Meetings:
- meetings with Pastor John, council, staff
-Never—Ending Night de-briefing meeting and brainstorming for High School NEN
-meetings with Interim Children’s Minister (including about Christmas caroling and Christmas program)
-Executive committee meeting
-conference pastor’s gathering
-met with Praise Band director
-Conference Dean’s meeting at synod office
-met with Tim Thomton about endowment by-laws
-Budget and Finance committee meeting
Events:
-Men’s Breakfast
-High School coffeehouse evening (Christmas party)
-Wednesday night confirmation
-Fun With Faith Christmas caroling event
-Lefse-making fundraiser with High School youth
-Hanging of the Greens Christmas concert
-visit from Bishop Moyo from Zimbabwe
-Gifts of hope campaign to bring light to Burure mission
-youth band rehearsals
-Thanksgiving Eve worship service and pie social
--interfaith luncheon with Dr. Gary Anderson (prof. from Notre Dame interested in Jewish-Christian relations at CLU)
Visits:
Personal: 10
Extra Notes:
-Endowment
Committee: Our third meeting with
Greg Shepherd was cancelled due to a family emergency that Greg had. We are looking to re-schedule.
- National
Youth Gathering update: Currently
have 24 students registered and 5 adult helpers, including 2 young men who are
youth group alumni. We decided not to do
flamingo idea do to time and expense. We
have done a Lefse fundraiser. We are still in process of getting
orders. We have done enough to have give everyone 10 lefse, but some ordered 25.
We may have to refund some money if we cannot fill all the orders before
Christmas
-Youth Internship: Still trying to get appointment
to meet with potential intern. I have
asked her to provide references and
informed her of our volunteer background check.
I have also spoken to Cathy Channels about the idea of having her spend
some time at our pre-school and Cathy was very open to the idea.
[Over]
-For Theme agenda
item: Pastor John and I met to
discuss theme issues.
Decided we really need to keep unified theme going all year at all
events (annual meeting, Lent, Summer theme, Stewardship campaign, Advent, etc.)
as much as possible. It also seems to make
sense to launch theme in Sept. as opposed to in January half-way through our
programmatic year. With that in mind we
are recommending “Bread for the Journey” as the theme for Jan. through August. In July and August we will bring ideas to
council for new them to launch in Sept.
We will also try to incorporate a recognizable logo as part of the
theme.
-E-Care visits: In this day and age a lot of communication
takes place over the internet. I was
wondering about adding an “e-care” section to my “Visits” report as way of
keeping track of this. Does that sound
legitimate?
Meetings:
- meetings with Pastor John,
council, staff
-Never—Ending Night meeting
-meetings with new Interim
Children’s Minister
-Service and Missions
committee
-Adult confirmation guide
huddle
-conference pastor’s gathering
-Personnel committee meeting
-met with Praise Band
director
Events:
-Men’s Breakfast
-High School coffeehouse
evening
-Wednesday night confirmation
-Fun With Faith on campus
event
-Family Faith night…potluck
and learning time..viewed “connecting with your kids” video
-Never-Ending Night event for
confirmation youth
-Relay for Life service
project with HS youth
-ultimate Frisbee with High
School youth
-Crossbeams
-attended wedding for Ron
Higginbotham and Lisa Hatfield
-Bishop’s Stewarship
Dinner at CLU
-Fun With Faith trip to
Underwood farms and dinner after
Visits:
Personal: 8
Extra Notes:
-Endowment
Committee: Committee had second
meeting with Greg Shepherd. We are
supposed to send out a letter and a survey before Christmas. We are thinking about putting Greg’s bio in
this month’s newsletter then either doing direct mailer with letter and survey
or waiting and putting letter and survey in with Dec. newsletter as an
insert. Any input from Council? (a sample of the letter is available.)
- Item for council: What
do you think about youth doing flamingo insurance for National Gathering
fundraiser? Last meeting we said we
would put this on agenda for council approval.
-Youth Internship: I have received a request from a CLU student
to do an internship at Mount Cross through the new Christian Leadership program
there. I personally would be interested
in pursuing this, but I would like to have Council’s support before I move
forward. At the moment I don’t know if
this would have any fiscal ramifications for the church. From conversations I
have had with a CLU prof. in charge of this new
program a stipend might be welcomed but not required of a participating church.
-I
am looking into possibly coaching the girls basketball team at my daughter’s
school during Dec. and Jan. This will
mean flexing my schedule for a couple hours and couple days a week. I just want council to be aware of this and
that I will use other times (mornings and evenings) to make sure my duties are
still getting done..
Meetings:
- meetings with Pastor John,
council, staff
-Never—Ending Night meeting
-meetings with new Interim Children’s
Minister
-Service and Missions
committee
-Youth Leadership team
-Adult confirmation guide
orientation
-endowment committee meeting
-confirmation orientation
-High School student and parent orientation
-met with Matt Johnson, Pastor
John and Stan Patschek about video introducing folks
to Mount Cross
-conference Dean’s meetings
at Synod Office
-met with Genna
and Pam Hoffman about Facebook page for HS youth
-met with Ray Clem about Dave
Ramsey’s Financial Peace University
Events:
-Men’s Breakfast
-First Communion class
-High School coffeehouse
evening
-confirmation hike to the CLU
cross
-Family Faith night…potluck
and learning time..talked about finances and faith and viewed Dave Ramsey video
-confirmation class
-installation for Lynn Bulock
-“When the Bush Stops
Burning” conference at CLU on faith and economic life
-pre-school chapel
-First Communion Sunday
-Alma Via chapel service
-conference Lutheran youth
worker’s brunch
Visits:
Personal: 8
Extra Notes:
-Family Faith Nights: We had a Sunday evening potluck and dinner, followed
by children and adult break out groups then coming back together for
worship. There may be another small
group that grows out of this to do Financial Peace University video series with
Dave Ramsey.
-Endowment
Committee: We met with Greg Shepherd
to begin our year-long journey of learning and marketing so that we might
better integrate legacy giving into the fabric of our church member’s sense of
stewardship. He reminded us of goals a
purpose of this time and challenged members to think about their own legacy as
we prepare to talk about it with others.
-High School Youth
Involvement: I’m excited about the commitment of this year’s high school group and
their willingness to get involved. We
have four high school youth who are helping out with confirmation in addition
to attending high school youth group. We
have two students committing to SundaySchool and
challenging others to do the same. Item
for council: What do you think about youth doing flamingo insurance for
National Gathering fundraiser?
-Bishop’s stewardship
dinner: Oct. 18 at CLU 6:30-8:30pm in Overton Hall. This is both for Pastors and congregational
leaders. Dinner will be provided. Let Pastor Erik know if you can come.
