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The Grapevine
The Grapevine is a monthly publication of Mount Cross Lutheran Church 102 Camino Esplendido, Camarillo, CA 93010 • (805) 482-3847
website: www.mountcross.com • email: [email protected] • Pastor: Julie Morris • Editor: Carina McVeigh Like us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/MountCross)
Subscribe to us on YouTube (Mount Cross Lutheran Church, Camarillo, CA).
August 2020 No. 337
Dear Mount Cross Community,
I pray that you are finding all the physical and spiritual strength you need to meet the chal-lenges of this time. Thank you for your consistent and generous support of Mount Cross Lu-theran Church, your love for God and your care for each other.
The Sunday readings from the Old Testament this summer have been from Genesis. We are hearing the stories of our ancestors in faith: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and their families. Struggle, doubt and relationship conflict are familiar themes in their stories. Their lives and families, like ours, were messy and complicated. One morning, when Jacob awoke from a dream (see Gene-sis 28) he said, ““Surely the LORD is in this place— and I did not know it!” As you consider the last few months, can you identify any surprising ways or places in which you have experienced God?
I have noticed God’s presence in the giftedness of so many people in our congregation who have helped lead us through these uncertain days and helped us use technology to offer Sun-day worship along with several other weekly opportunities for connection and spiritual growth. On behalf of Mount Cross, I want to thank Bill Dawson for his extraordinary service to our church. We would not be able to offer Sunday worship in its current form and quality without his expertise. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Yours in Christ,
Pastor Julie +
Greetings to our Seminary Intern, Amanda Berg
We will officially welcome Amanda Berg to Mount Cross at our live-stream
worship at 9:30 a.m. on August 2. Amanda is a student at Wartburg
Seminary preparing to become an ELCA Pastor. She will be a ministry intern
with us for one year. You can also greet her in person (with masks and social
distance) at Drive-Through Communion from 11am-12:30 p.m. on August 2.
We are happy to welcome Amanda and her family to Mount Cross!
See below for scheduled children and youth activities! All
meetings will be held on Zoom. If you have any questions
or would like the links to these meetings, please email Joe.
Fun with Faith - Wednesday Nights at 5:00 p.m.
Middle School Youth Group - Thursdays at 3:00 p.m.
High School Youth Group - Sunday Nights at 5:00 p.m.
Coffee with Joe - Thursdays at 8:30 a.m.
Vacation Bible School 2020
Vacation Bible School will be online on Zoom from August 10 -14, 2020 from 9:00 - 11:00 a.m. each day. We are so excited for you to join us! There is a suggested donation of $20 per child. Please contact Joe if you have questions or need any
assistance.
Stay tuned for updates through our weekly email Grapevine and on our website at mountcross.com. If you’d like to volunteer, please let Joe know!
Sunday Worship in August Online at 9:30 a.m.
Thank you to all those who have been joining us online for our live streamed services. We will be continuing
through August. Please check your email and our web-site for any updates as we continue to respond to state
and local safety guidelines.
To watch our worship services live, please visit facebook.com/MountCross/live/.
Service recordings will be available on our website (mountcross.com) and our YouTube page (Mount Cross
Lutheran Church, Camarillo, CA) shortly after the live stream. If you have any questions or need help access-
ing our services, please contact the church office.
Sunday Worship Volunteers
Please contact the church office if you would like to help with Sunday worship as a lector, in-tercessor or singer, either in-person or by send-
ing in videos. We’d love to have you!
Technology Assistance
The Care Team offers to assist anyone having diffi-culty making connections to the online Worship
Services, Bible Studies, church website or other vir-tual links to the church. We will arrange to have a church volunteer first call to discuss your problem
(s) and then make mutually agreeable arrange-ments to proceed from there.
If the possibility of meeting in person in an outdoor setting or with proper distancing in your home ex-
ists, there are volunteers willing to visit with proper precautions. In many instances, an assessment of the equipment you are using can be helpful in de-
termining the issue. The church may be able to pro-vide alternative equipment. So much of what the church is doing is presently dependent on technol-
ogy, we hate to ignore what might be solvable problems.
