The completion of the Ministry Center will be the culmination of a transition that began years ago when Our Savior obtained the property on South Livermore Avenue. The change took shape with classrooms, an early childhood center, selling the East Avenue campus, worshiping in the "Forum," and then constructing a Sanctuary.

This transformation began because many believed the Lord would bless this offering for the purpose of drawing more souls into this community of faith. The February Stewards meeting affirmed that conviction and called on our God to continue enabling us to accomplish this goal.

Parallel to this physical construction is another area of transformation that is critical to the immediate future of our mission. For the next several months, we will consider how we need to have the same commitment to completing the transition of the roles of Pastor, Staff, Boards, and Stewards (members) to be consistent with the kind of mission and ministry to which Our Savior has committed.

The source of the following thoughts is "Mission Moments" from the Center for U.S. Missions, (LCMS), Irvine California; Following Jesus into the U.S. Mission Field, Size Matters: Mission, Ministry, Boards and Staff, October - November 2006.

63%, or approximately 3,100 congregations of The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod fall into one of the following two types.

The Family Church – Active Membership 50 or less
This is how our congregation began. One or more families usually exercise leadership in the Family Church. The pastor is primarily a chaplain. He spends his time caring for all the spiritual and functional needs of the flock. There is no staff and volunteers handle all of the operational obligations not covered by the Pastor.

The Pastoral Church – Active Membership 50 - 150
As membership grows, the Pastor is at the center of mission and ministry. As the common link for a growing number of "hands on" boards, he is the one to execute most of the ministry alongside the volunteers. This leads to a more formal structure for government, as significant programs are developed.

As you can surmise, we have outgrown these approaches to ministries like we outgrew the East Avenue site. Next month, we’ll consider the Program Church and the Corporate (meaning large group) Church.

Building Up, Reaching Out,

PS+

The special Stewards’ Meeting on February 11 was a very important one. At that meeting, we voted overwhelmingly to proceed with construction of the Ministry Center, and to finance it by using the loan that had been offered to us by the Lutheran Church Extension Fund (LCEF). Obviously, these decisions will have an impact on us for many years to come, both in terms of our financial health and in terms of the ministry that we will be able to carry out here in the Livermore area. It is my prayer that the overall result will be positive, just as it has been for the school, the ECDC, and the sanctuary.

However, in this article I want to comment not only on the result of the meeting, but also on the meeting itself, at least from my point of view as Chairman. There were many positive things that I noticed about this meeting. First, the attendance was high: 99 voting members signed the attendance sheet, and almost all of them actually voted. This was a sign that there was a lot of interest in the Ministry Center, and that people wanted to participate in the decision- making process. Second, the meeting was conducted according to the highest standards of civility and mutual respect. People on both sides (and in the middle) got a chance to state their concerns, express their hopes, and ask their questions. The people at the head table did their best to answer those questions honestly, without sugar-coating the financial situation or trying to railroad us into making an unwise decision.

In the end, I was surprised that we were able to accomplish all of our business in only an hour. But by the time Les Knott moved to call the question (after reminding us that we had faced similar decisions back in the :good old days"), everything that needed to be said had been said, and we were ready to vote. I thank God that the final count was so lop-sided, since it indicated that the congregation was unified (in addition, I was not looking forward to having to cast a tie-breaking vote). But the real tests begin now. Can we remain unified and forward-looking as we deal with the financial dilemmas that are likely to face us in the coming months and years? And can we continue to remember that the Ministry Center, along with all the rest of our facilities, exists so that we can reach out into the community with the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ? From what I saw at the meeting, I am confident that, with the aid of the Holy Spirit, we will be able to meet these challenges.

We give God the glory for all His many blessings! We want to congratulate our Talent Day Fair Winners. Grade winners for each area are:

Art

• 6th: 1st - Robert Sanlis; 2nd - Logan Slater, Camille Espinoza; 3rd - Kelly Wright; Honorable Mention - Kylie Clark, Trevor Houghton, Henry Robbins, Briana Willhite
• 7th: 1st - Hunter Ott; 2nd - Kyle Messner; 3rd - Brittany Curtis; Honorable Mention - Amy Tripp, Andrea Fleming
• 8th: 1st - Kayla Wallace

• 6th: 1st - Matthew Branch, Natalia Custodio
• 7th: 1st - Anthony Mazotti; 2nd - Lucas Pertica, Camille Cauthen
• 8th: 1st - Daniel Beguhl; 2nd - Amy Masker, Kyle Phillips; 3rd - Jared McCallister

