School News!
Thrivent Event ~ Celebrate the Giving Power of Kids! Help your child discover the many ways to make a
difference helping others. Children aged 6-10 welcome including their parents/grandparents on 5/11 at 3:30p
and 6:30p. Please call the office to register. Email Jay Kempf for more info [email protected].
ELC We are learning about zoo animals as we prepare for our field trip to the Detroit Zoo. Our Bible
story this week was about Ascension- Acts 1:1-11. Some of the preschool students joined the Chapel service at
LHWL for Day of Prayer. We have been busy! Kindergarten had a busy week! We have enjoyed reading the
poem One Hungry Monster. We also enjoyed reading Tops and Bottoms about a Hare who tricks a Bear. We
are continuing to add and subtract. The more we practice the easier it seems! We loved going to Lutheran High
to be a part of their Day of Prayer chapel where we learned more about prayer. 1st graders are excited to have
their grandparents visit on Friday and share their book 'If You Give a Pig a Pancake' with them. Can you guess
what the surprise for their grandparents will be? As they practiced new sounds like 'ph' and 'gh' for the ''f' sound,
they learned about photographers, photos, and phones. In math, they have been telling time to the hour and half
hour and can use their fives to count the minutes in an hour. They learned more homophones like 'our' and 'hour',
'whole' and 'hole', and 'sale' and 'sail.' 2nd graders read about the Statue of Liberty and worked on writing
quotations in English. In Religion we learned about the Emmaus disciples and Jesus' ascension. We continued
our study of the rainforest and found that many items in our homes come from the rainforest. In social studies
we are learning about what life was like in colonial times. Would you like to share a cup and a trencher (plate)
with another member of your family? Colonial children did. 3rd and 4th graders enjoyed their trip to the
Motown Museum on Friday. They were able to experience places and events that they had read about in the
book “Motown Mysteries” in class. 5th grade is finishing up a reading series on the West. We enjoyed 'Pecos
Bill' for our Tall Tale. In religion we are learning about the benefits of baptism and the Lord's Supper. In science
we have been studying the environment and why it is so important to take care of the resources our Lord has
provided for us. 6th grade has discovered that while statistics is a lot of work, it isn't too difficult. We even
did our own stats survey so that we could use meaningful numbers for our in class examples. In science we have
been learning about the water cycle and humidity. We can even explain how a psychrometer works. In social
studies we have been making shields that represent us! 8th graders wrote their professions of faith that we will
present in chapel on May 17. Many of us went through the public examination process in preparation for our
upcoming Confirmation. We have been working hard on our science projects and we look forward to presenting
them next week. Speeches are still a challenge but we are becoming more comfortable. Our last speech was a
free choice and many taught us how to... do many things like baking upside down pineapple cakes.
Week of 4/30/17 ~ Week 44 ~ 85% of our fiscal year completed
Rec'd
Wkly
Revenue Type
Rec'd YTD
Last Week Need
Plate Offerings
$10,008
$431,574
Special Gifts/Power the Ministry $30
$6,158
FFF
$75
$56,039
Total
$10,113
$11,481 $493,771
o/u goal
($1,369)
$(11,411)
$2,855
$186,590 (77% to yearly goal)
Tuition (School Yr)
Early Learning Ctr (Fiscal Yr)
$417
$64,687 (77% rec’d to goal)
Third Source
$292
$53,638 (91% rec'd to goal)
FFF
$0
$40,000
Totals
$13,677
$800,015
(Revenue is at 78% of budget)
4th Sunday of Easter ~ May 7, 2017
Nine very hopeful signs for American churches
from Growing Healthy Churches. Together. ~Thom S. Ranier
Rev.Kurt Lambart
AssociatePastor
+
AndreaUnger
Principal
+
TaraHerzberg
ELC Director
+
PaulLehman
MusicDirector
+
KevinShay
Annual Goal
$521,890
$31,640
$43,503
$597,033
$241,214
$83,000
$59,000
$40,000
$1,020,247
PraiseTeamLeader
+
5885Venoy
Westland MI 48185
734.425.0260/0261
www.stmatthew.info
I remain an obnoxious optimist about the future of American congregations.
No, I don’t have my head in the sand. I know many congregations are struggling. And I
fully expect we will continue to have a net loss of churches for the next several years.
But I do see the very real possibility that this negative trend will bottom out and begin to
move upward. Why am I hopeful? Allow me to offer nine reasons for my optimism:
1) A new wave of corporate prayer. More church leaders are emphasizing prayer. The
perfunctory prayer meeting is being replaced with new forms of passionate and concerted
prayer.
