Summer Worship Schedule

Worship: 9:30 am

Fellowship Hour: 10:30 am

Communion served every Sunday

At the council meeting on Tuesday, June 19th, the First Lutheran Church Council voted to approve a motion to authorize an expenditure of $9,000.00 in support of the Chinese Ministry through December 2018, subject to a special congregational meeting and vote. This congregational meeting will be held on Sunday, July 22nd following worship. Here is how we arrived at this decision:

The Living Truth Chinese Church began about 15 years ago. It was initially to be a standalone Mission Start with FLC merely acting as a landlord, also supplying bookkeeping and materials. It has evolved over these years through three pastors and a high turnover of worshipers due to the nature of their immigration status (working visas, student visas, green cards, etc.). Pastor Jade has been the most recent pastor of the Living Truth Chinese Church. She saw that the current model of a standalone church was no longer viable, so the congregation disbanded on Easter Sunday, 2018. Following that, their community entered a 50-day discernment process with Pastor Berg and Pastor Jade. The ELCA agreed to pay Pastor Jade, who works ¾ time, through August of 2018, at which point a decision needs to be made.

The Chinese Ministry is being considered as a Synodically Authorized Worshiping Community (SAWC). This designation is for communities that may or may not become stand alone congregations, but the synod feels that there is a need for this specific kind of ministry. These types of ministries often are associated with established congregations. As many of you have experienced since Easter, we have been sharing a Sunday dual language service with FLC and the Chinese Ministry. Pastor Jade has been translating the sermons and the bulletins for the Chinese Ministry worshipers and assisting in the leading of worship. After service, she meets with the Chinese worshippers to discuss what they are taking away from worship. Pastor Jade will look forward to leading an outreach ministry team of both FLC and Chinese Ministry members to continue to build the faith of the people in the Chinese community. With this vision, Pastor Jade will remain on call as the leader of the Chinese Ministry at ¾ time. The ELCA will continue to pay her half time (two thirds of her salary). That leaves 1/4 time that FLC is being asked to support. This would be an amount of $9,000.00 for the period of September through December of 2018. The congregation is being asked to add the Chinese Ministry to our budget for 2019. This financial commitment would be $25,000.00 for the entire fiscal year.

We look forward to seeing you all at the Special Congregational Meeting following worship on Sunday, July 22nd.

Kaaren Hatlen, FLC Congregation President

At its February 2018 meeting, our church council took steps to establish a visioning process for First Lutheran Church. Seven congregation members were invited to serve on a vision team ( Valarie Cole, Kaaren Hatlen – council president, Jessica Lichtenstein, Joe Siebert, Ryan Stute, Karen Thomas, and Tom Payne – chair) along with Pastor Berg and facilitated by Reverend Rick Rouse, a parish consultant working with ELCA congregations across the country in the areas of strategic planning, spiritual discernment, stewardship, and missional leadership. During the coming months, the team will be soliciting feedback and ideas from the congregation and community through a number of means, including Cottage Meetings. Through many conversations and prayers we seek the Holy Spirit’s guidance as we as a community of faith discern how First Lutheran is called to continue to serve our congregation and our community. We hope to present a plan to the congregation next spring. We invite you to ask questions of any of the team members.

FLC Visioning Team

Don Klein's Memorial Service

July 22, 2018, 2 pm

Longtime member and friend to many in the FLC congregation passed away on June 23rd. Please keep Andy, Paul, Joanne, John and their families in your prayers.

Vacation Bible School (*Three Year Olds – Kindergarten), meet 9 AM to Noon. The cost per student is $30. Download registration form or register online.

Summer Day Camp (*Grades 1 – 5), meet from 9 AM – 3 PM. The cost per person is $45 (includes lunch). Download registration form or register online. If you register online you must also complete the downloadable Summer Day Camp form to turn in on or before the first day of day camp.

* Grade student is entering in the Fall of 2018.  

