:30 - SSM Mega Meeting

8

10:15 - Women’s Bible Study11:45 - Loose Ends Luncheon

12

9:00 - Outdoor Worship Sending Communion Sunday 1:00 - APL School Open House

13 14

9:15 - SSM Staff Meeting 6:45 - SSM Council Meeting

15 Early bird Registration Dead-

line for W

19

9:30 - Worship

20

6:15 - Piece Makers

21

9:15 - SSM Staff Meeting 6:00 - SSM Prayer Group

22

3:30 - Unity Soup Supper

26 9:30 - Worship

27 28

9:15 - SSM Staff Meeting

29

AUGUST 2018

Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

School Bag Sewing

2 3 4

5:00 - Worship

10:15 - Women’s Bible Study 11:45 - Loose Ends Luncheon

9 10 11

5:00 - Worship

Early bird Registration Dead-

line for W-ELCA Convention

16 17 18 5:00 - Worship

Unity Soup Supper

23 24 25 5:00 - Worship

30 9:00 - APL Meet your

Teacher 6:00 - APL Parent

Orientation

31

AUGUST 2018


AUGUST 2017 LAY PARTICIPANT SCHEDULE

DATE GREETERS USHERS ASSIST MINISTER

08/04 - 5PM Bonnie Court Janel Sweet, Jeff Sweet Brian Stoddard

08/05 - 9:30AM Kurt & Jenny Koeff Billy Burns, Kaitlyn Burns, Pat & Shelley Burns

Bob Billman

08/11 - 5PM Dan & Barbara Davies Herb Leppien, Jim Palasz

08/12 - 9:30AM Carol Malinowski Kimberly Caroll,, John Hoffman, Dennis Lucchesi, Bob Rasmussen

Carole Ropel

08/18 - 5PM Diana Gastrau Jay Rosiewski, Cathy Peterson Brian Stoddard

08/19 - 9:30AM Mary Luedtke Jack Kalaman, Dan Resterhouse, Adam Woerpel, Tom Zuleger

Bonnie Zimmermann

08/25 - 5PM Shirley Harzke Janel Sweet, Jeff Sweet

08/26 -9:30AM Mildren Family Billy Burn, Kaitlyn Burns, Pat & Shelley Burns

Eric Sanders

COMMUNION SET-UP

COMMUNION SERVERS

ACOLYTE

08/04 - 5PM Shelly Rosenstock Shelly Rosenstock

08/05 - 9:30AM Jane Miller, Dianne Niese Bonnie Daleness, Teri Peterson Morgan Schultz

08/11 - 5PM Denise Sanders Denise Sanders

08/12 - 9:30AM Bob & Shirley Lieske Al Behling, Stephanie Falksen Jordan Schultz

08/18 - 5PM Joy Kilimann Joy Kilimann

08/19 - 9:30AM Denise Sanders Barb Fritschel, Denise Sanders Greg Guiliani

08/25 - 5PM Bonnie Court Bonnie Court

08/26 - 9:30AM Cathy Peterson, Lori Salas Mike Mayer, Cathy Peterson Kyle Mayer

SUNDAY COFFEE HOUR HOSTS

08/05 Joanne, Pat & Shelley Burns, Kaitlyn & Billy 08/12 Dan & Carol Manning 08/19 Karen Miller, Cathy Peterson 08/26 Eric & Diane Sunquist


MEMORIAL COMMITTEE REPORT

This committee met on July 14th, 2018. Attending were Sandra Petricek, Chairperson, Dick Kroll, Julie Herman, Carol Birk and Stephanie Falksen with Lee. I missed the meeting… Proposed signage over the memorial tree in the narthex is still being researched. Gas Grill for fellowship is being ordered for fall rally days. Bubblers are being referred to Russ Mayer in Property for review. Donation updates and fund balances were discussed. Sanctuary tables might have a carpenter candidate. Details for building being assem-bled. Discussion about a display case for the narthex being researched and sourced. Thank you notes were sent out by Mimi in the office for the 2 funerals and a honorari-um given. As always, anyone interested in this group can contact any of the members and/or sit in for a session. Next session is October 20th, 2018 at 9:30 am. Respectfully submitted Faith N. O’Connell

YOUTH & FAMILY

Youth and Family will be participating in Sendik’s Community Grill program to

earn money for future programs. Our grill days will be August 5 and 19 at the

Greenfield Sendik’s (7901 W. Layton Avenue) from 11 - 4.

We will be looking for volunteers to help staff the events. If you can’t volunteer,

please stop by for a freshly grilled lunch!

We will be celebrating the Youth from SSM attendance at the ELCA National

Youth Gathering in Houston at service on August 5th. The Youth and their

chaperones will present a review of their trip and show how “This Changes

Everything!”

We have a crew of volunteers who have been working hard to make the P.G. beautiful. Now we could use your help keeping it looking beautiful. There is a sign up sheet on the Prayer Garden poster in the Narthex. You can volunteer to : - WATER areas that sprinkler can’t reach...Trees can also be watered. - Dead heading to remove dead blossoms using a clippers or popping with your fingers. - Weeding in garden and pathways. There are sprays in the shed or you can pull them. Debbie Pearl uses a mixture of vinegar and water with a few drops of Dawn. Take time to enjoy the Prayer Garden and watch the progress of installing the cell tow-er. Any questions talk to Sandy Petricek, Julie Starks, and Judy Lehman.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED! Rally Day is fast approaching...Sunday, September 9th. It is a time to become reconnected to your church and your Creator. One way to be connected is to become an usher serving either at the Saturday 5 pm service or at the 9:30 am Sunday service. You will work about once a month, depending on the number of volunteers. All are welcome to usher: Men, Women, Teens, even families serving together. No ex-perience is necessary as we will team you with an experienced usher. Duties will in-clude: handing out bulletins, taking the offering, guiding people to take communion, lighting candles, controlling lights and fans, and monitoring doors. All are important tasks to provide comfort for our congregation. New usher schedules will be created soon. If you are interested, contact Bob Rasmus-sen by note to his SSM mailbox or in person at the Sunday service. Your help is needed. Get involved. You’ll experience satisfaction in serving others.