Contact Susan Prosser at 805-657-6222 or
[email protected] with a request for tech as-
sistance and we will get the process started.
Learning Committee meets Monday, August 3, 2020 at 7:00 p.m. Please contact the office if you’d like the Zoom link to attend.
Executive Committee meets Thursday, August 6, 2020 at 7:00 p.m. Church Council meets August 18, 2020 at 7:00 p.m. on Zoom. Please contact Craig
Blois at [email protected] if you’d like the Zoom link to attend.
Come to the Table: Drive Through Communion Sundays from 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
We will continue to distribute Holy Communion in a
“drive-through” manner on Sundays from 11 a.m. -
12:30 p.m. The Pastor or Communion Assistant,
masked and with sanitized hands, will pray with you
and present Holy Communion to you on a tray through
your car window. The bread is on individual plates and
the wine is in individual cups. All are welcome.
Helpers Needed for Drive-Through
Communion
Please call the church office or look for the online
sign-up link on the Friday emails if you are able to
help as a parking lot usher or greeter for a one-hour
shift on Sundays, either 10:45 a.m. - 11:45 a.m. or
11:45 a.m. - 12:45 p.m. Please wear a mask and
bring sun protection. Please contact the church
office or sign-up at
https://bit.ly/AugustCommunionSignUp
Men’s Bible Study: August 13 and 27, 7:30 - 8:30 a.m.
We study and discuss the Gospel for the upcoming Sunday. Join us on Zoom. On your computer or smart device go to https://zoom.us/j/122561229 OR from your phone dial 1.669.900.6833. You will be asked for a meeting ID
number. Enter 122 561 229 and then push pound (#).
Wednesday Night Adult Bible Study, 5:00 - 6:00 p.m.
Open to all, we study the Gospel for the upcoming Sunday on Wednesday eve-nings. On your computer or smart device go to https://zoom.us/j/861819171 OR to
call on your phone dial 1.669.900.6833. You will be asked to enter the Meeting ID which is 861 819 171 and then push pound (#).
Women’s Bible Study: Tuesdays, 9:00 - 10:00 a.m.
All Mount Cross women are invited to join our Women’s Bible Study. Join us on Zoom. On your computer or smart device, go to https://zoom.us/j/718448990 OR to call on your phone dial 1.408.638.0968. You will be
asked to enter the Meeting ID which is 718 448 990 and then push pound (#).
Tuesdays and Thursdays at Noon: Upper Room Zoom
Upper Room Zoom will meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Join us as often as you'd like for 15 minutes of prayer and reflection. The Zoom link is https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84747459576 OR, you can call in on a
phone. Dial 1 (408) 638 0968. You will be asked for a Meeting ID. It is 847 4745 9576, then push pound (#).
Fair Trade Sale
Due to a scheduling conflict, there will be no Fair Trade Sale on August 2. But if you know what you want (or check the Mount Cross website for a list of our products) and email/text/call Melissa Henry, she will arrange a no contact porch delivery of your favorite Fair Trade items. We thank you for your continued support for
small farmers all around the globe.
The Abundant Table CSA
Mount Cross is exploring becoming a pickup location for The Abundant Table CSA boxes. For any CSA mem-bers, this means you can come to Mount Cross instead of driving to the farm (or wherever you go) on the day of your pickup. Please let Melissa Henry know if you would like to switch your pickup location to Mount Cross - she will get you on the list. And if
you have questions about joining the CSA, ask her - or visit www.theabundanttable.org/csa/ - it's a great way to eat fresh, locally
grown, organic vegetables and support local farmers.
