Beginning With Advent

     “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God .” (John 1:1)

     The church year is not chronological in the sense that it does not begin with January 1. It does not revolve around April 15 or July 4 or October 31 or even December 25. The church year begins with Advent at the end of this month. The season of Advent is focused on getting ready for the coming of the Baby Jesus. We like Advent because we like Christmas. As I write this a scientist has come up with a process to evaluate old wine residue and determine whether it was old white wine or old red wine. The article is focused on King Tut’s wine jug, long empty but still holding enough dried up wine for them to determine that he drank red wine. The piece goes on to say that other samples of wine from as far back as 5500 years BC, indicate that wine was cultivated--no word about it being red or white, however.

     Have you noticed that we keep trying to find where things come from, when they first were used or discovered? The numbers all seem to end about six or seven thousand years ago, maybe ten thousand if we start talking about ice age. There’s not much there beyond that time unless you have a bone fragment and a fruitful imagination.

     What about Jesus Christ? How far back does He go? Do we need to know whether He turned water into red wine or white wine? What about the church? Where does the church year begin--where is year 1?

     The Bible gives us the answers. They are not complicated. Before there was a creation, there was God. God was the source of the beginning of all things. The One John calls “the Word” is called the Christ in other places in the Bible. The Book of Colossians tells us that it is this Christ that really did the work of creation, making all things--including us. The Bible tells us that God knew there would be a failure on the part of mankind in the Garden of Eden, that Adam and Eve would sin, would “fall” from their preferred place in all of creation.

     The Bible tells us that God--think of God the Son, God the Spirit, and God the Father--had council with One Another BEFORE creation. The topic was this: What should happen to fallen mankind? Mankind should be saved! God the Son offered to fix mankind. But to repair mankind required major and astounding intervention. The Christ, the Creator of the universe, would need to become a human being, live a perfect life, and die as a sacrifice for the sins of that mankind. The sacrifice would be a “propitiation,” a blanket to cover the sin and keep it from offending a holy and righteous God. With the death of the Christ, mankind would be “redeemed” or bought back by its Creator Himself. The Trinity in that council set in motion Advent, the first coming of the Savior Jesus Christ.

     So, here we are beginning Advent 2005 in a few short weeks. We begin remembering the Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ as a Baby, a Baby that will be dead in just thirty years or so, all for the purpose of buying us back, redeeming us from the sin that has clouded our lives since Eden.

     Jesus Christ was there in the beginning. But He was there when we needed Him 2000 years ago. And, yes, He is there for us today. Why? Because in the beginning He was there and He would not let His creation fail because of its failures of sin. He redeemed us because He loves us and His creation. Praise the Lord!

     The meeting was called to order by President Pete Midgarden. Pastor opened with a devotion and prayer. Council members present included Pastor Dave, Pete Midgarden, Darlene Tasso, Ernie Burnett, Vera Avera, Milt Luoma and Charlie Canning. Linda Gibbs was absent.

     Secretary’s Report.The Council read the minutes from the Sept. meeting. They were approved as read.

     Treasurer's Report. Darlene presented the treasurer's report for Sept. The motion was made and approved to accept the treasurer's report as submitted.

     Committee Reports.

    Maintenance. Maintenance: No report.

     Museum/Library Report: Ernie reported that he was contacted by a woman from Spanish Fort who offered to donate some Swedish books.

     Pastor's Report 051003

     Website Report. In September we had 480 different website visitors making 613 visits averaging a minute and a half a visit. 1893 separate pages were visited for an average of 3 pages viewed per visit. Google indexing was responsible for 227 visits, Yahoo for 34, and MSN for 7. The AFLC website was responsible for 19 links. 132 different phrases brought people to our website with no clear pattern being apparent. Key words appeared to be "church" and "Lutheran." Our website was indexed 21,840 times in September. "Hurricane" was part of a search phrase 11 times and "Frederick" 5 times. Our latest activities page was viewed 97 times, our museum page 67 times, our photos page 58 times, our windows page 58 times, our St. Paul's School Link 35 times, our news page 32 times, and our history page 31 times.

Action Requested: None

     Evangelism Grant for 2005. Jim Rasmussen has not reported receipt of any Thrivent funds by the AFLC yet. There is no word on when the dollars will come.

Action Requested: None

     One Hundred Year History. Pete Midgarden has delivered or mail complimentary copies of our yearbook to: The AFLC Bible School/Seminary Library, Silverhill First Baptist, Silverhill Covenant, City of Silverhill, Silverhill School, the Silverhill Library, St. Elmo Community Church, and St. Paul's Lutheran Church of Mobile.

Action Requested: None

     Centennial Planning. We have initiated our "Augustana Centennial Liturgy." It has been shortened, but it is still long. Depending on how things go for the next couple Sundays, we may revise and shorten it further. Pastor Lee has verified that he will be here for our Centennial.

Action Requested: Any volunteers to host Pastor Lee?

     Carl Stumer Memorial Service. Our Sunday worship with the Memorial Service for Carl Stumer incorporated into it had 70 people afterwards for refreshments. All of our circular tables were in use and we were short six chairs at one point. Council needs to consider adding another table and chairs.

Action Requested: Purchases one more table and six more chairs?

     Gulf Coast Revival Festival. The Billy Graham Association will be bringing the "Gulf Coast Festival" to Mobile in April. A church planning/involvement meeting will be held on October 11 which I will attend. I have no specific plans for involvement. I will advise the Council of plans presented at the November Council meeting.

Action Requested: None.

     Men's 710. There was a good turn out and many questions for Pam Matthews, a representative from the Social Security Administration, who spoke about the new drug benefit under Medicare. The upcoming Men's 710 for October 11 will present the Gideon's Memorial Bible Program to both men and women of our community. A criterion for participation at Zion was that we would not mention the Gideons in any promotion, hence our "non-specific" promotion material.

