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The Columns - January 2021 |
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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
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Letters to Our Church Family |
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From the desk of the LCC Treasurer
You never hear from me, but thanks to your commitments and support, your church is in sound financial condition and prepared to move ahead as we work our way through this pandemic and into a new life for LCC.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Steve Hotchkiss, Treasurer
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Advisory Team
Our Covid-19 Advisory Team has not met since late November, as it became clear that regathering was not going to happen in the month of December. They will meet this month and update the congregation with a letter which will either be included in the Annual Meeting Packet or be sent out slightly before that. If you have information or questions for the team, please send them to the church office or to me, and we will forward them. Or we can ask a member of the team to respond to you directly.
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Children, Youth, and Family Schedule |
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Hello, LCC families & friends!
Can you believe it is January? Happy new year! I am holding hope that 2021 will shine light in darkness. What are your hopes for 2021?
We have been through a lot in the last year. Thank you so much for being creative in your connections and for walking the journey together as a church family. You all are one of my greatest blessings. As we continue through winter, a time that is dark due to less sunlight but also can feel dark, we are invited to experience the light of Christ in a new way. According to our liturgical calendar, the next month and a half are called “Ordinary Time” but together we are going to find that the light of Christ is anything but ordinary.
Up until Lent, our Family Faith Formation will be inspired by a resource called No Ordinary Light by Emily Delikat. Along with videos, you will have opportunities for family discussions and activities, service projects, a recipe, arts and crafts, and games. Be sure to check out our YouTube videos and the weekly church emails to find everything you need.
In addition to Family Faith Formation, I’m inviting our children and youth to opportunities to give back. No matter how old we are, we can help make a difference in the world.
For children and youth, 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.
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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.
For our youth (middle school and high school), January is when we would usually have our Homeless Awareness Sleep Out. Even though our usual event cannot happen, it is still important to learn about homelessness and give back to others. We are working with the Living Water Association and other partners to come up with a meaningful experience for our youth. Stay tuned for more information!
I’m praying for all of our families as our children get back to school after winter break, whether full time in person, hybrid, or remote. We all face challenges and have a wide range of situations. I support you in the direction your family chooses to take. I hope you’ll join me in praying for our schools and communities as we continue to adjust and readjust. May we find an abundance of health and happiness in the new year!
Walking with you and praying for you,
Rachel Burns
To be sure you don’t miss anything and to stay connected, check out the events listed here and see the Stay Up To Date section later in this newsletter. Please reach out to me if you have questions or would like to chat.
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Children, Youth, & Family: Upcoming Events
EVERY SUNDAY Be sure to watch Family Faith Formation!
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Sunday, January 10, 7pm: Confirmation Class for our French Fry Class and the Ketchup Class.
Students only. Zoom Meeting: 847 5595 2681
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Tuesday, January 12, 8:30pm-9:30pm: Parent Chat. Zoom Meeting: 878 0058 1763
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Sunday, January 17, 7pm: Kid’s Night (up to 5th grade) Zoom Meeting: 816 1245 0562
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Sunday, January 24, 7pm: Youth Group (6th-12th grade) Zoom Meeting: 819 3132 9159
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.
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Haynes has been keeping up with our 4 year old and PreK classes through Zoom 3x per week and will continue to do so as the New Year begins. We are also starting a Zoom story hour for our 3 and 4 year old children who did not have virtual classes at the start of our school year.
Registration for the 2021-2022 school year will begin on January 25th.
Please email Shannon Lubas at [email protected] or check our website for more information.
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LCC's Community Meal
We will still be offering our monthly
Community Meal
Thursday, January 7
VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED FOR THE
MEAL STARTING AT 4:30PM
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Our October meal (correction) In October we served a casserole make out of turkey, mac & cheese and vegetables –the turkey was graciously donated by Marian and Rich Kenney-peaches, which we obtained from the Food Bank for free– and Jan Young made terrific oatmeal cookies.
As always, we made 48 meals—30 people attended and all of our meals were taken. Our cost was $76.22. Our crew was Frank Schwelik, Paula Deal, and Susan Walker.
Our community meal offered as a “take away” the first Thursday of the month continues to be a success. In December, 39 people attended and all 48 meals were taken by 6:05pm! We served marinated chicken breasts, mixed vegetables, freshly baked biscuits and butter ,fresh apples and iced Christmas cookies which were generously donated by Vicki Smigelski. Our elves were Susan Walker ,Frank Schwelik ,and David Ragone. The cost of the meal was $64.24. We continue to feel blessed to provide the service to our community.
Thank you again to everyone who volunteers for this very important ministry of our church.
