What an exciting fall we have coming up!

The Capital Campaign, "Building Up, Reaching Out," is the most successful in OSLM history. For those of you who have made a pledge, may the Lord bless the plans you have prayerfully submitted to Him. Should your circumstances change, please feel free to talk to us if we can help you make adjustments. Also, if you missed the opportunity to participate last spring - it's not too late! You can still make a pledge or contribution. If you need some guidance, please stop by the office, or give us a call.

Our plans have been approved by the city for the Ministry Center. There was an informational meeting on August 20th, and a Stewards' meeting is coming up in September. We will continue to keep you posted as things progress. Our hope is that it can still be completed in 2007. This will enhance our mission by providing a Nursery, a Youth Zone, a Board Room and Fellowship/Lecture Hall with kitchen, Jr. High classrooms, and much needed Administrative/Office space.

We have been blessed with several more exceptional church workers and employees. They will be installed and commissioned on September 10th. In order for you to meet them, and offer your thanks and encouragement, we will have an informal reception in the gym during the Bible study time.

All of these things lead to our spiritual campaign for the year, "Crossroads." Based on John 14:1-13 when Jesus prepared His disciples for the changes that were about to take place, we too are preparing. We are getting ready for the big change when we are with Jesus in Paradise, while at the same time, are part of this transformation of OSLM. In addition, the staff has identified numerous "crossroads" we experience personally as we make our journey through life. We will consider the Bible's divine wisdom in all of these areas in the months ahead.

God bless you all and may you remain, Rooted in Grace, Growing in Faith, and Serving with Joy.

One of the main tasks of the Lay Governing Board is to try to determine what Our Savior Lutheran Ministries should be doing. Given our limited resources of time, talent, and treasure, how can we use them most effectively for the Kingdom of God?

The beginning of the answer can be found in the Great Commission: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:19-20); and “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). But how do we apply these commands of Jesus to our present situation here in Livermore?

One way that I like to look at Acts 1:8 is to think of “Jerusalem” as our comfort zone, i.e., people with whom we can talk fairly easily because they are similar to us. “Judea and Samaria”, on the other hand, refers to people who may be geographically close but who are culturally far away; we might need to think of new and different ways to reach out to them with the Gospel. Finally, “the ends of the earth” is exactly what it sounds like, including places that can be as far away as Nepal. So should we at OSLM be aiming at all three groups, or should we concentrate our efforts on only one or two of them?

As the LGB continues to wrestle with these questions and to determine where the Holy Spirit is leading us, we will be listening to each other and also to you, the Stewards of the congregation. It may be that we are already doing exactly what we should be doing, but on the other hand the Spirit could be telling us to go way outside of our comfort zone and to do something really new (at least for us). The important thing is that we do our part to fulfill the Great Commission by going, making disciples, baptizing, and teaching.

The Lord has blessed us with the presence of a dedicated and motivated young man to serve Our Savior in the vital area of youth ministry and his name is Timothy Potthoff. Timothy is a 2005 graduate of Concordia University in Irvine, California, where his field of study was the Director of Christian Education program. During his course of study he gained experience by serving in a youth ministry Practicum under an experienced DCE at Faith Lutheran Church in Huntington Beach, California. This was followed by a year-long Internship as a DCE at Grace Lutheran Church in Lancaster, California.

Timothy grew up in the Central Valley and has attended Lutheran churches all his life. While at Concordia University he was very involved in student leadership activities as he was a coordinator for the week of welcome activities, a peer advising leader for new students and helped plan special monthly outreach chapel services. Timothy likes to surf and swim. He is a dedicated fan of the San Francisco Giants.

This past June, Timothy and Ashley were married following the conclusion of his DCE Internship in Lancaster. Ashley grew up in Whittier, California, and attended Lutheran Schools her entire life, and she is also a graduate of Concordia University in Irvine. Ashley is looking forward to enrolling in a graduate study program in speech therapy at Cal State East Bay. The Potthoffs plan to get an apartment here in Livermore in the early part of September as Timothy begins his full-time service among us here at Our Savior.

The new school year is upon us and it means that it is time to begin another year of Confirmation instruction. There are a few new things that will be added to the program this year! There are also some things that we’ll keep the same. To find out about all of this valuable information, we are inviting both parents and youth to attend this important meeting on Wednesday, September 13 in the Our Savior Gym from 7:00 - 8:30 p.m.

Questions? Call Steve Christopher in the Church Office, 447-1246, ext. 228.

