Free Ice Water --- NOW !!!

A few days ago, I was on a mission trip with our pre-teens. We joined four other churches and overall it was a grerat experience. Here is a picture of our team:



The group is not what I first expected. I thought that we would be taking 15-20 students from our 5-6 grade ministry. But, that did not happen. However, what did occur was that we took three families and having three families do a trip together was awesome.

Now, onto the free water.

On Wednesday, we decided to go and get some ice cream at the local place to get the best ice cream intown. When we went in to the store, we were the only ones there. We were ordering for us and we were also treating the 4 staff members back at the church, so we had 11 ice cream orders to fill. There was one teenage worker in the store and she did fantastic putting all 11 orders together. We decided to make life easy on her to put it all on one ticket. Honestly, I think it was the obvious church.

While we were in there, another church group came in. They all had their money out individually and was very apprehensive while we were in there. As soon as our oder was complete, we exited the store and went back to the church.

Thirty minutes later, I hear an adult minister complain about the teenager who was working the same store. He was upset because he wanted a free water and she would not give it to him (store policy). Now, I will also remind you that he was the one leading the group that was paying individually, he did not order a thing and they sold water bottles for .69 cents (I do believe). It was hot out and he could not believe they would not give out free water and he let her know about it.

As I listened to the story from a distance, my heart broke. A minister lamblasted a teenager for following store policy. I could not let it go. I went to worship time with my group and after the worship experience, I excused myself.

I went down to the ice cream store where she was still working and the store was still hopping. I waited in line and when it was my turn, I said to her:

Thank-you for serving us so graciously earlier. I heard about what happended after we left with the water, is it true. She confirmed. I said, I want to apologize on their behalf and for the trouble that they gave you, I want to give you a tip.

She was speechless and grateful.

I am amazed at times how rude we can be to others and it breaks my heart that it is fellow ministers who are the cause of pain at times; to me it is unexcuseable.

I did not spend time with her to hear her story because of how busy she was. I am not sure if she is a followe of Christ or not. But, I cannot imagine what her thoughts may be when she got a rude awakening from a minister.

Think before you speak and act ---- anytime. Not to mention when you are on a mission trip.

Milwaukee

Here is our "fun" group picture on the church steps of Unity Lutheran Church in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 18 youth and 4 adults converged on the city to team up with YouthWorks and 2 more churches.



More pictures and stories to come.

Confirmation Sunday

This past Sunday (May 22nd), we had confirmation Sunday. We had a great group of students, peer guides, and adult leaders. Here is a picture of the confirmation class:



This year, I moved the confirmation service to the worship service and it went really well and the church seemed to appreciate the fact that we were there together.

This Past Weekend

We had our "weekend" ministry in Indianapolis this weekend.

On Saturday, we went down to the Women Shelter to do a recreational night with the women and children. Then, on Sunday, we did our Meet Me Under The Bridge (feeding the homeless).

With everything that goes on at church and life in general; these make the weekends very busy. However, at the same time, it is so refreshing and it is so great to serve and it is so wonderful to see students willing to serve as well.

Rollercoaster: Serving In Indy

One of the things that I committed to doing when we moved to indianapolis was serving the city. My family lives in the city (technicaaly). We have an Indianapolis address and live in one of the townships but we live outside the belt.

Our church is in the NE suburb of Indianapolis. Thus, I have tried to connect our students to the city and help meet the needs of the city.

Well, this week was an interesting week and to me, it was a rollercoast experience. Unfortunately, it is the end of the week and I flew down the hill after a few "high" experiences.

Monday: i went to the Men's shelter with a few of my 6th graders and we served a meal and helped clean up. I also had the opportunity to listen to Shawn share his story.

Tuesday: My family went down to one of the local churches downtown who runs an afterschool program for one of the Indianapolis Public School. They only had a few kids there but it was great to read to them, eat with them, play uno and just share with them. I have been there a few times and there are two students there that I think that I am connecting with.

Wednesday: I met with the volunteer coordinator for our local refugee organization. I think that this will be a great opportunity for us as a church to connect and "adopt" a family. We should really know more about how we will connect early next month.

Today: We have been "kicked off" the volunteer list at the women's shelter because we did not meet our commitment today and they can no longer count on us. This makes me sad. We should be able to make the commitment.