Meetings:
-Staff meeting, meetings with Pastor John,
-meetings with Director of Children’s ministry, FamilyFaith Nights and VBS
-met with VBS co-ordinator
-meeting with Praise band leader
-met with Mount Cross Young Adult volunteer co-ordinator
Events:
-9-day High School Youth Trip to Portland OR
-Men’s Breakfast
-Family Faith Night
-CDC summer school chapel
-chapel at Alma Via Assisted Living Homes
-funeral for Jeanne Strand
-funeral for Gene Soyster
Visits:
Personal: 6
Extra Notes:
- High School Summer Trip Highlights:
Spent 9 days on road trip with High school youth. Visited our Lutheran Office of Public Policy
and got guided tour of state capitol including meeting our senator Tony
Strickland. Went whitewater rafting on
Trinity river in northern California and sandboarding
on dunes in Florence OR. Did service
projects on tree farm and at St. Luke’s Lutheran church community meal in
Portland OR. Stayed at 5 different
Lutheran churches who graciously let us stay with them. Did devotions and worship every night around
them of “trees in Scripture”. Thanks to
Tracie Fickenscher and EmilyLoomis who helped as adult
volunteers and thanks to congregation for supporting us!
-Family Faith Nights:
had our second our night
this past Sunday with parenting class and children’s program. Used video from Timothy Smith, a family coach
from Thousand Oaks. We will meet again
in August with an eye towards maybe continuing in the Fall.
-Vacation Days: I will miss two Sundays in July and the July
council meeting due to being on vacation.
I will be doing some continuing education at Holden Village, a Lutheran retreat
center in WA state, and attending a
family reunion for the Goehner side north of Seattle, WA. We will be back on July 27.
Meetings:
-Staff meeting, meetings with Pastor John, council
-meetings with Director of
Children’s ministry
-collegium…conference
pastor’s gathering
-Service and Missions meeting
-meeting with Praise band
leader
-youth leadership meeting
-rehearsals for adult praise
band
-Tent event planning meeting
-pre-marital visits with
granddaughter of Masons and her finance
-summer trip planning meeting
with main adult volunteer
Events:
-High School coffeehouse
event
-High School Many Meals
service event at Thursday Many Meals
-confirmation Wednesday night
events
-CDC chapel time
-Men’s Breakfast
-Fun With Faith Wednesday
event
-Fun With Faith end of the
year BBQ picnic
-Sunday Morning adult ed.
-confirmation kayak adventure
-Easter Breakfast
-Tent Event
-young adult Bible Study
night at Johnson’s house
-exemplary youth ministry
workshop at Holy Trinity, Thousand Oaks
-Holy Week (Maundy Thursday,
Good Friday, Easter Vigil, Easter Sunday)
-attended funeral of Tom
Carr’s mother
-Holy Week presentation at
Casa Pacifica
-Crossbeams
Visits:
Personal: 11
Extra Notes:
-Tent Event took some extra
work to pull off, but well worth it.
Great spirit to the morning and I’ve heard some positive feedback. There is already talk of doing it again and maybe
using the tent for a Friday night event as well such as a concert for youth or
something.
-Had
first meeting of mount cross young adults.
It was a good gathering and there seems to be interest in getting a
group going.
-We
will be confirming 8 junior high students on Sunday. You are welcome to join us to hear their God
stories…a reflection of their journey of faith so far.
-There
are 20 High School students signed up for our annual summer trip. We will be traveling to Portland Oregon
having adventures in God’s creation and doing some service in Portland before
heading home. This is the second summer
trip that is really the fruit of my sabbatical in terms of route and
content. Our theme will be trees in
Scripture from Genesis to Revelation.
(we will be also making stop at Faith Lutheran in Chico where Meredith
Gardner now serves at youth minister).
-Thanks
to Kevin Churchill and Charlene Sakioka this year for once again organizing the
Easter Breakfast!
-Attended
workshop on exemplary youth ministry this past Saturday. Some very interesting information partly
based on a sociological study on spirituality and religion. Two findings that raised questions for
me:
1) Parents really do matter when it comes to
faith. Something like 75% of students
surveyed said they believed something similar to their parents. It raised the question in my mind, how are we
doing at Mount Cross helping parents grow in their faith and how can we give
them resources to help their children grow in their faith?
2)
Congregations really do matter when it comes to faith. Of the small percentage of youth who were
really active in their faith, all of them named nurturing adults and
communities of faith as big influences in their lives. So how do we continue to create a community
at Mount Cross where the lives of faith of our young people are nurtured? How do we foster a culture where adults are
“triple A”…Authentic, Affirming, and Available?
Meetings:
-Staff meeting, meetings with Pastor John, council
-meetings with Director of
Children’s ministry
-collegium…conference
pastor’s gathering
-Service and Missions meeting
-meeting with Praise band
leader
-Synod Dean’s meeting
-youth leadership meeting
-youth band rehearsals
-rehearsals for adult praise
band
-Tent event planning meeting
-meeting for end of Sunday
school, beginning of summer worship schedule event and lunch on June 5th
-met with Spiritual director
-CPR class with pre-school
teachers to update my heart-saver certification
Events:
-High School coffeehouse
event
-high School event at Skyhigh
-High School Many Meals
service event at Thursday Many Meals
-confirmation Wednesday night
events, including Lenten services
-CDC chapel time
--CDC spring sing
-Men’s Breakfast
-Fun With Faith Wednesday
event
-Sunday Morning adult ed.
-funeral for Ed Cordell
-CROP Walk
-Ash Wednesday service
Visits:
Personal: 11
Extra Notes:
-Pastor John, myself and Josh
Graziani have been putting together ideas for the tent event. It is shaping up to be a great morning with
tent stories from scripture and thinking about those living in tents around the
world. There is going to be an
intergenerational event at 9:00-10:00 and worship at 10:00. Please come and be a part of the experience!
-Josh
and I are also working on a “beginning of summer schedule” lunch and fun event
on Sunday June 5th. This is
also the Sunday where we are inviting pre-school families to come and be a part
of a blessing for those students going into kindergarten next year. We’re hoping the lunch will entice them to
stay after service along with our own members.
-Also
looking ahead to summer and working with Josh on planning some family nights
where adults can break out and do some parenting or marriage classes, possibly
on Second Sunday of the summer months
Meetings:
-Staff meeting, meetings with Pastor John, council
-meetings with Director of
Children’s ministry
-collegium…conference
pastor’s gathering
-Service and Missions meeting
-meeting with Praise band
leader
-council retreat
-met with marriage counselor
speaker for future collegiums
-Endowment meeting with ELCA
rep
-Executive committee meeting
about finances
-chili cook-off and
congregational annual meeting
-Dean’s meeting
-youth leadership meeting to
plan Bunko night with San Diego High School choir
-met with Brickley girls before
their father’s funeral
Events:
-High School coffeehouse
event with Jon Vevia’s choir
-confirmation Wednesday night
events
-CDC chapel time
-Men’s Breakfast
-Junior High winter camp
-High School Winter camp
-funeral for Bets Tabe
-funeral for Mark Brickley
-Food Share Service project
with confirmation
-Disneyland trip with High
School youth
-Fun With Faith Wednesday
event
-Sunday Morning adult ed.
-Bishop’s colloquy in Long
Beach
Visits:
Personal: 14
Extra Notes:
-Jon Vevia’s
choir from the Lutheran High School of San Diego was well-received by the
congregation. Thanks to all who helped with the dinner and Bunko game on
Saturday as well as all those who helped to host.
-Missed
Sunday January 16th due to illness.
Thanks to all the staff and volunteers who helped cover for me!
-Our
annual High School and Junior High winter camps occurred the last two
weekends. We had 12 high school youth,
9Junior High, 1 parent helper and 3 college helpers attend the camps. Great Spirit-filled weekends. Lots of worship, discussion, Bible Study and
even snow! It was especially fun for me
to have youth group “alumni” come back and help out with youth. They did a great
job and showed some real leadership skills.
