Christmas Eve Services

9:00 p.m.

+++ Spotlight December 2010 +++

Advent Services 2010

Christ – Elkhart: Wednesdays at 7 pm.

Faith – Hugoton: Thursdays at 7 pm.

Faith

Divine Service – Sunday 9 am.

Faith Sunday School – Sunday 10:15 am.

Faith Confirmation 1 Class – After Christmas.

Faith Confirmation 2 Class – Thurs., 5:30.

Faith Advent Service, Midweek – Thurs., 7:00 pm.

December Volunteers at Faith:

Elder – Ray. Usher – Larry. Altar – Josh.

Christ

elkhartlutheranchurch.blogspot.com

Sunday School – Sunday 10 am.

Divine Service – Sunday 11 am.

Christ Confirmation Class – 4:00 pm Sundays.

Christ Advent Service, Midweek – Wed., 7:00 pm.

December Birthdays

12/2 Adam & Susan Carey

12/4 Ramona Johnson

12/8 Anne Fincher

12/11 Eldon Bultman

12/12 Arden Nusser

12/18 Tammy Hardy

12/22 Tim Hardy

12/23 Bobbi Horton

12/26 Anna Dobie

12/29 Carol Wilson

December Baptisms

12/14 Anne Fincher

December Anniversaries

12/6 Adam & Susan Carey

12/27 Tom & Jody Wiggins

12/31 Tom & Rena Brewer

Christmas Eve Services: Faith at 7 pm, Christ at 9 pm. Sign up to participate in the readings on the set of sheets in the Narthex, and take a copy of the service for practice.

Christ Mass! The Lord's Supper will be offered in a brief, spoken service at Christ on Christmas Day at 9 am, and all are invited to attend.

Faith, Hugoton

Lutheran Witness Subscription has been invoiced,w which means it is time to submit payment to the church. If you are confused about how much you owe, please contact the pastor or treasurer, and they will be able to give you an amount to drop in the offering. Submit checks with “Lutheran Witness” on the memo line.

Heating Repairs represent an unexpected expense for this past month, but you have an opportunity to help! If you are interested in helping to cover the cost of repair, giving thanks all the while for warm fingers and noses, feel free to drop a little something in the container in the narthex.

+++

Christ, Elkhart

Student Adoption: Christ is supporting Seminarist Samuel Wirgau in his last year of preparation for pastoral ministry. A letter from Sam is available in the narthex. Please keep Samuel, his wife DoRena and their daughter Sarena in your prayers during his fourth year of seminary.

Sunday Attendance

Nov 14: Faith – 14. Christ – 28.

Nov 21: Faith – 29. Christ – 25.

Nov 28: Faith – 33. Christ – 34.

Christmas Services 2010

Christmas Eve

Faith at 7 pm, Christ at 9 pm.

Christmas Day

Christ – Elkhart: 9 am.

Church Christmas Decorating

November 28th after church services we will be decorating the church for Christmas. We are going to order pizzas for lunch. Join the fun!!!

There will also be a short meeting at this time to make the finial decisions on the stain glass windows.

+++ Spotlight November 2010 +++

Schedule of Events

Advent Services 2010: Christ, Elkhart will have their services on Wednesdays. Faith, Hugoton will have their services on Thursdays. Services will be held at 7:00 at both locations.

Faith

Divine Service – Sunday 9 am.

Faith Sunday School – Sunday 10:15 am.

Faith Midweek Confirmation 1 Class – Wed., 4:15

Faith Midweek Acts Class – Wed., 6:45

November Volunteers at Faith:

Elder – Steven. Usher – Greg. Altar – Kepleys. Cleaning – Hickeys.

Christ

elkhartlutheranchurch.blogspot.com

Sunday School – Sunday 10 am

Divine Service – Sunday 11 am.

Christ Confirmation Class – 4:00 pm Sundays.

November Birthdays

11/5 Virgil Brune

11/5 Tom Frederick

11/7 Nila Belle Nusser

11/10 Colton Hardy

11/11 Aidan Fincher

11/12 Darrell Hickey

11/24 Karen Yoder

11/25 Rebecca Van Donge

11/28 Milton Brune

November Anniversaries

11/03 Melvin & Ruby Bultman

November Baptisms

11/26 Miranda Brewer

Faith, Hugoton

Faith Lutheran Voters will meet next Sunday, November 7 after services. Service times will be reversed in order to have this meeting. Potluck.

Mission Giving Possibilities. At our next meeting, we will be dealing with the issue of our mission funds for the coming year. Last year the voters decided to direct the funds to an area in which they would be applied more specifically. The pastor is recommending that we direct our mission giving for the year to the Kurt Marquart Fund for Theological Education in Haiti. The advantage to this giving is that gifts become a part of the perpetual fund which remains untouched, but the interest is applied to assist those studying for the ministry in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Haiti. It is hard to estimate how much benefit will be received on the basis of a one-time gift of this fund, because in fact the fund itself will outlive all of us, and continue working for the kingdom of God for many years.

