June 2008—In this Issue:
- A Message from Pastor Jeff
- The B2B2B Challenge—Almost there!
- Summer worship schedule begins June 1
- May Council Meeting Report
- Angel Network Ingathering
- Leadership Roundtable
- First Communion Class Scheduled
- In Stitches
- Human Sexuality Draft Statement Study Opportunities
- Mega Car Wash on June 14
- Father’s Day luncheon
- OYEA Summer Camp 2008
- Renovated Boardroom dedicated
- Game Night
- ELCA National Youth Gathering
- Baptism and Confirmation on Trinity Sunday
- Center for Mission & Learning dedicated at Synod Assembly
- Abendmusiken Concert raises funds for IHS
- News from Josh
- What’s New on the LCH Website?
- IHS Fundraiser
- Keep in Your Prayers...
- June Birthdays
- LCH Worship Participants
- Heart Beat Deadline
- Attendance and Offerings for May
- Heavenly Humor
- Calendar: June 2008
View the entire issue as a full-color PDF via the link below:
June 2008 HeartBeat (PDF)
The HeartBeat
A Message from Pastor Jeff
pentecost
spirit moves in strange and wonderful motions
flame and dove descend from whispered breath
and beckon longing hearts to beat unfettered by fear
dancing fire skips from head to head
a game of cosmic duck, duck, goose where all are sent
some hide their tinder hearts afraid to catch on fire
some breathe it in like spring morning
wind of God tickles noses and stirs up dust
whorls of joy play about the courtyard and children dive into their midst
kites leap from unwary hands to color sky and nip clouds
anxious hands drag against the pull but freedom’s joy is undenied
parthians and medes, elamites and greeks hear peace in swirling breath
she speaks in wind-born tongues sweet to listening ear
spirit moves in strange and wonderful motions
fire burns and wind blows but who will join the dance?
Pastor Jeff Lilley
pr.jeff@lchwelcome.org
The B2B2B Challenge—Almost there!
Through the generosity of the LCH ‘ohana, we have almost reached our goal to raise $4,260 for “Blessed to Build Two Blessings” by May 31. The total of our contributions as of May 25 was $3,530. Mahalo to everyone who helped us get this close. There is still a chance that we can reach our goal by May 31, but if not, we will continue to welcome your donations. We want LCH to be the first congregation in the Synod to complete our campaign!
If you have not participated but would still like to help meet our challenge, please drop off or mail your contribution to the church office during the week. Be sure indicate B2B2B on your gift and include any names you would like to have acknowledged by LCH, the Pacifica Synod, and our partner South West Synod in Ethiopia.
Even more important than your dollars are your prayers. Please keep our Pacifica Synod and the South West Synod in your prayers as new seeds are sown to spread the Good News of Jesus across the world!
| Summer worship schedule begins on June 1
and continues through August 10. One morning worship service at 9:15 AM. |
May Council Meeting Report
Roy Helms, Treasurer
- Devotions focused on effective communication.
- Discussion about Evangelism: what the word means and could mean to each of us.
- The financial report shows that member and plate offerings to date are 91% of our goal for the first four months.
- At the beginning of May, expenses have exceeded our income by $21,768.
- The draft contract to extend the preschool with Our Redeemer for one year was approved.
- The bid to trim the four monkey pod trees was approved for $2,400 + tax.
- The bid to install a drainage channel in the Luther Place parking lot was approved for $5,000 + tax, with funds to come from the Capital Improvements fund account.
- Approved hiring employee(s) or contract personnel, as needed, for the maintenance of the church grounds.
Angel Network Ingathering
June 1st is the first Sunday of the month, and once again the people of LCH will be bringing in their contributions for the Angel Network. The congregation has been especially generous in recent months, as shown by the load in Pastor Jeff Lilley’s vehicle (right).
All manner of non-perishable food items and personal care items are welcome for the monthly ingathering. Canned stew, Spam, cup noodles, and canned tuna are especially popular.
