The Herald - St. John's United Church of Christ, Indianapolis
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St. John’s United Church of Christ
The Herald
Rev’s Ramblin’s
Seeking God In Ordinary Time September 2019
“Whoever is faithful in a very little, is faithful also in much.” (Luke 16:10) Jesus says this to
point to one of the most profound and life-transforming truths that is possible to know - there is sa-
credness in the ordinary! How we live in our daily lives actually does matter! As Rev. Fred
Craddock puts it: “Most of us will not, this week, christen a ship, write a book, end a war, appoint a
cabinet, dine with a queen, convert a nation, or be burned at the stake. More likely the week will
present no more than a chance to give a cup of water, write a thinking of you note, visit a home
bound person, vote in a municipal election, teach a Sunday School class, share a meal, tell a child a
story, go to choir practice, and feed the neighbor’s cat.” The realm of God is powerfully present
within these day to day ordinary details of our lives and of the world in which we live.
It is tempting to read the stories of Jesus and the disciples as events that happened long ago, to
other people, in a place far away from us. If we can see those who followed Jesus, or who encoun-
tered him along the way, as ordinary people much like you and I, we gain a great deal.
The word ordinary refers to that which is established, settled, and regular. A thing is ordinary
when it is usual and apt to come around in the regular common order or succession of events. Its
synonyms are common, customary, usual, undistinguished, or even of little notice. When we pay at-
tention to ordinary things, in fact, we immediately lift them out of the ordinary and they can become
icons of the holy! In her book “To Dance With God” Gertrud Meuller Nelson says, “We have forgot-
ten that the ‘tremendum’ has always revealed itself in the ordinary.”
Jesus was a master at turning people’s attention towards ordinary things that tend to be taken
for granted and then helping us to look in such a way that we can never see them in the same way
again. It’s no wonder that Jesus became such a threat to people in authority. While they were putting
all their efforts into maintaining the status quo; upholding the social and religious conventions of
their day; Jesus’ every word and action was calling such things into question. Continued on next page...
HOW TO CONTACT PASTOR ROSS:
Office hours: M-TH 9-Noon Office phone: 881-2353 has a message recorder that is checked each weekday
morning. For pastoral emergencies or urgent church related issues call my home phone, 886-7535, and leave a
message if I’m out.
Simple daily activities such as sharing a meal became a powerful vehicle for the emergence of
God’s new realm of justice and mercy.
As we move into the end of the second half of the Season after Pentecost or Ordinary
Time in the church calendar, we continue to explore what it means for us to live faithfully in
our world today. We hear the emphasis on social justice as both prophets and parables call us to
look at how we relate to the poor, the marginalized, and outsiders. We are challenged to reach
out beyond ourselves. The pulpit, lectern, and after table handings are green for this growing
season to encourage us to let the Spirit move us in new directions of ministry and mission.
~Growing in Christ’s service,
Pastor Ross
MEMORIAL GIFTS:
TEA CUP
Jean Bailey Carolyn McKinney SUNDAY
given by: given by: Bring your prayer
Bob & Brenda Kleeman
Rick & Heidi Martin & Family concern Sunday, September 1st
and place it in the big, yellow tea
Mike & Carolyn Hayes
cup at the back of the
Sanctuary Choir
Sanctuary, so we can pray for you
Bob & Kay LaGrange
during the week. Be sure to take
Marcia Hauser one in return.
Lynn & Jean Wehner
Coffee Hour
If you are one who likes to visit with
fellow church members and guests,
Bea Miner please consider serving coffee hour on
given by: Sunday mornings once in a while. Milk,
juice, and coffee and supplies are provid-
Millie McClain
ed. Breakfast items that you want to serve
Virgil & Carol Elkins
is your choice; it does not need to be
Jim & Karen Heidergott Lily Darland elaborate or expensive and maybe you
Bob & Brenda Kleeman
Mackenzie Harris could partner up with a friend. We appre-
ciate those ho already participate and we
Prime Timers will meet for are always looking for new folks. A sign
lunch at Dale's on August 26th up calendar is in the kitchen. If you
at 12 noon. Any questions would like more information or details,
please contact Jane Kreiger contact Roxann Pattison or Marcia
317-501-5411. Hauser.