+++

Christ, Elkhart

Christ Lutheran Church Clothing Bank is closing. There are a number of reasons for this. The primary reason is that there is a vast difference between the number of clothes donated and the number of clothes actually needed in our community. Donations consist primarily of adult clothing, and demand is primarily for children's clothing. Also, demand is somewhat lower now than it was at the beginning of the project. If anything, we will be keeping children's clothing on hand to allow for us to meet specific needs as they arise.

Student Adoption: The Voters at Christ voted at their last meeting to support a student directly rather than going through the Financial Aid Office of the Seminary. The student selected in cooperation with Pr. David Carver, whom we supported a couple of years ago, was Sem. Samuel Wirgau. Keep Samuel, his wife Dorena and their daughter Sarena in your prayers during his fourth year of seminary.

Service Times Switched

(Christ at 9 am, Faith at 11 am).

Sunday, Nov. 7. for Faith's annual meeting.

Mark the calendars, remind your family and friends, and set the alarm clock to make it to church on time!

Upcoming Events

• Circuit Winkel Tuesday, December 14 – Holy Cross, Dodge City.

Important dates

Oct. 20, 7:00 p.m. will be the ARC meeting between Hugoton and Elkhart. The meeting will be held at Christ Lutheran Church, Elkhart.

Oct. 24 - Voters meeting will follow Sunday morning services and a potluck dinner.

Kids - Sunday School at 10:00 each Sunday morning.

+++ Spotlight October 2010 +++

From the Pastor's Desk:

This month I have been asked to share this space with one of our members at Faith, Hugoton, Steve Lucas. His contribution came out of a meeting at Faith, but the words are good ones for all of us to hear:

“The financial state of Faith is always changing. We have good months and not so good months. The not so good months usually occur during vacation and recreation times. Many eventually make up missed offerings but some have this slip their mind. The Biblical testimony on giving and money is clear, yet we are not called to guilt or sad resignation or even grim-faced duty. Instead, we are called to joy. Giving must be a joyful response to God's grace.

“Paul asked for money like this: I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. (2 Corinthians 8:8-9). In other words, the difference between moralists (those who think that God accepts them because of their goodness) and Christians (who know they are sinners saved purely by grace) is that a Christian wants to give as generously as he or she has received. The first and last truth that must guide us in all we do, including the stewardship of our possessions, is God's grace for us in Jesus Christ. As we follow him, we trust that he will provide for us as individuals and as a church, and we know that his Kingdom will continue to flourish in our midst.

“We have the wonderful opportunity to manage His church with our conscious and prayerful commitment to serve and financially support Christ's mission in this life.”

Steve is right. All too often we think that we are giving for the church, almost in the same way in which we pay for a hamburger at McDonalds. In fact, the first reason God has commanded to give is for ourselves. We need to give, to be reminded that our money, our bodies, and our time are not our own. They all belong to God, and as we give them into his hands of grace, trusting him to care for us, his grace works through what we have given to provide salvation for us and for others. What greater honor is there than to be co-laborers with God? As we draw closer to the end of the year, let us look at our finances with this fact in mind—God has given us everything we have, and we are trusted by him to manage everything we have wisely, realizing that his gifts are not for us alone. He intends for us to share everything we have, generously, with his church and with those who are in need.

If we flip through our checkbooks, does the record of how we have used God's money tell us that we are people of faith? Hear God's call to repentance and joyful, earnest obedience, sent this time through our brother Steve, in Jesus' name.

October Birthdays

10/18 Miranda Brewer

10/20 Ruby Bultman

10/21 Andrea Reza

10/30 Tom Brewer

10/31 Tracie Bowker

10/ Lindy Yannis

October Anniversaries

10/21 Larry & Karen Yoder

10/15 Tom & Sue Frederick

October Baptisms

10/09 Mica Nave

Schedule of Events

Faith

Divine Service – Sunday 9 am.

Faith Sunday School – Sunday 10:15 am.

Faith Midweek Confirmation 1 Class – Wed., 4:15

Faith Confirmation 2a – Wed., 5:30

Faith Confirmation 2b – Sat., 10/16 & 30, 9:30 am

Faith Midweek Acts Class – Wed., 6:45

October Volunteers at Faith:

Elder – Paul. Usher – Ray. Altar – Josh.

Christ

elkhartlutheranchurch.blogspot.com

Sunday School – Sunday 10 am

Divine Service – Sunday 11 am.

Christ Confirmation Class – 4:00 pm Sundays.

LCMS

Each congregation has received a Constitutional Amendment Ballot in connection with the resolutions passed by the 2010 Synodical Convention. Congregations must use the official ballot to cast their affirmative or negative vote and return it to the Secretary of the Synod. A two-thirds majority vote by all congregations will result in ratification of the amendments. The voters of each congregation will have an opportunity to discuss the amendments and their implications at their next meeting.

Faith, Hugoton

Voters Meeting – Sunday, Nov. 14. Service times will be switched for our annual meeting (Christ meeting at 9 am, Faith at 11 am). Potluck!

