Zion Lutheran Church 700 Main St., Clyman, WI 53016-0220 (920) 696-3495

The Grapevine

June 2016 www.zionclyman.org

In this issue:

Pastor’s Message

1

Stewardship 4

Letter from The Gathering Source

5

Birthday’s, Anniversaries & dates to remember

9

June Calendar

10

Council Meeting

2

Father’s Day Card

3

On Wednesday, April 13, I left for a short term mission trip to Papua New Guinea. The 13 hour

flight from Los Angeles to Brisbane, Australia continued with another 3 hour flight to Port Mores-

by, PNG. I accompanied Pastor Ron Rall, head pastor of Timothy Lutheran Church in St. Louis,

MO and his wife MaryAnne, primarily to observe and learn. One retired LCMS Air Force chaplain

and two retired, former missionaries to PNG were also part of our group of six people. The goal of

the trip was for Pastor Ron Rall to teach 1-2 days at various locations. He is fluent in pidgin, the

universally spoken language, (English is also spoken and understood by many, particularly those

with more education) His teaching included the foundational doctrines of the Lutheran church such

as; sola fide – faith in Christ alone; sola gratia – grace alone; sola Scriptura – Scripture alone. Other

topics included liturgy, stewardship, the work of the Holy Spirit, and a section dealing with

“sanguma” which is a prevalent issue in PNG concerning witchcraft. He sought to address deep

fears about evil spirits returning from dead relatives. The first teaching session was attended by

about 200 people in the capital city of Port Moresby. In each location people sat on narrow benches

for 2-4 hours at a time. There was always keen interest in his presentations with many questions

asked. The classes were always preceded by lively singing and worship. Sunday worship in Port

Moresby numbered over 300 and lasting over 2 hours. Baptisms, confirmation, communion, and

reaffirmation of faith by those who had become inactive after 3 months were part of the service.

Those reaffirming their faith were publicly and warmly welcomed back into active membership.

Food and fellowship following the service lasted another 2-3 hours. On April 18 we departed P.M.

for Mt. Hagen and the central Highlands with elevations ranging from 5 to 9 thousand feet. Work-

shops were again presented but in more remote locations. Places included the gold mining town of

Porgera, and the village of Papayuk where there is a small Lutheran Bible school for adults. Local

people walked, sometimes long distances to attend. Other gatherings were held at Wapenamanda

and Kende. Landslides that blocked the road prevented a trip to one valley where a gathering had

been scheduled. Visits were also made to the Lutheran hospital at Mambisanda, where former Zion,

Clyman member Dorothy Degnitz had served many years as a nurse. At the hospital, patients are

required to bring their own food and family members to attend to them while they recover. Pastor

Rall preached Sunday services at Yaramanda and Irelya. He is a dynamic speaker and people are

keenly attentive to his message. I was able to assist with communion distribution at Irelya. Wor-

ship attendance numbered around 300 and the service at Irelya lasted 3 ½ hours. As at all locations

the music was vibrant with a few hymns that were familiar but most that were not. I purchased an

inexpensive guitar and was able to play with local musicians at some locations. I left it behind with

a deaconess wanting to learn to play the guitar. The people of PNG are economically very poor by

American standards but they do not perceive themselves as poor. Fertile soil and a continuous grow-

ing climate enable the people to raise food year round in their gardens. My greatest joy was to see

how since 1948 with the coming of the first two LCMS missionaries the transformation from utter

spiritual darkness to walking in the light of the Lord has been simply stunning. The kingdom of

God has flourished through the preaching of the Gospel. Today the PNG Gutnius Lutheran church

numbers some 70,000 baptized in 550 congregations. From 0 people in 1948 – that’s progress!

They are hungry for the Word of God and treasure Lutheran teaching. The evidence of spiritual life

can be seen in their schools, worship services, and in the personal testimonies of so many individu-

als that I was privileged to meet. I thank God for the opportunity to travel to PNG and the members

of Zion for their support and prayers. It was an awesome learning experience! Praise God!

Retirement letter for Pastor Wendzel

6

Kid’s Page

7 & 8

Zion Lutheran Church Clyman WI

Minutes May 12, 2016

Attendees: President Dan C, Secretary Connie K, Pastor, Vice President Ralph K, Treasurer Nancy K, Elder Joel

Call to order at 6:35 pm by President Dan C. Opening devotion: Pastor read from Isaiah 52. Secretary’s report: Reviewed April’s minutes. Ralph made a motion to accept the April’s minutes as printed, seconded by

Dan, MOTION CARRIED. Treasures report: Reviewed the written report. Nancy found out that the “Children’s” fund was dollars that the children

donated and was used to purchase tables. This money is in a CD that cannot be touched for 3 months (August). The “youth” fund is for retreats. Out of 19 weeks we only hit budget 4 times. We were short on an average about $300.00 per week. We took $6000.00 out of memorial funds to cover bills, we were able to put $1000.00 back in so we are $5000.00 short in memorial funds now. Connie made a motion to approve the treasurer’s report; Ralph seconded the motion, MOTION CARRIED.

Pastor’s report: Please see Pastor’s page Board Reports and Submission of Business Items:

Elders Report: WE have two open elder positions, they are reaching out to Gary B to come on as elder and then

leave the other position open until end of term. They have asked Jason to step back in as head elder for the remainder of the term; he will think about it and let them know.

