JUNE 2013

IN THIS ISSUE:

Pastor’s Column page 1 Parish Announcements pages 4 — 8 Stewardship page 10 — 11 Parish Calendar Page 7

Prince Of Peace Newsletter

A congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America 667 W. 8th Street Chicago Heights, IL 60411 Parish Office: 708.481.3222 admin.poplc@gmail.com Visit is on the web... www.princeofpeacelutheran.net Sunday Eucharist: 9.30 a.m. Holy Days: As Announced

School for the Faithful Prince of Peace said goodbye to Seminarians Rob Bork, Becca Ajer, and Sally Hanson on the Seventh Sunday of Easter. This parish has now participated in the “Ministry in Context” Program of the Lu-theran School of Theology at Chicago for five years! But, Prince of Peace is a “school for the faithful” of all callings—including you. As we move into the green of Ordinary Time, how will your faith grow, challenge, and call you to invite those who do not know Jesus Christ into this community?

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F R O M T H E P A S T O R

LAST MONTH, WE AT PRINCE OF PEACE had one of the most fruitful discussions that we have had since I have been pastor here on the Parish Council. This conversation, as I have written to you in my previous two col-umns, revolved around what it means to view visitors to this parish as “guests” rather than simply “visitors” who are left to flounder about on their own. We discussed how we treat guests in our home, and how such attitudes and gra-ciousness is extended to all who are first-time guests to Prince of Peace. Your Parish Council did a good job, and now is the time to keep our foot on the gas. Coupled with this was an exceptionally fruitful discus-sion led by our Seminarians Sally Hanson and Rob Bork about what it means to be a welcoming community. Most interesting of all, one of our seminarians called around to our neighboring Churches (several of them) and inquired if he would be welcome to attend with his partner. The answer? Silence. Silence is a definite “no.” Part of this discussion was things that Prince of Peace needs to work on—and, there are quite a few. Another part of this discussion was the things that Prince of Peace does wonderfully well; again, there are quite a few. The chal-lenge is to honestly access what needs work, and build on the strengths that God has given to us. Many of these little projects are simply done: a sign replaced here, some paint put up there, etc. But the harder task is creating a culture of invitation and welcome in which each member of this congregation under-

stands clearly that it is their job to welcome, to invite, to treat as guests those who come here for the first time. It is not sufficient to simply show up to Church and breeze by newcomers. It is your job to introduce yourself, inquire about the life and faith journey of the new

guest among us, and welcome that person warmly with offers of assis-

tance through the liturgy, help in finding bathrooms, and an articulate description of what ministries we do in this congre-gation to make the life of Jesus Christ known in our commu-nity. That is all our jobs, to-gether. In the coming summer months, Prince of Peace will be gearing up to do some inten-tional outreach with our com-munity garden and the Floss-moor Farmer’s Market. This, coupled with increased efforts from a grant we have received to make the Godly Play pro-gram known in our community will extend the riches of this small but vibrant congregation to our community. When new people show up—and they will (and do!) - what is the next step? What follow-up will there be from this congregation and from you to assimilate first-time

guests into long-term members of this commu-nity. Will you extend yourself to help with these efforts or sit passively in your pew? As author Annie Dillard says, the Sunday Morning experience of the Gospel should come with crash helmets and seatbelts—as the Gospel it-self challenges pew-dwellers to “shake off their dusty sleep” and be about the work of disciple-ship. When guests come among us, they will need crash helmets. And they will need you to help them put them on, buckle up, and roll up their sleeves. That’s hard to do if “ministry” is simple attendance on Sunday Morning. In-

“It is your job to

introduce yourself, inquire about the life and faith journey of the new guest among us…”

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P A R I S H A N N O U N C E M E N T S

FROM THE PARISH PRESIDENT

Everything in God’s Creation needs water, food, light and love in order to grow; the same is true of Christians who are called to “grow where they are planted.”

At Prince of Peace we have water (Holy baptism), we have food (Holy Eucharist) Christ is our light and gives us never ending love. We have everything we need to grow! Every Sunday, we hear the Good News of Jesus! But it takes every single one of us to make a phone call or visit someone new or tell a neighbor of the Good News at Prince of Peace so that we CAN grow. God is the gardener, but we are called and challenged to tend to the plants in the garden, handle them with care, and see to it that they are watered and fed. At our Council meeting, we are learning how to welcome new guests into this commu-nity. We have to make every effort to see that they come back a second time, and in the com-ing months, we will need your help to do this. All hands on deck! So let’s get out of our pews and put on our gardening gloves—and invite new guests into our garden, which is every bit as much their garden! Yours in Christ, Greta

