Marriage: Jennifer Westerfeld and Aaron Prickel were united in marriage on March 12^th. God’s Blessings.

Thanks to everyone at Resurrection for all of the cards, letters, prayers and thoughts over the past few months while my mother Eva was recovering from a fall and subsequent surgery. She is now at home at Country Charm Retirement Community. – Donna and Bob Schofield

Be a Lutheran Life Saver at our City-Wide Blood Drive and enjoy being a blessing to others. Six churches throughout Indianapolis (including RLC) will participate on Saturday, April 16^th from 8:00-noon. Snacks, beverages, souvenir Lutheran LifeSaver t-shirts, plus a dollar a donor benefitting Lutheran Child & Family Services provided by Indy area financial representatives of Thrivent.

Dear Friends,

Last December – at our semi-annual congregation meeting – we affirmed the plan to restructure our ministry based on ministry teams instead of our current system with a Parish Planning Council and Ministry Boards. There were many factors that led us to this proposal, but one of the most significant was so that we may more fully realize our commitment to the Reformation theme of the priesthood of all believers. One of our goals is to help every person at Resurrection to recognize how God has gifted them for ministry – and then help them find a ministry in which to serve.

For the last couple of months, the Parish Planning Council and Program Staff (Pastor Dave, Julie Peralta, Sherry Andersen, and myself) have been making steady progress in our transition toward ministry teams. Pastor Dave has convened a Nominating Team and they are seeking the Holy Spirit’s guidance in discerning who to place in nomination to serve on our new Congregation Council. The Ministry Boards have identified all of the ministries that take place under each of their “umbrellas.” We have begun the translation of those ministries into ministry teams. Elsewhere in this edition of the Bell Ringer, you will find a list of ministry teams for which we are seeking leaders. The Staff and PPC are working to determine how many people need to be added to the Steering Team to serve in addition to the Program Staff. So much for the “mechanics” side of the equation – now we need to turn some attention to the “people” side of the equation:

Announcing RLC 3

Discovering how God

has SHAPEd you for Ministry

Beginning April 3 – running for 6 Sundays

During the “40 Days of Purpose” last year, we learned that God has SHAPEd each of us for ministry. By exploring our Spiritual gifts, Heart, Abilities, Personality, and Experiences, we can better discern how God is calling us to serve those around us. Resurrection Life Course III (RLC 3) will help you in that exploration and discernment. We are re-framing and expanding the spiritual gifts discovery course we have previously used here at Resurrection for RLC 3. We will still be using the spiritual gifts inventory (which will be taken and scored at home) and materials from “Discovering God’s Vision for Your Life.” We will conclude the course by taking a closer look at the ministries present at Resurrection, and we will try to do a better job of helping people identify ministries to explore.

RLC 3 will take place during the Discipleship Hour (9:30am), beginning Sunday, April 3 and concluding on May 8. Because the course is a progression of experiences from one week to the next, this is not a course to just “drop in on.” We recognize that April 3 is the conclusion of Spring Break for many people, but that would be the best week to be absent if you were to have to miss a session. We will provide a spiritual gifts inventory and course workbook for everyone, so we are asking people to help us order sufficient materials by indicating your intent to participate in RLC 3 either through the yellow response form in the worship bulletin, or by

going to the RLC website (www.rlcindy.org), logging on to the Members section, and then going to the Sign-up Sheets to register for Resurrection Life Course 3. We will have some extra materials available on April 3^rd, but we don’t want to be too short or have way too many copies, so it will be helpful for people to register for the course.

A note to

Spiritual Gifts Discovery Course Graduates

Those who participated in one of the previous sessions of the Spiritual Gifts Discovery Course are welcome to join us for all or part of RLC 3. You would not need to take the spiritual gifts inventory again. In the first four sessions we will repeat some of the discovery activities in the course. In the last two sessions we will make connections to the SHAPE concept from “40 Days” and we hope to help people make better connections from the spiritual gifts and discovery activities to possible ministries to explore. The final session will provide plenty of time to debrief the course and consider where God is calling you to serve in ministry.

