TRI POINT LUTHERAN PARISH

CARELETTERJULY2015

PASTOR JAMES SELLS & PASTOR BECKY SELLSPO BOX 343

GENEVA, NE 68361402.759.3822

TRIPOINTLUTHERANPARISH@GMAIL.COM

Prince of Peace Lutheran Church

1026 O StreetGeneva, NE 68361

402.759.3822poplcgeneva@windstream.net

St. John’s Lutheran ChurchPO Box 188

Ohiowa, NE 68416402.295.2324

First Evangelical Lutheran Church

105 South Third StreetPO Box 248

McCool Junction, NE 68401402.724.2441

CARELETTERJULY2015

FROM THE PASTOR’S DESK

Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

With the coming of July we have many summer activities behind us: VBS in Fillmore county, confirmation camp, and our men’s retreat. But this in no way means that we are done. The Youth Gathering is next. In just a few short weeks several of our High School kids from each church in the parish will travel to Detroit for a week of worship, service, and fun. We ask that you pray for them in their travels (and pray for pastor). Detroit was chosen this year because it is a community in desperate need of God’s love and encouragement. Our bible theme for the event is the Gospel of Mark with a focus on the kids and the residents of Detroit finding a new way to look at how God is interacting with the world. As you read this please know that you too can join in on the mission work through a monetary donation. Here are several opportunities to give. Give online by going to www.elca.org/youthgathering and click on the giving opportunities button. This will make available multiple gift ideas from Urban Gardens to Art Supplies. The idea is to beautify and improve the community. We will also be taking a collection on July 12th at each congregation to buy diapers for families in need in Detroit. Please commit to helping in at least one of these missions!

Right after the Youth Gathering there is Bible School in McCool Junction. Regardless of church home, this is an opportunity for the whole parish. If you would like to attend, please contact Pr. Becky or Pr. James and we will get you further information.

Look for our joint worship lakeside service at Lone Star in August. It is a great way to end the summer and get back into the Fall groove together.

By the time these events are thrown into the mix of everything else, what with the 4th and summer vacations, things can get a little hectic. The church is sensitive to this and so, through July, we will be observing a meeting sabbatical across the parish, so those who give so freely of your time and talents to the church, take a deep breath and remember that in our plans, schedules, and vacations God is with us and at the end, brings us all to his peace. This has been promised and has been shown throughout history so, if summer “stuff” is starting to get you frazzled, take a step back, breathe deeply, and remember that God is ultimately in charge and he knows the plans He has for us, and these are not plans for harm.

Peace be with you in this month of July!

Pr. James

JULY 2015 – PRINCE OF PEACESUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

28 29 30 1 2 3 47:00pm WELCA mtg. Happy Fourth

of July!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Pastors on Vacation - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -5 6 7 8 9 10 118:30am Worship 7am Men’s B. Study 9:30am YGM at Planning Day O. Hrs.: 9am-Noon9:30am Fellowship 10:30am Text Study Starbucks in York for Pastors

O. Hrs.: 2-5:30pm 1-2pm MinisterialPastors on Vacation O. Hrs.: 2-5:30pm

12 13 14 15 16 17 188:30am Worship w/ Pastors’ Sabbath 7am Men’s B. Study 12 Noon Senior Meal O. Hrs.:Holy Communion 10:30am Text Study at Senior Center 9:30-Noon9:30am Fellowship O. Hrs.: 2-5:30pm

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Youth Gathering - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -19 20 21 22 23 24 2510:00am Fillmore Pastors’ Sabbath 7am Men’s B. Study O. Hrs.: 2-5:30pm Planning Day O. Hrs.: 9am-NoonCounty Fair Service 10:30am Text Study for Pastors

O. Hrs.: 2-5:30pm Fillmore CountyYouth Gathering - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Vacation Bible School @ McCool - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Relay for Life26 27 28 29 30 31 18:30am Worship w/ Pastors’ Sabbath 7am Men’s B. Study O. Hrs.: 2-5:30pm O. Hrs.: 9am-NoonHoly Communion 10:30am Text Study 2:30pm Hymn Sing9:30am Fellowship O. Hrs.: 2-5:30pm at Heritage

