LABOR DAY A tribute to the contributions and achievements of American workers

Table of Contents

• Birthdays 8

• Building & Grounds 7

• Financials for July 6

• In Memory 8

• Liturgists 8

• Missions 3-4

• Music & Worship 5

• Pantry of Hope 6

• Pastor’s Pen 2

• Quotes & Bible Verses 9

• Re-entry Task Force 5

• Session Highlights 8

• Session & Staff Contacts 10

• Stewardship 6

• Thank You Notes 7

MONTHLY NEWSLETTER

HOPE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

SEPTEMBER 2020

Loving God, Loving All People, Living in Grace

A Message of Hope

The Pastor’s Pen by Rev. Dr. Jeri-Lynne Bouterse

“Rediscovering the Sabbath”

Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. (Exodus 20:8)

….in six days the Lord made heaven and earth the sea and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day;

therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and consecrated it. (Exodus 20:11)

… a Sabbath rest still remains for the people of God; for those who enter God’s rest also cease from

their labors as God did from his. (Hebrews 4:9-10)

There is a deep need today to rediscover the “gift” of Sabbath. For some the need for Sabbath emerges as a cry from within because we are so exhausted from the trials of the pandemic; just living our lives in the midst of so much chaos and calamity in the world. We yearn for a time to simply rejoice with those closest to us, to play, to rest, to be still and to notice the goodness of God that surrounds us. For some, the need for Sabbath arises from a need for quiet grief. The grief of recognizing that even though we are moving faster and faster in our lives towards and unknown future, the only progress we seem to make is that of a greater emptiness. Even though we are receiving much from the culture and the technology that surrounds us, we come away still hungry, as hurried and as pressed as ever in our search for fulfillment.

The gift of Sabbath is a multi-layered gift. First, it is for our joy and our rest. The commandment to keep the Sabbath, according to John Calvin, reflects God’s genuine concern for God’s people. Calvin also says, “Work is good, but when we work all the time work becomes a curse not a blessing.” And so, the Sabbath invites us to rest and take joy in what already is, even as God rested on the seventh day and rejoiced in all the goodness of creation.

Second, the Sabbath is a time for deepened communion with the Living God. Sabbath is a time for us to be shaped from within. John Calvin tells us, “On the Sabbath, we cease our work so God can do God’s work in us.” He also says, “Sabbath keeping is a way of living out our belief that we are not our own; that we belong to God.” From its beginning, Sabbath has declared that the Living God is the one source and aim of all our life, not possessions or the striving after them.

Sabbath is also for our life in community. Even though Sabbath blessings are often richly personal, the gift of Sabbath is not a private gift, nor has it ever been presented that way. At Sinai, Sabbath came to the entire community. It was for all ages, all stations of life and no one stood outside the call to rest in the presence of God. In Christianity, the Sabbath, or Lord’s Day, is both communal and Christ-focused. It summons the followers of Jesus to enter together into the presence of God whose grace is sufficient for all our human need.

In the Reformed tradition, from its earliest confessions to the present Directory for Worship of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), to live the gift of Sabbath is to engage in simple, time hallowing acts:

I expect the need burns in all of our busy lives to find ways of fresh living. If your Sabbath cannot be on Sunday, find another day to commit to God and make it your Sabbath. Although many things are more difficult during the pandemic, choosing to take Sabbath on a day other than Sunday morning for worship is readily available online. Often pastors choose another day other than Sunday for their Sabbath because of their responsibilities on Sunday. As your pastor, I made a personal commitment to keep Sabbath on Fridays.

I invite each of you this summer to reevaluate your own personal keeping of the Sabbath and rediscover the “gifts” of Sabbath. The gift is before us.

Your Servant in Christ,

Pastor Jeri-Lynne

Seek rest from daily occupation;

Share with others in worship;

Take time with God’s word;

Engage in acts of compassion;

Enjoy activities that refresh and renew the spirit.

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A HUGE THANK YOU to all who participated August 8 and August 15 to Support Brush Up Nebraska. Your hard work and efforts helped to brighten up Ofelia

Fuentes’ home. Your willingness to serve God by serving others showed that we can find ways to share God’s love with others in our community. With the help of the team from St. Paul Lutheran Church, the team was able to complete the cleaning and painting in half the time needed and produced amazing results. Thanks, again, for giving hope to those in need in our community.

