In this Issue

Table of Contents Pastor ‘s Greeting ........... 2

Holy Week ....................... 3

Sunday School ................ 4

Youth Group ................... 5

Easter Breakfast .............. 6

Just for Kids .................... 7

SOS ................................... 8

Peoples Kitchen ............... 8

Thrivent Teams ............... 9

Calendar ................... 10-11

Spirited 50’s ................... 12

Women’s Ministry ........ 13

Sr. Lunch ....................... 14

Stephen Ministry ........... 14

Council Highlights ........ 15

Prayer Quilt Ministry ... 16

President’s Notes ........... 17

Birthdays & Anniv ........ 18

Prayers ........................... 18

Staff ................................ 19

The Eagle

Saint John’s

Lutheran Church

A Little Church with a Big Heart

APRIL 2017

2

“It’s Friday, but Sunday’s coming!” That quote is from a message I heard years ago. It’s stayed with me because it captures the Easter message so well. Things may look bleak on Friday, but don’t forget, Sunday’s coming! Good Friday, the day of Jesus’ brutal death, seems to be anything but good. But it is good because it’s not the end of the story. Easter Sunday’s glory makes the horror of Friday a powerful good for us. As we’re making this journey together through Lent, we know Sunday’s coming. I hope you’re excited to celebrate the good news. Jesus is alive and death has been defeated. How has the resurrection of Jesus changed your life? What changes has God been making in you in light of this turning point in human history? That’s your story, your testimony. If God is alive, then he must be alive and working in you. It’s news that is too good to keep to ourselves. Who could you share your story with this

month? You don’t need to argue or convince people. You’re not fighting with anyone. You

simply share out of your experience with God.

"I was struggling with this, and God helped by doing this."

"I was hurting here, and God met me there."

"My church family has really made a difference here."

These stories of hope are so helpful in drawing people to Jesus. As we lift him up, he will draw them closer. I encourage you to pray often this month about who you might share your story with. Who does God bring to mind? You might want to invite them to some of our events this month. We’ve got a tremendous outreach day on Palm Saturday, April 8th, with a free movie and crafts and games. We’ve got Maundy Thursday and Good Friday worship. And, of course, Easter Sunrise at the beach and here on campus. It’s a great month to invite and share the good news. God’s Peace

Greg greg@saintjohnsag.com

Pastor’s Page

3

Palm Saturday Fun Day April

8th (see Page 5)

Sunday, April 9 Palm Sunday Festive palms celebrate Jesus’ arrival into Jerusalem.

Maundy Thursday - April 13 7:00 p.m. The Last Supper, Jesus washed the disciple’s feet and gives us Holy Communion At the end of the worship the Altar and all Chancel is 'stripped' in anticipation of Good Friday.

Good Friday - April 14 7:00 p.m. Join us as we remember the death on the cross of Calvary.

Sunday, April 16 - The Resurrection of Our Lord Easter Sunrise by the Beach 6:30 a.m.

Meet at the patio at the end of Grand Ave in Grover Beach. Bring your lawn chairs and some coffee to share. Bring your neighbors, relatives, and friends to this Sunrise Celebration. Songfest leads us, as The Old Rugged Cross is transformed into a sign of new life..

Easter Breakfast ¨ ~ Egg Soufflé ~ Fresh Fruit~ Juice ~ Coffee ~ 7:00– 11:00 Come enjoy a delicious feast. Donations go to the youth

programs

Worship at 9:00 and 11:00 a.m. In the Sanctuary - Come celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord.

9:00 am Songfest 11:00 am Traditional Worship Come Hear the Good News. Christ is Risen, He has Risen, Indeed!

Holy Week

4

Thanks so much for your wonderful donations for our Children’s Church blessing bags! With your generosity and help from Thrivent, we were able to put 25 backpacks together filled with toiletries, socks, new t-shirts, water and food. Several families took a backpack (or 6!) home to pass out to people in need around the area and we delivered 12 more to the People’s Kitchen. Thank you for helping our children help others! Our new memory verse is Luke 10:27 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and, Love your neighbor as yourself. Be sure to join us for the family and congregational fellowship opportuni-ties in April. We have a family movie outing following Easter fun day with crafts, Youth fund-raiser game night, Easter Egg Hunt and lots more ways to plug in around here. Don’t miss it! And, invite a friend! Save the date for family game night at our home, Friday May 5th. Loving kids with you, Cindi Wallace cindi@saintjohnsag.com

