Holy Cross Lutheran Church
November 2006
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All That We Are

All that we have, all that we are, is from God.

Is that thought awe-inspiring to you? Does it make you happy? How can you share that happy awe with the world?

That’s what stewardship is all about. We in the church can fall into the trap of thinking that our annual November stewardship focus is about raising enough money to pay the parish bills. Yes, we need to fund the programs and ministries of Holy Cross, and we need to pay the utility bill. But stewardship is much more than that: it is caring for all that God has given to us by using our God-given gifts of talent, skill, money, and passion to care for each other, for all of God’s people, and for the earth itself.

As our stewardship focus begins, pray about what God is calling you to. What gifts and skills do you have to offer at Holy Cross, at work or in the community, or at home? What can you contribute financially to support the work of this parish and the larger church? Think about what you are passionate about, and how you can use your personal talents and treasure to the glory of the One who has given us life -- abundant life!

Peace and blessings,
Pastor Lori

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How is your prayer life going?

Last month I suggested praying regularly to spend quality time with God, and to listen to the urgings of the Spirit in your life. As we approach our stewardship focus -- a time when we commit ourselves, not just our money, to God -- it is important that we take time to hear what God is calling each one of us to do. Otherwise, we may find ourselves grudgingly committing our time and treasure out of a routine sense of obligation rather than offering our lives to God from a place of real excitement and joy!

As I write this, the church council and I will be going on a retreat soon. It is my hope and prayer that the retreat will help your leaders experience a time and space to listen to God’s call and be inspired to answer that call. The theme of the retreat is “Speak Lord...your servant is listening.” Please keep the congregational leaders in your prayers. But also remember that the Spirit is speaking to all of us, not just the elected leaders. So this month I invite you to continue your prayer time (or begin it, if last month slipped away from you!) and add the invitation: Speak Lord...your servant is listening. Then...listen!

Peace and blessings,
Pastor Lori

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Go to our Worship Web Page

Worship Opportunities for November

Thanksgiving Offering

With so much of the world’s attention turned to the recent disasters, the ELCA remains committed to the needs of all who hunger, hurt and live in fear. Rightfully, we have been very generous in contributing to the disaster relief efforts. But others in the world are still just as hungry or sick, and we mustn't forget their needs as well.

Our donations will assist ELCA World Hunger in improving the lives of people in need in the United States and around the world by:
• providing immediate relief for people affected by chronic hunger and poverty;
• assisting whole communities through long-term, sustainable development to help alleviate chronic hunger and poverty
• advocating for justice by changing laws and systems
• educating members of the ELCA in awareness of issues relating to hunger, poverty and justice

Please place your offering in the special Thanksgiving offering envelope which you will receive in the mail or in a regular envelope, indicating that this is part your Thanksgiving offering. This will include all loose offering collected at the Thanksgiving Service.

Thanksgiving Eve Service

on Wednesday, November 22nd at 7:00pm with pumpkin pie fellowship following the service.

Joyful Voices

Do you like to sing? Join our children’s choir, Joyful Voices! We will be singing at the early service on December 10th and at the 4pm Family Christmas Eve service. Our practices resume after Thanksgiving on Thursday November 30th and will continue each Thursday until Christmas. We meet in the sanctuary at 5:30.

Children of all ages are welcome!
Contact Heidi Wolfson if you have any questions.

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Go to our Education Web Page

Christian Ed News

Adult Education Opportunities
Pastor Lori Eickmann

More than two dozen people signed up for “About the Bible,” a six-week class on how the bible was written and organized into the canon we accept as authoritative for us. The class, which meets between services on Sunday mornings, will conclude on Nov. 12. We have ordered a few more copies of the book ($10 each) for anyone who would like to join in our last few sessions or just read the book on their own. You’re sure to learn something new!

Our Nov. 19 and 26 classes will focus on a text-study method people can use on their own at home or as part of community bible study.

See me if you would like to lead an adult class on a topic you are passionate about; you’ll get as much out of teaching it as we will learning from you!