Words from A Confirmand

Recently, we came back from our confirmation retreat. This is the first year that I have led the students at CTS in the retreat. I made some tweaks in their standard program and I was a little nervous. I changed up the location and I changed the format of the curriculum. When we got back, our communication director asked me to get a student to write a summary of the weekend. I want to share it with you. These words are from a 8th grade girl who is on a wonderful spiritual journey:

March 4th through 6th was one of the most meaningful weekends of my life. Cliché, I know, but it's true. The retreat that us 8th grade youth took that weekend changed me and the way I view God. I learned so much about myself and my faith and so did 25 of my peers, peers of mine that I have been with for –what seems like- my whole life. Some of the kids that joined me on this trip played in the nursery with me when I was just a baby, but until that weekend I was never this close with any of these people, even the one who I call some my best friends. For example my small group and I stayed up all hours of the night and told each other our secrets and all about our lives then went on to talk about how our small group and our weekend at Lake Luther had impacted our lives in such tremendous ways. Over the weekend we played games in our “fruit groups”, we took long walks in Narnia-what we named the woods of Lake Luther for its remarkable resemblance to the fictional land-, we played games like screaming toes and ninja for what seemed like hours, we spent time puddle jumping and playing in the rain-turn-snow, everyone there loved playing with baby Paige, we watched hilarious skits put on by our peer guides and even just hung around in our cabins during our free time but our fun is besides the point.

I know that I personally grew so much in my faith and learned more about myself and my walk in one weekend then I have in weeks of church camp, two weekends at Springhill, and in all 14 years of going to church. It seemed like this retreat made it all just clicks. I owe that to so many things: Jeff’s lessons, our seemingly endless quizzes, the songs we all sang, the prayers we all prayed, the communion we took part in Sunday, the time by the fire with my small group, watching my peers give their banner presentations and the beautiful landscape God provided to us, among some of top things that attributed to such growth. This retreat provided me with a jump start to the rest of my walk with the Lord and a weekend of fun that I will never forget.

Ministry Weekend

This week, the students at Christ The Savior are going to be involved in two separate ministries this weekend.

On Saturday night, we will be going to the Women's Shelter and setting up a recreation night for the women and children that live at the shelter. It really is about the beginning of building relationships. We are down there 1x a month. I am not sure how much we can do with it being once a month, but it is a beginning. We go there and set up a movie and board games and have snacks and we just hang out with them for two hours and let them know that they are not forgotten.

On Sunday, we are headed down to the "garage" by the over passes and serve a meal to the homeless population. We partner with an organization called Meet Me Under The Bridge. This will be our fourth time down there and we also go there once a month. We prepare and cook a meal and take it down there and serve. Last month, we served over 130 individuals.

We do not take a large number of students down there but we are beginning to open up to the community around us and serve and show that serving is a very important aspect of who we are. I am looking forward to the partnerships and working with the students to step out of our comfort zone and realize that there are people around us hurting and we can help.

Help Needed: MMUTB

If you are in the Indianapolis area ...



Hashbrown and Ham Casserole (We need at least 15 of these)

2 lbs. frozen hash browns, Southern style (thawed)
1 stick melted butter
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 pt. sour cream
1/2 c. chopped onions
10 oz. pkg. shredded cheddar cheese
2 packages of cubed (not diced) ham

Mix all ingredients. Pour into 9 X 13 disposable aluminum pan. DO NOT BAKE…we will bake at the church.

Please bring to kitchen on Sunday, February 20th prior to the beginning of the 10:45 am service.

Please email Stacey Greathouse @ thesogmom@yahoo.com, if you will be bringing one.

Food Items

Six HUGE cans of green beans
Six HUGE bags of corn
150 rolls
Two big tubs of country crock

If you can bring the items, please email Stacey @ thesogmom@yahoo.com

Last month, we served 130 individuals. Our event is now held in a garage. We do not go out to them, they now come to us. However, many of them do live under the bridges of Indianapolis.

The Future ...

Bonhoeffer once said:

The essence of optimism is that it takes no account of the present, but it is a source of inspiration, of vitality and hope where others have resigned; it enables a man to hold his head high, to claim the future for himself and not to abandon it to his enemy.