SERVERS FOR JULY 2015Counters for July: Chris Coash & Mark O’Brien

Worship Date July 5 July 12 July 19 July 26Greeters Idonna Kuhns Koenig Family Parde Family Teresa KappermanUshers O’Brien Family Parde Family Pendleton Family Poppert FamilyReader Peggy Birky Chris Coash Roger Coon Jim DonovanAcolytes Aidan Trowbridge &

Caleb NebeSadie Birky &Faith Lauber

Hunter Nebe &Hannah Norvell

Trenton Srajhans &Riley Moses

Video Lydia Birky Parker Trowbridge Marissa Nun Aaron PoppertCommunion Prep. Sylvia Jividen Idonna KuhnsCommunion Asst. LaVon Parde Chris CoashSound Board Max Lichti Jim Donovan Roxann Hafer Elmer HessheimerFellowship Pendleton Family Parde Family Smith Family John Steider Family

JULY 2015 – FIRST EVANGELICALSUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

28 29 30 1 2 3 4Noon-1pm Happy FourthSenior Meal of July!7pm Men’s B. Studyat Kerry’s

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Pastors on Vacation - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -5 6 7 8 9 10 1110:30-11:30am 10:30am Text Study 9:30am YGM at O Hrs.: 3-5:00pmWorship Starbucks in York

1-2pm Ministerial7pm Men’s B. Study

Pastors on Vacation O Hrs.: 3-5:00pm12 13 14 15 16 17 1810:30-11:30am Pastors’ Sabbath 10:30am Text Study Noon-1pm O Hrs.: 3-5:00pmWorship w/ Holy Senior MealCommunion O Hrs.: 3-5:00pm

7pm Men’s B. Studyat Kerry’s - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Youth Gathering - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

19 20 21 22 23 24 2510:30-11:30am Pastors’ Sabbath 10:30am Text Study Noon-1pm O Hrs.: 3-5:00pmWorship w/ Holy Senior MealCommunion O Hrs.: 3-5:00pm

7pm Men’s B. StudyYouth Gathering - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Vacation Bible School @ McCool - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -26 27 28 29 30 31 110:30-11:30am Pastors’ Sabbath 10:30am Text Study Noon-1pm O Hrs.: 3-5:00pmWorship Senior Meal

O Hrs.: 3-5:00pm7pm Men’s B. Studyat Kerry’s

SERVERS FOR JULY 2015Worship Date July 5 July 12 July 19 July 26Reader Pattie Bailey Conner Cogswell Jim Norquest Mike VorderstrasseOrganist Heather Stahr Deb Tonniges Jane Hoeft Jane HoeftUshers Jeff Davis &

Terry ChrismanJeff Davis &Terry Chrisman

Tom Cunningham &Al Mack

Tom Cunningham &Al Mack

Communion Asst. Alecia Mertz Curtis Cogswell

JULY 2015 – ST. JOHN’SSUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

28 29 30 1 2 3 4Happy Fourth

of July!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Pastors on Vacation - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -5 6 7 8 9 10 119:00am Communion 10:30am Text Study 9:30am YGM at Planning Day O. Hrs.: 9-11:00amService 1:30pm WELCA mtg. Starbucks in York for Pastors

O. Hrs: 3-5:00pm 1-2pm MinisterialPastors on Vacation

12 13 14 15 16 17 189:00am Worship Pastors’ Sabbath 10:30am Text Study 9:30am BirthdayService O. Hrs: 3-5:00pm Coffee @ Ohiowa

Cafe- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Youth Gathering - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

19 20 21 22 23 24 259:00am Communion Pastors’ Sabbath 10:30am Text Study Planning Day O. Hrs.: 9-11:00amService O. Hrs: 3-5:00pm for Pastors10:00am - - - Sewing Days - - - Fillmore CountyCounty Fair Service - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Vacation Bible School @ McCool - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Relay for Life26 27 28 29 30 31 19:00am Worship Pastors’ Sabbath 10:30am Text Study O. Hrs.: 9-11:00amService O. Hrs: 3-5:00pm