deed, our understanding of Stewardship (as Steve Homberg has so many times eloquently reminded us) is not simple financial substance of this community. Instead, Jesus asks for all of us: our resources, our time, our energy, our risk, our fears of extending ourselves, and our graciousness. These final challenges are the most difficult—they are also the most neces-sary for the roots of any congregation to grow deeper into Jesus Christ. So, be on the lookout for some changes this summer in how we welcome people. We will be retooling how we do Greeters on Sun-day Morning, working on some sprucing up around the building, and making sure that we are in fact ambassadors for Prince of Peace Par-ish to those who come among us. I expect you to do that, and to join with me in extending ourselves beyond what is comfortable. And when I say you, I mean...you. I was so saddened to hear of one of our Seminarians being told that he was not wel-come in our neighboring communities of faith because of who he was. Baptism calls us to “welcome all as Christ” as St. Benedict says, and precisely because these communities are not welcoming of all, Prince of Peace is called to be welcoming all the more. This extends to everyone who comes in these doors, no matter who they are. Because, how we welcome says a great deal about who we understand ourselves to be; and we are the people of Jesus Christ. So, as the hymn says, “Rise, shine, you people! Christ the Lord has entered our human story, God in him is centered. He comes to us by sin and death surrounded with grace un-bounded.” “Unbounded” means no limits, no boundaries, no hands we will not shake, no guests we will not welcome, no visitors we will not warmly bring to a seat with us, next to us so that together we can hear the graces that God is speaking to us anew. In this green-season, it is time to “Get growing.” And, as I have said before: “Green means GROW!” Rev. Dr. Patrick H. Shebeck, MDiv., DMin. Pastor, Prince of Peace Lutheran Church

IT’S A BOY! Congratulations to Greta Veldhuizen, she is the proud Great-Grandmother to Drew Michael Veldhuizen who was born May 3, 2013. Drew is the son of Joseph and Kristen Veldhuizen.

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P A R I S H A N N O U N C E M E N T S

GOODBYE TO OUR SEMINARANS… On Sunday May 12th, we said goodbye to our 2012-13 Seminarians from LSTC, Sally Hanson and Rob Bork, as well as our Godly Play Coor-dinator, Becca Ajer. Rob will be going on to internship at Concordia Lutheran Church in Chicago; Sally will be going on to Faith Lu-theran Church in Glen Elyn, and Becca will be preparing to enter the first-call process towards ordination this coming fall. You will be missed!

PADS DINNER TEAMS SUMMER SCHEDULE Prince of Peace will pro-vide and serve dinner for South Suburban PADS on the second Thursday of each month. This month

the following team will serve: Thursday, June 13th—TEAM #2 Carolyn Hoogweg, Lois Davia, Don Forrest, Helen Owens and Paul Swope. If you are interested in helping with this minis-try; we are always looking for volunteers to help serve, or you can help by submitting a do-nation to help cover the cost of the meal. Thank you to all of the volunteers that make this outreach possible!

OUT OF THE OFFICE Please note that Pastor Shebeck will be out of the office June 5th-15th as well as, June 19th–25. If you have a pastoral emergency, please con-tact the parish office at 708-481-3222.

Valerie Dusso, our Administrative Assistant, will be out of the office June 17—June 21.

First Wednesdays

Pray + Laugh + Learn

First Wednesday will be on vacation until the fall, but is scheduled to meet again on Wednesday, September 4, 2013. “First Wednesdays,” typically occurs on the first Wednesday of every month. This is a great oppor-tunity to gather in prayer and study with other POP’ers, and we need your input.

10.00 a.m. Brief Morning Prayer in the Church

10.30-11.15 a.m. Fellowship, treats, and “Leaving Church.”

All are welcome

UPCOMING HOLY DAYS Please join us for these upcoming holy days: The Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Our Lord Thursday, August 15 at 7:30 p.m.

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P A R I S H A N N O U N C E M E N T S

CONGRATULATIONS GRADUATES Congratulations to all of our graduates this year!

Nicholas Homberg Graduating from Lincoln-Way North High School. Planning to attend Joliet Junior Col-lege for his Associates Degree. Then transfer-ring to another college to (most likely) major in music or art.

Courtney Stevenson Graduating from Rich-East High School. Plan-ning to attend The University of Illinois, Ur-bana-Champaign.

Valerie Letko Graduating from Appleton High School. Plan-ning to attend The University of South Caro-lina studying in Political Science.

Jonathan Davis Graduating from Manteno High School. Plan-ning to attend the Culinary Arts program at Kankakee Junior College.

Jordyn Davis Graduating from 8th grade at will be attending Manteno High School this fall.