We have a fantastic vision and mission at CTS. I am looking forward to us serving and working together to make the dreams that we have a reality. There may be individuals who are down and upset about how the vote went and that we remain in the ELCA. However, be optimistic. Look forward to the future. Let what god has called us to be in our community be an inspiration. We are able to keep our head up and march forward. This church will be a place that will help people grow in Christ. This will be a place where people fall in love with God our creator. This place will also be a beacon, a place where people will serve our God.

Remaining in the ELCA

Today was our vote. We had 395 adults who signed in to vote. To leave the ELCA, we needed to have a 66.7% vote. Which meant that we had to have 268 votes to leave.

171 voted to stay in the ELCA
224 voted to leave the ELCA

Thus, we remain an ELCA church.

The vote is now over. Hopefully, we can rally together and reach out to one another. We are brothers and sisters in Christ. As a church, we have a wonderful vision/mission and we need each one of us to carry it out.

Congregational Meeting # 2

Congregational Meeting # 2 is in the "books". The meeting last night took a different tone. As a staff person, I am trying to be careful with putting my thoughts out there; in time, they will come. We, as a church, have 10 days till we vote on the direction that we as a church will go. Will we remain an ELCA church or will we change denominations and go to the NALC. November 21st, has the potential to be a day when the church "implodes". However, I also think that it is an opportunity for us to be unified that we are a church and that we want people to Know God, Love God and Serve God.

If you are from CTS reading, may you feel a sense of peace as you wrestle with this issue. I know that there are quite a few that want to stay in the ELCA and I know there are many that believe we have no option but to leave the ELCA and join the NALC. Then, there are a number of you who are really confused on why we are even voting.

May God be with us and may be live out the words in the book of James. May we be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger.

Church Meetings

Last night was our first church meeting and we will be having another one tonight. I did not count, but I would say that there was 250 - 300 adults at the meeting. The meeting was very civil and I was very happy to see that.

There were two-main segments that night. The first segment dealt with the difference of the ELCA and the NALC. The reason for these two comparison is that this is where we will "land". We will either be an NALC church or an ELCA church. The decision for these two options came after the "fact-finding-team" seek'd out numerous options.

The next segment was a theological discussion that the pastors led on the difference of the ELCA and the NALC.

After both segments there was a time for questions and answers. I thought that the questions were good and the answers were well received. As I mentioned earlier, I appreciated the fact that there were folks with diverse opinions that it was not an "angry" mob mentality.

It is my hope and dream that we will be able to sit/worship/work together and continue to reach out to those who need to hear the gospel of Christ.

Meet Me Under The Bridge

Proverbs 19:17 (NIV), He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him for what he has done.

We (CTS students)had the opportunity to serve yesterday at the Meet Me Under the Bridge Ministry. we enjoyed our time down there as we served food, sorted some clothes, sang a few songs and connected with those who are often "invisible".

MMUTB is going to be a ministry that we will connect with on a monthly basis. The next time that we will connect with them will be Dec. 12th. Then, beginning in January, we will go down there and serve on the 3rd Sunday of each month.

This past week, we went down and "served" the food. The up-coming times, we will also be getting food donated, cooking and taking it down. Here are a few pics to give you an idea of what we did (trying to respect those whom we served).

The Organization



View From Parking Lot



Singing Outside The Garage



Preparing To Serve



Folks Enjoying A Meal

Philosophy of Ministry

Here is the "philosophy" of ministry that we will be using within our student ministry at Christ The Savior. The philosophy of ministry is "our tool" to help us (as a student ministry) reach the mission of our church: Reaching people to know, love and serve Christ.



We realize that each student is at a different stage in their life and there are different ministries that will help us reach out to people so they will know Christ, Love Christ and then go out and serve Christ.

The Vote ....

It is election time but this post/blog is not about the up-coming elections. Instead, it is about me to briefly mark down on my blog that we as a church (Christ the Savior) will be having a vote in the near future (20 days to be exact).

We are going to vote on whether we should leave the ELCA and join the newly formed NALC or wether we should remain in the ELCA.

Before, I came (back in January), the church did vote on the social statement and "rejected" it and wanted to remain with the more "conservative" point-of-view.