Meetings:
-Staff meeting, meetings with Pastor John, council
-meetings with Director of
Children’s ministry
-collegium…conference
pastor’s gathering
-Service and Missions meeting
-met with Many Meals co-ordinator
-youth leadership team
meeting
Events:
-High School coffeehouse
event..Chistmas party
-confirmation Christmas
caroling
-confirmation Wednesday night
events
-youth band rehearsal
-led youth band at Sunday
worship
-CDC chapel time
-Men’s Breakfast
-Children’s Christmas program
-CDC pre-school Christmas
program
-Christmas Eve services
-reception for retiring bell
choir director
-Crossbeams senior luncheon
-Labyrinth prayer walk event
with confirmation students
Visits:
Personal: 9
For Council:
-Frequent visitor Marty Mannasson to did coffee and cookie reception between
traditional Christmas Eve services. He was very excited about the opportunity to
serve and while there was not a large amount of people who went over to the
Parish Life Center, those did enjoyed the refreshment, so I would say the time
was well-received.
-Missed
Sunday Dec. 5 due to an illness. Took 4
vacation days after Christmas Sunday Dec. 26.
-Former choir and praise band
director Jon Vevia is coming on Sunday Feb. 20, there will be about 24 students and 6 adults
who will need host families. We need council, choir and praise band to
help rally support for hosting and doing potluck dinner on Feb. 19.
-Service
and Missions would like to increase our involvement with New City Parish. Thinking of maybe sending a team down, doing
choir exchange, or other events that would more closely link us with the idea
of developing a “sister parish” relationship or doing a bigger project for them
like we did for Peace in Slidell. There was also some discussion on Haiti being a place where we could do a “project
peace” type focus.
-ideas
for theme this year (see Pastor John’s report)
Meetings:
-Staff meeting, meetings with Pastor John, council
-meetings with Director of
Children’s ministry
-meetings with Praise Band
director to plan 10:45 service
--VC CLUE meeting to plan Las
Posadas event
-youth leadership team
meeting
-yearly review with Praise Band leader
-collegium…conference
pastor’s gathering
Events:
-High School coffeehouse
event
-High School chapel at Alma
via and caroling
-Fun With Faith Wednesday
event
-confirmation Wednesday night
events
-youth band rehearsal
-led youth band at Sunday
worship
-CDC chapel time
-Men’s Breakfast
- missionary Sunday…visit
from Rob and Eshinee Veith
-Thanksgiving eve service
-Confirmation skating night
-VC CLUE Las Posadas event at
Govt. center for immigration reform
-funeral for John Golnik
-funeral for Janet Kohlmeier
Visits:
Personal: 8
For Council:
-Request from frequent
visitor Marty Mannasson to do a dinner between
Christmas Eve services. He would need
volunteer help and would request funds for meat to put on the dinner. I mentioned this might be a difficult time
slot to pull something off, but told him I would bring it to council.
-Request
from member Kimberly Avery for support in the Miss Ventura County contest. This could take on several levels of financial
commitment. (See printed information)
She expressed that all contestants are encouraged to seek out sponsorship from
volunteer organizations that they work with.
Kimberly shared that it may seem odd at first for the church to sponsor
her in this endeavor, but she thought of the church because this is where she
has chosen to place her volunteer energies.
I would recommend we lend our name support behind Kimberly. We need to discuss what level of financial
support we feel is appropriate, but committing at some level would mean a lot to Kimberly who has been a very active
member and now that she is in college is continuing to support the church with
her time. It would also be good PR for
the church.
-Service and Mission activities for Christmas
season: $1,500 for Alternative
Christmas giving to ELCA Malaria Initiative, $990 for Fair Trade sale for
Lutheran World Relief, Hickory House
party, Holiday Skedaddle…6 families
sponsored, received Thrivent Grant for Operation Christmas child that Fun With
Faith kids helped pack
Meetings:
-Staff meeting, meetings with Pastor John, council
-meetings with Director of
Children’s ministry
-meetings with Praise Band
director to plan 10:45 service
-service and missions
committee
--VC CLUE meeting to plan Las
Posadas event
-youth leadership team
meeting
-met with welcome minister
and communion visitation co-ordinator
-meeting with youth workers
to de-brief the Never-Ending Night
-meeting with Many Meals
Thursday night churches
-meeting with Peace Lutheran
for Many Meals
-endowment meeting…questions
for ELCA rep.
-yearly review with Director
of Children’s Ministry
Events:
-High School coffeehouse
events…did care packages for college students
-Fun With Faith Wednesday
event
-Fun With Faith trip to
Underwood Farms
-confirmation Wednesday night
events…health kit servant project
-Confirmation Guide huddle
-youth band rehearsal
-led youth band at Sunday
worship
-Never-Ending Night
-CDC chapel time
-Men’s Breakfast
-interview with Acorn
newspaper for Many Meals
-Crossbeams
-funeral for Karl Lofquist
Visits:
Personal: 7
For Council:
-Update
on Many Meals…We will be hosting our third Thursday night. We have a good group of faithful point people
who have come forward and our co-ordinator Erin Carty
has really taken initiative and is doing a great job. We are working with Peace
to host our night. The numbers have gone
from 70 up to 100 guests. Thanksgiving will be a special night and although it
is Camarillo Christian’s night we will be contributing. The Acorn also plans to run an article on
Many Meals, particularly the Thursday night, so keep a look out for it in the paper.
-Youth
Service projects…Because of a
grant from Thrivent and shopping by Vibs Clausen, the youth put together around
70 health kits to send to Lutheran World Relief. The high school youth also put together care
packages for Mount Cross young adults in college. We have heard back from many already who have
received a package and said thank you.
-Alternative
Christmas giving…This year “Gifts of Hope” emphasis is on the ELCA
Malaria campaign. We also have Fair
Trade items from Lutheran World Relief
Meetings:
-Staff meeting, meetings with Pastor John, council
-meetings with Director of
Children’s ministry
-meetings with Praise Band director
to plan 10:45 service
-meeting to plan classic rock
concert worship
-worship committee meeting
-service and missions
committee
-conference pastor’s
collegiums
-Dean’s meeting at synod
office
-VC CLUE advisory board
meeting
-youth leadership team meetings
(2)
Events:
-Fun With Faith Wednesday
event
-Fun With Faith family hike
event
-confirmation guide
orientation
-confirmation orientation
-confirmation kick-off hike
-confirmation Wednesday night
events
-High School Relay for Life
service project
-High School orientation
coffeehouse night
-CDC back to school night
-CDC chapel time
- First Communion Class (2
nights)
-First communion Sunday
-Men’s Breakfast
-Introduced Women’s Bible
Study for new year for Sarah Circle
-dedication for gravestone marker
for Kayla Gucciardo
Visits:
Personal: 4
For Council:
-First Communion class…It was a little chaotic the
first night as we had more show up than expected, but it still went well and
there was a great energy. We shared a
meal both nights leading into the learning time and closed in the sanctuary
with more learning and worship. We had
22 students. Each came with a parent or grandparent. Some came with more than
one so over 50 people on campus. We
recognized the students on two different Sundays and everyone has had their
first communion.
