January 2019 CrossRoads Newsletter

We are the heart, hands, and feet of Jesus — in the heart of Orlando.

CrossRoads

MONTHLY NEWSLETTER

PRINCE OF PEACE LUTHERAN CHURCH

JANUARY 2019

CONTENTS

JANUARY 2019

MINISTRIES 3

Centro de Paz para la Vida

3

Preschool

6

Affinity Groups

8

Family & Youth Ministry

OTHER 9

Upcoming Events

10 Our Life Together 11 Board of Directors Prince of Peace member, Sharleen Jespersen, distributed 50 Compassion Project bags to homeless members of our community just before Christmas.

Read more on page 6.

FEATURE

5

PASTOR’S FEATURE The God of New Beginnings

This newsletter is published monthly as a service to members and friends of:

Prince of Peace Lutheran Church & Preschool

1515 S Semoran Blvd. Orlando, Florida 32807 Contact Us: Church (407) 277-3945 Preschool (407) 275-6703 Fax (407) 380-1802 Email staff@poporlando.com

Worship on Sundays: 8:15 am - Traditional 10:45 am - Contemporary 11:00 am - Servicio en español

Submitting material to the PoP Crossroads...

Submissions must be sent via email to crossroads@poporlando.com no later than the 20th of each month (early submission is encouraged).

2 JANUARY 2019

SPONSORSHIP Sponsorship is a wonderful way to honor a memory or celebrate a joyful occasion! If you’d like to sponsor an edition of the CrossRoads, please contact Ely Cirino at (407) 277-3945 or ely.cirino@poporlando.com.

The average monthly cost to produce, print, and distribute the CrossRoads is $100.

Centro de Paz para la Vida

Year-in-Review

ELLEN PONSFORD English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes are going well. On December 13, we celebrated with 40 students who earned certificates of completion. Many of these students will move on to the next level of study to continue improving their command of the English language. Classes begin again on January 14, 2019.

In early February, we will officially dedicate Centro de Paz Para la Vida/Peace Life Center to God’s glory at all three worship services.

On February 20 at 7:00 pm, we will hold the first workshop: Knowing Responsibilities and Processes for Community Life. Immigration legal firms, law enforcement personnel, and (possibly) Commissioner Tony Ortiz will share. There will be opportunities for people to visit with various vendors. We’re working on plans for future workshops.

We want your help. Please consider how you can get involved: • Pray • Donate • Help us find a grant writer • Sign up to help in the church office registering people for English classes and other workshops • Help spread the word through advertising, passing out flyers • Invite your neighbors to the workshops Remember Prince of Peace’s critical target of Community Outreach:

As Servant Leaders, we boldly share the Good News of Salvation

in our Community, recognizing and serving needs by mobilizing

our resources, demonstrating Christ’s love for every person and

every family so that our Community is transformed by the

redeeming grace of God through the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ.

We are working with Start New, powered by the FiveTwo Network, which is a recognized Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod organization. The Florida-Georgia district continues to encourage other congregations to work with Start New. For more information contact Ligia Morales at the Church Office or text Ellen Ponsford at 407.340.6355.

give online at www.poporlando.com/give or text GIVE to 407.543.1011

JANUARY 2019 3

NEW BEGINNINGS the God of

PASTOR KEN GREEN

4 JANUARY 2019

He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!”

Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.

— REVELATION 21:5-7 — How about you? Are you looking forward to 2019 for the “new beginnings” it promises? A restoration of health? Renewal in a relationship? A new opportunity in your career? New beginnings that you are anticipating for your children or grandchildren?

Our God, the God of New Beginnings, invites us to approach the new year with joy and anticipation and optimism. More than that, the Lord invites us to approach each new day in that same spirit, remembering that each day we have a new beginning in His grace and power and love. This, too, is why it is appropriate to remember each day that we have been baptized into Christ. In baptism God has claimed us, joined us with Christ, and put His own name on us to mark us as His own. What better new beginning could there be for each new day than laying claim to the promises He has for us, His children?

God’s New Beginnings: God’s new beginnings in Christ, of course, begin with His forgiveness and the new life that is ours in Christ.