Leadership Roundtable
On Sunday, June 1, at 10:30 am (and continuing the first Sunday of every month), the chairperson or another representative of each committee will meet in the Boardroom with Pastor Jeff Lilley and Council President Brian Weis. This is to enhance communications between all committees. See you all there!
First Communion Class Scheduled
Would you like to learn more about the sacrament of Holy Communion? Has your youngster not yet received first communion? Come join Pastor Jeff for First Communion class on Sunday, June 8, immediately following worship. Lunch will be served as we learn about the origins, practice, and meaning of Holy Communion. Families should attend the event together and plan to join their youngsters at the communion rail for first communion on Sunday, June 15. Of course, children may begin receiving communion at any time, but parents are encouraged to provide this opportunity to deepen their child’s understanding of the sacrament. Please call the office (941-2566) to let Pastor know if you and your family will be attending.
In Stitches
In Stitches, the LCH craft group, is going strong. They meet the second and fourth Saturdays of the month from 9:00 to 11:00 am in the Boardroom and work on items for the church as well as their own projects. Come for the fellowship! Upcoming meetings are June 14 and 28.
For more information, please call Linda Miller through the Church Office (941-2566).
Human Sexuality Draft Statement Study Opportunities
The ELCA has released its draft study on Human Sexuality and is encouraging individuals, congregations, and synods to study and comment on the document prior to October 2008. LCH will conduct a number of discussions about the draft study, and you are encouraged to attend one of the events. In addition to the study held in May, several additional opportunities have been scheduled. We look forward to bringing your comments to the ELCA.
Human Sexuality Draft Study Discussions
- Thursdays, June 5 and 12, at 10:30 am in the LCH Boardroom
- Saturday, July 12, from 4:30 to 7:30 pm at the Castros’ home in Mililani—dinner served
- Saturday, July 19, (time to be announced) at Christ Lutheran, Mililani—Bishop’s listening post
- Another evening opportunity will be scheduled in July
Mega Car Wash on June 14
Final fundraiser for Summer Camp!! The youth from seven churches will be at Christ Lutheran in Mililani from 1:00 to 5:00 pm on Saturday, June 14.
OYEA’s last car wash raised $1,200, and Thrivent added another $400, for a total of $1,600. Thrivent will also be matching a third of the profits for the June car wash.
Please help our youth make this last fundraiser a success!
Father’s Day luncheon
The Fellowship Committee is hosting a Father’s Day luncheon in the Hörmann Courtyard on Sunday, June 15, after the 9:15 am service. The committee invites all LCH members and guests to enjoy this happy celebration. The food will be provided by the Fellowship Committee. We look forward to seeing you there in honor of all our fathers.
OYEA Summer Camp 2008
Camp Erdman on the North Shore June 29–July 4 (Sunday thru Friday)
OYEA is bringing professional counselors from Camp WAPO in Wisconsin to lead a week of Summer Bible Camp for our Hawaii youth. A week of fun, fellowship, and great opportunities to learn about God’s Word with the theme: “Blessings from God.”
- Open to junior high and senior high youth (7th–12th graders)
- Sign up soon! Registration forms are available from Pastor Jeff Lilley. Register by June 1 for $265.00 (scholarships are available). A deposit of $100.00 is due at the time of registration. The planning team is concerned about room, with only 80 spaces available and the need to house the counselors, as well as other youth leaders.
- Shortly after June 1, a schedule, “What to Pack” information, and medical release forms will be distributed.
- A “family day” activity for the whole family is scheduled for Friday, July 4.
Renovated Boardroom dedicated
Sunday, April 27, finally saw the dedication of the renovated Boardroom, Sacristy, and Counting Room. Back in November when the renovations began, Pastor Jeff said the work would be done in six days. He was partly right—the major work was completed in six days; the small stuff took six months.