SERVERS FOR JULY 2015Organist: Nancy Cradduck

Ushers for July: Ron & Georgia Schropfer, Vicki OzenbaughFlowers for July: Darlene Most

Communion Assistant for July: Darcy NunWorship Date July 5 July 12 July 19 July 26Acolyte Kala Most Kimberly Schropfer KayLynn Sieber Conner NunLay Reader Peggy Roit Tanner Nun Kristi Most Gaylord Cradduck

ST. JOHN’S NEWS

St. John’s Council MinutesSt John’s Council met on June 7, 2015. Present were Gaylord, Darcy, Chris, Scott, Luther and Pastor Becky. Barb was absent.

Gaylord called the meeting to order. Minutes were read. Treasurer’s report was given and showed a balance of $49753.26. Pastor Becky gave their monthly report.

Scott moved and Chris seconded to approve the reports. Carried

Old Business.

Storage building materials are all in and now are waiting for a good time with help for construction. It was also mentioned to add rock from the edge of the alley to the building.

No word on entry door from Fairbury Glass.

Parish secretary is going well.

The Food stand for Ohiowa Days is ready.

Hymnal order will be put in shortly as well as an order for the labels for inside the hymnals.

New Business

Memorial boards were discussed.

BRAN (Bike Riders Across Nebraska) bake sale fundraiser for the youth was discussed.

Propane contracts were discussed along with a Paschal candle. It would be an oil candle and looking at purchasing it with memorial funds.

The lake side service will be Aug. 16th.

There will be no July Council meeting.

July Communion Assistant is Darcy

August Communion Assistant is Luther

Next Council meeting will be held August 9th

With no further business, Scott moved and Chris seconded to adjourn. Motion carried.

Acting Secretary Luther Roit

ST. JOHN’S NEWS

2015 Lutheran World Relief School KitsIt is time again to help our WELCA group in making school kits.

Why do we send school supplies? “To the children who receive school kits, these supplies mean the difference between getting an education or not! In the places where LWR works, even a few required supplies, like pens and paper, may be more than many families can afford. And when parents can afford to send one of their children to school, girls rarely get priority, yet the education level of mothers has the biggest input on development.” (quoted from Lutheran World Relief’s website, http://www.lwr.org.)

GUIDELINES: Please give new items only. Please do not donate items with any religious symbols, messages, or your congregation’s name. Please do not donate any items decorated with a U.S. flag, patriotic or military symbols, or references

to the armed forces, including camouflage.

The items that we will need for our kits (note changes made from last year) are:1. Four 70-sheet notebooks of wide- or college-ruled lines. 8” x 10½” size. No loose-leaf paper.2. One 30-centimeter ruler, or a ruler with centimeters on one side and inches on the other.3. One pencil sharpener.4. One blunt scissors (safety scissors with embedded steel blades work well).5. Five unsharpened #2 pencils with erasers (no punchy pencils, please).6. Five black or blue ballpoint pens (no gel ink).7. One box of 16 or 24 crayons.8. One 2½“ eraser.

Now is the time to shop for these items. The months of July and August are when department stores have school supplies on sale and it is the time to buy.

Bring your back-pack items to the church any time during August or September. Monetary donations will be accepted anytime and will be used to purchase the required items.

Thank you so much for your help for these young deserving students!