PARISH COUNCIL SUMMARY The Parish Council met in regular session on Wednesday, May 15 and took action on the following items: l. We have received half of the $6500 owed

to us from PADS to date. 2. A special thank you to Greta Veldhuizen and her Hospitality team for the job they have done on the wonderful parish dinners of late. 3. A special thank you to Rita Jeffirs for all of her hard work. 4. The Pastor has graduated with the DMin, Doctor of Ministry, degree from Catholic Theological Union. The Synod guidelines indicate an increase in salary for this de- gree. Rather than this, the Pastor has re quested an extra two weeks of time off. A motion was made and passed allowing this solution. 5. The Council is reading two books about

welcoming congregations and will con-tinue the discussion in June.

6. Due to Constitutional Guidelines, a new Vice-President had to be elected. Ben Amenta was elected to serve for the 2013 church year. The next Council Meeting will be held Wednesday, June 19th at 7:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Diane Moses, Secretary

CONGRATULATIONS PASTOR! Congratulations to The Rev. Dr. Patrick H. Shebeck who graduated with his “Doctor of Ministry” in Liturgical Theology degree on May 16th.

Barbara Anderson, Helen Owens and Joyce Weckwert were among the many at the Celebration Re-ception held for Pas-tor Shebeck on May 19.

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S E R V A N T S I N C H R I S T

ALTAR FLOWERS & SANCTUARY LIGHT Prince of Peace Lutheran Church has a long-standing tradition of members giving the flowers and sanctuary light in honor or memory of a loved one or special occasion. Sign up charts are posted on the bulletin board in the narthex; you may also call the parish office (708-481-3222) to make ar-rangements. If you would like to give flowers the cost is $15.00 per vase. If you would like to give the light - which lasts a week - the cost is $10. ALTAR FLOWERS 06/02— ~ Open ~ 06/09— ~ Open ~

06/16— ~ Open ~

06/23— ~ Open ~

06/30— ~ Open ~

SANCTUARY LIGHT 06/02— ~ Open ~

06/09— ~ Open ~ 06/16— ~ Open ~

06/23— ~ Open ~

06/30— ~ Open ~

JUNE BIRTHDAYS May God richly bestow his grace on those cele-brating birthdays this month.

Happy Birthday to:

06/02—Robert Roerdink III 06/04—Melvin Weisher 06/05—Robert Staehlin 06/05—Lisa Buckner 06/06—Meri Bollinger 06/26—Colleen Larson

ASSISTING MINISTERS 06/02—Jim Sasaki / Greta Veldhuizen

06/09—Greta Veldhuizen / Jeff Thiesen

06/16—Jim Sasaki/Lauren Thiesen 06/23— Steve Homberg / Lauren Thiesen

06/30—Greta Veldhuizen / Steve Homberg

LECTORS 06/02—Lovell Spencer/Katie Thiesen

06/09— Lois Davia / Diane Moses 06/16— Barbara Anderson/Judy Balogh

06/23—Jean Scott / Janet Irvine

06/30—Pat Weishaar / Colleen Larson

GREETERS 06/02—Joyce Weckwert 06/09—Connie Roerdink

06/16—Kathy Erickson

06/23—Dawn Rodriguez

06/30—Diane Matus

COUNTERS 06/02—John Matus / Paul Swope

06/09—Don Forrest / Need Volunteer

06/16—Steve Homberg / Richard Fink

06/23— Jean Scott / Diane Moses 06/30—Priscilla Haynes / Greta Veldhuizen

ALTAR CARE Lois Davia

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P A R I S H A N N O U N C E M E N T S

Spring is in the air…

It’s time to spruce up

the gardens!

Thank you to everyone who came out this month to help with our

gardening. Many hands work to-gether to weed our lovely gardens.

If you are interested and would like

to help out occasionally with the gardening here at POP please see

Rita Jeffirs or contact the parish office at 708-481-3222.

GODLY PLAY We continue working to stock our "Godly Play" classroom with new re-sources, this fall. Part of this is providing children's books on religious themes

for our young learners - and we need your help. Would you be willing to donate one picture book, perhaps as a memorial? Books are of dif-fering prices, but generally run about $20.00. If interested, please speak with the Pastor.

Thank you to those who have contributed: • Diane Moses, In honor of Char Priest • Paul and Joan Swope • Priscilla Stephenson Mary Close Jorg and Carolyn Hoogeweg Loraine McNulty

RESOURCES FOR CHILDREN Several month ago we introduced activity totes and children’s books for younger children during ser-vice. Our children’s books are available for children to use during

service and are to be returned after the liturgy. Activity totes are small blue bags with quiet activities for children to use during the ser-vice. In the tote each week children will find age appropriate bulletins that will reinforce the daily lessons. Please return these totes to the basket, so that they may be replenished for the next Sunday. Over the next few months, it is our hope to expand our collection of children’s books.

