Return to Regular Worship Schedule

Our last Sunday of the summer schedule is September 2 — Matins with Communion at 8:30 a.m. at the CEB, and traditional Communion Worship at 9:30 a.m. at the church.

On September 9, we will gather for Second Sunday Single Service at 10:00 a.m.

On September 16, we will resume worshipping at 8:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. with Sunday School and Confirmation Class meeting at 9:45 a.m. at the CEB.

A Message from Pastor Summer - September 2018

Long ago, when my son was a little boy, he told me he couldn’t imagine ever getting married.  How was that possible?  He was too young for the birds and the bees lecture, but I wanted to give him as answer.  What I told him was that getting married is unimaginable, but that, in time, God would make him ready.  He didn’t have to worry.  He took me at my word, as little people will do, and went on to his next question.  Of course, what I told Scott came true.  He got married and now has little people of his own who, I’m happy to say, are asking him the same questions he asked me.

I’ve often thought about the answer I gave my son so many years ago.  The answer was simple, but it was not simplistic.  I do believe that God gets you ready to face the surprises of life.  There will be situations that you find unimaginable and you wonder what you will do and how you will cope.  For me, the past three months have been one of those situations.  Bonnie’s health crisis took us by surprise.  To think, it all started in May with a stomach ache.  Who would have expected what has happened since that time?  It’s unimaginable.  I would agree.  Of course, people have asked me how Bonnie is doing (which is better, but still unfolding) and how I’m getting through.  I find myself referencing what I told Scott.  The situation is unimaginable, but God has made me ready.   I can take no credit.  I could not have faced it alone.  I have leaned on my faith and God has not let me down.  God has been my strength, my comfort, and my hope.  And on those rare occasions when I forget, God has placed amazing people, both family and friends, in my life to be a witness to the truth of God’s faithfulness.  God makes you ready.  And for that gift, I will be forever grateful. 

August Council Highlights

The Church Council met on August 16.  Highlights include:

· Cross Roads Camp Director Anthony Briggs came to the meeting to speak to the Council about the future of the camp and a support opportunity.  A campaign is underway to raise funds for the renovation of the Evergreen Village cabins.  The Council voted to contribute $5,000 to this campaign.

· God’s Work Our Hands will take place on September 9, and will include the assembly of Thanksgiving Food Bags for the Flemington Food Pantry and Health Kits for Edna’s Haven.  Please see the article below.

· Pastor Summer thanked the Council and by extension, the congregation, for the support and encouragement during     Bonnie’s illness and hospitalization.

· Thank you to:

* Angela Sztuk, for chairing the blood drive.

* Brooke Schumann and the Christian Education Committee for their hard work in planning and organizing information for the upcoming Sunday School year.

The next meeting of the Church Council will be on Thursday, September 20.  Meetings are open for all to attend.

God's Work Our Hands - September 9

Your Help is BADLY Needed!

As part of God’s Work Our Hands, Zion has committed to creating Thanksgiving Meal Bags for the Flemington Area Food Pantry. On Sunday, September 9th, after our Second Sunday Single Service, we will all gather down at the CEB to assemble the bags.  Our goal is to create at least 200 bags and we desperately need your help with the supplies.  Below is a list of what is requested and what we have so far. You can see that we are VERY FAR from our goal!   Won’t you consider buying a full bag or two (or three or more!) of items and donating that full set? The Food Pantry will be happy to take whatever we collect, but it would be wonderful to supply full sets of meals.  An entire bag can be purchased for less than $18.

Reusable bags will be purchased and they will be just waiting to be filled!  All items can be dropped off at the church or CEB at any time. Then, join us September 9th to assemble the bags.  As the adults assemble the food bags, children will be busy creating health kits for Edna’s Haven. We will have a fun potluck luncheon following the work, and everyone is invited. Thank you for your help in making this a successful service project for the ELCA’s God’s Work/Our Hands and for Zion Lutheran Church!  Our commitment to this project has already made a difference—The director of the food pantry has been so moved by Zion’s pledged generosity that she was inspired to ask other area church to donate Thanksgiving Meal Bags as well. 

