Connect at Calvary – August 2018

“Bloom Where You Are

Planted.”

I tried to look up where this quote

originally came from and I didn’t

have much luck. Some attribute it

to an Afghan proverb while

others attribute it to a particular

person or find a basis for it in the

Bible. Whatever the original

source, I think it is one of those

frequently used quotes that just

gets used because people like it.

We might not always find ourselves in easy or comfortable places,

but that does not take away the fact that God promises to be

present with us or the fact that we can do the work of God in the

places that we may find ourselves. Sometimes, we find ourselves

planted among the rocks and still growth happens. Sometimes

things get a bit prickly and amazingly a bloom appears. If we

remember who we belong to, that we belong to God, it really isn’t

that surprising, is it? A God of wonder and delight can take what

appears to be the worst situation and produce something

wonderful. So, no matter where the quote comes from, I pray that

today you will “bloom where you are planted” because God is with

you.

Let us pray. Living God, you are a God of amazement and

surprise. Guide us where we find ourselves today. Amen

August Calendar

August Weekend Worship Services Saturday 5:30 pm August 4, 11, 18, 25

Sunday 8:15 am & 9:30 am August 5, 12, 19, 26

Thursday, August 2 9:00 am Quilters Thursday, August 9 7:00 am Men’s Breakfast 9:00 am Quilters Saturday, August 11 6:30 pm Congregational Potluck Thursday, August 16 9:00 am Quilters Friday, August 17 5:45 pm Care Center Meal Monday, August 20 1:00 – 5:30 pm Blood Drive at Calvary Tuesday, August 21 11:00 am Praying in Color Group 4:30 pm Calvary In Action Meeting Wednesday, August 22 5:30 pm Congregational Picnic Potluck Thursday, August 23 9:00 am Quilters Thursday, August 30 9:00 am Quilters

If you need to contact us, the church phone number is 342-9043. Our office hours are: Monday – Thursday 7:00 am – 4:00 pm Friday – 7:00 am – 12:00 noon

Enid Asheim, Fay Swenson, Suzanne Ray, Suzanne Swenson, Linda Atene, Raylan Piebenga Murphy, Carolie Zacher, Joshua Gordon, Hazel Mueller, Joann Piebenga, Julie Fraley, Mary Boyer, Charlene Buescher, Allan

Dewald, Sharon Hermeling, Mark Schuh, Thomas Abell, Jordyn Bruski, Donna Kinzley, Ray Anderson, Harry Paulsen, Orland Paulsen, Amy Alford, Freddis Williamson, Pauline Hohn, Borgie Sande, Connie Cleveland, Charlotte Rowland, Leona Aaker, George Lee, Rollie Larson, Pam Baumberger, Bill Groethe, Carli Knutson, Kadie Neuharth, Rich Elias, Trisa Scott, Florence Cook, Mary Repp, All Military, First Responders & families BAPTISMS… Ava Fish daughter of Trevor & Amanda Fish. Addison Beth Emery daughter of Eric Emery & Emily Palmer. Zoey Ann Hermanson Applegarth daughter of Josh & Jamie Applegarth. Austyn Jane Nolan daughter of Josh & Lindsey Nolan. Judah Mattes Faitupe Cook son of Jeffrey & Jessica Cook. Leo James Mueller son of Ben & Anya Mueller. WEDDING… Spencer Ray & Tori Adams SYMPATHY TO… Nancy Stephenson and family. Nancy’s husband, Steven Stephenson, died June 15th. Sheila Highland and family. Sheila’s father died. Mutch Usera and family. Mutch’s brother, Isaac Usera, died. The family of Linda Buzzetta Torgerson. Linda died June 24th. Jennifer Hauf and family. Jennnifer’s father, Lenis Baumiller, died.

