November 2019 Newsletter

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Dear Family of God at Grace,

A blessed November to all of you! Season is back in full swing and there is so much going on this month. Before we get into all the November stuff, I want to thank some people for our wonderful October activities. SueAnn and David Zornes for another fantastic Oktoberfest/Church Picnic! Without them it just doesn't happen. Also, Lee Neujahr for some wonderful German beer! And thank you to all who came out and made the afternoon a joy! I want to thank DCE Kami Jo for getting Pam Stenzel to speak to us. We had a great group from Grace and Pam was fantastic!

On to November. Saturday, November 9th, at 3PM we have a Veterans Service to honor our veterans. Come on out and sing some patriotic hymns, pray for our military members and then enjoy some food and fellowship. See you there!

Once again, we will be distributing Thanksgiving Food Baskets to those in need in our community. We will be loading the food bags on Sunday the 24th after the late service. Help is needed to make this happen. Thank you in advance for your help!

Thanksgiving Eve Service will be at 6:30 PM on Wednesday the 27th. Come worship and give thanks for all God benefits to you! Thanksgiving Day dinner will be held on Thursday, November 28th, at 1PM. Come and enjoy a wonderful meal and fellowship.

The Evangelism Committee will have a float in the Christmas Parade this year. I'm including this in the November Newsletter because they/we need help. We are making Christmas invitations to had out at the parade as well as making the

float. We are doing A Charlie Brown Christmas theme. Here's why we are doing this theme. The parade theme is centered around old Christmas movies like "It's A Wonderful Life." While that is a great movie, it doesn't tell the story about Christmas. Charlie Brown tells the exact reason for Christmas. Linus reads Luke 2, which is the account of the birth of Jesus!  

The rest of this letter will be dedicated to our daughter mission, the Pelican. It is hard to believe that we Called Pastor Eisold to be our Associate Pastor 4 years ago. It is amazing what God is doing at the Pelican! In just 4 short years the Pelican has a baptized membership of 140 people and an average Sunday attendance of 62. Along with Sunday worship they are using the building as a Community Center. They teach English as a second language. They also reach out to families with fellowship activities to bring in the surrounding community. Many of our members are volunteering their time and gifts out at the Pelican Mission and Community Center and it is having an impact. It is growing by God's grace! People are getting to know Jesus that never knew Him! Thanks be to God!

When we Called Pastor Eisold, we had a two-year plan or at least we partnered with the Florida / Georgia District for two years. We are now on the fourth year of that two-year plan. What this means is we need a plan for the future. We dropped the ball.

The Florida / Georgia District received about $120,000.00 when old Messiah closed. The building was debt free, but it needed some maintenance and TLC. For the first 2 years the district donated $82,500 for 2016 and $90,000 for 2017. Those two years the Pelican had a surplus on the budget versus expenses. In 2018 and 2019, District support was drastically reduced to $35,000 and $21,000 respectively. Over those two years budget versus expenses ran a deficit. For those two years the deficit totaled $107,000. We have covered this shortfall.  

In order to try and keep these shortfalls from happening in the future, a committee has been formed. We are working with Pastor Eisold on a strategic plan that will address the financial shortfall, along with many other areas of the Mission. This plan is coming along, and it will be presented to the Voters in January or February.

God has blessed Grace with very generous people. Because of your generosity we have been able to cover the shortfalls and support this wonderful mission. We do not want to abuse or take advantage of your generosity. If you have questions or concerns, I'd be happy to chat with you anytime.    

Let me encourage you to find joy in our daughter, the Pelican! We will find positive solutions to these issues facing us and God will be glorified. It will happen! The Kingdom of heaven is having its numbers added to by the wonderful work that is happening at the Pelican! Thanks be to God!

In His Service,

Pastor Lingsch

UPCOMING EVENTS

Budget 2020 - Deadline for submissionNovember 8th

LWML Southwest Zone Fall RallyNovember 9thTrinity Lutheran ChurchCape Coral

Women of Grace Fall LuncheonNovember 12thBayside Seafood Grille

'Surviving the Holidays' Grief Share November 16th10:00 amFellowship Hall

Women of Grace Thanksgiving Bake SaleNovember 24th9:00 am - NoonCourtyard

Thanksgiving BasketsNovember 24thNoonFellowship Hall

Thanksgiving Eve ServiceNovember 27th6:30 pm

Thanksgiving DinnerNovember 28th

1:00 pmFellowship Hall

Church Tree TrimmingDecember 6th6:00 pm

Women of Grace Christmas LuncheonDecember 7thFellowship Hall

Naples Brass Christmas ConcertDecember 13th7:00 pmSanctuary

Preschool and Sunday School Christmas ProgramDecember 14thSanctuary

WEEKLY EVENTS

Youth NewsKami Jo Mogelvang

November 10th: NYG Presentation in Fellowship Hall 9:30-10:15 am

November 17th:  Youth night, 5:00-7:00 pm

Women's Bible StudyThursday's at 10:00 amOffice workroom Wednesday Afternoon/EveningPrograms 3:45 pm Cherubs Choir4:00 pm Kids Club4:15 pm Choristers5:15 pm Dinner6:00 pm Confirmation Class6:30 pm Evening Worship7:00 pm Grace Chorale

Handbell Choir6:00 pm Thursdays

ELDERS' REPORTPaul Koch

 The Elders met in October, and more of the Board has returned to Naples. The Board reviewed the status of the working group to help support The Pelican Lutheran Church and to develop a long term strategic plan. Participants included Pastor Eisold, Pastor Lingsch, President Heidel and Director Paul Koch. The Elders also reviewed the status of the current Elders' 2019 budget and used these data to begin to develop the proposed 2020 budget to be submitted to the Voters in December. The Board Director has scheduled the annual goal planning reviews with Pastor and Jonathan and will provide summaries of these efforts at the November meeting. Assistant Director, Patrick Perri, will be scheduling a meeting with Lori Lingsch, Fellowship Board Chair, to ensure that both the St Patrick's Day Fish Fry and the recognition celebration for Jonathan are accounted for in the 2020 Fellowship budget. Ben Borcheldt will continue to coordinate with the Choir as part of Jonathan's Celebration. The Elders will also schedule an Ushers' recruitment and training session for January and will continue to recruit more members to assist in this important area. The Director will coordinate with Gwyn Powers to ensure that all Board Members have access to pertinent Grace Policies, Guidelines and rosters. The meeting adjourned to a local restaurant to recognize Pastor Lingsch and Pastor Appreciation month. 