NEWS & NOTES

PRAYER GARDEN NEWS


NEWS & NOTES CON’T

CANS HELP THE NEEDY - CAN YOU HELP? Reminder that empty aluminum cans are still being collect-ed, sold to a salvage company and the money given to local food pantries. To date, $103 has been earned this year.

If you drink soda, beer, energy drinks or other things in alu-minum cans, please bring your empty cans to the lower parking lot and place your bags next to the dumpster on the

pavement. By doing this you’ll avoid the cell tower construction area.

Every 28 cans equals one pound and earns $ .55 a pound at the present time. Your con-tribution, however small, will help the hungry. Questions, see Bob Rasmussen, coordi-nator.

DON’T FORGET UNITY SOUP KITCHEN

Don’t forget that help is always needed on the 4th Wednesday of the month when we serve at the Unity Soup Kitchen. (3:00, 4:30 or 6 pm.) You can choose the times that works best for you! Thanks and God Bless!

Daniel & Barbara

Davies

For your time refinishing the wood-

work around the windows in the

Luther Room and Nursery.

Highlights of the June Council Meeting on June 12, 2018

President Jason Covert called the meeting to order at 7:00 P.M.

Council members present were: J. Covert, B. Daleness, B. Fritsche, J. Konop, A. Matusiak, J. Muroni, N. Mineau, D. Sanders, J. Schultz, A. Woerpel and B. Zimmer-mann. Pastor Brian was also in attendance.

May council minutes were approved with corrections.

FINANCIAL SECRETARY’S AND TREASURER'S REPORTS:

Giving was down a little this month but no concerns.

We continue to receive small checks from Amazon Smiles and dollars from Thrivent Choice. The checking account balance is quite large and the council may consider mov-ing some funds to CD’s.

Treasurer’s report was approved.

PASTOR’S TIME:

Planning continues for the youth trip to the National Youth Gathering in Houston this summer. New members were received. Pastor would like to apply for a Seibert Foun-dation Grant to attend a Leading Well class. He will be out of town for the NYG and also in July for a vacation.

NEW BUSINESS:

Cell tower construction has begun. As per our contract the church will need to approve the design for the fencing.

Two resolutions were passed at the Greater Milwaukee Synod. They call for more em-phasis at the congregation level on Reconciling in Christ and Prison Ministry. Some dis-cussion was held on how SSM could participate.

Midwest Roofing repaired some leaks in the roof and suggested replacement may be needed soon – especially in the fellowship hall. They will provide some quotes.

OLD BUSINESS

J. Konop is researching a cost effective way to refresh our website. He will consult with Pastor and determine next steps.

Building Security – Core committee is working with the Property committee regarding Key Policies.

CONDENSED MINUTES OF JUNE COUNCIL MEETING

CONDENSED MINUTES CON’T

Committee is reviewing our site profile in preparing for moving forward with a poten-tial Part-time Associate Pastor position.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

YOUTH & FAMILY:

Two dates in August have been set for youth to assist in Sendik’s cookouts as a fund raiser. May also work at the Hunger Task Force farm again this year.

STEWARDSHIP:

Choosing program for Fall Stewardship Drive. Also looking for some younger members on the committee.

PROPERTY:

Most tasks were completed during the May 19 clean up.

FELLOWSHIP:

Rally Day will be Sept 9. There will be a bounce house again this year. Looking for other ideas. Dunk Tank perhaps? Bean Bag toss. Other suggestions are welcome.

HUMAN CONCERNS:

The committee will provide bag lunches in August for the Larry Under the Bridge pro-ject that works with the homeless. Will collect socks, underwear and toilet paper as well. A list of items to be donated to the Food Pantries will be included in bulletins. August 5 is the partnership meeting with Unity and Faith Santa Fe. The meeting will be at 2:00 pm here at SSM.

WORSHIP & MUSIC:

The VBS participants will lead the worship on July 29. There will be an outdoor ser-vice in Greendale on August 12.

CHRISTIAN EDUCATION:

The committee would like to offer more adult education, discussions and forums. Is 8:00 am the best time? Perhaps after the 9:30 service.

Next MegaMeeting will be Tuesday, August 7, 2018

Next Council Meeting will be Tuesday, August 14, 2018.

Respectfully submitted,

Bonnie Daleness, Council Secretary


US POST PAID

Non-Profit Org.

Permit No. 23

Greendale, WI

CHANGE SERVICE

REQUESTED

Place label here

Mon. - Thur. 8:30 - 2:00

Fri. 8:30 - 12

*Rev. Brian Hooper, Pastor

[email protected]

*Bill Bravener, Music Director/Deacon

[email protected]

*Mark Breutzmann, Saturday Musician

*Bob DeFrank, Sunday School Superintendent

*Mimi Garcia, Office Administrative Assistant

[email protected]

*Bob Brownell, Maintenance

SSM WEBSITE: www.ssmelca.org

E-mail: [email protected]

Martyr Monthly

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