RE-FOCUS
________________________________________________________________________________________
A Publication of Reformation Lutheran Church
Volume
27
October 2007
Number 10
________________________________________________________________________________________
Stories to Tell & Gifts to Share
Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you. Luke 8:39
For we cannot keep from speaking about what we have seen and heard. Acts 4:20
We all have stories to tell: humorous anecdotes, learning experiences, news about our
families, triumphs and tragedies, plans for the future.
And as the people of God, we have stories to tell about what God has done for us and
about the difference that God’s grace has made in our lives. Sometimes we are less
aware of these stories until they are coaxed out of us—but they are there, part of who we
are.
That’s not all. Whether we know it or not, we also have stories to tell about what God
has done through us—stories about how God has used us to make a difference in the
lives of others. Getting to know those stories makes us even more aware of God’s grace.
God has given us so much—and the gifts of God are for sharing.
The theme of this year’s stewardship emphasis is Stories to Tell & Gifts to Share. It is an enthusiastic statement that
focuses on God’s gracious gifts to us. We celebrate the gift of the stories in the Word that reveal God to us. We celebrate
the story of salvation in Jesus Christ. And we celebrate the wonderful gifts of grace that fill our lives because of God’s
love for us. We dedicate ourselves to live gratefully and graciously in response to God’s gifts.
I’d like to share my story on my ‘real’ introduction to being a good steward of God’s gifts. I say ‘real’ because like many
of you, I was accustomed to taking a dime from my parents on Sunday morning to put in the Sunday School offering. But
that wasn’t really my money that I was offering, even if I did ‘earn’ it by doing a few simple chores on Saturday.
When I was about 11, one of our neighbors up the street had some medical problems and couldn’t mow his lawn. Being
an ambitious kid, I offered to mow it for the princely sum of $3.00. Now you wouldn’t think that would take long given
today’s prices, but a youth of 11 pushing a big heavy mower took all of 2 hours to mow and another 30 minutes with the
hand-held grass clippers to complete. Boy, did I earn that three dollars!
My father usually tried to pass along his words of wisdom at the dinner table. This day, however, he came down into my
room in the basement to have a talk with me. Now that I was earning my own money, I was responsible to see that I kept
up with my Sunday School offering and always set aside the first 10% of what I earned for that purpose. He conveniently
had change for a dollar and helped me figure out a place to put it so I would remember each Sunday morning. God really
touched my heart through my father, seeing how important that it was to him that we gave back from the blessings we’ve
been given.
I ask that you take time to share the stories from your life with your friends and family. I think you’ll find common
stories around these themes that can really bond us together in mission, That is truly a gift to share.
Yours in Christ,
Laurel Davis
Dear Reformation Lutheran family,
Thank you so much for the warm welcome into this
community of faith! It is wonderful, amazing, and
humbling to have been called to serve as your
associate pastor.
Part of that welcome took place far from Wichita - in
Beloit, Wisconsin. It was such a gift to have Pastor
Tom, Marlene, Gene Bowers and Sheryl Johnson at
my ordination. As I celebrated with the people who
have been supportive of me throughout my life and
my seminary journey, I was also able to celebrate
with people of Reformation, giving me a chance to
look to the future. And thank you for the beautiful
sterling silver cross necklace as well!
Thank you especially for the wonderful reception on
my installation day, for the beautiful new alb, the oil
stock and anointing oil, and the love gift. I am
humbled by your generosity. It was an exciting day
to celebrate this new call with all of you, and it is
good to be among you.
These first few weeks in your midst have been
exciting ones, with the fall schedule kicking into high
gear, including youth and adult Sunday School and
Confirmation. I’m excited about the things that are
already happening here, as well as the possibilities
that lay out before us!
As we walk this journey of faith together, I look
forward to opportunities to get to know each of you
better. As we worship, learn, serve, witness and
share in fellowship together, may we grow in our
relationship to God and to one another!
