August Eagle

Ebenezer United Church Of Christ

August Eagle Newsletter

2022

This "Eagle" is being sponsored by Janet and John Andrews.

PASTOR'S CORNER

It is hard to believe, while we are in the midst of another heat wave, that summer is nearly half over. Wasn't it Memorial Day just a couple of weeks ago? How is it that July 4th came and went? I barely remember the 4th, it passed so quickly. Remember when you were just a kid and it seemed to take forever for your birthday or Christmas to arrive? Now that I'm older I can't understand how the time races past me. Believe it or not, but Christmas is just five months away! It seems that the passage of time accelerates, especially during the warm months. We try to fit so much into a day or a week that the time flies by and before we know it, we are closing the windows, and turning on the furnace as autumn surrounds us with its hint of the coming snow. Where does life go? Perhaps when we were young, we spent so much time discovering new things that time took a backseat to the great discoveries of the world about us? Everything in the world was new to us. Every day brought something unexpected and exciting to our front steps.

We have grown up, we became adults and began acting as adults are supposed to act; always in control, nothing surprises us, always keeping our emotions in check and never stare at something with your mouth open and marvel at something unexpected and beautiful. We lose something dear to us when we achieve adulthood. We lose our sense of wonder.

Each day we are given many blessings. Some of these we cherish and some we barely notice but all of them help to make our lives blessed by our God. Each day we are given a chance to grow deeper in our relationship with our Lord. Do you make the time in a busy summer day or week to spend time with God, as well as your summer activities? At the end of the season, do you have fond memories of vacations but an empty place where God could have been? It is so easy to forget God as yo play with the kids, sail on the lake, or hike the trail. Making the preparations for these activities takes time and energy. Speaking with God takes time and energy as well. Have you devoted sufficient time and energy to God this summer?

Invite God along with you on your next trip. (God is coming along with you whether you have invited God or not.) Place God n your life this August and experience the beauty and peace of wholeness with the Creator.

Pease and grace,

Pastor Mike

PASTOR MIKE & ALL

Our sincerest thank you for all your prayers and concern. We are so very grateful.

Janet & John Andrews

ICE CREAM SOCIAL SUPPER THANK YOU!

Thank you to everyone that helped to make the Ice Cream Social Supper a success--the organizers, poster distributors, lawn sign advertisers, potato peelers, bun cutter, food preparers, grillers, pre-ordered and carryout workers, our delivery person, kitchen/clean-up workers, pie bakers, pie cutters, and cashiers (if we've missed anyone, we apologize). Also a thank you to anyone who made monetary contributions and item donations.

As you know, we only did preorders and carryouts again this year, along with several deliveries. We were very pleased with the number of preorders we received and also everyone that came for carryouts. We hope that everyone enjoyed the food prepared and that hopefully next year we can once again offer sit down seating in the Fellowship Hall.

At this time, we do not have a total of money raised, but will have an amount for September's "Eagle".

On behalf of the Ebenezer Women's Guild, again, thank you everyone for your support!

Joan Woelfel & Ruth Aebischer,

Ice Cream Social Supper Co-Chairs

NOTES FROM THE MUSIC CORNER

The July 12 meditation from the Upper Room was a true reflection of the sing along sessions that preceded the July worship services. Psalm 69:30 states "I will praise God's name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving." The meditation continues "We worship aloud to acknowledge our love for God, not to perform or seek admiration for ourselves." We sang 35 out of the 50 favorite hymns that were submitted. Some were incorporated into the worship service. Pastor Mike has the list, so may continue to use some of the suggested hymns in the worship services. It was good to have some old (1865) and some new (1995) titles. Thank you to everyone who submitted titles and everyone who sang with enthusiasm. It was interesting to sing "Little Brown Church In the Wildwood" on July 7. That poem/song was written by Wisconsin resident, William Pitts in 1856 when he traveled to Nashua, Iowa. He explored the town while waiting for a stagecoach change and found a wooded area that he visualized a "Little Brown Church". When returning to Wisconsin, he wrote the poem/song. He was surprised when he and his wife returned to Fredricksburg, Iowa in 1862 to find that a small group of Congregational worshippers had built the "Little Brown Church". After some years of neglect, the church was restored in 1914 and continues weekly Sunday worship services as well as a site for many weddings. The congregation regularly sings "The Little Brown Church" as a response to the benediction every Sunday. I'm so glad we joined them in 'spirit' on July 7! They have a very interesting website you may want to check out.

