Zion's Messenger January 2004 Volume 9 Issue 1 Zion Lutheran Church PO Box 266 Silverhill, AL http://www.LutheransInSilverhill.com (251) 945-5209 Rev. David Johnson, Pastor johns468@gulftel.com From Pastor Dave . . . . Planning for a New Year Lu 2:49 And he [Jesus] said unto them [His family], "How is it that ye sought me? Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?" Ps 40:8 I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart. Jer 15:16 Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts. Another Annual Meeting. It will soon be our Annual Meeting on January 18. We will look back at what the Lord has been about this past year. We will see that Zion Lutheran Church has been blessed indeed. That's the same day your pastor will be heading off to Pastors Conference to collect more ideas for the Zion fellowship. Ideas for the New Fellowship Building. Do you remember August? We were anticipating getting into our new fellowship building. We were wondering what the Lord had in mind in giving us such a nice facility. We had a month of thinking about planning and seeking the Lord's will for the ministry of Zion and for its community. Ideas from the Beginning for Outreach. Thinking and planning is not new for Zion Lutheran Church. When we look at our church history, we find several instances of exactly that: The Augustana Synod saw Swedes in Silverhill and planned an outreach to them between 1895 and 1904. As a result of those plans, Pastors J. E. Hedberg, H. F. H. Hartelius, and J. J. Richard began visiting Silverhill on an irregular basis in conjunction with their ministry in Thorsby, Alabama. Those plans resulted in our church, Swedish Lutheran Zion Church, becoming the third Augustana mission church in Alabama in 1905. Ideas for Outreach in Fellowship. The Ladies Aid of Zion planned for outreach. In 1921 its 25 members initiated a Visitation Committee comprised of Mrs. Heni, Mrs. Carl Johnson, and Mrs. S. P. Torsen. The women were actively concerned about conditions in Russia after the communist revolution and were concerned about the need for the gospel there in trying times. There was a concern and planning for foreign mission. Ideas for Outreach by Seeing Community Needs for Jesus. There was thinking and planning for outreach and evangelism in 1925. Zion was working with others in the Synod in organizing. People were serving as delegates and worship leaders. Dr. G. W. Utter, Church Secretary, reported that S. P. Johnson and Pastor E. O. Johnson would be church representatives at the Southeastern District meeting in Piercen, Florida, with Hans Erickson serving as worship leader during the Pastor's absence. Planning! The church decided to have Sunday School but no church services when the pastor was in St. Elmo for Sunday services. More planning! Zion Lutheran Church commissioned Ms. Holm to work with the Bohemian people to form a Bohemian Sunday School. New support was part of planning! A Sunday morning offering was given to the Deaconess Institute of Omaha. The church designated Herman Olson as delegate to Miami, Florida, for a Southeastern District Conference. As Zion celebrated its 20th Anniversary, several services were given to St. Elmo's. An organ was purchased and an organ was donated, activities perhaps related to outreach in the St. Elmo ministry. Ideas for Outreach by Organization. There was major thinking and planning in 1929. Zion Lutheran Church's Pastor E. Oscar Johnson organized the Alabama District Luther League for the Augustana Synod. The first Bible Conference was held at Zion, August 9 to August 11, 1929, with Dr. E. C. Bloomquist of Rockford, Illinois, bringing the program. Luther League officer candidates were the fruits of Zion's outreach to St. Elmo: Presidential Candidates: A. J. Johnson (St. Elmo's Luther League) and Ruby Ledeen (Silverhill Luther League)--Ruby was elected on a vote of 7 to 4. A. J. was elected Vice President, and Alvin Peterson was elected Secretary and Treasurer. A large crowd came from Mobile and St. Elmo for Sunday's Conference's two Sunday sermons and dinner. That bronze tablet in honor of John E. Elfstrand which was prominent in the church for many years was dedicated at that Conference. Ideas for Outreach by Looking New Places. Thinking and planning and outreach were quiet for almost 60 years at Zion. That doesn't mean there was no interest in outreach, but our church archives are silent about activity. Then, do you remember how Zion got involved with Pastor Charles in that outreach ministry to snowbirds in Gulf Shores a decade ago? That started with only 10 couples. Zion people had to plan for those jaunts down to the Gulf each week. And there were searches for meeting places and people and publicity. It wasn't that long before there were 160 people involved in worship at times down in Gulf Shores. Blessing came to those folks because of thinking and planning here in Zion. Listening to the Lord and Seeking His Service. We have had some pretty big plans in 2003. We now have a nice fellowship building. We've gleaned some ideas after a month of thinking about outreach last August. Here's what God laid on people's hearts: 1) Let's reach out to those we meet--for the Lord has sent them our way--to share our faith and invite them to enter the door. 2) Let's reach out to older citizens and welcome all age groups. 3) Let's do monthly pot lucks or dinners and advertise and open them to the community for even or Sunday after church. 