LifeLines Special Edition
February 17, 2023
Lord Of Life Lutheran Church
1 Winchester Court
Tabernacle, NJ 08088
609-268-0262
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Adult Senior Ministry Director
Janell Reich
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Children, Youth, And Family Directory
Breanne Tomlinson
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Worship And Music Director
Rick Krause
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Debbie Chromeck
Church Secretary
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James Cuviello
LifeLines Editor
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Vice President
Merle Brown
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Council Secretary
Peg Gibson
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Treasurer
Debbie Chromeck
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Financial Secretary
Carol Ebersberger
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This Special Edition Of The Lifelines
Shares Information And Thoughts From
LOL's New Church Council President, Bill Reich.
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Who Is Bill?
Many of you have worked with me over the 20 plus years that my family has been at the church. Yet, some of you may have no clue who I am. Or you may have only seen one side of my charming personality – the singing fool of the choir, or the frugal guy concerned about the church’s money, or THAT GUY laying on the floor trying to figure out why a computer or wired microphone is misbehaving, or the guy taking photos of stuff, or the guy who looks like he is sleeping at the A/V station during the sermon all the while making sure the Pastor’s microphone is actually on…
In my working life, before I retired in the middle of 2017, I worked with/on computers, from missile systems for the US Navy to the telephone systems of the world; I was a "Mr Fixit." I was the guy who got to deal with the problems nobody else could figure out. I worked with facts, not rumors, and will continue with that approach as your church council president. I was "glue" that held things together (I did put that statement on my performance review each year! – glue – who knew?). I created discussion, made sure everyone’s point of view was heard, made sure the group understood decisions that were made. The best compliment that I ever got was related to how I made everyone feel like a part of a team – not a bunch of independent contractors.
Pastor Wendolyn is our worship leader and spiritual guide. Lord of Life has wonderful staff to help her with these tasks. Me? I feel it is my job to deal with the business of the church. I tell it like it is. I will give you my honest opinion about the topic under discussion. If I am clueless on the topic, I will tell you so. If I need more time to understand a topic, or research a topic, I will tell you that too. Please know that the goal is to always, always make a decision that is right for the ministries of the church.
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Interacting
With One Another
Communication and collaboration are the keys to the success of anything important in this world. I promise to be as clear and transparent as possible at all times. I expect the same from everyone – everyone - all the time. We may not always agree on some topics. It happens, but I will respectfully listen to what you have to say.
Speaking of transparent, a Stewardship note, sent to church members in December, suggested that the "race" to the end of the year would be something to watch. I will tell you that Lord of Life ended 2022 “in the black.” We, Lord of Life, were able to share $9,934 with our partners in the New Jersey Synod, and we shared $4,038 with other organizations to help them do ministry on our behalf. The extra money from 2022 was rolled over into 2023. The 2023 Spending Plan, that was approved at our January 29th Annual Meeting, will use/spend that $16,000+ to support the ministries of OUR church in 2023.
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Church Finances
Let’s be honest – the response to the Fall Stewardship Campaign of 2022 was the poorest ever recorded in the history of Lord of Life. Added to this, we see from this contribution history graph (https://lordlife.website/contrib_info.htm ) that while the shape of the graph has remained consistent through the years, the total number of families contributing to Lord of Life each year has been getting smaller - from 214 families in 2019 to 145 in 2022. This information leads me to believe that 2023 is going to be a challenging year for OUR church. (If you need help understanding the graph, reach out to me.)
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Looking Forward
Yes, I am hopeful! NONE of the people that you elected to the church council in 2023 want to participate in “managing a graceful decline." Each of the council members has a unique talent and unique set of experiences. When taken collectively, that is a powerful force to use to “Inspire Growth.” This will be our recurring theme for 2023. Everything we do in 2023, including the decisions made by your council, has to support this theme. Even repairing the FDC roof under the guidance and watchful eye of our property coordinator, Keith Lerner, supports the theme of growth. Included in the theme is planning that will increase attendance at worship services. All of the people “missing” from the sanctuary are not sitting at home in their PJ's watching the service on YouTube. I see the numbers. You can see the numbers for yourself on each of our YouTube videos. We need to bring “old” members and families back to church. We need to invite new members into the church. This is the top priority. People that come to worship services get to see the opportunities available to them. These opportunities help people grow in the gospel, and help grow the church’s ministries. These same opportunities tend to be hidden, or not spoken about, in our YouTube recordings.
In the coming months, we, your church council, will request your ideas for growth. Hey – you do not have to wait for us to ask you. You can send any ideas for growth that you might have to us right now via email. Use the email Council@lordlife.us to reach our pastor and each council member. One address catches the attention of 10 plus people. How easy is that?
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Here's To A Bright Future
If you stayed with me to this point in the article, I thank you. I want to leave you with one last thought and a smile on your face.
During the COVID years when the church was closed, I had the privilege to work with Rick Krause, Janine Yannessa, and others to create the music that you heard on our YouTube worship services of the day. We would work one to three hours each week to create the raw music, and then another hour on top of that was required to edit the recording of EACH song. One Easter song took us seven (!) tries before the music was acceptable. We did this musical task to make sure our church family stayed together.
There are over 200 songs/hymns in the “LOL COVID Library of Music.” Here are five of my favorites:
(Some computers will play the music directly when you click on the link. Other computers will download the music to your computer. If that happens, click on the downloaded link to play the song.)
C is for Christmas
Anna Yannessa is the lead singer on this.
My Lord What A Morning
It is an instrumental piece with no associated video. Tyler Reich arranged all of the music for this – electronically! Only a computer was used to create the various sounds.
What A Fellowship
Dave Lamb puts his own mark on this hymn.
Bring Forth The Kingdom
Hear the tambourine…
I Saw The Light
Praise the Lord!
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Stay In Touch!
If you have any questions, you can reach me via email using this address: LOL_PREZ@lordlife.us (That is an underscore between the L and the P in the email address.)
See you in church!
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Join Us At These Two Events! |
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Lord Of Life
Faith & Fellowship Retreat
Saturday, February 25th
9:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Sign Up Ends
Sunday, February 19th!
Adults and focused youth, join us for a half-day retreat - a time to join together in fun, faith activities, and getting to know one another better. The theme is "Fruits of the Spirit," and we will nourish our faith and join in conversations as disciples of Jesus. Our men's group will provide a hearty breakfast (If you would like to contribute a dish please contact Craig Baechlor or Jim Ernst). Women's ministry will finish the event with a bagel lunch at noon.
Friends and family are, of course, welcome. The goal of the day is to have a refreshing time, building Christian friendships within and through our Church.
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Summer
Adult Mission Trip
July 16th - July 22nd
Lord Of Life will be teaming up with Appalachia Service Project to help make homes warmer, safer, and drier for needy families in the Virginia/West Virginia area. The cost is $350.00 per person and includes 3 meals each day, air conditioned dormitory style accommodations, and hot showers. Devotions will be held in the evening hours. A nonrefundable monetary deposit of $50.00 will be required when registering. Sign-ups end on March 20th. There will be an informational meeting at the church this coming Tuesday, February 21st at 7:00 PM.
For more information, please contact Penny Miller. A link to her email is below.
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From The Editor:
Next LifeLines:
The next monthly issue of LifeLines will be published on:
Wednesday, March 1st
Please Submit News For This Edition By Thursday, February 23rd
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LifeLines is published monthy, on the first day of each month. Please submit articles for upcoming editions of the LifeLines 5 days prior to the next issue date.
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