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Hello My Friends!

I have to admit that I am lonely for people. These past four months have been challenging ones in so many ways. The one thing that has helped to allevi-ate this is technology. I’m on it constantly as I visit live with family, friends, colleagues and members of our congregation. We were built to be in community. The apostle Paul writes that to be one united body of believers requires a common focus – unity. In other words, there are not actually different churches, but one true, universal church of Christ. And so, every believer in Christ is a member of this one body, even if they consider themselves part of a particular congregation. Therefore, to be united also takes a spirit of cooperation.

I feel like God has been leading me in these efforts ever since I began my ministry in Osh-kosh. As a campus minister, I helped to form an interfaith organization. I also took students to various churches throughout our conference to help lead worship and get to know pastors and congregations. And I began to host Pastor Text Studies every week – where local pastors would gather to discuss the upcoming scripture as we each prepared to preach for those up-coming Sundays. The sharing of thoughts and ideas helped each of us become more success-ful in accomplishing things in our own ministries. And 13 years later, I continue to host this group which is currently gathering virtually.

These times of study also became incubators for collaborative ministry. A few of us pastors have teamed up each lent and put ourselves on a rotation where we’d preside over each other’s services for mid-week worship. Then, 4 to 5 of our congregations each year teamed up to hold a Joint Thanksgiving Eve Service. These collaborative efforts reinforced that we truly are one body in Christ.

When our congregation was working towards reimagining what church means, we united with two other congregations in a program we participated in called “Seeds for Growth”. Here, we met a congregation that had sold its building and found themselves free to reimag-ine what God was calling them to do next – without a building. We found support from this congregation that helped to move us forward in selling our own building in order to survive financially. As your pastor, I found support in local colleagues who prayed for us and gave me encouragement. And when we made that Sunday drive a year and a half ago from the old church to the community center, we were greeted by members of Our Savior’s and St. An-drews as they held signs welcoming us to our new home. And we were constantly being re-minded that we are one body in Christ

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August, 2020

CHRIST LUTHERAN

36 Broad St Suite 100

Oshkosh, WI 54901

OFFICE HOURS

Monday

9:00 am-Noon

SUNDAYS

9:30 am Worship

ONLINE FOR NOW

CONTACT

INFORMATION:

CHURCH OFFICE

Barb Schneider

920.231.6570

clcoshkosh@gmail.com

PASTOR

Rev. Connie Weiss

920.904.5919

pastor.cweiss@gmail.com

PRESIDENT

Kevin Harvot

920.379.0829 “There is one body and one Spirit—

just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call” Ephesians 4:4

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With this pandemic, we once again find ourselves in the midst of some challenges. And our flexibility is paying off. We are coming to see that online ministry has its benefits as we are reaching more people with the Good News. However, as congregational Councils and Task Forces began to work on plans for returning to in-person church, we came to see that a community center was not a safe place for us to return to. Since we do not have control of the building, we be-gan to look at other options in moving forward.

During this time, another congregation was going through their own challenges. Our beloved friend, Pastor Jan LaVake, retired from Our Savior’s in May. Our congregation was blessed to have participated with Pastor Jan and her congrega-tion on numerous occasions. We grieved her loss as if it were our own. She will be missed by a community that bene-fitted from her amazing ministry. But in the midst of these challenging months, two congregations have felt God’s Spirit moving in a new and powerful way.

Knowing that we would need a new building to return to and knowing that Our Savior’s was now without a pastor, members from each council, along with myself, have been drawn together – to talk about a new kind of collaboration. On Sunday, August 16th, we will be holding an outdoor worship service at Our Savior’s Lutheran. Following that ser-vice, we will be giving tours of their church building – a space they are open to sharing with us. On this morning, we also will hold a Special Congregational Meeting to vote on not renewing our lease at the community center and moving our ministry and operations to Our Savior’s.

As I reflect on what the apostle Paul was trying to share with this young congregation in Ephesus… I can’t help but take these words to heart. Yes, the church is not a building but rather the people – something we learned with our last move. We also understand that God’s church is not limited to one congregation or even one denomination. For, we are all one body. And, the Holy Spirit is the one and only spiritual force which unites all believers in Christ who are called to the same hope – a hope of a future eternally with Christ.