Mission of the Month: August Lutheran World Relief School Kits
Even with Covid19 wreaking havoc on our school system (distance learning, anyone?) there are still students in the world who cannot attend school not because of the pandemic but because they can't afford the mate-rials they need. Lutheran World Relief is there to help - with backpacks full of the simple supplies a student needs to learn! Last year, we created more than 100 school kits - let's do it again! Here's what they need:
70-sheet notebooks, wide or college rule (need 4 per kit) 30-centimeter rulers (can have inches too) pencil sharpeners blunt scissors (rounded tip, not pointed) unsharpened #2 pencils black or blue ballpoint pens (no gel ink please, it doesn't transport well) boxes of crayons (16-24 size) rectangle erasers (the pink wedge kind)
These items are very specific and cannot have any religious symbols or messages, U.S. flags, patriotic/military symbols/aremd forces/camouflage. Pay attention to the Target and Staples ads - every week they have at least one of these items for 25 cents. You can bring your items to church on Sunday afternoons from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. or put them in the box on the patio anytime during the week. Please don’t take them into the church office, which is currently closed to the public. With care in mind for those of you who don't want to make shopping trips out, Melissa Henry is willing to be your shopper. You can send a donation to the church office marked LWR backpacks if you want her to do the shopping for you. In addition, if you want to help by cutting rope for the backpacks, or stringing the rope into the bags to make the straps, please let Melissa Henry know. Since we can't do this work together on the church patio like prior years, she can drop you by a kit with everything you need!
Card Ministry Seeking Volunteers
The card ministry at Mount Cross sends out notes and cards to members of the congregation that may need a little extra cheer. There are a variety of rea-
sons why we want to express our caring for others of our faith community. If you are interested in joining this caring ministry to send greetings to another at least once a month or more we would love to have
you join in this expression of compassion. Please contact Gayle Johnson with your interest for
more information at [email protected] or 805.388.3293.
“There is no force in the world better able to alter anything from its course than
love. Ruskin’s comment that you can get someone to remove his coat more surely
with a warm, gentle sun than with a cold, blistering wind is particularly apt. Meeting the world with a loving heart will determine
what we find there. We mistakenly place our trust, too often, in the righteousness of our wind, though we rarely get evidence that
this ever transforms anything. Inmate and guard alike at Folsom Prison (where I did a
stint as chaplain) always said the same thing about the other: “I don’t want them to mis-
take my kindness for weakness.” Sooner or later, we all discover that kindness
is the only strength there is.“
- from “Tattoos on the Heart” by Father Gregory Boyle, S.J.
Anti-Racism Check-In
As a follow-up to the Anti-Racism Book Study, Pastor Julie and Jacquanna Davis will host an Anti-Racism Check-In on Zoom at 7pm on Thursday, August 13. The Zoom Meeting ID is 883 0174 8569 and the Password is 321711. You did not have to attend the book study to join the Check-In. We will discuss our progress as
individuals in becoming anti-racist. All are welcome.
St Columba's Food Pantry Collection
The Food Pantry at St. Columba’s continues to serve our community and your gifts of food items are
needed more than ever at this time. Currently the food pantry is especially seeking cereal and canned meat. The other non-perishable food items that are main stays are peanut butter, canned marina sauce,
pasta, canned beans and fruit cups. During this time more than ever please do not make a
specific grocery trip for your items but think of the food pantry while shopping at the store or a grocery delivery. Please check the ‘best by’ date as the pan-try cannot use expired items. Your gifts of food can
be dropped off at the church during the Sunday drive through communion time or check with Peter John-son at [email protected] for a porch pick up. Blood and Platelets Needed
Mount Cross member Ron Higginbotham is in need of blood and platelet donations. To assess if you are eli-
gible, please visit www.uclahealth.org/gotblood/eligibility. If you qualify, please contact the Special Donor Office at UCLA at (310) 794-7207. Currently, there is a nationwide blood shortage so no matter you blood type or compatibility, any donation with
help bolster the inventory which in turn will support Ron’s transfusion needs. For more information,
contact the Mount Cross office.
Lutheran World Relief Backpack Sewing
If you are looking for an easy sewing project that ISN'T a mask - look no further! We received a large donation of fabric (from another Lutheran quilting group) of perfect fabric for backpacks. It's the first time we've had fabric to make backpacks all year -
and now we have lots of kits. The kits contain fabric and tabs for 5 drawstring backpacks, plus a set of di-rections. The sewing is simple - hemming edges, sew-ing a casing on top and bottom, then sewing up the sides with the tabs on the outside. Kits will be avail-able Sunday mornings from 11:00 a.m.- 12:30 p.m.
for pickup from the church, or you can contact Melissa Henry for a delivery.