List of Needed Items and What We Have as of August 26th:

yams - 3

green beans - 35

turkey gravy - 3

stuffing - 9

cranberry sauce - 4

pie filing - 5

boxed pie crust - 4

fruit cocktail - 23 (including 16 single serve cups)

coffee/tea - a few misc. single tea bags

sugar - 2 (including a 10 pound bag)

No time to shop??  CASH donations are gladly accepted, as we have volunteers who will do the shopping for you!

Youth & Family Ministries

Dear Members and Friends,

It has been quite a busy month for me. I have been gearing up for all sorts of great programming starting in September, and more programs to start in 2019.

First, God’s Work Our Hands will be taking place September 9^th after Second Sunday Single Service. While the congregation assembles Thanksgiving Food Bags for the Flemington Area Food Pantry, the youth will be putting together personal hygiene kits for the homeless population served by Edna’s Haven in Dover, NJ. We hope to assemble 200 bags!

Our Sunday School classes will resume on September 16^th.  All the favorite classes will be back, with Melanie Hodges again leading the way as our Sunday School Superintendent.  I am still looking for a volunteer to take over our attendance-keeping.

The Youth Ministry Study Team has been gathering bi-weekly all summer long to try and push forward new ideas for purposeful youth ministry here at Zion. In the coming months, we plan on exploring the option of Small Groups, as well as creating a child safety policy. There’s a lot of discussion and work that go into planning such big programs, but the team is ready to do so!

Finally, there are many exciting mini-missions that will be popping up all over Zion in the next few months – from special offering collections to creating care kits for our military members. 

Keep an eye and ear out to stay on top of all the ways to get involved!

Peace,

Courtney Rzeplinski

Bite-Sized Ministry Opportunities

Are you a retired teacher or administrator with a knack for attendance-keeping? Our Director of Youth and Family Ministries is looking for an individual or small team to assist in the record-keeping for our Sunday School students. This task would require a small weekly investment of time and record-keeping abilities, as well as mailing out friendly reminder/welcome cards. Courtney already has the template for keeping attendance (but you can use your own system if you don't like hers!) as well as all of the cards for mailing. If you can dedicate time on either a Sunday (after Sunday School) or Monday, please contact our Director at courtney@zionoldwick.com.

Are you handy? Do you enjoy tackling a furniture-building session with Allen wrench in tow? Our Director of Youth and Family Ministries is looking for an individual or two with a knack for putting things together! If you can help assemble our Puppet Theater (already in a box at the CEB), please contact our Director at courtney@zionoldwick.com.

Potluck Luncheon - September 9

God’s Work Our Hands returns to Zion on September 9.  Following Second Sunday Single Service and the completion of the service project, we will have a Potluck Luncheon at the CEB.  Please sign up in the narthex or via the sign up link that was emailed from the church office.  Thank you!

Meet Our Members

David & Elizabeth Blackwood

David and Elizabeth Blackwood became members of Zion in 1980.  David, originally from Atlanta and Elizabeth, from Staten Island, were married in St. Luke’s Lutheran Church on Staten Island in July 1967.

David graduated from Georgia Tech as a Mechanical Engineer and Rutgers with a MBA.  Elizabeth graduated from Wagner College on Staten Island with a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing.

Before settling in Whitehouse Station, we lived in Schooley’s Mountain, NJ, Piscataway, NJ, Nassau Bay, Texas, and Louisville, KY, all due to work transfers.

In 1986, David bought a machine shop specializing in the manufacture of piston rings for aviation.  Elizabeth has held various positions in nursing as Head Nurse, Clinical Instructor, etc., and retired from Hunterdon Developmental Center as Director of Nursing Services.

Our marriage of 51 years has been blessed with 3 children and spouses: sons, David and Theda, Dan and Christy, and daughter, Sarah and Edward, and 7 grandchildren.

Through the years we have been involved at Zion as Council member, committee member, Stephen Ministry, Sunday School program, VBS, Bible Study, Family Promise, and Discipleship programs.  David is currently working with the Gideons and participates in a weekly prison ministry in Annandale.

When our children were younger we enjoyed camping in many different National Parks across the country.  Then we became involved in supporting baseball, soccer and dance for our children.   Now we are focused on spending as much time as we can with grandkids and traveling both domestically and in Europe.