With joy in the journey,
Pastor Kristin
Sunday, November 4 at 11:00 a.m.
Don’t miss out on the fun,
Sunday, October 7 when
we dig out dinner from six
feet under! Come to the
church at 4 p.m. and
socialize while the
professional pit crew pulls
apart the main course, and
then dig in at 5 p.m. Bring a side dish to share and
everything else will be taken care of! A free will
offering will help defray the cost of the meat. So,
bring the family, bring your friends, and bring an
empty stomach for a great meal with the best
fellowship in town!
CROP WALK 2007
CROP WALK 2007 is fast approaching and will be
held this year at Sedgwick County Park on Sunday,
October 14th at 2:00 p.m. Walkers are needed and
should contact Bob or Sally Livingston for a sponsor
form. (788-4845) Sponsors are also needed, so
please open your hearts once again and give to
support World Hunger. Walkers will be asking!
Peanut Butter is also another goal of the CROP
WALK effort this year. The drive has a goal of
collecting 1200 lbs of peanut butter (great source of
protein) to answer a chronic need in Wichita. Mark
PB donations for CROP and place in the fellowship
hall and they will be taken to the event on Oct. 14.
Third Graders and Parents!
During worship on Sunday,
October 7, the third graders
will be receiving Bibles!
In preparation for that day,
Pastor Kristin will meet with all of you on
Saturday, October 6, from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.,
to have some fun and learn more about the Bible.
We hope that third grade students and at least one
of their parents will be able to join us for that day.
Please call the church office to let us know if you will
be attending the class on Saturday and worship on
Sunday. Thanks!
Women of Reformation
You Are Invited To
Put Your Heart Into It!!
A Retreat for women of ELCA
October 13, 2007
8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
CIRCLE MEETINGS
Rebecca Thursday, October 11
in the church library
Hostess: Twila Black
10:00 a.m.
Sarah
Tuesday, October 16
1:00 p.m.
Hostess: Virginia Leikvold
Lesson Leader: Kathy Drake
Dorcas
Wed., October 17
1:00 p.m.
Hostess: location to be announced
Watch Sunday bulletin
Lesson Leader: Eva Whetstone
WELCA Board will meet Monday, Oct. 1 at 1 p.m.
in the church library.
Blanket Makers will meet Monday, Oct. 1 and 15 at
9:00 a.m. at the church.
Prayer Shawl Ministry meets Tuesdays at 1p.m. in
the church library. If you knit or crochet, we could
use your talents in this valuable ministry. If you don’t
know how to knit, join us and we’d be happy to teach
you.
Monthly Outreach Ministry: We will meet at
Cornerstone Assisted Living on Tuesday, October 9
from 3 to 4 p.m. Please join us for fellowship with
their residents.
Best Times Of Life,
Reformation’s fellowship
group for all those 55 years of
age or more, will meet for our
October meeting on Monday,
October 8 at 12:00 noon in
Parish hall. The program for
October will be given by our
members Paul and Glennyce Reimers, who have
recently returned from their trip to Tanzania. They
will tell of their adventures and experiences and
show pictures of their travels. Come and join us for
great food, warm fellowship and a most interesting
program. Bring a covered dish to share, your own
table service and call either Betty 682-2030 or
Pauline 744-3328 with your reservation so we will
know how many tables to prepare. We hope to see
YOU there!!
Our activities are designed to enhance your physical,
emotional, and spiritual heart. The spiritual and
emotional parts of the day will be led by Pastor Sally
Fahrenthold and Pastor Kristin Neitzel. We will
have experts in aspects of physical health to lead our
thinking/activities for other portions of the day.
Meditation and prayer will be included. We will end
with worship and communion.
Healthy snacks, beverages and lunch will be
provided. Camaraderie with good friends is a given.
Registration will be in the Narthex before and
immediately following worship service on Sunday,
September 30 [See Shirley Metz] and Sunday,
October 7 [See Dallas Cronk] Registration $10.