Council Members… Patrick Badiuk, Tim Becker, Cheryl Chapman, Bill Eldridge, Jon Johnson, Reeva Mathieson, Nancy May, Jeff Schleusener, Doug Thrash

Council Officers: President: Cheryl Chapman Vice-President: Jeff Schleusener Secretary: Jon Johnson Treasurer: Tim Becker

VISIONING. . and then strategic planning Earlier this year, our church began exploring pathways for revitalizing our congregation. Pastor Doug Hill from Abiding Hope in Littleton, CO, helped us look at our work in the church through a new lens. His message

for us was that we need to focus on people, not programs.

Before starting on a strategic plan for revitalization, we explored what is important to us as individuals and as a congregation. An average of 50 people attended 3 sessions this spring to discuss our values. The topics were:

Your history with Calvary Lutheran—what are the important milestones and touchpoints in your life that happened here?

Your church experiences—what are those activities and experiences that resonate with you and inspire your faith and its action?

Your favorite Bible verse—what are those verses and why do they mean so much for you?

Our next step this summer is to share the results of these sessions with a Visioning Team. This group of members has been working with your ideas to generate a Draft Vision and Mission for Calvary Lutheran. Their goal is to reflect your ideas for the future of the church and present their work for

your comments this fall. Once the congregation finalizes the Vision and Mission, work will begin on a Strategic Plan to implement our ideas. The schedule for this work is, as follows:

Summer 2018 o Develop Draft Vision and Mission Statement

Fall 2018 o Ask for Congregational Input o Adopt Vision and Mission o Start Strategic Planning

Winter 2019 o Present Draft Strategic Plan

Spring 2019 o Adopt Strategic Plan and Begin Implementation

SOUTH DAKOTA SYNOD HIGHLIGHTS

This year is Bishop David Zellmer’s last year. At the 2019 Synod meeting a new bishop will be elected. Calvary Lutheran Church will be electing its delegates for the synod meeting at the Annual Meeting in early January—let us know if you are interested in being a delegate!

Luther Seminary announced its “Jubilee Scholarship,” which is a full tuition scholarship for all students entering for a Master of Divinity or Master of Arts degree, starting in Fall 2018.

The South Dakota Synod sent the largest delegation of youth to the ELCA Youth Gathering. . .again! The theme for the 2018 gathering was, “This Changes Everything,” discovering and renewing the faith of the 46 who attended from Calvary Lutheran.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! Thanks to everyone who made our mission trip to Loveland, Colorado possible! Your prayers, financial and emotional support sent 11 beautiful young students and 4 great adults

to Loveland for a whole week! Thanks so much for allowing God to use you. We are going to New Mexico next summer!

BLOOD PRESSURE CHECKS… Jessica Gromer, RN, will do blood pressure checks on Sunday, August 19th, in the Dakota Room from 8:30-9:30 am. CALVARY will have a blood drive on Monday, August 20th, 1:00 pm – 5:30 pm. If you would like to donate blood, please call Jim Galbraith at

484-3221 to schedule your appointment. DO YOU HAVE A NEW PHONE NUMBER? If you have a new phone number would you please let us know. You can call the church office at 342-9043 or email leeann@calvaryrapidcity.org.

HOSPITAL VISITS… If you or someone you know, is going to be in the hospital or is in the hospital, please let the pastors know.

COOL FOR SCHOOL POTLUCK PICNIC – WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22ND… Starting at 5:30 pm. BBQ’s will be provided. Each family is asked to bring a dish according to the first letter of their last name… A-L: Side Dish and

M-Z: Dessert. Summer is almost over and we want to celebrate the start of a new school year. We will have games starting at 6:15 pm. Bring a friend!

SCHOOL SUPPLY DRIVE… Calvary will be collecting school supplies to help children in need. We are in need of backpacks, notebooks, pencils, erasers, scissors, colored pencils, crayons and

markers. We will be putting kits together on August 22nd at the summer picnic and giving them to local schools.