• 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, September 12, 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 is 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 now for the 7th Annual Oktoberfest and Goft Tournament, Sunday, October 1. The purpose for the event is to raise funds for our youth to attend the National Youth Gathering in Orlando in 2007. See the article in this newsletter for more information, or call Steve Christopher at 447- 1246, ext. 228.

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.” Revelations 21:6a

As we begin this school year, it is comforting to know that God is with us both at the beginning and end of every day. The teachers are very excited to begin a new school year with wonderful old faces and excited new ones. They have made home visits, a special time to get to know the families before school begins. We will be having our “Get Acquainted Session” on Thursday, August 31, another wonderful time to spend with the families, getting them ready for what promises to be an exciting year.

We are very excited to share God’s love with over 100 families this year! School for the Preschool will begin Tuesday, September 5th. We will begin our year getting to know about our families and learning our colors with fun color days. We will learn how God made the world and everything including us—wow! We will have our first chapel in the Sanctuary on September 28 and 29 as we learn of Noah and the wonderful promise God made.

Our prayer for you this month is that you take time to look for promises that God has made to you. As you stand at crossroads, look for signs God has promised to you to guide you at the beginning and end of every day.

Are you a closet or even shower musician? Maybe it’s time for you to put your musical enthusiasm to use in a new way! As we approach fall, think and pray about participating in a musical group at Our Savior. Music is such a wonderful gift from God – and a way we can communicate our praise to him as well as uplift those who come to worship services each Sunday. Opportunities to participate abound – we WELCOME new people in ALL of our groups. Look over the possibilities below and join us!

• Youth Ensemble (High School choir)
  Rehearsals on Sundays, 11:30 a.m.
  First Rehearsal: September 10 (after coffee hour, about 11:00 a.m.)
  Sing for worship services about once a month.
• Our Savior Choir (Adults, Young Adults)
  Rehearsals on Thursdays, 7:00-8:30 p.m.
  First Rehearsal: September 7.
  Sing for worship services three times a month.
• Women’s Ensemble
  Rehearsals tentatively on Wednesdays from 9:00-9:50 a.m. in the music room.
  Sing for worship services about once a month.
  First Rehearsal: September 6
• Our Savior Ringers (High School through adult)
  Rehearsals on Mondays, 7:00-8:15 p.m.
  First Rehearsal: September 11
  Play for worship services about once a month.
• Handbell Small Ensembles (High school through adult)
  Rehearsals set by each group – call Christa Even (447-1246, ext. 231) if interested.
  Play for worship as often as desired.
• Brass Ensemble
  Rehearsals are several Tuesdays or Wednesdays each month.
  Play for festival and holiday worship services (other times as we are ready).
  Call Christa Even if you have not played with us before and would like to join!
• Guitarists, Bass Players, Percussionists, Keyboard Players Join us at 9:00 a.m. the Saturday before the 3rd Sunday of each month as we prepare for our worship service using this instrumentation. We’d love to have some additional players.
• Other Instrumentalists
  Call Christa Even (447-1246, ext. 231) if you would like to add your music to a worship service.
• Children’s Musical Groups
  Click here to find out about our children’s choirs for 1st through 8th grades.
  Click here for information about handbells/handchimes for 4th through 8th grades.

Yes, the summer has gone by quickly and it’s time for the Friday morning Men’s Bible Study to start up again. We’ll start on Friday, Sept 8th at 6:30 a.m. at Baker’s Square, 1116 Stanley Blvd. in Livermore. All men of Our Savior are invited to attend! We will continue our study on “Men of God” and this fall we’ll focus on David. Remember to bring your Bible!

Please click here for the Preliminary Financial Report for July and also the Preliminary Fiscal Year Report for July 2006 to June 2007.

The mission pledge is current and all expenses have been paid through the budget year.

General Giving is UP 9.1% for July.

Balances in our checking and savings accounts total $695,610 which includes $67,780 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. The pledges for this campaign totalled $1,022,259.

Monthly pledges needed to make the mortgage payment are $22,000. In June we received $47,006. This amount included some pledges that were paid in full.

As a reminder, the Building Up – Reaching Out program began July 1, 2006. The pledges total $1,022,259 vs. a goal of $1,296,000. This leaves a shortage of $273,741 which will need to be covered by 1) increasing the pledges, or; 2) lowering the construction costs, or; 3) third source funding.

