Serving the southwest Fort Worth area since 1953 JUNE 2018 St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church, organized in 1953, is a Reconciling in Christ con- gregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Mission Statement: Living in Christ through faith. Living for neighbor through love. Church Staff: Michael Masterson Pastor John Parsons Dir. of Youth and Family Ministries Emily Davis Dir. of Music Ministries John Wolf Organist / Pianist Mary Nedde Administrative Assistant Kelly Riddle Office Assistant; GoCenter Coord. Kay Green, Carolyn Chance Nursery Staff Council Members: President: Sarah Hadfield Vice-President: Anne Moroneso Secretary: Mary Nedde Treasurer: Desiree Ford Financial Secretary: Sylvia Wester Christian Ed.: Liz McCarthy Fellowship: Diane Higgs Outreach: Bill Anderson Property: Steve Weis Stewardship: Gary Christensen Worship: Janice Breitenstine Youth: Jason Helms Youth Rep: St. Matthew’s Greenbrier School: 5701 Wedgwood Dr. 817-292-5592 THE MESSENGER Sunday Worship 8:30 A.M. & 11:00 A.M. Sunday Education Hour 9:45 A.M. 817-292-1338 | [email protected]| www.stmatthews-elca.org 5709 Wedgwood Drive, Fort Worth, TX 76133 We are RIC - Learn more at www.stmatthews-elca.org/elca An Invitation to Pastor’s Celebration – Texas BBQ JUNE 17, 2018 8:45 am - Sunday School 10:00 am - Worship Service Program and Meal - Members are asked to bring a side dish; BBQ and dessert will be provided. Please RSVP
Transcript
Serving the southwest Fort Worth area since 1953
JUNE 2018
St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church, organized in 1953, is a Reconciling in Christ con-gregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
Mission Statement: Living in Christ through faith.
Living for neighbor through love.
Church Staff:
Michael Masterson
Pastor
John Parsons
Dir. of Youth and Family Ministries
Emily Davis
Dir. of Music Ministries
John Wolf
Organist / Pianist
Mary Nedde
Administrative Assistant
Kelly Riddle
Office Assistant; GoCenter Coord.
Kay Green, Carolyn Chance
Nursery Staff
Council Members:
President: Sarah Hadfield
Vice-President: Anne Moroneso
Secretary: Mary Nedde
Treasurer: Desiree Ford
Financial Secretary: Sylvia Wester
Christian Ed.: Liz McCarthy
Fellowship: Diane Higgs
Outreach: Bill Anderson
Property: Steve Weis
Stewardship: Gary Christensen
Worship: Janice Breitenstine
Youth: Jason Helms
Youth Rep:
St. Matthew’s Greenbrier School:
5701 Wedgwood Dr.
817-292-5592
THE MESSENGER Sunday Worship 8:30 A.M. & 11:00 A.M.
We are RIC - Learn more at www.stmatthews-elca.org/elca
An Invitation to
Pastor’s Celebration – Texas BBQ
JUNE 17, 2018
8:45 am - Sunday School
10:00 am - Worship Service
Program and Meal - Members are asked to bring a side dish;
BBQ and dessert will be provided.
Please RSVP
FROM THE PASTOR’S DESK(TOP) Mary Nedde told me that my mission for today was to write my final Messen-
ger article. As I have listened to artful speeches and read tremendous literary works that bid farewell to friends, co-workers, and family, words escape me. This does not happen often. St. Matthew’s has been all those things for me as we are a family; the family of God. We are co-workers on this earth to be God’s hands, feet, and voice in the wilderness of life. And you have been a friend; no one greater or less than other, always concerned for other; including me.
St. Matthew’s is a different place than when I came, yet, at the same time it continues to maintain the very DNA that makes St. Matthew’s unique, valuable,
and important. We have come a long way with our physical plant, but more im-
portantly, we have become more relative to our community in support of outreach. Fellowship, worship and music, go without saying are strong strands in our DNA. We continue to meet the challenge of Christian education that reaches not only our adults, but our younger members. And I am impressed with the plan and pa-tience of our Stewardship leadership as we continue to grow our stewardship cul-ture.
I am not going to give you a list of what we have done these past eleven years. You need to know that
I appreciate all that you have done for Chris and me. You will forever be in our hearts and prayers. St.
Matthew’s is prime to move forward as God’s family and servants in the Wedgwood area and beyond. God’s continued blessings and grace to you now and forever.
THE MESSENGER JUNE 2018 PAGE 2
CHOIR TOUR TO EUROPE June 20-30
Keep members of our Chancel Choir and guests in your prayers as they travel to Prague, Nuremberg, Leipzig, Wittenberg, Dresden, and Berlin. The Choir will sing three concerts and participate in two worship services. They are excited for their trip and to represent our con-gregation at the venues where they will sing.
