Greetings!

THE GOOD NEWS is that Pastor Philip Scharnitzke of Trinity Lutheran Church, Utica MI, has accepted our Call to be our resident Sr. Pastor. The Interim Period which began when Pastor Ted Hartman accepted the Call of the CNH District to service as a regional mission counselor beginning mid-November 2004 is rapidly coming to an end. Pastor Scharnitzke’s official letter of acceptance was read on May 14, Mother’s Day. His first sermon at Our Savior will be on June 18.

THE INTERIM IS OVER and it has been a productive year and a half. We engaged Brett Bortnem to be the Youth Director. We agreed to keep going with the Ministry Center plans for the old Mayflower Building. We have been through two Christmas and Easter seasons. We have received new members. Two classes have been confirmed. The “Building Up – Reaching Out” financial effort is coming to a close. Interims are also measured by what did not happen. Thanks to good leave-taking, Our Savior was able to adjust quickly to the change in pastoral leadership. Our attendance did not fall off. Our financial support of the work of the Lord here has not decreased. Even with a longer interim, we did not lose heart but continued to depend on God’s grace.

NOW I RIDE OFF INTO THE SUNSET! One of the many joys of doing Interim Ministry is the sense of satisfaction that I get with the successful completion of a term. My gladness at the Advent of Pastor Phil comes from that sense of a job done. Just like the hero of many a western movie rides off into the sunset when normal times have been restored, now it is time for me to tip my hat and ride slowly out of town! Will I come back to visit sometime? Of course I will, but I go back to being retired and spending more time with my family - and traveling! I have enjoyed my time with you at Our Savior Lutheran Ministries. You will always be a special place for me. I treasure our time together, but it is time to move on. You are in good hands, and I expect to hear nothing but wonderful reports from you as you continue to be rooted in grace, growing in faith and serving with joy.

Blessings!

Richard Brewer

This is my last newsletter column as Chair of our Lay Governing Board. Although I still have two more years to serve on the LGB, my term as chairman ends this month. Therefore, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you, the Stewards of Our Savior Lutheran Ministries, for giving me the honor and privilege of leading and serving you. I would also like to thank the members of the Lay Governing Board, Ministry Staff, Administrative Staff, Board of Elders, and special groups such as the Capital Stewardship and the Ministry Center Feasibility Study, Conceptual Design, and Building task forces for their hard work, constructive criticism, and encouragement during my tenure as chairman. In addition, I would like to offer a special personal thank you to our shepherd and comrade-in-arms, Pastor Brewer.

My assignment in the Army of the Living God is in transition, but I must finish my current task by pointing out a quiet challenge that confronts OSLM. Look at the people who now serve and lead in our congregation’s ministries. How many of them are 50 years old or older? Our Lord has blessed us with many brothers and sisters in Christ who will stay engaged and productive in the ministries as long as their health permits. However, the church is always one generation away from going out of business, and until we complete the Great Commission, this issue of replacement and growth will need our attention.

We need to pray that God will bring a new generation of people into our Christian fellowship. Their presence alone is not enough. We need to pray that God will stir them up, equip them, and bring them into active, productive service to work shoulder to shoulder with us in building up and reaching out, all in His name.

Please ask God to teach you to do two things about this challenge: First, we need to pray that God will raise up more people to do His work (see Matthew 9:37-38 about the spiritual harvest all around us). Do not forget that God would like to count you as one of the workers! Second, encourage those around you (see Hebrews 10:23-35 on how we can help each other). Your prayers and your words all have an impact beyond anything you might imagine. The Christian life is a contact sport, so it is time to get in contact with God and with each other to move His team forward!

Soli Deo Gloria!

We give God the glory for:

• The $26,000 raised by the PTO in their Auction for the school. Thanks for everyone’s support.
• The PTO and the many parents for their generosity during Teacher/Staff Appreciation Week. The potluck dinner was superb, and the gifts were appreciated!
• Stephanie Browne (2006 Valedictorian) and Jessica Tomasetti (2006 Salutatorian). They will have the opportunity to speak to their classmates at Graduation on Thursday, June 1st at 7:00 p.m. in the sanctuary. (Everyone is invited.)
• For Joe Ryno, who concludes his “Jr. Achievement” class with eighth graders. Over the course of the past year, Joe taught 8th graders about stocks and bonds, resumes, how to conduct interviews (complete with how to properly shake hands), and budgeting (including church giving and stewardship of “gifts”). Thanks for the extra time you spent with the 8th grade.
• Our track students – who did so well at the May track meet – and their parents! Special thanks to Mr. Brauer and Mrs. Hall for their coaching. Special thanks to the teachers and parents who spent a good portion of their Saturday working the softball throw event.
• All of our many athletes in volleyball, basketball, and cheerleading who were honored at the annual Sports Banquet. You made the seasons successful!
• Anne-Marie Connolly and Tori Rao for their “technology prowess.” This team ran the PowerPoint and microphones each week in chapel. Kelly Fayen and Daniel Droege assisted when more help was needed. All four took turns preparing the PowerPoint presentations each week. Thanks!
• All the lambs God has placed in our care.