Mission Giving Possibilities. At our next meeting, we will be dealing with the issue of our mission funds for the coming year. Last year the voters decided to direct the funds to an area in which they would be applied more specifically. The pastor is recommending that we direct our mission giving for the year to the Kurt Marquart Fund for Theological Education in Haiti. The advantage to this giving is that gifts become a part of the perpetual fund which remains untouched, but the interest is applied to assist those studying for the ministry in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Haiti. It is hard to estimate how much benefit will be received on the basis of a one-time gift from this fund, because in fact the fund itself will outlive all of us, and continue working for the kingdom of God for many years.

+++

Christ, Elkhart

Christ Voters are due to have a meeting in the month of October based on Article II – Meetings in the congregation's Bylaws. This is not our annual meeting, which is held in January, but still provides an opportunity for fellowship, for dealing with the Constitutional Amendment Ballot we received from the Synod, and for the always enjoyable potluck!

Christ Lutheran Church Clothing Bank is closed for the month of October. During the month of September, there were four total visits, and at least one family of children was provided for. The problem that we are facing is that we receive far more donations than we are able to give away, especially when it comes to women's clothing. The pastor is considering limiting our focus to children's clothing and winter coats, in order to meet those needs that are most urgent when they arise.

Student Adoption: The Voters at Christ voted at their last meeting to support a student directly rather than going through the Financial Aid Office of the Seminary. The pastor has the names of a number of students. If there are students at either seminary who are known to you personally and who you would like to see our congregation support, please submit the name to the pastor before the next voters' meeting

Christ.

Mission Giving: The check sent from Christ to the Kurt Marquart Fund for Theological Education was received and directed to the perpetual fund, from which interest is applied to the costs of training pastors for Haiti. A letter of thanks is on the bulletin board in the narthex.

Service Times Switched – Sunday, Nov. 14. Service times will be switched for Faith's annual meeting (Christ meeting at 9 am, Faith at 11 am). Mark the calendars, remind your family and friends, and set the alarm clock to make it to church on time!

+++

Upcoming Events

• Kansas District Pastors Conference in Junction City, October 17 – 19.

• Circuit Winkel Tuesday, November 9 – Grace, Ulysses .

• Circuit Winkel Tuesday, December 14 – Holy Cross, Dodge City.

+ + + Spotlight September 2010 + + +

From the Pastor's Desk:

I have had a wonderful vacation—unfortunately,
vacation means not working, so while I have plenty of
thoughts concerning the life of our parish, they have
not been written down. It is the first of the month,
the newsletter is overdue, so I must forbear. God's
peace be with you as school starts again and as you
continue that day to day struggle which is the
Christian life!

September Birthdays
9/03 Hannah Rodriquez
9/05 Ray Reed
9/15 Bob Johnson
9/16 Carolyn Langley
9/23 Chance Yoder
9/24 Mica Nave
9/24 Ruby Reed

September Anniversaries
9/01 Tim & Tammy Hardy
9/07 Walter & Taren
Hicks
September Baptisms
9/25 Colton Hardy
9/25 Tammy Hardy

Schedule of Events
Faith
Divine Service – Sunday 9 am.
Faith Sunday School – Will resume with the new
school year.
Faith Midweek Confirmation 1 Class – Wed., 4:15
Faith Confirmation 2 Class – TBA
Faith Midweek Acts Class – Wed., 6:45

September Volunteers at Faith:
Elder – Greg. Usher – Josh. Altar – Anna. Acolyte –
Kaitlyn. Cleaning – Dobies. Mowing and Watering –
Dobies.

Christ, Elkhart
elkhartlutheranchurch.blogspot.com
Divine Service – Sunday 11 am.
Christ Confirmation Class – 4:00 pm Sundays.

Clothing Bank – 9:00 am – noon Saturday

Faith, Hugoton
Voters Meeting September 12. Service times will
remain unchanged, but our November meeting will
require a change in service times.
Mission Giving Possibilities. At our next meeting,
we will be dealing with the issue of our mission funds
for the coming year. Last year the voters decided to
direct the funds to an area in which they would be
applied more specifically. The pastor is
recommending that we direct our mission giving for
the year to the Kurt Marquart Fund for Theological
Education in Haiti. The advantage to this giving is
that gifts become a part of the fund which will remain
untouched, but the interest is applied to assist those
studying for the ministry in the Evangelical Lutheran
Church of Haiti, especially during this time of
reconstruction following the earthquake. For those
who have Internet access and are interested in
reading more: www.marquartfund.org.
+++
Christ, Elkhart
Clothing Bank Donations can be made any time by
bringing donations to the Christ Lutheran Church.
The pastor is opening the Clothing Bank every
Saturday during the month of September on a trial
basis, in hopes of serving more people as school starts
and cooler weather draws near.
Student Adoption: The Voters at Christ also voted to
support a student directly rather than going through
the Financial Aid Office of the Seminary. The pastor
has the names of a number of students. If there are
students at either seminary who are known to you
personally and who you would like to see our
congregation support, please submit the name to the
pastor before the next voters' meeting
+++
Upcoming Events
Circuit Meeting – Tues., 9/14 at Holy Cross, Scott City
KS LCMS Pastors Conference – 10/17-10/19 Junction City

