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The Columns - February 2021
Offering and Contribution Collection
At this time of virtual services we do not have a set-aside time of offering, so we want to remind you now that that we do hope that you will continue to fulfill your pledges during this time. Financial gifts are always welcome, our church feels the call to respond to the needs around us as they arise. Financial stability allows us to do so more effectively. So, let us give generously of our time, talent, treasure to further the work of God in our community.

You can do so in the following ways:
  • Donate through our website: Give
  • Fill out your 2021 Pledge Card: Online Pledge Card or Printable Pledge Card
  • Writing and mailing a check to Lakewood Congregational Church, 1375 W. Clifton Blvd., Lakewood, OH 44107
  • Texting STEWARD to 44-321
  • Sending a gift through your bank's online bill pay
  • Call the church office at (216) 221-9555 to discuss other options
Letters to Our Church Family
Advisory Team
Attending worship indoors is one of the activities associated with the highest rate of transmission of COVID-19. At this point in time, we have decided that there will be no in-person indoor activities through the Lenten season. We track ongoing COVID-19 trends at the national, state, county, and local levels. We are hopeful about the prospects of vaccination and looking forward to finding ways to see each other outdoors once we reach warmer weather. In the meantime, we want to express our gratitude for the strength and tenacity our congregation has shown over the past 11 months. We recognize that it is not easy being one of the churches that does not gather in person. Yet, we want to stress to you just how important that action has been. Remember: "The goal is not to climb the mountain the fastest. The goal is to get all of us there safely." 

If you have a question for the advisory team, please contact Laura Blesse-Hampton. 
To access the list of sources where we obtain COVID-19 data that informs our decision-making process, please see the Google doc. HERE
Please take a moment to read the attached letter from Moderator, Jan Young, about this year's Annual Meeting being held on Zoom.
OUTREACH/INREACH NEWS
Children, Youth, & Family: Upcoming Events 

EVERY SUNDAY Be sure to watch Family Faith Formation and "Virtch"

Meeting IDs and Passcodes will be posted in our CYF Facebook group (in the event) and texted through Remind. (To join the Facebook group and/or Remind, please see the “Stay Up To Date” section below.
      
  • Sunday, February 14, 7pm:Confirmation Class for our French Fry Class and the Ketchup Class. Sponsors are invited! 
  • Wednesday, February 17: Ash Wednesday- More info to come.        
  • Sunday, February 21,7pm: Youth Group (6th-12th grade) Please bring your Lent packet.      
  • Tuesday, February 23, 8:30pm-9:30pm: Parent Chat (Topic: Lent, possible Easter pageant, & catching up with each other)       
  • Sunday, February 28,pm: Kid’s Night (up to 5th grade) 

Stay Up To Date: Stay up to date with all of our happenings for children, youth, and families! 
Families with children and youth who are active in our church are welcome to join our
Facebook group: Lakewood Congregational Church Children & Youth
All ages are invited to follow our Instagram account! @lcc_cyf

Text Alerts: Please sign up for text alerts about our children and youth ministry through Remind.
  • Parents of children in 5th grade or under- Send a text to 81010 with this message: @gae42kk.
  • Youth and parents of youth (grades 6-12)- Send a text to 81010 with this message: @ae6g96. 
Do you remember our Miracle Jar at church? When we had worship in the Sanctuary, our young people would put coins and dollars in the Miracle Jar on their way to Faith Formation. The money put in the Miracle Jar goes to support Global Ministries. At home, please find a jar or other kind of container to be your very own Miracle Jar.
You can decorate it, label it, or leave it as is. Put it somewhere in your home where you will see it often and put your extra change and dollars in it as often as you can. You can encourage your whole family to participate! When your Miracle Jar is full, you can drop it off at my house or the church or I can come pick it up. Thank you for helping continue our support of Global Ministries.
In The Spotlight- A New Season!
In February, Lindy and Rachel will be hosting a new season of In The Spotlight videos! In this season, we invite children and youth (anyone 12th grade and below) to be interviewed via zoom.
We welcome new participants as well as those who have already been interviewed. This season will include new questions. Interviews will be shared on YouTube. If you would like to be interviewed, please contact Rachel.
Haynes continues to teach our students virtually via zoom. The Haynes teachers go above and beyond each week to offer an engaging, creative and educational experience 3x per week. We are excited to return to outdoor classes once a week when the weather allows; toward the end of March. We are optimistic that we will return to in person learning at the start of the 2021-2022 school year. Registration is open! 
216 260-5938
Haynes 'Share the Love' Fundraiser
Show your love for Haynes - send your love notes for your Haynes memories with your donation and the Haynes staff will create a valentine for you!
Be sure to leave comment in the "note" section.
A slide show of Valentine's will be available at the end of the February.