Peggi Mizen (216-767-5070)
TRINITY LUTHERAN COMMUNITY MEAL SCHEDULE:
MEALS
- Monday, January 4: 5:30pm
- Saturday, January 16: 12pm
PANTRY:
- Saturday, January 23: 10:00am-12:00pm
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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.
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Undie Sundays
Traditionally during the month of January at LCC, we collect new socks and underwear to donate to the homeless families staying with Family Promise. Something as simple as clean socks and underwear provides a small bit of dignity for families in crisis. This year we will continue the tradition with a few enhancements due to COVID-19.
We will be collecting CHILDREN’s socks and underwear in all sizes and WOMEN’s socks and underwear in sizes large, extra-large and 2XL. You can drop your donations off in the church office during office hours. Or you can send a check to the church with Undie Sundays in the memo or donate on the church website and we’ll do the buying for you. Or you could purchase socks and underwear online (how about using Amazon Smile and helping LCC at the same time?) and have them delivered directly to the church. We appreciate your help!
Please contact Vicki Smigelski or the church office with any questions.
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JOIN YOUR LCC FAMILY FOR THESE JANUARY EVENTS
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Sunday, January 3, 11:00am: Prayer Group (Zoom)
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Sunday, January 3, 3:00pm: The Road We Make by Walking Group (Zoom)*
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Thursday, January 7, 4:30pm: Community Meal Volunteers
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Saturday, January 9, 9:00am: Second Saturday (Zoom)
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Sunday, January 10, 11:00am: Coffee Hour (Zoom)
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Sunday, January 10, 3:00pm: The Road We Make by Walking Group (Zoom)*
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Sunday, January 10, 7pm: Confirmation Class for our French Fry Class and the Ketchup Class.
Students only. Zoom Meeting: 847 5595 2681
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Tuesday, January 12, 12:30pm: Adventures in Reading (Zoom)
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Tuesday, January 12, 8:30pm-9:30pm: Parent Chat. Zoom Meeting: 878 0058 1763
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Sunday, January 17, 11:00am: Prayer Group (Zoom)
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Sunday, January 10, 3:00pm: The Road We Make by Walking Group (Zoom)*
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Sunday, January 17, 7pm: Kid’s Night (up to 5th grade) Zoom Meeting: 816 1245 0562
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Wednesday, January 20, 7:00pm: God In Our Lives (Zoom)
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Sunday, January 24, 11:00am: Coffee Hour (Zoom)
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Sunday, January 24, 3:00pm: The Road We Make by Walking Group (Zoom)*
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Sunday, January 24, 7pm: Youth Group (6th-12th grade) Zoom Meeting: 819 3132 9159
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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.
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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.
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Adventures in Reading
Adventures in Reading held their third zoom book discussion with eleven members on December 16. Nancy Herdman led the discussion of The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek (2019) by Kim Michele Richardson. This was our second book/discussion about the pack horse librarians of Kentucky. Our schedule for the next two months follows:
January 12 (Tuesday) 12:30) pm
Book: Rust: A Memoir of Steel and Grit (2020) by Eliese Colette Goldbach. (This is a Cleveland, Ohio author writing about her experiences in the Cleveland steel mills.) Joanellen Hurley will lead the discussion.
February 10 (Wednesday) 12:30 pm
Book: Five Little Pigs (1942) by Agatha Christie. Margaret Barr 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 these dates and think of a book/discussion you would like to lead. We need book titles and leaders for March, 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 the day of our meeting so it doesn’t get lost in our emails.
Blessings, Kathy MacDougall
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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, January 9 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! |
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God in Our Lives:
Join us on Wednesday, January 20 at 7:00 pm for God In Our Lives. Michael Komperda, a lifelong member of LCC, will share his spiritual journey as we gather via Zoom. Please RSVP to the church office for the link.
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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.
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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. |
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Joanellen Hurley
Ella Babcock
Olivia Bando
Kristen Humphreys
Bruce Matthews
Joan Metzner
Kendall Barlow
Lori Waddell
Avery Spahr
Debi Kasper
Nancy Fraunfelder
Peter Kwiatkowski
Ella Touhey
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James Werts
Jonathan Bala
Lennox Shearn
Jimmy Rowland
Matthew Winters
Michael Greenland
Lisa Blackburn
Tim Einhouse
Jane Brady
John Hancock
Barbara Szucs
Muriel Campbell
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Paula Atfield
Doug MacDougall
Sarah Banyasz
Mona Atfield
Steve Hotchkiss
Marguerite Harkness
Ellen Kwiatkowski
Andy Barlow
Aaron Hill
Veronica Lee
Hunter Smith
Jennifer Warden Robey
Eliza Bala
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Bill & Debbie Langenhop Joe & Ann Schleckman |
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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.
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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.
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