Participants are requested to bring in-kind gifts for
the Women’s Crisis Center in the form of first aid
supplies and cold remedies, etc.
Yellow Bag
The Food of the Month for October is canned
vegetables and fruit. Thank you for your gifts of
cereal and oatmeal in September. Our Yellow Bag
gifts go to the United Methodist Urban Ministry Food
Ministry. There is a list on the bulletin board in the
Parish Hall of all the food items that are included in
the emergency food boxes distributed by the Food
Ministry. Any of these items are always welcome.
Spruce Up The Gardens for the
winter season on Saturday, October
20 at 1:00 p.m. We need your help!!
First we will weed, do some shrub
trimming and then spread mulch over
all the garden areas. Bring diggers,
pruners, rakes and be sure and wear
gloves. If we have a good turnout, it
should only take about 2 hours. Refreshments will
be provided and trash bags supplied. Care of our
church property belongs to all of us. Come and join
us!!
From Our Seminarian:
Grace and Peace!
Today in Mexico we celebrated Mexico’s independence
from Spain. On September sixteenth, 1810 Father Miguel
Hidalgo y Costilla raised el grito, “the cry,” shouting, "Death
to the Spaniards! Long live the Virgin of Guadalupe!"
So began Mexico’s war of resistance to the Spanish
Empire. With this cry, Father Hidalgo launched his flock
against the Spaniards born in Spain and living in Mexico,
"who had been exploiting the wealth of the Mexican people
with the greatest injustice for three hundred years."
A Mexican colleague and I were discussing the history
behind the national holiday, and I asked him, “Father Hidalgo
was a priest. Did that affect his role starting the resistance?”
“Oh yes! He was successful because so many people would
follow him, because he was a priest,” he said.
The civil authorities and the Spanish Inquisition executed
Father Hidalgo a month after he gave el grito. I later learned
that after Father Hidalgo’s death about four hundred armed
parish priests led the struggle that became Mexico’s War of
Independence.
This conversation about Independence Day provided a
startling perspective regarding pastoral leadership in my new
setting. I am in the first weeks of my internship year serving
a congregation in Mexico City. So far, I have spent time
teaching a Bible Study, preaching, sitting in on a class at the
Lutheran seminary in Mexico City, singing in the church
choir, and getting to know members of my host
congregation.
This work may not be revolutionary, as was the cry of
Father Hidalgo, calling for a holy war against imperialism and
injustice. Still, as my colleague pointed out, Father Hidalgo
mattered because his congregation trusted him and followed
him.
I imagine they trusted Father Hidalgo because he was a
faithful servant to them, because he took time to build
relationships with them and to minister to their needs. He
was executed because he spoke up for his flock, but when
he died, his colleagues and friends carried on what he
began.
Here in Mexico, I have the opportunity to practice the
daily routine of serving, loving, and leading a congregation. I
am so grateful for the blessings of this experience. Thank
you all so much for your financial support of me during my
formation for faithful and competent ministry. Thank you so
much for your prayers. I pray that God will bless each of you
this fall.
In Christ,
Quinn E. Gorges
Mug us, please?
September’s Community Breakfast at St.
Paul’s saw a crowd of enormous proportion.
We didn’t really get as accurate a count as we
usually do because some individuals ate
breakfast then left before we could pass out
the bus tickets. But, when all was said and
done, we passed out 100 bus tickets to those
who remained. We estimate 110 – 125
individuals served this morning. Thanks to all
the cooks in the kitchen under the direction of
Susan Martin. Those eggs and pancakes
kept coming and coming and all were fed and
satisfied. Remind you of any event in the
scriptures?
And for those donating needed
items, we have a new item to
add to the list, thanks to a
suggestion from Nancy
Watkins; Butter and Syrup
server extraordinaire! See the
picture of the mug? They come
in various sizes and colors and
are usually plastic thermal cups with lids. If
you have any of these collecting dust or sitting
in the garage sale, we are going to try them
as many like to take something to drink with
them. Just drop them, as usual, in the tote
marked Community Breakfast in the
Fellowship Hall.