The Spotlight + September 2010 +
Christ Lutheran Church - Elkhart, KS

Faith Lutheran Church – Hugoton, KS

Spotlight - August

+ The Spotlight +

Christ Lutheran Church - Elkhart, KS

Faith Lutheran Church – Hugoton, KS

From the Pastor's Desk:
Occasionally the question comes up, “Why do we
worship the way we do? Isn't it overly formal?
Wouldn't it attract more people to our services if we
made things a little more modern?”
Why do we worship the way we do? Quite frankly,
because it's the way Christians have worshiped for
2000 years. Before the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the people of Israel had been worshiping the One True
God liturgically for a millennium and a half. Why?
Because it's the way God told them to do it.
God had given his people very specific instructions
through Moses, recorded for us in the first five books
of the Bible, which governed the worship that should
be directed toward him. They were to build an altar.
They were to offer him spotless animals from the
flock. They were to pray certain prayers, and perform
certain actions. They were to understand from the
actions they performed that the forgiveness of sins
required the shedding of blood, the loss of a life.
Of course, the liturgy developed over time. God had
given them a basic outline, but God's people added
appropriate prayers. God guided his people as they
expressed their sorrow for their sins and their joy at
being called to be his people. Some of those prayers
are now recorded in the book of Psalms.
When Christ came, he came into a situation where
everyone was very familiar with the worship services
used in the Temple and Synagogue. This was not an
accident—it was part of his design for the Church.
When his followers were banned later from
worshiping in the Temple and cast out of the
synagogues—part of the persecution they suffered for
believing Jesus is the Messiah—they took the service
with them. The worship God had given his people in
the Old Testament continued into the New Testament.
Only now, it was not about the sacrifice that pointed
forward to the forgiveness of sins won by Christ on
the cross. It was about receiving that forgiveness in
his body and blood in the Lord's Supper. The shadow
of the Old Testament had been traded for the reality
of the New. Where in ages past they saw the
sacrificial lamb and perhaps wondered how God
would ultimately take away their sins, in the Church,
from the very beginning, we have prayed, “O Christ,
Thou Lamb of God, that takest away the sin of the
world, have mercy upon us!”
The actions which we perform in worship today were
not dropped out of heaven the way the worship of the
Israelites was. But they developed, in a long,
unbroken process, from the worship of the Tabernacle,
the Temple, the Synagogue and the Early Church. The
motions and prayers, the symbols that we use, are all
designed for one thing—to direct our faith to the
blood that was shed on account of our sins, to the life
that was lost so that we might be saved, to the Lamb
of God who is the only source for eternal life. Why is
our worship formal? Because we worship a great
God and King, who gives great gifts, who promises
things that are impossible for us in a great feast that
he sets for us here every week. Formality is how we
celebrate great occasions in our culture. It used to be
that nobody could conceptualize an informal
wedding, or even not wearing a tie to Sunday dinner.
It says something about our culture that informal is
the way everything is expected to be.
So, is liturgy the only way Christians can worship?
Probably not, but it's definitely the best. The fact of
the matter is that every church has a liturgy—an order
of service--even if it's not carried out by the pastor
and congregation reading certain words and singing
certain things out of a book every week. In some
churches the liturgy is that they sing a few songs,
pray, hear the sermons, take the offering, pray again,
and go home. The advantage of the liturgy that we
have is that it makes sure that regardless of what
songs, prayers, and sermon say, the central truth,
Christ crucified for our sins and raise for our
justification, is the point that gets across. “Even if it's
not an amazing service, we are still saying things that
are true about God,” an Anglican priest once told me.
It's with that goal—that we would say things that are
true about God, understand his love and his mercy
toward us, and turn from our sins and be saved, that
motivated God to give liturgy to his people in the first
place.


August Birthdays
8/03 Warren Bowker
8/13 Belva Hickey
8/16 Vanessa Reza
8/18 Michael Addington
8/18 Erin Fincher
8/26 Bettie Bach
8/28 Verda Ellsaesser
8/29 Kayleigh Pomeroy
August Anniversaries
8/04 Carol & Carl Wilson
8/17 Darrell & Belva
Hickey

August Baptisms
8/02 Shaylee Addington
8/18 Michael Addington

Schedule of Events
Faith
Divine Service – Sunday 9 am.
Faith Sunday School – Resumes September.
Faith Confirmation 2 Class – 9:30 Wednesdays.
Faith Confirmation 1 Class – 11:30 Wednesdays.

Christ
elkhartlutheranchurch.blogspot.com
Divine Service – Sunday 11 am.
Christ Confirmation Class – Resumes September.
Clothing Bank – open as announced.
Sunday School – Will resume in September.

Faith, Hugoton
August Volunteers at Faith:
• Elder: Ray.
• Usher: Pete.
• Altar: Christine.
• Cleaning: O'Loughlins.
• Mowing and Watering: Tammy.