St. John’s Women of the ELCA

JULY CELEBRATIONSBIRTHDAYS ANNIVERSARIES

PARISH-WIDEJuly 27 Pastor Becky Sells

PRINCE OF PEACEJuly 01 Angie Howell

04 Shaunna O’Brien05 Richard Knoche06 Tara Coon07 Maurine Domeier

Justin White08 Keith Kapperman

Ashton O’Brien11 Nancy Meyer

Brittni Steinle12 Wyatt Hafer

Richard Reinsch13 Jordan Duensing17 Parker Trowbridge

18 Hannah Duensing19 Richard Trapp20 Dirk Coon

Allison Meyer21 Robert Boyes

Tamra LuzumLance Rippe

23 KaDee Nunns24 Patricia Schake

Karen White26 Carl Howell

Heather Schultz28 Erin Wehland29 Max Lichti

July 06 Samuel & LaDonna Pendleton18 David & Tami Dittmer

Patrick & Rhonda Duensing25 Christine & Russell Coash

Danny & Kristin Nun29 Donald & Sylvia Jividen

FIRST EVANGELICALJuly 14 Aaron Norquest

15 Arianna Chrisman16 Makenna West17 Cindy Matousek18 Lisa Johnson

20 Beau Gerken25 Pam Norquest30 Jim Green31 Taylor Davis

July 17 Jim & Pam Norquest18 Jim & Dona Kaliff27 Don & Bernace Norquest

ST. JOHN’SJuly 01 Larry Mussman

Brian Sieber02 Louis Schropfer04 Gaylene Gaston06 Chase Capek09 Roger Schropfer15 Bill Schropfer19 Georgia Schropfer

22 Louise Wulf23 Michael Cradduck

Jon Halama29 Dan Deke

Grace O’NeilCynthia OzenbaughJessica Roit

July 19 Duane & Marlene Cecrle22 Scott & Kristi Most24 Roger & Carrie Schropfer30 Lowell & Helen Myers

Brian & Wendy Mussman

Dear readers,Hello! My name is Joseph Chapman, and I am the new administrative secretary for the Tri Point Lutheran Parish. I was born and raised just outside of Geneva, and after attending college at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln I am happy to be back in such a great small-town community! So far, my time with this parish has been amazing, and I am thrilled to work with Pastors James and Becky as well as the rest of the parish to usher in new ideas, such as this revamped parish-wide newsletter. Outside of work, my hobbies include reading (20 books so far in 2015!), listening to music, and adding to my overwhelming collection of board games. I look forward to working with each and every one of you to make your church experience the best it can be!

Best wishes,Joseph Chapman

GENERAL PARISH NEWS

2015 Nebraska Synod Assembly HighlightsThe Assembly’s Opening Worship featured a message from the Rev. Wilma Rommel, vice president of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church in Argentina and Uruguay (IELU). Pastor Rommel was present to help commemorate the 25th anniversary of the relationship between the Nebraska Synod and the IELU.

The Nebraska Synod Assembly gave an offering for the Campaign for the ELCA, to be designated for Missionaries and Young Adults in Global Mission. The final amount of the offering will be reported once all of the contributions have been received.

The assembly was treated to Faith Stories from three faces around the Nebraska Synod: Bill Davis, Erin Coleman Branchaud and Orrin Strand.

After considering and rejecting three proposed amendments, the Assembly adopted a preliminary Synod budget for 2016.

The Assembly endorsed a five-year Strategic Mission and Vision Plan. Among other things, the plan outlines opportunities for study, improvements to the call process, emphasis on faith formation, and enhancements to Synod staffing.

The Assembly considered two resolutions: Resolution 2015:1, offered by the Parish Ministry Associate Steering Committee, encourages congregations “to

foster Christian vocation by encouraging and equipping people” as part of a Life of Faith Initiative. The resolution was adopted.

Resolution 2015:2, offered by Mark Caspers of Auburn, would have directed pastors not to discourage participation in Freemasonry or other Masonic organizations. The resolution was filed after the 90-day deadline and the Assembly voted against bring the resolution to the floor for consideration.

Other highlights included the Partners in Ministry Banquet, the Synod 5K Run, Youth Convo ’15, youth programming, the Night of the Arts program and service projects at the UNK Lutheran Student Center and Mosaic in Axtell.

The 2016 Nebraska Synod Assembly will be held June 2-4, 2016, at the Younes Conference Center in Kearney.

For more resources from the 2015 Nebraska Synod Assembly, including downloadable resources, go to:

http://www.nebraskasynod.org/assembly/summary

Contributors: Amanda White, Sarah Kocher and Justin Perkins.