On August 21, Ebenezer will welcome the Sharon Bethel Quartet from Kalona, Iowa for worship. They will be at Hilbert's Gospel Fest on Friday and Saturday, August 19 and 20. Check the brochure on the table in the Narthex for other groups that will be at Gospel Fest. The Sharon Bethel group consists of four to six men who love to sing songs about their heavenly Father and His love for all mankind. They started singing together in 1994 and have enjoyed God's blessing on their lives and their singing as they minister in many different venues. Their singing is unique in that it is all a cappella. They sing a wide variety of hymns including Southern Gospel.

Watch for details of handbell rehearsals resuming. Ebenezer Brass always welcomes returning as well as new ringers.

DARTBALL

Are you looking for some fun and fellowship? Our church is looking for additional people to join our dart ball league. The matches are held at the Eagles Club, Cheers Tap, or Marytown Tap. It runs every Tuesday evening from Fall to Spring. We would love if you could come join us! You don't even have to know how to play, we will teach you! If you are interested, please contact Mark Rusch, Don Pingel, or Ken Lisowe.

EUCC USHERING SCHEDULE

Below is the upcoming ushering schedule; please note that the church office does not find a replacement, but we are happy to help you get in contact with possible subs! Please let the office know when any changes are made.

August

August 7 Council

August 14 Zach

August 21 Shirley

August 28 Ken

EAGLE ARTICLES

Eagle articles are due August 16th. Please have them in at that time. We like to get the newsletter out to all members before the end of the month. Thank you for your help on this!

UPCOMING WOMEN'S GUILD MEETING

Ladies, want to treat yourself to a breakfast out--no cooking and no dishes? Why not come to the August 18th Women's Guild Meeting at 7 Angels? We order off the menu at 9 a.m., enjoy our meal with lively discussins, and then conduct our meeting. It's a fun mornng filled with lots of laughter. So please join us--everyone is welcome! If you have any questions about Guild, please contact Joan Woelfel, President, at 920-418-5457. We hope to see you there!

Arlene ~ Audra ~ Audrey ~ Betty Da'Monique ~ Da'Nisha ~ Dennis ~ Diana Ellie ~ Eric ~ Glen ~ John and Janet

Jim ~ John S ~ Kari ~ Pastor Sue Rebecca ~ Rod ~ Sharon ~ Stephanie Steve ~ Tod ~ Tony ~ Vern

Thede Family

Due to privacy laws, last names cannot be printed on the prayer list because the Eagle goes on the church website which can be viewed by anyone on the internet.

If you want someone added or removed, please contact the church office.

Thank you.

Tammy Greuel 8/1

Matt Winkler 8/1

Ellie Papendieck 8/2

Mary Thompson 8/6

Spencer Wagner 8/6

Don Propson 8/8

Joan Woelfel 8/8

Aiden Gleason 8/9

Jack Vernon 8/13

Steve Stenz 8/21

Addison Head 8/22

Earl Ploeckelmann 8/22

Noah Brown 8/25

Jeremy Pringle 8/26

Carl Reichwald 8/26

Bernice Ninedorf 8/29

Jordan Propson 8/30

May God bless your years and may you continue to bless Ebenezer!

VIRTUAL SERVICE

If you are unable to make it to service, you are welcome to view the service Live on Facebook. As a reminder, you can always tune into 95.5 within a block of the church during the service!

