Ministries
VBS
Mark your calendars now
for another wonderful Vacation Bible School
Sunday, June 24 through Thursday, June 28.
See you there!
The more the merrier!!!
Cross of Grace
April 2012
Dear friends in Christ,
The community of faith at Cross of Grace Lutheran has heightened its awareness of Lent and our preparation for the Resurrection. First, many of the community are involved in a study of the Gospel of Mark, meeting at our home on Wednesday afternoons and Thursday evenings. The Thursday evening group has grown as the weeks pass by. We have also intensified our efforts of contributing to the local food bank, including the receptacle for food within the worship space by the baptismal font. Contributions have increased. We are also observing moments of silence after the readings for the day to give us some time to reflect on God’s word.
As you may remember, I visited with Bishop Gordy in mid-January to seek his support on my taking a month of vacation in June and September because of extended commitment to leading this mission. While we did not talk about September, we did discuss the need for pastoral leadership to assure the community of faith that The Lord’s Supper would be available. Bishop Gordy said that the synod staff would be present at one of the worship services at least. I talked with Rebecca Kolowe’, the Mission Director for the synod, last week. She informed me that Bishop Gordy would lead worship on June 10 at Cross of Grace. That’s the Sunday after the SE Synod Assembly. Darrel Peterson, Assistant to the Bishop, will lead worship on June 17. Delmer Chilton, Assistant to the Bishop, and Rebecca will lead worship on June 24. In addition, they will meet with the worshippers after the service and then later in the afternoon with rostered leaders to discuss the future of Cross of Grace Lutheran. Our community of faith could not ask for more positive support than this.
When Lent began we worshipped with the folks at Our Saviour Lutheran. On Maundy Thursday, we will worship with the folks at the Jonesborough Presbyterian Church. We are not able to worship at the Senior Center because there are programs those evenings. Yet, this “inconvenience” has proved to be a blessing. We are able to worship with the larger faith community in different ways as we experience our faith journey during the season of Lent. Thanks be to God!
Ed Wolff, Mission Pastor
1103 Miller Dr.
Jonesborough, TN 37659
Cell: (423) 833-8932
(423) 833-8587
Where Does OSLC Benevolence Go?
Every year, we, at OSLC, give 15% of our budget (minus the mortgage amount) to the Synod. This is called our Benevolence. We pay this budgeted amount whether we collect the full budget amount of offerings or spend the full amount.
There are always questions about how this money is used. Provided here is a breakdown that shows how the Synod puts the money to use. Note that it is not all used for administration at either the Synod level or the national level.
These numbers are based on percentages provided by the Synod and the ELCA. Please note that other moneys are given out but budget descriptions are not definitive enough for their inclusion.
Contribution to our Synod this year: $52,650
Used for:
-- Pass-through to ELCA: $25,272
-- Begin mission congregations: 2,527
-- Lutheran Social Service organizations within synod: 1,322
-- Other grants to organization including education institutions: 5,265
-- Operating Synod office, staff and commissions: 17,925
Distribution of money ($25,272) passed through to ELCA:
Used for:
-- Global Missions*: $5,115
-- Evangelism outreach: 7,929
-- Church in Society*: 2,046
* Includes some funds for World Hunger
Total given to help others worldwide (46%): $24,237