I love being surprised by the Spirit! It gives me comfort knowing that even in the midst of life’s challenges, God remains close to us and guides us in ways that we could not even imagine. As we see so much anxiety and division throughout our country, I encourage us to seek ways that can unite us rather than divide us. And for all of us at Christ Lutheran that time might be now.

Yours in Christ,

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2020 CHURCH COUNCIL MEMBERS

Kevin Harvot President

Susette Hall Vice President

Barbara Shew Secretary

Ron Lippold Treasurer

Gloria Heidl

June, 2020 Report Total Offerings: $ 6,524.00 Other Revenue: $ 20.54 Total Expenses: $ 8,822.65 Net Profit/(Loss): ($ 2,278.11)

2020 Year-to-Date Report Total Offerings: $ 30,117.20 Other Revenue: $ 17,194.72 Total Expenses: $ 54,103.11 Net Profit/(Loss): ($ 6,791.19)

The council met twice in July through Zoom to dis-cuss the ongoing conversations that were happen-ing between Pastor Connie, Christ Lutheran and Our Saviors Executive members. Collaboration with youth education programs are already being planned for fall. The council scheduled a Special Congregational Meeting for August 16th to vote on moving to Our Savior’s building. It was discussed that the Bishop met with Our Saviors and was open to the possibility of such a collaboration. The council also discussed what Pastor’s role would be in offering additional ministry to the members of Our Savior’s. Pastor Connie is working on a video tour of the building for our members to watch vir-tually and will be reaching out to the bishop on these possible collaborative efforts. The council also discussed the outdoor worship service sched-uled at the end of the month and how it can be done safely.

OFFERINGS MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE

Sunday, August 16 11 am - Our Savior’s

Christ Lutheran will gather at Our Savior’s in Oshkosh for an outdoor worship service at 9:30 am in their southside parking lot on Au-gust 16th. Following worship, members will be able to tour the building before voting on a proposal that Christ Lutheran not renew their lease at the Hooper Community Center for 2021 and move their offices to space within Our Savior’s Lutheran Church. Pastor Connie and both church councils have been meeting regarding this proposal. Our congregation no longer feels that the com-munity center is a safe place to congregate since we do not have control over the build-ing during this time of pandemic. The council at Our Savior’s voted to open their facility to our congregation as they have space to ac-commodate us. They are also without a pas-tor and would like to pay Pastor Connie for some pastoral ministry that they will be in need of come September. Both councils hope that our two congrega-tions will benefit from this proposed collabo-ration. Currently, Pastor Connie is editing a short video that will tour members through Our Savior’s building virtually which will found on our YouTube channel next week. Tours also will be done on the 16th prior to the vote. For members unable to attend, our office will provide a mail-in ballot upon re-quest that can be counted along with in-person votes on the 16th.

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Every week, Pastor Connie records and edits a Children’s Sermon. She uploads it to our YouTube Channel and sends letters to parents prior to Sunday with the LINK to that message. The LINK is also posted on Facebook to pro-mote viewing.

August 2 & 9 at 9:30 am

Stevens Park 54 Frankfort St.

We were blessed to have great weather on July 26th. Outdoor worship went as scheduled at Steven’s Park. Our Task Force set up and marked spots distanced by 6 feet for people to set their chairs. If members did not have a mask, masks were made available. We had four people reading and recorded music.

Even though we wore masks and could not get too close to each other, being able to be together after 4 months was a real treat. At the close of worship, Pas-tor Connie made her way to a table where individually sealed communion cups and wafers were spread out. As each member made their way to the table, pastor joyfully exclaimed “The body and blood of Christ given and shed for you! Upon picking up their communion, members left quietly for home.

Since this service was so wonderfully received, we will be holding two more outdoor services at the park. Attendance was also taken so that we can make sure we know who is attending these in-person gatherings.

3 WAYS TO WATCH SUNDAY WORSHIP

WATCH IT LIVE ON FACEBOOK

SUNDAYS at 9:30 AM

Children’s Sermons

More!