EVENSONG CELEBRATION OF ST. MATTHEW’S MUSIC MINISTRIES
SUNDAY, JUNE 3RD 7:00 PM
Theme: PEACE
COME FOR AN EVENING OF MUSIC AND READINGS WITH OUR
CHILDREN’S AND CHAPEL CHOIRS CHANCEL CHOIR
SOUNDS OF EXALTATION HANDBELL CHOIR
Reception Following
JUNE 2018 THE MESSENGER PAGE 3
BISHOP GRONBERG TO PREACH AT ST. MATTHEW’S - June 3rd
On Sunday, June 3rd, Bishop Erik Gronberg of the Northern Tex-
as-Northern Louisiana Synod, will be preaching at St. Matthew’s for both of our worship services. He will also be on hand for a
combined adult Sunday School class. Please plan to be present that morning!
Go to www.ntnl.org to learn about what the NT-NL Synod is doing!
The NT-NL is IN MISSION TOGETHER:
Planted in one of the fastest growing and demographically diverse areas of
the country, the Northern Texas-Northern Louisiana Synod is committed to de-
veloping leadership to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, growing our con-
gregations, and welcoming all people to share in this life-giving message of
hope, inclusion, and justice.
THE MESSENGER
SUNDAY MORNING ADULT EDUCATION
At 9:45 am on Sunday mornings, there are two opportunities for
adult education. We hope you join us for one of these classes:
Daily Discipleship, led by Mary Frances Page, looks at each
Sunday’s gospel lesson with commentary and thoughtful questions.
This class meets in the Library.
Topical Studies, led by Mark Vinciguerra and Pastor Mike, dis-
cusses a variety of biblical and faith-related topics, with heavy reli-
ance on biblical resources and scholarly writings. They meet in the
Fellowship Hall.
WOMEN’S BIBLE STUDY IN MAY All women of St. Matthew’s and their friends are invited to come every Thursday morning at 10:00 am for study, prayer, laughter and fellowship. We are currently studying the books of Chronicles. After the June 7th meeting, we will go out for lunch at 11:45 am to Luby’s on South Hulen St.
PRAYERS FOR NATIONAL YOUTH GATHERING PARTICIPANTS
The 2018 ELCA National Youth Gathering is coming up June 24 to July 1 and we have a special request for all members of St. Matthew's. Please take a few minutes to write out a few prayer notes for our youth who will be traveling to Houston the end of June to gather with thousands of other ELCA youth from all over the country and participate in community ser-vice. These notes will be given to our youth right before their trip. There is a box in the narthex where you may drop your notes there or give them directly to John Parsons. Andrew, Ben, Ryan, Finn, Brendan, John, and Liz will appreci-ate everyone taking the time to uplift this group! John Parsons and Liz McCarthy are the adult sponsors for this event.
JUNE 2018 PAGE 4
THE MESSENGER
To all the Family of St. Matthew’s,
A message from a dear friend has me thinking of intentions and whether or not we
turn those intentions into realities. This out-of-town friend and I thoroughly enjoy being together, and we try to manage that a couple times a year. But without noticing, we’ve
now gone nearly a year without a visit. So, although we had good intentions, we’ve not
been “intentional” enough to make it happen.
The original sources of the word, “intend”, mean “to stretch out for or to aim at.”
Our summer schedule will soon be upon us here at St. Matthew’s, with no fellowship
meals, no choir rehearsals, no weekly youth group, and this year, no regular pastor. Al-though a break can be refreshing, I urge us all to “stretch out for”, to be intentional about
staying in touch, about gathering for worship, about praying for each other and for our
transition journey, and about continuing our work with commissions and committees.
We are looking forward to a wonderful celebration with Pastor and Chris on June
17, and our Future Directions team will carry on from there. Pastor Kris Totzke, the Bishop’s Associate and our partner through this process, has an interim pastor in mind
for us, but we will likely be relying on pulpit supplies, visiting pastors, to the end of July.
May God guide us in “stretching out for” our good in-
tentions to bring them to fruition. See you in church!
In Christ’s love,
Sarah Hadfield, President
JUNE 2018 PAGE 5
READY, SET, GO! CENTER
PHOTOS, SPRING 2018
THE MESSENGER
READY, SET, GO! CENTER 2017-2018 WRAP-UP
“God knows we’re often wayward but he pursues us with love anyway. I think
He wants us to see things the way He does, and that’s not going to happen from
the top of a castle but from the ground level of grace.”- Bob Goff
Spring semester for our second year of Ready, Set, Go kicked off January
9th, 2018. Attendance continued to be steady as it had been in the Fall with an
average of 12-15 students every week. Besides their tutoring and help with their
weekly homework students receive every other week rotation of Science (mostly
experiments) and Art (mostly hands on projects). Some weeks and whenever pos-
sible we try to combine a Science and Art project together (example decorating a
flower pot then having a lesson on plants/soil and planting a flower/plant in the
pot.) We had great lessons this Spring on ‘The life cycle of a Butterfly’- then
made edible butterflies, ‘The study of Wind’- then made wind barometers that
the students took home, ‘The study of Soil’- then made edible dirt. The students
decorated flower pots and planted flowers in the them as Mother’s Day presents
to take home to their moms. Please visit the St. Matthew’s Facebook page to see
some recently posted pictures of all of these activities.