-Update
on Many Meals…We will be hosting our second Thursday night. We have a good group of faithful point people
who have come forward and our co-ordinator Erin Carty
has really taken initiative and is doing a great job.
-Special Worship
service…We
did a worship service on Oct. 10 at 10:45am called “I can see clearly now: A classic rock journey through life”. We used the story of the Prodigal Son as a
framework for this service using youth readers.
The service was well-attended (146 people) and seemed to be
well-received. We even had some second
service folks stay for 3rd service so they could see what it was!
Meetings:
-Staff meeting, meetings with Pastor John, council
-meetings with Director of
Children’s ministry
-meetings with Praise Band
director to plan 10:45 service
-Many Meals meeting with new
Mount Cross co-ordinator and Peace Lutheran co-ordinators
-Neighborhood Party planning
meeting
-Sunday School teacher meeting
-meeting with Many Meal
coalition of churches
Events:
-funeral for Wilbur
Fredericks
-church picnic
-Neighborhood party
-CDC orientations
-point person Many Meal mock
dinner night in preparation of our serving
-Habitat for Humanity service
project
-pastor’s collegium
and worship service
-baptism for Sophia Ann Spandrio
-high school summer trip
reunion night
Visits:
Personal: 12
For Council:
-Update
on Many Meals…We have a co-ordinator (Erin Carty) who has
stepped forward to help run the ministry and has really taken ownership right
away. We have met with Peace Lutheran to plan our night and we have a cadre of
10 volunteers who have gone through a training night and will be our “point
people”. Except for getting a couple
more main dishes we are ready for this Thursday! The first Thursday was last week and they had
71 guests.
-Children’s Ministry
Team…In
planning ahead for the coming year the Children’s ministry director (Josh
Graziani) and I have looked at re-organizing the Learning committee into a
Children’s ministry team. The Youth
ministries and Adult Ed will be under a separate heading. Josh has already recruited some new
volunteers and we are excited about this new format.
-Special Worship service…I’m working with the Praise
Band Director in creating a special worship service on Oct. 10 at 10:45am
called “I can see clearly now: A classic
rock journey through life”. We are going
to use the story of the Prodigal Son as a framework for this service.
Meetings:
-Staff meeting, meetings with Pastor John, council
-meetings with Director of
Children’s ministry
-meetings with Praise Band
director to plan 10:45 service
-met with adult volunteers
about summer trip
-Many Meals meeting with new
Mount Cross co-ordinator
-VBS planning meeting
-Service and Missions meeting
Events:
-funeral for Harriet
Stevenson
-funeral for James Jones
-Vacation Bible School (led
music)
-Two Week High School summer
trip to Montana
-Many Meals nigh at Mary
Magdalene Catholic church
Visits:
Personal: 3
For Council:
-I will be taking 7 vacation
days in August. None of them will be on a Sunday.
-Update
on Many Meals…We had a great turn-out on July 26.
Around 25 volunteers came from Mount Cross. Everyone worked hard, and although we had a
few more people than jobs to be done, all of those present had a chance to
observe how the night goes. We now have
a wider base of people from Mount Cross who have an idea of what a night at
Many Meals looks like. They came away
excited and eager to start our own night.
I have also been approached by someone willing to help be a co-ordinator, which is an answer to prayer. So things are continuing to line up well for
our kick-off date of Thursday Sept. 16.
-High
School summer trip update…the trip went really well and all arrived home
safely. We saw some wonderful parts of
God’s creation and were able to get some work done both on the Special K Ranch
and for the park district of Tahoe city.
There were some great conversations in the car, working, and during our
Bible study times. We had many
meaningful worship times including our last night where we did a baptismal
blessing with water we had collected from all the rivers we had visited along
the way. On Sunday Aug. 1st I shared some slides of the trip with
the congregation during the sermon and a different high school youth shared at
each worship service about the impact of the trip on their faith. Thanks for
this opportunity to travel with our youth and have some focused time with them
away from their regular routines.
-First
communion class update…I have met with Pastor John and the other church staff about doing a
First communion class for Kindergarten through third graders. We have set two dates for the class: Thursday Sept. 23th and 30th
from 5:30 to 7:30pm. While moving first communion from 3rd grade
to Kindergarten represents a big change in our current practice, our unwritten
policy as pastors has been that if a parent contacted us about doing communion
at a younger age we would not refuse their child. We have also hit this topic off and on over
the years with both Worship and Learning committees as well and there are other
congregations in the ELCA and the
Episcopal church which do communion at a young age. My plan is to do a newsletter article
introducing the idea to Mount Cross and putting the dates out there as well as
a letter home to all the families we know of who would have children in this
age range.
Meetings:
-Staff meeting, meetings with Pastor John, council meeting,
-meetings with Director of
Children’s ministry
-meetings with Praise Band
director to plan 10:45 service
-met with adult volunteers
about summer trip
-Many Meals meeting with
Peace Lutheran co-ordinator
-VBS workshop and planning
meeting
-pre summer trip meeting for
youth and parents
Events:
-summer school chapel
-Alma via chapel
-funeral for Matthew Chigwida
Visits:
Personal:14
For Council:
-took five vacation days
-Update
on Many Meals…we have volunteers lined up to help on July 26 at Mary Magdalene Catholic
church to get an idea of how a night is run.
Calvary Chapel and Camarillo Christian church have both come on board
and committed to taking a Thursday night so we are looking like we are ready to
launch in September.
-High
School summer trip is this week and next so I will not be at Sunday morning
worship. We have some great sites to
see, some good service projects line up, and what I hope will be interesting
Bible studies and worship times for the students. Please keep us in your prayers for safe
travels as well as a fruitful adventure in terms of the spiritual lives of our
youth!
-I
have met with our Children’s Ministry Director, Josh Graziani about scheduling
for next school year so that we can advertise during VBS. I have also talked to him about the first
communion class for K-3rd grade.
It’s looking like I will probably shoot for a couple of two hour
sessions on a couple of Wednesday or Thursday nights in early September.
Meetings:
-Staff meeting, meetings with Pastor John, council meeting,
-meetings with Director of
Children’s ministry
-meetings with Praise Band
director to plan 10:45 service
-executive committee meeting
in regards to distribution of make, bake and celebrate funds
-endowment meeting
-met with adult volunteer
about summer trip
-Many Meals meeting
-Service and Missions
Events:
-Wednesday night confirmation
-High School youth band
concert
-CDC chapel
-youth band rehearsals
-Synod Assembly
-Confirmation Sunday
-CDC Blessing Sunday
-High School graduation
recognition
-Baptism festival
-Freshman Welcome breakfast
-funeral and reception for
Kayla Gucciardo
-Crossbeams senior luncheon
-Conference at
CLU…Globalization for the Common Good: In Search of a Virtuous Economy
Visits:
Personal: 5
For Council:
-Update
on Many Meals…Our first night will now be on Thursday Sept. 16. It has been pushed out because one of the
churches has dropped out and we need to fill in the gap. The orientation on June 17th has
been canceled. Instead we will target two Monday nights (July 26, Aug. 9) to go
down an help with the group who serves at Mary Magdalene’s as a way of
preparing our people for when we start in the Fall.