Christ, Elkhart
Clothing Bank Donations can be made any time by
bringing donations to the Christ Lutheran Church.
Mission Giving: The Voters at Christ chose to direct
their mission giving for this year to the Kurt Marquart
Fund for Theological Education in Haiti. The
advantage to this giving is that gifts become a part of
the fund which will remain untouched, but the
interest is applied to assist those studying for the
ministry in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Haiti,
especially during this time of reconstruction following
the earthquake. For those who have Internet access
and are interested in reading more:
marquartfund.org.
Student Adoption: The Voters at Christ also voted to
support a student directly rather than going through
the Financial Aid Office of the Seminary. The pastor
has a couple of names to offer so far. If there are
students at either seminary who are known to you
personally and who you would like to see our
congregation support, please submit the name to the
pastor before September, the beginning of the
academic year.

+++
A New Synodical President!
Rev. Matthew Harrison was elected Synodical
President at the LCMS Synodical Convention this past
month. He will be installed at the Concordia
Seminary Chapel of St. Timothy and St. Titus on
September 11, 2010. Pray for him and the other
officers to be installed that day, that God's will be
done among us as his people.

Upcoming Events
Circuit - Tuesday, Aug 10, Holy Cross, Dodge City
Circuit - Tuesday, Sept 14, Holy Cross, Scott City
Kansas District Pastors Conference, Oct 17 - 19
Circuit - Tuesday, Nov 9, Grace Ulysses
Circuit - Tuesday, Dec 14, Holy Cross, Dodge City

Voters Meeting at Christ

Christ Lutheran Church quarterly Voters Meeting will be held this Sunday July 25. We will have worship services at 11:00 followed by a pot-luck dinner and then the voters meeting.

+ + + + + The Spotlight July 2010 + + + +

From the Pastor's Desk:
Why isn't the Christ Candle being lit this time of
year? Some items of church furniture can be
puzzling when we see them being used at some
times and not others. Chief among these is the
Christ or Paschal Candle.
To understand the Christ Candle we need to
know something about the way our church year
is divided up—half the church year (the half with
Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, and Easter) is
spent meditating on the life and ministry of
Christ. During that time we consider His
teaching and how He came to us to give us life
and salvation. The other half of the year, the
Season of Pentecost (sometimes known as
Ordinary Time) is taken up with considering the
life of the Church after the Ascension. We
consider Christ's teachings and the life he has
given us, certainly, but we are looking back on
these things as a gift already received. If there is
something we are looking forward to, it's to His
Second Coming to judge the living and the dead.
The Christ Candle is a help for us in the first part
of the church year as we remember the physical
presence of Jesus among His disciples, at specific
times—Christmas, when we remember him newly
born; Epiphany, when we remember Christ's
manifestation of himself to the world as God in
the flesh; and Easter, when we remember Christ
restored to his disciples between the resurrection
and the Ascension. That physical presence among
them was a cause of great joy to them, but it was
not going to last forever. Christ would return to
the Father, and send the Holy Spirit to carry the
Church forward through all the ages.
But why leave the Christ Candle sitting in the
sanctuary during the other part of the year, if we
are not going to light it? Because, even unlit, it is
helping us to remember something. We are still
gathered together around Christ—but His bodily
presence is not the constant thing we would like
it to be. In the Lord's Supper we look at the host
and instead of our Lord we see a piece of bread,
He is there, but hidden from our sight. In the
same way, during this Time of the Church, Christ
is usually hidden from us, imperceptible, but not
absent. We long, in spite of his presence with us,
to see him face to face. That's the point of the
unlit Christ Candle, as well. We remember those
seasons of light that bring such joy—and we long
for them. We know what it is like to be with him,
because we have celebrated his immediate
presence among us in the Festival Season of the
church year, but now we live by faith, not by
sight! The time is coming when Christ will gather
us, just as the time is coming, in a more mundane
sense, when the Christ Candle will be lit again.
The unlit Christ Candle reminds us to rejoice,
because though now we live in a time of
separation, that time of separation really serves to
make the ultimate reunion all the more sweet!
Like so many things, the Christ Candle makes so
much more sense when we understand why it is
there, and what it is trying to tell us. Next time
you are in the church, and have opportunity to
consider the Christ Candle, standing there, unlit,
remember—these things, this separation from
loved ones who have gone before, this sadness
that comes so often in earthly life, is a temporary
thing. Christ will be restored to us, and with that
restoration will come all the joy, peace, and
permanence that we so often feel is missing. We
can be joyful in the midst of our sadness, “for our
light affliction, which is but for a moment, is
working for us a far more exceeding and eternal
weight of glory.” (2 Cor 4:17) Christ has done it
all for us, and he is coming to take us to be with
Him! Rejoice, in Jesus' Name!