Give thought to this: Nobody initiates a new beginning if their intent is to keep everything the same. If God will be doing a new thing in our lives this year, how will we approach it? What are the steps that take us beyond simply anticipating the new thing to realizing and experiencing God’s new thing for us?

1. Commit to Prayer – We commit ourselves to prayer so that we would recognize, discern, and join God in the new things that He is doing in our lives, in our church, and in our world.

2. Commit to His Word – God has given us a clear expression of His will for us, a clear revelation of His plan to renew lives through Jesus, and His Spirit will give us wisdom and direction through the Word of God. Are you attuned to what He is saying? If this is something new, start now, and you will experience God’s renewal.

3. Commit to the family of God – If you are reading these words, God has connected you with His family at Prince of Peace/Príncipe de Paz in some way, shape or form. In what new ways will that connection with the family of God here find expression in your life this new year? (Consider: worship, service to others, inviting someone to come to PoP/PdeP, or being involved in a specific ministry or outreach at PoP/PdeP.) Like you, I am joyfully being made new!

JANUARY 2019 5

out to LU NC H JOANNE H AH N

LU BURCHFIELD

Happy New Year 2019 to everyone! We truly are blessed with dedicated workers and friends in this organization.

We just finished our busiest month where we worked for missions by selling our Christmas cookie plates, soup jar mixes, and homemade dog biscuits. We are still tabulating and will let you know by next month how much was earned. Thank you to all who helped bake and all who bought our delicious products. Even the dog bones were tasty and edible for humans!

Retired? Looking to share lunch with some fun people?

Every month we collect mites for our national and district LWML. They have their own mission grants which we fund when we save in that little mite box.

Please continue to fill yours up and ask for another when needed! Figures form the final quarter of 2018 are still be compiled. We hope to report on our mites next month.

Tuesday, March 12 – A favorite…Perkins Restaurant, University Dr, Winter Park

We meet the third Wednesday of each month at 10:30 am in the Family Life Center. Please join us if you have a heart for missions and would like to make some new friends!

Compassion P ROJECT

It’s time to mark your calendars for the first 6 months of the new year 2019!

Thursday, January 10 – Longhorn Steakhouse, 3101 E Colonial, Orlando (in front of Fashion Square Mall) Thursday, February 14 – Spend a Valentines Lunch with us at the Olive Garden, E Colonial, Orlando

Thursday, April 11 – La Fiesta Mexican Grill, 3000 W Curry Ford Rd, Orlando Thursday, May 9 – Cheesecake Factory, Winter Park Thursday, June 13 – Bahama Breeze, N Alafaya Trail, (Waterford Lakes) RSVP to Lu by email at luburchfield@gmail.com or text Wendell Feggans at 407.488.6997. Keep watch for any changes and, of course, invite a friend to join you and us! May the good Lord continue to bless our Out To Lunch Bunch in this new year!

SHARLEEN JESPERSEN In the days before Christmas your Compassion Project Bags were distributed to some of the homeless in our community. It happened to be a cool, drizzly day.

Your blankets warmed shoulders and your caps were quickly donned in the rain. The folks we met received Christmas greetings from Prince of Peace/Príncipe de Paz, a bit of candy and fresh fruit, as well as items that we often take for granted like a toothbrush, toothpaste, new warm socks, t-shirts, and more. With your help, 29 nice large bags were created and another 21 hygiene kits were given out. Thank you all for your contributions!

6 JANUARY 2019

Monday, December 31 • 6:00 pm Family Life Center

KATHY MCCARTIN

L U B U R C H FIE L D

We finished the year with our annual Christmas party in the Family Life Center on December 12. A special thank you is given to our Preschool for helping with songs of the season at our Christmas party. They were awesome! We also sang our favorite Christmas songs, accompanied by Austin Wessel. We played several games of BINGO and a great time was had by all.

Winterfest 2018 was a fun and exciting event that we hope will continue year after year! We set up a table full of handmade items and sold several to people looking for Christmas gifts and were left with an inventory that we continued to showcase for a couple of weeks in between church services. The leftover inventory was taken to the Conway Community Annual Market at Barber Park on Gatlin Road on December 16 to sell at a booth we reserved. We will have a report next month on how that experience went.