-We
had 12 students get confirmed on Sunday May 23rd. The church was full and it was inspiring to
hear them share their God Stories.
-On
Sunday May 30 we had a baptism for a pre-school student. Several other pre-school families and
teachers were there to support her. It was
an important reminder how the Spirit touches lives through our school.
-Attended
a conference at CLU this week. It was
interesting and challenging to hear academics calling for religion and faith to
play a role in economics to break the cycle of greed and to remind people of
the intrinsic value of humanity and the earth beyond money.
-High
School summer trip is on track. We have
received many generous donations and are now trying to secure our third adult
volunteer.
Meetings:
-Staff meeting, meetings with Pastor John, council meeting,
-meetings with Director of
Children’s ministry
-meetings with Praise Band
director to plan 10:45 service
-youth leadership team
meeting
-executive committee meeting
in regards to distribution of make, bake and celebrate funds
-meeting about having Godspell production at Mount Cross
-conference collegium
-met with pre-school director
about schedule and using Luther hall for funeral overflow seating
-meeting with confirmation
volunteers
-endowment meeting
-met with adult volunteer
about summer trip
-met with other youth
ministers to plan ultimate Frisbee event
-met with Pastor Jim from
Good Shepherd about Many Meals participation
Events:
-Wednesday night confirmation
-High School coffeehouse
events
-CDC chapel
-men’s breakfast Bible Study
-youth band rehearsals
-ultimate Frisbee event with
Peace Lutheran and Trinity Presbyterian
-conference assembly
-Make, Bake, and Celebrate
-attended funeral for Pete Johnson’s
father (Pete was former staff and church member of Mount Cross)
-Fun With Faith on campus
program
-Fun With Faith end of the
year BBQ
Visits:
Personal: 8
For Council:
-Update
on Many Meals…Our first night will be Thursday July 15th. I will be on youth trip so I will need to
find someone to co-ordinate. We have
been officially paired up with Peace Lutheran so we should have a good
volunteer base. I have the beginning of
a good list of people who are interested in helping. We will make a push in
early June in connection with our summer theme of service.
-As
part of Confirmation students have filled all the worship assistant roles for
two worship services. It seems to have gone well. Good to have students and their families in
worship who are not regular attenders. One more May
16…at the 10:45 worship service
-Second
annual youth band concert on Sat. June 5 from 6:30-7:30pm, it is also a
fundraiser for our summer trip and we will be showing a video about where we
are going to do our service project.
Meetings:
-Staff meeting, meetings with Pastor John, council meeting,
pre-council meeting with council pres.
-meetings with Director of
Children’s ministry
-meetings with Praise Band
director to plan 10:45 service
-Many Meals planning meeting
-Service and Missions meeting
-youth leadership team
meeting
-executive committee meeting
in regards to distribution of make, bake and celebrate funds
-baptism orientation with Lu
family
Events:
-Wednesday night
confirmation…
-CROP walk with Confirmation
and High School youth
-Tree planting service
project with National park service with High School youth
-Easter Breakfast
-High School coffeehouse
events
-Lenten suppers and services
-CDC chapel
-chapel service at Alma Via
-men’s breakfast Bible Study
-youth band rehearsals
-First Communion classes
-Holy Week services including
12 baptisms on Easter Vigil!
Visits:
Personal: 11
For Council:
-took 3 vacation days after
Easter Sunday…camping in Carpenteria
-attended
the installation of a pastor newly called to Lutheran Church of Our
Redeemer…with have connected with them on youth events and confirmation, supporting
new pastor in my role as Dean of our conference and visited with former
confirmation student
-thank
you to Charlene Sakioka and Kevin Churchill and congregation for Easter
Breakfast, over $1600 was donated…to be split for Confirmation summer camp and
High School youth
-As
part of Confirmation students will be filling all the worship assistant roles
for three worship services
This
spring…next Sunday and two in May…all will be at the 10:45 worship service
Meetings:
-Staff meeting, meetings with Pastor John, council meeting,
pre-council meeting with council pres.
-meetings with Director of
Children’s ministry
-meetings with Praise Band
director to plan 10:45 service
-Channel Islands pastors
conference collegiums
-Many Meals planning meeting
-Service and Missions meeting
-Learning meeting
-council retreat
-youth leadership team
meeting
Events:
-Wednesday night
confirmation…
-Junior High Winter Camp
-confirmation service project
at Food Share
-High School winter
camp…Mount Cross youth band played
-High School coffeehouse
events
-Lenten suppers and services
-Junior High winter camp
-CDC chapel
-Fun With Faith
-chapel service at Alma Via
-men’s breakfast Bible Study
-youth band rehearsals
-souper
bowl of caring
-camp sunday
Visits:
Personal: 8
For Council:
-Our two winter retreats for
Junior High and High School went well and were well-attended, especially the
High School retreat (21 students!). It
was fun to have two college grads (Erin Carr and Matt Johnson) from Mount Cross
come back to help out with the retreat.
-The
Many Meals project is beginning. We meet with other churches next Monday to
begin co-ordinating
-I
would like to try doing a first communion class for younger students this year.
I have talked to Learning committee and Pastor John about idea and both are
open to trying it. The ELCA has some
new curriculum for first communion for Pre-K up to adults…do you think we could
try an intergenerational learning event or should I just focus on younger kids
still?
Meetings:
-Staff meeting, meetings with Pastor John, council meeting,
pre-council meeting with council pres.
-meetings with Director of
Children’s ministry
-meetings with Praise Band
director to plan 10:45 servic
-Channel Islands conference
collegiums
-meeting with area youth
workers to plan and de-brief Never-Ending Night
-meeting with executive
director of LRCC to discuss how things are going at our local Lutheran camps
are doing and how Mount Cross can be more involved in supporting camp
-phone calls to Project
Understanding to co-ordinate service project for Never-Ending Night
Events:
-Wednesday night confirmation…including
our annual caroling event
-Never-Ending Night with
Confirmation youth
-High School Christmas party
-Reliant K concert for High
School youth (volunteer-led)
-CDC chapel
-CDC Christmas program
-90th Birthday
party for Sam Ricusa
-chapel service at Alma Via
-men’s breakfast Bible Study
-youth band rehearsal
-Children’s Christmas program
-caroling with families at
Camarillo Convalescent and Atria Las Posas
-Christmas eve services
-funeral for Suzanne
Schindler
-funeral for Adda Lukehart
-Food Share service project
with High School youth group
-Many Meals service project
with service and missions committee
Visits:
Personal: 11
For Council:
-Gifts
of Hope alternative Christmas project…AIDs orphans in Kenya…were on the patio
two Sundays and again for a Sunday in Dec., this year we raised over $8,000.
Total with Ascension and Holy Trinity will be over $50,000
-I
took 4 vacation days over the Christmas holiday, 1 was a Sunday
-I
will be gone a Sunday in January and February for Winter Camp retreats with
Junior High and High School students
-We
had 28 confirmation youth participate with 4 other Lutheran and Presbyterian
churches for our Never-Ending Night event.
We added a service project element for the first time and put together
over 600 “breakfast in a bag” packages for needy folks who come to Project
Understanding. Special thanks to
Thrivent for a $1,000 grant which helped make this possible.
