Faith in Chilton by Rev. Michael Safford-Kennedy

February 2016

The EagleThe Eagle

THE PURPOSE

STATEMENT OF

THIS CHURCH:

Loving, living, and

serving faithfully

– uniting God

and our

neighbors.

Katy

DaNisha

Lorraine

Arlene

Joe

Tod

Jane

Louise

Sheri

John

Mark

Dollie

Prayer Requests

Pat

David

Marlene

Larry

Joan

Duane

Dale

If you wish to add/remove

a name to this list, please

contact the office. We

wish we could add last

names, but since this

newsletter is also pub-

lished on the internet, it

would not be prudent.

One month ago we

celebrated Jesus’ birthday. Since

then we have marked his baptism,

and witnessed the beginnings of

his public ministry. Shortly after

you read this we will be marking

Transfiguration Sunday which

then leads us to Ash Wednesday.

The church does not stand still

and linger over the manger. We

are constantly moving forward.

I would like to spend a few

m i n u t e s c o n s i d e r i n g

Transfiguration Sunday. We

sometimes lose it among other

important days surrounding it,

most notably Ash Wednesday and

the beginning of Lent. As

described in Luke 9:28-36 Jesus

confers with the two largest

figures in Jewish history:

Now about eight days after these sayings

Jesus took with him Peter and John and

James, and went up on the mountain to

pray. And while he was praying, the

appearance of his face changed, and his

clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly

they saw two men, Moses and Elijah,

talking to him. They appeared in glory

and were speaking of his departure,

which he was about to accomplish at

Jerusalem. Now Peter and his

companions were weighed down with

sleep; but since they had stayed

awake, they saw his glory and the two

men who stood with him. Just as they

were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus,

‘Master, it is good for us to be here; let

us make three dwellings, one for you, one

for Moses, and one for Elijah’—not

knowing what he said. While he was

saying this, a cloud came and overshad-

owed them; and they were terrified as

they entered the cloud. Then from the

cloud came a voice that said, ‘This is my

Son, my Chosen; listen to him!’ When

the voice had spoken, Jesus was found

alone. And they kept silent and in those

days told no one any of the things they

had seen. Cont. on pg. 5

Ebenezer United Church of Christ

Rev. Michael

Safford-Kennedy 44 Washington St.

Chilton, WI 53014

920-849-4331

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2

Groundhog Day

3 Bell Practice

6:30PM

Xtra Bell Help

6PM

4 5

6

7 ANNUAL MEETING

Worship 9:30 AM

Spanish Ministry 3 PM

8

Confirmation

Class 5:30 PM

9

Mardis Gras

10

ASH

WEDNES-

DAY SER-

VICE 7 PM

11

Men’s Brkfst

@ 7 Angels

8:30 AM

12

13

14

Children’s Sunday

Sunday School 8:30 AM

Worship 9:30 AM

Spanish Ministry 3 PM

Valentine’s Day

15

Confirmation

Class 5:30 PM

President’s Day

16

17

Bell Practice

6:30PM

Xtra Bell Help

6PM

18

Women’s

Guild @ 7

Angels 1 PM

19

20

21

Sunday School 8:30 AM

Evangelism mtg 8:30 AM

Worship 9:30 AM

Church Council mtg after service

Spanish Ministry 3 PM

22

Confirmation

Class 5:30 PM

23

EAGLE

ARTICLES

DUE

24

Bell Practice

6:30PM

Xtra Bell Help

6PM

Youth Group

6PM

25

26 27

28

Sunday School 8:30 AM

Worship 9:30 AM

Spanish Ministry 3 PM

Eagle Published

29

Confirmation

Class 5:30 PM

February 2016

www.ebenezerchilton.org

ebenezeroffice@yahoo.com

(office)

pastormike79@hotmail.com

(pastor)

Ebenezer UCC Chilton

Office Hours:

Monday - Thursday

11:00 AM-4:00 PM

Newsletter Articles

due to the office by

email on the third

Tuesday of the

month.

Weekly bulletin

announcements are

due in the office by

Tuesday mornings.

