learning, living, loving: united in god’s steadfast love
TRANSCRIPT
The Journey February and March 2018
Inside this Issue:
Message From the Pastor….2 St. Luke Info……3 Council Minutes…….. 4,5
Congregational Meeting Minutes…...6 Prayer List, Birthdays….8 Announcements…9
February Calendar and Sunday Servants……10,11
March Calendar and Sunday Servants……..12,13
Deadline…….14
Luke and ELCC in
What Are Your Hopes for this Place?
This is the edition of the newsletter that contains a separate addendum that includes our annual
reports. Receiving and reviewing the reports are a way for us to look back at what different min-
istries have accomplished over the past year. I do hope you take the time to read the reports.
Of course, the biggest thing that happened in our congregation’s life in the past year was the pur-
chase of our building. I couldn’t have anticipated the level of enthusiasm I witnessed. Moreover,
members and friends of St. Luke followed through on that enthusiasm by pledging to provide the
material support needed to pay for the building with a capital campaign that exceeded its goal for
pledges.
In my pastoral report, I revisit these issues, and also ask the question, “now what?” It is a ques-
tion we should all be asking. It is a question we have asked before.
After about a year or so of serving St. Luke, I asked the congregation to really think about core
commitments. What kind of church did you want to see? What ministries were important? Given
our limited resources (both human and financial), where did we want to direct our energy? It is
now time to do that again.
You may recall at the capital campaign commitment luncheon, you were asked to take a strip of
paper and write on it your prayers, hopes, and dreams for this church. We connected those pray-
ers into a chain, which hung in the Narthex until yesterday. I took the chain to my office and read
each link. I prayed while I did this, asking God to grant us the insight and direction to accomplish
to live and serve faithfully as we move into the next phase of our church’s life.
The links of the prayer chain revealed a lot, mostly that it seems we are concerned with worship,
discipleship (of both youth and adults), serving our community (especially those in need), and
seeing a growth in numbers. Oddly enough, those priorities haven’t changed much since the days
we were in redevelopment. They are good and noble things. While it seems our commitments are
consistent, it is also clear that we need to recommit ourselves to the hard work of living into
those commitments.
Now that we no longer need to worry about securing a permanent home to share our common life
together, we are free to focus on these ministries. Council will be meeting in a daylong retreat in
February to discuss some of these very issues, and to develop plans and strategies for seeing the
vision become a reality. Pray for us as we meet on February 10, and also pray that all our hearts
may be opened afresh as we seek to love and serve God and neighbor in this place.
Peace,
Mission: Learning, Living, Loving: United in God’s
Steadfast Love
Church Location:
Office Hours
(Tuesday ~ Thursday) Office is closed Monday &
Friday
or
we ask that you let the President, Dave Barkdoll, know
in advance so we can put it on the council meeting
agenda.
Learning, Living, Loving, United in God’s Steadfast Love.
Meeting was called to order. In attendance were Pastor Robb Harrell, Kelly
Williams, John Shaw, Dave Barkdoll, Jim Sease, Mary Beth Egas, Mary Shulak,
Andrew Grunzke, and Mark Rettig.
Call to Order: by Dave Barkdoll at 12:45pm.
Devotion: Prayer led by Dave Barkdoll.
Review/Approve Minutes: A motion was made by Pr. Harrell to approve
minutes. Seconded by John Shaw. The motion carried.
Recognize Guests: None.
President: None.
was ahead of expenses for October by $48.
Ministry Area Reports:
Fellowship:Submitted by Mary Shulak. There will be a joint Thanksgiv-
ing Service fellowship. We will have coffee and snacks on December 3rd.
Discipleship: Submitted by Andrew Grunzke. Continuing as scheduled.
Evangelism:None.
A Friend’s House, and Backpack Blessings.
Property: Submitted by John Shaw. The crucifix was installed. Repairs
are necessary due to water damage on the front doors.
5
Sabbatical update: Potential candidate: Devin Strong. Discussion of continuing
education funds to be used during sabbatical will be tabled until further infor-
mation is gathered. A motion was made by Jim Sease to make an initial offer to
Devin Strong to supply pastoral services during Pastor Rob’s sabbatical. Seconded
by Mary Beth Egas. The motion carried.
New Business:
Church Security: Pastor Harrell will attend a security seminar sponsored by the
Henry County Sheriff Department.