Scrip: If you are in need of Scrip, please let Kelly know. If you are interested in re-loadable cards and direct pay to avoid contact, there is a small fee for credit card charge and bank with drawal.

Kelly Brown

920-418-0351

richardbrown462@msn.com

Administrative Assistant

ebenezeroffice@yahoo.com

(920) 849-4331

Hours:

Monday: 9 a.m.-2:30 p.m.

Wednesday: 9 a.m.-2:30 p.m.

Pastor Michael Safford-Kennedy:

ebenezerchiltonpastor@gmail.com

Cell: (920) 286-1956

Hours:

Monday: 9 a.m.-12 p.m.

Tuesday: 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

Wednesday: 1-3 p.m.

Thursday: 9 a.m.-12 p.m.

The office phone messages are checked during office hours; If you have a pastoral emergency, please contact Pastor Mike at (920) 286-1956 or via email.

If you have a non-emergency, send the office an email or leave a voice mail.

Pastor on vacation August 8-11.
Men's Breakfast Group: 8:30 a.m. on August 11 at 7 Angels.
Eagle articles due August 16.
Women's Guild Meeting: 9:00 a.m. on August 18 at 7 Angels
Church Council Meeting on Sunday, August 21, 8 a.m., Lounge
Sharon Bethel Quartet here on August 21.
Baptism of Henry Matthew Kolbe on August 21.
The September/October Upper Room issues are available in the Narthex.

EBENEZER UCC CHURCH COUNCIL MINUTES

JULY 17, 2022

Members present: Pastor Mike, Joan Woelfel, Don Pingel, Mark Rusch, Deno Papendieck, and Karen Cmejla. Missing: Stacey Freund and Dennis Winkler.

Vice-President, Joan Woelfel, called the meeting to order at 8:00 AM.

Don Pingel made a motion to approve last month's minutes and Deno Papendieck seconded it. Motion carried.

MINISTER'S REPORT:

The Wired Word will resume in September.
Confirmation will begin in September.
We averaged 36 people during June. We average 42 people this year.
Pastor will be taking vacation from August 8-11 but will not be missing any Sundays.

Deno presented the TREASURER'S REPORT:

Revenues for June: $14,310.63

June expenses: $6,545.44

Checkbook balance: $70,326.99

Money market account: $251,898.60

Cambridge Investment: $51,836.72

Cash equity: $78,025.61

OTHER REPORTS:

Evangelism Committee noted all the positive comments of the flower pots distributed around the community.
Christian Ed/Music commented on all the positive feedback with the wonderful pre-worship sing-along music during the month of July.
Pastoral/Congregation Relations Committee met to discuss some issues.
Property Committee has no further information as to when Chrystal and Heiberger will start the remodeling of the basement bathrooms. It was stated that the old partitions leaning against the walls should be removed for safety precautions.
The Women's Guild stated the Ice Cream Social Supper was another success. The dollar amount is not completely tallied but the profit looks like it's around $1600.
There were no other committee reports.

OLD/CONTINUING BUSINESS:

Search for the new office secretary is still underway. We will talk with St. Johns Council President, Kelly Sipple, about hiring one individual as office administrator for both churches or one individually for each church. We will also contact Flex Staff for any possible candidates.
Pastor Mike's health insurance is tabled until October.
No new information on the stained glass project.
We are still looking for new Dartball members.

NEW BUSINESS:

The council approved the Kuhn family use of the Fellowship Hall on July 31st for their baptism family gathering.
Don Pingel was granted permission to buy sidewalk salt for the winter months from Farm and Home due to the sale prices with them going out of business.
It was stated the AED battery needs to be replaced. We will try to have Ruth look into that as to who to contact.
No other new business.

Deno made a motion to adjourn the meeting and Mark Rusch seconded it at 8:35 A.M. Motion carried. The Lord's prayer was said together.

The next regular council meeting will be August 21, 2022, at 8 AM in the lounge before the church service.

Respectfully submitted,

EUCC Council Secretary,

Karen Cmejla