This year we shared our blessings with the Orlando Rescue Mission. We provided several packages of men and women’s underwear and socks. We also provided toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant, hand-wipes, and zip lock baggies toward their mission.

And last but not least, we want to thank all who participated in our annual peanut fundraiser. We raised over $400 to distribute toward mission projects.

We also collected $140 for serving the meal at the December 5 Advent Service Event!

We donated over 400 hats to the homeless shelters of Orlando and mailed two packages to Walter Reed NICU for our soldiers and their families for Christmas. Our Vets living in the Lake Nona facility received a dozen laprobes to keep them warm during this winter’s chill.

We receive nice letters and notes thanking us, which gives us great satisfaction knowing we are making a difference in so many lives. A big thank you to the ladies at the Renaissance Center for always coming forward with many hats and blankets which helps us reach our goal each quarter.

The babies and children baptized at Prince of Peace/ Príncipe de Paz receive a gift from the Angels in remembrance of their special day. We also gift families going through the death of a loved one, a neighbor going through difficult times and others convalescing from an illness or surgery. We will continue to meet the first and third Thursday of each month at 10:00 am in the Board Room. We’d love to have you join us! We wish you many blessings in this New Year!

MLK Day • JANUARY 21, 2019 JANUARY 2019 7

CROSSTRAINERS SUNDAY SCHOOL MINISTRY

KATHY HUDSON Happy 2019! The CrossTrainers are looking forward to a brand new year full of opportunities to serve others and learn about Jesus and His friends and disciples!

During November and December, the CrossTrainers were busy practicing songs and memorizing lines for our Christmas Program presented to the congregation on December 16th during the 10:45 am service. We also enjoyed making luminarias to line the walkways for Christmas Eve services.

Over the past year, we made and sent postcards and prayed for the members on our church prayer list; we sorted toiletries for distribution at Food Pantry; and we made flyers to hand out at the October Food Pantry distribution to let them know about our annual Trunk or Treat Outreach.

Wishing a very happy and healthy New Year for you and your family!

ANDRÉS SOLER-GARZÓN How important is it to attend/participate in church in your life and in your youth’s life? “...not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching” — Hebrews 10:25 After the busy days and festive times of Christmas and the New Year, have you set any goals regarding your faith? How urgent and relevant is it to encourage your youth to come to church and participate in our activities? Is that a priority in your family? Youth are facing the pressures of school with homework, assignments, exams and extracurricular activities like sports, games, and more that both directly and indirectly affect their church attendance.

God encourages us in Hebrews 10:25 to “not giving up meeting together.” Today, the tendency for young Christians in middle and high school is to give more importance and time to non-church related activities. The perception of these youth is variable but mostly coincides with that concept. We encourage you to maintain a close relationship with our church, attending and supporting our ministries, helping and gathering in communion with God, making a goal for 2019 to put our church in a priority position and be an example for our youth.

Youth Group Schedule January 6 January 13 January 20 January 27

6:00 pm • Family Life Center No Meeting 6:00 pm • Family Life Center No Meeting

Sonny’s Spirit Night

Tuesday, January 8, is Youth Spirit Night at Sonny’s BBQ - Lee Vista. Come and enjoy a delicious meal while supporting our Youth Ministry. Don’t forget to bring the flyer found in Sunday’s Crosswalk or on the Prince of Peace Facebook page.

8 JANUARY 2019

COMING UP...

NEW YEAR’S EVE NIGHT OF WORSHIP MONDAY, DECEMBER 31 • 6:00 PM FAMILY LIFE CENTER As we look back over the year behind and look forward to the year ahead, we thank God for all He has done, all He is doing, and all He will do. We praise and honor the One who was, who is, and who is to come with a special night of worship, especially focusing on prayer and the healing of God’s people.

EPIPHANY WORSHIP (SPANISH) SUNDAY, JANUARY 6 • 6:30 PM SANCTUARY Celebrate the arrival of the Magi before the young Jesus as we worship on this special evening.