The Easter Bunny needs your help! To bring a fun Easter Egg Hunt to Saint John’s on Easter morning after the 9:00 service. Please bring your donations of egg fillers - wrapped candy, small items like stickers, balloons, coins, etc. to the Commons and leave them in the Easter box. Then the East-er bunny helpers can fill eggs for him to hide before the hunt. Your donations are needed by April 9. You can ask me if you have questions. Thanks for your help. Neita Oates Assistant to the Easter Bunny

Sunday School

5

College Night

Every Wednesday 5 pm - 8 pm

5 pm - 6 pm: Dinner

6 pm - 7 pm: Bible Study

7 pm - 8 pm: Games

Youth Night

Every Sunday 5:30 pm - 8 pm

5:30 pm - 6 pm: Dinner-Prep

6 pm - 6:30 pm: Dinner

6:30 pm - 8 pm: Bible Study & Games

Want to get involved? Contact Rob Mees at rob@saintjohnsag.com

Upcoming Events Easter Movie @ the Fair Oaks

The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe April 8th, 10 am

Followed By

Easter Fun Day @ Saint Johns Easter Crafts, Egg Dyeing

Hot Dog, Mac-n-cheese, & Fruit Lunch

**************************************************

Everyone’s Invited to the Annual Youth Dinner and Fundraiser

Mr. Potato Head Presents

A Groovy 70s Night Sunday, April 30th, 5 pm in Ouimette Hall

Appetizers, Drinks & Games, Back by popular demand,

Saint John’s Family Feud!

Baked Potato Dinner with all the Fixings & Delicious Brownie Dessert, Silent & Raffle Auctions

Proceeds raised fund our youth programs and

Youth Group News

6

7

Just For Kids

8

Five Cities Food Ministry: Bring your Contributions to the wagon in the Commons that is waiting to be filled. Call Joanne, Food Coordinator for Five Cities Food Ministry,

People’s Kitchen: Everyday at noon, a meal is served indoors at Pacific Christian Center in Grover Beach. The host church will lead a worship time before the meal. Saint John’s is the 2nd Tuesday of the month. Call Linda McNair or or Peggy Dros-te , for more information.

Health Ministries Committee: For info contact, Yvonne Stephens (805) 489-6919 .

A History of the People’s Kitchen

South County People's Kitchen was established in 1992. The first meal was served in May 1992 to 4 people. Saint John’s became involved with SCPK in 1992 when Kerry Wood be-came the representative from Saint John’s. Emanda Miller joined the team in November

1992 . That year, Social Ministry and Saint John’s served Thanksgiving dinner in the parking lot of Peace Lutheran Church. When Kerry moved to Stephen Ministry, Emanda Miller be-came the team leader. The team grew from 2 to 6 and became a viable member of SCPK.

When the board was formed Emanda, became the representative from Saint John’s. Soon SCPK was serving 80 - 100 people a day and grew from a handful of churches to 35 church-es. As circumstances have pushed the homeless out of the area the numbers are declining.

We are presently serving 50-60 people, and the team has grown to 7 servers, 2 musicians and our pastor. The serving site has been re-located many times, but God is good and a new site is always found. Please pray for a permanent site with the ability to provide more services

for our homeless population, especially a shelter during inclement weather, and showers.

Submitted by Aram Kermoyan

Make a Difference

People’s Kitchen

9

Please join us on Sunday morning April 30th for Brunch! Ken McCall of Thrivent Financial will be hosting a brunch so we can learn more about how Thrivent can help us be even more generous. Ken will explain more about the ways Thrivent members can be involved through Thrivent Action Teams . The brunch is open to all ! Come and see how we can make a difference together.

MAKE AN IMPACT ON YOUR COMMUNITY

It’s as easy as ABC!

Thrivent Action Teams

Thrivent Action Teams make it easy to support a cause you care about. It’s a one-time volun-teer project—fundraiser, service activity or education event. Thrivent offers seed money, pro-motional materials and T-shirts to make it easy to bring a team together to and serve in power-ful ways

Thrivent Builds With Habitat For Humanity

Thousands of Thrivent members are “hammering out” what it means to live generously and change lives! With program funding, volunteers help construct or repair homes across the globe. Since 2005, Thrivent and its members have committed $226 million to the program.