LCC's Community Meal
We will still be offering our monthly
Community Meal
Thursday, February 4

VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED FOR THE
MEAL STARTING AT 4:30PM
For our January meal we served pork roast with gravy, sweet potatoes, peas, fresh apples and homemade blonde brownies provided by Joann Ritschel. We had 30 people attend and all of our meals were taken by 6:10pm. Our cost was $68.37. Our volunteers were Jan Young, Frank Schwelik, David Rogane and Paula Deal.

Our ministry experienced a small setback in mid December when one of our upright freezers failed. It was over 15 years old and had served the church well. We did lose some of our meat but it was not devastating to this ministry. With an anonymous donation, we were able to purchase a new upright freezer which was delivered the middle of January. We did a bit of re-organizing and split up our meat supply into two freezers with the idea if we lose the another old freezer we won’t lose one whole type of meat.

We are proud to continue to support this important service to our community with the support of LCC. Peggi and Michael Mizen

 
TRINITY LUTHERAN COMMUNITY MEAL SCHEDULE:
MEALS
  • Monday, February 1: 5:30pm
  • Saturday, February 20: 12pm

PANTRY:
  • Saturday, February 27: 10:00am-12:00pm
Since the church has been closed for services, we have been unable to collect donations for Hunger Sundays. If you were previously donating to Hunger Sundays and have the means to continue to give, we encourage you to make donations to support those with food insecurity. Two local organizations that could be donated to are the Cleveland Food Bank and the Lakewood Community Service Center.
LCC Meetings/News/EVENTS


JOIN YOUR LCC FAMILY FOR THESE FEBRUARY EVENTS
  • Thursday, February 4, 4:30pm: Community Meal Volunteers
  • Sunday, February 7, 11:00am: Annual Meeting (Zoom)
  • Sunday, February 7, 3:00pm: The Road We Make by Walking Group (Zoom)*
* Contact Paula Deal for more information,
  • Tuesday, February 9, 12:30pm: Adventures in Reading (Zoom)
  • Saturday, February 13, 9:00am: Second Saturday (Zoom)
  • Sunday, February 14, 11:00am: Coffee Hour (Zoom)
  • Sunday, February 14, 3:00pm: The Road We Make by Walking Group (Zoom)*
  • Sunday, February 14, 7pm:Confirmation Class for our French Fry Class and the Ketchup Class. Sponsors are invited! 
  • Wednesday, February 17, 7:00pm: Ash Wednesday Service (Zoom and Facebook Live)
  • Sunday, February 21, 11:00am: Prayer Group (Zoom)
  • Sunday, February 21, 3:00pm: The Road We Make by Walking Group (Zoom)
  • Sunday, February 21,7pm: Youth Group (6th-12th grade) Please bring your Lent packet.    
  • Tuesday, February 23, 7:00pm: Church and Community Organizing Conversation (Zoom)
  • Tuesday, February 23, 8:30pm-9:30pm: Parent Chat (Topic: Lent, possible Easter pageant, & catching up with each other)  
  • Wednesday, February 24, 6:00pm: West Park UCC/LCC Lenten Bible Study (Zoom)
  • Sunday, February 28, 11:00am: Coffee Hour (Zoom)
  • Sunday, February 28, 3:00pm: The Road We Make by Walking Group (Zoom)*
  • Sunday, February 28,pm: Kid’s Night (up to 5th grade) 

E-mail the church office to sign up for these zoom events lccstaff@lcc-church.org
Hymns of Lent Study
Join LCC, West Park UCC, and Christ United Methodist Church in a Lenten Study
Wednesdays at 6:00pm via Zoom
  1. February 24: Beneath the Cross
  2. March 3: Just As I Am
  3. March 10: The Old Rugged Cross
  4. March 17: What Wonderous Love Is This?
  5. March 24: Were You There?
  6. March 31: Christ the Lord Is Risen Today
Church and Community Organizing Discussion Group
This is an opportunity for youth and adults to discuss the work of Community Organizing and Social Justice for churches. We will use excerpts from Dennis A. Jacobsen's book, "Doing Justice: Congregations and Community Organizing" as well as TED Talks, Video Sermons, and Podcasts to facilitate our weekly discussions. 
Facilitated by Pastor Joanna and Rachel.
More information to follow. 
  1. February 23
  2. March 2
  3. March 9
  4. March 16
  5. March 23
  6. March 30
Black History Month:
The LCC Adult Faith Formation Team encourages our congregation to explore some of the many options (to watch/listen to/read/or discuss) available as we continue our Sacred Conversation about Race in America during Black History Month. It seems quite obvious, that no matter where you fall on the political spectrum, you can agree that racial equality, or inequality, in America has been a topic of discussion and debate for over 400 years…As a church dedicated to Social Justice, understanding the why’s and how’s this has happened can help us better resolve the problem. We hope that you will check out some of the listings below:

ideastream.org (PBS) has an extraordinary list of programs this month:
  • Series-Masterpiece-The Long Song, Sundays at 10pm
  • American Experience-Goin’ Back to T-Town, February 8 at 9pm
  • American Experience-Voice of Freedom, February 15 at 9pm
  • The Black Church, February 16-23
  • Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards 2020, February 18 at 10pm
  • Driving While Black: Race, Space, and Mobility in America, February 19 at 9pm
  • Independent Lens-Mr. Soul, February 22 at 10pm
  • American Masters-Toni Morrison, February 25 at 9pm

  • Celebrating James Baldwin, February 2 at 10pm

The Cleveland Orchestra: https://www.clevelandorchestra.com/
  • Any of the MLK celebrations, recommending 2018

  • Virtual performances:
  • Step Afrika!’s “Stono”, February 1-14
  • “Rhapsody in Black”, February 22-28

The Karamu House: https://karamuhouse.org/
Through the month of February, Karamu House and The Musical Theatre Project present “The Impact of Shuffle Along,” a FREE, virtual community program that celebrates the hidden story and musical of Eubie Blake's and Noble Sissle’s 1921 musical. Registration required (free).

Books:
Our LCC Library has several books-fiction and non-fiction about race in America available for borrowing.
Caste by Isabel Wilkerson is presently on the Bestsellers List.

LITURGIST SIGN UP
We love to see you in our online worship services. If you are interested in recording a Liturgy for one of our upcoming services, please use the link below.
GOD MOMENT SIGN UP
This is just a simple way to bring more voices and familiar faces into our Virtual Church services. Tell us about a way you saw God working in your life recently. Check out the link for more details.
Adventures in Reading
Adventures in Reading held their January 12th zoom book discussion with eight members. Joanellen Hurley led the discussion of Rust: A Memoir of Steel and Grit (2020) by Eliese Colette Goldbach. Our schedule for the next two months follows:

February 10 (Wednesday) 12:30 pm
Book: Five Little Pigs (1942) by Agatha Christie
           Margaret Barr will lead the discussion.

March 9 (Tuesday) 12:30 pm
Book: Carnegie’s Maid (2018) by Marie Benedict
           Nancy Fraunfelder will lead the discussion.

We will continue to keep a rolling list of at least two books so we can plan ahead, get the book and read it, and be prepared for the zoom meeting.

Please mark your calendar for the date and think of a book/discussion you would like to lead. We need book titles and leaders for April and May. We will be using the same link or phone number/meeting ID for all our meetings. Susan Walker will send out a reminder and zoom link either the day before or the day of our meeting so it doesn’t get lost in our emails.

Blessings, Kathy MacDougall
Start the new year off doing something nice for yourself. Join other women in our church for an hour of conversation, reflection and a little prayer at Second Saturday. We'll meeting via Zoom on Saturday, February 13 at 9:00am. RSVP to the church office for the Zoom link. This group is made up women from 30 somethings to 60 somethings and everyone in between!
Don't forget to let the church office know if you want yourself or someone else prayed for by the LCC Prayer Chain.
Good Health and Peace to everyone in our church family at this stressful time.
The weather is cooling down! Be sure you have a puzzle or two to keep you busy! If you would like a puzzle or would like to trade a puzzle, you can visit the book and puzzle display at church Mon-Thurs, 9am-12pm, except on days the office is closed. If you’d like a puzzle delivered, that can be arranged. Contact Rachel to request delivery.
Marian Kenney
Meg Winters
Calvin Basile
Mark Hogan
Martha Skillen
Sandie King
Sarah Maibauer
Bonnie Harbaugh
Ellen Fleenor
Justin Hiller
Peggi Mizen
Amelia Diemert
George Alkire, Jr.
Amy Kemp
Peter Kuhn
Lily Wills
Jack Wills
Judy Foote
Laura Sangree
Sarah Pierce
Sally Alkire
Christopher Leo
Andrew Winters
Tom Leatherman
INSTANT CHURCH DIRECTORY
LCC’s Membership Directory is online for you to use on the go! Or at home!
Only members whose email is in the directory can have access to the information. It is available on your computer or as an app on your phone.
Please make sure to update the office if you have any changes to your information. Instant Church Directory
LCC Office Schedule
The office will be closed the week of December 28- January 1. Email will be checked regura
Office Hours are: Monday - Thursday from 9am-12pm, There is now a mailbox by the West Clifton door for you to drop off mail after hours. Email/phone messages will be checked remotely.