May 2024 Newsletter

​Garrison Keillor used to begin his stories by saying, “It’s been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon.”  I think it’s appropriate to begin this month’s letter by saying, “It is not going to be a quiet summer at Resurrection Church. We have much planned and even more planning is still in the works. In addition, our pastoral transition process has reached a very active phase as well.
 
Regarding the transition, as most of you know the Mission Exploration Team has completed its work and their Ministry Site Profile (MSP) has been reviewed by council and the congregation, accepted by the bishop, and published on the ELCA web site. The completion of their work puts us solidly into the call process. The Call Team has been installed and has begun their work. I would like to again thank the following individuals who have stepped up to do this important work: Kat Woods, Andy Toth, Arlene Tesmer, Karen Mannisto, Melissa Leighton, Aidan Leighton, Sue Koloske, and Larry Gnatzig. I had the opportunity to sit in with them on their first organizational meeting as well as their training with Pastor Afi Dobbins-Mays from synod staff. They are a spirit filled group with a sincere drive to select the right candidate to be our next pastor. At this point, the team is meeting to review the MSP and draft interview questions for candidates that will be sent to us by the synod. Please pray for these individuals and their work.
 
The calendar is full of activities and events this summer (and there are a few others still in the works)!
 
May 15th will be our Suds and Stories of Faith Event at Cleveland Pub. This will be an opportunity to listen to God, one another, and our neighbors while being present in the wider community. The discussion question for this event is “Where do you see God in your life?” We would like to plan a similar event at a local coffee shop and call it Coffee and Conversation. If you would be interested in helping to plan this event, please speak to a council member.
 
As a trial for the summer only, we will be switching to an earlier worship time. From June 2nd to August 25 worship will begin at 9:15 am.
 
June 2nd during the worship service we will be welcoming 6 new members into our Resurrection family. Some of these folks have familiar faces that have been around for a while, but it is exciting to formally welcome them into our community. Please also join us after the service for some fellowship and to listen as mentors introduce us to our new partners in faith.
 
Jane Fredach was an active and loved member of our Resurrection family for many years. On June 9th during the worship service we will have a brief remembrance of her and a prayer in her memory.
 
Monday evening, June 10th (6 to 7:30pm), we will be hosting a Faith and Fellowship Dinner with our partners from Reformation Lutheran Church in Milwaukee. Long time members of Resurrection will remember we have an extensive history of partnership with Reformation including active participation in various aspects of their ministry (meal and food pantry programs, women’s Bible study, summer youth programs, and more) as well as hosting and facilitating events (evenings in the garden, partnership worship services and fellowship, an annual Christmas event, and more). Most recently we have officially been in a covenantal three-way partnership between us, Reformation, and our Tanzanian partners. This three-way partnership has languished a bit during and since Covid. On June 10th, our goal is to rekindle old friendships and make new ones with members from Reformation and begin discussions on how we can reactivate our three-way partnership with them and Tanzania. We will be providing the main dish that evening and Reformation will be bringing sides and dessert. So even if you are a newer member to Resurrection, and don’t have “old friends” to catch up with, please come and join us for what promises to be an evening of good food and fellowship.
 
June 16th will be the first of our outdoor services for the summer. The other outdoor services will be July 21st, and August 18th.
 
In place of a June Community Picnic, we are working on a Food Truck night on a weeknight evening during the week of June 17th. We are still putting together the details, including some ideas about exciting live entertainment during the event so watch your emails, announcements, and my June message for details! It should be great fun, and who doesn't enjoy an evening when you don’t have to cook dinner? (We are hoping to be able to have a second Food Truck Night in September. More to come on that as well.)
 
Mark your calendar, our Community Picnic will be after the outdoor worship on August 18th. We will cook out and ask members to bring side dishes and desserts. Of course there will be silly games!
 
There will also be opportunities for those that want to roll up their sleeves and do a little work this summer. May 19th after service will be a Spring Cleaning Day for the interior of the church. May 25th, June 22nd, and July 27th (from 8-11:30am), weather permitting, are designated as Landscape Clean Up Days. We will continue to remove old, overgrown or dead bushes & trees to continue our work to beautify our church and church grounds setting us up to implement future landscape and hardscape plans being developed by our Campus Planning Committee. If you have questions about the spring clean-up day contact Brad Nelson and for the landscape days Ron Reichert.
 
As you can see. There is a lot going on and, as they say in the commercials, “We hope to see you there.”
 
Blessings, Tom