THE ST. JAMES JOURNALJuly/August

2015

SUNDAYWORSIDP11:00 a.m.

OFFICE HOURS

Mon. - Fri.9:00 a.m. - 12:00 Noon1:00 p.m, - 4:00 p.m.

Phone:(304) 232-6511

Fax:(304) 232-7552

stjames@stratuswave.netwebsite: www.stjameswheeling.com

Rev. Deborah L. Gable, Pastor

STAFF

Music .Director:Michael Oliver

SecretarY:Beverly A. Carpenter

Custodian:Russ \\fagner

Missiol1 Statel11el1t

"Make Cbuist'sLove Kraocora in tbe

Woul~bLV SeRving tbe

Comrnunit'N, Shauingan~ Teacbing Goos

Wou~,an~Suppouting tbe

CbURCb at Lauge."

Greetings tis!ers anq Brothers in Christ, From The Pastor

For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetationuseful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God.(Hebrews :6:7~

I believe that we have been receiving an abundant of blessings from God through thegift of rain however we also need the rays of the sun to shine upon the produce. As weare well aware this has been an extremely wet summer thus far. During my two weekvacation alii th1eactivities that I had _planned were canceled only to sit at home or attendindoor activities. It is sometimes difficult to see the gifts of God through the storms inour lives but God is always present bringing to us an abundant of blessings!Hopefully, re have been enjoying the work of God in the ministries at St. James. I amstill amazed that for the small number that we have in attendance in how much we canaccomplish. The Food Pantry numbers continuously increase as well as the recipientsof the Gabriel Project. The need of God's people is great and our mission can becomechallengin~, t~erefore we cannot remain to ourselves but must reach out and jointogether as God's people.The above scripture verse is not only a text about the abundant of God's blessing ofrain upon ~heearth but also a blessing of the heart. As we were baptized with water,the Holy Spirit descended on us and we received a promise that we are born childrenof God and inheritors of eternal life. Our hearts were tilled by the Holy Spirit and whathas grown and been brought forth; from that is the gifts of the Spirit.We thank bob for the variety of gifts and for the people in which they have becomefruitful. May we continue to know the presence of Christ within our minds, in our heartsand upon our lips.

Praise be to God!

Yours in the Lord's service,

Pastor Deb

WV/WMD SYNOD ASSEMBLY - 2015

June 9, 2015

The concluding Resolution of Thanksgiving for the 2015 Synod Assembly of the West Virginia-WesternMaryland Synod began with these words - "The expression of the church, known as the West Virginia-WesternMaryland Synotl o~the ELCA has gathered together this first week of June, 2015 in Flatwoods, WV as thechurch together! We have worshiped together; 'Wehave prayed together, we have talked together, we havelaughed together and we have shared meals together. We have prayed for the Holy Spirit to be present andactive and have seen the work of the Spirit in many and various ways."

The obvious highlight of the Assembly was the election of The Rev. Matthew L. Riegel to serve as ourthird bishop beginning September 1, 2015. We commend all of the nominees and those who allowed theirnames to go forward for this Call Process to proceed. Seven Pastors responded to three questions each thatassisted the As~embly in their decision making process. Prior to the Fourth Ballot Pastors Matthew Riegel,Randolf Richardson and Sarah Lee Faulkner were provided five minutes as teaching moments. On the FourthBallot Pastor Matthew Riegel, having received more than 60% of the votes was declared elected to serve as ournext bishop.

Our other m~or teaching moments came from The Rev. Charles Lane, a Stewardship expert and formerprofessor at Luther ISeminary. Pastor Lane reminded us that "all that we have and are, is not ours, but allbelongs to God. That God's Spirit moves us to experience the duty and delight of generous giving and living."

In addition to the keynote address we were blessed by five Mission Moments in which ministries fromacross the synod were lifted up and shared. We thank Beverly McDonald for her moment on prayer, John Perryfor spreading the word, Larry Maxim on communion, our Madagascar travelers of Rev. Wanda Childs, Rev. IanReid and Helen Harms and Rev. Ian Reid and his power point of First Lutheran's Community Garden.

Rev. Joel Richter challenged the Assembly to raise $2,000 to "force" Bishop Dunkin to use the Zip Lineat the National j YoJth Gathering in Detroit. To which Dunkin responded with a gift of the first $100. Itappeared that the Assembly was going to be $17 short of their goal but several Assembly members joyfullyoffered to gift the remaining amount to see our bishop on a zip line. I am certain that at least one or more videowill appear on iFace Book during the week of July 15-19.