4) Let's do a monthly activity like board games and the like and open it up to our community. 5) Let's invite everybody to church and then pick them up. 6) Let's pray. 7) Let's concentrate on getting our own members to church. 8) Let's have some work project with the Boy Scouts. 9) Let's have some activity for youth like getting together to show good movies. 10) Let's have a program for adults with a speaker and that kind of thing. The Bible and Focus in Life. All these ideas have some potential. Let's look to the Bible for a minute. Jesus in Luke 2:49 confronts his own parents with their agenda. He is very clear that the focus is to be on the Father's business. Psalm 40:8 makes it clear that God's will, e.g., mankind's salvation, is wrapped up in His Word, the Bible. Jeremiah 15:16 explains that we are happy in the Lord when we take the Word God inside. God's Word and You and I. As we look to another year, the 99th year of Zion Lutheran Church, let us work together to study and incorporate God's Word in our lives, particularly as we think and plan and implement some of these suggestions the Lord has provided. Perhaps you would like to be involved in one of these specific ideas. Why not talk to one of our Council members or Pastor Dave about what you think you can do? ~Pastor Dave Church Council The church council of Zion Lutheran Church meets at 7:00 PM on the first Tuesday following the first Sunday of each month. 2003 Council members are: Pete Midgarden, Chairman; Darlene Tasso, Treasurer; Loreli Walker, Secretary; Linda Gibbs; Ralph Utter; Vera Avera, Charlie Canning. All members of Zion are invited and encouraged to attend council meetings. In 2003, Zion Lutheran Church received a $2,000 grant from Thrivent Foundation. We are one of seventeen congregations of the Association of Free Lutheran Congregations to share in the $40,000 grant given through the Foundation's Church Extension program. This Thrivent grant program gives seven Lutheran national church bodies $1,750,000 each year to develop new congregations and assist established congregations to undertake special evangelism programs. Calendar Sunday School 9:00 Worship Service 10:00 Luther’s Approach to Living “God grant us all to live as we teach and to practice what we preach.” ~Martin Luther Schedules, Events and Activities: Thur, Jan 1 New Years Day Sun, Jan 4 Reader: Cindi Johnson Prayer: Pete Midgarden Communion Tues, Jan 6 Council Meeting 7:00 PM Wed, Jan 7 Bible Study 7:00 PM Sun, Jan 11 Reader: Midgarden Prayer: Canning Wed, Jan 14 Bible Study 7:00 PM Sun, Jan 18 Reader: Margaret Stephens Prayer: Mack Gibbs Communion Annual Congregational Meeting Mon, Jan 19 Martin Luther King Day Wed, Jan 21 Bible Study 7:00 PM Sun, Jan 25 Reader: Gibbs Prayer: Midgarden Cake & Coffee after service Wed, Jan 28 Bible Study 7:00 PM Altar This Month Margaret & Shirley Stephens Church Cleaning Schedule Jan. 3 Canning Jan . 10 Burnett Jan. 17 Midgarden Jan. 24 Stephens Jan. 31 Pitcher January Birthdays Jan. 13 Darlene Tasso Jan. 17 Clareen Wells Jan. 20 Elizabeth Masters January Anniversaries none AN ANALYSIS OF THE SMALL CHURCH The average church in the United States attracts fewer than 90 adults on a typical weekend, while only two percent of churches attract more than 1,000 adults. The latest study from the Barna Research Group ( www.barna.org) may indicate why small churches stay small and large churches grow larger. Barna's findings suggest that "small churches are more likely to draw people who are not college graduates and are more likely to appeal to people with lower household incomes." Barna found that this profile "correlates with less aggressive growth patterns in organizations and a limited number of effective leaders." Mid-sized and larger churches attract adults whose education and income levels enable the church to take more risks, be more aggressive in marketing, and draw resources from deeper pockets and broader backgrounds. These individuals are more comfortable with leadership requirements, decision-making and organizational growth. They are also more conservative in their theological, social and political views. Adults under 35 years of age are the most likely group to attend small churches, possibly because they are less likely to have small children, and providing children with a quality ministry experience is a main reason for church attendance. Larger churches are typically better able to offer more programs and opportunities for children. Small churches have a lower proportion of attenders who are "spiritually active" (those who attend a service, read the Bible and pray during a typical week). They are also less likely to claim that their religious faith is "very important" in their life, to be born again, to believe in salvation by grace alone, and to have an orthodox view of God. George Barna believes these views undermine a solid theological foundation for congregational growth. However, he also points out that small churches "reach millions of young adults who have nointerest in a larger church setting, … [and] have tremendous potential for building strong community,as well as spiritual foundations." "Jesus did not die on the cross to fill up church auditoriums," he cautioned. "He diedso that people might know God personally and be transformed in all dimensions of their life through their ongoing relationship with Him. Such a personal reformation can happen in a church ofany size. After all, the goal of every church should not be numerical growth, but spiritualhealth and vitality."