YOUTH SPIRIT NIGHT TUESDAY, JANUARY 8 • 5:00 - 9:00 PM SONNY’S BBQ — LEE VISTA Support the Prince of Peace Youth Ministry by dining out at Sonny’s BBQ. Bring along the flyer from Sunday’s bulletin (January 6) and Sonny’s will donate 25% of your bill to our Youth Ministry!

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. DAY MONDAY, JANUARY 21 In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the Church Office and Preschool will be closed.

FOOD PANTRY DISTRIBUTION SATURDAY, JANUARY 26 • 9:00 AM Our Food Pantry serves approximately 300 families each month. If you are interested in volunteering on prep-days or distribution day, please contact the Church Office at 407.277.3945.

RE-CREATION USA CONCERT FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 1 • 7:00 PM FAMILY LIFE CENTER Re-Creation USA’s “Classics” Variety Show features bigband, rock ‘n roll, country swing, and retro music (each song a classic); dynamic, vibrant vocals; high-energy dance and choreography; lavish, original costuming; and a grand patriotic finale! Free admission, donations are gratefully encouraged.

CORNERSTONE UNIVERSITY CHORALE CONCERT SATURDAY, MARCH 2 • 7:00 PM FAMILY LIFE CENTER The University Chorale, a select choral ensemble, performs a variety of choral literature from Renaissance to contemporary genres including gospel and spirituals.

The Chorale focuses on the expression of beauty in choral artistry, combining musicianship and servant hearts for the glory of God and the consequent joy of both singer and audience. Free admission, donations gratefully encouraged. Doors open at 6:30 pm.

FINANCIAL UPDATE (as of November 30, 2018) Church Income

Actual $597,412.53

Budget $626,715.95

Difference $-29,303.42

Preschool Income

$331,442.91

$345,136.56

$-13,693.65

Total Income

$928,855.44

$971,852.51

$-42,997.07

Church Expenses

$670,153.75

$669,225.74

$928.01

Preschool Expenses

$317,653.69

$350,705.72

$-33,052.03

Total Expenses

$987,807.44

$1,019,931.46

$-32,124.02

Net Income

$-58,952.00

$-48,078.95

$-10,873.05

JANUARY 2019 9

Our Life Together 1

Phillis Lindsey Madison Stiglich

2

Valerie Borkman

3

Riley Carey John Wilson

4

Michael Lee Florence Smith

5

Kathy Hudson Julie Lushetsky Harry Montalvo Dennis O’Neil David Strauss Christopher Weissman

7

w

Brian Browning KayDan Clarke Richard Lief

8

Krista Brathwaite

9

Caleb Cabascango Charlene Corn Daniel Romero

10

Eduardo Bonilla Kenneth Gourlie Ellen Ponsford Urania Posada Kelvin Tomasello

11

Lyrae Williams

13

Douglas Dubois Lillian Richards

14

Erin Barton Willamine Peterson

15

Emily Kuhn

16

Sarah Espin Otto Krumpholc Matthew Roberts Michael Rodgers Noelle Vokovich

17

Randi Christiansen Earlene Gorbutt Pastor Ken Green Jennifer Koba

18

Francisco Mania

19

Arturo Berroa Jonathan Hughes Troy Hughes Nathaniel Treskavich

20

Julie Fleming Evelyn Lopez-Segarra Katherine Rendsland

21

Chuck DeVries Mariko Krout Rob Melcher

22

Nancy Sneathen

23

Alison Del Rio Ron Toole

24

Tony Montrony

25

Jack Tonnello

26

Paul Divan Michael Green Sr. Kenneth Krieb

27

Linda Burns Earl Williams

28 Jacqueline Cuevas Cabrera 29

Raymond Koenig Carson Williams

30

Lee Cahoon Martha Marcial

31

Josephine Iweka Angela Shroyer

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

We wish birthday blessings to those who celebrate their special day this month! If we’ve missed your name above, please contact the church office so we may update your database profile.