That vote was a "simple" vote and the majority of the church agreed with.

I did not think that the decision to leave the ELCA or stay with the ELCA was going to be a big issue (in all honestly). I thought it would be more focused on this is what we are about as a church/congregation and not which denomination we are apart of.

The vision/mission of CTS is what brought me here.

Our Mission
Reaching people to know, love and serve Christ.

Our Vision
It is the vision of Christ the Savior Lutheran Church to be AWAKENed, united and growing in Christ


A lways serve
Worship Christ
A bundantly give
K now scripture
E ncourage other and
N ever cease praying

However, I am hearing that many believe that this vote is going to be ugly and I have heard many say that this vote is going to be "catastrophic". To that, my heart breaks and I cry out.

I, as an individual, am one that leans to more of unity. I understand that many say that is not impossible with such a different interpretation of scripture.

It is my hope and prayer (which ever way the vote goes) that in the end, people will be unified. They will look around and see that this is a church/place that they love and that we can be unified and strive for the "end in the mind" which is our mission and vision and the theological difference that we have do not effect the 9 items in the mission or vision. Hopefully, we can have a large umbrella instead of small umbrella's.

Yesterday, we did a class on the Apostle Creed and how "creeds" can unify us. That is my wish and dream; that we can be unified because I believe that we do believe in the creed:

I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth: and in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord: who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary: suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead and buried: He descended into hell: The third day he rose again from the dead: He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty: from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead: I believe in the Holy Ghost: I believe in the holy catholic church: the communion of saints: for the forgiveness of sins: the resurrection of the body: and the life everlasting. Amen.

So, on the 9th and 10th we will have congregation meetings and then we will vote on the 21st. The vote on the 21st is not going to be the end-all. There will be more that occur after that - maybe more on that later.

As a church, I hope that we can follow James advice: quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger.

It Is Fall

I took a few photos of the house that we live in and the church that we serve at and you can tell that Fall is upon us. Some leaves are still green, some are turning colors and some are falling to the ground .....

What a Week

Time seems to be absolutely flying. I cannot believe it. I look at my calendar and question where has it gone. The calendar is full and fulfilling.

Isaiah is having a blast in soccer. His team is undefeated and he is playing well.

Jacob's basketball season has started. His team lost their first game. He played well on defense and he scored a point on a free throw.

Bethany is not really liking baseball through her week conversations and vows that she will never play again. However, when she is at practice and during her games; she seems to be doing fine; especially last week as she got four hits. Her team (all girls) is playing in a all boys league; so that has been fun. Most of the times, the girls are beating the boys.

The church is going well. The attendance last week was over 675. The confirmation class had over 100 when you count the students, peer guides and adult leaders - the group is a really good group. Our Roots (5th and 6th graders) ministry on Thursday nights are a blast. Last week, we had 25 and they are a real fun group. Oasis (high school ministry) is meeting on Sunday night and we had about 30 last Sunday. We played a football game and had a broom hockey contest before moving into our last lesson on Pause.

We also had class on Monday night for adoption; that is moving along. We are concerned about the homestudy and what will occur there. We hope that there is no hiccups. We are not sure which direction the decision will be, but we are excited about the possibility of going from a family of five to a family of eleven.

Spring Hill

This past weekend, our numbers dropped a little with illness and other commitments that came up. However, we still took a large group and we had an amazing time. The above picture is our group picture. Listed below will be a few individual pictures to give a feel for the weekend.

Paint Ball



Climbing Wall



Z-Ball



Dinner



Theme



One: God / Faith / Life

What are you going to do with the one life that God has given you to live ?

Spring Hill: Here We Come !!

60 of us from the church is headed to Spring Hill. It is our confirmation retreat. We are looking forward to a great time of worship and fellowship. I will share the happenings when we return.

Oasis: Last Night

Last night, we began our new series on WE. We had a good group that came out as we begin to look at the process of community. We had 37 high school students, 3 hs graduates who are about to head to college and 8 adults.

Our night set-up is rather simple. We had a time of fellowship and fun and that was followed by worship. We then had a game and movie clip that set up our theme of community (not doing it alone) and then it was message and small group time.

I am really looking forward to seeing where Oasis goes; there is tremendous potential there.