Office copier: ELCC is in need of copier services. John Shaw made a motion to
allow ELCC access to St. Luke’s copier machine with fair compensation. Se-
conded by Andrew Grunzke. The motion carried.
Receipt of Capital Campaign Funds:Mark Rettig submitted a motion to adopt
guidelines for receipt of capital campaign funds and the disbursement of funds
for the purpose of mortgage loan debt reduction as written. (Attached as ad-
dendum). Seconded by Pr. Harrell. The motion carried.
Proposed budget: The council reviewed a proposed budget for FY 2018 submit-
ted by Mark Rettig. Dave Barkdoll made a motion to adopt the proposed budg-
et as amended. Seconded by Jim Sease. The motion carried.
Motion to adjourn made by Dave Barkdoll and seconded by Pr. Harrell. The mo-
tion carried. Meeting adjourned at 2:06 pm.
Respectfully submitted by Kelly Williams.
6
7
Marcia Ludley…17
Chong Brauer …..19
Bob Denzin………...25
Friends and Family
nounced in the monthly News-
letter, it could be because we do
not have your information in the
church records.
to appear in the monthly Jour-
ney, please fill in the infor-
mation provided below and re-
turn it to the church office.
Name ___________________
D.O.B.
8
St. Luke and ELCC have employed a nursery leader. For the protection of our
children, we are asking that there be a volunteer nursery worker in addition to
paid worker each week. If you would like to volunteer, please fill out the form on
the Joint Ministry table and return it to the church office. You can volunteer to
help for either one or both of the services on Sundays.
Dates to remember:
February 11 & 25, March 11 & 25 at 12:15 pm. Youth Group
February 10 Council Retreat 9-3
February 14 Ash Wednesday Service 7pn
February 18, March 18 Council Meets after service
February 25 Hunger Walk
April 1 Easter Sunday Breakfast 9:40 am
Join us at church for dinner and worship on Wednesday evenings, February 21–
March 14, for a Lenten Service. We will gather at 6:15 pm for soup and sandwiches
and fellowship time, followed by a brief service of prayer and worship.
All are invited and encouraged to come, as we hope this will be a time when people
from across generations can share in the spirit
of reflection appropriate to the season.
For more information, contact Pr. Robb.
Please sign up if you can help provide soup and/or sandwiches.
9
“Birthday in a Bag” ministry
Members and friends can purchase basic supplies such as cake mix, icing,
candles, crepe paper, balloons, small plates and napkins and place them in a
Birthday bag. Bags will then be donated to A Friend’s House and given to a family
with no means to celebrate a birthday.
Burial Plots Available
St. Luke owns two burial plots in Sherwood Memorial Park on Tara Boulevard in
Jonesboro that we are offering for sale. Proceeds will be used to pay off remaining
credit card debt. If you or someone you know are interested in these plots, please
contact Pastor Robb for more information.
Are You Staying Connected?
St. Luke operates a webpage, a Facebook page, and a Twitter feed, all of which
provide congregational news, upcoming events, and items of interest.
Take advantage of these resources!
Web: www.storyofgod.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/St-Luke-Lutheran-Church/
On Saturday, March 31 at 11:00 am ELCC and St. Luke will hold their annual Easter Egg Hunt. There will be games, refreshments and over 1000 eggs to hunt, so be sure to mark your calendar and invite family, friends and neighbors. Sign the attendance sheet near the front entrance and come out for a great time.
If you can help provide plastic eggs filled with a candy or treat, please sign up on the appropriate sheet or let Mary Beth (770) 471-2198 or Barbara (770) 957-4640 know. Please tape your eggs shut and remember not to include chocolate items.
The address is: 1748 Brannon Road McDonough, GA 30253
Assisting Minister Debbie Lundell
Ushers Team 2
dell
Ushers Team 2
Clean Up Little/Pace/Adair
February 11 E
Ushers Team 2
Clean Up Sparrow
February 4 D
Ushers Team 2
Clean Up Barkdoll/Egas
11
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
Mike and Beverly Adair and Dave Barkdoll
March 2018
Sunday Servants
dy Barkdoll
Adair
Ushers Team 3
Clean Up ELCC
March 18 E
Ushers Team 3
Clean Up ELCC
March 25 A
Ushers Team 3
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
If you have any ideas or suggestions for The Journey,
please contact the church office
Please have all Journey items into the church office by the
25th of each month…………..