• 6th: 1st - Brandon Lopez; 2nd - Malia Gonzles; 3rd - Teia Pueliu; HM - Jessica Estrada
• 7th: 1st - Sam Leeper; 2nd - Michael Fischer; 3rd - Rachel Amiot; HM - Brooke Lari, Jennifer Lackey, Katelynn Gonzales
• 8th: 1st - Rachel Lackey; 2nd - Katelyn McMenamin; 3rd - Ben Fouts; HM - Chelsea Marriott, Jaymee Huggins, Sarah Slabaugh, Marshall Hoaglan, Talia King, Tanner Clark

• 6th: 1st - Levi Matsushima; 2nd - Mitchell Mayo & Kenneth Sturgill; 3rd - Colton Jones; HM - Andrew Hall
• 7th: 1st - Jamieson Cortez & Brandon McCallum; 2nd - Kathryn Fried; 3rd - Shane Pope & Sean Westphal; HM - Emily Buyer, Henry Jones
• 8th: 1st - Justin Brauer; 2nd - Garrett Steward & Eric Vieira; 3rd - Kyle Mendoza & Mitchell Hartman; HM - Veronica Knowlton, Derek Dell'Acqua

GRAND PRIZE WINNERS for each area are:

Art

• 1st: Jenna Cisterman, 6th - Watercolor Photo Collage
• 2nd: Evan Carlo, 8th - Photo Mosaic
• 3rd: Christina Tomasetti, 7th - Oil Painting "Wintertime"

• 1st: Sheryn Beard, 7th - Benjamin Franklin
• 2nd: Jacob Jones, 7th - Decade: 1940 – 1949
• 3rd: Daniel Wright, 8th - Richard the Lionheart

• 1st: Claire Managan, 8th - Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
• 2nd: Nolan Beguhl, 7th - Island of the Blue Dolphins
• 3rd: Kaylie Phillips, 6th - Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

• 1st: Matthew Droege, 6th - Making Realistic Animation
• 2nd: Forrest Bradley, 8th - Is Your Water Clear?
• 3rd: Morgan Cortez, 7th – Float

Thank you to all the judges for our Talent Fair. They sacrificed a Saturday to critique over 130 projects. A massive job and responsibility which they handled marvelously! They were:

• ART: Molly & Patrick from Cafe Art, Kris Back, Cheryl Blea, Ruth McDonald, Sheri Kelcourse and Peggy Staggs
• HISTORY: Mary Lea Adams, Brittany Kramer, Christine Lehrman and Bill Wills
• LITERATURE: Emily Gomes, Harriet Kramer, Karen Miller, Rebecca Miller, Jacki Shotts and Barb Steiger
• SCIENCE: Bill Even, Jim McQuaid, Steve Patenaude, Glen Polzin, Ted Scharlemann, and Beth Young

Re-enrollment / Registration - Believe it or not, it is time to register for next year. The school year 2007-08 will begin in just six short months! Registrations for continuing students were sent home with students. However, on March 1, 2007, registrations will be made open to the public on a first come, first serve basis. If you would like a registration form, please contact the school office.

Accreditation Progress – Our Accreditation Team is moving along strongly. We are planning to have the final visitation for accreditation completed in the fall of 2007. Focus group committees are being formed as we evaluate our school in various areas. As a reminder, our school ESLR’s (Expected School- wide Learning Results) are:

• Kids of the King walk like Jesus.
• Kids of the King are avid learners.
• Kids of the King develop important life skills.
• Kids of the King enhance their lives with enriching activities.

PTO AUCTION – Set aside the date of April 28 for the Annual PTO Auction. In the past, this fundraiser (besides being a great night out!) has purchased playground apparatus, backstops, computers, digital cameras and projectors, etc. We have numerous suggestions as to what can be funded for this year. But it all starts with YOU being at the Auction. Further information will be coming your way soon, but keep this date clear: April 28, 2007 – AUCTION.

Sunday, March 4

• Special Church Service with school participation
• Student readers, choir(s)
• Faculty greeters, readers, prayer leader, children’s message

• Theme for the Day: "Crazy Hair Day" (Students wear their most creative hair style)*
• Meet in Sanctuary at 9:00 a.m. for NLSW "Kick- off"

• Theme for the Day: "Sports Day" (Students wear clothing of your favorite sports team)*
• OPEN HOUSE: 9:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

• Theme for the Day: "Hawaiian Shirt Day" (Students wear Hawaiian shirts)*

• Theme for the Day: "Plaid Shirt Day" (Students wear plaid shirts)*
• Special Chapel for NLSW

• Theme for the Day: "Spirit Day" (Students wear school colors) *

* Students must be in compliance with the uniform policy with the exception of the designation of the day. For example, on Hawaiian Day, students wear Hawaiian shirts but slacks, shorts, skirts, etc. are in compliance with the uniform policy.

