Sabbatical Time at Messiah

The Ministry Council has approved a three month sabbatical for Pastor Greg and the Messiah Family from June 13th through August 29th. It has been 8 years since our last sabbatical. Pastor Greg's sabbatical will focus on rest and renewal including travel and retreats with Kim, reading and study about transforming congregations in changing communities.

During our shared sabbatical, life at Messiah may be a bit different, but it will go on! Here are some key pieces and information you will need:

1. Worship: Vicar David Mayen will lead a majority of our worship services and preach once a month.

Lay members of Messiah will be preaching including: the National Youth Gathering Participants, Sandy Rose, Martin Malley, Jayme Wiederin, Randy Schriener, and Sam Everson. In addition, Assistants to the Bishop, Richard Sheridan and Rebecca Sheridan will each be with us on a Sunday to lead worship and preach. We will also be lead by our regular Assisting Ministers at 8:30 and by Assisting Ministers at 10:30.

2. Pastoral Care:  Our Pastoral Care Team of Doni Schroeder, Louise Kvasnicka, Sharon Dickman and Donna Bright will continue to visit our homebound members and do hospital follow-up. Erin Kampschnieder, Director of Discipleship, has been contracted for additional hours this summer to cover hospital and crisis calls. She, along with Jean Menard in the office, will serve as "first responders." If you have any pastoral care needs contact them first. Vicar David Mayen will be available this summer for pastoral care needs and Pastors Erik Boye, Mark Fry, Wenda Fry and Glenn Harless will also be available for crisis and funerals. They can also be contacted through Erin or Jean.

3. Faith Formation: As the sabbatical is happening during the summer months, there is little scheduled for faith formation. However, lay teams are in place to do the planning and preparation for next fall. When September rolls around we will hit the ground running with another year of growing disciples!

4.Mobile Food Pantry: The MFP will continue during the summer months under passionate, capable leadership as it has all year.

5. Office hours and contacts: Office hours are 8:00 am - 3:00 pm Monday through Thursday and 8:00 am - 12 noon Fridays. The office phone number is 402.331.5510. For emergencies outside of office hours contact (in this order):

Vicar David Mayen (402) 812-4317

Erin Kampschnieder, Director of Discipleship:   402.990.3192

Joe Miller, President of Ministry Council 402-592-5740

August Newsletter

Discipleship  

 Have a great summer of fun!   

We are currently putting together a team to oversee and coordinate children's ministry (preK-6) at Messiah.  If interested find out more from Pastor Greg or Ministry Council member Amanda Blomberg  (402-598-1144 or ajblomberg33@gmail.com).

Join us for Rally Sunday August 30th, 10:00am as we begin another year on our faith journey! 

 This Rally Sunday will be one blended worship service followed be an old fashion potluck church picnic!  Worship will include cradle roll graduation, Bible blessing for 1st graders and teacher commissioning.   Music will include worship leaders from both regular services.  For the picnic, drinks, tableware and chicken will be provided.  Please bring a side dish or dessert to share.  Invite a friend, neighbor or family member to join you!  

Sunday School  

Will resume Sunday, September 13th at 9:45am

Bible Workshop for 1st Graders and parents will be held Thursday, August 27th from 5:30pm to 7:30pm.  Dinner will be provided.

Little Disciples

Sunday School for 3, 4, & 5 year olds will resume Sunday, September 13th at 9:45am.

There will be an Open House for Cradle Roll graduates (3 year olds starting Sunday School) on Sunday, August 23rd @9:30am in the Little Disciples Room.

Senior High continues under the leadership of Erin, and Max and Natalie Fleming. Great plans for fellowship, service and discipleship are all underway!

Sunday August 2nd: Love Wins by Rob Bell Discussion

5:30 - NYG Stockholder Dinner 

August 9th:  Love Wins by Rob Bell Discussion  

August 16:  Love Wins by Rob Bell Discussion  

August 23rd:  Love Wins by Rob Bell Discussion  

August 30th: No SHY due to Rally Sunday service 

Senior High Youth Newsletter

Twitter: @MessiahSrYouth

Rebecca Circle:  Not scheduled to meet in August.   Will reconvene in the fall.  

The winner of the raffle ticket drawing for 2 tickets to the NU-BYU football game plus $100 spending cash, September 5th, in Lincoln NE is Stan Sorensen. The winning ticket was sold by Dorothy Lange. All proceeds for the raffle benefit the South Sudan Outreach Ministry. Congratulations Stan!

Options for Managing Your Giving:

Manage your giving online

NOTE: If you already donate automatically using Simply Giving, please provide the email address you would like to register to the office BEFORE creating a profile online.  This way, your current giving records can be automatically linked to your online profile.

1)    Visit the church website at www.messiahfamily.com

2)    Click on the "Online Giving" link on the right side of the page,

3)    Click on the Create Profile button, then

Your giving can be from either of the following types of accounts:

Direct Debit Giving

Credit & Debit Card Giving

Use www.messiahfamily at any time to set up an automatic donation plan, change your donation plan, make a one-time donation or view your online donation history.

Donate from your smart phone

Messiah

FINANCE SECTION OF NEWSLETTER: 

In June the General Fund balance decreased to $48,970 as expenses exceeded income by about $4.2K which included weaker summer giving, a second payment for the web site renewal project, first month expenses for David Mayen as Mission Developer, and sabbatical-related expenses.

The Imagine Balance is $15,142.

Our Mission Share is current at 10% of Current Expense offerings. The Sudanese Worshiping Community transfers 10% of their offerings to the Messiah General Fund.

The graph below shows the Income, Expenses and General Fund balance by month for the past 13 months.

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