Sunday School Supt. Heidi Wolfson
The Sunday School mission work is off to a great start! On October 15th we packed our goods to ship to the My Stuff Bag foundation. We had a great time singing and dancing to the fabulous praise music played by our Christian rock band and sung by some of our lovely young women in the high school! Thank you to all of you who donated goods both purchased and hand made! Our kids as well as the foundation are very grateful. Please see our Sunday School bulletin board in the narthex for more information on this important project as well as how you can help. See the letters from kids who have received a My Stuff Bag. We are working towards collecting $100 in offering as a Christmas present for the foundation to help them ship more bags.

VBS News
Are you interested in volunteering for our Vacation Bible School ministry? I know it’s hard to think of next Summer when this one has just ended but please prayerfully consider directing our next program. A VBS Director or two Co-Directors are needed for the 2007 program. Contact Heidi Wolfson or Gary Potter.

Confirmation Class News
The Confirmation of Faith-Affirmation of Baptism of 3 youth (9th grade) will be celebrated on October 29 during the 11am Worship service. Congratulations to Janet Diebner, Krista Farnady, and John Knowles. A reception for the confirmands, family, and friends will be held in the Fellowship Room immediately following the 11am service on Oct. 29. Photos will be taken and cake and refreshments will be served.

Cradle Roll Ministry Coordinator Linda Schlitt Have some toddlers, birth to 3, among your friends and neighbors, sign them up for the wonderful Splash! Newsletters by contacting me at LLSJOY@aol.com and invite them and their families to our kid-friendly summer worship services.

Youth Bible Presentation Supt. Heidi Wolfson What an exciting day for our young three year olds and our third graders as they received new Bibles at the Youth Bible Presentation on Sunday, October 1st! Pastor Lori with the assistance of the Christian Education Team presented Youth Bibles to these students as they begin new milestones in their Faith journeys. The three year olds have just begun their first Sunday School classes and the third graders will be preparing for and receiving their First Communion this year. The Christian Education Team believes that presenting a Youth Bible to our young three-year-olds and growing third graders is an integral component of their Christian learning and we want to support this important transition in their lives.

Those receiving The Young Learner’s Bible Storybook were 3 and 4 yr olds who are beginning Sunday School this year. Those receiving The Adventure Bible were 3rd graders who are beginning instruction for their First Communion this year.

How beautiful it is to see a child receiving their first Bible or a new Bible during our Worship service and for the child to have their church family as witnesses and supporters.

This wonderful program is supported in-part by the Christian Education budget but it also depends on donations. The Youth Bibles cost between $17.00 and $21.00 dollars. If you are able to help support this important program a $10 donation is appreciated and will be helpful in covering the cost of the Bibles and planning for next year’s Youth Bible Presentation. A special display has been set up in the Narthex for donations.

We wish you all good reading and God’s Blessing in your Christian growth!

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Go to our Youth Web Page

High School Youth Service

Over two months after our High School Youth traveled to San Antonio, Texas, for the ELCA National Youth Gathering, we finally got to hear about their unique experience this last Sunday October 22 at both services. From the moment that Pastor Lori was dragged a way (literally) in the middle of the welcome the youth took over the service in every aspect. Joined by the youth, the Music Team rocked the church with a non-traditional style of music including the songs “Dare you to Move,” “Alabare,” and “He Reigns.” The reading of the Holy Gospel was done in a skit format much to the congregation’s enjoyment. For the offertory hymn, Teresa Trump, Hypaitia Rauch, and Amy Lemmon performed a very moving liturgical dance to the song “Orando,” which translates to “praying,” that left the congregation speechless. During the normal sermon time, photographs were projected onto a screen and music played in the background as seven youth read their personal testimonies of the trip revealing what they learned and reminding everyone why they went in the first place: to serve and praise the Lord. At the end of the second service, the chaperones Paul and Sharon Lemmon, and Jeanette Kuneli were presented with thank you cards for trying their hardest to understand the wants and needs of teenagers during those nine days. In many people’s minds this service proved the theory that “youth are not the future, but the present.”

