Our Mission

Pastor's Corner

¹³ When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” ¹⁴ So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, ¹⁵ where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.” Matthew 2:13-15

When Jesus was an infant, Mary and Joseph took him to Egypt, Africa where he said his first words as a child. Africa gave asylum to Jesus and His earthly family as they has to flee for their life as political refugees. Africa housed them, clothed them, fed them and was the early teacher of the boy Jesus. The “Law and the Prophets” or what we call the Old Testament Scriptures, were known in Africa centuries before that. Africans from as far as Ethiopia and below knew of those scriptures. When Philip was sent south (Acts 8:26-42), he met the Ethiopian queen’s palace treasury official who was reading from Isaiah 53, a Messianic text about Jesus. He asked Philip to explain the text to him, and Philip had opportunity to introduce the Ethiopian to the Gospel of Jesus Christ as early as in the 1^st century AD (CE). The Ethiopian Orthodox Christian Church is one of the oldest organized bodies of the Church and remains the largest religious and Christian body in Ethiopia. Incidentally, there are 3 times more Lutherans in Ethiopia than in the US.

Before Jesus, Egypt was referred to as a place of bondage, from where Moses led the Jewish ancestors out. When Christ came, Egypt, Africa became a place of freedom and safety. The first organized Christian Church in Egypt was in 1 AD (Coptic Orthodox Church).  As we commemorate and honor the life and value of African Descent people this month, let that honoring free us from our thinking that Africa is the Dark Continent to seeing the Light that Africa is in world history. This month we will see much in the media about the hidden facts about Black History. As Church, we also celebrate Africa as the Sanctuary of Our Lord.

Council President's Report

The council met on Tuesday January 26 and covered many UELC business agenda items. One item of business was the election of new council officers for 2022. Dan Norford was elected council president. Many thanks to Dan for volunteering to lead the council in 2022!

Please note the upcoming congregational meeting on Sunday, February 13, immediately following worship service. The purpose of the meeting will be to provide for discussion of the Annual Report as well as voting on the proposed 2022 UELC budget. The Annual Report is currently being compiled and will be sent out via email to members prior to the meeting on February 13^th. As you will recall, at the December congregational meeting we elected the new 2022 council members and also reviewed/voted in favor of the proposed 2022 budget. Due to some questions that were raised regarding the notification period before the December meeting, the budget will need to be voted on again at the congregational meeting on February 13^th.

Since this is my last President’s message, I would like to take the time to thank everyone who has supported me through encouragement and prayer over the last 2 years. I had no idea when I became council president in February 2020 what lay ahead for all of us--it’s been quite a couple of years!  One of the many tolls of the pandemic has been our ability to function “normally” as a congregation (that’s an understatement!). Thankfully, we were able to return to in-person worship a few months ago and I believe the next big challenge will be to find a way to return to some of our previous functions and ministries and re-ignite the passion of our congregation for worship and ministry. On behalf of the council, I would urge each of you to prayerfully consider how you might be a part of the “resurgence” of UELC. We are currently struggling to fill vital volunteer roles within the congregation and are in desperate need of more people to be willing to give of their time and talent to the mission of UELC. I know we are all in God’s hands and hope you will join me in praying for the future of UELC as we emerge from the pandemic and beyond.

Best regards,

Becky Borgert

Church Announcements

UELC People

Prayers for healing: Cecilia Noss, Babs Dalsheimer, Kathy Brill, Kim Gauthier and our synod's Bishop Pedro Suarez. 

Pray also for Mary Lou Schirmer as she settles in Little Rock.

Anyone in the congregation who is experiencing financial difficulties due to the ongoing pandemic, please reach out to Pastor. We have a "discretionary fund" that might be able to be utilized to assist those who find themselves in this situation.

UELC Council

Hello Church Family,

As Secretary of Council, I need to report to you that there are needs of our institution, property and wellbeing that require all our attention, time and treasure. Council recognizes that it has been tough in this time of distance worship and Pandemic regulation to appeal for and offer willing help.

As you may know, Martin has had to resign as Property Committee Chair this early summer and has had no luck in securing a successor. He has formulated a list of tasks that he has been responsible for over the past many years to help prepare a future Committee for all eventualities.

Council is seeking help. It has come to our attention that the responsibilities may be too much for a single chair or even co-chairs. And to that end it seems that the task might be divided into 3 categories:

1.     Ground Maintenance

2.     Sanctuary and Kaiser Apartment Maintenance including student apartment rental

3.     1902 House and Yard Maintenance and rentals

Rick Ezzell has been diligent in his regular lawn maintenance, but our outside property is in need of more. One of our football parker customers saw the need to bring his own equipment in order to address some of the neglect. While we are very grateful for that assistance it is not a recurrent gift we may rely on.

Council has considered paid management, but our finances are very tight and much of the workload may be accomplished by church members on a rotating basis if no one person is able or willing to step up.

1.     Ground Maintenance means we need someone to organize church wide workdays to trim bushes, pull weeds, remove trash, etc. all around our church property. We are hoping that our CYAM group will be able to help with this task. This task requires someone willing to get on the phone!

2.     Sanctuary and Kaiser Center maintenance, we need someone willing to answer the call when problems arise and repairs are needed. You do not necessarily be equipped with the skill to fix a problem, but you do need to be willing to contact the appropriate repair service to get the problem fixed; to be supervising the work or ask for help from someone willing to be on premises and sign off on the charge; to order and purchase whatever is required if a service is not indicated.

3.     1902 House maintenance involve not just the above regular types of repairs, but also and more time intensive function as rental and contact agents for future tenants.

At the moment our social media and communications are managed - faithful Andy Noss is editing the Lampstand, Pastor is managing our FaceBook presence, and yours truly is updating the website periodically; the latter needs greater skill, and I am ready to pass the baton.

A document of Detailed Proposed Property Committee Tasks and Repair Resources will be available upon request in the Church Office.

Please if you are willing to help with any of these areas contact Council. Our very survival as a functioning Church Family depends on all of us contributing to take care of the physical health our temple of God.

Please contact Council President Becky Borgert or any Council member.

Cheering us on,

Vibeke Vala, Council Secretary

Offering Direct Deposits

Asylum Support Fund

A new fund has been created at UELC to enable our members to help support the family from El Salvador that has settled in Gainesville. There are churches that are supporting them with housing and utilities. Internet service is needed to remain in touch with the father who remains in Mexico. The deadline to give to this need is Feb. 15^th. If you would like to help, send your check to Jim Yale or the church. Make the check out to UELC with Asylum Support on the memo line. Donations accepted above what is needed now will remain in the fund for future help to this family or others who may arrive in the future. 

UELC Council 

LIFT

Due to the Covid pandemic LIFT (Lutherans In Fellowship Together) has not met for its monthly potluck luncheons for the past two years. We plan on restarting the luncheons by the summer of this new year. Of course, that depends on a lessening of the impact that Covid-19 and it many variants have on our lives. Let us all be responsible and stay safe. 

Many thanks to Janet Janke for the beautiful, uplifting LIFT articles that has kept the spirit of the program alive. She is taking a break from gathering and providing the articles. Again, much thanks Janet.

LIFT coordinator 

Young Adult Ministry

Campus/Young Adult Ministry weekly meetings on Thursdays, 5:30-7:00.

Young Adult and Student Ministry continues to meet by Zoom and are studying the Bible.

For inquiries contact Krissi and Dan Norford ([email protected]).

Adult Forum

Adult Forum is not meeting for now.

Contact Dan Norford for more information: [email protected]

Village of Hope

Our Pastor and Staff