July News and Updates

Vacation Bible School

Vacation Bible School at Holy Cross will take place from July 11th–July 15th from 9am–noon each day. The Theme is “ocean Commotion” and we will focus on the great flood and God’s saving of humanity through Noah and his family as recorded in Genesis 6-9. To volunteer or register a child please contact Sophia Handley at 434-7056 or handleysophia6@gmail.com.

Register online here: https://holycrossclarence.com/vbs.html

Holy Cross Outreach Ideas

We are looking for prayerfully inspired ideas to share with the world OUTSIDE our front door of what is offered INSIDE our front door. As members of the Holy Cross family we are blessed each day by being part of God’s community and the strength it provides us to resist what satan is peddling. Now imagine being just OUTSIDE our front door in need of Love, Salvation, Refuge & Strength and having no idea all that is available just INSIDE that building on Sheridan Drive. We believe to get anyone to step INSIDE the front door and take advantage of what is being offered; we will first have to go OUTSIDE (like removing the basket covering the candle). If you would like to be part of going OUTSIDE the front door to share the light of God’s Holy Cross community story we will be holding an informational lunch meeting in the near future. Please contact Sam Harrison 515-5679 samh@roadrunner.com if you are interested!

Ordination and Installation Service for Reverend Timothy Anas

The Lutheran Church of Our Savior cordially invites you to the Ordination and Installation Service for Reverend Timothy Anas on Sunday, July 24, 2016 at 2:00pm at The Lutheran Church of Our Savior, 26 Brunswick Boulevard, Buffalo, NY 14208.

HeBrews

HeBrews meets on the 3rd Thursday of each month, usually at 7:30 pm; at a member home or at a local restaurant. The July location will be at Doug Garlapo’s house, watch the weekly announcements. We do not stay out late as most have to work in the morning. A typical gathering starts with fellowship followed by a Christian video presentation (often from Right-Now Media) and discussion. You do not need to drink beer to join us, other beverages both with and without alcohol are often enjoyed. All are welcome – including neighbors and friends, to come and see serious support given to fellow members and a willingness to help others and our church. He-Brews is open to all men, young and old.

Financial Giving Statements

Financial Giving Statements for the first half of 2016 will be in your church mailbox in early July. Please contact Susan Brooks if you have any questions at ssnebrooks@gmail.com or 634-4858.

New Worship Hours

Now that we have your attention, and we know we are playing with dynamite here, but for NEXT summer, the church leadership is considering modifying the Sunday morning worship hours. To that end we are soliciting feedback. So without doing a formal survey or a congregational vote, the Elders and Council Members would like to know what people think about changing summer worship times from “9:00 Am and 11:00AM” to “8:00 AM and 10:00AM”. Please consider this request for your input while we have a lot of time to think about it. Please be assured that no decision has been made and we know that there must be overwhelming support to make a change like this, but we figured if we didn’t at least start asking, we will never know what people think. Please feel free to bend the ear of any Council Member or Elder and we will keep you posted as to what we are hearing Thanks!

AV Team Seeking Volunteers

Anyone in 7th grade or older is welcome to help record Pastor Nickel’s messages, praise band and choir songs and help create and/or run the presentations we use for Praise Band services. It’s easy andtraining will be provided, and it’s a fun way to participate in our church service. The recordings are offered to shut ins too when they cannot attend church service, how cool is that? Please see Scott Brooks for more information.

Guest Speakers at Holy Cross July 17th and July 31st

The Reverend R. Spillman; Pastor at the LCMS National Youth Gathering will be preaching at Holy Cross on Sunday July 17th. Vicar Andrew Mundiger will be sharing on July 31st.

National Youth Gathering

Pastor Nickel and Rachel Nickel are leading a group of 5 Holy Cross youth to the National Youth Gathering of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod July 15-20 in New Orleans. Please pray for the youth attending this event that they may grow in faith and in their connection to our Lord Jesus Christ. Youth attending are Stephen Hare, Laura Nickel, Emma Wiepert, Matthew Wiepert, and Charlie Wood.

Sunday School

The Sunday School is seeking teachers for Pre K/K and grades 1 and 2 classrooms for the fall. It is a wonderful ministry to instruct our children! We strive to have team teaching so it need not be a weekly commitment. Registration forms were also put in the mailboxes of previously registered families. If you didn’t not receive a registration form they are also available at the church office. Anyone who would like more information on registering or teaching Sunday School please contact Pat Ludwig pgludwig@yahoo.com or by phone at 510-8839. Forms are also available in the church office.