2) A rekindling of evangelism. It seems like many churches just forgot evangelism for a
season. As silly as it sounds, we Christians stopped telling people about Jesus. There is a
new wave of real enthusiasm for sharing the gospel.
3) A balance between theological and practical. Practical ministry without a solid theological
foundation is like a body without a skeleton. Theology without application is like a
skeleton without a body. More church leaders are realizing that theology and application
are not either/or choices. They are both/and mandates.
4) The waning of worship wars. I am hopeful that a new emphasis on congregational
singing is taking the focus away from battles over ill-defined worship styles. We have
wasted far too much time and resources insisting on our preferences rather than engaging
in true worship.
5) A heightened emphasis on church revitalization. Church planting is still paramount. But
we cannot neglect over 300,000 churches in America needing to be revitalized. It is
heartening to see this emphasis take hold.
6) A surge of re-birthed churches. The trend in the past for many congregations was decline
and die. Today many of these dying churches are making selfless decisions to give their
properties to healthy churches. These re-birthed churches will continue to grow in
number.
7) A renewal of meaningful membership. My book, I Am a Church Member, has sold
nearly 1.5 million copies. It’s a reality that more and more churches are taking the issue of
church membership seriously.
8) A concerted focus on impacting the community. It is heartening to see churches actually
make a difference in the communities where they are located. For a season, I wondered if
the “Jerusalems” of Acts 1:8 would be forgotten in America.
9) Balanced views of numbers. In recent history, two camps evolved over the view of
numerical reporting in congregations. One camp saw numbers as an end and gave undue
focus there. The other camp eschewed any emphasis on numerical counts. Today more
congregations use numbers as a means toward greater accountability, but not as an end to
be accomplished.
~Blessings, Pastor Kurt
Serving Our Lord This Week
Elders Bob Schmidt, Joel Kuhn, Ray Day, Bill Strang 9a Ushers Tom Reschke, Todd Schroeder,
Merlene Sherry, Ken & Amy Carr 11:15am Ushers Tom Kimmel, Steve Hubble, William MacDonald
Altar Guild Carole Day, Nancy MacKay, Phyllis Ming, Diane Shoults, Cheryl Rujan
Greeters 9a Jill & Leonard Vincent 11:15a Jen O’Rourke/Maddie Moon
Please fill out your
attendance slip every
service!
Visitors...
please note your name, address &
phone number so that we may contact
you & thank you for visiting us.
+ + +
This week at St. Matthew
Today
9a
Traditional Svc w/comm
10:20a Bible class/S. School
11:15a Contemporary Svc
Monday
8:30a Prayer & Fasting w/Pastor Kurt
3:30p Robotics FHall
6:30p Toastmasters
7:30p Prayer & Fasting w/Pastor Kurt
Tuesday
9:30a Pastor Bible Class
7p
Small group Choir practice
Wednesday
6p
Bible class w/J.Hackerd
6:30p 8th gr. Abstinence Movie (Sanctuary)
Thursday
6:30p Kathy Carter bible class
7p
Open Basketball
7p
Adult Choir practice
Friday School noon dismissal
8a/11a Grandparent’s day/Closing Service
(Sanctuary)
7:30p Adult Volleyball
Saturday
10a
LWML bible class
11a
Mother’s Day Tea FHall
Last Week’s Attendance
9a .............................. 169
11:15a ......................... 65
Total .......................... 234
Sunday school ... 5 Offering ... $4
Children’s Church...... ~
Bible Class ................30





J oi n Us. ..
9a Traditional & 11:15a Contemporary Worship Svcs
{Communion @ 9a 1st/3rd Sundays | 11:15a 2nd/4th Sundays}
10:20a Bible Class / Sunday School
Kindergarten-3rd graders,1st grade classroom
4-6th graders, 7/8th grade classroom
11:15a Children’s Church
6-7:30p Youth Group 1st & 3rd Sundays Youth Rm
Week-Day Bible Classes
9:30aTuesdays w/Pastor Kurt
6p Wednesdays w/J. Hackerd {no class Lent/Advent}
6:30p Thursdays w/K. Carter office conf. rm
+ Re a d i n g s +
First Reading Acts 2:42-27 pg. 911
Epistle 1 Peter 2:19-25 pg. 1015
Gospel John 10:1-10 pg. 896
+Order of Worship+
9am Divine Ser vice setting Thr ee w/comm. Pg. 184
11:15am Contempor ar y
+Hymns+
Opening Crown Him with Many Crowns #525
Sermon The Lord’s My Shepherd, I’ll Not Want
#710
Communion Precious Lor d, Take My Hand
#739/The King of Love My Shepherd Is
Closing I Am Jesus’ Little Lamb #740
9am Chamber Choir None Other Lamb;
Alleluia
Happy Birthday!
