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April 2007—In this Issue:
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The HeartBeatAn Invitation from the Mutual Ministry/Transition TeamJerelyn Watanabe Come and welcome our new Pastor! There are several opportunities for members and friends of LCH to greet our unanimously called Pastor, Jeff Lilley.
Since Pastor Jeff will be arriving without his family, we ask that you remember him when planning your family’s gatherings and events. You may contact Pastor Jeff through the church office at 941-2566. Also, please plan to attend Pastor Jeff’s Installation Service on Sunday, May 20 at 4:00 pm. For more information please contact Jerelyn at through the Church Office (941-256). Message from Pastor JeffWhen Jean, Seth, and I first arrived at the airport in Honolulu, we were met by a group of very enthusiastic and welcoming people from the Lutheran Church of Honolulu. They greeted us with “Aloha” and many lei, sentiments which echoed time and again during our visit with the congregation. Over the next several days, you welcomed us into your homes and your hearts, and at the end of our visit, invited us to come and share a life of ministry with you. We are grateful, amazed, apprehensive, and deeply joyful, all at the same time. Mahalo nui loa! So who are these folks whom you welcomed? Jean is the daughter, granddaughter, great-granddaughter, sister-in-law, and stepdaughter of pastors, who managed to marry a pastor. There are so many Lutheran clergy in her family that you can hardly splash water in the baptismal font without getting one of them wet! She is employed full-time as the Executive Director of Lawrence Habitat for Humanity, an organization that partners with low-income families to build simple, decent housing. She is overseeing the construction of an entire neighborhood of sixteen homes. Her background is in communications, journalism, business, and marketing. She loves all things outdoors, sewing, hiking, and is a mean helmsperson on a sailboat. Although Meghann will not be moving with us, I am sure you will see enough of her to warrant an introduction! Meghann is twenty years old and is a sophomore at the University of Kansas majoring in Music Education. Her passion is choral music and she intends to teach at the secondary education level. In addition to singing, she teaches piano to adults and children, plays the viola, and co-manages an a cappella singing group named “Genuine Imitation.” Seth is fifteen years old and is a sophomore at Lawrence High School. He also is musically inclined and plays acoustic and electric guitar, piano/keyboard, and violin. His band, “The Chipping Camdens” debuted recently at Liberty Hall. He is heavily involved in the theater scene and enjoys acting in Summer Youth Theater and high school productions. He loves music of almost every kind (except Country) and enjoys the outdoors. I have been in the ministry for over seventeen years serving congregations in Athol and Lawrence, Kansas. I am graduate of Texas Lutheran College and Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary. Most of my adult life has been spent serving the church. In seminary I was particularly interested in Systematic Theology and Ethics. Those disciplines have been brought to bear in a passion for social justice and deep involvement work with the homeless and underserved. For fun, I love to sail, build boats, paint (not houses!!!!) and work with wood. But my real passion is music. For the past seven years, I have enjoyed playing and singing with JimJim and the Fatboys, a group of eclectic fellows who are just as happy to play a minuet as play an original blues song. I am energized by the creative process and love to learn new skills. I look forward to getting to know you all, and serve you in the years to come! I will be arriving in Honolulu April 9 and will be in the office on April 10. Jean and Seth will join me sometime in mid-June. Peace, Holy Week and Easter at LCHSunday, April 1 • Palm Sunday 9:10 AM SEDER MEAL 10:30 AM PROCESSION OF PALMS AND CHORAL EUCHARIST 9:00 PM COMPLINE Thursday, April 5 • Maundy Thursday
Friday, April 6 • Good Friday Saturday, April 7 • Easter Eve Sunday, April 8 • Easter Day 10:30 AM FESTIVAL CHORAL EUCHARIST 9:00 PM COMPLINE Name tagsWe would like to have a complete and accurate set of name tags before Pastor Jeff arrives, so please note on the sheet next to the tag rack any additions or corrections. Please wear your name tag each Sunday and at all special church events. Message from Pastor SteveBrothers and Sisters in Christ, The Apostle Paul writes in Philippians 1:3-7a: “I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in everyone of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because you hold me in your heart, for all of you share in God’s grace with me...” Pastors departing a congregation often make reference to this letter of Paul’s. I often prefer to find a more unique passage of scripture to describe my feelings about a particular issue or concern. However, this scriptural selection best represents how I am feeling about my pending departure as our intentional interim ministry comes to a conclusion on Easter Sunday. You heard Pastor David Barber’s reminder that the ministry of LCH is not the pastor’s alone, but a conjoint effort on the part of all of the members. You were willing to work with me in refining that ministry and mission and taking on greater responsibility. Now as Pastor Jeff Lilley becomes your new shepherd, I trust that you will continue to invite his new ideas and perspective in further developing discipleship in this neighborhood and in our world community. I have learned a great deal from you and appreciate your support and many kindnesses this past year. Your true “welcoming to all” has included me, and it has been a delight to see how seriously you take that vision and mission in embracing all who walk in the doors of the church. But until my last day, I must remain true to both the priestly role of your pastor and the prophetic role. You who have received the blessings of the fellowship and ministry of LCH know how your hunger is fed. There are so many others with whom you come in contact every day who have similar needs, and you are in the best position to invite them to come here and be fed as well. Encourage those others to come and worship with you. You might be surprised when they come and how much they appreciate your invitation. This past year, I have also come to learn how much so many of you do for others that is not a part of any organized ministry at LCH. I hope that you will not only share those quiet but incredibly important efforts with Pastor Jeff, but also with one another. You may just find that someone else has a similar passion and would like to help another in this way as well. The Transition Team and the Ministry Plan Task Force will be sharing the results of their joint efforts with you and Pastor Jeff in the weeks ahead. They have exciting ideas that have come from you and I trust that your enthusiastic response will result in small but significant new ministries to our own “ohana,” and also to the larger community outside LCH. Paul also reminds us in I Corinthians 12: “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of working, but it is the same God who inspires them all in every one.” Those of you already using your gifts to the glory of God are well aware of the satisfaction felt in serving. Others of you have been blessed by God with special gifts you may not feel can be of much service to Him; but if they were given by God, they were meant to be used. Don’t wait to be invited to serve; seek an opportunity. Thank you to all who have been involved in the various ministries of LCH. Your dedication has been an inspiration to me and I know will be to Pastor Jeff as well. I have perhaps worked most closely with the Mutual Ministry/Transition Team and I want to publicly thank them for their stellar support. Pastor Jeff and the congregation will both benefit from their efforts as well. Lastly, mahalo nui loa to all who worked on and attended my farewell dinner on March 31. You could not have picked a more meaningful gift for me than the contribution of 52 hams to Angel Network in recognition of our 52 weeks together. In that gift, you have demonstrated to many that our ministry together is of God, has had a real and direct impact on peoples’ lives, and will carry on. As I begin a new intentional interim ministry at St. John, Kailua, on May 1, know that you have helped them by helping me this past year. I look forward to hearing news of your new ministry with Pastor Jeff and working together in the ministry of the Hukilau. May God continue to richly bless you all. In Christ’s aloha, Ham donation to Angel Networkin appreciation of Pastor Steve In appreciation for Pastor Steve’s excellent service for the past year (or 52 weeks), LCH will be donating 52 hams for Easter to Angel Network. Foodland has quoted us $10.00 for a 5-pound ham, which they discounted from the regular price of $14.89 each for this donation. Checks may be issued to LCH with a notation stating “ham.” A calabash bowl will also be in the Nave for Pastor Steve’s Aloha gift. Pastor Steve says help the Pastor help you:Members often forget to include the pastor when notifying concerned others of a hospitalization, long-term illness, or relocation to an assisted living facility. Please contact the office or the pastor at your first opportunity when there is a need for pastoral care. Please also talk with the pastor first before scheduling a wedding, renewal of vows, funeral, or baptism if you need him to conduct the rite. Sometimes other important needs for another family have already been scheduled. “By the way, Pastor...” Worship attendees often think of something the pastor should know as they arrive on Sunday morning. It is important to Pastor that he get it right, so please don’t rely on his memory as he is preparing for worship. Please use one of the blank notes provided in a wooden bowl and give it to Pastor or put it in the offering plate. He will respond at his first opportunity. Message from the Council PresidentGrace and peace to you! I would like to thank you all for the unanimous vote to call Pastor Jeff Lilley to serve us here at LCH. The affirmative vote was greatly appreciated by all the members of the call committee. The committee worked many hours considering and interviewing all the candidates. To the call committee members...job well done. The Mutual Ministry/Transition Team did an outstanding job and continues to work hard to make the transition go as smooth as possible; thank you all. I’d like to thank the Fellowship Committee for their work on the many different events during this transitional time. I’d like to thank the Property Committee for the work they're doing to prepare for Pastor Lilley's arrival. A special thanks to the Communication and Worship and Music Committees for their energy in the updating of the membership directory, planning of worship services, and of course Pastor Jeff's Installation service on Sunday, May 20. The thank you list could go on and on, as you can see, you have all played an important role and prayed for an important event in this, LCH history in the making. I think one of our greatest blessings during this transition time has been the gift of our Interim Pastor, Steve Jensen. His gifts are too many to list and too long to mention, but rest in our hearts with gratitude to God for placing him here in our church ministering to us. He listened, he spoke, he guided and led us, he directed, he counseled, he prayed with us and for us. I am speaking for all of us here at LCH, Steve, you have been more than just our “Pastor” this past year...you have been a friend. I hope all of you will take a moment to thank Pastor Steve during his last days here serving us at LCH. It's nice knowing that he won't be far away and I hope our paths cross many times. I’d also like you all to keep this Aloha spirit alive in welcoming Pastor Jeff and his family to our island home. I look forward to Pastor Jeff’s ministry here with us and truly believe our best days at LCH are ahead of us as Christ leads us. Alleluia! Christ is risen. Happy Easter Brian Weis Joint ConfirmationThe next joint confirmation event is scheduled for Sunday, April 1 from 4:30 to 7:00 p.m. at Joy of Christ, Aiea. If you miss LCH’s Seder Meal, you are welcome to attend the Hukilau one. Please call for reservations. Updating the directoryPastor Lilley has requested that we update our directory prior to his arrival on April 10. We need your assistance to ensure its accuracy. We would like to provide fresh digital photos and would appreciate you taking a few moments to allow our photographers (Kathy and Bill) to take your family’s picture. If you have a recent digital photo of your own you would prefer us to use, please e-mail that to the church office at lch@lchwelcome.org. In StitchesThe LCH craft group, In Stitches, continues to meet to work on church crafts and our own items the second and fourth Saturdays of the month from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. The next few meetings are as follows...April 14 and 28, and May 12 and 26. Please join us. Lunch BunchLunch Bunch will meet April 15 at 12:30 pm after Church at Kakaako Kitchen in Ward. Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday Volunteers NeededWe would like to have greeters and parking lot attendants for our Palm Sunday (April 1) and Easter Sunday (April 8) services. Greeters would need to be ready at the front doors of the sanctuary no later than twenty minutes before the service. It would be nice to have at least one greeter for each of the Sunday services. The purpose of the greeters is to be a welcoming presence before visitors enter the sanctuary. Parking lot attendants should be in the church lot no later than thirty minutes prior to the start of the service. The purpose of the parking lot attendant is to direct visitors to the visitor parking stalls and to direct all persons to the Poki Lot once the church lot is full. It would also be helpful to be available to aid people out of their cars if they are being dropped off and show the way to the entrance to the courtyard. Please see Brian Weis if you can help with these important ministries, or contact him through the Church Office (941-2566). Food for ThoughtFood for Thought will meet for our usual monthly potluck supper and discussion at the home of Irmgard Hormann on Saturday, April 14, at 6:30 p.m. All are welcome. For information, please contact Kathryn Klingebiel through the Church Office (941-2566). The Young Organist—Saturday, April 21, 7:00 p.m.A benefit concert featuring young people performing on the organ Mark April 21 on your calendars now for a delightful evening of organ music, all played by young people. Performers will include our own Nathalie J. (age 8) and Jordan M. (age 11). Others performing will include Christopher L. (age 8) and Joey F. (age 15), who also performed at the Heifer Concert on March 3. At the February meeting of the Worship and Music Committee, it was decided that a freewill offering will benefit the Organ Maintenance Fund and the Scholarship Fund of the American Guild of Organists. Both Nathalie and Jordan are scholarship recipients, in addition to Christopher and Joey, who receive funds from AGO to help pay for their organ lessons. Please help support these young musicians by your attendance at the concert on April 