University Evangelical Lutheran Church
and Campus Ministry
The Lampstand - October 2021
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Our Mission
UELC's Mission:
To Embrace and Share the Love of God in Jesus Christ, as the Holy Spirit Empowers us.
UELC's Guiding Principles:
Jesus is our Lord and Saviour; therefore, we are to:
- Worship God in inspiring, diverse, and creative ways
- Be a community engaged in spiritual practices that attune us to the Holy Spirit's guidance for our living
- Welcome all people in their diversity to worship, learn, and serve with us
- Be a safe place to learn, explore, and debate
- Be generous stewards of the gifts God has given each of us to bless others and care for the natural world
- Continue outreach to, and further develop connections with, the academic communities of Alachua County
- Affirm human rights and work for social justice
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Council President's Report
Dear fellow UELC members,
The UELC council met on Tuesday September 28, 2021 via Zoom.
The council continues to grapple with the question of resuming in-person worship services while closely monitoring the Alachua County information related to Covid-19. It was acknowledged that many churches in our area and in the larger Synod have resumed in-person worship services, but mindful of the demographics of UELC, the council elected to continue suspension of in-person services at least through the end of October and will revisit the question at the October meeting. The council also discussed the question of whether we could verify worship service attendees’ vaccination status. Ultimately, the council decided in favor of requesting that worship service attendees verify their vaccination status. I would like to personally request that any congregational members or friends please reach out to me via email ( [email protected]) if you have suggestions or opinions regarding the resumption of in person worship services as early as November 2021.
We are still in search of a chairperson for the Property committee now that Martin Vala has resigned after many years of service. Many thanks to the volunteers who have assisted with the football parking and other vendors as this has been a substantial source of revenue for UELC. There have been some challenges related to Covid precautions but solutions have been put in place and hopefully the rest of the season will run smoothly with 3 home games remaining on the schedule.
Janet Janke reports that the Village of Hope has begun to send out new pictures of the students and she hopes that when we meet again, updated pictures of the children will be displayed in the Kaiser Center. Janet also offered an update regarding Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services as well as Lutheran Services of Florida in her outreach report.
Best regards,
Becky Borgert
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Continued Prayer Concerns
Prayers for healing: Lois Wilkowske, Schirmer family, Ron and Beverly Gronwall, Les O'Brien, Cecilia Noss
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Music and Worship Committee
I am happy to report that all members of the choir are still so committed to serving in this ministry. We have introduced some new hymns from All Creation Sings (ACS), a supplement to the Red Hymnal (ELW). We are going to add more Advent and Christmas hymns to our song bank in the coming weeks.
We are in the process of looking for a church pianist.
Blessings
Crystal
Minister of Music, for Worship Committee.
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WORSHIP ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE MONTH OF OCTOBER
Further to Council President Becky Borgert’s article, during the month of continued suspension of in-person services, Pastor Jacob is taking his annual vacation to maintain self-care, an encouragement from the synod to all clergy during the stressful time of the pandemic. Council has agreed to this, and to our using this time to connect with other ELCA congregations in our conference for online worship. Here is a list below with direct links to some Sunday Worship Services:
Rock of Ages in Wildwood - worship is livestreamed and can be viewed each Sunday at 9:30 a.m. Use the link to watch it any time later. Pr. Don Erickson
Our Saviour Lutheran Church, Ocala live via the Our Saviour Lutheran Church Facebook page each Sunday at 10 a.m. Each week's service remains on the page for later viewing. Pr. Nate Gruel
Joy Lutheran Church, Ocala livestreams at 11:00 a.m. on Sundays. The recordings remain available on FaceBook. Pr. Art Wuertz
For Pastoral Emergencies contact our church office or Pinelands Conference Chaplain, Pr Art Wuertz directly at 352-854-4509 (Joy Lutheran, Ocala) or email: [email protected]
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Offering Direct Deposits
It is Sunday morning and you are on your way to church. Part way there you remember you have not written a check for the offering plate.
It is another Sunday morning and you are sitting in the sanctuary you write a check and slowly you attempt to remove your check from your check book as quietly as possible.
It is another Sunday at church and you realize that your offering check and envelope remain at home on your dresser.
These are some of the ways that the use of direct deposit helps UELC to receive consistent income to pay its bills.
If you wish to learn more about the use of direct deposit, contact Jim Yale to get set up.
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LIFTvT
Share a Good Read: The pandemic has given us extra hours for reading. LIFT would like to focus next on what members have been reading this past year. The ones for October have been received. Now it’s time to send an email to [email protected] during the month of October with the title, author, and a brief paragraph about your book/books to be used in November. Both Fiction and Non-Fiction are welcomed. These “good reads” will be in your in box each Thursday.
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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.
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The Bee has Been Busy!
The Bee delivered 24 more Book and Blanket Bags plus face masks made by Loretta Fauderbach just for children to the Guidance Counselor at Parker Elementary to distribute to the children there. A lovely thank you note was received at the church office.
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Adult Forum
Adult Forum is not meeting for now.
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UF Football Parking Volunteers
The 2021 UF football seasoning has started. We have sold out the church lot and have lined up a couple of vendors. Now I am requesting help to line up volunteers for the 6 home games for which we will be parking cars. The home games are scheduled for: Oct 9; Nov 13 and Nov. 27. We open 4 hours prior to kick off and need 2 people for the parking in the lot at the 1902 house and 2 for Parking in the church lot. There is a need for 2 for clean-up after the game as well, either willing to stay through the game and clean up or come after the game and clean up. If our trash cans are emptied when full our parkers generally do a good job of picking up after themselves. Because of our location and proximity to the stadium, pedestrians are the cause of the need for a lot of pick up along University Ave and along 19th Street. There will be a sign-up sheet in the Narthex or you can call or text Pat at (352) 262-4219. Huge thanks to Anna Grace, who has coordinated the parking for a number of years and also to Anna, John, Adam and Austin Montmarquette, who have put in 10-12 hour days on game day parking, watching over the lot and picking up after for a number of seasons. Their effort was vital to keeping this going and was an enormous time commitment.
Pat Dasler
UELC Football Parking and Vendor Coordinator
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Village of Hope
From a recent mailing from VOH to sponsors:
“We are very encouraged about this coming school year and we look forward to sharing updates with you throughout the year. Please continue to keep our students and staff in your prayers. The gift of education is a gift of hope and a gift that our students and parents value. Many of our students would not have this gift available to them without special people like you. Thank you and God bless you, Dan Zieschang, Executive Director.
For Sponsorship information contact Janet Janke,
Lazarus Project Coordinator at University Lutheran Church, at [email protected] or 372-8610.
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Our Pastor and Staff
Pastor Terrance Jacob
Pastor, Congregation and Campus Ministry
Crystal Jacob
Minister of Music (Direct Choir and music-related ministries)
Moses Choi
Pianist
Evelyn Simmons
Administrative Assistant
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