Today Tim Kostelnik Mon Karra Cappelli, Ellen Kimmel
Tues Rita Schmidt Wed Bailey Biggs Thurs ~ Fri Sherry June,
Sharon Wackro Sat Tim Barnette
Happy Anniversary!
Doug & Kayla Barduca 6 yrs today
Mark & Tammy Barikmo 34 yrs today
Ken & Melissa Mehl 3 yrs 5/9
Monica & Charles Garber 31 yrs 5/10
Kevin & Sonya Adams 20 yrs 5/12
Curt & Laurel Gottlieb 55 yrs 5/12
May God continue to bless you with many more years of
health and happiness
Memorials given in loving memory of: Russ Dash by Greg, Leah & Alison Holland; Bob & Nancy
MacKay Sam Manoogian by Greg, Leah & Alison Holland.
Altar Flowers placed by the Pilch family in memory of the 42nd anniversary of the passing of Edward Pilch
and in loving memory of George Wiemer, dear friend of the Pilch family.
Spring Tea All ladies are invited for a Spring Tea May 13, 11-2pm. Bring your BFF, sister, aunt, niece, cousin,
in-laws etc. The list of female special relationships goes on and on. Signup in the office and narthex next
Sunday. Reserve early, space is limited. No cost or tickets needed.
Youth Confirmation This year we have 14 eighth
We will be
graders that will be Confirmed on May 21 at our 9am
accepting
items
service. Note: there will be no Pastor-led Bible class 5/21
IN
THE
GYM
due to the Confirmation & family celebration of Pastor’s
5/15-5/17, 8-5p.
daughter Maggie. Mr. Joel Kuhn will lead our 11:15am
Due to lack of storage
service.
space, no early drop-offs
The Call Committee process for our new sole Pastor is
please!
starting. Ray Day and Glenn Ming are co-chairing the
Call Committee. As first steps in the process:
Sale Dates
A representative from the Michigan District on April 26
presented results of the recent survey we conducted as 5/17 ‘Preview’ sale 6-8p $2 entry fee
part of the pastoral call process as well as a “Pastor
5/18-5/19 8-4p
Profile” of the man we believe is most needed at St.
Matthew. Copies of the survey results and “Pastor
5/20 Final Day 9-12p
Profile” are available in the narthex;
Also in the narthex, a form is available for Congregational WE NEED YOU! Volunteers needed all
members to suggest pastoral candidates for District to
week for setup/checkout/organizing/
consider including on our call list. Please give the cleanup. Please see Terri LeFaive in the gym
completed form to the church office;
beginning 5/15 to help.
In early June, District will provide us with a “call list” of
names of potential pastoral candidates from across the
U.S. for the call committee to consider. District will provide candidates who best match the “Pastor Profile”
created from our surveys.
If you have questions about the pastoral call committee or process, please contact Ray Day ([email protected])
or Glenn Ming ([email protected]).
Worship Service Times In the meeting last Sunday, the congregation members in attendance voted
unanimously to retain the current worship schedule: 9a Traditional, 11:15a Contemporary;
10:40a Bible Class/Sunday School; Continuous Communion 9a 1st/3rd Sunday; 11:15a 2nd/4th Sunday.
You are welcome to kneel at the Altar after you have communed; altar-kneeling communion will be offered on
special Sunday/weekday services as announced. Thank you to the members who attended the meeting!
+New to our prayers this week+
Carol Bourdeau-Pritchett sister of Dan Bourdeau was called Home Apr 30; Kayla Barduca lung transplant
surgery 5/5; Ava, granddaughter of Judy Nelson begins growth hormone therapy;
+We continue to pray for peace and healing+
Erinne Williams, Amy Carr, Roy Nemecheck, Jeff McPhail cancer (Jaeger family); Lori Pearse cancer treatment
(L. Moore family friend); Shirley & Bill Handrich parents of J. Berry; Ken Tanner In the military Dennis Hendzell,
Caleb Kempf, Courtney & Kyle Goodroe, Robert Fine, Andrew Rauss, Eric Smith, Jessika Williams, Alex & Kenny
Goodroe, Bill Hantzmon, Randy Bartz, Craig McDermott, Chris & Kristen McDermott Shut-Ins Louise Chriss,
Arlene Sellers, Marta/Dennis Koczynski, Irene Cooper, Doris Keehl, Bonnie Smith Heartland, Joyce Love Ashford Ct,
Ruth Kelley, Mary Pilch Villages of Westland, Ruth Dickelman Maple Manor, Leroy McDaniel Addington Place
Northville; Norma Mueller Walton Wood