Thank You Holy Cross Lutheran Church for Supporting the Youth’s Trip to Texas!
–The Holy Cross High School Youth

Thanks to all the Youth Volunteers for Putting on the Service: Carolyn Belak, Joseph Cheney, Chris Kirby, John Knowles, Megan Kuneli, Amy Lemmon, Jessica Littel, Ryan Littel, Kevin Rapport, Hypaitia Rauch, Kathryn Sizemore, and Kyle Tripp.

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Go to our School Web Page

We at Holy Cross School would like to extend all of you a Happy Thanksgiving.

We are thankful for the opportunity to serve the community through our preschool ministry. October 16th we were able to begin a new program which compliments our preschool classes for the four and five year olds. “Lunch Bunch” is offered Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings from 11:30 -1:00 pm. The idea is to offer enrichment activities and a lunchtime (brought from home) for those children enrolled in our morning program. Physical Education is offered each day coupled with a Science, Drama or Music activity. We are happy to welcome Vince Nims and Barbara Rushmore who bring their music to the children alternating every other Wednesday. We have had a great response to this opportunity. Our teachers have been very flexible in scheduling which allowed the program to move forward. The program came together rather quickly, and I could not have implemented it by October without Melony’s willing assistance. In short, I am grateful for staff who work diligently to realize our mutual goals and purpose.

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HCLS See’s Candy fundraiser will be November 13th- 28th; just in time for holiday gift giving. Delicious dark and milk chocolates are the perfect gift for friends, family, and business acquaintances. (Why not order a box for yourself prior to those New Year’s resolutions?) Order forms will be available in the narthex.

Wishing you and yours Thanksgiving Blessings,
Neva
 

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Lutheran World Relief

There’s still time to sign up!
Harvest-time in Central America
LWR COFFEE PROJECT TRIP TO NICARAGUA
January 5 – 14, 2007

You can feel Fair Trade with your own hands as you pick the ripe red cherries--each containing two precious coffee beans--side by side with Nicaraguan coffee farmers. You can eat fair trade as coffee farm families host you for dinner, enriched by the profitable return from their crop. You can inhale fair trade as the youth guide you on a fresh air mountain eco-hike of the coffee cooperative. If you are a parish pastor; a lay leader; a member of the Women of the ELCA or Lutheran Women’s Missionary League; a college student, faculty, or administrator; an experienced fair trade connoisseur or someone who is newly interested--YOU can experience for yourself how Fair Trade lifts whole communities into a daily life of health, education, nutrition, and dignity.

Trip planning is coordinated with the Center for Global Education at Augsburg College, a nationally recognized leader in experiential learning; and Equal Exchange, LWR’s partner in the LWR Coffee Project.
For more information, click here to enter the site of our planning partner, the Center for Global Education at Augsburg
College: http://www.augsburg.edu/global/triplist.html#latinamerica
Terri Speirs - Coordinator, Study Visits, Speakers Bureau, Virtual University
LUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF
625 Fourth Avenue South, Suite 200, Minneapolis MN 55415
Tel: 651-646-2834 | Fax: 612.340.4450 | www.lwr.org

It’s a small world. Meet the neighbors.
Sign up for an LWR Study Visit.
www.lwr.org/study
Enroll now for the LWR Virtual University.
www.lwr.org/university
Invite a member of the LWR Speakers Bureau to your church, community, or campus.
www.lwr.org/speakers

To others, through others.
Every day in 35 countries, Lutheran World Relief works to combat the causes of poverty and the dignity it robs from people’s lives. We advocate for Fair Trade that helps farming families and artisans earn a better income. We teach people to better care for themselves their communities and the environment. We teach people how to be less vulnerable to natural disasters. We advocate with and for them for policy change that more fairly represents them. We counsel them after man-made and natural disasters, and help them recover with material aid. We do all of this exclusively with partners from the communities we serve. Our partners help us remain incredibly efficient and effective. Our partners let us help people help themselves...for a day when they won’t need us at all.

