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PASTOR'S PAGE Return to the Lord, your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. Joel 2:3
Lent is a time that invites us to repent and return to the Lord. We do this through turning away from things that would distract us from the Lord. My prayer this Lent is that you have some quiet time for reflection, for devotion, for just being in prayer and conversation with our Lord. I hope I have given you a few minutes of extra quiet time by leaving my article very sparse this month. I do also hope that you will join us each Wednesday, beginning February 6th for Dinner and Devotion beginning at 6:00 pm. Our Lenten Service Series this year is Christ on Trail. God’s blessings and my thanks,
WELCA NEWS
We need to start now to save coffee cans for MLM for next year. This year we took over 80 decorated cans of cookies to the Christmas Store. Thanks to all who baked and helped pack cookies. We also want to collect items needed for Hospice patients. These items may be placed in the green felt basket near the coat rack. Listed here are some of the items; please find complete list on bulletin board in the Narthex. We will collect these all year long. Thank you!
HEIFER INTERNATIONAL The Christmas at the Barn offering of $187 was sent to Heifer International to help a family obtain livestock with which to make a decent living. We pray these animals may make a difference in these lives. COLLECTION ENVELOPES Please use the new collection envelopes. Your church contributions are tracked by the number on your new envelopes. Please do not use the old envelopes to make your contributions--throw them away (or write your new number on them). If you do not have collection envelopes for 2008, contact Yvonne Salmon. To ensure a proper amount is credited (to later update you on your pledge progress and to attest to your contribution for tax purposes), please write the amount on the outside of the new envelope, too. DIRECTORY UPDATES Leroy & Alice Lindahl e-mail update: lealindahl@att.net CORRECTION TO 2008 REPORT Please note the following correction to the financial report in the 2008 Congregational report: Pledge Drive 2008 Number of Stewardship Packets sent 55 Number of pledges returned 34
Amount Pledged for 2008= $83,200 Non-pledged average $42,594.55 Synod Grant 2008 $15,000
MLM SPRING FLING The much-anticipated annual Metropolitan Lutheran Mission Spring Fling is set for Saturday, March 1 8:00 a.m. – noon at Bethany Lutheran Church at 91st & Lamar in Overland Park, Kansas. Tickets are $4 in advance, $5 at the door, with children ages 4 – 12 at the bargain price of $2. All proceeds benefit the MLM Christmas Stores. If you have something you’d like to donate for the silent auction, see the form on the kiosk in the Narthex. Copies are available in the office. Contacts for this event are Connie & Merl Teigen at Lord of Love, or Suzanne Bartling at 816-931-0027 or suzannebartling@mlmkc.org SHARING FOR LENT ELCA World Hunger theme for this Lenten season is “God’s math doesn’t add up, it multiplies.” You will have in your mail boxes a 40 Day Plus calendar with suggestions for each day how you can prepare your heart and mind for the great gift of Christ’s sacrifice for us. Many of the suggestions are for thinking and praying about those less fortunate. Below are some suggestions for concrete ways to share with those in our own community, as well.
Clothing: At the back of our parking lot is a collection bin for clothing and shoes that you no longer need. Any useable items, especially warm things for winter are accepted.
Below are suggestions for each week, but any items are welcome. The cycle can be repeated throughout the year.
DEBATE & FORENSICS Belton High School Debate & Forensics team will host a debate tournament on Friday & Saturday, February 15- 16 at the high school. Twenty-five high schools are expected, so the need for judges is great! A courtesy judging clinic is offered the week of the tournament so that everyone will have an understanding of what needs to be done. Anyone 18 years or older is welcome. A description of the types of debate offered is on the kiosk in the Narthex, along with contact information for Tim Hughes, debate coach. SWEDISH SMORGASBOARDThe members of First Lutheran Church invite you to the 13th Annual Old Fashioned Swedish Smorgasbord, Saturday, March 1, 2008. For more information of to order tickets, please call First Lutheran at 913-362-4150, or see the flyer on the kiosk in the Narthex. MEN CONTINUE TO MEETMen wanted: we solve the world’s problems (or at least gain a new perspective from each other) at our weekly Men’s Breakfast, 6:00 a.m. at Belton HyVee, and then apply the wisdom of our experience monthly at the Sr. Men’s coffee 9:00 a.m. the last Thursday of each month. Still on a work schedule? Breakfast meets early enough to get you energized for the day & on your way. In 2006, an offering from Lord of Love VBS was sent to Tezuitlan in Mexico to aid in building a church there. This picture recently sent to Jim & Aranza Brauer shows that progress is taking place. A German group is also sending funds. Thanks be to God! CONGREGATIONAL MEETING JANUARY 13, 2008 President John Watson called the Lord of Love Lutheran Church Congregation Meeting to order at 10:00AM on January 13, 2008. Pastor Lesley Radius opened the meeting with a prayer. A quorum of 39 members was present. The minutes of the December 2, 2007 meeting were included in the Annual Report and were read over by the congregation. Bob Morris made a motion to approve the minutes; this was seconded by Merle Teigen; the minutes were approved by the congregation. The treasurer’s report for 2007 was looked over by the congregation. Ken Van Sickle made a motion to accept the report; this was seconded by Donna Linn; the report was accepted by the congregation. Pastor Lesley pointed out that there was a change to make on the Finance report—34 pledges were received for the 2008 Mission and Ministry Plan (aka Budget) for a total pledge of $83,200.00 with the non-pledged amount of $42,594.55. Also the average attendance in 2006 was 80 and for 2007 it was 109. Pastor Len Dale spoke to the congregation about the call process for a new minister. The first task is to form a call committee that will consist of 1 Council Member and 6 congregation members. This committee will start work on the congregation profile; this information