1 St. Matthew Lutheran Church Newsletter October 2018
Pastor Baltz s last service Sept. 30 2
Our transition pastor, Rev. Dr. Elwood M. Anderson, will be here the first week of October. He is a retired minister and has extensive experience as a transition pastor. Seminary student Blake Shipman has been worshipping with us for the past month. He is a student at Wartburg Seminary in Dubuque and has offered his assistance at worship, when needed, from time to time. As a result of the lightning strike last month, numerous electronic systems at the church are being fixed or replaced. Roger Johnson, Charlie Marsden, Ambrose Virtue, Dale Wohlers, Dale Knipschield and others have been working tirelessly for the past six weeks on these repairs. There is sad news to report on the state of our organ. The damage was too extensive to fix so the organ will be replaced with a new unit. The time table for its replacement will be three to four months. In the meantime, we have a beautiful piano to use for our worship services. We filed an insurance claim for the lightning strike. It totaled about $104,000 with a $1,000 deductible. A check for almost $84,000 has been issued by the insurance company. The balance will be paid when they are informed that we have indeed purchased a new organ. We may find additional damage in the future. The insurance company will hold the claim open until all damage is known and make payment. Our call committee continues to look into candidates to be our next pastor. Please pray for the members of this committee and our congregation as we go through this transition period at St. Matthew s. God bless, Bruce Etzel Call Committee Meetings September 4 th Committee Members present were Deb Hyland, Wayne McIntrye. Connie Consedine and Bill Fitch. Absent were Jan Etzel and Tanya Vanderlinde. We conducted our 4 th Pastoral interview. Following the interview we conducted an after action review. The committee is looking at additional candidate interviews in the near future. September 25 th Committee Members present were Deb Hyland, Connie Consedine, Wayne McIntrye, Jan Etzel and Bill Fitch. Member absent Tanya Vanderlinde. The committee began looking at 2 nd interview questions for pastoral candidates. Also we spent time on reviewing names of additional candidates for further interviews. Respectfully submitted, Bill Fitch 3
ANNOUNCEMENTS New Time! New Time! New Time! New Time! New Time! Choir continues to meet on Thursday evenings but we have a new time - 6:30!!! We will soon be starting music for the Advent and Christmas seasons. Come and enjoy the fun! Jan Please make a note in your Church Directories of the below new member information: Sam and Deanna Gross 3 Oxbow Path Galena, IL 61036 Sam 815-281-2920 Deanna 815-281-0434 4
CELEBRATIONS IN OCTOBER BIRTHDAYS ANNIVERSARIES October 23 Jan Etzel October 22 Wayne & Rebecca McIntyre 30 Edie Jones 24 George & Pam Johnson Sharon Wachter EVENTS THIS MONTH Every Tuesday 10:00 am - Bible Study at The Nursing Home Wednesday 8:30 am - Men's Bible Study 2nd & 3rd Tuesday 12:30 pm - Quilters 2nd & 4th Tuesday 3:00 pm - With Our Hearts and Hands Ministry Specific Dates October 4 6:30 pm - Choir October 11 6:30 pm - Choir October 13 10:00 am - Communion October 14 5:30 pm - Communion October 18 6:30 pm - Choir October 25 6:30 pm - Choir October 27 10:00 am - Communion October 28 5:30 pm - Communion 5
Weekend THOSE WHO SERVE IN OCTOBER 2018 # USHERS & ACOLYTES (Sat: 1 person, Sun: 2) LECTORS (1 Person) 1 Sat. 6 Bill Fitch Sat. 6 1 Sun. 7 Pam & George Johnson Sun. 7 2 Sat. 13 Bruce Etzel Sat. 13 2 Sun. 14 Dick & Edie Jones Sun. 14 3 Sat. 20 Sat. 20 3 Sun. 21 Ken & Fabi Voigt Sun. 21 4 Sat. 27 Jim Moser Sat. 27 4 Sun. 28 Sun. 28 Jan Etzel Jan Etzel Colleen Edie Jones Connie Consedine Bulletin Folders (1 or 2) - 10:00 am Sat. AM COMMUNION ( Sat: 1; Sun: 2) Sat. 6 Bruce Etzel Sat. 13 Sat. 13 Bruce Etzel Sun. 14 Sat. 20 Sat. 27 Sat. 27 Sun. 28 Jim Moser Ken & Fabi Voigt Fran Rogers Connie Consedine & Fabi Voigt Counting Couriers - 10:00 am Tuesday Tues. 2 Bruce Etzel Tues. 9 Bruce Etzel Tues. 16 Bruce Etzel Tues. 23 Bruce Etzel Tues. 30 Bruce Etzel 6
September Financial Information September Income $ 5,953.05 YTD $101,102.18 September Expense $ 9,894.47 YTD $ 93,893.72 Please submit articles, pictures or information for the newsletter to contact.stmatt@gmail.com no later than the 25th of the month. Church Office News If you need to contact Stacy Meade, Church Clerk, or Tom Staver, Financial Secretary, please call the church office at 815-777-1134 or email contact.stmatt@gmail.com. There is an inbox on the desk in the office for messages, notes, receipts, etc. Please include your name, phone number and instructions in case there are questions. St. Matthew Lutheran Church 127 South High Street, Galena www.stmat.net 815 777-1134 Service times: Saturday at 5:30pm, and Sunday at 10:00am Where God s work happens 7 days a week. A First Century Church for the Twenty-first Century. See our website for our full calendar of events. 7