Hope UCC February Newsletter
Hope UCC February Newsletter
window
HOPE UCC 150 NINTH AVENUE HIAWATHA IA 52233 VOL 11 NO 2 January
2011
New Council
Members Installed
On January 16, new council
members were inducted.
Reta Saylor will chair
Stewardship, Adrian Evans
takes over as Council
President and Betty
Hohensee will chair
Friendship.
Not
Save the Date!
3rd Annual
“First Breakfast”
Get a SUB Sandwich March 6, 2011 - 9 am in the
pictured, Regan Bloomquist who takes over as Fellowship Hall
Membership And Support
Enrichment Hope
chair. Thank you to Enjoy a yummy breakfast
Youth!
outgoing chairs for the work for the good of provided by the Membership
Hope. Committee and fun and
Order your Super Bowl Sub Sandwich from conversation with fellow Hope
Andrew or Kayla Buck by February 2! These members. We’ll also welcome
delicious and generous sandwiches will be Pastor Sue!
built by Hope’s youth group during church
services and be ready for you to pick up on Free will donations will be accepted.
SUPER BOWL SUNDAY, February 6!
You can order by emailing
Kayla at [email protected] or
Andrew at [email protected].
From the Minister’s Desk
SAYING GOODBYES
After 17 years in one place, moving on is daunting for both pastor and parish. So I reflected on our time
together and came up with a few insights.
1. The church I came to in 1993 is not the church we have today. We have gone through both slow and exciting
years. We have tried many ways to stimulate mission and community. Some worked and others didn’t. We kept
working at it and even the popular things will outlive their day. We are pilgrims in a strange land. We must
listen to the silent voice of God and follow into uncharted lands. The journey is scary at times until we
remember that we are following the word of God, directing us to new expressions of Good News. Change is
God’s middle name.
2. Hope is one of the few churches in Iowa that is young and growing. We have grown in numbers and giving in
every year since my predecessor’s years; from 142 solid members in 1993 to 289 today, from $88,000 in
pledges in 93 to $105,000 today. My favorite ”talking point” has been that ‘the best years are still ahead of us.”
I think Hope agrees.
3. Hope is ready for new leadership and is already lifting up new talent within its family to promote exciting
new directions. I am discovering how set in my ways I have become and I bow to our leaders and cheer them
on. Trust them, they are wise in their young ways and will help Hope grow in spirit and mission.
Iowa Conference Minister Rich Pleva recently prayed that all of us in Iowa would discover the ever-new
freedom of Christ. I end with a paraphrase of his prayer.
Guide us O God to embrace hope - even when despair seems more realistic. Guide us to love God and all of
humankind - even when God seems distant and humankind beyond all hope. Guide us to open ourselves to
something new - maybe even the prospect of being made new ourselves - even when it seems we've already
seen it all or that the change necessary is in the other man or woman.
Peace
Fill the Pews for Fritz in February
A great way to honor Fritz and his 17 years of service at Hope, is to come to
church! Fritz’s last sermon will be given on February 27th. If you haven’t been
to church for a while, this is a wonderful time to come and catch up with old
friends, make some new ones and give Fritz the gift of your presence at Hope.
Plus, it’s a gift that doesn’t cost you a thing!
Present: John Nus, Mary Nus, Betty Hohensee, Julie L, Adrian Evans, Joan Meier, Karla
Grauberger, Ruth Vial, Fritz Mellberg, Jim Wooldridge, Cathy Evers, Denise Mineck
Call to Order: Adrian Evans
Opening Prayer: Fritz Mellberg
Community Building:
Minutes from previous meeting: motion/2nd/approved by vote
Treasurer’s Report: motion/2nd/approved by vote after discussion
Committee Reports:
Building/Property: toilet in girls restroom replaced, water heater in new addition needs to be
looked at/replaced. Snow removals for Dec. 24, 2010 do not pay. Could use a couple more
people to help with mowing this summer.
Worship/Music: Christmas decorations are down, could have used a little more help. Getting
music set up for this year.
Membership Enrichment: Regan Bloomquist is new chair, have split out some of the jobs in
the committee so the chair doesn’t have help. Mentoring group meets Jan. 20.
Stewardship: meeting next month. Please remember your pledges and keep them up to
date.
Christian Ed: attendance is very low, planning a friendship Feb. bring a friend and get a
prize. Will be making valentines cards to sell along with baked goods on Feb. 6 and 13. The
proceeds will go to the Heifer project.
Mission: donations for Christmas gifts for Harrison school and Home Instead went over very
well. Mission brochure is in the works. Financial Peace University started on Jan. 16 and went
well.
Friendship: still deciding on how to spend money from silent auction. Plans are being made
to do something for valentines.