Mike & Erin Brogan

The Brogans are a family made up of Erin, Michael, Kaylie (20), and Colin (16).  They have been members of Zion since the early 2000’s and Mike is a friend of Zion.  Erin’s mother, Judy Bogan and sisters, Cindy Rupprecht and Barbara Conner and their families are also members of Zion.

The Brogans have lived in Califon since 2000 and love being a part of small-town life. Erin has been a Special Education Aide in the Tewksbury school district for the last 10 years.  Mike owns his own company, Master Construction.  He is an all-around general contractor who can fix and build anything you can imagine in your dreams. 

Kaylie is now a junior at High Point University in North Carolina studying Marketing and Psychology.

Colin is a junior at Voorhees High School who spends most of his free time racing grand prix motorcycles all over the east coast.

They have a wonderful dog named Sadie who they adopted six years ago at age 2 and they highly recommend adopting your next best friend!

News from the Endowment Committee

Our final Endowment Sunday for 2018 will be All Saints Sunday, November 4^th.  

Thank you to everyone that donated on our first two Endowment Sundays of 2018, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.

The year started with $20,317 from the Endowment Fund earnings available for new ministry opportunities in 2018.  $5,000 has been committed to support Youth and Family Ministry programs from the approved 2018 budget.  Council has since voted to commit to the following ministries with the remaining funds:

· $3,000 – Flemington Area Food Pantry

· $5,000 – New Zion Web Site Development and Management

So, there is a balance of approximately $7,317 from Endowment Funds available in 2018 for additional ministry opportunities. 

Always keep in mind that the Endowment Fund only grows with contributions from members and friends of Zion. Those who share the vision of not only a living memorial for loved ones, but also recognize that upon maturity, the fund will provide significant monetary grants for many new mission oriented programs – forever.

Envelopes marked “Endowment Fund” are always in the back of the church on Sunday morning for anyone wishing to contribute.

Please contact any member of the Endowment Committee (Geof Close, Ted Jermansen and Rick Schroeder) if you have any questions.

Volunteers needed for MR. FIX IT program

Volunteers needed for MR. FIX IT program

(Hunterdon County Division of Senior, Veterans, and Disabilities Services)

Volunteers in the MR. FIX IT program perform small safety- or health-related home repairs and chores.  The program is seeking volunteers with basic handyman skills or a willingness to provide chore services. 

Labor is offered without charge to the recipient.  The recipient of this service must be a senior, age  60 and over, or a person with a disability.  Recipient must be a Hunterdon County resident and must be willing to sign a Hold Harmless agreement.

As a MR. FIX IT Volunteer, you will be able to:

· Choose volunteer hours convenient to you

· Choose the type of jobs you would like to do

· Choose the geographic area you would like to work within

· Decide how many hours per month you volunteer

· Receive bi-annual reimbursement for volunteer travel

· Learn new skills from seasoned volunteers

· Attend in-service training to learn new skills

· Give generously of yourself to help seniors maintain their independence

All volunteers must submit information for a background check and be interviewed by the MR. FIX IT Program Director.   If you are interested: Please call Jane Griffith, MSW, for more information and to set up an interview. Call: 908-788-1358.

Let Me Tell You a Story...

The topic we have been raising to the congregation is taking the steps to bring all our existing Outreach Ministries into the budget process.  These are areas that we already support as a church, but some are outside the budget.  From a program view this is 43% of our work at Zion. 

How do we take this step?  Member pledges will indicate support for bringing these Outreach Ministries into the budget.  Obviously, that means we need to receive the pledges from the members.  The following actions are suggested:

· Add your existing Outreach amount to your pledge

· Increase your pledge for 2019

* If giving is weekly, add $10 per week ($20 if you are able)

* If giving is monthly, add $50 per month ($100 if you are able)

Let’s review the areas we could then bring into our story of Zion’s work in God’s kingdom.  They are:

Alternative Giving

Edna’s Haven

ELCA-Disaster Relief

ELCA-World Hunger

Faith Kitchen

Feed My Starving Children

Food Pantry

HCMAP

Lutheran World Relief (Kits)

Noisy Offering

Tag Sale

Youth Ministry

These ministries are not new to Zion.  Please indicate your support of how we tell our story as you consider your financial support during our Stewardship emphasis in October.

Thank you.

Peace,

John Rustwick