Meetings:
-Staff meeting, meetings with Pastor John, council meeting
-Service and Missions
committee
-meetings with Director of
Children’s ministry
-meetings with Praise Band
director to plan 10:45 service
-met with youth leadership
team
-Job performance review for
Director of Children’s Ministry
-personnel committee meeting
-meeting at Synod office for
conference Deans
Events:
-Wednesday night confirmation
-Movie Night with
Confirmation youth
-High School coffeehouse
night
-Switchfoot
concert event for High School
-CDC chapel
-youth band rehearsal
-CDC song recording session
-Fun With Faith on-campus
event
-Fun With Faith Advent
Adventure
- Crossbeams senior luncheon
-Hanging of the Greens
concert and dinner
-Stewardship dinner
-Adult Forum on Churchwide decisions regarding Same-Gender relationships
-conference pastors
collegiums meetings
-morning at Habitat with
conference pastors
-funeral for Dorma Schiele
-praise band rehearsals…I
subbed for regular praise band director
-ultimate Frisbee with High
School youth group
Visits:
Personal: 5
For Council:
-Gifts
of Hope alternative Christmas project…AIDs orphans in Kenya…have been on the
patio two Sundays and again for a Sunday in Dec., last year we raise close to
$3,000.
-The
adult forum on Nov. 22 in regards to the
churchwide decisions on same-gender relationships…
Over
35 in attendance
-Two
issues with up-coming budget:
1) There
has been some drop in certain household pledges…we’re tracking this to see if
there are concerns that need to be address.
2)
We’ve received a couple requests for gifts given to the church to be used for
“local church only”. For now we have
chosen to set them aside and use them just for Mount Cross. We suspect these requests may be related to
the Churchwide decisions around same-gender
relationships (see attached letter)
-We
would like to have council help anticipate questions or issues especially
around Churchwide decisions that might come up at
annual meeting so that we can be prepared to address them if they come up.
Meetings:
-Staff meeting, meetings with Pastor John,
-worship planning retreat
with Pastor John
-worship committee
-Service and Missions
committee
-meetings with Director of
Children’s ministry
-meetings with Praise Band
director to plan 10:45 service
-working on web-design with
staff and committee
-meeting with council
president
-meeting with adult
volunteers from confirmation
-met with youth leadership
team
-Job performance review for
Praise Band Director
Events:
-Wednesday night confirmation
-Evening hike and worship
with Confirmation youth
-coffeehouse/ Bible Study
night with High School youth
-Sunset hike and hot dog
roast with High School youth
-CDC chapel
-youth band rehearsal
-CDC song recording session
-Fun With Faith on-campus
event
- Crossbeams senior luncheon
-CDC back-to-school night
Visits:
Personal: 7
For Council:
-Had two baptisms in
November…one was baby son of military family who has moved back to the area, he
has two older sisters who were both baptized at Mount Cross…the other was a high
school student who came to our youth group, she has been looking for a church
home she could be baptized in and found that in Mount Cross
-Our
Learning ministries have been discussing Facebook and
how we are a “safeguarding God’s children” church in the on-line world…reminder
to be careful if a minor ask you to be their “friend” on an on-line
social-networking site like Facebook
-Gifts
of Hope alternative Christmas project…AIDs orphans in Kenya…will be on the
patio the next two Sundays and again for a Sunday in Dec., last year we raise
close to $3,000.
-In
case you didn’t see last weeks newsletter…We have a
new missionary couple we are supporting through the Endowment fund please keep
Christa von Zychlin and Wayne Niemien
in your prayers
-On
Nov. 22 we will be having a follow-up opportunity to the forums we had in Sept.
in regards to the churchwide decisions on same-gender
relationships…(see hand-out)
Meetings:
-Staff meeting, meetings
with Pastor John,
-Learning committee
-meetings with Director of Children’s ministry
-meetings with Praise Band director to plan 10:45 service
-collegium gathering with
conference pastors
-working on web-design with staff and committee
-meeting with council president
-met with “Abundant Table” co-ordinator
about CSUCI inter-faith ministry
-Never-Ending Night Junior High event planning meetings
-Dean’s meeting at Synod office
-meeting to plan CDC song recording
-met with youth leadership team
Events:
-High School orientation night
-Confirmation orientation/
Wednesday night confirmation has started up again
-orientation with adult volunteer guides for confirmation
-Relay for Life service project with High School students
-Confirmation kick-off event (bike rentals at Ventura beach)
-CDC chapel
-chapel at Alma Via
-youth band rehearsal
-CDC song recording session
-Fun With Faith on-campus event
Visits:
Personal: 10
For Council:
-sabbatical report…(there will be a short slide show
at end of council)
-the web-design for our home page is almost ready to launch,
we will continue to work on other pages as time and money allow
-There is a new baptismal fount in the sanctuary, special
thanks to Al Lestico, Gordon Bergh and Bob Winters
for all their work on the base as well as Joan Swindle and committee for
helping to design and purchase the glass fount
-Adult Ed. On Sunday mornings has grown in interest with a
video—based study on How Lutherans Interpret Scripture, the issue now is space, we had 15 people on
Sunday and they barely fit in the room
-Mount Cross has been great about doing “Pastor Appreciation
Day”, could we also do a staff appreciation and volunteer appreciation? I was thinking about a “volunteer of the
month” idea with a gift certificate or a special parking place as a reward.
Meetings:
-Staff meeting,
meetings with Pastor John,
-pre-council meeting, council meeting
-Learning committee
-meetings with new Director of Children’s ministry
-Youth Leadership Team
-Service and Missions meetings
-meetings with Praise Band director to plan 10:45 service
-Baptism orientations
-pre-marital session
-meeting with Thrivent reps about resources for churches
-collegium gathering with
conference pastors
Events:
-youth band rehearsals
-Men’s breakfasts
-confirmation nights
-High School Youth Coffeehouse
-Fun With Faith
-CDC chapel
-Tijuana Trip
-attended award ceremony for church member
-Rummage Sale fundraiser for youth gathering
-paddleboat adventure event for confirmation youth
-teaching Cub scout “God and Family” course for 5 families
-Alma Via chapel
-beach worship for camping families
-video game workshop for confirmation families
Visits:
Personal: 4
For Council:
-sabbatical report…council president, pastor John and
I met…Pastor John will have dates of youth events and contact people, he is
taking the lead on the High School summer trip
-despite bad reports in the media the Tijuana Trip went as
planned, we had a safe trip and completed a house for a family, stories and
pictures were shared during a Sunday sermon
-exciting news…we will have two baptisms on confirmation
Sunday, two girls who came because friends invited them, they have participated
the last three years and feel called to be baptized!
Meetings:
-Staff meeting,
meetings with Pastor John, council retreat,
-Learning committee
-meetings with new Director of Children’s ministry
-Youth Leadership Team
-Service and Missions meetings
-meetings with Praise Band director to plan 10:45 service
-meeting for National Youth Gathering
-meeting with adult Confirmation volunteers
-Make-it, Bake-it meetings
Events:
-youth band rehearsals
-Men’s breakfasts
-confirmation nights
-confirmation Golf ‘n Stuff night
-Funeral for Ruth Hauser
-Funeral for Ken Petersen
-High School Ultimate Frisbee Event
-High School Youth Coffeehouse and Christmas party
-Fun With Faith
-CDC chapel
-Ash Wednesday and Lenten services
-Crossbeams senior luncheon
-Winter Camp for confirmation (junior High youth)
-Winter Camp retreat weekend for High School youth
-Bishop’s colloquy
-RAIN project servant event with High School youth
-CROP Walk
Visits:
Personal: 14
For Council:
-We had 23 youth and adult volunteers participate in
Junior High Winter Camp, and 21 youth and adults participate in High School
Winter Camp.