will then be submitted to Janice Kibler at the Synod office. Our profile will be matched up with ministers seeking a church; the ministers can be from another Synod. The call process will take awhile. The committee will be formed in the spring, and the call process will start in the fall of 2008. If the call process is not completed by the time that Pastor Lesley leaves, the Synod will place an interim minister at Lord of Love. Pastor Lesley’s covenant with Lord of Love runs up to April 30, 2009; she will move on to another assignment at that time or before that time if a minister has accepted our call. Pastor Len said that we have done a good job in our transition in a short time. Because of the progress that we have made, the Synod has agreed to sponsor us again financially through 2008 with $15,000.00. He also said that we are setting an example to some of the other churches considering transition. Darrell Rose has volunteered to serve on the Call Committee. The outgoing council members are Joye Conklin and David Salmon; they will be on the 2008 Nominating Committee. Ken Van Sickle, Tom Eagan, Fred Sears, and Gale Hankins volunteered to serve on this committee. The Synod Convention will be held in St. Louis, MO on June 5th through June 8th; Darrell and Jo Rose will be the delegates from Lord of Love. Merle and Connie Teigen volunteered to continue as the MLM representatives from Lord of Love. No one has volunteered yet to serve on a Finance Task Force. The meeting was adjourned and closed with the Lord’s Prayer. Respectfully submitted,
Bread for the World – Seeking Justice, Ending Hunger In roughly the time it takes to pour a cup of coffee, a child somewhere in the world has died of hunger-related causes. In addition, every morning almost one billion people wake up, uncertain as to where their next meal will come from. How can we respond to support people who live with chronic hunger and poverty around the corner and around the world? Bread for the World (BFW) is a Christian citizens’ movement that envisions a world without hunger and is one way we can work together to address this problem. It has 58,000 members including 2,500 churches. This nonpartisan organization is supported by 45 denominations representing a diversity of theological perspectives. BFW was started in 1974 by a Lutheran clergyman, Arthur Simon. He served in an inner city parish on Manhattan’s lower east side. He had come to the realization that try as he may to fight hunger, his brother Paul, Simon, an Illinois congressman at the time, could make even more progress against hunger by working to change government policies and conditions that allow hunger and poverty to persist. Therefore, BFW was formed. For more than 30 years, BFW has urged our nation’s decision makers to address root causes of hunger at home and abroad. With letters, phone calls, and visits, members urge our nation’s decision makers to support practical, long-term solutions to famine, poverty, and disease. BFW members act out of a conviction that citizenship is one of our greatest resources and should be offered up to God in service of hungry and poor people. BFW’s current president is Rev. David Beckmann, a Lutheran ordained pastor. He recently stated that: “The world has long recognized that rapid progress against hunger is feasible. The cost of ending world hunger is easily affordable. The technical challenges are surmountable. The binding constraint is political commitment. BFW members are building the political will to end hunger in God’s world.” Every year BFW selects a hunger issue for which it asks members to do an Offering of Letters in their churches. It usually alternates between domestic and international hunger issues. The Offering of Letters enables individuals, many of whom have never written to their members of Congress, to see their concerns translated into policies that help hungry and poor people improves their lives. BFW members generate 300,000 contacts with political leaders annually through letters, calls, and visits. This outpouring of concern sends a powerful message to our nation’s political leaders and helps us as a nation move closer to our goal of ending hunger. In 1999 the Offering of Letters was concerning debt relief for the world’s poorest countries so that money could be used to help improve the conditions of their people. In 2001 both houses of Congress passed the Hunger to Harvest resolution, which called for significant new poverty-focused development assistance to sub-Saharan Africa. In 2003 BFW helped establish the Millennium Challenge Account, a new U.S. assistance program aimed at reducing poverty in the world’s poorest nations. In 2007 BFW worked with a coalition of partners, including the ELCA advocacy network, to reform the farm bill in ways that would help hungry people, farm and rural families of modest means. In Central States Synod, 40 ELCA churches are currently affiliated with BFW and support this ministry in many ways including letter-writing, donations, and prayers. Trinity Lutheran Church, Lawrence, KS, a covenant congregation of BFW, formed a Global Concerns Group in 2003, which seeks to educate about world hunger and justice issues. In 2007, members focused on improvements to the renewal of the U.S. Farm Bill, including expanding nutrition programs such as food stamps, strengthening support for rural communities and creating a fairer safety net for U.S. farmers that doesn’t harm farmers in developing countries. Through their efforts an offering of 89 letters was made. Read more at: www.css-elca.org/missioninterpreter.html. We thank individuals and congregations for their efforts to raise awareness as well as mission support for world hunger. To learn more about BFW, access on-line resources, or order an Offering of Letters Kit, visit www.bread.org. “Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 2:4-5 CSSMI #18 02/08
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Prayer Concerns For The Past Month 
Food: Our Meal a Month bin has been recently emptied a couple of times for needy persons who came to our door. Usually these resources are turned over to Heart-N-Hand to distrubute. To build the store back up, we would like for every family to consider bringing one non-perishable item each week for the weeks of Lent, and, if you find it inyour heart, to continue bringing after Easter, for the year to follow. 
CHURCH BUILDING IN MEXICO