Church Council Feb 7

Sunday School Feb 14

Terry Schenkus,

Linda Edington,

JoAnn Lakin, Mark

Rusch

Feb 21

Mark Redig, Sue

Verrier, Kelly &

Wayne Kress

Feb 28

Ushers

CHRISTIAN ED / WORSHIP COMMITTEE January 24, 2016

The following points were discussed and planned for: * Reflections of Christmas -Bring up at the annual meeting about possibly eliminating one Christmas worship since attendance at the 11 PM and Christmas Day service has dwindled the past few years. -Emphasize “open” communion

-Tiffany & Diane will look into purchasing battery operated candles for the window sills * Sunday School summary - Attendance has remained steady after Christmas; 25 on Jan 24 -Outstanding program -Final day of Sunday School is May 15 * Ash Wednesday, Feb. 10 -1:30 service with ashes at Century Ridge; all members are invited Building 2 -7 PM service with ashes at Ebenezer; Pastor Mike will conduct both * March 20 – Palm Sunday -Shirley will get the palms -Worship schedule for Palm Sunday, Holy Week & Easter will be submitted to local papers * Holy Week -Maundy Thursday, Mar. 24 ; 7 PM ; communion -Good Friday, Mar. 25 ; Pastor Mike will be communicating with ecumenical Planning * Easter, March 27 -Breakfast 7:30-9:00; Sign up will be put out for members to donate menu Items; Shirley & Bea are in charge -Regular worship 9:30 * Mothers’ Day, May 8 - Diane & Tiffany will put together Mothers’ tokens * Confirmation, May 15, Pentecost -8:30 Reception; Bea, Diane & Shirley in charge * June 5; Baccalaureate Sunday -Please notify the office or any committee member of any graduates- High school, college , technical, etc.

* June 19; Fathers’ Day; Don & Diane will put together Fathers’ tokens * Special thanks to Mary Thompson for keeping the plants green and growing throughout Ebenezer, especially picking up around the poinsettias at this time of year !

Members present: Shirley Lisowe, Bea Pingel, Tiffany Porsche, Don & Diane Sattler, Kristi Schnell,

Pastor Mike Safford-Kennedy, Elaine Hessil

Page 3 The Eagle

Microsoft

We have extended the deadline for THE FOOD FOR THE POOR Chick Project to the end of January. If you have not given to this project as of yet, please consider helping us to meet our 300 chickens goal. Food for the Poor is a non-denominational organization helping families in the Caribbe-an and Central America. They have a 5 star rating with the Better Business Bureau, giving out 95% of monies received to the poor, with only 5% administrative costs! Help someone help themselves! Our Rummage Sale will be held on April 14, 15 and 16. There is still space in the Rummage Room for your items or you can bring them in closer to the sale. We will take furniture items but can not take them until the week before the sale. No TVs or computers please. If you have questions or are unable to bring your own items, call Nan at 920-418-0149 or Jeanne at 920-203-4137.

Reminder of the month

Housework is being done around the office!

Files straightened, paperwork cleaned up, and

lists updated. If you have moved, changed

your name, or changed your phone number

and/or email address, please let the office

know (if you haven’t already.) A simple email

to ebenezeroffice@yahoo.com or a phone call

to 849-4331 (even after hours, you can leave a

message!) Help us have the most update

records so we can always let you know what is

going on in Chilton’s best church!

Page 4 The Eagle

by Jeanne Keuler

Mission Education News

The Mission Education Committee

Chick Project Tree

Karen Cmejla decorating the church

balcony for Christmas.

Ash

Wednesday

Service

Please come to church Wednesday evening, February 10th for worship services. We’ll begin at 7:00 pm. At the conclusion of the service we will have the imposition of ashes for all who wish to participate.

Page 5 January 2016

NOTES FROM THE MUSIC CORNER . . .

By Elaine Hessil

Lent is fast approaching so we are looking forward to preparing music for the Easter season. Is there a possibility of having a choral group prepare for Palm Sunday, March 20? Would it be more convenient to practice before worship (8:30) or after (10:30)? Several have expressed interest in a choir so let Elaine know if you’d be interested for Palm Sunday and what would be your practice preference. Bells are busy rehearsing for the Lenten/Easter season. New ringers are always welcome. It is a delight to have the number we have and some available subs.

Angels from the Christmas Program

The Annual

Meeting was

rescheduled to

February 7, 2016.

Please be there!

Happy Birthday

Diane Sattler 03 Tjark Sattler 04 Linda Marx 04 John Mattes, Jr. 05 Doris Propson 05 Brandon Schneider 14 Darren Sattler 15 James Dedering 15 James Hertel 19 Andy Hofmeister 21 Terry Schenkus 21 Dyane Boese 26 Tim Van Oss 27

Microsoft

Perhaps this is news only an accounting nerd can appreciate but Stephanie Adamietz, Karen Cmejla, Heather Sylaj, and Pastor Mike are working with our accountant to create a better system to track our purchases and assign those purchases to the correct account number. Why would I mention this task when some people might think this is a bit of trivia? This is a step forward for the Council as it seeks to faithfully carry out its duties to oversee the finances of the church. Prior to this change the Council found it to be difficult to track purchases thus making it hard to track how closely we were following the budget. I applaud the Council for tackling this problem and for the hard work Stephanie, Karen and Heather are doing to correct this issue.