21. Poster (PDF) Earth Day at LCH, Sunday, April 22The focus this year will be on Invasive Species and what we can do about them. The Earth and its wellbeing is more and more our responsibility as stewards, especially because the US government continues to make huge cuts in the budget for caring for the environment. Come to the Learning Ministry meeting on Sunday April 22 between 9:15-10:15 am at Isenberg Hall. For more information, call Lois Swift 373 4922 From the Stewardship CommitteeThe Finance Committee has informed us that there is a 27% budget shortfall as of the end of February 2007. Many thanks to everyone, who contributed what you tithed for this year. If you are a little behind, please continue with your donations. We ask anyone who hasn’t made a pledge for 2007, to prayerfully consider what you can contribute and send in your pledge to the church office. We also welcome any contributions from the many Friends of LCH. Pledge forms can be found in the tract rack in the courtyard or in the church office. Please remember that our collective donations enable our church to continue the numerous programs and activities that are a part of our congregational life. Ark IIIWe made a good start in pledges and donations and are on our way towards reaching the $5,000 goal to purchase an Ark of Animals through Heifer International. If you would like to make your pledge of $40 to buy a share of the Ark, please sign-up in the courtyard. We still need families and individuals to help us reach our goal. Newest MembersDiane Perushek is transferring her membership from Chicago to LCH, now that she has relocated to Hawaii and is working at LCH. Paul and Anna Kath decided to become full members in February after spending some time with us between travels to various parts of the world. Other recent members, Don & Barbara Rudd, have become quite active in a short time. Don ushers at the 8:00 am service. Please take time to get to know them all if you don’t already and welcome them to the LCH Ohana. Ohana newsMichael and Emily Okikawa and their children have relocated to the mainland, since Michael was called up for active duty training. Please keep them in our prayer. C.J. Calaway, son of Stephen and Selena Schmidt, has had pneumonia twice during Marine Recruit Training in San Diego, CA, but is hoping to soon be able to resume training. If you would like to send an encouraging word, his address is available from the Church Office. Gary and Hilde Nii, long-time members of LCH, have remembered us in their will. We are appreciative of their generosity. Please continue to pray for the family they leave behind. We have learned of the passing of Adele Ostrem on January 7 and Wilma Tornow on February 5. Please also remember their loved ones in prayer as well. Personal SecuritySadly there have been two unattended purses stolen in the last few months. Please do not leave valuables in the courtyard or in your vehicles. The Worship and Music Committee is seeking “rovers” for both areas during worship. Please see Pastor Steve/Pastor Jeff or Linda Miller if you are willing to assist. April Birthdays
Pacifica SynodThis year, the Synod Assembly will be at the Marriott Waikiki May 2-5. As hosts for some 800 people, there are a great many details to which we as Hukilau congregations must attend, including sharing the unique ministry of LCH with a busload of visitors one afternoon. A LCH coordinator is needed to help identify and train our volunteers. Sign-up sheets for specific tasks are on the bulletin board in the courtyard. A LCH display table will be set up at the Assembly and also needs volunteers to share information about our ministry. A bus load of delegates will visit LCH on May 3 at 12 Noon. Hosts are needed to welcome them. Please see Pastor Jeff or Brian Weis if you are interested. IHS Fundraiserused ink cartridges and old cell phones Drop your used printer ink cartridges/toners and old cell phones (handsets and batteries only) at the LCH Administrator’s office or in a drop box located at the church. Two companies will turn the cartridges and cell phones into CASH. We now have 14 cartridges and 29 cell phones. The minimum we can send in is 50 cartridges and 35 cell phones. They monies received will go towards supporting IHS Meals for the homeless. This is an ongoing fundraiser. IHS Benefit Concert on April 29thAnother delightful ”Bach Pilgrimage“ concert will be held on Sunday, April 29th at 4:00 pm.m which will feature music written while Bach was the court musician at Cöthen. Works to be performed are the Solo Violin Partita in D minor (Darel Stark), harpsichord Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue (Carl Crosier), ’cello Suite in C major (Andrew Eckard), Cantata Nr. 21 ”Ich hatte viel bekummernis” in the version written for St. Jacobi Church in Hamburg (Bach Chamber Choir and Orchestra, with Georgine Stark and Timothy Schulz). All revenue from the concert will go directly to IHS. Poster (PDF) Worship Participants—Holy WeekMaundy Thursday Good Friday Easter Vigil Saturday Heart Beat DeadlineNext Heart Beat Deadline is Tuesday, April 17! Calendar: April 2007
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