-This is the 3rd year our youth band has led worship
at a winter camp retreat at El Camino Pines.
-On Super Bowl Sunday we raised $600 dollars which was
combined with $200 from Thrivent for a total of $800 for St. Columba’s Food
Pantry.
-I will bring a plan for my sabbatical to the April council meeting. Are there any details I should be sure to include?
Meetings:
-Staff meeting,
meetings with Pastor John, council,
-Learning committee
-meetings with new Director of Children’s ministry
-Youth Leadership Team
-Service and Missions meetings
-meeting with rep from Lutheran Social Services
-meetings with Praise Band director to plan 10:45 service
Events:
-youth band rehearsal
-Men’s breakfasts
-confirmation nights
-confirmation Christmas caroling
-parenting workshop Christmas caroling
-Sunday School Christmas program rehearsal
-Sunday School Christmas program and rehearsal
-Funeral for Charlie Valentine
-High School Ultimate Frisbee Event
-High School Youth Coffeehouse and Christmas party
-Fun With Faith
-CDC chapel
-Christmas Eve services
-Crossbeams senior luncheon
Visits:
Personal: 10
For Council:
-Took 4 vacation days just after Christmas, included
1 Sunday off
-In the annual report I referred to status of the goals I
had set last year. The details changed
from what I originally said, but the spirit of the goals was the same and I was
able to accomplish them.
Meetings:
-Staff meeting,
meetings with Pastor John, council,
-Learning committee
-worship committee
-meetings with new Director of Children’s ministry
-VC CLUE board meeting
-Conference Pastor’s collegium
-Youth Leadership Team
-Synod Hunger committee meeting
-Budget meetings
-meetings with Praise Band director to plan 10:45 service
Events:
-Hanging of the Greens
-youth band rehearsals
-Men’s breakfasts
-CDC back to school night
-confirmation nights
-Confirmation “Never-Ending Night” Event
-High School coffeehouse
-Confirmation servant event at Food Share
-Fun With Faith Thanksgiving event
-CDC chapel
Visits:
Personal: 6
For Council:
-High School youth group is doing “Hire-a-student”
fundraiser for National Youth Gathering, we are trying to get done our
assignments before Christmas, may do some follow-up in January
-The High School youth group plans to do an on-going
fundraiser in the new year with 150 envelopes.
People are asked to take an envelope and put that amount of money in the
envelope. (eg. If they pick up the envelope with
$100, that is how much they put in the envelope, if it says $20 that is how
much they put in, etc. Somehow
mathematically it works out to around $10,000 if all the envelopes are picked
up.) Does council have any input on how
this fundraiser is conducted? Our
congregation has always been very supportive of the youth but we want to be
sensitive to the timing with other events going on as well as to not always be
asking.
-For Council as the Mutual Ministry committee: The plan is for me to be on sabbatical this
summer. I know we have a policy in place
and the council has given me the ok, but I am also conscious of how this might
be perceived in an economic downturn. As
representatives of the congregation do you think there could be negative
perceptions about one of the pastors being gone during hard economic times? Is this something I should be concerned about?
Meetings:
-Staff meeting,
meetings with Pastor John
-council,
-Service and Missions
-Learning committee
-met with new Director of Children’s ministry
-VC CLUE retreat
-Conference Pastor’s collegium
Events:
-Pastors and Pie stewardship meetings
-youth band rehearsals
-Men’s breakfasts
-CDC back to school night
-pastor’s conference collegium
-confirmation orientations for parents, youth, and adult
volunteers
-confirmation nights
-Junior High Skating night
-Sexuality workshop
-High School youth group orientation night
-High School youth group attended a Christian rock concert
in Irvine
-High School youth service event at Relay for Life
-Conference Faith Family Festival at CLU
Visits:
Personal: 13
For Council:
-This coming weekend I will not be at worship. I will be attending a synod youth gathering
with 11 of our High School students down at CLU.
-The CDC celebrated it’s 20th
anniversary this past week. Thanks to
Pastor John for the powerpoint. Good reminder of what an important ministry
this has been for Mount Cross. I
continued to be surprised of the impact God has had on our community and church
through this ministry.
-We have a good candidate for Praise band leader in Caroline
Hobbs. She auditioned this last
Sunday. Waiting for personnel to make a
decision.
-We are starting out the year with some good energy in our
Confirmation class. We have some new
adult volunteers from Our Savior’s Lutheran church in Oxnard, and the students
seem enthusiastic about participating.
Meetings:
-Staff meeting,
meetings with Pastor John
-council, worship
-VC CLUE meeting
-met with new Director of Children’s ministry
-High School youth leadership team meeting
-meeting with area youthworkers to
plan Never-Ending Night Junior high event
-meeting for Faith Family Festival at CLU
-Service and Missions
Events:
-8 day youth trip with High School group
-church picnic
-youth band rehearsals
-Men’s breakfasts
-interviews for Director of Children’s Ministry
-pre-school orientations
-pastor’s conference collegium
-Rally Day
Visits:
Personal: 7
For Council:
-We had a baptism festival in August. Three families had
children getting baptized including my youngest, Piper. Took 1 vacation day while Parents were in
town.
-I’m excited about the development of a High School youth
leadership team for coming year.
-Getting ready for another year of Confirmation. Three students for Our Savior’s Lutheran will
be joining us as well as student from Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer.
-The youth band kept rehearsing over the summer and led
worship one Sunday. We are planning a
concert in Nov. to help fundraise for the National
Gathering trip.
-We just hired Josh Graziani as new Director of Children’s Minsitry. I’m
excited about working with Learning to get him up to speed and working with him
in the months ahead.
Meetings:
-Staff meeting,
meetings with Pastor John
-council
-VC CLUE meeting
-Learning committee
-met with contemporary service music director to plan 10:45
worship
-High School summer trip meeting
-met with Adult volunteers for High School youth trip
-met with VBS co-ordinator
Events:
-ultimate Frisbee event for High School youth
-Junior High Beach Day
-Men’s Bible Study Breakfast
-youth band rehearsals
-finished service project on trailer that was started on
ACTION day of service
-six-week parenting class
-spent several days at El Camino Pines with Junior High
students
-pre-marital visits with Chris and Amanda Carpenter
-wedding rehearsal for Carpenters
-wedding for Chris and Amanda Carpenter
-VBS preparation workshop
-week of VBS (led music time and organized skits with help
of High School youth)
-week long adventure/ service trip with High School youth
-funeral for Al Schindler
-High School youth helped older woman move to earn money for
youth trip
Visits:
Personal: 6
For Council:
-took a sick day, was at the Western States Youth Gathering
to lead workshops but got the flu instead
Meetings:
-Staff meeting,
-council
-VC CLUE meeting
-Service and Missions committee meeting
-Learning committee
-worship committee
-met with Learning sub-committee to work on job description
for Director of Children’s Ministries
-meetings for conference Faith Family Festival in Sept.
