Zion Herald: September 2013
7
The Pastor’s Ponderings September 2013 Pastor David’s cell phone—765-330-4170 and email address —[email protected] Moses’ father- in- law said to him, “What you are doing is not good. You will surely wear yourself out, both you and these peo- ple with you. For the task is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone.” -Exodus 18:17-18 When I was on internship, I had a spring evaluation with my supervisor and a representative from the seminary faculty. The meeting went well; we outlined some of my strengths and growth areas and some of the challenges I was facing in my life at that time. I remember one criti- cism my supervisor made quite well. She said that I had a tendency to be a “Herr Pastor” at times. Some of you will recognize the term as German for “Sir Pastor”, but it has a more detailed connotation in English. The term refers to a pas- tor who rules his parish with an iron fist. His word is law. He is the head of every committee. He prefers to do most, if not all of the work of minis- try by himself – and the congregation is more than happy to let him do it. He works 12 hours a day, 6 or 7 days a week. And this kind of pastor often burns himself out of the ministry from lack of self-care, falling into addictive habits and self-destructive behavior. In other words, the label “Herr Pastor” was a dire warning. I cannot do the work of ministry alone. If I try to do everything myself, I find that I will neglect someone or something in need of attention. If I focus mostly on caring for the sick and shut-ins, I may end up neglecting young adults, youth, and community outreach. If I focus on simply the ad- ministrative tasks of ministry, I may neglect spiritual growth and prayer. Often, the pastoral ministry is like a juggling act, and some of the balls are dropped from time to time. That’s why I’m grateful for you, people of Zion. I’m grateful for the people of God in this church who help me carry out God’s work in our com- munity. Our secretary, our council, our lay visitation team, our land use committee, and all of those who have served on committees and councils have made it possible for the ministry of our church to multiply ten, twenty, or even a hundred-fold from what it would be if I did everything myself. As Luther said, quoting I Peter, all Christians belong to Christ’s royal priesthood. All of us have a calling. I see my calling as being your helper in discerning yours. May God continue to empower us for the work of ministry together. See you in church! Pr. David Reflect. Pray. Feast. Thursday Church in the Fellowship Hall Sept. 5, 12, & 19 at 7 PM Bible Study begins again this month! Pr. David will facilitate Prof. David Lose’s study Making Sense of Scripture. September 12 and 19 at 7:30 PM in the Fellowship Hall. Thursday Church Bible Study
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Pastor ponders the stigma of the Herr Pastor title. Details about Rally Day. Bible study returns.
Transcript of Zion Herald: September 2013
The Pastor’s PonderingsSeptember 2013
Pastor David’s cell phone—765-330-4170 and email address —[email protected]
Moses’ father- in- law said to him, “What you are doing is not good. You will surely wear yourself out, both you and these peo-ple with you. For the task is too heavy for you; you cannot
do it alone.” -Exodus 18:17-18
When I was on internship, I had a spring evaluation with my supervisor and a representative from the seminary faculty. The meeting went well; we outlined some of my strengths and growth areas and some of the challenges I was facing in my life at that time. I remember one criti-cism my supervisor made quite well. She said that I had a tendency to be a “Herr Pastor” at times.
Some of you will recognize the term as German for “Sir Pastor”, but it has a more detailed connotation in
English. The term refers to a pas-tor who rules his parish with an iron fist. His word is law. He is the head of every committee. He prefers to do most, if not all of the work of minis-try by himself – and the congregation is more than happy to let him do it. He works 12 hours a day, 6 or 7 days a week. And this kind of pastor often burns himself out of the ministry from lack of self-care, falling into addictive habits and self-destructive behavior.
In other words, the label “Herr Pastor” was a dire warning.