• 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, March 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. The book for this month is Living Faith by Jimmy Carter (ISBN #0-8129-3034-7). This book is available at www.amazon.com. We’ll meet for our discussion time on Tuesday, March 20, from 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. in Room 8. Call Steve Christopher at 447-1246 ext. 228 for more information.

Upcoming Event
Plan to attend Our Savior's children's musical on Sunday, April 29 during the Sunday School/Bible Class Hour. This year's musical is "Kings, Dreams, and Schemes," based on the biblical account of Daniel.

CLIMB (High School Youth)
Movie night will be on Friday, March 23 from 8 - 11 p.m. in the OSLM gym. Come comfortable, come ready to enjoy food, and come to watch a movie on a big screen with the volume up! This will be a great time to bring a friend to enjoy a movie and hang out.

FISH (Junior High Youth)
Bored on Friday night? Want to watch a movie? Well, you are in luck because Friday night, March 30 from 7 - 9 p.m. in the OSLM gym is movie night. Come enjoy the movie on a big screen with a big sound system. Pajamas are okay and friends are welcome.

Servant Auction
The High School Youth who are going to the National Youth Gathering in July will be hosting a servant auction on Sundays, March 11 and March 18 after church during the fellowship hour. There will be 21 youth who will be auctioned to do different activities. Look in "The Grapevine" for more specifics as to the type of service they will be providing.

Easter Egg hunt
The Easter Egg hunt at Our Savior will take place on Saturday, April 7 beginning at 10:00 a.m. and ending at 11:30 a.m. Kids from 4th grade and under are welcome to participate.

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. Psalm 107:1

The above verse was the preschool’s verse last week. We learned how God cares for us just as He did so long ago when He fed 5,000. God is so good and does so much for us each and every day. At the ECDC, we look at how God made the mountains that surround us, the food that we eat, and our friends so sweet. God is so good to us! He has given us a wonderful place to worship and we can share His love with others at our school each and every day. He has blessed us with a sanctuary in which we enjoy hearing the children sing, we can come together to hear God’s Word, and we can celebrate special moments.

We began our registration for the 2007/2008 school year on February 6 with our open house. Over 100 people visited our wonderful school. We hope that you will join us in praising God for He is good; we enrolled 40 children that evening. Our four-year-old classes for next year are full. The three-year-old classes are filling up as well. It is wonderful to see the power of the Lord here in this place and I know that it is because of prayer that our school is filling up with children.

We enjoyed February by sharing our love with our friends on Valentine’s Day and learning of God’s love for us. We learned how God cares for us and sends special people to care for us, like doctors, dentists, police officers and firefighters. The firefighters and police came to visit us and told us ways to stay safe. What a special treat!

We learned about things that go and had a great time with our train track in the big room. We ended our month with our annual circus—fun was had by all!

Our prayer for you this month is that you learn to laugh like a clown, and trust that God is good and will give you all you need.

Approval was given by the stewards at the special meeting of February 11 to proceed with the renovation of the warehouse building as our Ministry Center. Our general contractor is estimating start of work on April 1 and continuing for ten or eleven months following. That would mean occupancy around this time in 2008.

We ask for everyone's cooperation during construction. For reasons of safety, there may be some restrictions on access to portions of our campus. Also, at times there may be some fairly high noise levels. Also for safety reasons, the construction area will be off limits to all but those whose presence is necessary.

Please pray for a smooth operation and that it may be free of accidents.

We’re happy to announce that we are creating a new pictorial church membership directory! Not only is this a great opportunity to have professional family portraits taken, but the directory will be a great tool to help us get to know each other better in our "faith family."

Each participating household will receive a FREE 8 x 10 portrait and a directory – no purchase necessary. You will have the opportunity to view and purchase additional portraits at reasonable prices.