It is rather humbling – and inspiring – to consider that God has uniquely gifted each one of us for ministry. Part of our mission at Resurrection is to equip people for the work of ministry – and part of that equipping is to help us recognize how God has SHAPEd us. Our goal is to have everyone at Resurrection take part in a spiritual gifts discovery course at some time. We hope that you will join the group making that journey of discovery through RLC 3 this April and May.

Holy Land Adventure –

Jerusalem's Marketplace . . .

Plan to attend this year's VBS June 13th-17th, 9am-noon. We will be exploring Jerusalem's Marketplace. Children from ages 3 to 5th grade will join a tribe and experience what Jerusalem's Marketplace was like during Jesus' time.

Also, we are in need of volunteers for planning and helping. Please contact Julie Peralta at 881-7854 julie@rlcindy.org; or Lynn Wolff 859-8920 if you have questions or are interested in helping!

2006 Youth Gathering . . .

The ELCA National Youth Gathering will be July 5-9, 2006 (or July 12-16, 2006) in San Antonio Texas! The Gathering theme is Cruzando: Journey with Jesus. Youth participants must be entering the 10^th, 11^th, or 12^th grade by August, 2006, or be a 2006 High school graduate. We will register, prepare, and Covenant as a group. The Gathering registration fee is $235 per person; transportation, lodging, & meals, to be determined. We will have a Special Parent/Youth meeting Sunday, April 17 at 9:00am to plan for this great event! (Please worship with your family at one of the other services so you can attend the meeting.) Questions please contact Ms. Julie.

CPR Classes . . . .

CPR Classes will again be offered in April. Watch your bulletin announcement page for information to sign-up on the Child Care Ministry Bulletin Board.

Ministry Structure Transition . . . .

The Parish Planning Council and Program Staff (Pr Dave, Pr Mitch, Julie Peralta, Sherry Andersen) have been working together on the transition of our ministry structure to ministry teams - as approved at our semi-annual congregation meeting in December. The steps taking so far include:

➔ Each Ministry Board has listed all of the ministries for which their board is responsible.

➔ Each ministry was assigned to a “conceptual” home based on our Mission Statement, according to whether the ministry advances our mission in one of the four areas of Welcome, Nurture, Equip, or Serve; or if the ministry supports our mission in the area of either Caring or Administration.

➔ Each ministry was assigned to a “structural” home relative to the Steering Team. The Steering Team will be comprised of our Program Staff and several lay persons from the congregation. A member of the Steering Team will be assigned to each ministry team in the congregation to serve as a coach, conduit for communication, and to help equip the team for its ministry.

➔ The various ministry functions were translated into ministry teams.

➔ A list was compiled of the ministry teams that we need to have in place when the ministry structure transition is made in July.

A number of the ministry teams identified in this last step are being led by members of the Program Staff – examples include Confirmation, Worship Planning, Music Ministries, ChristCare, and Spiritual Gifts. Other ministries already have leaders in place – examples include Men’s Breakfast, Vacation Bible School, Child Care Ministry, and Finance Team.

Listed on the following page are examples of ministry teams that are in need of someone to step forward as the leader. If you would be interested in leading a team, would like more information about what this would entail – or would like to recommend someone to lead a team – please speak to Pastor Mitch or Pastor Dave.

As the ministry structure transition makes further progress, a bulletin board will be used to post relevant information and diagrams about ministry teams and leaders. Questions and suggestions about this process can be addressed to Pastor Mitch.

Ministry Teams Needing Leaders . . . .

Consecration Sunday

Plan and execute the Consecration Sunday program for our fall stewardship emphasis. The program is already all laid out, we just need a team to execute it.

Outside Maintenance

Oversee maintenance of the RLC property and exterior of the building.

Inside Maintenance

Oversee maintenance of the interior of the RLC building.

Discipleship Hour Operations

This team will oversee the operation of the Discipleship Hour (Sunday School) for preschool through high school. Includes coordinating teachers, maintaining supplies, tracking attendance, and being the parent team for special events. NOTE: a different team will be providing the curriculum for Discipleship Hour.

RLC Library

Maintain the library inventory, acquire resources, coordinate fund-raising efforts, assist with book club.

Video Delivery

Coordinate with Pastor Dave to schedule visits for delivery of taped worship services to homebound persons.

Sports

Sponsorship of various RLC sports teams and activities.