Thrivent Choice Dollars

Do you have Thrivent products? This program gives eligible members an opportunity to desig-

nate where Thrivent distributes some of its charitable funds each year. Since 2010, $300 mil-

lion has gone to help churches, educational institutions and other nonprofit organizations. It

doesn't cost you a dime.

Make a Difference

10

SPIRITED 50’S

SATURDAY APRIL 8, 2017, 6:00 P.M.

I want to thank my daughter Julie for presenting a mind provoking program on the Holocaust. There was a very good turn out for the evening, and there were many questions and comments provided by our group. Those in attendance that had visited Israel added with their thoughts and experiences. What a wonderful evening gathering of friends. Mid eastern treats were available and enjoyed by all. There was a part of the program that we did not get to, and that was Julie’s travel in Israel. I asked Julie if she would be interested in coming back and pre-senting that portion of the program that we did not hear, and her reply was positive. So some-time between July and November, I’ll make arrangements for Julie to come back and present that portion we were not able to complete. I’ll try and let you know a couple of months early so you can plan accordingly. We did discuss the possibility of a name change but no definite decision was reached, soooo, we’ll continue with further discussions to make a change or pos-sibly not make a change.

FAKE NEWS---It looks like the Spirited 50’s has been hit with what’s going on in the news media. Some one started spreading the word that our event last night had been canceled . Several people canceled out without checking to see if the news was correct or not. UNLESS YOU HEAR THIS FROM ME OR PASTOR GREG DO NOT BELIEVE IT. Pastor Greg in his Thursday congregational e-mail mentioned the Saturday night program. I have a good working relationship with Pastor Greg and would not have left him out on a limb presenting misinformation.

Looking forward to 2017, I have a couple of programs I would like to present if I

can obtain the right individuals to present the topic for them. IF YOU CAN HOST PLEASE LET ME KNOW. I know you want to meet and enjoy the camarader ie of your fellow Christian brothers and sisters. So step forward and be a host/hostess. Please consider hosting twice a year, and try to limit hosts to two couples, or 4-5 people, so we’ll have plenty of hosts to share the fun time. We have posted several suggested activities on the bulletin board so the hosts would have some type of activity to choose from if they did not have one they would like to present. You’ll find the suggested activity list posted in our area. If you can not make a decision as to what the program will be, ask Frank Drake for help. Remember there really isn’t anyone too young or too old to join us and enjoy the fellowship period we have together. If you have not attended our gatherings you do not know what you have missed. It’s light and fun time. Come and find out for yourself. In HIS Service, FRANK DRAKE

Spirited 50’s

April 8 @ 6:00 P.M. is our next gather ing. J er ry Devos and Betty Hanson will be the hosts for the evening. We will play Bingo with Jerry making the calls and Betty will pro-vide the evenings dessert. Prizes will be available for the winners. Sign-up today!

11

The mission of the Women’s Ministry is to serve the congregation and community with love and fellowship

Easter Blessings from Women’s Ministry

All women are invited to attend the next meeting on Wednesday April 12 at 1:00 P.M. Our speaker will be Kathy Lindstaedt. She will share her thoughts and experi-ences with Evangelism. She has been a vital part of China Service Ventures for the past few years.

Remember, if you’re a woman at Saint John’s, you are automatically members of the Women's Ministry.

At the March meeting, we celebrated a Saint Patrick's Day Theme and featured Madelyn Koontz who shared some beautiful ways to accessorize outfits.

Thank You from the Board members: Louise Frye, Ethel Lenz, Jan Straka, and Kay Werner

Women’s Ministry

12

Senior Lunch Senior lunch is a monthly get together on the fourth Tuesday of each month. This is en-joyed by many seniors and all are invited. Come check us out. It is a good way to get to-gether for good company, good healthy food, and fun. We share in great songs with Sha-ri and Myron leading with fun music, also great jokes and stories. This is entirely supported by donations. With the prices of food ever rising, it is getting harder to meet expenses. We ask that all that attend consider this when donating. In pre-vious years, if we have excess amount over what is needed to start up in January we have donated to people's kitchen, or food bank. I was not able to do this last year as we some-times did not meet expenses. We do love doing this and always hope for a good turnout. Please help us to keep this going. As time goes by our crew has also gotten smaller, so we could also use some extra volunteers for food prep and cleanup. A few extra hands could help lighten the load.

Thank you The Loving Kitchen Crew

“You don’t have to go through it alone.”

