Love in Action

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church

1300 Belt Line Road Collinsville Illinois 62234

618-344-3151 (Church) 618-344-3153 (School) 618-344-3378 (Fax)
Pastors M. Walther & P. Hemenway  Vol. 33  No. 5   May  2010

Greetings in the name of our Risen Lord and Savior!  I hope and pray that all finds you well.  Spring seems to finally be here for good and the grey and darkness of winter is now (hopefully) a thing of the past. Spring is one of my favorite seasons as the flowers begin to bloom, the trees start to bud and the grass begins to grow again.  I love the newness of it all!   

And while I am on the topic of new beginnings, as I write this Good Shepherd is in the process of calling a new youth director.  We have been blessed as a congregation by our current youth director, Jaime Brinkmann, and have seen a lot of wonderful results from the hard work she has put in here. As someone who has spent almost his entire life at churches with called youth directors I can report that you would be hard pressed to find a better DCE. However, God has blessed her and her husband Thomas with the gift of their first child and some changes will be taking place here as Jaime has decided to step aside and spend as much time as possible with their new addition. As a result we will need someone to fill her old position and carry on the important ministry that she has been conducting here.  

In my humble opinion, one of the most exciting facets of being at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church is to see the commitment to spreading the Gospel message with people of all ages; there aren’t many congregations that I have been associated with that share this passion for telling others about Christ and it is a true joy to be around! God has certainly blessed us here at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church and one of the ways He has blessed us is by the number of young people we have in our midst. Between our school, our association with Metro East Lutheran High School and those members with children who attend the public schools in our area, we are connected with roughly 1,000 young people.  The potential we have here to share the message of God’s love with them, to raise them up in the faith and mold and develop future church workers is phenomenal and it is my prayer that we as a congregation would continue to strive to do all we can to fulfill our vocation as a church to enable those things to happen.  Some of the most important places where that formation occurs are in worship, Confirmation, Bible classes, Sunday School, and youth groups.  

As the situation stands now, God has placed some wonderful candidates in our midst. After examining numerous names as given to us by the Southern Illinois District of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod and the various Concordia Universities, the Call Committee conducted phone interviews with the four candidates who best suited our needs.  C.d.’s of those interviews are available to listen to for anyone who is interested. I would like to take this opportunity to encourage you to come by the Narthex and check them out and learn more about the candidates and then, when we hold a voter’s meeting, vote on whom you think we should call to this very important position. I would also like to encourage you to attend the upcoming Call Committee meeting taking place in the Fellowship Hall on April 24, at 9 a.m. We need your help in making this decision and we also especially need your prayers during this critical time in the process. Please pray for God’s guidance throughout this procedure and that He would grow and bless His Kingdom here and everywhere that more people would come to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.   Pastor Hemenway

Come join the musicians of Good Shepherd for this year's hymn festival to he held at 7:00 p.m. on May 23, 2010. The service will feature the Order of Evening Prayer as well as a number of choir and congregational hymn and Psalm settings. In addition to choir and organ, a brass and string orchestra will participate in leading the hymns. A brief reception will follow the service in the fellowship hall.  

Join us for the celebration of Jesus’ ascension. This miracle is one of the most important because it is one the very last of His miracles and the last of His teaching to commission the church for it’s ongoing work of bringing Christ to all nations.

...omnipotentem creatorem caeli et terrae (I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth).  So begins the Apostles’ Creed.  Come, join us for "Latin for Fun" on Tuesdays 7:00-8:30 beginning June 8^th. 

Schedule:  Tuesdays, June 8 - August 3 (no class June 15, July 6)

Textbook:  Collins. A Primer of Ecclesiastical Latin. Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University Press of America, c1985. Contact the church office (344-3151) or Lyle E. Buettner (696-2649; lylebuettner@yahoo.com) if interested.

Pastor Walther will begin a new study of the Book of Proverbs. This book of wisdom offers every Christian some of the most valuable information they can possess. This class will meet in the Lower Level.