Christ Lutheran Church - Elkhart, KS + Faith Lutheran Church – Hugoton, KS
July Birthdays
7/03 Tammy Kepley
7/06 Christine O'Loughlin
7/08 Jarrod Moser
7/09 Thomas Frederick
7/12 Louise Kee
7/16 Luke Dobie
7/18 Saul Reza
7/21 Richard Harlow
7/26 Beverly Steitz
7/28 Verna Van Donge
7/30 Allie Hardy
7/31 Betty Sitz
July Anniversaries
7/06 Warren & Tracie Bowker
7/06 Mike & Diane Pomeroy
7/15 Mike & Bobbi Horton
7/24 Paul & Anna Dobie
7/27 Saul & Courtney Reza

July Baptisms
7/07 Lance Addington
7/07 Régan Nave
7/25 Tammy Kepley
7/30 Jarrod Moser

Schedule of Events
Faith
Divine Service – Sunday 9 am.
Faith Midweek Confirmation Class – Wed, 9:30 am.
Christ
Divine Service – Sunday 11 am.

Christ Lutheran Clothing Bank – open as announced.

Faith, Hugoton
The work day this past month was a great
success! Much of what needed to be done around the
building has been done. Thanks to all those who
pitched in and made the church building a better
place to be!

June Volunteers
July volunteers at Faith are as follows:
Steven Lucas - Elder.
Larry Hickey - Usher.
Pam Hickey - Altar Care and Cleaning.
Pete Hickey - Mowing and Watering.
+++
Christ, Elkhart
Food Bank Donations can be made, any time it is
convenient for you, by taking them to the United
Methodist Church.
Clothing Bank Donations can be made any time by
bringing donations to the Christ Lutheran Church or
making arrangements with the pastor.
+++
Mission Giving Opportunities
Rev. James May's mission work based in Nairobi,
Kenya continues to move forward, and the channels
for his support have finally been put in place! This is
presented as an option for our mission giving, which
the voters decided to redirect a couple of meetings
ago at both Christ and Faith.

The Kurt Marquart Fund for Theological
Education in Haiti operates with an all-volunteer
staff for the purpose of providing funds for the
training of pastors for the Evangelical Lutheran
Church of Haiti. Before the earthquake in early 2010,
the ELCH had 102 congregations with more than
20,000 members, all of them served by seven ordained
pastors—14 congregations per pastor!

Donations to the fund are a gift that keeps on giving—
the fund itself remains intact, while its earnings are
distributed every year to provide for ongoing training
of men for the pastoral office, who will continue to
serve the people of Haiti. In the wake of the
earthquake, much of the work being done has been of
a more humanitarian nature, but this too is part of the
mission of the Church.



Upcoming Events
Open Doors Ministries Saturday, July 24, 10 am,
Trinity – Garden City.
LCMS Convention Sunday, July 11 - Saturday,
July 17. Houston, TX.
LCMS National Youth Gathering, Saturday, July
17 - Wednesday, July 21.
KS District Pastors Conference October 17 - 19

+ The Spotlight +

Christ Lutheran Church - Elkhart, KS

Faith Lutheran Church – Hugoton, KS

From the Pastor's Desk:
I have been thinking a lot lately what it means to be a
“church member”—probably because I am hard at the task
of sorting out the Church Register at Christ. At any rate, it
occurs to me that many people have mistaken ideas about
membership and what it means to have one's name written
down in this book that few of us ever see.
What does having our name in a Church Register do for
us, as far as the Kingdom of God is concerned? Absolutely
nothing! In fact, if we think that it does, it's probably to
our harm. How many names are written in this book
representing people we haven't seen or heard from in years
—people who rarely, if ever, darken the door of this church
or any other church? Plenty. But if they never get together
with other Christians, as God's word commands (Heb
10:25), then what? If they rarely hear God's word or
receive the Body and Blood of Christ in the Lord's Supper,
what is the likely condition of their faith?
Without the Word and Sacraments, any Christian, no
matter how strong their faith was once upon a time, will
slowly but surely weaken and starve to death spiritually.
Because God's word is the tool that God uses to create and
sustain faith in us (Romans 10:17), without God's word we
will drift away from faith and cease to be members of the
body of Christ. If that happens, what is the good of a
name written on a page in a book in the church office? As
far as God and heaven are concerned, none at all.
So what is the Church Register really for? It's simply good
practice to have a record of when people are baptized,
confirmed, married, and buried—not because God would
forget any of these things, but because, unfortunately, we
forget them, and writing them down somewhere simply
makes sense. The Church Register is not the Lamb's Book
of Life. God is the One who writes our names there, as He
is the One who saves us. And that happened, not when
our name was written in a book here on earth, but 2000
years ago on the cross. The work Jesus did there is applied
to us by water and the Word in baptism, by the Word of
God in our ears creating faith in our hearts, by the body
and blood of Christ in our mouths at communion, and by
the handshake or pat on the back from our brother or sister
in Christ down the pew from us.
Join us often in the gathering of believers, at church on
Sunday mornings. It's the place that Christ has promised
to be!
A blessed Pentecost to all of you!