Within Bishop Dunkin's final Assembly and report he lifted up and invited us to celebrate the 45thAnniversary of the Ordination of Women! Dunkin invited all of this synod's female pastors to stand to berecognized. P~uswe celebrated the ordinations of many pastors who have significant anniversaries this year inBishop L. Ale1ander Black with 60 years of ordained ministry and Pastor Roger Harms who celebrates his 40thAnniversary this year.

The Assembly celebrated Bishop Ralph Dunkin's 18 years of service as our Synodical Bishop with abit of a roast and kind words during dinner on Friday evening. Many moments of joy were expressedthroughout this Assembly for Bishop Dunkin's ministry. Sherri Schafer, the Executive Director of CommunityLutheran Partners, Inc. presented the bishop with a Lego Luther, created to commemorate the 500th Anniversaryof the Reformation.

The Secretary of the Church, The Rev. Chris Boerger, assisted the Assembly in carrying out ourtheme of "we are church together" by teaching us that the ELCA shows up. In commenting upon the twoearthquakes in Nepal and the flooding in Texas, Secretary Boerger stated that the ELCA shows up and we stayuntil the last person has seen recovery.

2This Assembly witnessed more elections than we have seen in a long time. With the Election of a newbishop we also elected Paul Wangerin to serve as Synod Vice President; Rev. Linda Muhly, Brian Felici,William Kohler IV, Amy Scott and Jaiden Courier to serve on Synod Council.

Electe~ to serve on the Synod Consultation Committee were Rev. Nathan Hall and Rev. Neil Cadle andSteve Gnegy. To the Discipline Committee we elected Rev. Jason Felici and Rev. Ian Reid and JoeSolberg. Elected to serve on the Gettysburg Seminary Board was Rev. Sean Smith. Elected to serve as a part ofthe 2016 Churohwide Assembly were Rev. Wanda Childs, Faith Riegel, Timothy Crumitt, Suba Arthur andDevin Ames. I

The Assembly had the opportunity to vote upon the 2016 Synod Budget and five Resolutions. The firstof these three encouraged us to study the Augsburg Confession; one resolution concerned children and povertyand one called ror the creation of a Coordination Committee for the 2016 National Boy Scout Jamboree.

The 2015 Synod Assembly concluded with two Resolutions. The first naming The Rev. Ralph W.Dunkin Bishop Emeritus of the West Virginia-Western Maryland Synod. The second was the Resolution of,Thanksgiving. Again, a quote from this Resolution: "Therefore be it resolved that we give thanks to God forthe opportunitl to be church together, for the presence, witness and ministry of Helen Harms, for theleadership, guitlance, support, dedication and love of Bishop Ralph Dunkin, and for the willingness of to pickup the crozier as shepherd and defender as we go forward as church Rev. Matthew Riegel together.

This Synod has designated Saturday, August 22, 2015 as the day to celebrate the retirement of HelenHarms and BiJhop Ralph Dunkin. A worship service will be held at St. Mark Lutheran Church, Wheeling, WVat 2:00 p.m. followed by a reception in St. Mark's Fellowship Hall.

The date of the Service ofInstallation for our new bishop will be Saturday, September 26,2015 atWesley Chapel at Wesleyan College, Buchannon, WV. The time for this event has not yet been set.

Finally, as a Synod we owe a debt of gratitude to the Synod's Transition Team. Serving on our behalfhave been Paul Wangerin, Laura Hall, Beverly McDonald, Dillon Muhly-Alexander, Rick Crumitt, GeorgeFriedline, Rev. Jessica Felici and Rev. Jerry Kliner.

Yours in our Lord's service,

+ Bishop Ralph W. Dunkin

Prayer ConcernsPRAYER LIST ...LaVeme Bebout, Don & Pat Carl, Sonny Crupe, Keith Emery, Ed Erb,Karen Garv~, Susan Hamilton, Beverly Hartman, Justin Hilt, Raymond Jackson, John &

Alice Kerns, Emily Kimpel, Barbara & Carl Knollinger, Cordi Kotzbauer, SelmaMckenzie, ~cia Miller, Mary Minzler, Sandy Nickerson, James Przelenski, Bill Roth,Hines Rotriga, Sue Thatcher, Arnold Trevino and Vera Turner. f. _HOMEB01ND ...Pauline Barnes.

