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CHRIST LUTHERAN 222 Church Avenue Oshkosh, WI 54901

OFFICE HOURS Monday-Friday 9:00 am-Noon

SUNDAYS 9:00 am Worship

10:15 am Coffee Hr.

WEDNESDAYS 5:00 pm JAM Kids

& Youth Group 6:00 pm Worship

6:30 pm Confirmation

CONTACT

INFORMATION:

CHURCH OFFICE

Barb Schneider 920.231.6570

clcoshkosh@gmail.com

PASTOR

Rev. Connie Weiss 920.904.5919

pastor.cweiss@gmail.com

PRESIDENT

Dorene Myers 920.420.1586

October, 2018

Dear Friend,

Time... It flies by so quickly, doesn’t it? And I have joined the many voices that have said, “Time seems to fly by faster as you age. Whew! I don’t know about you, my friend, but sometimes life can be downright exhausting! And it’s at those times I know that I need to take a break along with a deep breath to reconnect with God—the one who has never left my side.

It’s October already! I’m guessing that for many of you fall is a busy time. The world seems to wake up from a kind of summer slumber. Life just seems to run differently during those summer months. For me, fall never wakes up slowly. Instead, it begins at a frantic pace with so much to do. People around us seem to mirror that. And be-fore you know it, a weariness can set in. We may also notice that the days are getting darker as winter waits around the corner. For many, seasonal depression be-gins to kick in. Yes, fall has come in all its beauty with the changing colors and brand new adventures. But, it also may bring its not-so-welcome side-effects.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed….but, we’ve been quite busy here at Christ Lutheran. And we’re having a blast! We’ve come up with a new mission statement, listed with a new realtor, held a big Homecoming celebration and packaged over 21,000 meals for the hungry. JAM and Confirmation classes are in full swing. We have so much that we are planning — well beyond 2018. Yes, we are a church that is alive and well - even in the midst some challenges. But we, too, need time to rest and reconnect.

I write this as I enjoy the quiet with a hot cup of tea—anticipating our Lunch and Learn Bible study only a a few hours from now. I love these small pockets of time that refresh me. I have come to realize that I will always be a busy person on the go. That seems to be how I’m wired. But I’m learning to take important moments to rest with the one who truly has the power to heal me in meaningful ways. And if I’m real-ly smart... I begin my day this way. Whether on my knees in prayer or in reflection, God is always there and waiting for me. No matter what you are going through—whether it’s a busy time or a time of trial, I hope you never forget that you are not alone, and that you can find the life-giving rest you need.

Your Partner in Christ,

“The Lord replied, ‘My presence will go with you,

and I will give you rest.’ ” - Exodus 33:14

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August, 2018 Report

Total Revenue: $6,881.85

Total Expenses: $10,563.60

Net Profit/(Loss): (-$3,681.75)

Year to Date Report

Total Revenue: $87,211.94

Total Expenses: $102,593.53

Net Profit/(Loss): (-$15,381.59)

Meet Our New Realtor

We decided to go with a new realtor after our contract with First Weber ran out. We are hap-py to introduce Ryan Hawkins as our new real-tor. Ryan is from the Appleton area and has sold commercial properties for three years. He has lots of energy and is open to be creative with us as we look to downsize by selling our building.

Dorene Myers President

Kevin Harvot Vice President

Susie Smith Secretary

Carrie Lewis Treasurer

Gloria Heidl

Ryan Birschbach

2018 CHURCH COUNCIL MEMBERS

SEPTEMBER

UPDATE

Our council meetings are jam-packed with items to discuss and decisions to be made. One of the most important issues was switching realtors. 2-3 realtors were considered, and the decision was made at our second council meeting this month.

Once again, we are asking for help in sorting out items in the church. Any help is appreciated. All areas are being done with the exception of the kitchen. If you are not able to physically help but have an idea on something that should be kept, donated, or sold, please speak with a council member.

Aside from renting space to the Encore Bell Ensem-ble, we have opened our doors to two ministries.

Living Stone Church is a new congregation current-ly worshipping at Portico Church. They are using our Sunday School classrooms on Sunday mornings.

The Oshkosh Society of Friends needed a tempo-rary site to hold their meetings. They are meeting in our chapel on Sunday afternoons.

This October, we have so many exciting things to share with you. God is definitely at work at Christ Lutheran! Join us in the lounge every 1st Sunday of the month as council members and pastor share updates regarding our finances, the listing of our building and so much more. See you there!

Sunday

October 7th

10:30 AM

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Following a full worship service, we began our Homecoming celebration. People made their way into the Fellowship Hall where tables featured contents from our time capsule, historic items throughout the years along with, a memory table where members could write down their favorite stories. We offered a fun scavenger hunt through-out the two buildings. Our Dream Team shared our new mission statement with participants while our new JAM teachers and Youth Coordinator introduced themselves to families. Then, a delicious German meal was served to celebrate our strong German heritage. It was a great day to reminisce and also look to our future!

