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Applebee’s Fundraiser for Holy Cross Youth
Enjoy a short stack for a tall cause. Join the Holy Cross Lutheran Church Youth Group for breakfast on Saturday, May 7th from 8:00 – 10:00 am. Tickets go on sale April 3rd. They are $7.00 and 100% of the proceeds will be donated to the cause. The breakfast will be at Applebee’s located at 5017 Transit Road, Williamsville. Your attendance and support are appreciated!
Confirmation Sunday
This year, Confirmation Sunday is May 15 (Pentecost Sunday), when our confirmands will publicly confess (“put a voice to”) their baptismal faith before God and the Holy Cross congregation. Our confirmation students (and parents!) have been working diligently: memorizing the books of the Bible, studying Bible history and the Small Catechism, and working out what they actually believe and how they will live their faith in Jesus Christ.
On Sunday, May 8, our five 1st-year confirmands (7th graders) will take an oral examination (by Pastor Nickel) in which they will show their ability to share the good news of Jesus Christ in the course of a 5-7 minute conversation. They will complete their confirmation instruction during the next year (with a strong focus on the Small Catechism).
On Saturday, May 14, our thirteen 2nd-year confirmands will take their final examination on the six chief parts of the Small Catechism with their meanings, selected Bible verses, and selected catechism questions & answers before the Pastor, elders, parents & families.
Our 2nd year confirmands are: Evan Brooks, James DiCostanzo, Christopher Diem, Aidan Folck, Anthony Ludwig, Madeline Olsen, Logan Overton, Lauren Roberts, Emma Roland, Erin Roland, Ian Ropach, Madison West and Charles Wood.
Please keep our confirmands (and their families) in your prayers as they prepare for their vow “to continue steadfast in this confession and Church and to suffer all, even death, rather than fall away from it” (Revelation 2:10) as part of their lifelong process of maturing in their personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Holy Cross Spring Clean-up Day
Please join us for a nice morning event on Saturday May 21st to celebrate our awesome buildings and grounds by cleaning up inside and out. Our annual event will start around 8 (some folks have said early is OK, maybe even a better), but if you can’t make it until a little later that is fine. No clock to punch, and no minimum number of hours to put in. We are usually wrapped up by 11 or so. If you have a garden rake you care to bring, we’ll be mulching the beds so that could be handy. Electric leaf blowers, weed whackers, extension cords, etc. are also handy. If it rains, we’ll move the date two weeks to June 4th.
Youth Car Wash
On May 22nd, following the 2nd service, the Youth will be having a Car Wash to benefit Hearts for the Homeless as they raise money to replace the RV they use to serve dinners to the homeless. More details will be in the weekly announcements.
All youth please sign up to help in the Krampitz Hall.
Spring Adult Inquirers
Spring Adult Inquirers Class continues.
Our Spring “Adult Inquirers” class focuses specifically on what the Bible teaches about key elements of the Christian faith. The class is held at 7:00 pm on Tuesdays, in the Holy Cross Christian Center (next door to the church). The schedule is:
~ May 3 What does the Bible say God does today to assure our salvation?
~ May 17 What does the Bible say about prayer?
Pray for a Confirmand
Would you be willing to be a prayer partner with a confirmand? We are looking for members of the congregation to sign up to be prayer partners with our confirmands. If you are interested in participating please sign up in Krampitz Hall, or contact Amy Olsen at (716) 406-2494 or thenorwegian15@yahoo.com.
Samantha Brown, DCE Intern at Holy Cross, begins in September
This fall we will welcome Samantha Brown to serve at Holy Cross for 9 months of her Director of Christian Education Internship. Her internship begins with this summer at Pioneer Camp & Retreat Center in Angola, NY, and after her 9 months with Holy Cross she will return to Pioneer Camp for the summer of 2017. We pray that Samantha’s internship at Holy Cross will serve our Lord Jesus Christ as we strengthen and deepen our discipleship efforts and our understanding of God’s Word among our youth and young adults, our children, and our older adults at Holy Cross, and that the Lord will use Holy Cross to help the wider Church prepare and form another laborer, Samantha, for Christ’s harvest field.
Samantha, age 22, originally from Kankakee, Illinois, has spent the past four years working towards her degree in ministry. Samantha majored in Director of Educational Ministry and minored in theology at Concordia University-Chicago. She spent her last college quarter studying theology in Italy and Germany. Upon successful completion of her internship with Pioneer Camp and Holy Cross, Samantha will graduate from Concordia University-Chicago in 2017 and will be certified to serve as a Director of Christian Education at a congregation in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.