This Spring also included a visit from the Ft. Worth Fire Dept. Firemen
from our local station came by to show students their truck and give a talk on
what it’s like to be a community helper. Students were able to ask questions and
take pictures.
We also had Ms. Sprinkle, counselor from Woodway Elementary come by for a
visit prior to the start of Spring standardized testing . Ms. Sprinkle gave a talk
to the students on test anxiety and some helpful tricks to calm your nerves and
do your very best on testing day. Our students love Ms. Sprinkle and we feel
blessed to have her partnership here at Ready, Set, Go.
Finally again, a huge thank you to all our dedicated, diligent, and committed tu-
tor volunteers. As we all know this wonderful outreach would not be possible at
all without them….Tom Gluntz, Shari Barnes, Mary Ellen Creecy, Sylvia West-
er, Janice Kammer, Renee Hill, Greg Anderson, Jean Rose, Bill Anderson, Lau-
ren Anderson, John Parsons.
Fall semester for Ready, Set, Go will kick off Tuesday September 18th, 2018. If
you would like to volunteer or know someone who would please contact me!
Kelly Riddle- Site Coordinator St. Matthew’s Ready, Set, Go
Property: Steve Weis Youth Representative: Andrew Beckman
* Approved for a second 2-year term.
A certificate acknowledging Ben McCarthy’s one-year term as the Youth Representa-tive will be given to him.
Register now for VBS! Registration for Vacation Bible School 2018
"Shipwrecked, Rescued by Jesus!" is live on the St. Mat-
thew's website at www.stmatthews-elca.org. Please
prayerfully consider being a VBS volunteer this year! It
takes many hands to make our VBS successful and there
are many positions to fill. Join us July 23rd-27th from
8:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m. for a fun week! Sign your kiddos up
now and please invite friends and neighbors, that's what
VBS is all about! Questions? Contact John Parsons.
JUNE 2018 PAGE 7
iPad Donations Needed
Have an old iPad lying around? Would you consider donating it to the church? We are in need of iPad donations for our Sunday School Program. Any generation, new or old, big or small, as long as the screen isn't cracked. We will be clearing them of any personal data and reset before use, so you do not have to worry. If you have one you might be willing to donate, please talk to John Parsons.
St. Matthew’s Stitch ‘n Chat crochet/knitting group will continue meeting on Wednesdays during the summer. We will meet on June 6th and 20th at 10:00 am in the Fel-lowship Hall as we continue working on various projects.
All skill levels are welcome!
LET US PRAY FOR THOSE IN NEED For Our Homebound: Craig Bridges, Dorothy and T.J. Bridges, Eva and Don Clifton,
Joan Gordon, Carl Hennig, Winifred Mann, Annasophia Reese
For Those Who Are Ill or Have Needs:
Members of St. Matthews: Juli and Mike Hogan, Mike Oklat, Carol Washuta
Friends or Family: Maureen - Friend of Pauline Christensen
Lynn and her daughter - Lynn is a cousin of Gary Christensen
Billie - Family friend of Renee Hill
Tamara - Cousin of Christina Miller
Jim Banta - Brother of Marj Rudolph
Mandy Condit and newborn baby - Daughter of John Creecy
Marin Hill - Granddaughter of Jim and Joan Gordon
Tom Hill - Family member of Jim and Joan Goardon
Lynda Thomason - Cousin of Frank Wingard
For Those Who Mourn:
Tim Knutson, Ingrid and Karl who mourn the death of wife and mother, Jeannie
Knutson, who died on May 6 in Iowa. A memorial service will be held on June 2 at St.
Matthew’s at 10:00 am.
The family of Carol Edward Carol, former choir member and office secretary,
passed away on Saturday, May 19. A memorial service will be held at St. Matthew’s on
June 1 at 2:00 pm.
Pastor Terry and Marcia Boggs and family in the death of Marcia’s mother, Emma
Lou VanGundy, in Kansas on May 25.
For those abroad and away from us:
Pete Anderson working for a government contractor in Kuwait.
May we trust that our lives will bear witness to God’s extravagant love and
faithfulness in our homes, in our church, as we work, and as we travel.
Amen.
JUNE 2018 THE MESSENGER PAGE 8
THE MESSENGER
June 2018 NT-NL Mission Area Prayer List:
During June we pray for the following NT-NL Mission Area congregations and entities:
June 3 Holy Trinity, Shreveport / Redeemer, Greenville / Military Chaplains June 10 St. Olaf, Cranfills Gap / Shepherd of Life, Arlington / NT-NL Eastern Conf. June 17 Our Saviour’s Durant / Faith, Flower Mound / Vacation Bible Schools June 24 Immanuel, Killeen / Church-Damascus Road Prison Ministry / Refugee Sunday
We especially pray for those attending the ELCA National Youth Gathering For NT-NL News, go to www.ntnl.org For ELCA News, go to www.elca.org