I cannot do the work of ministry alone. If I try to do everything myself, I find that I will neglect someone or something in need of attention. If I focus mostly on caring for the sick and shut-ins, I may end up neglecting young adults, youth, and community outreach. If I focus on simply the ad-ministrative tasks of ministry, I may neglect spiritual growth and prayer. Often, the pastoral ministry is like a
juggling act, and some of the balls are dropped from time to time.
That’s why I’m grateful for you, people of Zion. I’m grateful for the people of God in this church who help me carry out God’s work in our com-munity. Our secretary, our council, our lay visitation team, our land use committee, and all of those who have served on committees and councils have made it possible for the ministry of our church to multiply ten, twenty, or even a hundred-fold from what it would be if I did everything myself.
As Luther said, quoting I Peter, all Christians belong to Christ’s royal priesthood. All of us have a calling. I see my calling as being your helper in discerning yours.
May God continue to empower us for the work of ministry together.
See you in church!Pr. David
Reflect.Pray.Feast.
Thursday Churchin the
Fellowship HallSept. 5, 12, & 19
at 7 PM
Bible Study begins again this month!
Pr. David will facilitate Prof. David Lose’s study
Making Sense of Scripture.September 12 and 19 at 7:30 PM
in the Fellowship Hall.
Thursday Church Bible Study
September 2013
Stewardship ladies will resume making quilts on Tuesday, September 10th at 9:00 a.m. after taking a break for the
summer. The ladies will also meet on Tuesday, September 24th at 9:00 a.m.
New helpers are always wel-come. If you have any questions you may contact Kathy Sharp.
Young At Heart
Max and Nyla Hile will be hosting the Young At Heart Hot Dog Roast and
Hayride on Sunday, September 29th at 5:00 p.m. Mark your calendars and come and enjoy the food and fellow-ship!
Choir PracticeChoir Practice
will resume in Sep-tember. Singers will meet on Wednesday the 4th and 18th begin-ning at 7:00 p.m. in the fellowship hall.
New voices are always welcome!
Come kick off
the Sunday School year!
Rally Day
September 15th
Outdoor worship
on the North Lawn
at 10:30 AM
Carry-in dinner to follow.
Stewardship
Health KitsWe are again collecting items
for Personal Care Kits for Lutheran World Relief. The list of items needed will be handed out at church on Sep-tember 22nd. Please bring the items to church September 29th or October 6th. No later than October 13th so that they may be packed in time to be taken to Ft. Wayne for shipping and distribution.
Rally Day
Cradle Roll PicturesPlease help us if you can!The Hartford City Historical
Society has a collection of pictures entitled “Cradle Roll”. These are pictures of children from Zion’s congregation that were born around 1959-1960. Some of the pictures are not labeled. If you think you know who any of these children are please call the church office and give us the child’s name. Your help would be greatly appreciated.
#1
#2 #3
#4 #5
September 2013
July Council MinutesCongregation
Council met on July 9, 2013.
Present: Pastor David Fleener, Shay
Clamme, Barbara Hardwick, Cindy Knote, Kathy Sharp, Fred Strine and Linda Walker
Absent: Pat Gillis, John Hen-dricks, Larry Hile, Allen Stallsmith, Libby Stroble and Neil Stroble
Linda Walker called the meeting to order and Cindy Knote gave devo-tions.
A motion was made by Cindy Knote to accept the minutes, seconded by Kathy Sharp. Motion carried.
Pastor’s Report: Pastoral care for June: visited 6 shut-ins; 2 sick vis-its. The Lay Visitation program will resume course after Vacation Bible School ends.
Vacation Bible School is next week and everything is ready to go.
The Congregational Retreat will be September 7th from 9 AM - 3 PM. We get the facility for free and only pay for food and beverages. Cost will be $360 based on 35 people.
Committee Reports—Worship/Music/Memorial Committee: Music has been selected through the middle of August.
A motion was made by Fred Strine to accept committee reports, seconded by Shay Clamme. Motion carried.