Samantha has previously worked with St. Paul’s Lutheran church in Kankakee, Illinois, and Trinity Lutheran Church in Lisle, Illinois. Her previous ministry work include church nurseries, Sunday schools, confirmation, senior high youth groups, servant events, and small groups.
Samantha grew up in a farming community that is next to a larger city, similar to Clarence and Buffalo. She enjoys listening to music, spending time outside, biking, and hiking in her free time. Samantha is looking forward to all of the people and opportunities at Holy Cross!
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Housing for DCEI Samantha:
We hope by now you have heard about Holy Cross hosting a Director of Christian Education Intern for the 2016/2017 school year. (see above) And we hope you have read “Sam’s” biography and know what a blessing this will be. Now we are asking for your help with a lead on two things. First, Sam will have some furniture to store while she is living at Camp Pioneer for the summer. If anyone has space to store a dresser, bed and some other odds and ends, that would save us from having to rent a self-storage bay over the summer.
Second, we are asking if anyone has a lead on a one bedroom apartment for rent, in the Clarence area, between September and June. One of the promises we made was that Sam’s housing would have a private entrance and a full kitchen, and we thought before we start “house hunting”, we should check with Holy Cross family to see if there are any leads.
Please contact Tom Marzano at 741-3382 or themarzanos@gmail.com with questions or ideas. Thanks.
HeBrews
He-Brews meets on the 3rd Thursday of each month, usually at 7:30 pm; at a member home or at a local restaurant. The May location is TBD, 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.
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. We will be using the funds from the Dash’s receipts to help Hearts for the Homeless moving forward. Thank you to everyone who faithfully brings in their receipts and to Lorraine Woodman who tallies them up. Keep up the good work!
Thank you, Jill Carl
LWML News
The Spring Workshop committee has made a unanimous decision.
Due to injury, illness, time constraints, and circumstances beyond our control, we decided to move our Chocolate Cafe’ to the Fall Rally. This means we will not be having a Spring Workshop this year. Yes, we are Lutherans and our motto is “We’ve never done it that way before”, however, we feel this will give us more time to prepare in order to justice to do this program.
Our next zone get together will be at Pioneer Camp for our picnic. This will be July 13th at 3:00. We will have a sign up if you would like to be involved in planning the workshop. There will also be a pot luck dinner and a white elephant sale.
Please join us for a fun filled afternoon. More information about the picnic will be coming soon.
I look forward to seeing many of you at the June Convention in Binghamton. I hope we bring carloads of items for the ingathering. If you have any questions or concerns about the Spring Workshop please feel free to email me or call me at 716-652-3567.
~Karen Blackmon
Women’s Bible Study Group
The Women’s Bible Study Group meets Tuesdays (except for the 2nd Tuesday of the month) in the conference room of HCCC. We like to begin our social time at 9:30am with a study begin time of 9:45- around 11am. We are lay led, as participants volunteer each week to facilitate a particular lesson. We also volunteer to bring “goodies” from our kitchens to go with our coffee.
May 3, Pastor Nickel will finish up our yearly study with a lesson on the 10 Commandments.
May 17, he will continue with Confession and Absolution.
On May 24 he will cover The Sacraments and on May 31, The Lord’s Prayer.
The coffee pot is on and we always have sweet treats to accompany it!
Join us anytime you can!
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.
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.
Camp Pioneer Golf Benefit
The annual Pioneer golf benefit is set for Friday, June 10th, at the Diamond Hawk Golf Course in Cheektowaga.
Registration begins at 10:00 a.m.
Early registrations (before May 1st) are only $130.00 per golfer (includes super-ticket for all contests).
If you are not a golfer, please consider sponsoring a hole (cost of $150). Proceeds of the benefit will assist children of our military enjoy a week at Camp. For more information about the Benefit (registration and sponsorships) please call Camp Pioneer at 549-1420.
Last year the quota of 120 golfers was reached very early. Thank you in advance for your participation.
Heritage Home
On May 29 at 10 a.m. we will have our monthly visit with our friends at the Heritage Home, west on Sheridan. Have you noticed the new porch on the east side of the house for the outdoor pleasure of our friends there? Our story will be “The Pharisee and the Publican Pra,” Luke 18:9-14. Since this will be the Memorial Day weekend we will include prayer for our country and armed forces as part of our being together.
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”.
The cost for most weekly camps is approximately $300. We appreciate your support of our youth! Look for more information about opportunities throughout the spring and summer.
Summer Hours
Summer Worship Hours at Holy Cross will begin on Sunday, June 5th.
9:00 am Divine Worship
10:00 am Coffee Fellowship
11:00 am Divine Worship