MILITARyr . .stephenJewell, Darren Hoffman, Tim Kosky, Danny Welker, and all thosewho serve ill our military.

CongratulationsTo Courtney Forsch on her graduation fromWest Libelty University with a degree in

Education.

July

2 Justi1nThompson10 Garyl Burtrand14 AUbia Smith16 Helen Mahlke20 Haley Burkle21 Pat 9arl

Jeff McKenzie II24 Tammy Burtrand25 .Jean Hartman27 Stephen Jewell28 IDon Cooper29 ,Maureen Wagner30 Lesl;e Pappa31 Jeff McKenzie

16 Tom & Norma Sarris25 Mic~ael & Jean Hartman28 Bob & Lucinda Goddard

I

If your fame is not listed or listedincorreotiyon the birthday +.anniv rsary list, please call the

church 0 ice and it will be correhtedI

Birthday's Next Month

August1 Brady Wagner

Nicky Vandevender

Von Schleicher

2 Penny NickersonChristie Stratton

3 Barb KnollingerJay-Anna Wilson

4 Karan Crupe6 Cordi Kotzbauer10 Dawn Runyan15 Lucas Carl Beaver17 Robert Hughes

Brittany Burtrand22 Megan Jewell31 Randy Forzano

August Anniversaries

j:.l. ~11 Charles & Christine Drubel15 Gary & Tammy Burtrand

Vera TurnerBishop Hodges Continuous Care, 1 Medical

Park, Room 220, Wheeling, WV 26003

New AddressesSelma McKenzie

Welty Home, 21 Washington Ave, Room 314,Wheeling, WV 26003

MINISTRIES OF~T.JAMES

IFood Pantry

The Food pant] was held on May 26th with 177

families served and 27 new clients. In June theFood Pantry served 172 families with 30 new

clients. Year tb Date The Food Pantry served1,024 families, 2,498 individuals and 141 newclients. I

The next Food Pantry will be held on Tuesday, July28th and Tuesday, August 25th at 10:00 a.m.THANK YOU ...[Io those who help with the FoodPantry, and to all those who helped with Cabela'spick-up day.

Gabriel ProjectThe Gabriel project provides immediate assistance to

mothers and babies in our area with diapers, wipes,clothing, beds, retc. They are always in need ofdiapers, (all sizes) but especially size 3, 4, and 5,

baby oil, wipes, baby shampoo, rash ointment,thermometers, bnesies, crib sheets, (gently used),bottles, infant shoes and socks.20 mothers and babies were helped in May and 21

in June. I

Sharing the Blues

Giving your gently used jeans could mean alot tosomeone who has lost everything. Please rememberthis ministry when you're at Walmart, Sears, or anyother department store and don't forget to buy apackage of new athletic socks. The used jeans andnew socks will help families when they are caught ina disaster and need to replace clothes that are lost.

Don't forget tJ bring in your old inkjet cartridges,your old cell phones and your old eye glassses to

be recycled.

Thank YouMany thanks to our musicians, Benjamin Jones,

Michael Hamilton and Mike Oliver.

And many thanks to Maureen Wagner and BillHawk for bringing the message while Pastor Deb

was on vacation.

Service and Reception~

honoring Bishop Ralph Dunkinand

Helen Harms

Saturday, August 22, 20152:00 p.m.

St. Mark Lutheran ChurchWheeling, WV

If you plan to attend, call the churchoffice at 304-232-6511 so we can let

them know.

Noisy Can Collection ~

Collected the first Sunday of each month rtJfor the Gabriel project. Collect change ~in the baby bottle provided for you. If you don't have a bottle, pick one up in \ ~the Narthex. Bring in even if its not full (fjJand drop the change in the large babybottles in the Narthex. ~eThank you for your donations. --

Worship Volunteers forJuly 2015

~ ~ ;Jmr .iii'~-..... Jf!::Y ~

Greeters: Open

Ushers: Greg Jewell

Worship Assistant: Maureen Wagner.

Communion Assistant: Mark Houser

Acolyte: Open

Altar Guild: Beverly Hartman & Skippy Reger

Parish Fellowship: 5 - 12 - 19 - Community

Roundtable. 26 - Open

Please sign the sheet in the Fellowship Hall tovolunteer for Fellowship.