HOMECOMING SUNDAY BRINGS MANY TOGETHER IN CELEBRATION!

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SUNSHINE CARROTS

1 lb baby carrots 1/4 tsp. ginger

1 T. sugar 1/4 c. orange juice

1 tsp. cornstarch 2 T. butter

1/4 tsp. salt

Cook carrots. Mix sugar, salt, cornstarch and ginger together.

Add the orange juice. Cook, stirring constantly until thick and

bubbles. Boil for 1 minute. Stir in butter. Pour over hot

carrots. Toss to coat.

SHARING OUR

HOMECOMING MEAL

ONE RECIPE

EACH MONTH!

Wednesday, Nov. 21st

JOINT THANKSGIVING EVE

Worship & Fellowship

6:30 pm - St. Andrews

Join local ELCA churches as we gather

together in worship. We’ll team up for

worship followed by an hour of pie and

fellowship.

Sunday, Nov.11th

GRATITUDE CHILI LUNCH

A Celebration of Diversity

10:30 am - Fellowship Hall

Bring a chili in a crock pot as we sam-

ple a variety of chilis. Come enjoy the

diverse dishes as we celebrate who we

are individually and collectively.

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Choir/Praise Band News

Choir and Praise Band are off to a great start. We are still looking for more interested musicians to participate. If you are 14 or older and play an in-strument or sing, please come and join us. Mem-bers and guests are always welcome.

Our practice schedule for October is as follows:

• Monday, October 8 @5:30 pm

• Tuesday, October 23 @5:30 pm

• Sunday, October 28 @7:45 am

“Praising God with music brings great joy to our souls.” Please come and share His gift!

Bring your own lunch and a Bible. We will have hot beverages and water available. We will take time off for Labor Day. These are the gospel texts we will discuss on Septem-ber Mondays:

Oct 07 Mark 10:2-16 Oct 14 Mark 10:17-31 Oct 21 Mark 10:35-45 Oct 28 Mark 10:46-52

A Personal Invitation...

We’ve been studying the Gospel of Mark - chapter 9. I wonder if you’d ponder these things with me…

• What does your idea of an angel look like?

• Jesus intimated that it’s not about who follows us but instead, who…?

• If Jesus is fully human and fully divine, does that mean he has all the same emotions as we do?

• Referring to verse 40, what do you think the difference is in these two sentences…

• “Whoever is not against us is for us” • “Whoever is not for us is against us”

• If God is still relevant today, how do you know?

I believe, Bible study help us build a stronger relation-ship with God. I have found it easier to find my own answers to these questions when I have the oppor-tunity to also be in conversation with others around God’s Word. We welcome you to join us for Lunch and Learn on Mondays. We have no starting and end-ing point. So, it is not even necessary to come every week. Please consider joining us. We’d love to see you there!

- Susie Smith

OUR NEW MISSION STATEMENT

Supported by Our Core Values:

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CLC FOOD PACKAGING EVENT

21,168 MEALS PACKAGED

by 85 Volunteers!

On September 23rd, our congregation and others

from the community packaged over 21,000 meals

in just 2 hours time. The money for the food supply

was made possible through family donations from

memorial funds along with personal donations.

Food packaged from this event will go to people in

impoverished countries. Participants learned more

about world hunger and that they can truly make a

difference. We should be hearing where these

packages are received in the very near future. This

event gave strong witness in how we live out one of

our core values - ‘Serving Others.”

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Pastor Connie’s Sunday sermons are now being streamed live on Facebook. Just search for Christ Lutheran Church Oshkosh, WI. Then like us, and you can see the sermons live, or listen to them later.

Also, check out our newly-created website at https://clcoshkosh.com/

WEDNESDAYS 5 PM After having two weeks under our belts, things are going smoothly and falling into place nicely! The kids are very involved in discussions about the Bible verse being read as well as the activity prepared for them. It’s fun listening to them make correlations between the verse and their everyday lives. We are very excited to be teach-ing this year, and we are looking forward to planning many fun events with our students!

- Kirsten and Ashley

SUNDAY

DEC. 16TH

9 AM

We had a great start to Youth Group! I’m excited

to see what our work together brings. The youth

had many great ideas for what we can do. I m

looking forward to the coming weeks hanging out

with the youth. We encourage all young people to

join us!

Blessings, Kayla Barlow (Youth Coordinator)

2 BIG EVENTS IN ONE NIGHT!

Friday, October 26

INDOOR TRICK OR TREAT

5:30-7:00 PM

7:00 PM Friday - 8 AM Saturday

6 pm - Wednesdays

We have 4 students in confirmation class this year. Along with studying the Bible, we had our first ser-vice event. In September, students worked hard at cleaning up our Fellowship Hall, vacuuming rugs and washing windows on the doors. Thank you Benjamin, Brooklyn, Lucas & Mason. The place looks great!