Please call the church
new phone number so
updated.
Inside this Issue:
Message From the Pastor….2 St. Luke Info……3 Council Minutes…….. 4,5
Congregational Meeting Minutes…...6 Prayer List, Birthdays….8 Announcements…9
February Calendar and Sunday Servants……10,11
March Calendar and Sunday Servants……..12,13
Deadline…….14
Luke and ELCC in
What Are Your Hopes for this Place?
This is the edition of the newsletter that contains a separate addendum that includes our annual
reports. Receiving and reviewing the reports are a way for us to look back at what different min-
istries have accomplished over the past year. I do hope you take the time to read the reports.
Of course, the biggest thing that happened in our congregation’s life in the past year was the pur-
chase of our building. I couldn’t have anticipated the level of enthusiasm I witnessed. Moreover,
members and friends of St. Luke followed through on that enthusiasm by pledging to provide the
material support needed to pay for the building with a capital campaign that exceeded its goal for
pledges.
In my pastoral report, I revisit these issues, and also ask the question, “now what?” It is a ques-
tion we should all be asking. It is a question we have asked before.
After about a year or so of serving St. Luke, I asked the congregation to really think about core
commitments. What kind of church did you want to see? What ministries were important? Given
our limited resources (both human and financial), where did we want to direct our energy? It is
now time to do that again.
You may recall at the capital campaign commitment luncheon, you were asked to take a strip of
paper and write on it your prayers, hopes, and dreams for this church. We connected those pray-
ers into a chain, which hung in the Narthex until yesterday. I took the chain to my office and read
each link. I prayed while I did this, asking God to grant us the insight and direction to accomplish
to live and serve faithfully as we move into the next phase of our church’s life.
The links of the prayer chain revealed a lot, mostly that it seems we are concerned with worship,
discipleship (of both youth and adults), serving our community (especially those in need), and
seeing a growth in numbers. Oddly enough, those priorities haven’t changed much since the days
we were in redevelopment. They are good and noble things. While it seems our commitments are
consistent, it is also clear that we need to recommit ourselves to the hard work of living into
those commitments.
Now that we no longer need to worry about securing a permanent home to share our common life
together, we are free to focus on these ministries. Council will be meeting in a daylong retreat in
February to discuss some of these very issues, and to develop plans and strategies for seeing the
vision become a reality. Pray for us as we meet on February 10, and also pray that all our hearts
may be opened afresh as we seek to love and serve God and neighbor in this place.
Peace,
Mission: Learning, Living, Loving: United in God’s
Steadfast Love
Church Location:
Office Hours
(Tuesday ~ Thursday) Office is closed Monday &
Friday
or
we ask that you let the President, Dave Barkdoll, know
in advance so we can put it on the council meeting
agenda.
Learning, Living, Loving, United in God’s Steadfast Love.
Meeting was called to order. In attendance were Pastor Robb Harrell, Kelly
Williams, John Shaw, Dave Barkdoll, Jim Sease, Mary Beth Egas, Mary Shulak,
Andrew Grunzke, and Mark Rettig.
Call to Order: by Dave Barkdoll at 12:45pm.
Devotion: Prayer led by Dave Barkdoll.
Review/Approve Minutes: A motion was made by Pr. Harrell to approve
minutes. Seconded by John Shaw. The motion carried.
Recognize Guests: None.
President: None.
was ahead of expenses for October by $48.
Ministry Area Reports:
Fellowship:Submitted by Mary Shulak. There will be a joint Thanksgiv-
ing Service fellowship. We will have coffee and snacks on December 3rd.
Discipleship: Submitted by Andrew Grunzke. Continuing as scheduled.
Evangelism:None.
A Friend’s House, and Backpack Blessings.
Property: Submitted by John Shaw. The crucifix was installed. Repairs
are necessary due to water damage on the front doors.
5
Sabbatical update: Potential candidate: Devin Strong. Discussion of continuing
education funds to be used during sabbatical will be tabled until further infor-
mation is gathered. A motion was made by Jim Sease to make an initial offer to
Devin Strong to supply pastoral services during Pastor Rob’s sabbatical. Seconded
by Mary Beth Egas. The motion carried.
New Business:
Church Security: Pastor Harrell will attend a security seminar sponsored by the
Henry County Sheriff Department.
