PRESIDENT'S REPORT.... by Matthew Kahn

With the coming of the brisk autumn air and the changing of the October leaves, we will gather to celebrate the glorious Reformation. We will rejoice in the beginning of our part of Christianity because on October 31, 1517 Martin Luther posted his, “Disputation of Martin Luther on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences”.  We are truly blessed by God to have Martin Luther.  Yet he wasn’t the only one who was, as it might have seemed at the time, to be tilting at windmills.  There were other people who previously tried to reform the church. People like John Wycliffe or the Czech, Jan Hus, who was burned at the stake a century before Luther’s reformation. 

    What made Luther’s ecclesiastical challenge different were the leaders outside the clergy that were called to serve the cause.  People like John the Steadfast, John Fredrick I of Saxony, Philip I Landgrave of Hesse, all noble protectors of Luther. There was Christoph von Scheurl who did the printing and distribution of the “95 Theses” in the German language to better spread the ideas. Finally, Fredrick the Wise, Elector of Saxony, who not only founded the  University Wittenberg but also used his influence to make sure Luther did not end up like Jan Hus.  This Reformation anniversary we must remember to thank God for their contributions! 

    The preface to the Book of Concord is signed by dozens of Dukes, Mayors, Barons, and whole city councils; all lay persons devoted to the Reformation.  Since the beginning it has been critical that parishioners step forward to help lead our great Church. It was important in the 1500s and it is the same today.  Before we know it we will be selecting new church council members, a new president and officers.  In the coming months I pray that everyone listens to the Spirit’s promptings to serve His Church in some capacity so that we may continue to spread His Word.

    First Lutheran Church of West Seattle is on a better financial footing than it was 12 months ago. There were times last year where we were concerned about being $10,000 short of giving. This year, while still short of our financial goals, the total underage is more a manageable $4,600. The Total General Budget Income was $154,011 as compared to a budget of $158,641 for the year.  Most of this year’s shortfall was from the month of August, in which we generally see a decline of giving. Total General Budget Income for August was $15,100.64 as compared to $18,413, or a shortfall of $3,300 from budget projections.  An important number is the cash on hand at the end of the month. In July it was $5,264 but in August is dwindled down to $388.28. It was a good thing we had a small cushion in July to cover our bills. The overall message is: while we are in a better financial position now than we were 12 months ago we cannot afford falling any more behind this autumn. 

    Finally, even with all my ramblings about lay leadership and congregational finances we must always remember to look to what Martin Luther wrote in the 95 Theses, number sixty-two, “The true treasure of the Church is the Most Holy Gospel of the glory and the grace of God.”

    Have a blessed October.

Stewardship                                             Budget                         Received

            Month (August)                            $18,413                       $15,145

            Year to date (Jan-Aug)                 $158, 641                    $156,074

Giving With a Grateful Heart

Giving is a matter of the heart. How a gift is given is more important than the gift itself. Luther reminds us that, "Abel's offering (Genesis 4:4) was pleasing to God and acceptable because he offered it in the fear of God and in faith and because he strove to show his grateful heart by his gift." We need to strive to show our thankfulness to God for His greatest gift to us, Jesus Christ. We do this rightly by giving our time and money cheerfully. Pray that God will give us that grateful heart and as Luther continues, "For when the heart is offered, this is a gift that is very gratifying indeed to God."

 –Jeff Sagmoen, Church Council

THE HELPLINE NEEDS OUR “HELP!”

In last month’s Messenger, we indicated that the West Seattle Helpline was to be the “project” for the Extended Ministries Committee for the month of September.    Because the need is so great to help families in our neighborhood pay for utilities so that they can stay in their homes, we have decided to continue to ask you to help the Helpline. 

    The number of families among us that need extra to pay their utility bills, is unthinkably high.  We probably have little understanding of what some of our neighbors go through each month just to make enough money to pay for heat, electricity, and water.  As I think of these, it would be like anticipating a chronic power and water outage.  What if the stove didn’t work and we couldn’t cook food? Or what if the refrigerator had no power, the food would be spoiled?  With no water, how could you take care of basic sanitation and hygiene?  And as cooler months approach, what if we had no heat because there just wasn’t enough money to pay that bill?  These are the questions that many of our West Seattle residents face monthly.

    Couldn’t we all just give up one latte a week or limit ourselves to just a couple each week and donate that money to support the Helpline?  Or maybe dessert is our favorite indulgence.  Donate money saved from cutting back on those delectable luxuries.  Whatever you feel you can donate, whether it is because you have adjusted your spending or just off the top of your income, you can know that by helping the Helpline, you have done a good work out of the generosity of your heart.  Please pray that you will be able to give a little extra during the month of October to this very deserving extended ministry.