Do you need someone to talk to? To walk with you through a difficult time? Deaconess Linda Nobili will be available for Spiritual counseling again beginning Oct 15th. Please feel free to contact her anytime at (248) 892-7405 or by email at dcslinda1492@gmail.com.

Did You Know We Have a Facebook Page?Please 'Like' us on Facebook!  Grace of Naples Lutheran Church and Preschool.  

 

Women of Grace Fall Luncheon   

 The Women of GraceCordially Invite You to

Our Fall Luncheon 

Tuesday November 12, 201912:00 pm

Bayside Seafood Grill4270 Gulfshore Boulevard North

239-649-5552 

R.S.V.P. by Sunday November 10to

nancybeights@gmail.comor

239-537-2250 (Text or leave a message if no answer)Enjoy fun and fellowship with your Grace family!

 

New Church Directory Coming Soon!If you are unsure if the office has your new address (northern or in Naples), email or telephone, please call or email the office.  

Did you know that you don't have to be a member to be included in our directory?  If you worship with us during the winter, and want other worshipers to be able to contact you, we are happy to add you to our directory.  Just let the office know.    

Amazon SmileDo you make purchases from Amazon?  Here is an easy way to earn money for our church and preschool without spending any extra money.  Instead of going to Amazon, search for Amazon Smiles.  this page will allow you to put in an organization that will then get a small portion of the money of the things you purchase. Under organizations, search for Grace Lutheran Church, Naples, FL.  Each time you purchase using Amazon Smiles, a small percentage will be donated to Grace.  Amazon Smiles will also remember that you want Grace as a beneficiary.  It won't cost you anything extra but our church benefits with a check from Amazon.  Any questions, call the church office.   

The Pelican Lutheran ChurchRev. Mark EisoldNovember 2019

Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.         Colossians 3:12-15

 In Spanish, the word SANTO means "Saint" or "Holy" or "Holy One". This causes one to see the word "Saint" appear a lot more frequently in the Spanish Bible than in the English. It also helps me to remember that Saint means "holy" - as in "made holy" by God Himself: Jesus Christ. In this, there is great blessing, great responsibility, and CHALLENGE to put into practice the powers, which Jesus Christ gave us at Holy Baptism. Namely, forgiveness, love, and thankfulness.

Well, I am thankful for you and your prayers and support for Christ's work at The Pelican!

I am also thankful for many unique opportunities to teach during October! Some of our folks were tempted by crazy controversies regarding our freedom to celebrate Halloween, to drink milk, and more. New believers and seasoned believers alike can be challenged by the slick, convincing, propaganda videos circulating on our social media.

Be careful that no one robs of you of your freedom in Christ! By God's grace, we are justified by faith in Jesus as our God & Risen Savior. Strengthen yourself to encourage others this week by reading Colossians 2, 1st Corinthians 6, and Romans 14. We are not bound by man-made rules, whose sources and intentions are unknown.

I was also very blessed by the opportunity to teach the Sunday Bible Study at Grace from mid-September through October. This Bible Study was a real treasure, and promoted our blessed calling to share Christ's salvation with others through various and creative forms of personal and corporal outreach. Thank you for your abundant, positive feedback!!!

PELICAN NEWSTis the season to be working!   Yes, with the arrival of our winter visitors, some of our members have to work on Sundays again. Of course, as active, vigilant disciples of Jesus, we are offering a mid-week worship service to counter that challenge!   We also began an English Service at 9:30 a.m. every Sunday for those in our church who prefer English as well as for the community around us.

We were blessed to baptize Sophia Isabel Slaughter, the daughter of Victor & Gabby, on October 22, 2019. Later, that same afternoon, about 22 members of

The Pelican partook in fellowship with the members of Grace and the German church at Grace's annual Octoberfest. What a great time and fellowship together!! Our first Friday Family Night had 34 people come out to enjoy fellowship around Karaoke! The second Friday Family Night will be a game night with Parcheesi, Chess, Scrabble, and card games. It was great to see new people coming with friends to our very first of these events. Remember, as people of God in Christ Jesus, EVERYTHING is an outreach opportunity!

Our Haitian Church is doing very well with a larger, faithful following. Though the Pelican grew over the summer, the Sunday services of the Eglise SILOE declined. They are now doing well and continue to meet faithfully four times every week. Remember Saint Luc Charelus and his family in your prayers.

We are looking for some volunteers to help out with English Classes. If you, or someone you know would enjoy the fulfillment of helping a small group of folks to practice English on Tuesday nights or Thursday mornings, please call Idalia Fabregas at (239) 370-5611.

We are also preparing for an open invitational event to highlight the Lord's work at The Pelican on the evening of November 30th. While there will be a fund-raising aspect to it, the main thrust will be FUN as we celebrate the Lord's work and the tastes from the various cultures that Christ Jesus has gathered at The Pelican Lutheran Church.

God bless you in Christ's love, His freedom, and His purpose - to shine His light and make disciples!! Your Brother in Christ,  Pastor Mark