Graduation

The class or 2006 will graduate on Thursday, June 1st at the annual Graduation Worship Service at 7:00 p.m. A reception will follow. This concludes the 31st year of operation for OSLS (having been organized in 1975). We request that you include these students in your prayers, seeking God’s guidance as they continue their educational careers.

Class of 2006 – Dylan Amiot, Valerie Ansuini, Stephanie Browne, Amanda Chapman, Kelsey Clark, Anne-Marie Connolly, Daniel Droege, Janette Espinoza, Kelly Fayen, Ryan Fernandes, Timothy Fleer, Wesley Gong, Kathryn Goodell, Ayla Grajeda, Mandy Harrigan, Max Kurth, Jessica Lucas, Jessica MacDonald, Marissa Martin, Brooke Mayo, Sean McGarvey, Lindsey McIntyre, Peter Morrow, Lauren Parks, Casey Plonczak, Tyler Pressley, Taylor Rackey, Victoria Rao, David Rashè, Rebecca Ruppert, Evan Serowoky, Jared Silver, Shannon Smith, Matthew Sorenson, Hannah Tennyson, Matthew Thibault, Jessica Tomasetti, Laura Zampetti

Class of 2006

• Bible Verse: “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Mark 11:24
• Valedictorian: Stephanie Browne
• Salutatorian: Jessica Tomasetti
• Student Speakers: Kate Goodell and Peter Morrow
• Staff Speaker: Mrs. Debbie Murray
• Class Colors: Lime Green & Hot Pink

Accreditation Progress

Accreditation is progressing surely and steadily. We currently have focus groups investigating four different areas of our school:

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)

These groups include all the teachers of the school and most of the preschool teachers. In addition, parents will be added to these groups. One outcome of these groups’ investigation will be surveys. The congregation members and school families will be asked to participate in several surveys over the next few months. We will be using the internet to distribute the surveys and to receive your replies. Surveys will be kept short. In most cases it will require only a few minutes of your time.

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.

School Ends

School will end “officially” at 12:00 noon on June 2nd. But the school picnic that follows will go until 3:00 p.m. There will be food, jumpers, water slides, and great fellowship.

2006-07 School Year

While there are still 12 days of school remaining in the 2005-06 school year (at least as I write this), we are looking ahead to next fall and are making plans for in-services and the first day of school next year. (August 30, 2006 – School calendars for next year are available in the school office.)

In next month’s newsletter, we will list the faculty and staff for next year. The summer will be filled with ordering curriculum, ordering supplies, getting carpet in three classrooms, writing and re- writing parent and faculty handbooks, scheduling, securing staff, and more. Contrary to popular belief, just because school is out doesn’t mean things aren’t happening. No matter what time of year it is, school is a happening place!

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

CONNECT Summer Lunches – Meet in Youth Room at Noon

• Pizza Lunch – June 13 (Bring $2)
• Bring your lunch June 20

CONNECT Trip to Great America – June 27. Sign up in the Youth Room by June 22. Make sure emergency information is on file. Cost: $30

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.

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 June 14 and June 28.

Men's Ministry

• Men’s Breakfast Bible Study will meet on Friday, June 2, at 6:30 a.m. at Baker’s Square, 1116 Stanley Boulevard, in Livermore. The topic is “Men of the Bible: Paul.” The group will then 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.c om 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, June 13, 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 her e for a VBS registration form.
• Our Savior Lutheran Ministries Independence Day Celebration, 5 p.m., "Bring-Your-Own" Picnic Dinner, followed by fireworks. Parking passes are $5 and are available in the church office.

On the first Sunday of June, ten young people of our congregation will stand before the Lord, their friends, and family, and publicly confess their faith in our Lord Jesus Christ which was given to them at their Baptism. There will be a special video shown on June 4th with each confirmand sharing his or her faith as well as their public confession before the altar of our Lord.

The confirmation class of 2006
Emily Clark
Anne-Marie Connolly
Hillary Erbert
Wesley Gong
Kate Goodell
Michael Handrock
Jessica Lucas
Sean McGarvey
Brook Mayo
Lauren Parks

For a more personal look at these young people, click here.

One of our last Bible verses for the year was “Do not forget to share with others.” Hebrews 13:16

With summer comes summer vacation and time with friends. What a wonderful time to share with others. There are so many ways to share.