The Women’s Bible Study Group

The Women’s Bible Study Group is doing a service project for the summer months. We are sorting, repairing and cleaning the banners of Holy Cross that hang in the sanctuary. Each Tuesday morning at 10am we will meet in Krampitz Hall to do this and also to have fellowship. Please feel free to join anytime you are able!  We will resume our regular Bible study in early September.

LWML News

Our next zone get together will be at Pioneer Camp for our picnic. This will be July 13th starting at 3:00. Camp Pioneer, Angola, NY. Games and Fellowship 3pm Dinner at 6pm. Bring a dish to pass and table settings for yourself. (Board is bringing appetizers, beverages, and desserts). Clean out your old unwanted treasures for our White Elephant Sale. Come and join in the fun for part or the entire day!

Update From Council

In case you missed the June Voter’s Meeting, here is a summary of things going on with the business end of Holy Cross.

First, we continue to prepare for the arrival of Samantha Brown, our Director of Christian Education Intern. We are still looking for housing for her from September until June. We have formed an ad hoc committee called the Board of Discipleship. This team wants to help Samantha get acquainted and integrated with Holy Cross, and will also help implement programs Samantha will initiate. Notice the team is called the Board of “Discipleship”, as Christian Education, like sanctification, is a lifelong process, (e.g. not just for kids!). Please look for ways to help Samantha and our Discipleship team so we can gain as much value as possible during Samantha’s short time with us. With the voter’s approval Holy Cross will be purchasing two AEDs (Automatic External Defibrillators) with funds from the Building Fund. As part of this initiative we will be conducting medical emergency first response training, and we hope that many members will take advantage of this opportunity to improve the safety of our community.

A review of the preliminary criteria that will be used to evaluate benevolences in 2017 was conducted. All interested members are directed to see any Council member for more details and look for a finalized review in the fall. Of course there is more going on than we can hope to include in a newsletter so members are encouraged to bring questions or concerns to Elders or Council members. All members are encouraged to seek ways to serve Christ’s church beyond the vitally important gift of fellowship in worship.

-Tom Marzano Council President

Sponsor a Camper

We would like more people to experience Camp Pioneer and all it has to offer ALL members of Holy Cross. From family camps, to different adult retreats, to traditional summer camps. Please visit Pioneer’s website (www.pioneercamp.org) or take a brochure in the Narthex.
As we approach summer, we are encouraging our youth to take advantage of beautiful Camp Pioneer, including Confirmation Camp and for the younger kids to attend the other camp programs. This is a great opportunity for the children to have some fun and meet new friends, while furthering their walk with God. If you are interested in “Sponsoring a Camper”, whether in full, partial, or any amount, please place your donation in the offering labeled “Sponsor a Camper”.

Radio Ministry Update

Holy Cross has received a grant from the Lutheran Church Extension Society of Buffalo to help fund a radio ministry on WXRL AM1300. We will be participating with other local congregations to produce a program called “Lutheran 3-0” which will be broadcast on Sundays at 9:00am. If you are interested in assisting (selecting, playing, recording music, or reading), please contact Pastor Nickel.

2017 BENEVOLENCE UPDATE:

As many of you already know, the Council has been working on a procedure (or policy) for our church’s tithe. In the June Voters Meeting, we went over the rough draft of our Guidelines. Since then, the Council has approved the attached Policy for evaluating the recipients of our giving.
The full policy is in the attached /pdf file, but the “meat” of the matter is below.
We tried to include our “rationale” on the front end of each rule, but our overarching guidance was that since you all are donating money to our Lutheran Church, the expectation would be that the donation would go do the work of, and to the Glory of, our Lord and Savior.
So we will be using these guidelines to “vet” our current recipients, and in at the December’s Voters Meeting we expect to be presenting a modified list of benevolences; but it’s not too late. So if someone sees a flaw in our logic, or has questions or concerns, please feel free to see any Elder our Council member. Thanks for your consideration and we look forward to healthy discussions.

1. We believe that money donated to our church is intended for use in “Christian missions”, e.g. missions commanded by Jesus, (works of corporal mercy and works of spiritual mercy).