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P A R I S H A N N O U N C E M E N T S

CO M M U N I T Y GARDEN PROJECT In May, Prince of Peace began their venture with South Suburban PADS to organize and con-struct a Commu-nity Garden that will provide Sum-mer Shelter Guests and Prince of Peace

Volunteers an opportunity to partner together to strengthen our community. The Prince of Peace Community Garden will have three goals:

1. Provide PADS Guests an opportunity con-struct, grow, and maintain a community gar-den;

2. Provide the Summer Shelter food teams with fresh produce;

3. Partner with Prince of Peace Church to train PADS Guests in the running of a small community operation, including providing produce and herbs to the Flossmoor Farmer's Market.

Have some gardening skills? This is a joint venture - that is, its purpose is to connect in our community and develop skills and rela-tionships between the parish community and the Summer Shelter. We need your help, and we'd love if if you join us - contact the parish office by calling 708-481-3222 x4.

CAPITAL FUND GROWTH:

04/30/2013—$ 822.00 05/12/2013—$ 200.00

—–—— TOTAL $ 1022.00

FARMER’S MARKET VOLUNTEERS NEEDED As our Community Garden Project begins to take shape we need to prepare for sell-ing at the Flossmoor

Farmer’s Market. Beginning Friday mornings in June and running through mid-October Floss-moor Farmer’s Market will be a great opportu-nity for locals to purchase and learn about our Community Garden. We are looking for indi-viduals that would be willing to work with members of our summer shelter to set up and sell our produce at the farmers market. This project helps PADS guests develop skills and connect with the community. We need volun-teers from Prince of Peace in order to succeed with this project, would you help us? Please contact the parish office by calling 708-481-3222 x4.

CAPITAL FUND Prince of Peace inaugurated a new “Capital Fund” last year. The Capital Fund will be something open-ended (no end-date) that will collect funds to be used specifically on building projects, emergency building needs, and other facilities improvements. Each week, we will publish the previous week’s total, and…watch the Capital Fund grow. Special envelopes are provided in the pews. Small contributions add up…will you help give to this effort?… come and join us!

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S T E W A R D S H I P

The ELCA website, www.elca.org, has this posted regarding this theme. Always being made new. 25 years together in Christ. We are a church that is deeply rooted — and always being made new. If anyone is in Christ ...

We are deeply rooted. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is still comparatively new as a church body, and yet our roots are much deeper than our 25 years together. The tap-root of our life extends through the histories of predecessor churches in the United States, through the forma-tive witness of the 16th century evan-gelical reformers and their confessional writings, to the Scriptures and the word of Christ. Our life is in Jesus Christ. We are deeply rooted in his word of forgiveness and the promises of God’s steadfast love and mercy. The word of Christ dwells in us richly. God nourishes us as one body in Jesus Christ with companions from around the globe who meet us at Christ’s table of grace. ... there is a new creation

We are being made new every day. In Jesus Christ we are not unchanged. What God does in Christ is as radical as the death and resurrection of baptism, where new creatures in Christ rise to live “no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them.” God is bringing that new creation to life among us in the ministry of recon-ciliation. In that service we no longer see each other as we did before. We are no longer strangers, competitors or enemies to each other. We are be-loved companions in one body, restored to a com-munion where the rich diversity of our experiences, wisdom and abilities serve the common good in Christ. The new creation in Christ rises to life among us every day.

Draw your church together, O God, into one great company of disciples, together following our teacher Jesus Christ into every walk of life, together serving in Christ’s mission to the world, and together wit-nessing to your love wherever you will send us; for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

- The Stewardship Team

The theme and logo for this year’s synod assembly held May 31 and June 1 is the theme developed for the ELCA Churchwide assembly being held in Pitts-burg this August.

The scripture that this theme is based upon is from Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, 2 Corinthians 5:17-21.

So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new

creation: everything old has passed away; see everything has become new! All this is from God, who rec-onciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on be-half of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. We ask that you prayerfully ponder the meaning of this scripture by reading the passage aloud, then slowly rereading it aloud again, and then answering the following questions. 1. What is the first word or phrase in the read-ing that strikes you? 2. Now what word(s) or phrase in the reading gives you pause, resonates with you, or draws you into deeper contemplation? 3. Does the reading create any questions for you? 4. What do these verses have to do with stew-ardship and discipleship? 5. How does this reading invite you to respond in your life and in the life of our congregation? O God, the story of your love is written in the lives of your people. Open our hearts to hear your Word, tell your stories, and share your gifts. Amen.

“Stewardship is everything we do, after

we say, ‘I believe.’”

- Clarence Stoughton

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S T E W A R D S H I P

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PARTING SHOT

Service with a smile! Prince of Peace members Colleen Larson, Greta Veldhuizen, and Nick Homberg

give a gracious smile at coffee hour! Visit us on the Web! www.princeofpeacelutheran.net

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