10 JANUARY 2019

Ongoing Prayer Concerns: Janet Bothast, Kristin Calado, Bonnie Custer, Al Dicks, Linda Dicks, Dottie Dreves, Ellie Dreves, Sandy Driver, Michael Halstead, Steve Hardesty, Diane Hoeksema, Linda House, Bill Jordan, Kathie King, Carlene Lemcke, Kathy McCrary, Joanne Monroe, Annette Royal, Marilyn Scott, Cindy Sibly, Nancy Spohn, Michael Vokovich, Noelle Vokovich, Roger Vokovich, Joyce White, Bob Zamsky Hospitalized/Outpatient in November & December: Rev. Dr. Rick Armstrong, Mary Anne Ault, Tori Earle, Connie Lerchen, Betty Schroeder Sympathy to: Ken & Judy Holzscheiter at the sudden and unexpected death of their grandson, A.J. Holzscheiter.

Memorial Gifts: Mr. and Mrs. Ron Henderson, in memory of A.J. Holzscheiter

Board of Directors Minutes November 26, 2018 BOD Present: Don Matthews, Lindee Owens, Tom Zehnder, Rick Ackerman, Katie Abercrombie, Kurt Bickel, Daryl Flynn, Jen Hoge, Kathy Hudson, Jim Nocks, Pete Spudich, Zaida Torres, Rev. Ken Green (ex-officio)

Congregational Meeting August 19, 2018 67 members present & 7 attenders present

Staff Present: Julianne Wiegand

Welcome Don M • Meeting called to order at 12:28 pm • Approval of Today’s Agenda M/S/C to approve • Approval of Minutes - June 2018 M/S/C to approve

Members Present: Jim Ingersoll

Opening Devotion

Welcome

• •

Meeting called to order at 7:00 pm

Approval of Today’s Agenda M/S/C to approve Approval of Minutes - October meeting M/S/C to approve

Devotion

Don M Don M Lindee O

Discussion Topics • Senior Pastor Report Pastor Ken • Staff Reports • WinterFest Updates Kurt B Plans are on track for a successful event this Sat Financial Update and Budget Review Jim Ingersoll YTD Giving is in regular envelopes is down approximately $26,300. Expenses are also down but expenses are still higher than income by approximately $55,400. Proposed budget is balanced but does call for giving to be approximately $60,000 higher than can be reasonably expected based on historical figures. M/S/C to approve budget as presented with modifications discussed for the preschool.

• Congregational budget meeting on 12/09/18 Old Business • Next Meetings: Monday, December 10, 2018 and Monday, January 28, 2019 Adjourn - Prayer • M/S/C to adjourn at 9:56 pm.

Respectfully submitted by Rick Ackerman, Secretary, BOD

Pastor Ken

Mission, Vision, Ministry • Intro and History of Search Committee Tamara R Since May 2016, the committee has been working to determine the needs of our church for a Director of Family & Youth Ministry. Search team is Tamara Reynolds, Katie Abercrombie, Tom Zehnder, Jason Seyfert, Kurt Bickel, Ligia Borges, and youth representatives Joel Green & Sarah Wiegand.

Work of the committee was put on pause in Nov 2017 when it became apparent that there wasn’t sufficient funding within our budget for 2018.

• Job Description Tamara Reynolds Looking for someone to lead Family & Youth Ministry in new and different ways to meet the needs at PoP; to not do something the way it’s always been done!

• Intro of Endowment Committee Jim Ingersoll Jim Ingersoll, Hans Tews, Linda I’Anson, Marleen Schmidt, Bob Zamsky, Rick Ackerman (non-voting), Rev. Ken Green (ex-officio) • Proposal for BOD to use Endowment Funds: Current balance of approximately $317,000 balance in the Endowment Fund. Historically, the committee allocates 4% of the 12/31 balance each year to fund non-budgeted ministry needs. The Endowment Committee passed a resolution to provide $100,000 for Youth & Family Ministry. The Board also passed this resolution and called this meeting for the purpose funding this position • Motion: Motion to approve $100,000 expenditure from the Endowment Fund to provide funding for the Youth and Family Ministry position; funds to be paid out on a quarterly basis over two years.

Discussion: For detailed minutes, please contact the Church Office.

Vote: Motion passes with 61 regular votes and 5 provisional votes in-favor and 3 opposed.

Adjourn - Prayer • M/S/C to adjourn at 1:19 pm.

Pastor Ken JANUARY 2019 11

1515 S Semoran Blvd. Orlando, FL 32807 (407) 277-3945 • www.poporlando.com RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED