FROM PASTOR RICK’S COMPUTER:
DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN MISSION AND VISION

This year we are going to develop a vision and a plan for accomplishing this for our congregation. A vision is different from a mission. This will be developed between the congregation, the Council, and the pastoral staff. The congregation has already begun the process by answering the Bridgebuilders’ surveys. They are compiling and organizing the answers. From their report to the congregation, the Council will work to develop a vision to guide our work for the Lord.

1. A Solid Foundation: Our Mission Statement

We know what our church’s mission is. I hope you can quote it from memory. It is a powerful mission. It is a Biblically faithful mission. It is a solid foundation. However, our mission statement all by itself is not sufficient to unite and guide the whole congregation. Our ministries are too many and spread out. We are not sure what each other is doing and why.

2. The Next Step: What does God want us to become?

The next step is developing a vision. A vision asks the question, “What does God want us (as a congregation) to become at this time and in this place?” This is the question we will try to answer this year.

For example, when our church started in 1871, the Berners, Mayers and Keblers[1] built a church for German families to have worship, fellowship and to teach their children in the Lutheran faith. That was our vision for 50 years or so.

Then it changed to include all Lutherans. Then it changed so that the Lutherans in Grand Ledge would have a positive impact in the community for God.

My pastoral vision has been on reaching people who have never trusted their lives to Christ before or who have been away from him and the Church for a long time.

This year we must discover what will unite us and move us forward and out for him. “What does God want us to become at this time and in this place?

3. Distinguishing: A Foundation vs. a Finished House

So the difference between a mission and a vision is like that between the foundation of the home and what it looks like – inside and out - after it is built.

The Holy Spirit has laid a solid foundation. Now, under “his’ guidance, what will we become over the next years as Christ’s people? After we have settled on God’s answer to this, then we can seek out the steps, the projects, the ministries to help us get there; then we can all pull together toward this; then we can measure our progress.

We are not building a new brand new house. Rather, as Paul[2] described the Church as an organic structure of living members laid up on a foundation of the prophets and the apostles with Jesus as the cornerstone, so we are members of God’s household here and now. We are answering Christ’s call to do some “remodeling.” What shall we look like? What does HE want our congregation to look like? We are building on the mission to reach our community. Our vision, while reshaping the former visions, will make us an Immanuel Lutheran Church that is faithful to our Lord and our heritage in our time.

Pray for the Bridgebuilders as they try to find the common threads in the ideas we have given them. Then pray for the Church Council and the congregation. May the Spirit truly inspire and guide us this year!

AMONG OUR MEMBERS:

BAPTISM

On December 22nd Natalie Suzanna Drown, daughter of Jeff and Michelle Drown. Jeff and Michelle were home from Alabama for Christmas. Her Christian Sponsors are Roxanne Ramirez and Gus Ramirez On December 24th Cyrus Christian Gooding, son of Kacey and Abbi (Long) Gooding.  His Christian Sponsors are Nick Gooding and Lindsay Gooding. Anthony Walid Khalife, son of Walid & Vivian Khalife. Reuben Walid Khalife, son of Walid & Vivian Khalife.

GRADUATIONS

Elizabeth Ayoub: JD from The Detroit College of Law

Phil Hill: Masters in Engineering from WMU

John McKenzie: BA from WMU

Congratulations to each of you!

STARS Stephanie Ayoub (St. John's HS) was selected as #1 in the state for her knowledge of Dairy Farming and Animal Care. She is receiving a scholarship to a national convention next year. Beth Frysinger (GLHS) has been named a National Merit Scholarship semi-finalist. Kudos to you both!

NEWS AND EVENTS:

TIME TO UN-DECORATE THE CHURCH

We need your help to take down the Christmas decorations at church after the 10:30 service on January 5.  We need all the help we can get!!

Special Giving

Your offerings have gone to help the following organizations this holiday season:

Community Thanksgiving Offering from the GL service was just under $1,000 in food to the GL Food Bank and money to the Grand Ledge Emergency Assistance Program (GLEAP).

Thanksgiving Offerings were $341. They will be forwarded to GLEAP.

Advent Offerings are $437. They will be divided between GLEAP and Loaves and Fishes, a Christian shelter for homeless families on the west side of Lansing.

Baskets of Hope gifts came to $1,071 (including matching funds from AAL Branch 4252). This year we assisted 8 families in the GL area at Christmastime.

CROP Walk for World Hunger: Immanuel's total came to over $3,800 (including $600 from AAL Branch 4252) toward the GL Walk. 25% of the total amount will remain in GL.

MSU Food Drive: We helped this year through Dennis Connors, a student at Eli Broad School of Business.

May Christ's name be glorified as those with a need are cared for

HEY, LUGNUTS FANS! Outreach has scheduled another Lugnuts night at Oldsmobile Park for Saturday, June 21, 2003 at 7:05 P.M.  We have 25 tickets at $7.50 each on reserve that must be paid for by Sunday, May 4th.  We can also have a Lugnuts T-shirt with Immanuel Lutheran printed on the front for $8.50 per shirt with a minimum order of 20 shirts (you do not have to go to the game to order a T-shirt).  If you are interested in either or both of these, call Orv Erickson at 645-2865 or e-mail him at oerickson@aol.com and let him know how many tickets and/or T-shirts you would like.  GO NUTS!!!

THE FRIENDSHIP CLUB The Friendship Club is a social club for all adults of the congregation.  Our January activity is Bowling on January 11, 2003, 6-9 p.m.  We will be bowling 2 games at Holiday Bowl located at Frandor.  2 games of bowling, shoes, pizza and pop will run about $10-12/person.  Sign up in the church lobby.  For more information, call Mike or Jackie Fedewa at 482-8014 or Marlaine or Jim Teahan at 627-5637.  If you have any ideas for 2003 activities, please call!

REMINDER

CATECHISM CLASS resumes January 7, 2003.

Opportunities to Serve:

OUTREACH COMMITTEE IS LOOKING FOR NEW MEMBERS

The current committee is hoping to maintain and expand on some of the current programs we oversee.  We would like to develop a newcomers ministry program and need additional people in order to bring this together.  Please contact any of us: Orv Erickson (645-2865) Bob Eichelberger (886-6172) Marlaine Teahan (627-5637) or Den Graeber (627-3116).  Thanks!!

NOTES:

We are very grateful to all who contributed to our Christmas gift, and to the many who sent us cards. Thank you for caring.

LITURGICAL COLORS:

Liturgical colors are those colors that are used for paraments, vestments, and accessories such as banners and other decorations.

White: The color of purity and eternity, symbolizing perfection, celebration, and joy. White is used for Christmas and its season, Epiphany and its season (usually until the Eve of the Second Sunday after the Epiphany; and Easter and its season (until the Eve of Pentecost). Also for the Feast of the Holy Trinity and for the Christological festivals of the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Presentation, and the Transfiguration. It is used for St. Michael and All Angels and for the festivals of saints who were not martyrs. If Holy Communion is celebrated on Maundy Thursday, the color is white. White may also be used for a mission festival or a day of special or national thanksgiving.

Red: The color of seal (fire) and martyrdom (blood). Red is the color of Pentecost, from the Eve of Pentecost until the Eve of the Holy Trinity. It is also used for the festivals of saints who died as martyrs. Red is the Dedication of a Church, and the Anniversary of a Congregation.

Green: The color of life, refreshment, and regeneration. Green is used for the season after Pentecost, beginning with the Eve of the Second Sunday after Pentecost. It may also be used for the Epiphany season, from the Eve of the Second Sunday after the Epiphany until the Eve of the Transfiguration.

Purple: The color of royalty, but also of sorrow and repentance. Purple is used during the Advent season (until the Eve of the Nativity) and during the Lenten season (until after the Maundy Thursday service, if Holy Communion is not celebrated). It may also be used on a Day of Supplication and Prayer.

Black: The color of mourning, humility, and death.

The following is a list of optional colors that may be used during certain seasons or on certain days in place of the standard ones described above.

Blue: The color of spiritual love, fidelity, anticipation, and hope. Blue is often used on festivals of St. Mary, the Mother of Our Lord. It is also an alternate color for Advent, because, since the liturgical revisions of the 1960’s, the tenor of the season is one of hope and anticipation of the coming of Christ.

Scarlet: The color of royalty and passion. Scarlet is an alternate color for Holy Week, used until after the Maundy Thursday service (if, contrary to Lutheran custom, Holy Communion is not celebrated).

Gold: The color of riches and glory. Gold may be used on Easter Day, the “queen” of festivals, as an alternate to white.

Rose: The color of anticipation and joy. If a congregation observes Gaudete or Laetare, which in the midst of their preparatory seasons anticipate the joy of Christmas and Easter respectively, rose may be used in place of purple (or blue and purple).

This information was taken from The Altar Guild Manual, author Lee A. Maxwell.

Immanuel Lutheran Altar Guild

FROM THE COUNCIL PRESIDENT'S DESK:

It’s January 2003, a new year and of course at New Year’s we make resolutions.  Some we keep and some only last a few days.

For us as a congregation, we need to keep and support forward movement with the Bridgebuilder Program.  We need to work through the process and see where that leads us.  We need to let God show us the way.

We need to come together to work on a vision for the future that helps lead our various ministries.  We need to move forward using the knowledge and experience we have -- some positive and some not so positive.

As the Church Council elects new officers in January at the January 6 meeting, I will be moving along.  I am very excited to see new people join the Council, as new people often bring new and fresh ideas.

I want to thank everyone for the opportunity to serve as Council President and hope that more people would get involved by serving on the Council and on committees.

I’ve also learned that it’s important for us to pray for God’s guidance and direction as he works with the Council members.  I plan to be supportive of the new Council and keep them in my prayers.  I’ve learned that we are not that small congregation we used to be, but we are a mid-size congregation still experiencing some growing pains.  Still maturing.

My experience as Council president has also confirmed for me what I saw more on the surface and that is that Immanuel is made up of a lot of very good people.  People with much to offer the church and community from our pastor and leaders and members.

In closing, I remember a Sunday School class singing “This Little Light of Mine, I’m Gonna Let It Shine” at their Christmas Program.  The song goes on singing “I’m Gonna Let It Shine, let it shine, let it shine.  Hide it under a basket ‘No!’ I’m Gonna Let It Shine.”

As we move from the dark of winter into a New Year maturing in our faith, how about we remember to let our lights shine!

God’s Blessings!

CELEBRATIONS:
JANUARY BIRTHDAYS

JANUARY ANNIVERSARIES

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