Resurrection Bell Ringer

 

Resurrection Lutheran Church

445 East Stop 11 Road

Indianapolis, IN 46227

(317) 881-7854

 

http://www.resurrection-elca.org

 

David P. Schreiber, Lead Pastor

Mitchell D. Phillips, Team Pastor

 

Scott Mikkelson,

Associate in Ministry

 

Sunday Worship:

8:00 and 10:45 am

9:30 am Education Hour

 

 

Days of Grace

Baptism: Received in the joy of the Christian community through Holy Baptism was Alexa Brianna Belviy.  Alexa is the daughter of Gary and Karen Belviy and was born on September 14, 2002.

Marriage: Chris Berlin and Ray Ullrich were united in marriage on November 2^nd.  God’s Blessings.

 

In Our Prayers

Recovering from Hospitalization: Harry Gillespie, Cassie Andersen, Linda Wilson

Prayers for healing:   Joyce Schmelzer

Cancer Treatment: Marvin Tatum

Active Duty: Dan Dibble

 

December, 2002

Regular / Semi-Annual Meeting

of the Congregation of

Resurrection Evangelical

Lutheran Church

December 8, 2002, 9:30am

 

1.      Opening Devotions

2.      Determination of Quorum

3.      Acceptance of Minutes of June 9, 2002

4.      Reports of Administrative Boards

5.      Treasurer’s Report

6.      Other Reports

· “Where Your Heart Is”

· Stewardship Update

· Associate in Ministry

· Technology Grant

7.      New Business

· 2003 Congregational Budget

· 2003 Congregation Goals

8.      Pastor’s Report

9.      Adjournment

 

 

more information inside . . . more information inside . . .

Christmas gift-giving . . . . RLC Christmas Cards . . . . Caroling . . . . Christmas Poinsettias . . . . Choral Sunday . . . . Children’s Christmas Program . . . . Christmas Eve Worship Schedule

 

 

 

Dear Resurrection People,

 

                  December Disciples

Advent is here!  The four Sunday mornings of Advent we will focus on Waiting, Watching, Wondering, Worshiping.  Does that mean that our focus will turn away from the “discipleship” theme with which we began this fall’s programing?   That our chief focus will instead be on “getting ready for Christmas?”  Hardly.  In fact, one might say that the best possible way we can get ready for Christmas is by continuing to grow in discipleship.  Can you picture how a commitment to living those “marks of discipleship” found in  “PoWeR SuRGe”* might change the shape of your December?  How does our “active waiting” shape our daily life?  How do the eyes of faith shape what we “watch for” in these days when we are bombarded by images of material things?  How can a holy sense of “wonder” keep us focused on larger truths?  What difference to the “stress meter” might there be if worship was at the heart of our activities?

 

     “Power Surging into the New Year”

I have made a personal commitment to living out those marks of discipleship in both my personal and professional life.  As some of you may know, I will be participating in a covenant group with five other pastors from the Indianapolis area.  All of us are Lead Pastors of growing, vibrant, relatively healthy congregations around the “Letterman Loop” of 465.  All of us have the sense that we do “pastoral ministry” stuff pretty well–if we couldn’t, our congregations would not be growing.  Our common struggle and challenge, however, is to grow in the leadership skills that such changing churches require to stay healthy, faithful and vibrant.  We have covenanted for the next three years to be a mutually accountable “study circle” helping each other learn, sharing successes and failures, and making use of wise voices in the larger Church who can assist us in our own local context.  Some of my continuing education monies will be used for this circle–I say some because our group applied for and received a grant from the Louisville Institute to pay for almost all of the costs of the program.  This is a wonderful blessing for us all.   By the time you read this, for example, all of us will have spent four days in Minneapolis consulting with Lutheran Pastor Mike Foss.

 

Foss, you may recall, is the author of “Power Surge: Six Marks of Discipleship for a Changing Church,” which articulates the nature of our common vision and challenge for our churches to grow more than merely in numbers.  Most of us have introduced the principles of that book in our congregations this fall.  (Our Parish Planning Council and fall 9:30 Sunday class at Resurrection studied this.)  Foss speaks of the need to move away from a “membership” or “chaplaincy model” of the church, which can foster a passive, consumer mind set in the church that stunts the spiritual growth of the people of God and often sets pastors up for failure.  A “discipleship” model holds up what the Bible means when referring

 to “members” of the Body of Christ–followers of Jesus committed to living “the way” of the cross, a way that shapes all of life, far beyond Sunday morning.

 

Christmas marks the celebration of Christ’s coming into this world, of God showing us that way.  As we celebrate Christ’s coming, as we move into the New Year, may we all continue to grow in grace, in the depth of our daily discipleship, and in our grateful response to the Gift we all have been given.

 

In Christ,

Pastor Dave

 

      *    P -     pray daily

            W -    worship weekly 

            R -    read the Bible regularly

            S -     serve at Resurrection

         and beyond

            R -    be in Relationships that        strengthen, encourage, and invite faith

            G -    give generously of time, talents and treasures