On the Liturgy:
When the pastor greets the congregation (“The Lord be
with you!”) and the congregations responds, (“And with
thy spirit!”), why does the pastor bow his head?
In general, when the pastor bows from the waist or bows
his head during the service it is to show respect to God or
to places God has promised to be. At the salutation,
however, he bows for a different reason. The
congregation's response is actually a prayer. For what?
That the pastor would be strengthened by the Holy Spirit
for the task ahead, either for presenting the prayers of the
people in the Collect or for the celebration of the Lord's
Supper. The pastor is bows the head in response, not
precisely to show respect to the congregation, but just as
he bowed his head to receive the laying on of hands at his
ordination. It is a gesture that indicates that he is receiving
once again the congregations prayerful blessing, and in so
doing is willing to represent them before God. Even
though the Rite of Ordination may be in the distant past, it
is never really over—the congregation continues to choose
the pastor for his task every time they gather for the Divine
Service.



June Birthdays
6/04 Sue Frederick
6/12 Greg O'Loughlin
6/15 Amalia Bowker
6/29 Cassidy Reed

June Anniversaries
6/02 Bob & Ramona
Johnson
6/22 Greg & Christine
O'Loughlin
6/25 Christopher & Rebecca
Fincher

Schedule of Events
Faith
Divine Service – Sunday 9 am.
Faith Midweek Confirmation Class – Wed, 9:30 am.
Christ
Divine Service – Sunday 11 am.
Christ Lutheran Clothing Bank – open as announced.

Faith, Hugoton
The Volunteer Schedule at Faith is empty this
month under acolyte and cleaning! Please sign up to
serve your brothers and sisters in Christ in one of
these practical ways!
The Voters' Meeting at Faith has been scheduled for
June 6. We are holding this meeting after service at
the regular time, and it should be brief. Get any
pressing business to the president before the meeting.
A Work Day at Faith has been scheduled for June 12.
Meet at the church at about 10 am, burgers will be
grilled for lunch around noon. There are a number of
jobs on the list in the narthex—if you know of others,
please write them on the list so that they can be dealt
with when the day arrives!
Afraid of Commitment? We need to know for
sure who will be present at the above-mentioned
work day at Faith, in order to buy enough food
for all of us. Please sign up on the sheet in the
narthex so that we can plan accordingly.
June Volunteers
June volunteers at Faith are as follows:
Paul Dobie - Elder.
Josh Lucas - Usher.
Kepleys - Altar Care.
Tammy - Mowing and Watering.
+++
Christ, Elkhart
June is another month of getting things done
around Christ, Elkhart. The kitchen has been cleaned,
the windows and curtains are done, weeds have been
dug and the north door has been repaired—but that
doesn't mean that there is not a whole lot more to do!
Food Bank Donations can be made, any time it is
convenient for you, by taking them to the United
Methodist Church.
Clothing Bank Donations can be made any time by
bringing donations to the Christ Lutheran Church or
making arrangements with the pastor.
+++

Camp Lutherhaven at Knowles Lake, OK
The time has come for 2010 Camp Lutherhaven
Registration. Junior Camp (Grades 5-8) will be from
July 11-15 at Knowles Lake, and Senior Camp (Grades
9-12, with a topic of Sex, Love, and Relationships)
from July 25-29. Cost is $50 plus one five-gallon bottle
of purified drinking water per camper. If this is a
matter of interest, please contact the pastor for more
information.

Mission Giving Opportunities
Rev. James May's mission work based in Nairobi,
Kenya continues to move forward, and the channels
for his support have finally been put in place! This is
presented as an option for our mission giving, which
the voters decided to redirect a couple of meetings
ago at both Christ and Faith.
The Kurt Marquart Fund for Theological
Education in Haiti operates with an all-volunteer
staff for the purpose of providing funds for the
training of pastors for the Evangelical Lutheran
Church of Haiti. Before the earthquake in early 2010,
the ELCH had 102 congregations with more than
20,000 members, all of them served by seven ordained
pastors—14 congregations per pastor!
Donations to the fund are a gift that keeps on giving—
the fund itself remains intact, while its earnings are
distributed every year to provide for ongoing training
of men for the pastoral office, who will continue to
serve the people of Haiti. In the wake of the
earthquake, much of the work being done has been of
a more humanitarian nature, but this too is part of the
mission of the Church.



Upcoming Events
Circuit Forum Sunday, June 20 at 3 pm at Trinity
– Garden City. Delegates to Synodical Convention
will be present for discussion on business that will
be taken up by the Convention. This is your
opportunity to make yourself heard!
Open Doors Ministries Saturday, July 24, 10 am,
Trinity – Garden City.
LCMS Convention Sunday, July 11 - Saturday,
July 17. Houston, TX.
LCMS National Youth Gathering, Saturday, July
17 - Wednesday, July 21.
KS District Pastors Conference October 17 - 19

Sunday School classes will take a summer break and resume in the fall. Have a great summer and see you at 11:00 for Church Services.

May Announcements
May is a month of getting things done around Christ, Elkhart. There is a list in the narthex. If you know something that needs to be done around the church, write it down. Serve God and neighbor by pitching in to help-just check the list and lend a hand!

Confirmation class at Christ will recess for the summer. The last class will be held on May 16, and we will resume with the beginning of the school year.