It is with great sadness that we will be saying goodbye to Mike Knose on August 30th. He has done a
wonderful job as our custodian/maintenance man. He is leaving for personal reasons and we wish him
the best and we as a congregation will truly miss him.
~St. John's UCC Council
Congratulations
Mike...enjoy your
retirement!! We
will
miss you!!
REMEMBER OUR SHUT-INS
Mrs. Marian Childers Irene Moore
6510 U.S. 31 South, #84 Hearthstone Health Campus
Indianapolis IN 46227 3043 N. Lintel Dr.
Bloomington, IN 47404
Mrs. Marjorie Wagoner Mr. John Rieck
8240 Beech Grove Lane 6104 S Irwin
Martinsville IN 46151 Indianapolis, IN 46237
Mrs. Marlys Connallon
3626 Candy Cane Drive
Indianapolis IN 46227
September Book Club Dorcas Circle
The next Book Club will be held on Mon- The Dorcas Circle will meet Tuesday, September
day, September 9th in the Library at 10th at 11:30am. Marguerite's Italian Vegetable
6:30 p.m. The book selections are Soup will be served with members bringing side
dishes. Also, a topic to discuss...the future of Dor-
“Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia
cas Circle. Any questions and RSVP (for Sep-
Owens and “Silent Patient” by Alex
tember meeting) please contact Jane
Michaelides. Hope to see you there!! Kreiger 317-501-5411.
Nursery Help Needed!!
Looking to fill volunteer spots for this Fall for the Nursery. Time commitment is minimal; 10:15am-11:45am on
Sunday. Our 3yrs and under congregation is low in numbers, so some weeks you may have a few children, or
you could have none. If Nursery is empty at 10:30am, the Volunteer may leave the Nursery and join the late ser-
vice. The schedule is flexibly; you can decide how often to volunteer – once a month, once every other month, a
few times, etc. Please contact Stacie Goldman (sdevine@lilly.com) to sign up and let me know how often you
would like to volunteer. Thank you, in advance for your time and support of the Nursery program.
Three of St. John’s 3rd Graders received their
Bibles on Sunday, July 28!!
Congratulations to Emma Tijunin,
Madison Moore, and Beau Murphy.
Special thank you to Robbie Kleeman for the donation of the
ping pong table. It is a wonderful addition for our high school Sun-
day School classroom! Also checkout the new carpet in the high
school room. Some of your rummage sale profits at work!!
Thank you, Teachers! As we begin another Sunday School year,
BCE would like to extend its deepest thanks and appreciation for all
those who teach our children and adults here at St. John's. Our com-
munity continues to grow in faith because of God's work through
your faithfulness, dedication, and love. Thank you all so very much!
2019-2020 St. John’s Teachers
St. John’s Preschool ~ Beth Larimore, Randi Brickley, &
Maddie Larimore
Nursery ~ James Devine, Jennifer Tijunin, Stacie Goldman
Pre-K ~ Andrea & Ben Minnich, Susie Vehling, Robin Ford
Godly Play ~ Niki Murphy, Elaine Ammerman, Kim Devine
K4C ~ Cara Ford & Martha Minks
Jr. High ~ Kelly Mathis & Eric Livingston
Sr. High ~ Brian & Jenn Coon, Adam Miner
Adult Bible Study ~ Carolyn Hayes
SEPTEMBER YOUTH GROUP IS HAVING
A POOL PARTY AT THE DEVINE’S!
What: Pool Party and Games!
Where: Devine’s Home 5612 Apple Branch Way Indy 46237
When: After church (around 12-3:30pm) on September 15th 2019
Questions? Talk with Kim Devine at kimmysue78@hotmail.com
or 317-507-5275.
Preschool Giving Trees...Check out the Preschool’s Giving Trees
(located on the wall across from the flower chart & one by the west
doors) for items that we need in our classrooms. It’s real easy to
help us out! Just pull off an item that you would like to purchase for
the Preschool. Once you have purchased the item, bring it back to
the church. You may drop it off in the basket located by the church
office Your donations really are a blessing to us!
Prayer Partners!!
We are bringing the exciting Prayer Partners program back to
St. John's UCC - for both the young and young at heart!
If you are interested in being a partner with one of our 40 (!)
amazing youth, please complete the form that is available in the
back of the sanctuary. This is not a huge commitment - simply
let your partner know you are thinking about them from time to
time. They'll appreciate knowing that you are (secretly) there for
them!
Would you like to get uplifting words of prayer and encourage-
ment in your OWN mailbox? We are opening up the program to
adults in our congregation as well! Please note on your form if
you would like your OWN Prayer Partner.
We plan to get everyone matched up and kick off our program
on Sunday, September 8th. Please see Becky Moore or Roxann
Pattison for more info!
St. John’s UCC Church
Bazaar & Bake Sale
home décor
October 5
fresh baked goods
9 am - 5pm
Candles
Jewelry
Wind Chimes
Tupperware
… and more!
Located in St. John’s
Fellowship Hall
Walking Tacos for Lunch
Come join the fun!!!
Money raised from this event will be used
in support of the ministry and
mission of St. John’s UCC.
7031 S. EAST ST. - INDIANAPOLIS
Located at the corner of U.S. 31 & Southport Rd.
July 2019 Financials
On paper, July was another pretty good looking month. However, it should be noted that we deposited $18,787
from our IMS shop efforts. Only $11,741 of this deposit went to the Council Directed Funds (not Group Directed
Funds) which are summarized in the graphs below. Relying only on envelope giving, a deficit of around $9,500
would have been realized within these same funds. It is reasonable for us to count on these funds annually but
we don’t want this income to cloud our monthly perceptions. A better overall picture of our situation can be
found in the Year to Date Totals graph which shows that our income is trailing our expenses by roughly $7,250
through July or $1,035 per month.
Quantifiable Survey is Coming!
Once again, thank you to all that participated in the Sustainable Vision Conversations this year. As you recall,
when Janna was called to St. John Cumberland to serve as their Pastor a large hole was left in the mission and
ministries of St. John’s. Not only did Janna serve as the leader of the 9am worship, she also played a significant
role in the development of our youth and youth programs. With our sustainability in mind, your Church Council
made the hard decision to not simply fill the position, but rather, chose to embark on a sustainable vision journey
with you. The meaningful input that you provided through the various group conversations helped us identify key
issues, relationships, missions and ministries worthy of further research. These key items make up the Sustaina-
ble Conversations Follow-up Survey you will be seeing in the coming weeks. This survey opportunity will be pro-
vided to each member of St. John’s. The primary mechanism will be an electronic survey through a professional
service called Survey Monkey. Survey Monkey will send an email to each address we currently have on the St.
John’s list. The program does not allow more than one survey to be completed from a single email address.
There are several families on the St. John’s email list that share an address. In those instances, only one response
would be allowed by the program. We want to hear from ALL members of St. John’s, so if you have a personal
email address that you have not yet shared with us, please take this opportunity to do so. We will place an in-
sert in upcoming weekly bulletins to allow you to provide us your personal email address or updates to your
personal email address where needed or you can call the church office to get added to the list.
If you don’t have an email address, don’t worry, you will not be left out of the process. Hard-copies of the sur-
vey will be provided to those who need them. These will be located in the back of the sanctuary and Fellowship
Hall around the time the electronic surveys go out through Survey Monkey. Understand that the Survey Mon-
key responses are the preferred approach and will provide us much more efficient feedback and shorten the time
necessary to share the results. Thank you for your continued engagement as we work together to develop a sus-
tainable future for St. John’s!
Continued on next page...
Choir Rehearsals Begin Soon! Joyful Noise Handbell Ringers
and Sanctuary Choir will begin their music season with regular re-
hearsals starting Wednesday, September 4th. Bells meet from 6:00-
7:00 p.m. and choir from 7:30-8:30 p.m. Ringers call Kay LaGrange
at 317-989-8337, and singers call Debi Burns at 317-250-7813 for
more information. See you on September 4th. The Choir will sing
for the first time on September 15th.