─Larraine King for the Extended Ministries Committee

"The need to make expiation or atonement for wrongdoing seems to be one of the most powerful human impulses, operating both on the individual and the collective level. If the problem of guilt and violence and the need to deal with them are not definitive of human culture, then they certainly are of civilization, i.e. the attempt of human beings to live together in settled communities. Part of the power of Christianity as a missionary religion is that its central symbol, the cross, targets both guilt and violence, and offers a remedy to both through the ‘bearing’ of guilt and the refusal to meet violence with counter-violence. That it is a symbol which is central, and not a doctrine or a philosophy, is important, for the cross focuses feelings of guilt, shame and repentance which go far beyond words to the very roots of human culture and the individual psyche. That it squarely faces the universal human problem of guilt and violence is its claim to be redemptive. Satisfaction theory in particular addressed the need for order both in society and in the human soul; it addressed the sense of justice and the need to express moral outrage; it gave voice to the experience that suffering might sometimes be redemptive; above all it was a means of dealing with guilt. All of these things were brought together by the satisfaction theory, adumbrated at each celebration of the Eucharist, painted in representations of the passion, given voice in the hymns of pietism. The power of this combination of factors was enormous.”

[Timothy Gorringe, God’s Just Vengeance: Crime, Violence,

and the Rhetoric of Salvation (Cambridge, 1996) pp. 11-12.]

With the Mind:  Readings in Contemporary Theology

3-5 pm in the Church Lounge, Saturday, October 27th

The book for October is Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith (2004) by Jon Krakauer, controversial author and mountaineer. He is famous for his exposés of Greg Mortenson (Three Cups of Deceit, 2011) and the death of Pat Tillman in Afghanistan by friendly-fire (Where Men Win Glory, 2009). Krakauer has also been nominated to receive the Pulitzer Prize. This book, Under the Banner of Heaven, covers the story of a double murder in 1984 by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It not only exposes a radical offshoot of this church and the practice of polygamy, but also the inherently violent nature of religious faith. This sharp criticism deserve one’s careful attention. At the end of this book is the official response to Krakauer’s arguments by the LDS church.

     A copy of this important book is in the church library. If you would like to purchase one for yourself, contact Pastor Marshall. Feel free to attend our meeting when we discuss the nature of religious faith as presented by Krakauer.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

GOLDEN FELLOWSHIP:  Luncheon on Tuesday, October 23rd.  Be sure to sign up when you see the sheet posted in the lounge.  SCRAPPER’S will meet on Wednesday the 31st and Thursday the 1st of November.  Join this group for their last meeting in 2012, the next meeting will be in January of 2013. KORAN CLASS:  A four-week guided reading of the Koran begins October 4th at 7:00 pm.  Interested?  Call 206-935-6530 to register or email deogloria@foxinternet.com.   FOOD BANK DONATION suggestion for October is tuna and mayonnaise.    NEW MEMBER CLASSES will be starting on Sunday, October 7th at 11:45 am in rm D.  If you are interested in becoming a member please let Pastor Marshall know. Thanks to those who donated socks for Nickelsville.  We collected seven pair and they were delivered this summer.  Also thanks for your donations to the school supplies in August.  Twenty large bags were taken to the West Seattle Helpline at the end of summer.  Later we learned that what we donated all went to Lafayette Elementary School on California Avenue!  LOCAL GROCERY stores are no longer donating 1% of sales to the West Seattle Food Bank through the collection of grocery store receipts.  They are still donating a percentage but in a different manner.  Thanks to those who collected receipts for us but the stores have changed the rules so the receipts are no longer used.

St. Nicholas Faire

Sunday, December 2

4pm to 7pm

Sign-up sheets will be posted this month and preparations are underway.  Be thinking how you would like to help.  There are plenty of opportunities, but the most important action is to  MARK YOUR CALENDAR – INVITE YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY!!!!!!!  It will be a spectacular party with good food and beverages, creative and practical gift baskets you could give as presents, prizes to win at the wine toss game, and wine tasting with Maryhill Winery.  A great way to start off the holiday season supporting our local charities, and having an awesome experience, all at the same time!!!

A Forgotten But Powerful Voice:

Dr. Kent S. Knutson, 1924-1973

By Pastor Marshall

What I want to share with you this month, from Dr. Knutson’s The Shape of the Question: The Mission of the Church in a Secular Age (1972), has to do with pastors. Regarding them, he writes, that they don’t have to be transformed into modern day organizers, but should instead carry on the tasks assigned of old for them to do from the Holy Scriptures:

reason for this is that our tradition has  wanted to be careful not to suggest that the grace of God which redeems man is of a hierarchical order with a more powerful grace preserved for the ordained ministry. The minister, too, is a sinner saved by grace. But in actual thought and use, the person of the minister is described in terms of a certain

  Stewardship

Its time to complete and turn in your Stewardship Pledge Cards.  The pledge cards help the church council plan for next year.  The pledge card drive makes the whole congregation an active part of the budget making process.  Without your help the church council would not be able to prepare a realistic budget. 

Please return all pledge cards by:

Sunday, October 28th.