Office copier: ELCC is in need of copier services. John Shaw made a motion to
allow ELCC access to St. Luke’s copier machine with fair compensation. Se-
conded by Andrew Grunzke. The motion carried.
Receipt of Capital Campaign Funds:Mark Rettig submitted a motion to adopt
guidelines for receipt of capital campaign funds and the disbursement of funds
for the purpose of mortgage loan debt reduction as written. (Attached as ad-
dendum). Seconded by Pr. Harrell. The motion carried.
Proposed budget: The council reviewed a proposed budget for FY 2018 submit-
ted by Mark Rettig. Dave Barkdoll made a motion to adopt the proposed budg-
et as amended. Seconded by Jim Sease. The motion carried.
Motion to adjourn made by Dave Barkdoll and seconded by Pr. Harrell. The mo-
tion carried. Meeting adjourned at 2:06 pm.
Respectfully submitted by Kelly Williams.
6
7
Marcia Ludley…17
Chong Brauer …..19
Bob Denzin………...25
Friends and Family
nounced in the monthly News-
letter, it could be because we do
not have your information in the
church records.
to appear in the monthly Jour-
ney, please fill in the infor-
mation provided below and re-
turn it to the church office.
Name ___________________
D.O.B.
8
St. Luke and ELCC have employed a nursery leader. For the protection of our
children, we are asking that there be a volunteer nursery worker in addition to
paid worker each week. If you would like to volunteer, please fill out the form on
the Joint Ministry table and return it to the church office. You can volunteer to
help for either one or both of the services on Sundays.
Dates to remember:
February 11 & 25, March 11 & 25 at 12:15 pm. Youth Group
February 10 Council Retreat 9-3
February 14 Ash Wednesday Service 7pn
February 18, March 18 Council Meets after service
February 25 Hunger Walk
April 1 Easter Sunday Breakfast 9:40 am
Join us at church for dinner and worship on Wednesday evenings, February 21–
March 14, for a Lenten Service. We will gather at 6:15 pm for soup and sandwiches
and fellowship time, followed by a brief service of prayer and worship.
All are invited and encouraged to come, as we hope this will be a time when people
from across generations can share in the spirit
of reflection appropriate to the season.
For more information, contact Pr. Robb.
Please sign up if you can help provide soup and/or sandwiches.
9
“Birthday in a Bag” ministry
Members and friends can purchase basic supplies such as cake mix, icing,
candles, crepe paper, balloons, small plates and napkins and place them in a
Birthday bag. Bags will then be donated to A Friend’s House and given to a family
with no means to celebrate a birthday.
Burial Plots Available
St. Luke owns two burial plots in Sherwood Memorial Park on Tara Boulevard in
Jonesboro that we are offering for sale. Proceeds will be used to pay off remaining
credit card debt. If you or someone you know are interested in these plots, please
contact Pastor Robb for more information.
Are You Staying Connected?
St. Luke operates a webpage, a Facebook page, and a Twitter feed, all of which
provide congregational news, upcoming events, and items of interest.
Take advantage of these resources!
Web: www.storyofgod.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/St-Luke-Lutheran-Church/
On Saturday, March 31 at 11:00 am ELCC and St. Luke will hold their annual Easter Egg Hunt. There will be games, refreshments and over 1000 eggs to hunt, so be sure to mark your calendar and invite family, friends and neighbors. Sign the attendance sheet near the front entrance and come out for a great time.
If you can help provide plastic eggs filled with a candy or treat, please sign up on the appropriate sheet or let Mary Beth (770) 471-2198 or Barbara (770) 957-4640 know. Please tape your eggs shut and remember not to include chocolate items.
The address is: 1748 Brannon Road McDonough, GA 30253
Assisting Minister Debbie Lundell
Ushers Team 2
dell
Ushers Team 2
Clean Up Little/Pace/Adair
February 11 E
Ushers Team 2
Clean Up Sparrow
February 4 D
Ushers Team 2
Clean Up Barkdoll/Egas
11
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
Mike and Beverly Adair and Dave Barkdoll
March 2018
Sunday Servants
dy Barkdoll
Adair
Ushers Team 3
Clean Up ELCC
March 18 E
Ushers Team 3
Clean Up ELCC
March 25 A
Ushers Team 3
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
If you have any ideas or suggestions for The Journey,
please contact the church office
Please have all Journey items into the church office by the
25th of each month…………..
Please call the church
new phone number so
updated.