Old Business:
Scrip audit is being worked on; sign committee has a bid from Media Quest and had a
presentation from the committee on this. Interim pastor has been hired, will sign contract at the
March council meeting.
Pastor’s Report:
Will be in LA in February for an award, had a baptism this month, Fritz and Gretchen have had
open houses for church members as he is retiring.
New Business:
Michelle Grauberger is hoping to on a trip abroad this summer with People 2 People, and
needs to raise funds to go. She wants to do a parents night out on Feb. 11 and use the building,
the council gave their approval on this.
A motion/2nd/approved by vote to donate $100.00 to Michelle to help assist her to go on the
trip with People 2 People. The president will draft a scholarship policy for future students.
Our secretary Susie Lucas is leaving us on Jan. 20. There was a motion/2nd/approved by vote
to pay her for 7 days of holiday and 2 weeks of vacation for the year ending 2010 for a total of
39 hours.
Will be moving our advertising to Yellow book instead of DEX as it is cheaper.
Christian Ed.
thanks Santa and
the elves for the
great visit and wonderful treats!
Hope Church is on Facebook now! Which means you can post personal news and photos
on the Hope Church Facebook page. This is a terrific tool for us to stay connected.
Facebook is where we can be a informal with discussions and photos and share personal
news.
If you do not have a computer, and would like to see what all this computer
stuff is about, sign up on the sheet in the narthex and we’ll coordinate a
learning/sharing time this spring. Don’t be shy, any dog can learn a new trick!
The meeting was called to order at 7:15 pm by chairperson, Denise Mineck. Members
present were Lois Bennett, Irene Fay, Betty Hohensee, Denise Mineck and Vayla
Waddington.
Agenda accepted.
CORRESPONDENCE: The committee received thank you notes from the following: Home
Instead (Santa to a Senior); Harrison School (Christmas gifting and seasonal donations);
and “adopted daughter”, Reynasul Sarne from the Philippines (financial help with her
education). Also, thank you notes for donations given in the year 2010 were received
from Four Oaks; Linn County Food Bank; One Great Hour of Sharing; Crop Walk; Green
Square Meals and Willis Dady.
OLD BUSINESS: **There was good participation from the church congregation with
Christmas giving projects: Santa to a Senior and Harrison School Families. All applicants
were gifted. **Fifth Sunday speaker for the month of January 2011 has been confirmed.
The topic will be Justice for Our Neighbors. **The Financial Peace University will be
starting on January 16, 2011. Childcare for those participating will be provided by
Chelsea Ludovissy. **The Mission Committee Brochure is still being planned with
publication at a later date.
NEW BUSINESS: ** Lois Bennett reported the following donations in the year 2010:
(1). 151 Bags of food given to the Linn County Food Bank
(2). 130 quilts made by the Monday Morning Quilters, given to the Linus Project,
Waypoint and Camp Courageous
Women’s Fellowship
January 2011 Minutes
We had 11 women in attendance for our fellowship on January 10th. The meeting began
with a review of the 2010 Annual report. There were a few corrections that were noted.
After making the changes they were accepted as corrected.
Old Business: We received a Thank You note from Westover Manor for our help with
their Christmas Lunch.
The Ministry Lunch will be served on February 22, 2011 from 11AM-1PM and we will be
serving lunch for 15-20 pastors. Rhonda Kaczinski and Faye Cieslek volunteered to chair
the committee. We will all pitch in to help serve the lunch (soup/sandwiches/dessert).
The Boutique is scheduled for April 30th with a Gardening theme. We are going to order
flowers through Ellen Krause (hopefully) and will get 50 geranium pots and 15 pansy
baskets. Rhonda will design the postcard. We will be baking pies and cinnamon rolls on
April 29th.
I am so thankful for the Norma Lange fell and broke her hip and is now at
generous spirit of the Hope Hiawatha Care Center for therapy.
Family! Your gifts of time and
Boneata Kautz is recovering at home from her
support are appreciated!
heart spell.
Thank you Fritz, You have
Olivia Meier has accepted a full scholarship to
married 2 of my children,
Upper Iowa University to stuffy biology and play
baptized all 6 of my
basketball.
grandchildren, helped my family
through my cancer. Thank you- I Mary Nus’s paintings are displayed at the Blue
WILL MISS YOU! –Nancy Lehman Strawberry Coffee Company at 118 2nd Street
downtown Cedar Rapids through February.
If you have something great
Margaret Debner’s daughter Jennifer met with her
neurosurgeon yesterday and he gave her the
to say about Hope Church, write it on a pink HOPEful Accolade sheet found in
each pew and place it in the offering plate. Or just call the office!