We also want to thank those donating to this
much-needed ministry. The outpouring of
money is wonderful to allow us to continue to
buy food and essentials each month. The
donations of clothing are beyond description!
It a story from the Bible how month to month,
one bag turns to three bags turns to ten bags.
Thanks so much for thinking of our ministry.
And last, but never least, thank you to all of
those who get up early on a Saturday morning
to come out and be with us as we cook and
serve and clean. Truly without all listed
above, we could never perform this task of
discipleship.
Until next time, please pray for this ministry.
Bob Livingston,
Community Breakfast Volunteer
Susan Martin,
Community Breakfast Coordinator
Building on Faith! Volunteers are still needed to finish the Thrivent/Wichita
Habitat for Humanity home for Penny Lamkin and her children. As of
Wednesday, September 20, as this is being written, the home is not yet at the half
way point. To complete a house in three weeks, 20-25 volunteers are needed
each day and most days we have been short of the number needed. The build
has been extended to Tuesday-Saturday, October 2-6 and Saturday Oct 13. Just
a little time from a few Reformation volunteers and from other Lutheran
congregations and we will get it finished.
If you have a morning or afternoon or all day available, for any of the above
dates between now and October 13, please look for a new sign up sheet on the
kiosk in the narthex or call Monique Waggoner, Habitat Volunteer Coordinator, at
269-0755 and she will be happy to assign you to a date convenient for you.
Remember, no experience is necessary! The home is located in Habitat Village at
33rd and N Arkansas.
Lunches and snacks will be needed also for the extended dates of the build. Again, please call Monique at
Habitat, 269-0755, if you would be available to provide construction volunteers with lunch or snacks.
A special thank you to those who have already given of their time to work on the Thrivent/Habitat homes
this summer and fall, provided lunches and snacks, or devotions to begin the work day.
Thrivent has provided 65% and Wichita Habitat for Humanity 25% of the cost of the home, with local
Lutheran congregations needing to provide just 10%. We need to raise only $1600 more. If you can help,
please make checks to Southwest Sedgwick County Chapter Thrivent Builds and send to: Joan Swander,
1939 N. Wood, Wichita KS 67206
Penny Lamkin and her three small children are looking forward to moving in to their new home. Penny has
completed a homebuyer’s education class and her 250 hours of sweat equity. She will be making monthly
payments on a no interest mortgage.
If you have questions please contact Jennifer Worrel, 733-0388 or Michele Groves, 634-0553.
Area-wide cantata
Reformation singers and other ELCA Area 5
musicians are invited to participate in the
presentation of J.S. Bach’s cantata "Wachet auf"
(Wake, Awake, for Night is Flying) on Sunday,
December 9, at Reformation Lutheran Church,
7601 E. 13th Street N., Wichita. The cantata will be
sung as part of Evening Prayer on the Second
Sunday in Advent, beginning at 4:00 p.m., and will
be directed by Pastor Hallstrom. Choirs as well as
individual singers are welcome! Rehearsals will be
on Sunday afternoons in October and November
from 3:00 -5:00 p.m. at Reformation. Please contact
Marlene Hallstrom at 634-0586 (church), 687-3135
(home) if you plan to participate so music can be
ordered for the first rehearsal on October 7.
October 7 - Parish Choir
October 14 - Parish Choir
October 21 - Cantor
October 28 - Reformation Sunday:
Parish Choir, Handbell Choir,
Brass
Due to scheduling conflicts, the new member
class and lunch has been rescheduled for
Sunday, October 21 at 11 a.m. This class is for
anyone who would like to know more about the
Christian faith and Lutheran traditions. New
members will then be received on Sunday,
October 28 and welcomed with a reception in
their honor following morning worship.
Please RSVP (by October 15) by calling the
church office if you plan to attend the class and
luncheon.