Council Reports—Deacons: July 7th - 82 attended and 75 communed
One person was helped to take her son to the doctor in Ft. Wayne by buying gas - $30. Helped with an electric bill - $133.05 and helped with an electric bill deposit - $83.00
Treasurer: Report was reviewed.Motion to accept council reports
by Kathy Sharp, seconded by Cindy Knote. Motion carried.
Old Business: Debbie provided information on time spent on church accounting.
Sent information to the Synod Office about our New Constitution..
New Business: Proposal by Was-son Nursery for west lot. Chris Coy met with Pastor David and gave an explanation of the proposal.
BeautificationEvangelismCostOutdoorWho will do the maintenance?The proposal for west lot and the
design from Wasson’s will be ex-plained to the congregation during the Semi-Annual meeting. The council
will recommend that we start on the design by asking members of the con-gregation if they would like to pur-chase trees in memory of someone.
The Congregational Retreat will be held at Lake Placid Christian Con-ference Center on Saturday, Septem-ber 7th from 9:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m.
Starting on roof after rain.Greg Sullivan quit working for
Thrivent to take another job so he will no longer be taking care of our Thri-vent Investment Accounts.
The Semi-Annual Meeting will be held on July 21st following the worship service.
Outdoor Worship may be held on August 11, 2013 at Ray Stanley’s.
Debbie’s vacation request was okayed.
Rides for parishioners.Church liability.The meeting was closed with all
praying the Lord’s Prayer.The next scheduled meeting will
be held on Tuesday, August 13, 2013 at 7:00 p.m. Pat Gillis will give the devotions.
Submitted by,Barbara HardwickRecording Secretary
Worship Schedule ChangesStarting on September 8th
Sunday School will begin at 9:15 a.m. and Worship will begin at 10:30 a.m.
September 2013Lay Ministry Servers
SeptemberBirthdays
Greeters
Ushers
Lectors Assisting Ministers
The Zion Herald“Happy are those whose strength is in God,
In whose heart are the highways to Zion.” (Psalm 84:5)
Zion Lutheran Church308 S. Monroe Street
Hartford City, IN 47348
U Serving the Lord in Gladness U
David Fleener, PastorChurch Office: [email protected]
www.zionhartfordcity.org
September 1stSunday School at 9:00 AM followed by Worship at 10:00 AM
Beginning September 8thSunday School at 9:15 AM followed by Worship at 10:30 AM
Sept. 1 Bill and Joretta Hiday—Jim and Betty RinkerSept. 8 Anita Reid—Buck and Kathy SharpSept. 15 Max and Sandy Langdon—Claretta DutroSept. 22 Joanne Stoll—Don and June LaddSept. 29 Steve and Viola Willmann—Louie and Joyce Willmann
Sept. 1 Fred Strine, Allen Stallsmith, Cindy Knote and Gene BanterSept. 8 Fred Strine, Gene Banter, Bill Hiday and Tom WillmannSept. 15 Cindy Knote, Gene Banter, Bill Hiday and Tom WillmannSept. 22 Allen Stallsmith, Gene Banter, Bill Hiday and Tom WillmannSept. 29 Fred Strine, Gene Banter, Bill Hiday and Tom Willmann
Sept. 1 Carolyn SmithSept. 8 Kathy SharpSept. 15 Sandy LangdonSept. 22 Max HileSept. 29 Chris Coy
Margaret Hunnicutt 9-1Pastor David Fleener 9-3Arlan Bennett 9-7Debbie Jones 9-9Don Goetz 9-9Tanner Hendricks 9-11Tom Willmann 9-15Ethan Turner 9-16Viola Willmann 9-19Pam Kizer 9-20Dennis Walker 9-23Bob Thomas 9-25Orville Uggen 9-27Gene Banter 9-28Max Langdon 9-28Autumn McCammon 9-29Sept. 1 Sarah Fleener
Sept. 8 Chris CoySept. 15 Mark ProutSept. 22 Denise HileSept. 29 Jody Stanley