Holy Cross Book Club

Please join us the 2nd Tuesday of the month at 10:30 am. at HCLC.
All are welcome.
November My Sister’s Keeper, by Jodi Picoult
December An Open Heart, by the Dalai Lama

Holy Cross Directory Update

All directory changes have been accumulated and applied to one page. This page will be available in the narthex on Sunday, Nov. 5th. Please mark your name off the list and add it to your directory. Please continue to call the church office if you have any changes to your information in the directory.
 

Eagle Project

Ian Jinks would like to thank all who have donated their time, supplies and money to his Eagle project. Please look for him after service in the narthex, he would like to give you a thank you note to show his appreciation.

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Crafty Ladies Holiday Bazaar

Friday, November 3
Saturday, November 4
9:00 - 4:00pm
and
Sunday, November 5
after both Worship Services in the Parish Hall

Original Gifts and Decor
Grandma’s Attic
Stocking Stuffers
Ornaments, Ornaments
Jellies and Jams
Baked Goods and Candies
Special Raffle of Miniature Toy Shop
All handcrafted by members and friends of
Holy Cross Lutheran Church

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Bach Special

The ELCA Mosaic documentary on the life of J.S. Bach will be shown again on Hallmark Channel Sunday, October 29, 2006. “Glory to God Alone” can be seen at 7:00 a.m. (Set your VCR or TIVO) It includes renditions of Bach’s work, location footage from Bach’s ancestral home in Germany. Introducing J. S. Bach to a new generation, Glory to God Alone traces Bach’s life story and focuses on the relationship between his faith and his work.

Check local listings on times and channels.

News from the ELCA

To view current and recent past news releases, from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America,
go to ELCA News http://elca.org/news/releases.asp  

Contribution Acknowledgements

This week Holy Cross Lutheran Church has received letters of thanks for our recent contributions to Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, Lutheran Campus Ministry, and ELCA World Hunger.

Do I need a will?

Without a will, the laws of the state will determine who will receive your assets and who will manage your estate. As a result, the state may not include all of the persons or charities that you would like to benefit. A will allows you to appoint a guardian for your minor children, choose a representative to carry out your wishes and decide the final destination of your estate assets.

Making a charitable bequest (i.e., giving assets to charity through a will), is the simplest way to make a planned gift. The donor states in his or her will the amount or percentage of assets that are to pass to a designated charity. The donor also receives an estate tax deduction for the amount of the bequest. There is no limit on the amount of the charitable gift made by bequest or on the amount that can be deducted for estate tax purposes.

Some may wish to designate their church or favorite charity as the “residual beneficiary” of the estate. After they have given to each child, friend or charity, they name a charity or charities to receive the residual of the estate.

Thrivent Financial is represented in your area by Ray Carlisle, John Kline, and Steve Gregerson (510-405-8100 or 800-972-2880)

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Please see the printed copy of CROSSroads for these sections.

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CROSSroads
Published monthly by Holy Cross Lutheran Church
1020 Mocho Street, Livermore, CA 94550

The paper version of CROSSroads is sent to each member of the Holy Cross shortly before the beginning of the month.

This web version of the newsletter contains most of the contents of the paper version, with different formatting.  In general, personal and financial information are not included in this version.  Names, except those of the Pastors or staff, are generally listed as first name, last initial.

The following sections of CROSSroads are NOT included on the web version:

• Among Members and Friends
• Parish Prayer List
• Personal Thank You Messages
• Birthdays and Anniversaries

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Holy Cross Lutheran Church is a body of Christians whose mission is:

• to invite all persons to hear and respond to the good news of God’s love revealed in Jesus,
• to provide opportunities for growth in faith and love towards God and one another,
• to actively share God’s love with all people.

We are partners in ministry with the Sierra Pacific Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.