Office Manager
Congratulations to our Office Manager, Carina McVeigh, for being admitted to graduate school at Cal State Long Beach! She will continue some of her Office Manager duties remotely and the search for another person
to serve 20-32 hours/week as our on-site Office Manager has begun. The Church Council hopes to fill the position by early August.
Fun and Fellowship
The annual Fun and Fellowship weekend is still scheduled for October 16-18 up at River
Creek Golf Course in Ahwahnee, just south of Yosemite. A golf tournament is on the agenda however you don’t need to be a golfer to at-
tend the weekend. Our goal is for everyone to experience Fun and Fellowship while enjoying
the beauty of the mountain setting. A local hotel in Oakhurst, about a 10 minute drive
from the golf course, offers a discounted rate to our group. The location of the golf course is close to Yosemite but you will need a pass to enter the Park. You can find that information
at recreation.gov Also, this event is open to all so please ask a friend or two to join us for the weekend. We look forward to another fun ex-perience of Fun and Fellowship! Contact Steve
and/or Jeanne Michel at (805) 482-0104 or email at
[email protected] if you have questions or
want to sign up.
Health Ministry Resource Nurse
Evonne Kuchera, Mount Cross Health Ministry Resource Nurse, serves members and others connected with the congregation by integrating faith and health. She is available to assist persons of all ages whether you per-sonally have a medical issue or are family members or care givers to someone else who does. Evonne is a re-tired registered nurse with many years of experience working directly with patients and their families and we are blessed to have her as a volunteer. The nature of the support provided by the Health Ministry Resource Nurse ranges broadly and include for ex-ample:
Answering questions and providing useful information regarding health issues Being present, listening and offering spiritual support Facilitating assistance from other Caring volunteers of the church Acting as a referral agent to community resources for services, equipment, etc. Playing a supportive role when health decisions are made
This service is available to anyone who calls and will be confidential unless agreed to by the person requesting assistance that Pastor Julie or other Caring services of the church could also be of help.
Reach Evonne Kuchera by phone or text 805-377-0808, email at [email protected]
The Church Council passed an important motion at our meeting on July 14. We resolved to speak out loudly against racism, affirmed the Evangelical Lu-theran Church in America's stances against racism and white supremacy and pledged ourselves to the work of becoming an anti-racist congregation. The ELCA Social Statement on Race, Ethnicity and Cul-ture from 1993 says in part that: 1. Racism is a sin 2. Racism deforms relationships between groups The ELCA seeks the following 1.To model exchanges in which people of different cul-tures can find points of agreement 2. To participate in the education of young people to to live in a multicultural society 3. To bring together parties in conflict creating space for deliberations 4. To participate in identifying the demands of justice and work with others who would have justice for all. The full text of the three ELCA statements can be found on the Mount Cross website. The Council has asked that our Peace and Justice Team propose a plan to the Church Council for how we can live into this resolution. Please look for more information to come in the near future and reach out to any member of the Church Council if you have ideas for how we can make our intentions a reality.
PRAYER CONCERNS
Roger Allmandinger (brother-in-law of Jim and Susan Prosser), Jan Beat, Sharon Benner (sister of Karen Gramacki), Curt Bensen, Bergit (cousin-in-law of Barbara Sletten), Mike Carpenter, Terry
Cline (relative of Jim and Karen Gramacki), Janet Colby, Rob Conant, Barbara D’Addario, the family of Brigitte Deering, Steve Engh, Karen Geutschoff, Ron Higginbotham, Carolyn Hobbs, the family of Robert Jackson, Christina Lau (daughter of Bernie Lau), Karen Nelson, Jeff Seifert (uncle of Melissa
Henry), Byron Selbrede (brother of Keith Selbrede), Patricia Springer (mother of Joan Brundage),
Simone Sylve (cousin of Bernie Lau), Frank Walker (husband of Carolyn Vang-Walker).
Unless otherwise specified, prayer requests remain on this lst for four weeks. If you would like to add or remove
someone to or from the prayer list, please e-mail the church office at [email protected] or call
805.482.3847.