• We can share God’s love with everyone we meet.
• We can share the V.B.S. excitement with others by inviting them to come with us.
• We can share our wonderful church family with others by warmly welcoming them when they come to church.
• We can share our school with others by telling them of all the fun and exciting things that happen here.
• We can share with others the blessings God has given to us by bringing in food on Sundays and filling our Bread and Fishes bin this summer.

Take time to think of all the things God has given us. We can share the best one—His love. Let’s get to it and see how much sharing we can do!

The ECDC becomes a quiet place during the summer with only one class of summer camps happening for seven weeks for three hours in the morning. We ended the school year with a bang! We enjoyed Muffins with Mom and Drop off with Dad, allowing parents to slow down a bit in this fast-paced world and enjoy some time with their child. We enjoyed the last days with a wonderful beach party and graduation for the four-year-olds that are moving on to Kindergarten. We praised God for our wonderful year and asked Him for blessings on the year ahead.

Now is your opportunity to get together with others who enjoy singing to make some music for the Lord! Two brief rehearsals are all we will have before singing for the worship service on Sunday, June 25. The rehearsals will be in the music room on Mondays, June 12 and June 19, from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. People have been asking when we might have a men’s group sing; here’s your opportunity! The more singers we have, the better we’ll sound – anyone high school age through adult is welcome! Questions?? Call Christa Even at 447-1246, ext. 231. Ladies and girls, we’ll plan a time for you to sing later in the summer!

If you are a choir member, bell ringer, instrumentalist, cantor, director, or assist with the music program in any way at Our Savior, come to our end-of-year celebration/picnic on Thursday, June 8. Where? – the Evens’ home at 4254 Drake Way at 6:30 p.m. Come for dinner and bring a salad, side dish or dessert to share. Celebrate the joy of making music together for God’s glory, and enjoy some time with each other. Spouses and families are welcome!

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

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

General Giving is down 4.8% for April and down 2.5% YTD. Easter was less than expected but May is off to a great start.

Balances in our various checking, savings and stock accounts total $679,618 which includes $129,617 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 $623,750 has been received. We pay the church portion of the mortgage from this account. Monthly pledges needed to make the mortgage payment are $22,000. In April we received $16,957.

Several young people at Our Savior will present a concert for the Livermore community on Saturday, June 24, at 7:30 p.m. You won’t want to miss this opportunity to hear the wonderful music presented by some of our talented college students. Featured will be Emily Gomes, mezzo-soprano; Sarah Yow, horn; Jordan Even, piano; and Sarah Jessop, soprano. They have prepared a delightful hour of music; come to support these musicians in their musical endeavors!

We are still working on the final revisions to the original drawings to accommodate the second floor and some changes in the first floor. Your committee reviewed suggestions from the landscape architect at our May 11 meeting. We hope to have final landscape drawings soon.

Without final drawings, Overaa cannot get bids from subcontractors. Without those bids, Overaa cannot give us quotes for cost and time. We hope to complete this process some time in June or July. Meanwhile, work is continuing slowly on the seismic retrofit.

We appreciate 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/ch urch 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 them 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

The church office has so many volunteers, and we are very thankful for them! The following people have been very helpful to us:

Did you know that the bulletin cover graphics for each Sunday are chosen by volunteers from the congregation? For many years, Kris Back, Debbie Fore, and Dee Dee Ross take turns, each choosing covers four months out of the year. The church office provides them with graphics from which to choose, and they are also given the message theme/Bible passage for each Sunday. The theme/passage is taken from the pastor’s seasonal planning.

This is not always an easy job, as sometimes it is difficult to find a graphic that will match the theme for the day.

Thank you so much, Kris, Debbie, and Dee Dee, for all the hours you have put into this job in service to the church office!

Once again, Our Savior will hold a special afternoon and evening of fun on the 4th of July. It will be a "bring-your-own" picnic dinner beginning at 5 p.m. followed by fireworks. There is no charge for entrance to this event, but you do need to buy a parking pass and we only have a limited supply. No more than two parking passes per household. The parking passes are $5 each and will be available in the church office.

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.
• Informal Worship: 10:30 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 is installed and competently fulfilling all the obligations of his position by May 1, 2006.
• Membership: There is a 20% increase in active membership by July 1, 2006.
• Communications: Every person in our “community”—in the church, in the school and in the area—is aware of events and activities that are of interest to them. OSLM’s leaders know the opinions and feelings of those in the “community” with regard to our ministries.
• Stewardship: There is a 10% increase in General Giving for 2005-’06 versus 2004-’05.
• Ministry Wing: The Stewards give their approval to proceed with the construction of a Ministry Wing by July 1, 2006.

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