Crisis Meals

Coordinate with pastors to schedule visits and deliver meals to persons in special needs, such as newborn baby, hospitalization, death in family, etc.

Funeral Meal

Upon request of pastors, coordinates with family of deceased to oversee and serve a meal following a funeral.

Worship Hospitality

Coordinate and oversee hospitality functions in relation to worship (may be split into separate teams for specific functions): coffee hour refreshments; greeters, information table, etc.

Fellowship Events

Plan, schedule, and lead fellowship events and opportunities for the whole congregation: picnics, sport or concert outings, pumpkin carving, chili cook-off, hayride, etc.

Agape Feast

Plan, gather food, set up and clean up for time of fellowship following Maundy Thursday worship.

Lenten Dinners

Provide structure and coordination for meals prior to Lenten worship services.

Kitchen

Maintain inventory of consumable supplies for kitchen / cleaning and organization of kitchen.

ChristCare Group Ministry . . . .

We celebrated ChristCare Sunday on March 13 as we commissioned fourteen ChristCare Leaders - some as new leaders and some continuing leaders. Information about the groups may be found on these two pages.

Continuing Groups Open to New Members

Contact the group leader for more information or

to see if there is still space available in the group.

Wendy Messer, 784-3215

Meets the 1^st & 3^rd Thursday, from 9:00-10:30am at church, with childcare provided and costs shared by those utilizing the service. This group has focused on building community and in-depth discipleship. They will begin a new Biblical Equipping resource in April, having just concluded a series on Christian spiritual practices.

Tim & Margie Ropp, 859-1279

Meets the 1^st & 3^rd Sunday from 4:00-5:30 at church. Childcare is provided by a middle school student. The group has just completed the ChristCare Beginnings course and will start using the Gospel of John for Biblical Equipping. The current Missional Service project is something for this year’s confirmands.

Continuing Groups Currently Closed to New Members

Groups may be closed for a number of reasons - primarily due to size (the limit is 12)

or having a very specific focus (i.e. recovery groups, accountability groups, etc).

David & Jennifer Barrett, 786-1725

Meets the 2^nd & 4^th Sunday from 6:00-7:30 at church. This group is made up of couples where one or both spouses are members of the Parish Planning Council or one of our ministry Boards. Their Missional Service is to care and support each other in their respective ministries. Because of the narrow focus of the group, and the deep level of trust necessary to achieve their focus, the group is not currently open to visitors or new members.

Karen Oster, 882-8963

Meets the 1^st & 3^rd Sunday from 4:45-6:30 at church. The group is currently working its way through “The Purpose Driven Life” in a more focused way than they were able to during the 40 Days of Purpose last year. This group has always welcomed new members, but is currently at the maximum size of 12. Contact Karen if you would be interested in visiting this group when space becomes available.

ChristCare Groups Launching in April . . . .

Contact the group leader for more information or

to see if there is still space available in the group.

Scott & Ann Buie, 889-8060

Will meet twice a month on Sundays at 6:00pm. A “balanced” group with equal emphasis on the four elements of ChristCare. Childcare will be addressed once the group members needs are known.

Chad Frahm, 924-9516

Will meet twice a month, on the weekend - specific day and time to be determined by the group. A “balanced” group with one meeting a month at church and the second rotating between group members homes or a social / cultural / missional service activity.

Ed Kistler, 422-9906

Will meet twice a month on Monday evening - time and location to be determined by the group. A “balanced” group with Biblical Equipping emphasis and Missional Service projects to be selected by the group.

Tom Myers, 862-2543

Will meet twice a month on Monday evening at 7:15, rotating among homes of group members interested in hosting. A “balanced” group with equal emphasis on the four elements of ChristCare. Tom would like for this group’s Missional Service to be serving as ambassadors to first-time worship guests and new members.

Scott Poore, 885-8836

Will meet twice a month on either Friday or Sunday evening. Group focus will be on families with elementary or younger aged children, with an emphasis on strengthening marriages and developing and caring for children.

Mike & Chris Wise, 887-5975

Will meet twice a month on Sunday evening from 5:45-7:15, during the FaithBuilders confirmation class, rotating between homes of members interested in hosting.