Teaming Up for Our Youth

Christ Lutheran and Our Savior’s youth educa-tion programs are teaming up this fall. Discus-sions are already underway regarding the Sun-day School and Confirmation programs for this year . Regardless of whether students are able to meet in person or virtually, they will be ac-tive and engaged. Pastor Connie will be teach-ing confirmation and our youth leaders Ashley Radtke and Kristin Schwab will be helping to run the joint Sunday School. We will keep you informed on a starting dates for both pro-grams along with all the details parents and youth will need very soon.

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Did we miss your birthday or get it wrong? Please contact the office to let us know!

Email us at clcoshkosh@gmail.com

or call 920-231-6570.

This August, we celebrate ….

Sue Dorman 1

Susan Andre 1

Don Schmidt 1

Kristin Schwab 4

Kiera Carpenter 4

Russell Carpenter 5

Ryan Backus 5

Carolyn Lewis 6

Danielle Dorman 6

Betty Jane Weber 7

Lily Boegh 7

Madysen Weiss 13

June Backus 15

Michael Dorman 17

Nancy Schwartz 19

Laurie Palmquist 20

Raikk Radtke 23

Christine Esselman 26

Mallory Schneider-Birschbach 29

Keith Lujeck 30

Kevin Lujeck 30

Mary Backus 31

David Lewis 31

If you would like to requests prayers for yourself or someone who needs them, please reach out to Pas-tor Connie. She can pray privately for the person or include them in our weekly worship service. Howev-er, since our worship service is now on cable TV and on social media, we will need permission from the person who needs prayer in order to name them in our publicly during in worship.

Please be sure to note whether we should mention the full name or just the first name.

Our on-line weekly Bible study will be on hiatus for the month of August. We will return in September.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/807133630

ON-LINE WEEKLY BIBLE STUDY

CLC’s 2020 Church

Now available!

We have updated our Member Directory and have emailed it out to those who have provided email addresses. If you have an email and are not on our mailing list, please call our church office so that we can provide you with an electric copy. For those who are not able to receive email, let us know and we will mail you a paper copy of our directory.

If you notice that your information on the our lat-est directory is out of date or missing something, please contact our church office so that our secre-tary can update our records.

Once you have a copy of this directory, we encour-age you to reach out to members during this time as we have not been able to gather since mid-March. By reaching out, you are also sharing the love of Christ with someone who may just need a warm hello and a caring conversation!

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/807133630

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CLC TASK FORCE ADOPTS OUR SAVIOR ’S RETURN DOCUMENT

The Christ Lutheran Task Force has adopted Our Savior’s Returning to Church document in anticipation that we might be moving to their building following our congregational vote. The Task Force finds the in-person gathering date directed by Phase 2 of the Badger Bounce Back program a reasonable timeline for our congre-gation. The following is what Our Savior’s has outlined for their return and lists some preliminary procedures to ensure that members can gather safely.

RETURNING TO CHURCH IN OUR SAVIOR’S BUILDING

Our Savior’s church council has been working hard over the last 3 months staying abreast of the needs for our church related to the COVID-19 pandemic. We have identified key items that must be considered before re-turning to worship in our building.

Our goal is to agree to live by faith and not operate in fear, but let’s also agree to be proactive and act in wis-dom towards our members and guests, especially those among us who are most susceptible to becoming in-fected.

Attending church in person will be possible beginning with Phase 2 which is anticipated to be in the fall. (See the detailed chart below) In Phase 2 we will be able to have up to 50 people at worship. We continue to follow the ordinances and guidance from the Government, and the synod. As you can imagine, there will be changes for all of us to be aware of. At this time, we anticipate the following:

1. How will we handle worship gathering limited to no more than 50 people?

• We have plans for seating to ensure social distancing. Families will be able to sit together

• Masks will be very important

• Signing in will be important for tracing purposes

• Sanitizer will be available

• Hymnals, bibles, pencils, etc. and children's bags will be temporarily removed for safety

• High risk activities such as singing, praying out loud, sharing of the peace, communion, or passing offering plates will be delayed until there is a comfort level

• Ushers will guide one-way entrance and exit

• Additional seating will be available in the narthex if necessary

• One bathroom will be open with sanitizing material available

• Services will be 30 – 40 minutes in length

• If necessary, we will consider adding a second service

• Online service will still be available

• Teams and study groups will meet on line

• Coffee hour is suspended during this time.