The Evan’s joined Hope in 2004. Adrian has served on Parish Relations (by the way, he’s
looking for a replacement – almost no meetings!!) In 2010, he chaired the stewardship
committee and was lucky to work with a fantastic group of Hope members – he was
always surprised by their energy and dedication to making Hope a better place. Last
week, Adrian was installed as the new Council President. He’s looking forward to the
challenge, knowing full well that the energy and passion of Hope will drive us forward in
our new direction. When Adrian was asked about goals for his presidential term:
In this term, we as a church are going to be undergoing some pretty big changes.
We have Fritz retiring, a new interim minister coming in to help us work through
our feelings- both positive and negative and we need to understand that there are
going to be positive and negative feelings! But we are also going to be looking to
call a new pastor, after about a year, so I am looking forward to facilitating that,
building the search committee, creating our profile and looking to really keep Hope
on the move. If I can accomplish one thing, it would be that I am able to keep our
energy and focus aimed at the best future that we can create for ourselves.
Adrian’s favorite thing about Hope is the atmosphere of acceptance that is all around the
church. People are always willing to help out but he’s found that sometimes, we need to
take the initiative and look to involve ourselves, volunteering to join committees, help
with Hog Wild Days, take care of snacks for the Sunday School groups among other
examples. When we are willing to put ourselves out a little bit, Hope members really
respond and become even more accepting!
In between globetrotting and chasing after his kids, Adrian is a big sports fan, especially
of hockey and soccer (which he also coaches). He also loves to read and Amy bought
him an e-reader in hopes he’d stop spending so much money at used bookstores! If you
don’t already, get to know Adrian and his family!
Valentines Forever
The Friendship Committee is planning a reception for Valentines. Pastor Fritz will be
doing Renewal of Marriage Vows, as a group, following worship service on Sunday,
February 13th. There will be refreshments in the Fellowship Hall following the ceremony.
If you don’t want to take part in the Renewl of the Vows you can go to the Fellwoship Hall
for coffee and we’ll join you shortly.
Greeting From Hope’s Interim, Pastor Sue Weier, who will begin
March 7!
I have been asked to write a letter of introduction. I was born and raised in Iowa. I am a graduate of
the University of Northern Iowa. Then I attended seminary at Iliff School of Theology in Denver
Colorado. I came back to Iowa in 1983 to serve 3 churches in NE Iowa for 7 years and then one
church in NW Iowa for 3 years.
I am a trained intentional interim minister and I have served 7 churches in that capacity in Michigan
(1994-2007). It is a ministry I value and enjoy. I bring many skills to interim ministry. I am a non-
anxious presence. I am down to earth, direct, and accepting. I am loving and caring. I love God and
seek to serve God through a ministry of faithfulness.
An intentional interim ministry seeks to do away with the typical awkwardness and confusion during
this time of transition. It is a prime time for renewal. My goal during this transition time is to slow
those who want to rush the process and nudge those who are stuck. I have an open door policy.
That means I am open to talking with anyone about anything in the church. I will be setting office
hours (especially the first few months I am with you) that reflect a variety of times. I will have a day I
will be in the office in the morning, another in the afternoon, and I will try and have one evening that
will be available too. I hope you stop by and get acquainted.
Unlike a resident pastor, an interim’s agenda is to engage the congregation in the interim process and
tasks, not to start new programs or to simply go along with business as usual. I will be asking lots of
questions.
February will be a time for you to celebrate the ministry you have shared with Fritz. Saying a healthy
goodbye is as important as a welcome. I hope it is a month of remembering with love the times
shared, letting go of any misunderstandings, and having extra special experiences.
I look forward to joining you in ministry in March. I will write more for your next newsletter about the
process and what you can expect during this transition time.
In Christ,
Pastor Sue
Scrip Donations to Church Projects
Bob and Kathy Lander have shepherded the Scrip program since it’s beginning at Hope.
Here is a list of the benefits it has brought to us. Buy Scrip every Sunday or call them to
make special orders.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name ___________________________ Age_____
Food/Other Allergies_____________________________________
_____________________________________________________
**Please write information for additional children on the back of this sheet**
***If your child may fall asleep, please bring a pillow and blanket/sleeping bag***
___________________________________
NON-PROFIT GANIZATION
US POSTAGE PAID Permit No. 5
HIAWATHA, IOWA 52233-1710
THE WINDOW
Vol. 1No. 2
HOPE UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST
150 9th Avenue
HIAWATHA, IOWA 52233-1710
Office Phone (319) 393-2400
Fredrich Mellberg, Minister
Home- 363-6577
Worship 10:30 AM
Email: [email protected]
Web: http://www.hope-ucc.com
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED