OVER THE MOUNTAINS

While considering the call to Our Savior, it became apparent that there were more mountains between Livermore, California and Utica, Michigan than what meets the eye. While several peaks have been passed, and summits scaled, the trek continues. Many crests remain as our family begins crossing the continental divide before school starts.

This real life experience is parallel to our spiritual journey. Our Father called us to heaven. Yet between earth and paradise are ranges that threaten, discourage, and wear down even the heartiest hikers. You must be familiar with one or more of them: the Mountains of Debt, the Emotional Everests, the Illness Peaks, Mount Mourning, or Terminal Trail, Broken Bonds By-way, Raising Kids Cross, Career Pass, Employment Egress, etc.

As we make our way through this rough terrain, let’s continue to “circle the wagons” and remind each other of Jesus’ promises, including, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘go,’ and it will be thrown into the sea.” And, “Look, I’ll be with you always, even up to the end of time,” [or the end of the crossing?].

Rooted in Grace, Growing in Faith, Serving with Joy, let’s get Over The Mountains together - as the Family of God.

Rev. Philip J. Scharnitzke (a.k.a. PS+)
Senior Pastor Elect

This is my first Newsletter article as Chair of the Lay Governing Board. At its June meeting, the newly elected Board chose me to serve in this position for the next fiscal year. I would have been just as happy to let Jesse Yow continue as Chair, but he has been “term limited” after two exciting years. We all owe him a major debt of gratitude for his service during this time, not only as LGB Chair but also as Chair of the Call Committee. Many thanks to you, Jesse!

I would also like to thank all of the people who agreed to run for election to the Lay Governing Board. I think the reason it took seven ballots to elect our three new members was that all of the candidates were so well qualified that it was hard for anyone to get a majority. It’s a good sign for the future that so many people were able and willing to step forward into positions of leadership.

Let me introduce you to the new LGB. Our three new members, elected for three-year terms, are Beth Young, Ken Volkman, and Sylvette Phillips. Our four holdovers are Jesse Yow and myself (with two years remaining in our terms), and John Honig and Marilyn Janzen (one year remaining). The new officers are myself (Chair), John Honig (Vice-Chair), and Beth Young (Secretary). You should feel free to talk to any of these seven people regarding anything that concerns you about the governance of OSLM; after all, one of our constitutional duties is to listen to the Stewards (that’s you!).

In the months to come, I plan to discuss items that are of interest to me, and hopefully will be to you as well. There are certainly a lot of them. We have a new Senior Pastor, and we can expect him to do things differently and to take us in new directions. We still need to make the final decision on whether to build the Ministry Center, once we are reasonably sure that we will have the money to do so. And we have some challenging new Critical Targets that we will all have to work together to accomplish. It looks like our “exciting years” are not over yet.

One final note: In May, I had the privilege of representing you at the triennial Convention of the California-Nevada-Hawaii District of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod. My report on the Convention is too long to include here, but if you are interested you can find it here. I would particularly like to call your attention to the Convention’s strong emphasis on the challenge of living and ministering in a post-Christian society, in which we can no longer just lie back and let the world come to us. Expect to hear more on this later.

We give God the glory for:

• Letty Quishuis and her “merry staff” of volunteers for all the work they did for our last day of school picnic. We had jumpers, popcorn, cotton candy, ice cream, hamburgers, hot dogs, and lots of sun and fun. Thanks for all your work!
• Our 38 graduates of 2006!
• Pastor Richard Brewer, whose final act for OSLS was the distribution of the diplomas to our 38 graduates. We appreciate all he did for our school.

Accreditation Progress

Accreditation is taking a “summer break” but will be starting up promptly in late August. Our four focus groups will resume investigating four different areas of our school. Next fall you will begin to receive surveys and questionnaires as we gear up for the Accrediting Team Visit schedules for the spring or fall of 2007. Our four focus groups are:

1. Organization for Student Learning (Chaired by Lawren Miller)
2. Curriculum and Instruction (Chaired by Nora Zinnel)
3. Support for Student Personal and Academic Growth (Chaired by Janet Connolly)
4. Resource Management and Development (Chaired by Joe Ryno)

All of this is aimed at ensuring the quality of Our Savior Lutheran School and how it meets its Expected Schoolwide Learning Results (ESLR’s). Please click here to see the expanded list of the ESLR's.

2006-07 School Year Faculty/Staff

While the staff is incomplete (at the time this was written), we are looking ahead toward the new year. Next year’s staff is:

Principal: Dennis Dirks
Assistant Principal: Jayne Managan
Eighth grade: Forrest Adams and Vacant (Called a graduate from Concordia-Irvine)
Seventh Grade: Lauren Bortnem and Sarah Handrock
Sixth Grade: Lynn Dirks and Vacant
Fifth Grade: Linda Greenhagen and Lawren Miller
Fourth Grade: Debbie Jalanivich and Renee Neal-Joslin
Third Grade: Karen Poppe and Christina Ramos
Second Grade: Regina Juan and Rebecca Miller
First Grade: Darren Hill and Ceres Krohn
Kindergarten: Tonina Dobbs and Christine Townsend
Music/Band Teacher: Amanda Newman
Math Teacher (part time): Anna Belaustegui
Resource Teacher: Nora Zinnel
Athletic Director / PE Teacher: Fred Brauer
Math Teacher/Home School Computer Teacher (part time): Vacant
Special Projects Teacher: Joe Ryno
Principal’s Administrative Assistant: Angela Westphal
School Administrative Assistant: Sherry Mullins
Financial Administrative Assistant: Rita Ryno

Note: Names in italics/bold are new to Our Savior Lutheran School next fall. We welcome our new staff members. We know they will greatly enhance our school program.

Don’t forget to pick up your summer Youth calendars in the church office or online at www.osyouth.com.

• Youth Night Pool Party on Thursday, July 6th, (Location to be announced) from 6 - 9 p.m. Bring a snack to share with everybody. Drinks are provided!
• Thursday, July 13th. Pack up the cargo van for the mission trip at Our Savior. Go over last minute details. Meet at church at 7 p.m. and bring your tools, sleeping bags and suitcases.
• No Youth Night on July 20th!
• Regular Youth Night on July 27th. Bring pictures from the trip! 7 - 9 p.m.
• CONNECT Summer Lunch – Meet in Youth Room at Noon, Pizza Lunch – July 11th (Bring $2)
• CONNECT 5 on 5 – Sign up in the Youth Room for this special program to help welcome our new freshmen into the high school youth group. More information is available on the signups. July 3, 10, & 31.
• No High School Sunday School on July 16th or July 23rd.

Go to www.osyouth.com for all the Youth Ministry information!

Women's Ministry

The Wednesday Women's Bible Study group meets on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday night of each month at 7 p.m. at the home of Dee Christopher. Please call the church office (925-447-1246) for directions. This month, the group will meet on July 12 and July 26.

Men's Ministry

• Men’s Breakfast Bible Study will take a break for the summer, and then resume again in September.
• Men’s Open Gym Basketball on Mondays from 7:30—9:00 p.m. Come out and enjoy some good competition and fellowship.

Young Adult Ministry

Visit http://yam.osyouth.com for more information about Events & Activities for Young Adults!

Ongoing Events

• Blood Pressure Monitoring will be offered in the Family Room after the worship service on the first and third Sundays of each month.
• Pinochle Club—This group meets on the second Tuesday evening of the month. Everyone is invited to come out for a game of cards on Tuesday, July 11, from 7—9 p.m. in Room 18. Come and join in the fun!
• The Christian Reading Club of Our Savior meets on a monthly basis to share insights and reactions to a monthly reading assignment. During the summer, we’ll be reading A Skeleton in God's Closet, a novel by Paul L. Maier, noted Lutheran Historian, Pastor, and a current Vice-President of The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod. (ISBN #0-8407-3424-7.) This book is available at local bookstores or at www.amazon.com. We’ll meet for our discussion time on Tuesday, September 19, from 7:00-8:30 p.m. in Room 8. Call Steve Christopher at 447-1246 ext. 228 for more information.

Upcoming Events

• Mark your calendar for Vacation Bible School at Our Savior: July 30 - August 3 from 6 - 8 p.m. It will be for the whole family! Click here for a VBS registration form.
• Our Savior Lutheran Ministries Independence Day Celebration, July 4, 5 p.m., "Bring-Your-Own" Picnic Dinner, followed by fireworks.

High School Graduation is a milestone in the lives of young people. There are several young people from Our Savior congregation who have recently crossed this milestone. We pray God's blessing on them now and in their future endeavors! Please click here for a more personal look at these young people.

Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Galatians 5:1

As we celebrate our freedom as a nation, I find Galatians 5:1 quite meaningful. What a wonderful nation we live in, freely able to share God’s love with everyone we meet. What a wonderful nation we live in, to be able to have a wonderful Christian school in which we can share God’s love and help our children learn to share that love with everyone. What a wonderful gift to live in a country in which we are free. Better yet—how awesome to know that we are free from sin because of Jesus Christ! We will never again be in bondage because God has set us free. As we celebrate our freedom this Fourth of July, let us remember to look up and thank God for that freedom and thank Jesus Christ for the freedom He has given to us!

The ECDC has been quiet here the first few weeks of summer. A lot of cleaning has happened in closing up for the summer and looking forward to next year. We are running eight weeks of summer camps this summer from 9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. for children who have completed our three- and four- year-old program as well as those children who have completed a year of Kindergarten at our school. We are having fun learning about bugs, cooking up delicious snacks, traveling through space, digging in the dirt as we garden, doing the hula as we learn about Hawaii, enjoying time under the big top for circus week, enjoying what it was like for the frontier children in the West, and packing our bags as we travel on many forms of transportation. As you can see we are planning to have a lot of fun this summer.

We hope that you take some time to relax and have a fun summer as well, and as you do, remember to tell people that you meet that “Jesus loves you!”

Women, it’s your turn for a musical opportunity! Any girl or woman junior high age or older is invited to participate in a treble ensemble in July. We will have two short rehearsals from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. on Mondays, July 10 and July 17, and sing for the 9:00 a.m. worship service on July 23. This is a great time to make a make a short commitment to giving praise to God through music! We will rehearse in the music room. If you have questions, call Christa Even at 447-1246, ext. 231.

Please click here for the Financial Report for May and also the Fiscal Year Report for July 2005 to May 2006.

The mission pledge is current and all expenses have been paid.

General Giving is down 4.7% for May and down 2.7% YTD.

Balances in our various checking, savings and stock accounts total $679,052, which includes $85,906 for the Ministry Center. Architectural fees are currently being paid from that account. The pledges for the Ministry Center totaled $137,248.

Pledges for the continuation program totaled $706,284 of which $638,188 has been received. We pay the church portion of the mortgage from the account. Monthly pledges needed to make the mortgage payment are $22,000. In May, we received $14,438.

Coming in July or August – an opportunity for high school students and adults to help with an Advent project to enhance the sanctuary. If you like to work with others creating/painting a large work, watch for further details in the Green Sheet or e- mails. You don’t need to be an artist, but just able to apply paint carefully. Curious? Call Christa Even (447-1246, ext. 231) for more details.

We are proceeding slowly but surely with the seismic retrofit. We hope to have our revised building permit from the City by the time you read this. Concurrently, we are working to get final drawings to Overaa Construction so they can give us an estimate of the costs. Assuming funding is sufficient, we hope to have a contract by mid-August.

Your committee has been working to select appliances, floor coverings, and other details so that we can proceed when we get the green light from you, the stewards.

As always, we ask for your prayers and support.

Sunday, July 30 – Thursday, August 3, 6:00 – 8:30 p.m.
Join us at Treasure Cove, where we’ll discover the riches of Christ! A casual dinner will be served at 6 p.m. There will be classes for kids age 3 through 5th grade, nursery care for kids under age 3, and classes for adults! It’s sure to be an awesome week – full of worship, fun and games, crafts, and Bible stories! Sign up today at www.oslm.net/church or by filling out a registration form available in the office!

Parenting Class at VBS
Title of Class: Faithfully Parenting Tweens

Description: The goal of parenting is to see your child “grow up.” We expect children to grow physically, mentally, socially and spiritually. It seems that all is on track until they hit those “tweenage” years. Then something happens! What do you do about those challenges at this age? How do you respond? How do you survive? This class will examine who “tweenagers” are and prepare you to meet some of those challenges of this delightful age group. This class will be helpful for all parents of young children, tweenagers and teenagers.

Outline:

• Session 1 - What’s a Tweenager?
• Session 2 - The Developing Social Scene
• Session 3 - Safety Issues and Concerns
• Session 4 - The Media Explosion
• Sesson 5 - Growing in Responsibility

Our SCRIP fundraising program couldn’t happen without dedicated volunteers! This month we thank Donna Kossow for her many years (yes, years!) of service selling SCRIP gift cards and certificates on Sunday mornings. Proceeds from this program benefit our “Building Up-Reaching Out” Building Fund as well as the Parent Teacher Organization at our school. Stop by and see Donna in the gym on Sunday mornings and check out the variety of gift cards available for many of our local merchants and restaurants including Safeway, Home Depot, Chili’s, and ARCO.

MySpace.com recently announced new restrictions for users who are 18 or over. With these new restrictions, they will not be able to contact users who are under 16 without knowing their full name or email address. Other restrictions will also be made available for all users to make their profiles “private” so that only users on their friends list will be able to access their profile. You should encourage your teen to use these if they have a MySpace profile.

While many are applauding MySpace.com’s efforts towards increased security and privacy, it is important that you still understand that there is nothing in place to keep an adult from signing up as a teenager and working their way into a teenager’s friend list. For more information on MySpace, the internet, and teenagers use of all of these online resources, contact Brett in the church office at 447- 1246 ext. 261 or by email at brett@osyouth.com.

Our Savior Lutheran Ministries is a Christian Community--

• Rooted in Grace
• Growing in Faith
• Serving with Joy

Worship Schedule

• Sunday Worship and Communion: 9:00 a.m.
• Sunday School for all ages: 10:30 a.m.

Critical Targets and Goals

To accomplish our mission and ministry here at Our Savior:

• Pastor: A new Senior Pastor has been installed by October 1, 2006.
• Worship Attendance: The average weekly worship attendance for 2006-07 is 15% greater than for 2005-06.
• Community Awareness: OSLM is making use of all relevant means of communication to make the people of the greater Livermore area aware of our ministries and activities.
• Ministry Center: The Ministry Center is completed by September 1, 2007. Plans have been developed for the full use of all campus facilities to advance the Mission of OSLM.
• New Member Assimilation: At least 75% of new Communicant Members received during 2006- 07 become involved in some group or activity at OSLM.
• Ministries to the 18 - 35 (Young Adult) Age Group: Ministries and activities specifically intended for the 18-35 age group are in place and functioning well. The number of Communicant Members in this age group has increased by 30% during 2006-07.
• Ministries to Unchurched School Families: Ministries and activities specifically intended for unchurched school families are in place and functioning well. These include at least three new approaches for targeted witness to this group.

Mission Statement

Our Savior Lutheran Ministries’ Mission is to:

• Proclaim salvation through God’s grace in word and song
• Build Christian relationships
• Care for the people of the community
• Equip God’s people for Life in Christ