2. What adjustments will be made to communion, baptisms, and choir? All of these activities will be on hold until we are able to identify a safe way to handle them.

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3. Will we have Vacation Bible School? VBS has not been scheduled for this summer.

4. Will we physically “pass the plate” for offering? We are so thankful for the gift of giving at Our Savior’s. Even when we begin to gather, we will no longer be passing the plate for offering. There will be an offer-ing plate as you enter and exit the church. We encourage online giving through “Give Plus” which is on the church web site or an app on your phone/iPad. You can feel totally comfortable mailing your offerings as mail is being checked daily. We also have a safe depository in the covered entry way by the secretary’s office.

5. What are we doing to sanitize the church building? The church carpeting has been entirely cleaned. Tables, chairs, pews, and all surfaces have been disinfect-ed. Books and children’s bags have been removed for safety. Sanitizer will be available. Our custodian is very diligent and will continue to sanitize. In order to be as safe as possible, attendance will be limited to the sanctuary, one bathroom (with sanitizers) and the Narthex to narrow the scope of deep sanitizing.

6. Will we have Sunday school? During this time, we will not have physical Sunday school. We will consider other options to have children involved.

7. Are we going to continue hosting special events? Until Phase 2, Events such as weddings and funerals can be held at the church with a limit of 10 people. Funeral Homes may be more prepared during this time to handle funerals. There will be no choir since singing is very problematic. Other meetings are being held via live meetings such as Zoom. Once we get to phase 2 we will communicate more about how these will be handled. Social Distancing will continue to be vital.

8. Will we continue offering virtual online worship? We are considering continuing online worship in some way even as we begin live worship.

9. Will we continue to have coffee hour? Many of us really enjoy coffee hour, but this does not allow for safe distancing. We will suspend coffee hour until further notification. On line coffee hour may continue or other options of gathering on line to stay in touch may be introduced until we can all be safe.

10. What if volunteers are not available? There is always risk involved as we gather again. This may change the types of volunteers that are required as well as the ability for some people to volunteer. As these chang-es occur we will be communicating as appropriate.

11. Will we have door greeters? We will limit Door Greeting until we have a change that allows us to feel safe doing so. Shaking hands, hugging, or standing less than 6 feet allow for potential of virus transfer.

12. Because people may return very slowly to church, how will you count attendance and effectiveness? We will be counting both on line and in person attendance. Understanding effectiveness will be important and will be driven through various teams that will be intentional about asking questions, gathering information and sharing insights with the Church Council.

13. Will we add and/or shorten worship services to allow for social distancing? We anticipate 30-40 minute services since we will not be including some items such as hymn sing, communion, or offering collection. If we have demand beyond allowable seating we are prepared to consider an additional service and a sign up option to be sure we accommodate everyone.

14. What is the plan for Sunday School curriculum? We are evaluating options for digital learning until such time children can gather again. We are following local school opening guidelines to determine when “in per-son” Sunday school will resume.

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15. Will we reopen the church with a “worship only” strategy? We will be choosing this option when we are allowed to meet again in person. We have a seating plan for maximizing seating that will be coordinated by the ushers. We will be practicing safe distancing and focusing on safety. Circles, bible studies, confirmation, worship teams, and other activities will remain online for safety, and will be back to in-person as appropriate.

16. Do we have a plan for reducing expenses? Over the past 3 months our finance team has diligently been working to cut all expenses possible. Items like garbage pick-up, heating/cooling, mortgage payments, even personnel and salaries have been adjusted. We appreciate the impact this has had on everyone. At this time our financial position is good and we can all be very proud of that. Thank you very much for your con-tinued financial support even during this difficult time.

https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/WIGOV/2020/04/20/file_attachments/1431305/Badger%20Bounce%20Back%20PlanFINAL.pdf

https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/WIGOV/2020/04/20/file_attachments/1431305/Badger%20Bounce%20Back%20PlanFINAL.pdfhttps://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/WIGOV/2020/04/20/file_attachments/1431305/Badger%20Bounce%20Back%20PlanFINAL.pdf