Need Someone to Talk To? Stephen Ministers are trained to help walk with you through challenging times. They are loving and skilled shepherds who are there to listen and support you. They aren't "cure" givers, they're "care" givers. Life comes at us in lots of challenging ways. We don't need to carry everything ourselves. Paul writes in Galatians 6, "Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ." A weekly check in with your Stephen Minister for a difficult season might be just what you need. Contact Pastor Greg or Shar TerBorch for more info.

Building Community

Stephen Ministry

13

February 20 Council Meeting Discussion

Rebuilding the fencing of church perimeter (SoCal Gas Company) PG&E request to use property for staging area Solar installation Audit progress Memorial Fund items

No direct action was taken pertaining to these matters.

Income/Expenses February 2017 Year to Date

Income $31,185.00 Expenses $43,008.66 Over (Under) ($ 11,823.66)

Feb. 26 189, Mar 5 172, Mar 12 186, March 19 194, Mar 26 NA

This, That, & Tidbits

Please share any news of your household that would be a blessing for the congre-gation to celebrate, or help out.

Thank you for your prayers, cards, phone calls and visits following my hip surgery recov-

ery! I'm walking a straight line--finally! Blessings & Hugs! Linda Cziraki

We extend our deepest gratitude to the congregation for all the love and support that you have shared with us upon the passing of our dear Dad, Dick Spangler. Both Dad and Mom were so

blessed by their many friends in the congregation who made their last years so rich with the love of Jesus that came through you. Sandy and Frank Lebens

To My dearest Saint John’s Family, Please accept my loving and heartfelt thanks for all of the

Prayerful Generosity extended to me during these past few challenging months. I Love You All! Jeff Metcalfe

Council Highlights

14

Prayer Quilt Ministry

Have you heard of the Prayer Quilt Ministry? Maybe you’ve seen a blanket with yarn ties and a card sitting out on a table in The Commons. If you have, that is a prayer “quilt”. The Prayer Quilt Ministry is intended to provide prayerful support to someone experiencing a challenging event, such as health issue. Knowing that others are lifting up prayers during difficult and frightening times is such a comfort. These prayers become tangible through these quilts. Anyone is welcome to begin a prayer quilt. Just follow this procedure: Go to the closet in The Commons (to the left of the sanctuary doors). Choose a prayer quilt. Jot their name down on the clipboard. (That way we don’t get two quilts going for the

same person.) Choose a card. Grab a pen. Put the prayer quilt, card and pen out on one of the tables in The Commons. (It’s helpful

to others if you write a brief note about what to pray for and maybe the person’s first name.)

Start it off with your own prayer, tie and message in the card. When the card is full, most ties are tied or you want to get that quilt to the person right

away, gather them up and deliver them. (Envelopes are available by the cards.) If you have any questions about prayer quilts or the Prayer Quilt Ministry, please get in touch with Kerry Wood. (Prayer fleece tie blankets are available for teenagers and young adults.)

15

President’s Notes

As some of you know, I have been concerned by the lack of young people, young families at-tending church. While I have been able to get some answers as to why this is, generally those answers are vague. In England, attendance of service provided by the Anglican church has been declining markedly in the last decade. The same is true in Europe even in those countries that have a state supported religion such as Lutheranism. And yet, is the belief in a divine crea-tor disappearing? During one of my terms as a representative to the Southwest California Syn-od of the ELCA I heard from an English cleric about something quite remarkable regarding reli-gious belief among young people. At that time, some fifteen years ago, young people were turned off by the structure of religious belief, to wit the church. They sought their spiritual ful-fillment in different ways: after hours in bars and nightclubs, underground catacombs, Etc. I have never spoken to a millennial who doesn't attend church so, I have to rely on the accounts of others for this information. On March 3rd, the PBS Newshour offered an interview with a millennial at Harvard about his take on millennials and organized religion i.e. the church. Below is the URL you can type in your browser to read this individual's brief but spectacular moment. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqE9TqUzrtc My take on what he said is that they, the millennials, are eager to find and become one with their spirituality, but find no answer in organized religion. I also found it enlightening that in the entire piece, he never spoke once about any particular religion. Even with the good news (gospel) of Christ, is His church in danger of becoming irrelevant? It is all well and good to be a chaplaincy for the believers who attend church. We need that. Yet, we truly need to under-stand the spiritual desires of this young age group if the church is to remain the driving force of Christian belief and discipleship as envisioned by Christ in the gospel of Matthew. This is true on a world scale but also in our own bailiwick of Five Cities. I am old yet not so entrenched in what I believe the church should look like to envision a somewhat different version of our church. If our mission as a church is to reach out and disciple to this upcoming generation we need to understand and be able to respond to their spiritual needs and desires. If we as a "church" do not come to grips with this need then we are doomed to fail in any effort and be-come even more irrelevant to the very folks we are trying to outreach. The concept of Christ will live for some of them; but the passion of His suffering and sacrifice will be less known. The joy of being one in the church of true believers will not be shared.