Helpers and staff are needed. Please contact Roger Steinke for more information

Men’s Breakfast and Bible Study, Saturdays, July 21 and August 18: 9 – 10:30 AM

Come and join other men from the congregation for breakfast and conversation! There will be food for the body, food for the soul and food for thought! Gordy Phelps will be preparing delicious breakfasts. Pastor Berg will lead interesting Bible studies. Please mark your calendars and join us! 

July & August 2018

Show Us Your Summer is Back

Photo Submission Deadline: September 23, 2018  

Here is how you can participate: Note this change: any 2018 photograph taken prior to the September 23 submission date is okay to submit. One photo accepted per person.

*Have a 8x10 print of your one photo made and mount on cardboard.[change from previous years—cardboard rather than foam ] Include your name, a title for your photo entry, date, location and information you want to include—especially if this is group event or portrait.   

*Bring your mounted photo to our church Library and place it in the basket on the desk next to the door.   

Photos should be submitted by September 23, 2018 

All photos will be displayed in our gallery show October 14th, and judged by a professional photographer. Award photos will be framed and displayed in our library early in 2019 for one year. The award photos will be returned to the winning photographers in 2020. 

The 2018 winning photos, currently on display in the library, provide ideas for your photo project. 

Summer 2018 Book Themes. The first three listed for each month are new books in our church library. 

July: Adventures in Faith 

 

*A Year of Biblical Womanhood

*Daring to Hope: Finding God’s Goodness in the Broken and the Beautiful 

*Riley Unlikely: With Simple Childlike Faith Amazing Things Can Happen 

* A Year of Living Biblically 

* Their Light Still Shines: Inspiring Stories of Faith and Courage 

*Mighty be Our Powers: How Sisterhood, Prayer, and Sex Changed a Nation at War 

August: Hospitality/Seeing God in Others 

*Stranger God: Meeting Jesus in Disguise 

*Accidental Saints: Finding God in All the Wrong People(by Nadia Bolz-Weber) 

*The Origin of Others 

*A Christian View of Hospitality 

* They are Us: Lutherans and Immigration

July & August Outreach

All money received in the Change for Change jar will be used to support Northshore School District’s Backpacks for Kids program. Additionally, donated school supplies may be placed in the NSD Backpacks for Kids receptacle in the narthex caring corner, which will be picked up on August 12. We will also be partnering with Easternwood (affordable housing complex, a project of Compass Housing Alliance) to provide school supplies directly to resident children.

The focus of donations to the Hopelink grocery cart will be for be for replacements for school lunch programs (peanut butter, jelly, fruit cups, cracker & cheese packs, etc.)  

 

July & August Monthly Outreach: $1,100.00 each, will go to Lutheran Community Services and ELC Tanzania Morogoro Diocese .

Lutheran World Relief School Kits

Brunch & Work Parties: 

Sunday, July 29 and Sunday, Aug. 26

10:45 am - 1 pm

Other Working Times to Help:

First & Third Mondays in July & August

9am - Noon

Sew kits & inventory school supplies. 

BRING YOUR OWN MACHINE.

Deadline for turning in school supplies - July 22 Deadline for turning in sewn bags - Aug. 5

Scrip and Other Passive Fundraising for First Lutheran Church!

We have several opportunities for earning money while you shop for FLC's many social ministry programs:

The Women of First Lutheran Church (WFLC) is a local organization of the Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (WELCA). All women at FLC are considered members of both WFLC and WELCA. You are invited to participate in any of the bible study circles, WFLC sponsored events and/or regional and national events.

Summer Camp Registration is OPEN for Camp Lutherwood in Bellingham and Camp Lutherhaven in Coeur d’Alene! First Lutheran Church Bothell students are eligible for a $100 Summer Camp Scholarship (please contact Roger for scholarship information).

Find Summer Camp dates and information for Camp Lutherwood (Bellingham) at: www.camplutherwood.org.

Find Summer Camp dates and information for Camp Lutherhaven (Coeur d’Alene) at: www.lutherhaven.com.