Pastor Hemenway will continue the study of the Gospel of Luke that was begun a year ago. In the second half of Luke we will be looking carefully at many of the things we just celebrated in worship: Holy Week, Crucifixion, Resurrection and Ascension.

Seminarian John Schultz will lead a class titled "Addictions." These are not your traditional addictions to alcohol, etc. These are addictions to vices such as lying, anger, etc. This class will meet in the School Library.

Apply for scholarships online using the guide sheet available in the Narthex. Please fill out all the financial information for the past year. Also, please let us know of any major changes in your financial situation as you look to the next school year.

Our scholarship calculations are based on the Biblical principle of tithing. If your tuition exceeds a tenth of your adjusted gross income, or if you have special circumstances which make it very difficult to afford the tuition costs, you should certainly apply for a scholarship. We make every effort to even the burden and sacrifice for Christian education, and we especially thank all who give from their blessings to make the Scholarship Program possible.

New Member Dinner: May 2 after the late service. Sign up in the connecting hallway. Bring a dish to share. Meat & dessert will be provided.

Grief Share: May 3,10,17 & 24 @ 5p.m. in the Conference Room

Blood Pressure Screening: May 2 between services in the connecting hallway

Braille workers- May 6 at Zion Bethalto. Meet at 8:30a.m. in the church parking lot.

Congregational Life Meeting- May 11 at 7 p.m.

Funeral Service Information

One of the best things a Christian can do is to face the reality of their death. In this Easter season, when Christians celebrate Christ’s victory over death, it is an especially good time to make preparations. Included in this newsletter is a Funeral Planning Form. If you’re interested, please fill it out and mail or drop off to the church office. We’ll keep these forms in our files and be able to refer to them in the future. Or, you may wish to fill out the form and keep it with your personal records. In this case make sure your family members are aware of it.

Good shepherd LWML is hosting our annual Mother/Daughter banquet on May 10. doors open at 6:00 p.m. Our theme this year is "You’ve Got Purse-onality". Find out how God equips us for daily living. Bring a purse for the fashion show. Tickets are $10 adults/ $6 Children age 5-12. Children under 4 are free. Tickets are available in the connecting hallway between Sunday services. Contact Deb Wudtke if you have any questions. (346-6842 or deb@wudtke.net)

Crossroads Spring Bike Ride – May 8^th, we will meet at the Italiano’s house – 120 Oakshire Dr. East, Glen Carbon at 10:00 a.m. We will be picking up the bike trail at Hwy 162 at Old Troy Road (near Anderson Hospital). We will return to the Italianos after our ride for lunch. Hot dogs, hamburgers & drinks will be provided. Please bring a side dish to share. Kids are welcome!

Crossroads Potluck – Come join us on May 16^th for a potluck in the Fellowship Hall after late service (11:45). Hamburgers & hot dogs will be provided. Bring a side dish to share. Come join us for some fun & fellowship.

On May 18 we will meet at 11:30 a. m. on the church parking lot and go to The Shrine Restaurant for lunch, Please call Mary Preuss (288-9525) by May 13 so we can make a reservation for you. Everyone is welcome to join in the fellowship as we support each other in our faith.

The next LWML meeting will be on Thursday, May 6, at 6:45 PM in the Fellowship Hall. Our special speaker for the evening is our missionary, Sue Hasselbring, who will talk to us about "God’s Work in Asia." Through the work of the Holy Spirit, Sue has been able to accomplish much in this area of the world. I’m sure you won’t want to miss hearing her……..so plan to attend and bring a friend!

There will be an ingathering of baby items for the Mosaic Pregnancy Center at this meeting.

In addition, two other events are planned for May. These are:

May 2 – New Member Dinner (Sponsored by the Board of Congregational Life)

May 10 – The Mother and Daughter Banquet (Tickets are are currently on sale) Bring your daughter, mother, grandmother, or special friend. An entertaining program is planned, along with some delicious food.