They have reached out to several people to be Sunday school teachers but have not gotten very positive responses. They only have two people that are willing to teach at this point and ide-ally they would like 4. Joel will put something together to put in the bulletin, if we are unable to get teachers and a Superintendent we may need to cancel Sunday school all together.

They discussed communion and how often we should have it. We would like to bring it up at the June voters meeting where we can have a thoughtful positive discussion on it.

Trustees: A plumber came in and looked at the upstairs bathroom, he can fix it with minimal damage to the wall, he

would remove a piece of the pipe and replace it. Stewardship: Not present Finance: Nothing Archivist: Not present

Old Business: WE still haven’t heard back from Faith Lutheran to see if they are interested in the copier. The tree in front of the parsonage still needs to be taken care of; it will be trimmed away from parsonage for now

and then cut down in fall. Need to get the marriage policy to Elders Still looking for someone to take on the superintendent role for Sunday school. Basement: Want to hang some of the old cupboards in the back furnace room and will also be able to start work on

the bathrooms. Narthex: we are not sure if all of the staining is done yet or not will have to check with Chris L. Back entrance some ceiling tiles need to be replaced yet. Wiring needs to be done behind the organ pipe. We will check into having this done when we do the wiring in the

basement bathrooms. New Business:

Discussed agenda for June Voters meeting which will be June 12th. Gifts for the confirmation students are ordered but flowers still need to be ordered, Nancy is taking care of

this. Working on plans for the ice cream social. Information on the Life Walk is in the bulletin and sponsor sheets will be in the Narthex for anyone inter-

ested, the walk is June 11th. Discusses if the Elders could try to let people know or pass out the annuals when people come into church,

they are printed and lying on the table in the Narthex but no one stops and picks it up. Next meeting: August 11, 2016 @ 6:30pm. Connie made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Ralph. Meeting adjourned.

Closed with the Lord’s Prayer Respectfully Submitted Connie K

June 2016 Stewardship Article “For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son” (John 3:16). “God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays his life down for the sheep” (John 10:11). Love means sacrifice. Sacrifice means a humbling of oneself for the good of another. And this is what the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ teaches us: Love means sacrifice. We love our families. And we love them by sacrificing ourselves for them. We put their needs before our own. We sacrifice our own wants and desires for their good and for their needs. We love our country. And we love it by pledging our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor to defend her. We ask not what our country can do for us, but what we can do for our country. We make sacrifices for our country’s good and we do it because we love her. We love our church. And we love our church by giving of ourselves, by sacrificing our time, talents, and treasures in service to it. We volunteer to teach Sunday School, VBS, and other various boards. We help out cleaning and fixing what needs to be cleaned and fixed at the church property. And we give a portion of the income God has given us, so that the lights will go on, and the heat and air conditioning may run; so that a pastor will preach to us both law and gospel and administer baptism and the Lord’s Supper; so that the Word will go forth into all the world through the missionaries we call and send out. God has called us into these three spheres of family, country, and church. He puts the solitary into a home. No one is an island unto himself. Everyone is put into a family, a country, and a church. In these spheres, God cares for all our needs of body and soul. He employs other members of these spheres to en-sure that we have everything we need for this body and life and for the next. These callings place a claim upon us, a claim upon our presence, our prayers, our time, talents, and treas-ures. They give us a duty. That duty is to love. And love means sacrifice. And sacrifice means that we humble ourselves for the good of another. So then, “let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitia-tion for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4:7–11). And love means sacrifice.

Doublepuzzle 1 solution—page 5

ADAM, GOSPEL, TIRE, GRAVE, HIGH GIVE GOD THE PRAISE (John 9:24) KJV

Life Walk — June 11th Semi-Annual Voters Meeting – June 12th VBS — June 13th thru 17th, with Good Shep-herd, Watertown Father’s Day – June 19th Ice Cream Social non-perishable items should be at church no later than July 10th Mission Trip to St. Louis — August 1st thru the 5th

Eight new choir robes are currently needed due to the addition of several

new members and to the deterioration of some older ones.

Daniel & Lori S 6/6

Erik & Jessica A 6/10

Martin & Dawn P 6/11

Jason & Lisa J 6/13

Walter & Marlys B 6/21

Annaliese C 6/2

Brandon G 6/3

Paul P 6/3

T.J. B 6/5

Jacob S 6/7

Tye B 6/8

Alfred A 6/10

Caden V 6/11

Neal K 6/14

Claire V 6/16

Ellie R 6/20

Alan M 6/21

Marilyn S 6/25

Owen C 6/27

Rita A 6/30

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2 3 4

5 8:30am Divine Service Adult Bible Class Elder: Scott Usher Team # 1 Food Shelf Sunday

6 Mid-Week Service 7pm Elder: Neal

7

8 Bethesda Workers 1—5pm

9

10

11 Life Walk Menomonee Falls, Wi—walk begins @ 10:30

12 8:30am Divine Service Adult Bible Class Elder: Neal Usher Team # 2 Semi-Annual Voters Meet-ing

13 Mid-Week Service 7pm Elder: Jason

14

15

16

17 18

19 8:30am Divine Service with Adult Bible Class Elder: Jason Usher Team # 3

20 Mid-Week Service 7pm Elder: Scott

21 22 GRAPEVINE ARTI-CLES ARE DUE

23

24

25

26 8:30am Divine Adult Bible Class Elder: Scott Usher Team # 4

27 Mid-Week Service 7pm Elder: Neal

28 29

30

VBS WEEK—GOOD SHEPHERD WTTN

2016