Godspeed Tim Myer

16

Our friends & family: Trudy, Sandy, Betty, Eric, Laura, Jim, Stan, Sharline, Sandy, Karen, Shay, Jess, Mad-dy,Brent, Kelly, Wana, Rilla, Bob, Diana, Pam, Myron, Shari, Cheryl, Spangler-Lebens Family

1 HEATHER HOUSTON

2 JILL CHURCH, LAURA EMMERLING

3 SANDY LEGGETT

4 LILA ANDERSEN

5 PEGGY DROSTE

6 HERB HART

10 GERALDINE BANDY,

RICHARD SCHULTZ

11 GEORGE NUNES

13 BILL ZICKUHR

15 CHERYL APFEL, TIM METCALFE

16 EVAN REILLY

17 JASON GOMEZ

19 KEITH JOHNSON, MICHELLE MEES

21 ARAM KERMOYAN

22 THOMAS LEBENS

25 FRANK SMITH

27 DIANE YOPS

29 BRECK THOMAS

30 CARRIE ANDERSEN,

FRANCES TAILLON

2 BRIAN & DEBBIE BELDEN

5 NOAH & KIMBERLY MARTIN

7 DAVID & JANICE GOODWIN

15 TERRY & LINDA FIBICH

16 PAUL & ALISON TERBORCH

23 SCOTT & LOUISE TAYLOR

26 SUSAN & KELLY CARLSON

17

2017 CHURCH COUNCIL: OFFICERS- PRESIDENT: Tim Myer VICE PRESIDENT: Lynn Kaloian TREASURER: Patti Roberts SECRETARY: Cal Wood LIAISONS: Christian Education David Immel Good News Team Diane Yops Property Donna Gillette David Goodwin Social Ministry Lynn Kaloian Stewardship Ralph Miner Worship & Music Cal Wood

STAFF

Saint John’s Office Phone……..............805-489-1259 Pastoral Emergencies...........................310-613-0283 General E-mail.....................office@saintjohnsag.com Greg Wallace, Pastor…….....greg@saintjohnsag.com Cheryl Apfel, Office Administrator .…..…..office@saintjohnsag.com Rob Mees, Dir. Youth Ministry ……..…….rob@saintjohnsag.com Cindi Wallace, . Children’s Ministry Director ..cindi@saintjohnsagcom

Church Website ......................www.saintjohnsag.com

Office Assistant Pam Glenn Bookkkeper Gretchen Weckstein Coord. Music Ministry Shari Bowman Chancel Choir Director Janice Goodwin Handbells Director Shari Bowman Songfest Director Cal Wood Choir Accompanist Shari Bowman Organist Dawn Russ Custodian Janet Forsha

Nursery Attendant Michelle Mees Financial Secretary Kerry Wood

A Stephen Ministry Congregation

May Newsletter Deadline is April 15 Thanks to all the volunteers who have been such a blessing to the office. It would be impossible without you!

18

Th

e Ea

gle

Is p

ub

lished

mon

thly

by

S

aint Jo

hn

’s Lu

theran

Chu

rch

959

Valley

Rd

. A

rroyo G

rand

e, CA

. 93

420

(8

05

) 489

-125

9 F

ax 4

89-8

719

saintjo

hn

sag@

hotm

ail.com

w

ww

.saintjo

hn

sag.co

m

Ed

itor: C

hery

l Ap

fel

No

n-P

rofit

U.S

. Po

stag

e Pa

id

Arr

oy

o G

ran

de, C

A 9

34

20

P

erm

it No

. 17

CH

AN

GE

SE

RV

ICE

RE

QU

ES

TE

D

DA

TE

D M

AT

ER

IAL

-PL

EA

SE

DO

NO

T D

EL

AY