Both of these events are wonderful opportunities to fellowship with other members and friends of the church.

Our theme for May is taken from Galatians 5:13 – "You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather serve one another in love".

5^th & 6^th grade youth will be in the gym on May 2^nd. May 16 we will be in the church basement. The youth are asked to drop their cell phones and other electronics in a box when they arrive at youth group. They can collect them at the end of the evening. The 5^th & 6^th graders have one off-site summer activity. This summer they will meet on July 18 at Ryan Grimm’s for a swim party. Watch for details in the July newsletter. The current 5^th & 6^th graders continue to meet the 1^st & 3^rd Sundays of each month (except July 4) from 6-7:30 p.m. New youth groups form with the beginning of the new school year.

"A New Song" Bible Study will resume for 6 consecutive weeks beginning April 17 with the book "A New Song—All of Your Wonderful Deeds". This Bible Study Devotional book is based on Psalms of Praise. Several copies of the book are available in the church office for $12.

We appreciate your prayers for Planet Zoom, our Vacation Bible School being held on June 21-25. Ask God to bring children to our programs so they can know & grow in Jesus, our Savior! And ask God to provide leaders & helpers for this important mission.

Registration forms can be found in the Narthex. A suggested donation of $15 will help cover our VBS costs. Please call the church office & talk to Carol (ext 302) with any questions.

We need you! Through the dedication of our members and friends who volunteer at VBS, we minister to over 200 children each year with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If you aren’t part of VBS yet, why not volunteer? If you can help some days, just one day, every day, or in advance, we have many levels of involvement to suit your schedule and interests. Sign up in the church Narthex or talk with Carol Walther for more information.

Refuge this month (High School Youth)- Sunday, May 2^nd join us for a backwards scavenger hunt! See how creative you can be with your list of items! Meet in the fellowship hall. Sunday, May 16^th show us your softball skills, or lack thereof! We’ll have a friendly game of youth softball out on our field in the back. In the case of bad weather, meet in the gym. Devotions this month will be on "Connecting to God and Connecting to others". In a world where we constantly seem connected, we become more and more isolated. How is this affecting our relationships? How is this affecting our growth? Do you want to connect more? We look forward to seeing you and please bring a friend!

Agapefest, Saturday, May 1- For all Junior and Senior High youth: this Christian Music festival is at the Bond County Fairgrounds and if you’d like to go it’s not too late to sign up. It costs $32 for a ticket for the day. Meet at church at 9:45 am and we’ll return to church after Skillet performs around midnight. If you’d like to set up your own ride, please let us know! Make sure to bring clothes and shoes that can get muddy, a change of clothes for the ride home, a camping chair and waterproof tarp to sit on, a sack lunch (and dinner) or money for food, and games to play as we sit and listen. Make sure to sign up by the last week of April so we can secure rides and tickets!

Church Yard Sale - The High School Youth attending the National Youth Gathering will be having a Yard Sale at church on June 5^th. If you have boxes and smaller items to drop off for this please bring them after services Sunday May 30^th or during the church office hours the week before, May 31-June 4. If you have larger items such as furniture, please call the church office ahead of time so we can make sure we have a place to store it! Any other questions concerning the sale please call Mark Sengele at 618-401-8200. The sale hours on Saturday will be 7am-2pm.

College/Young Adult Summer Bible study starts Sunday, June 6^th; Come worship at the 10:30 am service on Sundays and then stay for a free lunch and Bible study afterwards. We’ll be going through "The Truth Project" by Focus on the Family. This challenging study is part video, part discussion. Check out trailers on youtube.com by typing in "The Truth Project". Families looking to support College Student Ministry, please consider preparing a meal for one of these Sunday Bible studies. A sign up for meals will be on the college section on the youth board. You can also talk to Jaime directly about making a meal. Thank you!

Postal Food Drive Service Event - On Saturday, May 8^th all youth and parents are welcome to sign up on our Sr. High board to help unload donated food from The Postal Trucks for our Collinsville Area Ministerial Association (CAMA). This will begin at Noon and end around 5:00. Please sign up on the youth board and write the hours you can attend.

We will meet at St. Louis Bread Company at 7 p.m. on May 17 to discuss "The Centurion's Wife" by Davis Bunn and Janette Oke.

All the Home Bible Study groups will meet together on Friday, May 7^th, at 6 p.m. for a potluck dinner and short Bible Study. This is a family event. The group leaders will provide meat dishes, everyone else should bring a side dish or dessert.

Pastor Paul Hemenway & Y98 disc jockey Kelly Corday (alias Cheryl Friedman) are guests on the "woman to Woman" talk show with Phyllis Wallace on May 1, KFUO AM 850, 9:30 a.m. The show title, "It’s All About the Music!" Tune in to hear how to discern the music that positively influences your life & avoid music that does the opposite. You can also catch the show on XM 170, Saturdays at 12:30 Central time & at womantowomanradio.com.

Paul and Susan Brandt (Good Shepherd’s former principal and art teacher) invite you to join them this September 29 through October 10 on a 12-day tour through Turkey and Greece "In the Footsteps of St. Paul".  Their desire is to deepen appreciation for God’s Word by visiting the ancient cities and geography experienced by St. Paul, Luke, Timothy, Silas and St. John – and have a good time doing it! For more information, give them at a call at 480-609-0528 or an e-mail to paul.brandt@psd-lcms.org.  

Metro-East Lutheran High School’s Parents & Friends group will hold a Plant Sale at the school on May 8, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. A large selection of hanging baskets, ferns, perennials & bedding plants will be available, just in time for Mother’s Day.

The highlight of our last month in Pretoria was the installation of Rector Wilhelm Weber as the third bishop of the Lutheran Church in South Africa on March 21. The installation was held in two large tents next to Mofolo Lutheran Church in Soweto (Southwest Township), near Johannesburg. We travelled to Soweto by bus with the students and others from Pretoria. The event was held on a three-day weekend so that it would be convenient for people to come, and they did, over 1000! Many dignitaries attended: pastors, retired pastors and deans from the LCSA, pastors from the German church, missionaries, and the District presidents from SID and Rocky Mtn. District LCMS. A large group of Women’s League members, young and old, in their black and white uniforms with white caps sat together. They are the backbone of the LCSA and they enjoyed the day immensely, singing, clapping and waving their hands to the music.

The ladies of Mofolo North worked all night preparing food for the people attending the installation. So, after a 3½ hour service, we all had lunch. What a day! After the enthusiasm and joy of such a special day, it is back to the reality of the difficult task of growing, consolidating, and encouraging the pastors and people of the churches in Southern Africa. Bishop Weber has many ideas of how to proceed; he and the church need your prayers. (For more details about the installation and LCSA go to President Herb Mueller’s article in the April edition of InSIDeWord at www.sidlcms.org. )

By the time we left Pretoria there were 26 students at the seminary, a few coming in the last two weeks of the quarter! Several new students expected, didn’t come now, but still plan to start next year. The seminary is searching for a new Rector, hopefully to begin work no later than next January.

We made a two-page list of what we had done this year, but the repair work never ends. The day before we left the geyser (water heater) in one of the dorm houses began leaking, again. Since the geysers are in the attic, a leak means that water is running out of the ceiling onto beds and carpets. What a mess. Since there was no way Lee could fix it before we left, he asked a German friend to finish the job. In the meantime, there is no hot water for that dorm.

It was particularly difficult to say good-bye to the students we learned to know well on our first six-month stay who are graduating in November. We don’t know if we will ever see them again here on earth. And, with the ups and downs of life we had become especially close to our neighbors on campus, the German volunteer Kianga and the Burnhams from Denver, and the Rector’s assistant Salome. We became a "family" as we worked, problem-solved, and struggled together, and enjoyed fun times too.

Thank you very much for your prayers and loving concern while we were in SA. Pat and Lee Hoffmeier