Please mark your calendars now to join
the adult mission trippers the week
of October 21-25. Remember you can
come one day or all days, there are
plenty of tasks to keep us busy. No
special skills necessary.
~Marcia Hauser
Musicians Needed!
Saint John’s is blessed with many talented people, however we don’t always know what
talents you (or your children, or grandchildren) have. This fall, the Sanctuary Choir
could use the help of the below listed instrumentalists. If you or someone you know
could help, please contact the church office or Debi Burns (317 250-7813). The mu-
sic is available now to start practicing!
October 6th worship—cello
October 20 worship—tenor sax
November 3 worship—tambourine
November 3 worship—cymbal (riding)
LOOM KNIT HATS...If any ladies are interested in making hats or want
any information please contact one of the following ladies Jane Kreiger
317-501-5411, Barb Hancock 317-750-3459 or Susie Vehling 317-409-
7575. There will be a container in the Library Room to put the hats. Also
hope to get enough hats to give to our Preschool, Angel Tree and two el-
ementary schools in Perry Township. If there is enough interest we can
meet one morning at the church for hat making.
A September Walk around Preschool
We have been in Preschool for a month now and things
seem to be cruising right along. We do still have some open-
ings in our Preschool program. Our new banner has helped to
generate inquiries on our program. We continue to pray that
the Lord will send us the families that need to be in our Pre-
school.
Madelyn Larimore (Miss Maddie) has been hired as
the Preschool’s new Assistant Teacher. She has helped
around the Preschool numerous times and knows a lot about our program. Please stop by
and introduce yourself to our newest member of our Preschool Team. Let’s give her a warm
St. John’s Welcome!
This month we will be focusing on the letters of C, D, E, F, and G! We will also be
learning about our colors with our Color Days, and
will be experiencing some Autumn Fun. During Jesus’
Time we will continue our Walk through God’s Word
with Old Testament Bible stories, such as Daniel &
the Lion’s Den, Baby Moses, and David & Goliath; to
name a few.
Lunch Bunch has started. We had a great turn-
out for our first 2 Lunch Bunches last month. This
month we will have 2 Lunch Bunches. On September 6, we will have our Mystery Clues
Lunch Bunch, and on September 27, we will experience a Down on the Farm Lunch Bunch!
WE WILL NOT PRESCHOOL on MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 2,
in observance of LABOR DAY!
Our new neon pink Preschool t-shirts should be in any day. We will hopefully be show-
ing off our new t-shirts on our PINK Day later on this month!
Preschool is definitely going to miss our Magic Mike! He has been a joy to work
with and has been a great friend to our staff, and our Preschool students and families.
We pray that he has a Blessed retirement and we can’t wait until he comes for a visit
with us!
Be on the look-out for some different items to be posted on our Giving Tree real soon.
The Giving Tree items are those things that we use a lot of at preschool and are always run-
ning low on. Please put your Giving Tree donations in the bucket located up by the church
office. Thanks!
Have a Happy Fall Season!St. John’s United Church of Christ
7031 S. East St.
Indianapolis, IN 46227
Phone: 317-881-2353
www.stjohns-indianapolis.org
SEPTEMBER 2019
CHURCH STAFF
Rev. Ross Tyler, Senior Pastor,
Pastor.StJohnsUCC@gmail.com
Rev. Dr. Donald Crismon, Minister of Visitation
Tresa Strakis, Secretary,
Secretary.StJohnsUCC@gmail.com
OUR MUSIC STAFF
Debi Burns, Sanctuary Choir Director
Kay LaGrange, Bell Choir Director
Dr. Rebecca Sorley, Organist
OUR PRESCHOOL STAFF
Beth Larimore, preschool Director/Teacher
Miranda (Randi) Brickley, Teacher
Maddie Larimore, Assistant Teacher
Preschool.StJohnsUCC@gmail.comYou can also read