This year’s Bay Area Lutheran Men’s Retreat will again be held at Redwood Christian Park in the Santa Cruz Mountains. It will be the weekend of September 15-17. The cost is $139 for cabin accommodations (bring your own sleeping bag/pillow) or $179 for deluxe accommodations (linens provided). Registration fee includes a t-shirt, 5 meals, and program! The theme for the weekend is: “IMPROVE YOUR SERVE” and speakers include Gordy Engle, a businessman from Minnesota; and Rev. Ted and Marty Hartman.

Register soon! Call Steve Christopher at 447-1246, ext. 228 if you have any questions, for more details, and carpooling information.

By the time you read this, we should have the final drawings from the architect, and the contractor (Overaa) should be working on their projections of costs and schedule. These projections will take six to eight weeks, since they involve obtaining bids from subcontractors. Therefore, it may be late September or early October before we are ready to move ahead with financing and the major contract.

In the meantime, we should have our new building permit, so we can proceed with the seismic retrofit effort, funding permitting.

As always, we solicit and appreciate your prayers and support.

Please join us for the 7th Annual Youth Fundraiser Golf Tournament and Oktoberfest on Sunday, October 1, 2006! The Golf Tournament will take place at Las Positas Golf Course in Livermore, and the Oktoberfest will be held at Our Savior's Gymnasium.

• Purpose: To raise funds for our youth to attend the National Youth Gathering in Orlando in ‘07.
• Tee Times: Beginning at NOON.
• Format: 4 person, 4 ball modified scramble, team play - resulting in one team score. Actual rules and guidelines will be provided at tee time.
• Cost: $100 which includes green fees, cart, tee prizes. Awards and Oktoberfest dinner at Our Savior.
• Oktoberfest tickets without golf: available for $7 for a Child (ages 8-12); $15 for an Adult/Youth (12 & up); or a Family Ticket for $30 Kids 7 and under are free! The dinner begins at 6 p.m. in the gym.
• To Register: pick up a registration form on Sunday morning at coffee hour or call the Church Office, 925-447-1246.

If you have any questions, call Steve Christopher at 447-1246, ext. 228.

Coming this October, we will see the return of the Our Savior Diners' Club Program! It all happens on a monthly basis and goes like this:

• People sign up for the program with Charlie and Jo Ann Swift.
• Hosts and guests are assigned for each month.
• The host selects a date and calls the guests to confirm the date.
• The host plans the entree and the guests bring salad and dessert.
• Everyone comes and enjoys great food and fellowship!
• The following month, the host(s) become guests and some guests bcome hosts.
• This goes on throughout the year!

Sign up during the Coffee Hour on Sunday mornings. Sign-ups will continue through Sunday, September 17. A KICK-OFF PICNIC with an Oktoberfest theme (wear your lederhosen!) will take place at the home of Charlie and Jo Ann Swift on October 7. (Call the church office for directions to their home, 925-447- 1246.) Questions? Need more details? See Charlie and Jo Ann Swift!

Years ago, Our Savior Lutheran Church had the tradition of taking a loaf of “homemade bread” to the home of those who visited with us in church on a Sunday. This visit was usually made on a Monday or Tuesday with the hope of developing a positive connection with these visitors and with the hope that they would return to join us in worship in the near future.

In January of ’06, Our Savior began a similar program of responding to our Sunday morning visitors which we have named, Bread Makers and Bread Takers. The idea is similar: Take a gift of homemade bread to a new Sunday visitor—and this time we added a package of dry soup—and leave it as a gift along with information about Our Savior Lutheran Ministries.

So to fulfill this weekly ministry activity we need two kinds of volunteers for this outreach effort:

1. Bread Makers—those who would make a loaf of “homemade bread” (Bread machines are okay!) and have it delivered to the Church Office by 10 a.m. on Monday mornings.
2. Bread Takers—members of our Church who would take the loaf of bread along with the dry soup, all in a special bag to the home of our recent Sunday visitors between the hours of 3 and 6 p.m. Address and directions will be provided by the church office.

We anticipate that we would need 2-3 Bread Makers per week and 2-3 Bread Takers per week, and you can do both jobs if you want! We have had a number of wonderful volunteers involved since January, and now we are opening it up to add some others who want to be a part of this friendship response to our visitors.

To sign up, or to ask for more info, please contact Steve Christopher in the church office, 447-1246, ext. 228, to serve in one of these ways - or both! A new schedule will be developed in mid-September and will start on October 1st.

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