-met with contemporary service music director to plan 10:45
worship
Events:
-Confirmation nights
-Men’s Bible Study Breakfast
-youth band rehearsals
-CDC chapel times
-Fun With Faith
-two Confirmation Sundays
-Narnia movie night for youth
-Synond Assembly
-baptism orientation and baptism for Alyssa Kiszsak
-Alma Via chapel
-Crossbeams
-attended fundraising workshop in Ventura
-Hockey Party
-Day of Service through ACTION organization (30 people attended!)
Visits:
Personal: 5
For Council:
-I missed a Sunday because I attended Memorial Day Camp at
El Camino Pines, helped to lead Sunday evening worship with other Mount Cross
members while there
-There are components leftover from our old sound system
that need to be dealt with. Pastor John and I intend to sift through for things
we want to keep, otherwise we plan to put the rest on consignment with Lunar’s.
Meetings:
-Staff
meeting,
-council
-strategic
planning committee
-VC
CLUE meeting
-Service
and Missions committee meeting
-Learning
committee
-Synod
Hunger Committee
-worship
committee
-Hospice
sponsored conference on grief in adolescents
Events:
-Confirmation
nights
-High
School coffeehouse night
-Men’s
Bible Study Breakfast
-youth
band rehearsals
-CDC
chapel times
-Fun
With Faith
-God
Story rehearsal
-Kayaking
morning with High School youth group
-Christian
concert in Irvine with Junior High and High School (I planned, but adult
volunteers led the event since I was out of town at my grandmother’s funeral)
-May
Dahlberg’s 90th birthday party
-Make-it,
Bake-it
Visits:
Personal:
15 (4 were for new members)
For
Council:
-I
took a couple days off, including a Sunday to attend the funeral of my
grandmother in Massachusetts
-I
submit my sabbatical grant tomorrow, it includes funds to help the church hire
part-time staff to assist in my absence
Meetings:
-Staff meeting,
-council
-strategic planning committee
-VC CLUE meeting
-Service and Missions committee meeting
-Learning committee
Events:
-Confirmation nights
-High School coffeehouse night
-Men’s Bible Study Breakfast
-youth band rehearsals
-CDC chapel times
-Fun With Faith
-funeral for Russ Summers
-First Communion Workshop
-Holy Week services
-set-up for Easter Breakfast
Visits:
Personal: 10
For Council:
-I took a couple days off after Easter
-Sabbatical plans (see attachment)
Meetings:
-Staff meeting,
-council
-VC CLUE meeting
-Service and Missions committee meeting
-met with
Contemporary service director
-met with Children’s Ministry Co-ordinator
-met with Easter Breakfast Co-ordinator
-Learning committee
-Baptism instruction with prospective adult member
Events:
-Confirmation nights
-High School coffeehouse night
-Men’s Bible Study Breakfast
-youth band rehearsals
-CDC chapel times
-Crossbeams senior luncheon
-Fun With Faith
-High School Winter Camp
-Lenten Services
-Synod Hunger conference (Mount Cross High School Youth also
participated)
-ELCA Youthworker Extravaganza
-funeral for Willis Sanders
-went to hear speaker at All-Saints Episcopal in Pasadena
-Ash Wednesday service
-Alma Via chapel service
-CROP Walk
Visits:
Personal: 12
For Council:
-Did you know? Youth
from Mount Cross led the worship music at this year’s Winter Camp and Help to
lead a Global Village experience at a Synod Hunger Conference as well an
African Drum musical piece at the closing of the conference
Meetings:
-Staff meeting,
-council
-VC CLUE meeting
-Service and Missions committee meeting
-Personnel committee meeting
-met with Contemporary service director
Events:
-Confirmation nights
-Confirmation Christmas caroling
-High School coffeehouse night (Christmas party)
-Sunday School program rehearsal
-Sunday School program
-Men’s Bible Study Breakfast
-contemporary service rehearsal
-youth band rehearsals
-CDC chapel times
-CDC luncheon
-Christmas Eve service
-Crossbeams senior luncheon (presentation on youth trip)
-Fun With Faith Christmas party and devotions
-Fellowship night for new Choir and Praise band directors
-funeral for Gus Harder
Visits:
Personal: 4
For Council:
-took off one Sunday and a couple days after Christmas
-I will be gone the weekends of Jan. 11-13 and Feb. 22-24 on
winter retreats with youth groups
Meetings:
-Staff meeting,
-council
-worship committee
-VC CLUE meeting
-Service and Missions committee meeting
-meetings with adult candidate for baptism
-met with sound consultant about sound system\
-Learning meeting
-met with area pastors about potential new mission start
-mutual ministry committee meeting
-Synod Hunger committee meeting
-Personnel committee meeting and interview for new Praise
band leader
Events:
-Confirmation nights
-High School youth service project at Food Share
-High School coffeehouse night
-Men’s Bible Study Breakfast
-contemporary service rehearsal
-youth band rehearsals
-CDC chapel times
-CDC Christmas program
-Thanksgiving Eve service
-Crossbeams senior luncheon
-Christmas dinner and Hanging of The Greens
Visits:
Personal: 4
For Council:
-
Meetings:
-Staff meeting,
-council
-worship committee
-VC CLUE meeting
-Confirmation meeting with adult guides
-baptism orientation
-meetings with adult candidate for baptism
-meetings with two potential candidates for leading the
contemporary service music
-met with sound consultant about sound system
Events:
-renewal of wedding vows with Avery family
-baptism for Godon family
-Confirmation nights
-High School youth gathering at CLU
-High School coffeehouse night and field trip to funeral
home
-confirmation food share service project
-Men’s Bible Study Breakfast
-contemporary service rehearsal
-Chris Tomlin concert with High School students
-Fun With Faith
Visits:
Personal: 2
For Council:
-took 7 days off after our new daughter was born
Meetings:
-Staff meeting,
-council
-worship committee
-Stewardship committee
-met with diaconal ministry intern
-met with substitute leader. to plan 10:45
-mutual ministry meeting
-met with Pastor John on his return from sabbatical
-music staff meeting
-Strategic planning committee
-met with CLU campus pastors about concert for youth
gathering
-service and missions committee
-Synod hunger committee
Events:
-High School orientation, coffeehouse night, and farmworker immersion
-Confirmation orientation
-Confirmation nights
-Men’s Bible Study Breakfast
-CDC teacher installation
-funeral for Chuck Proctor
-Crossbeams
-Confirmation adult guide orientation
-new member orientation
-contemporary service rehearsal
Visits:
Personal: 11
For Council:
-Please keep in mind need for van ministry to help people
get to church on Sunday morning
-welcome new members Ted and Kay Koupal,
Alison Elk, Norm Presecan and their two children
Calvin and Lucy, Louisa, Ricky, and Roseanna Angeli,
Brian and Rachel Lindgren
-Sat. night there will be a U2charist as part of the high
school youth gathering at CLU at 7:00.
All are invited to attend.
It will be $5.00 at the door.
-I’ll be gone this Sunday either due to the Synod youth
gathering or because of a new baby
-Thanks to Stewardship committee for their good work, and
thanks to all who have volunteered to speak during worship
-It’s great to have PJ back!