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DREAM TEAM REPORT

The Oshkosh Summer Farmers’ Market will run on Saturdays through October 27. We will have a booth through the 13th due to cold weather. Hours of operation are 8:00 am-12:30 pm. We are located in front of Peabody’s. We are looking for volunteers to fill in some of the remaining Satur-days for the market. You can add your name to the sign-up sheet on the credenza in the narthex.

We will be donating 25% of all proceeds from the Farmer’s Market to a local charity each month. September donations went to the Lutheran Food Pantry, and October’s proceeds will go to Day By Day Warming Shelter.

Our team has worked hard with the congregation as we now have identified our core values and have our brand new mission statement.

We attended our 5th out of 6 Seeds for Growth workshops where we focused on listen-ing to others and understand-ing the cultures that shape us. We learned a lot!

Our final workshop will take place at Christ Lutheran in December. Although the program will be ending, we have developed a deeper understanding of who we are as church and how we need to move forward as a revitalized congregation that is listening deeply to God’s call for us.

We’ve also become very involved with our own communi-ty as we continue to host important events that bring churches and local agencies together to learn how we can help those in need. What an exciting time to be church!

Dream Team Members:

Mallory Schneider-Birschbach, Barbara Shew, Dorene Myers, Margie Mahoney, Kayla Barlow

and Pastor Connie

On behalf of the students and all of us at Lutheran Campus Ministry-Oshkosh, we want to thank you for your donations of plants.

Our mission is not only to share God’s word with others, but also to serve them with kindness and hospitality. The plants are being enjoyed by many students!

Blessings, Lutheran Campus Ministry-Oshkosh

LCM OSHKOSH’S NEW CAMPUS PASTOR

Lutheran Campus Min-istry at UW Oshkosh welcomes Pastor Bry-an Schmidt to the Gathering Place.

The campus ministry had been looking for a new minister following our pastor’s departure to be full time with Christ Lutheran. Please keep this young adult ministry and Pastor Bryan in your prayers as they begin a new chapter of ministry on campus.

Mallory reports on Christ Luther-an’s progress at the last Seeds Workshop in Belleview.

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A Prayer for our Church

Good and gracious God: All that we have comes

from you and we thank you for that! We have

entered into a new time in our church. We pray

for your guidance and wisdom as we discern our

future. In Your love, send your Holy Spirit to us.

Open our hearts to hear your words. Transform

our minds to see the possibilities. Lead us to a

vision that will strengthen our Church. Lord Je-

sus, calm our fears and anxiety. Bring us togeth-

er, so we may be of one mind and one spirit,

working for the growth of Your Kingdom. We

place our church in your hands. May all our de-

cisions be for your glory! Amen.

COMMITTEES The normal meeting times listed here may change as needed. Watch the monthly calen-dar and weekly bulletin for any changes or up-dates.

Music & Worship (2nd Sunday of month)

Women of the ELCA (1st Sunday of month)

Buildings & Grounds (1st Tuesday of month)

Stewardship (To Be Determined)

Youth & Education (3rd Monday of month)

Hospitality (4th Sunday of month)

Social Ministry (4th Monday of month)

September Women’s Activities

Christ Lutheran Women have had an exciting and busy month! Our Homecoming Celebration brought many of our congregation to church, and all stayed for an exciting and tasty German meal. It was a fun learning experience as the women checked through family recipes and cookbooks.

We re planning for the Rise Against Hunger event, where both women and men gather at church to package meals for hungry people.

Sadly, none of our women were able to attend the fall retreat at Imago Dei Village on September 21 and 22. We hope to hear about it from others who could attend.

Thanks for all of your donations for our quilting project. We should be sending our completed work to Appleton for shipping in early to mid-October

Quilting

With autumn comes thoughts of warmth and snug-gling. We have a few ladies in church that continue to quilt for the missions. Could you even imagine having to put a child to bed with no blanket to cov-er him? If this tugs at your soul, you can help by either joining the ladies at church or working from home cutting squares or sewing strips. Just call the church office (920-231-6570), and we will help con-nect you with them. Thanks and God bless!

Quilts laid out for a blessing before being shipped

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October Sunday Volunteers

Date Reader Ushers Communion

Assistant

Offering

Counters Open/Close

October 7 Kevin Harvot Needed Susie Smith Mark Arend Barbara Shew

Gloria Heidl

October 14 Mark Arend Needed Needed Jackie Boese Mary Palmquist

Kevin Harvot

October 21 Needed Needed Susie Smith Debbie Reichenberger Gloria Heidl

Dorene Myers

October 28 Debbie Reichenberger

Needed Needed Debbie Reichenberger Barbara Shew

Susie Smith

Coffee Hour sponsors and volunteers are also needed to complete the schedule.

Anyone wishing to volunteer, please sign up on the volunteer sheet located on the credenza in the Narthex. All Sunday readings are printed in advance, so you may take your Sunday’s reading and look over it before you read on your designated Sunday. You may also call the church office, and someone will assist you in signing up for service.

Thanks to all who continue to volunteer!

Altar Guild Volunteers for October: Barbara Shew & Carole Wissink