Altar Flowers: July 5 - Mahlke family.

August 2015

Greeters: Open

Ushers: Mark Houser

Worship Assistant: Polly Karr

Communion Assistant: Maureen Wagner

Acolyte: Open

Altar Guild: Beverly Hartman & Skippy Reger

Parish Fellowship: 2 - 9 - 16 - 23 - Open.

30 - Community Roundtable.

Altar Flowers: Open all month.

Remember: When no one signs up for Altar

Flowers, artificial flowers are used.

We need volunteers to fill the "open" places. Please call

the church office if you would like to volunteer.

Notes and Reminders

COUNCIL MEETINGS ...July 14th and August 11th

at 5:00 p.m. Please note: All Council Meetings will

be held at 5:00 p.m.

COMMUNITY ROUNDTABLE ...July 19th and August30th. following Worship.

PRAYER CIRCLE CALL LlST ...We are in theprocess of making a new Prayer Circle call list. If youwould like to be included as a caller, please call the

church office at 304-232-6511.

PRAYER LIST ... Please keep us updated on those

listed.

MARTHA CIRCLE ...WiIi meet on the last Thursday ofthe month at Wendy's in Martins Ferry, Ohio, 10:30a.m. Exception: July's meeting is the 23rd.

DONATIONS NEEDED ...We are in need of large

juice cans for altar flowers

ALTAR FLOWERS ... If you would like Altar flowers inmemory or in honor of someone, please sign thesheet in the hallway or call the church office.

PARISH FELLOWSHIP ... If you would like to host,

please sign the sheet on the wall in Fellowship Hall or

call the church office.

ST. JAMES WEBSITE ...Don't forget to check ourchurch website regularly to stay current on events at

8t. James Lutheran Church. Sermons are now onthe website at www.stjameswheeling.com/sermons.St. James is now on Facebook! "Like" our page at

http://www.facebook.com/stjameswheeling

Newsletter Deadline - 22nd of August for theSeptember/October Newsletter.

July 2015Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

2 3 4Independence Day

A.A. Meeting ~7p.m.

5 6 7

1

9 108 11

We must be free not because we claimfreedom, but because we practice it.

-William Faulkner

Worship II a.m. A.A. Meeting

7 p.m.

Noisy Can

Collection

12 13 1 15 16 17 18Worship II a.m.

Church Council A.A. Meeting

Meeting 5 p.m. 7 p.m.

Fellowship Hall

Reserved (afternoon)

19 20 21 22 23 24 25Worship II a.m. Martha Circle

Cabela's Food 10:30 am. .AA. MeetingCommunity Pick-up Wendy's in 7 p.m.

Roundtable M. Ferry

26 27 28 29 30 31Worship 11 a.m.

Food Pantry 10 a.m.A.A. Meeting

7 p.m.

August 2015Sun Mon SatThuTue Wed Fri

1Love is to the heart what the summer is to the farmer's year -

it brings to harvest all the loveliestflowers of the soul.-Author Unknown

2 3 4 5 6 7 8Worship11:00 a.m. Fellowship Hall

A.A. MeetingReserved

Noisy Can7:00 p.m.

2 - 4 p.m.Collection

9 10 11 12 13 14 15Worship Church Council A.A. MeetingII:OOa.m. Meeting

7:00 p.m.5:00 p.m.

16 17 18 19 20 21 Service - RecePtio~Worship

Bishop Dunkin andCabela's Food A.A. Meeting Helen Harms

11:00 a.m. Pick-up 7:00 p.m.S!. Mark Lutheran

Church

2:00 p.m.

23 24 25 26 27 28 29Worship Martha CircleFood Pantry A.A. MeetingI J:OOa.tn. 10:30 a.m.10:00 a.m. 7:00 p.m.

endy's, M. Ferry

Worship 3011:00 a.m.

31 TfLi&~, take a-oacatian.outh. Je&U&-net:/rain JMU&.

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened,and I will give you rest. - MATTHEW 11:28

Community

Roundtable

j,t. Jame~CfbangelicallLutberan C!CburcbEvangelical Lutheran Church in America

~ , 1409 Chapline Street- .r Wheeling, V'N 26(f)031

am the

and the

JOHN 11 :25