Page 6 The Eagle

News from the Church Council

By Pastor Mike

Narrators Claudia Brown, Ryan Schnell in the

Christmas Program

Zechariah (Noah Brown) in the

Christmas Program

Page 7 January 2016

We cannot stand by

Jesus, proclaim he is God’s

son, claim him as Lord and

Savior and then not be

changed by his presence, by

his teachings about life, and

our faith in God. As Christ’s

disciples we have no choice

but to have our loyalties chal-

lenged and our worldviews

reshaped by what we hear, see,

and understand. As Christ was

transformed on the mountain

top we find our lives and

relationships are transformed

by Christ’s love for us.

Living a transformed

life, a life with Jesus at its cen-

ter, is to life not for yourself

but for your neighbor. How is

your

neighbor doing? What are their

concerns, joys, heartaches?

What have you done lately to

show your concern for them?

Have you dropped off a gift?

Have you written a card? Have

you knocked on the door to

say “Hi” and you are thinking

of them?

Living a transformed

life is to live a life loving God

and showing that love in word

and deed. Do you read the Bi-

ble every day? Do you study

the Bible? Do you ask how to

apply what you read and dis-

cover in your daily life? Do

you seek to apply those lessons

in the life of the community?

Do you seek forgiveness,

Faith in Chilton Cont. from pg. 1

compassion and grace? Do

you hold grudges?

Living a transformed

life is to let go of those things

that enslave you robbing you

of life. The pettiness, the

grudges, the score keeping of

hurts, all lead to a diminished

life. Jesus tells us in John 10:10

that “I came that they may have

life, and have it abundantly.”

As we move well into

the new year, examine your

life, is it lead for the glory of

yourself or for God? Do you

care for your neighbor and

show that care? Do you love

your church and show that

love?

Blessings to all of you.

Christmas Program 2015

Council Minutes: January 17, 2016

Meeting called to order at 10:35. Members present: Karen Cmejla, Andrea DuWell, Tiffany Por-

sche, Kelly Kress, Stephanie Adamietz, and Pastor Mike. Members not present: Steve Stenz &

Nicole Moore. Stephanie made a motion to approve the December minutes as well as the agenda

for today. Tiffany seconded. Motion carried.

Finances Report:

Our December revenue is $20,789. The income from the cookie/house walk were added into this

total.

Our December expenditures are $8,811.

Our general fund balance as of December 31, 2015 is $84,879.

Our current balance is $274,723.

Tiffany made a motion to accept the financial reports and approval to pay the bills. Andrea

seconded. Motion carried.

Minister’s Report

Pastor Mike shared with us a synopsis of what he has done from December through mid-

January, including funerals, visitations, counseling, and Sunday School/ confirmation.

Committee Reports

Christian Ed/Music- The committee will be meeting Sunday, January 24th after the church

service.

Evangelism- Evangelism met today. They discussed floats to be designed for the Father’s

Day Parade and the Lights Parade in December.

Mission-

Property- No new news.

Search committee- No new news.

Old Business

The West Fellowship Doors will be tabled until Springtime. Maybe by that time, we will have

enough money in donations to afford them.

Carpets will be stretched in February. The cleaning will wait until Springtime. Karen will be

taking care of this.

AED training is still in the works. Andrea will have more answers in two weeks.

We are still looking for people interested in joining our church council team. If you are

interested, please see a council member.

Cont. on pg. 9

Page 8 The Eagle

Page 9 The Eagle

Council Minutes: January 17, 2016 Cont. from pg. 8

New Business

Pastor will be signing his new six month contract on Tuesday.

Tiffany made a motion for Patty Katalinick to use the fellowship hall on March 21st for the

Student Government Day. Stephanie seconded. Motion carried.

The new council will meet February 7th. They will be installed on that day during the church

service as well.

The council reviewed the Annual Meeting Packet and edits were made. A motion was made by

Tiffany to approve the packet with the changes discussed. It was seconded by Kelly.

The Wedding Policy was reviewed and a motion was made by Tiffany to approve the new

policy and seconded by Kelly.

Next council meeting will be Sunday, February 7th, following the annual meeting. Tiffany made a

motion to adjourn the meeting. Kelly seconded. Motion carried. Meeting was adjourned at 12:15

p.m..

Council Secretary,

Andrea DuWell

Left to Right: Wise Men (Kaleb Plate, Jaren Pingel, Owen Brown) Herod (Gavin Tyson) Herod’s Soldier (Serenity Kubichka) in the Christmas Program