+ The Spotlight +

Christ Lutheran Church - Elkhart, KS
Faith Lutheran Church – Hugoton, KS

From the Pastor's Desk:
It's needed to be done for a while, but it was in discussion with the Voters at Faith this month that I decided that good communication demanded it—the return of the church newsletter. Regular newsletters dropped off after May 2004 because of Pastor Lucas' deployment to Iraq. When I arrived as pastor in June of 2006, there were enough demands for my attention that my attempt at reviving this means of communication was short-lived.
Looking back into the church files at Christ, Elkhart I find a newsletter entitled “The Spotlight” published from 1965 to 2004. Sometimes it has been longer, sometimes shorter. It has contained all sorts of news from the community, from the world, and from different agencies of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod. You might find some of those things here from time to time, but the primary purpose of a church newsletter is to keep you informed about what's going on at church.
We live now, more than ever, in an age in which the problem is not too little information, but too much. It is my hope to keep it simple, keep it direct, and keep all of us informed about upcoming events and opportunities for spiritual growth.
Usually this “From the Pastor's Desk” column will be dedicated to spiritual meditations and my thoughts as the pastor on our life as a family of faith. There is much to be said on many subjects that do not fit as part of a Sunday sermon. This is as good a place as any for me to say them.
The success of this effort, in large part, rests on you as leaders and members of Christ, Elkhart and Faith, Hugoton. I can only publish information I have, so if there is something that urgently needs to be published, please make sure it gets to me in timely fashion.
It is my hope to have this newsletter in your hands and homes before the first of each month.
Continued blessings on your Easter Season!

May Birthdays
5/04 Bianca Bultman
5/14 Lance Addington
5/15 Régan Nave
5/18 Shaun Bowker
5/20 Marshall Kepley
5/20 Pamela Hickey
5/21 Natalie Dobie
5/22 Rena Brewer
5/26 Kelsie Pomeroy
5/27 Cheryl Brune
5/28 Susan Hickey
5/29 Betty Bultman
5/29 Jody Wiggins
5/30 Jasper Lackey

May Anniversaries
5/02 Larry & Pamela Hickey
5/20 Marshall & Roberta Kepley
5/22 Ray & Donna Reed
5/28 Milton & Cheryl Brune
5/31 Nicholas & Lori Rodriquez

Schedule of Events
Faith
Divine Service – Sunday 9 am.
Faith Sunday School – Sundays, 10:15 am.
Faith Midweek Confirmation Class – Wed, 5:30 pm.
Midweek Bible Study – TBA

Christ
Divine Service – Sunday 11 am.
Christ Confirmation Class – Sundays at 4:00 pm.
Christ Lutheran Clothing Bank – open as announced.

May Volunteers
Check the schedule in the Narthex!

Faith, Hugoton

New Address for Faith Lutheran Church. Since a number of things have been lost out of the mailbox in front of the church, the voters decided to get a post office box. The church's mailing address is now PO Box 641.

The Volunteer Schedule at Faith is still fairly empty! If you would like to serve the body of Christ in one of these practical ways, please sign up on the board in the narthex. If you are signed up but will not be at church on a given Sunday, please find a replacement.

The Next Voters' Meeting at Faith has been scheduled for June 6. It was mentioned that this meeting can probably be held briefly after service at our regular time.

A Work Day at Faith has been scheduled for June 12. Meet at the church at about 10 am, burgers will be grilled for lunch around noon. There are a number of jobs on the list in the narthex—if you know of others, please write them on the list so that they can be dealt with when the day arrives!

Mission Giving Opportunity
The Kurt Marquart Fund for Theological Education in Haiti operates with an all-volunteer staff for the purpose of providing funds for the training of pastors for the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Haiti. Before the earthquake in early 2010, the ELCH had 102 congregations with more than 20,000 members, all of them served by seven ordained pastors—14 congregations per pastor!
Donations to the fund are a gift that keeps on giving—the fund itself remains intact, while its earnings are distributed every year to provide for ongoing training of men for the pastoral office, who will continue to serve the people of Haiti. In the wake of the earthquake, much of the work being done has been of a more humanitarian nature, but this too is part of the mission of the Church.



Christ, Elkhart

May is a month of getting things done around Christ, Elkhart. There is a list in the narthex. If you know something that needs to be done around the church building, feel free to write it down. If you have time and the ability to help us accomplish something on the list, feel free to do so whenever you have the time.

The Pastor's Study in Elkhart has been graced with the installation of a Mitsubishi Electric “Mr. Slim” Split-Type Air Conditioner. Come on in and have a look!








Upcoming Events

June 19 Kansas District Delegates to Synodical Convention in Houston, pre-convention meeting.
June 20 Circuit Forum at 3 pm in Garden City. Delegates to Synodical Convention will be present for discussion on business that will be taken up by the Convention. This is your opportunity to make yourself heard!
July 10 – 17 LCMS Convention, Houston, TX
July 25 Oklahoma Panhandle camp starts at Knowles Lake.

Church Worship Time Changed for April 18, 2010

Please remember - Christ Lutheran Church will have service Sunday April 18, 2010 at 9:00 followed by Sunday School at 10:00. This will be for one Sunday only. We will return to our 10:00 Sunday School and 11:00 Worship Service April 25.