Members and friends who toured the rooms after worship were impressed with the careful attention to detail in the project, and everyone agreed that the work had created a much more inviting meeting space.
Stephen and Linda Miller were among the many who toured the renovated Boardroom on April 27.
Game Night
This month’s Game Night is on Saturday, June 28, at 6:30 pm at Stephanie Miller’s home in Kaimuki. Please bring a game and a pot-luck dish to share.
If you have any questions or need directions, please contact Steff through the Church Office (941-2566).
ELCA National Youth Gathering
The 2009 ELCA National Youth Gathering will be held July 22–26, 2009, in New Orleans, LA. Yes, this is over one year away, but the registration for the event opens in September of this year. Pastor Jeff is willing to lead a group for this event. Who can go? Anyone entering high school Fall of 2009, in high school, or who will graduate in 2009 is eligible to attend. Cost for the event is $295 registration, $200 (or more) hotel, plus round trip flight to New Orleans ($1,200?). If you are interested, please contact Pastor Jeff at 941-2566.
Baptism and Confirmation on Trinity Sunday
Pastor Jeff marks the newly baptized with the sign of the cross as the confirmand looks on.
This year’s celebration of Trinity Sunday was especially meaningful because it included both a baptism and confirmation.
Jason and Elise Fox brought their young daughter, born March 17, to be baptized. Pamela Taylor and the baby’s parents were her sponsors.
Sieglinde (“Linde”) S. entered into full membership through confirmation. Linde is the daughter of Stephen and Selena S.
Center for Mission & Learning dedicated at Synod Assembly
LCH delegates at the Synod Assembly Pastor Jeff Lilley, Peggy Anderson, and Bob Zimmer represented LCH at Synod Assembly, May 1–3 in Irvine, California.
There was plenty of business for our delegates, but the highlight of the Assembly was the dedication of the new Center for Mission & Learning.
Another part of the visit for our delegates was the opportunity to present a check for $2,500, the first installment of our B2B2B—“Blessed to Build two Blessings”—pledge. LCH is among the first congregations in the Pacifica Synod to begin fundraising for the B2B2B campaign.
The churches of the Hukilau Conference presented the synod with a koa paddle for the new Center for Mission & Learning. The paddle (shown at left) features a map of the Hawaiian Islands, the ELCA Logo, the Hukilau Conference logo, and the names of the eleven congregations in the Hukilau Conference.
Pacifica Synod Bishop Murray Finck was deeply moved and appreciative of the gift.
Abendmusiken Concert raises funds for IHS
A large and enthusiastic crowd enjoyed another in the Bach Pilgrimage series of Abendmusiken Concerts on Sunday, May 11. This concert, the fifth in the series of concerts tracing the life of J.S. Bach, was a fundraiser for the Institute for Human Services. Ticket sales and donations totaled $3,009, so with a 1:3 match from Thrivent, IHS will receive $4,012 for their important work in with the homeless in our community.
News from Josh
Former LCH Intern Pastor Josh Graber just returned from a mission trip to Africa, which he described in a letter posted on the LCH website. (The letter also includes news of Josh’s family.) He completed his M.Div. at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN, and graduated on May 25.
Josh has written again and invites everyone to his ordination on Sunday, July 27, at 5:00 pm at Mercy Seat Lutheran, 697 13th Avenue NE, in Minneapolis, MN. Josh will be serving as a young adult pastor at Trinity Lutheran in Moorhead, MN, starting August 1.
LCHers are proud of you. Go, Josh!
What’s New on the LCH Website?
Bill Potter, Webmaster
One constant concern for a church website is the tension between the needs of visitors and the needs of members. In the past, I have talked about this in terms of content (what to include) and organization (where to put things). With regard to content, I have opted to include a wide variety of content that is meaningful to both visitors and members. And with regard to organization, I have generally made content for visitors more prominent since regulars will be more familiar with the website and will probably be more willing to search a little to find what they are looking for.
But there’s another part of this tension that I have not discussed before, and that is the question of language.
A generation or two ago, it may have been reasonable to assume that most people had a general acquaintance with the language Christians use. That is no longer a safe assumption in the U.S. as a whole, much less in a multicultural and religiously diverse state like Hawaii. In addition, current research indicates that many non-Christians are turned off by the image of the Christian church and its associated ways of speaking.
For these reasons, the gurus of church website design say: “Avoid all ‘churchy’ jargon and ‘Christianese’ language throughout the site, especially on the homepage.” (This is tip number 4 in the list “70+ tips for effective church sites” by Tony Whittaker of the website Internet Evangelism Day.)
In general, we have tried to follow this advice, but it is often hard to talk about what we do at LCH without using churchy language.
A few weeks ago, Larry Nitz suggested that we include some kind of a dictionary of Christian terms that visitors might not understand, and I found what I think is quite a good one on the site SpiritHome.Com. (Look for the Subject Index.) However, it seemed too much to expect visitors to go to another site to look up the meaning for words on our website. Fortunately, I stumbled on a way to display definitions or explanations using “tool tips” that appear when you move your cursor over a designated location on a web page. (This is similar to the feature that shows the captions of pictures on our site when you hold your cursor over them.)
I am currently working out exactly how this will be done, but unless there are big problems, we will have added this feature to the Visitor Information page by the time this issue of The HeartBeat appears. (You can find the Visitor Information page using a link on the left side of the Home page.)
The plan is to show words with definitions or explanations in color (probably green, but that may change). When the cursor is moved over the word, the shape changes to a ? (or a ? is added to the arrow in some browsers) and after a second or two, a small box appears with the definition or explanation.
The process is a little labor intensive since it’s necessary first to identify the words to be explained, then write the definitions or explanations, and finally code the explanations into the pages. However, I think this will make our site a more effective tool for evangelism. You can expect to see definitions popping up on many of the main pages of the website this summer.
We hope that this enhancement will bring the LCH website closer to our goal of being “welcoming to all.”
IHS Fundraiser—
used ink cartridges and old cell phones
Drop your used printer ink cartridges/toners and old cell phones (handsets and batteries only) at the LCH church office or in a drop box located at the church. Two companies will turn the cartridges and cell phones into cash. The minimum we can send in is 50 cartridges and 35 cell phones. This is an ongoing fundraiser to support the Institute for Human Services meal that LCH provides on the third Friday of each month for the homeless.
Keep in Your Prayers...
| Amalie | Emelda | Linda |
| Anita | Gary | Lorie |
| CJ | Janae | Mary |
| Dan | Jerry | Paige |
| Donald | Joe | Rosemary |
| Dorothy | Kathy | Shane |
| Ken |
June Birthdays
| 6/03 | Kiyoko Nitz | ||
| 6/03 | Vincent Reid W. | ||
| 6/04 | LaVerne Rickard | ||
| 6/05 | Jaime Crozier Garcia | ||
| 6/06 | Crescent C. | ||
| 6/07 | Austin B. | ||
| 6/09 | John Bickel | ||
| 6/09 | Kathryn Klingebiel | ||
| 6/09 | Tyler K. | ||
| 6/10 | Miriam Sato | ||
| 6/11 | Susan Burns | ||
| 6/11 | John Moyer | ||
| 6/11 | Diane Perushek | ||
| 6/14 | Robert Ahlstrom | ||
| 6/14 | Randy Christensen | ||
| 6/16 | Maxwell Porter W. | ||
| 6/18 | Seth L. | ||
| 6/22 | Joseph Pettit | ||
| 6/26 | Sean D'Evelyn | ||
| 6/26 | John “Ed” Gibson | ||
| 6/26 | Jeff Lilley | ||
| 6/27 | Sylvia Hormann-Alper | ||
| 6/27 | Noah O. | ||
| 6/29 | Karen Barber |
Heart Beat Deadline
Next Heart Beat Deadline is Tuesday, June 17!
Attendance and Offerings for May
| May 4 | 8:00 AM Service | 32 | Offering | $3,124.94 | |
| 10:30 AM Service | 82 | Sunday School | $0.35 | ||
| Compline | 22 | B2B2B | $185.00 | ||
| Total | 136 | World Hunger | $50.00 | ||
| Capital Improvements | $33.00 | ||||
| Social Ministries | 25.75 | ||||
| May 11 | 8:00 AM Service | 42 | Offering | $3,923.75 | |
| 10:30 AM Service | 84 | Sunday School | $1.26 | ||
| Compline | 24 | Music Fund | $225.00 | ||
| Total | 150 | B2B2B | $200.00 | ||
| Capital Improvements | $33.00 | ||||
| May 18 | 8:00 AM Service | 45 | Offering | $2,773.50 | |
| 10:30 AM Service | 90 | B2B2B | $300.00 | ||
| Compline | 24 | Capital Improvements | $133.00 | ||
| Total | 159 | ||||
| May 25 | 8:00 AM Service | 31 | Offering | $2,455.20 | |
| 10:30 AM Service | 74 | Sunday School | $0.79 | ||
| Compline | 24 | B2B2B | $261.00 | ||
| Total | 129 | Capital Improvements | $33.00 | ||
| Social Ministries | $1,525.75 | ||||
| Music Fund | $220.00 |
Heavenly Humor
Calendar: June 2008
- Sunday, June 1—Faith & Arts Sunday/Angel Network Ingathering
- 9:15 AM Holy Communion
- 10:30 AM Leadership Roundtable
- 8:30 PM Pre-Compline Discussion
- 9:00 PM Compline
- Monday, June 2
- 6:00 PM Mutual Ministry/Transition Team
- Thursday, June 5
- 10:30 AM Human Sexuality Study
- Sunday, June 8
- 9:15 AM Holy Communion
- 9:10 AM Christian Education
- 10:30 AM First Communion Class
- 10:30 AM Lunch Bunch
- 8:30 PM Pre-Compline Discussion
- 9:00 PM Compline
- Monday, June 9
- 6:00 PM Aloha Jam
- Tuesday, June 10
- 6:30 PM Worship & Music
- Wednesday, June 11—Kamehameha Day—Office Closed
- 12:30 PM Finance Committee Meeting
- Thursday, June 12
- 10:00 AM Preschool Chapel
- 10:30 AM Human Sexuality Study
- Saturday, June 14
- 9:00 AM In Stitches
- 1:00 PM OYEA Mega Car Wash—Christ Mililani
- Sunday, June 15—Father’s Day
- 9:15 AM Holy Communion
- 10:30 AM Father’s Day Luncheon
- 8:30 PM Pre-Compline Discussion
- 9:00 PM Compline
- Tuesday, June 17
- 9:00 AM Heart Beat Deadline
- 6:00 PM Executive Committee
- 6:30 PM Council Meeting
- Thursday, June 19
- 10:00 AM Preschool Chapel
- Friday, June 20
- 1:00 PM Prepare IHS Meals
- 5:30 PM Serve IHS Meals
- Saturday, June 21
- 3:00 PM Mary Magdalene Society winetasting
- Sunday, June 22
- 9:15 AM Holy Communion
- 8:30 PM Pre-Compline Discussion
- 9:00 PM Compline
- Wednesday, June 25
- 9:00 AM Heart Beat Mailing
- Thursday, June 26
- 10:00 AM Preschool Chapel
- Saturday, June 28
- 9:00 AM In Stitches
- 6:30 PM Game Night
- Sunday, June 29
- 9:15 AM Holy Communion
- 10:45 AM Adult Forum: Transit Corridor Project
- 8:30 PM Pre-Compline Discussion
- 9:00 PM Compline
- Sunday–Friday, June 29–July 4—OYEA Youth Camp
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