The dates and times for photography (to take place in the ECDC) are listed below. If at all possible, please sign up for the earlier times on weekdays, to leave the popular times available for working families. NEW this year is the capability of scheduling your own appointment on-line. (Please note that the on- line scheduling will be available after February 25.) Please go to our website www.oslm.net, and follow the instructions for scheduling. For those who wish to schedule an appointment in person, sign-ups will begin after church on March 18. Following are the photography dates:

• Thursday, April 12, 2 - 9 p.m.
• Friday, April 13, 2 - 7 p.m.
• Saturday, April 14, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
• Sunday, April 15, 12 - 6 p.m.
• Monday, April 16, 2 - 9 p.m.

Please note that photography begins at the end of some spring breaks. If you plan to be out of town, make your appointment soon. If your away-at-college student is in town, take advantage of the early time slots.

If you have any questions, please contact the church office, 447-1246.

Please click here for the Financial Report for January and also the Fiscal Year-to-Date Report.

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

General Giving for January is DOWN 16.5% from projected giving, but part of this may be from members who have redistributed funds to the school in order to obtain matching funds from Thrivent and plan to catch back up during the current fiscal year. Given this fact, we are also DOWN 5.2% YTD; however, this difference should easily be made up by fiscal year-end.

Balances in our checking and savings accounts total $335,136 which includes $51,916 in the Building Up – Reaching Out fund. The Church’s portion of the mortgage as well as architectural fees are being paid out of this fund. Monthly pledges needed to make the mortgage payment are $22,000. In January, we received $19,131.

The Thrivent GivingPlus Matching Funds program will generate $1,890 for the benefit of the Ministry Center based on member contributions to the School and ECDC in the amount of $3,780 during January.

A Spring Spruce-Up is planned for Saturday, March 31 from 8 a.m. until noon. This is a family affair!

We'll be primarily pruning the grounds and picking up other litter. Two large dumpsters will be available for all of the punings. Please bring pruning shears, clippers, lawn rakes, shovels, trowels, and most of all - wheelbarrows.

Coffee, soft drinks, and other refreshments will be available in the kitchen in the gym. Let's make our grounds "ship-shape" for Easter! If you have any questions, please call the church office, 447-1246.

Lutheran Care for the Aging (LCA) is a nonprofit corporation made up of participating congregations (presently 51) and individuals throughout the California-Nevada-Hawaii (CNH) District of The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod. Since 1960, it has provided supplementary financial assistance for housing to qualified needy elderly members living in the CNH District.

Dave and Ada Dorn and Debbie Marchini attended the Annual Meeting and Report of LCA, held at West Portal Lutheran Church in San Francisco, CA on Monday, February 5, 2007. Some of the business included:

• Presentation of the Annual Report Booklet
• Presentation of Financial Report for 2006
• Presentation of 2007 Budget
• Report of Client Services Committee

Financial aid was distributed to 238 seniors in Northern California. Thirty seven of them are residents at the Napa facilities. Almost all of the clients are referred to LCA by licensed social services agencies whose case workers conduct a preliminary screening to determine if the client is eligible for the services. LCMS pastors also are invited to nominate potential clients. An application form is available. Spiritual as well as material support is routinely supplied.

Imagine:

• Kids worshipping in powerful ways.
• Children praying for each other.
• Adults and teens modeling Jesus’ love to children.
• A child hearing about God’s love for the first time.
• The kids in our church sharing Christ with children around the world.

All this and more will happen during Vacation Bible School (Summer Bible Camp) this summer at Our Savior, July 9 - 13 from 9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

We are praying that this awesome VBS program, Quest for Truth: Jesus, the Way, the Truth, the Life will touch children and adult’s hearts and lives with God’s love as they learn to find, follow, know, believe, and share Jesus, their Savior.

As we plan and prepare for VBS, our team would cherish your prayers. Pray:

• that God would give us wisdom in planning;
• for staff members to join our team; and
• that God would begin working in the hearts of the people who will attend VBS.

Following is an update as to what our "Stitches From the Heart" group has done in February. We sent off eighteen cute little hats and ten beautiful baby blankets (hand knitted or crocheted) to our distributors, the volunteer ladies in Santa Monica. They, in turn, sort and send to hospitals all over the U.S. There is always a need for this ministry with crack babies and preemies without warm coverings in which to go home. We want to thank Thrivent for their grant of $200 to help support shipping costs and additional yarn.

Thank you ladies, for your gifts of love. We will meet again on Tuesday, March 6, 7 – 9 p.m. at the Dorn’s. Newcomers welcome!

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 carry out the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 1:8) by:

• Proclaiming salvation through God’s grace in word and song;
• Building Christian relationships;
• Caring for the people of the community; and
• Equipping God’s people for Life in Christ.