Action Requested: None.

     Song Books. Hopefully we will have a Council report on this one tonight.

Action Requested: None at this time.

     Meals on Wheels. There has been no action on a meals plan for Silverhill, but the issue may present again after the Katrina relief issues settle.

Action Requested: None.

     Heritage Day. Heritage Day was a success. Our potato sausage and a sundry Scandinavian delights were well-received. Concerning the issue of a "freebie" when there was food for sale in the park: it appears to be a non-issue. We have heard no comments pro or con. There was sufficient sausage left for both our Centennial Sunday Celebration at the end of the month and for our Christmas open house in early December.

Action Requested: None.

     Passion Play. Passion Play incorporation is happening and there is some indication that the venue is shifting to Foley. Pastor Dave Singleton at Foley United Methodist is helping coordinate things, so organization is proceeding a little better. I will be attending another meeting this week.

Action Requested: None.

     Hurricane Katrina Relief--Short-Term. Our short-term relief work is essentially done. Things are shifting to a mid-term perspective.

     Hurricane Katrina Relief--Mid-Term Update. An AFLC church that was looking for a church-building related gift has been placed in contact with the Wisconsin Synod church in Mobile today. You will remember that the new building under construction was flattened; two congregational families were flooded out of their homes. We have yet to get any kind of response out of Catholic Social Service, so we have no sense of direct needs in our ecumenical outreach area. You will remember that I faxed an inquiry to them a month ago. Father Savoi at St. Lawrence Catholic Church in Fairhope will be chairing another meeting of the ecumenical group meeting to help get needs met November 1, but the website that was to be set up apparently has not happened yet. Two AFLC churches were looking to resettle families which were willing to relocate; those churches were put in contact with St. Barnabas Episcopal in Lafayette. I sent out a general e-mail to AFLC congregations and we have received a variety of checks from churches and individuals. The Council has directed $6000 to extended families of our Zion fellowship and to the St. Elmo church.

     Christ Lutheran Church of Pascagoula and Mid-Term Katrina Needs. Pastor Dittman returned a response to our Centennial invitation sent in August and will attend on October 29. We found that he began serving Christ Lutheran Church in July. Here's what happened there: The church is a mile from the beach and three blocks or so from the river and about the same distance from the sewage plant. The storm surge/flood, with sewage mixed in, reached a five foot level in the church's education annex and one foot in the church. All office equipment and kitchen stuff in that annex were a total loss. The church had to be decontaminated--they had some funds put aside for a building program, but decontamination costs were $50,000. No flood insurance, of course, because it had never flooded there. Of all annex equipment, they were able to save one table. Pastor Dittman, when asked what they need, answered "cash!" There was no loss of people, but people are "surviving." The congregational president is Jerold Shepherd, 228 475-4575 (cell 228 623-3846).

Action Requested: Do we want to consider a donation to help them with their fellowship building or worship space repair?

     Hurricane Katrina Relief--Mid-Term Strategy. Linda and I have been talking about mid-term needs. Things are being repaired and rebuilt and cleaned up. The basic problem is that repairs are going on, but people have no income resources and are often over-extended on what resources they have. It would be good to provide an income stream for folks until jobs are recreated in the Katrina destruction zone. I would like the Council to seek to provide six income streams of $300 a month for six months to our five families identified and to St. Elmo's community ministry. If the Council will initiated this plan, I will recruit dollars from other AFLC churches. If we could get 100 takers to do $5 a week for six months, we would be able to fund these five individuals and the St. Elmo church project. The one stipulation I think would be reasonable is this: If a household has a livable income, we would shift that $300 stipend to another family with no income from storm problems.

Action Requested: Authorize a program: Suggested wording: Zion Lutheran Church recognizes that Hurricane Katrina destroyed livelihoods as well as property. The Church Council therefore authorizes a special Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund to operate for six months with the set goal of providing an income supplement of $300 per month to households identified by Zion who have need of an income stream until jobs return to their respective Katrina-affected areas. This Relief Fund will be funded only as dollars are received for this set purpose. Pastor Dave is directed to set in a motion a dollar-recruiting program within the AFLC to meet these specific Relief needs as soon as possible.

     Foley Nursing Home Ministry. Per the Council's decision from our last Council meeting, I have advised Foley Nursing Home to remove us from its Sunday worship schedule. I have requested Anne Rae to advise us of any special needs.

Action Requested: None

     Old Business.

     Ernie noted that the Thrivent Report in the September minutes stated that $1,000 would be matched in Thrivent funds. After our Sept. meeting, it was learned that this amount will be $600.

     New Business.

     Ernie requested that Thrivent would like to meet at Zion on Oct. 26th. Regarding Thrivent, there was discussion that the local chapter needs someone to serve on the board of directors. We have the 3 coordinators which are required from our church.

     It was noted that at the Carl Stumer memorial dinner, there was a shortage of chairs. The council discussed pros and cons of purchasing new chairs. It was decided to use what we have for now.

     Parking Lot: An offer has been made to pay the balance for the parking lot. Ernie will meet with the paver at the end of the week.

     Hurricane Relief: A motion was made, 2nd and carried to divide our current balance between Christ Lutheran Church in Pascagoula and the Alabama Sheriff’s Boy’s Ranch.

     A motion was made to direct Pastor Dave to put out an email that we will initiate a 6-month program for mid-term hurricane relief to benefit the 5 families and St. Elmo Bible Church previously supported. Motion passed.

     Harvest Festival: Pete will get information and put it in the bulletin about this activity at the Covenant Church.

     With no further business, the meeting was adjourned with The Lord's Prayer.

     Darlene Tasso, Acting Secretary