THE CONFIRMATION YEAR is just around the corner and we are hoping to have about 60 students! But we need at least 3 more guides to help make our year more effective. Please consider being a

guide to a group of God’s beautiful children. You don’t have to have all the answers to be a guide. Being a guide offers you the opportunity to teach and learn God’s word with some of the best kids ever. We will have teacher’s/guide training on September 5 before classes resume. Please contact Hannah at 342-9043 if you would like to help us out as a guide!

Hello to all and I hope you are having a pleasant summertime. We have been busy supporting the Orlando Soloist outreach programs for children and have had a few concerts to boot. But, of course, we are looking forward to our next church season of music and worship. I thought

this is a time to consider being involved in the music of worship. We have an amazing group of people who support and bring music to our services. Deb Martin and Wednesday night, our singers in the various vocal groups we run, and instrumentalists who bring their gifts to our services. I am grateful to all these people for their time and efforts. The question arises, at times, about recruitment to grow the choirs. I would like to offer a reason to sing in service. When we stand up and offer our music to praise and thank God, we are living the many words of Psalms. To sing praise to our Creator, to express our joy in God, to loudly praise...in the house of the Lord. To stand up, in front of our children and grandchildren, and model this part of scripture is how we teach them to want to continue the music God has blessed us with. To sing the faith is to teach the faith to others. It is a concrete action of faith. It has nothing to do with voice quality or previous negative experience. It is only a natural consequence of realizing God has created and prepared eternity for you. The Psalms say that makes you sing, and play. I hope this season you will come and sing the faith with us...we have great reason to! Thanks, Albin

WEDNESDAY SCHOOL 2018-19

REGISTRATION

WHO: Preschool – 9th Grade students WHAT: Register for the 2018-19 school year

WHEN: August 1 – September 5 WHERE: www.calvaryrapidcity.org HOW: Click Education tab Click Education Registration Form Complete the form and click Submit All Education Registration is online! Please submit your student’s form by SEPT 5 to be included on a class list. Students will NOT be registered until a form has been submitted! THANK YOU! Teacher Training & Pizza Potluck SEPTEMBER 5 5:30 pm

Wednesday Schedule begins! SEPTEMBER 12

DID YOU KNOW that you can receive Calvary’s monthly newsletter by email? If you would like to be on our email list for the monthly newsletter, please email leeann@calvaryrapidcity.org with your email address.

KIN MINISTRY… We have an exciting new program here at Calvary! Kin Ministry started in December and has been very successful. With success, comes growth, and so we are looking for people from Calvary who may be

interested in going out and meeting with our members who are home-bound and can’t make it here very easily. We offer excellent training and regular meetings (once every month or two). We are also trying to be respectful of your busy schedule, so we have openings for you to visit someone once or twice a month, if that is helpful for you. You will meet with the same person each time, so you are able to develop a rich, satisfying and rewarding relationship with someone. Please consider a conversation with me in the near future so that we can have you join our current team. Please call me or the office and schedule a time for us to sit and talk. Blessings, Deacon Tom Martin

COMING IN SEPTEMBER… Women’s Bible Study will begin on Monday, September 10th and will meet from 10:30 am – 12:00 noon. Beginning in August, there will be a signup sheet at the Information

Desk with details about our study. All are welcome! Hope you can join us! Questions? Call the church office at 342-9043.

THANK YOU for your continued support of all the programs at Calvary. Because of your donations of dollars and “stuff” and talent –

We sponsored 34 students in the Clothe-A-Kid program with donations of $2040.

In May we combined your weekend donations and some additional budgeted funds and sent Woyaton Lutheran Church a donation of $850.

CIA’s project for June and July has been Feeding South Dakota. They have already picked up 2 large containers of your food donations.

We have promised to keep you informed of where we are and what we need. The numbers below show our cash flow thru June. Your time, talent and treasure are all needed for the ministries and programming here at Calvary, so we can be equipped to go…love, serve and be the people of God. If you have any questions, please contact Kathy Miller at the church office or any of your church council members. 6/30/2018

Donations $ 387,362 Disbursements 465,563 Donations – Disbursements $ (78,202)