Nancy Nehring Lippert, former member of Mount Cross, has gone to life eternal at 58 years of age. Nancy lived in Minnesota and leaves behind her
husband and 2 children. Our condolences go out to her family including her parents, Gerry and Eva, and brothers Martin, Eric and Viktor. The Nehring family
are all former members of the congregation.
Treasurer’s Report – 7/14/2020
Budget Performance (through June, 2020): Gross income YTD was 101.1% of budget, up from 99.6% in May. Gross income for June was 108.6% of budget compared to 111.3% in May. Pledged giving YTD was 104.4% of budget, up from 103.3% in May April pledge giving was 109.6%. Expenses YTD were 92.5% of budget, down from 94.8% last month. June expenses were 81.3% of budget. Calculated reserves were $119,112 up from $84,030 last month.
Church & Casualty Value Added Services (at no cost except for “Safegatherings”): Legal advice, human re-source advice, financial advice, CM wildfire solutions, safegatherings, worker’s comp nurse hotline, and crisis coaching. For more info on these, email Keith Selbrede (treasurer@ mountcross.com).
Making an Impact through ELCA in Action
Stewardship is not only year-round; it is also world wide! ELCA ministries have witnessed unprecedented growth since the launch of “Always Being Made New” in 2014. ELCA ministries received $250 million to continue, strengthen, and expand their work here at home and with our global companions around the world.
This growth was made possible through the generosity of faithful members and friends of Mount Cross Lutheran Church like you! Thank you for being a part of this his-toric effort. Keep an eye out every month of 2020 for a new statistic about the work the ELCA is doing.
135 long-term missionaries
working alongside our compan-
ions in more than 40 countries
Peace and Justice Team
Micah answers the question, “What does the Lord re-quire of you? To act with justice and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” The Peace and Justice Team will hold a Zoom meeting on Tuesday, August 4
@7:00. The purpose is to discuss actions we can take in accordance with the antiracism pledge taken by the
Church Council. All Mount Cross members and friends are invited to add to our discussion. The Zoom link is
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87105693251 OR call in on your phone by dialing (669)-900-6833. The meeting ID
is 871 0569 3251.
Mount Cross Lutheran Church Evangelical Lutheran Church in America 102 Camino Esplendido Camarillo, CA 93010-1717 RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED
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PERMIT NO. 43
The next newsletter deadline is Thursday, August 20, 2020.
Please send all articles to [email protected].
Happy Birthday to…
1 Lance Berglund Brian Stevens 2 Tabitha Ebright Katilyn Laskey 3 Katelyn Kenz 4 Kelsea Bergh Roberta Bergman Heather White 6 Debbie Ervin Guy Ervin III Kay Koupal Cora Mathis Nanette Phipps Susan Storer 7 Mia Fernandez Joe McCormick
8 Colin DuHamel Steven Eckman 9 Barbara Cranfill 10 Robert Burrow 12 Brianna Davis Daphne Lewis Brandon Priest 14 Judith Geary Gene Leiter 15 Stuart Burke Eric Rueckert Jaymie Scott 17 Rachel Schneider 18 Kaylie Clem Cy Johnson 20 Mona Neuhaus 21 Allison Kenz Tim Pompey Cecelia Travick- Jackson
Happy Anniversary to… 2 Craig & Ann Abernathy 10 Stacey & Lars Truckenbrod 13 Monica & Jesus Duran 14 Stacy & Alex Mathis 15 Todd & Holly Ebright Karen & Jim Gramacki 17 Karen & Daniel Nelson 20 Kathy & Russ Laporte 22 Nancy & Gary Wikholm 25 Paul & Luanne Crockett 28 Lance & Barbara Berglund Kim & Gary Schmeichel 31 Terri & Bob Boyer
22 Thomas Carr 23 Nathan Griffis Craig Scott 24 Eric Bergh 26 Lily Freiderichs Sharon Hurault 27 Bradley Barrett Emma Griffis 29 Audrey Posthauer 30 Laura Brickley Mackenna Carpenter Luanne Crockett Kevin Fickenscher Lisa Saner 31 Bernadette Lau Susan Prosser James Purcer