Hope congregation, as many of you are aware, we cancelled the annual mission

garage sale due to the ongoing health risk for spreading the COVID-19 virus. We know that

many of you have been holding on to items to donate. If you have donations that you don’t

want to hold until next year’s garage sale and are looking for mission programs who are in

need of household items and clothes, below are some locations you can still donate your

items to help those in need.

Moving Veterans Forward – 731 North Frontier Road, Papillion, NE - Will accept Furniture such as dressers,

beds, or living room couches or chairs. NO CLOTHES accepted.

Stephens Center – 2723 Q Street, Omaha – 402-715-5442 - Will accept Used clothing, shoes, bedding,

houseware items, and kitchen items.

Siena Francis Shelter – 1702 Nicholas Street, Omaha, 402-341-1821 - Will accept new and used men’s and

women’s clothing, shoes, towels, bedding for their twin beds at the shelter, backpacks, or luggage.

NO CHILDREN’S ITEMS.

Salvation Army – 2525 Dodge Street, Omaha, 402-342-4135 - Will accept men, women, and children’s clothes

and shoes, furniture in good condition, backpacks, suitcases, household items, home décor, books, toys,

puzzles, games.

Faith Presbyterian Church – (A room full of items to help people in need) – 8100 Giles Rd, La Vista,

402-330-5724 – Will accept men, women, and children’s clothes and shoes. They will also take toys,

puzzles, games, and children’s books.

Habitat for Humanity Restore – 10910 Emmet Street, Omaha – 402-934-1033- Will accept any building

supplies, furniture, tools, appliances, Home décor. They do not accept clothes.

Thank you for having a mission focused heart. Remember God will guide us through this pandemic and,

God willing, we will host another mission garage sale next year.

SCHOOL SUPPLIES FOR LOW-INCOME

ELEMENTARY OMAHA STUDENTS

Thank you for your generous donations of school supplies! The

barrel was overflowing with numerous items that were sorted by

the Youth Committee after their meeting. A total of 715 school

items were sorted and distributed evenly to Franklin, Cody and

Holling Heights Elementary Schools. Thanks to Rosanna and

Ken Anderson, Chuck Lundquist, and Miranda Golliday for

delivering the school supplies to the schools. Even in the midst

of our current situation, Hope family and friends have been

faithful in sharing and supporting our annual school supplies

event. The schools, children, and families are appreciative and

thankful for your donations to help them start their year off to a

good start!

And thanks to the $3000 grant Hope

received from the Nebraska Presbyterian

Foundation, Hope was able to purchase

and provide backpacks and school

supplies to 50 kids in need at Neihardt

Elementary school.

Missions by Brian Claus

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Siena Francis House Women’s Retreat (the Hope in-person retreat for the

women in the Miracles Recovery Program) has been canceled because of the

Covid-19 pandemic. However, we are going to try something different with

the women on September 19. We will use Zoom to communicate with the

women. Instead of a 3 hour retreat with multiple workshops, we are going to

limit our time to 60 minutes, since we won’t be there in person. Our plan is

to have some activities via zoom. Our theme will be “One Anothering.”

Do you remember Josh’s sermon on July 5, “Searching for Hope and Truth

in Uncertain Times?” Towards the end of Josh’s sermon, he talked about the

book of Acts and how many different ways that we could love our fellow

man and woman, by using the principal of “One Anothering.” Love one

another, pray for one another, forgive one another, build up one another, be humble to one another, and so on. This

theme will be our springboard to bring home the point in our game planned for the women . We will end with a game

where the women can win some prizes. We don’t need a lot of women to help with this, but if you have a strong

desire to help via zoom, please call Kathy Andersen at 402-330-3568.

We definitely need your prayers that this activity via zoom will let the women know that Christ loves them and

only wants the best for them.

Here is a little update from Patty who runs the Miracles Recovery Program at Siena Francis House.

1. Patty, and the rest of the men and women in the Miracles Recovery Program, are thankful for all the clothing, books, coloring books, and other needed item you have all donated to them.

2. The women will be transferring into the new Siena Francis facility in the month of October.

They could use some more detailed coloring books and markers. Patty said they really go through them fast.

If you would like to donate, please contact Kathy Andersen.

Missions by Brian Claus

Neihardt School Food Backpack Program

School is in session. Once again, Hope has volunteered to assemble and deliver

backpacks of healthy meals for needy children in our neighborhood who attend Neihardt

Elementary School. Thanks to many of your donations and a $3000 grant Hope received

from the Nebraska Presbyterian Foundation, we delivered 103 meal bags to Neihardt to

be distributed during the second week of school! Thank you, Hope congregation, for

your continued support of this great mission and outreach to fulfill a need in our local

Millard community. As long as Neihardt Elementary school is still meeting in-person,

we will continue to pack and deliver these much needed meals for kids to have some-

thing to eat over the weekend. Please continue to donate meal items:

• Single serving Chef-Boy-R-Dee meals

• Single serving cereal in boxes

• Single serving Mac & Cheese cups

• Single serving fruit cups

• Gallon Ziploc stand and fill bags w/ slider

• Individual shelf-stable Horizon milk

Together, we are carrying out God’s Word by feeding the hungry in our community.

“Share your food with the hungry…” (Isaiah 58:7 NLT) 4

Carey Niewhof, a former lawyer, now pastor and con-

sultant, shared the first part of a recent survey of 900

leaders that he conducted. He asked the younger

generations to finish the sentence “my biggest com-

plaint about older leaders at work is…” Since we are

a congregation of “older leaders” wanting to reach

younger generations, we might want to take to heart

the top five answers given in the survey. Are you

ready? The ride may be a little hard to take.

1. The older leaders aren’t open to change – they

want to do it the way it’s always been done.

2. The older leaders are inflexible – not flexible in

how work gets done and refuse to let go of their

authority.

3. Older leaders think they know everything – their

way is the only way; they’ve got it all figured out.

4. They have too many rules –they are more con-

cerned with policy than people; more led by poli-

cy and procedure than by passion.

5. They are too slow – to change, to adopt tech-

nology, to make decisions.

(I promise to give you the flip side of the survey when

it comes out – what older leaders think of younger

workers as well.)

5 Things Younger Leaders Can’t Stand

About Older Leaders

CareyNiewhof.com

The task force continues to meet to review new

case statistics in our Omaha metro area. Last

month we moved out of Phase 2 back into Phase 1

as a result of an increasing number of new cases.

The last couple of weeks has shown a leveling off

of new cases; however, not enough to move us

back into Phase 2. Phase 1 is more restrictive in

what can occur in-person with regard to our

church programming. Basically, only the essential

work of the church can occur in person – e.g.

small worship team gathers to record worship and

the established committees of the church can meet

if <10 people with social distancing and masks

required.

The task force also continues to recommend to

Session changes to the Plan as various new

scenarios arise – particularly gatherings in our

parking lot or at other locations away from our

facility. This month we recommended to Session

that the following be adopted:

• Drive-in worship following established

guidelines be allowed in Phase 2.

• Established committees be encouraged to meet

digitally whenever possible.

• Other sanctioned church events, activities &

meetings either on or off church property not

be permitted in Phase 1.

• Official and sanctioned Hope meetings outside

our facility be subject to the same restrictions

as those taking place indoors or outdoors on

the property in Phase 2.

We continue to stress that you are safer at home.

While we make every effort to clean, sanitize and

set parameters for gathering, we cannot guarantee

an environment that is risk-free. If you are visiting

the church, you must make your own decision as

to the risk you are willing to assume. Also, please

continue to think of our staff and their safety, if

you come to the church. Masks are required,

sign-in and sign-out is required, six-foot social

distancing is required. Do not come if you do not

feel well.

Music & Worship by Arlene Thietje, Elder

COVID-19 Task Force Update

by Arlene Thietje, Elder

5 5

Deuteronomy 16:17: “Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the LORD your God has blessed you.”

As I sit down to write this article, I hope and pray that you are all staying safe and healthy. I personally never thought that the pandemic would have taken us through spring, summer and now fall. We cannot change what is happening in the world but we can continue to pray for health for each of us.

It has been a different year in of our lives. Not being able to worship together, pray together, fellowship together and support each other as we have in the past. Even though we cannot be in worship together there are many ways we are staying connected. The office sends out weekly e-mail updates. Caregiving has a team of calling everyone. We pray for each other. We have a great team who have faithfully been here each week since March to record the service for Sunday. Great things are happening at Hope Presbyterian as we speak. We welcome Pastor Jeri-Lynne who is guiding us to new beginnings.

The Stewardship Committee has chosen “Moving Forward in Hope” for our stewardship theme for this year. We remember our past and how we nurtured and served others. We celebrate events in each other’s lives and comfort each other in times of sorrow.

In the Bible, it talks about giving a tithe (10% of our income to the church.) When we tithe, we are putting God first. During the month of September you will be hearing testimonials from members of Hope and why they pledge to Hope. Consecration Sunday is October 11, 2020. The first part of September you will be receiving a letter from the Finance Committee with our projected 2021 budget. In that letter, you will receive your 2021 pledge card along with a postage paid envelope to return your pledge to the Finance Office no later than October 11, 2020.

We ask you to prayerfully, joyfully and generously support Hope Church and our future and by doing so be fulfilling our mission of “LOVING GOD, LOVING ALL PEOPLE, AND LIVING IN GRACE.”

Blessing to each of you!

Stewardship by Jayne Molacek, Elder

Pantry of Hope by Mike Molacek

God created you to do something and make an impact on your community. Since March, Hope Church has been extremely generous to those in need. Each week the barrel in the lobby overflows with your non-perishable food items. Hope’s Pantry continues helping our community. Foods that you enjoy at your house are perfect to donate. We make good use of all non-perishable items. With school beginning, there is usually an increased number of families in need of food. 18 families totaling 69 people came in for food. There were 1,240 items distributed from July 20 – August 18, 2020. Thank you to Mary Beth and Jayne for answering the calls and handing out the bags of food when those in need call. Thanks to all of you for your continuous generous support of the Pantry of Hope. Your support is helping many families in our area.

TOTAL GAIN/(LOSS) for year ($8,264.00)

INCOME $25, 100.00

EXPENSES $27, 560.00

GAIN/(LOSS) ($ 2,460.00)

FINANCIALS FOR JULY

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THANKS:

• Ron Stigge & Kurt Briley for trimming the trees on either side of the entrance to Hope

• Jayne Molacek for overseeing the purchase and installation of the new security system at Hope. The security will be more inclusive with other systems like smoke detectors and fire department along with being easier to maintain and more cost effective

• Mike Dierking, Kurt Briley, Ron Stigge & Mike Molacek for repainting/staining the playground and tightening bolts and screws to ensure a safe place for Hope and neighboring families/children to play

• Mike Molacek for filling nail holes in the Pastors office in prep for painting

• Addison and Carson Chatten for helping their father repaint the Pastors office

PUNCHLIST DISCUSSION:

• Paint the CE office

Carryovers: dimmer switches

Jan Andreasen would like to

thank everyone for all the cards, prayers and birthday wishes for Ivar’s 80th birthday. He had a

great day! His family spent time with him, “social

distancing”, having cake, pizza, and balloons. He received about

50 birthday cards/pictures or more. Thank you everyone!

Dear Hope Church Family and Friends,

I would like to personally thank all of you for your generous school supply donations for Franklin Elementary. Each classroom in our building was able to benefit from your gift.

Thank you for showing HOPE to my colleagues and helping to make back-to-school a success in our classrooms. I am so thankful to have such a giving and loving home-church family at Hope!

We are so hopeful that we’ll get to return to the classroom with our kiddos soon. So please let me know if you’d like to come read or spend some time with us. I would love to have you! Thanks again!

Love,

Jenn Molacek Jenn

We would like to say a big THANK YOU to our Hope family. We appreciate all of the cards, memorials, phone calls, emails, thoughts and prayers with the passing of our father. Both of our parents were very aware of how our church family played a role in our families' lives. We have truly been blessed.

Gil, Michele, Brent and Kate Lovett

Steve, Deanna, Spencer, Jamie, Seth and Rachel Shiller

Building & Grounds by Jason Chatten, Elder

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September Birthdays

9/3 Sue Pennington

9/8 Joe Washka

9/9 Lila Zimmerman

9/12 Dick Corwine

9/13 Sandra Hammond

9/13 Jayne Molacek

9/13 Rev. Keith Roumpf

9/13 Larry Rudesill

9/18 Scott Gunderson

9/19 Sydney Miller

9/20 George Thietje

9/21 Debbie Barry

9/23 Troy Kaup

9/25 Paul Richling

9/25 Montana Thomas

9/29 Wayne Fry

9/30 John Bonaventura

9/6 Josh Widman

9/13 Mike Molacek

9/20 Matt Frerichs

9/27 Rich Roberts

Session Highlights by Jayne Molacek

Minutes of Regular Session Meeting on July 21, 2020 were approved. Motion to adopt the agenda. Seconded and carried. The July Clerk of Session Report was approved. The July Finance Report was received. Pastor Jeri-Lynne gave her report for the month. Motion from Christian Education to conduct online Sunday School training via ZOOM on Sunday, August 23, 2020 at 10:30 a.m. Seconded and carried. Motion from Christian Education to require only one Sunday School teacher on a Zoom session. The present policy requires two teachers per class, however, that is when classes are meeting in person. Seconded and carried. Motion from Youth Committee to remove Youth Sunday, August 30 from the calendar and schedule it for a later date this fall. Seconded and carried. Motion from Youth Committee that the Youth fundraiser dates be rolled into one starting with advertising starting on Wednesday, August 26, 2020. Seconded and carried. Motion from Communication Committee to change the title of committee to read: Communications/Social Media/Technology Committee. Seconded and carried. Motion from Task Force Committee to recommend approval of language clarifying outdoor and offsite activities of the church and clarification of recommended musical offerings for our COVID-19 Four Phase Plan as shown on the documents and charts of permitted activities. Seconded and carried. Motion to change the time of session to 7:00 p.m. Seconded and carried. Motion to add a Session educational/strategic planning meeting via Zoom once a month. Seconded and carried. Motion to elect a commission to the October 22, 2020 Zoom meeting of the Presbytery of Missouri River Valley at 5:30 p.m. Jason Chatten will be representing Hope.

In loving memory of

Alyce Riley October 24, 1922 - August 1, 2020

Memorial was held on August 10, 2020

Private Inurnment

Thank you for volunteering!

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10/4 Tracy Comba

10/11 Sarah Martin

10/18 Troy Kaup

10/25 Sandy Hammond

Quotes & Bible Verses about Labor

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HOPE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

“Loving God, Loving All People, Living in Grace”

5220 S 159 Ave, Omaha, NE 68135

402-895-4044

Temporary Office Hours

Open 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Monday-Thursday

Church Staff

Pastor: Jeri-Lynne Bouterse ……………………….……...pastorjl@hopepresbyterianchurch.org

Office Administrator: Mary Beth Vonk.........................officeadmin@hopepresbyterianchurch.org

Christian Education: Director: Becca Jackson York……....cebecca@hopepresbyterianchurch.org

Music Director: Luke Furman....................................musicdirector@hopepresbyterianchurch.org

Treasurer: Jayne Molacek.....................................................................mmolacek@centurylink.net

COMMITTEE SESSION EMAIL

Adult Ministry adultministry@hopepresbyterianchurch.org

Building & Grounds Jason Chatten buildings@hopepresbyterianchurch.org

Caregiving Ministry Lil Fehr caregiving@hopepresbyterianchurch.org

Children’s Ministry Tracy Comba childrenministry@hopepresbyterianchurch.org

Clerk of Session Jayne Molacek clerkofsession@hopepresbyterianchurch.org

Communications Kelly Klopp communications@hopepresbyterianchurch.org

Fellowship Ministry Tracy Comba fellowship@hopepresbyterianchurch.org

Mission Ministry Brian Claus mission@hopepresbyterianchurch.org

Music & Worship Arlene Thietje musicworship@hopepresbyterianchurch.org

Personnel Ministry Niki Frerichs personnel@hopepresbyterianchurch.org

Youth Ministry Amy Kaup youth@hopepresbyterianchurch.org

www.hopepresbyterianchurch.org 10