2. We believe that whenever possible, benevolences should be done with all glory going to God, not to the recipient organization, or man. (e.g. Organization that do their work in the name of Jesus Christ.) a. Further, whenever possible organizations within the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod should be supported in preference to other Christian based organizations.

3. In order to make our benevolences significant, we should avoid redundancy with overlapping missions/ organizations.

4. We believe that we have a responsibility to support our Synod (as it supplies the resources to maintain our denomination from generation to generation).

5. We believe that there should be consideration to direct our benevolences locally, nationally, and internationally.

6. We believe that when all else is equal, the efficiency of the recipient organization should be used as a discriminating factor.

7. In order to make our benevolence impactful, we believe that we should keep the number of Holy Cross benevolences at 10 or less.

8. There are other ways to support organizations besides tithing from the regular offering; so these should be brought to the Church Council on a case by case basis, and are not subject to the limitations of these guidelines. b. The ancillary support of other organizations should not be counted against these organizations in determination of benevolence eligibility

Visitation Care

If you are or will be hospitalized or homebound and desire Christian care from the Holy Cross staff, please phone the church office at 634-2332 and/or email holycrossclarence@gmail.com to let us know. Please do not assume that we know your situation because for many reasons we often don’t. We will do our best to visit you, and if homebound, see that you receive communion.

Dash’s receipts

Dash’s receipts are now being donated to Hearts for the Homeless. The van they use to deliver meals 4 to 5 nights a week in downtown Buffalo is dying. This van needs to be replaced. This wonderful mission really needs our support.

Holy Cross collected enough Dash’s receipts to receive a check for $250!!  This is the second check that will go to Hearts for the Homeless and their motor home fund. Thanks you and keep those receipts coming!!Thanks to Lorraine Woodman for tallying them up!!! Keep up the good work! Thank you, Jill Carl

Heritage Home

For our summer visits, July 24th and August 21st at 10:15 (between the worship services), our Bible study will be Genesis 1 and 2- the two part story of creation. Part one is “God Creates Land, Water, and Plants” and part two “God Creates Living Creatures”. This is a wonderful summer time effort to celebrate God’s acts of creation then and continuing now.  We visit, pray, sing, and enjoy a time of fellowship and a simple craft during our visit which is about 45 minutes long.

Care-Ring Circle

To all the Care-Ringers who provide meals for those in need, Thank you!  Until you have experienced the love and generosity from our Holy Cross family, you couldn’t know how much it is appreciated. If you are interested in volunteering to make a meal for those in need please contact Doreen Borschel at 688-8096. I will add you to the list of volunteers in our email group.

Why We Do What We Do: the Invocation

Our service begins with an (optional) opening hymn and the invocation of the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the words first spoken and marked upon us in Baptism. By invoking the name of the Triune God, we confess that He is the God who calls His people together by Word and Sacrament. Also by invoking His holy name and inviting His presence, we obey the Second Commandment (“You shall not misuse the name of the Lord” – Exodus 20:7) and the Small Catechism’s admonition to “call upon it in every trouble, pray, praise and give thanks” (Psalm 50:15; Ephesians 5:20). We also see God answering the First Petition of the Lord’s Prayer (“Hallowed be Thy name”) as the Holy Spirit calls and gathers the faithful to hear God’s Word taught in its truth and purity (Jeremiah 23:28; John 7:17; note we also keep God’s name holy as He sanctifies us when we live according His Word – Matthew 5:16; Ephesians 4:1).
During these words, the pastor makes the sign of the cross, which unites all baptized Christians to Christ. Christians may (but are not required to) make the sign of the cross upon themselves in remembrance of what Christ has done for them in their own Baptism. While non-Christians may be present – and we hope they are – when the Holy Spirit gathers us for worship, the Divine Service is first and foremost an activity of a Christian congregation — members of the Body of Christ which have been joined by the work of the Holy Spirit in “one Baptism” (Ephesians 4:5). The Baptismal promise of the Triune God makes us a new creation, buried with Christ in His death for us and raised again to walk with Him in newness of life (Romans 6:3).

Adapted from Precht, F., ed., Lutheran Worship: History and Practice (St. Louis: CPH, 1993), p. 402, by Rev. Jeff Nickel, July 1, 2016.