Sunday School Teachers Needed

We are now looking for teachers for this program – need 2 downstairs every Sunday. Would like commitment for 4 Sundays in a row to provide continuity. Ideally we need 3 teachers 1 for each age group and 1 to help each teacher. Can you help us?  Please contact Genia.  Sunday school will resume on September 26.

Vestry meeting notes for August
- from Susan Mast, recording secretary to the Vestry

Vestry discussion in the August meeting revolved around making sure that the goals established for Holy Cross are taken into consideration for each of the areas that the Vestry is responsible for. These include:

• Mission and Outreach
• Pastoral Care
• Communication
• Evangelism and Hospitality
• Christian Formation
• Worship
• Stewardship and Fellowship

The minutes are posted on the parish bulletin board.

The parish is invited to attend.

The September Vestry meeting will be held on September 9.

Discussions with Ascension Lutheran continue
- from Susan Mast, secretary to the Vestry
        When Father David returns from his trek up north, he’ll be meeting with Father Ted from Ascension Lutheran to discuss shared worship services. Stay tuned…
            As everyone should be aware, the Vestry and Search Committee have held discussions with our counterparts at Ascension Lutheran about the possibility of calling a shared minister.  As part of that ongoing discussion, the Vestry feels that having a shared spiritual leader should only be a part of the “bigger picture.”  In other words, the main reason for doing so should be that we (collectively) can do more and a better job of ministry.
        As such, the Vestry will be encouraging all areas of Holy Cross ministry committees and commissions to actively consider ways that we can engage Ascension Lutheran in sharing the ministries that we do.  Some obvious areas are outreach, youth Christian education and joint services.  Foremost in any discussions should be “what could we do if we have more resources?”
        Evans DeVries and Ross Mast were identified as persons to lead and coordinate this effort.  A third non-Vestry member is also being sought. Their role is not to be the only ones who engage members of Ascension Lutheran, but rather to oversee, monitor, assist, and where necessary, aid in coordinating discussions with Ascension Lutheran counterparts.

Search Committee
 from Jim Gillard
    The committee met on September 1st.  David Meyer and Barb gave interview training. Some of the questions we have prepared were modified.  We discussed topics including who will interview, where and how the interview will take place, and how to rank the candidates based on their answers and how they seem to meet our desired qualifications.  We will attempt to do a practice interview with one of the Grand Rapids full-time rectors.Search Committee

The Parish profile was out on NDO at end of June.  Pastor Ted called Ross and commented That their time frame of 6 months is wrong and we have received a letter stating that they are ready to work with the Holy Cross committee. 

Outreach Committee now Reach-out and Mission Committee
- from Lila Mumper
Our Reach-out committee is now known as Reach-out and Mission, which I believe speaks to the dual purpose of not only reaching out with money and goods donated to various organizations, but living into our mission statement of, "Providing an opportunity for our neighbors and ourselves to grow as members of the body of Christ."

The piece of land that was once the labyrinth been turned into a community garden,  This is just one of the ways in which Fr. David and our vestry envisions the members of our congregation becoming personally involved in the community around us.

The garden has been divided into 8 large plots with 3 subdivisions each.  The community, mostly Bhutanese, have been diligently working the garden and it is really getting 

Summer reach-out project:

Collection for Brookside Elementary a success!

- from Lila Mumper

        Thank you every one for the wonderfully generous response to our request for school supplies, underwear and socks for the Brookside school in Grand Rapids.  If you are interested in the numbers of what was donated please check the Reach-out bulletin board.

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New Counters Needed:

From Jim Gillard:
I am again asking for volunteers to count the Sunday offerings after the 10:00 service. We have lost two of our counters and our current counters are beginning to see the scheduling rotation get shorter and shorter.

Most of these counters also volunteer for usher, greeter, acolyte, choir, lector, coffee hour, nursery, LEM and other duties. If you can step up to assist us, we can get the rotation time increased. You work in pairs. Two pairs would get the schedule out to 7 weeks or more. If you would like to just volunteer to fill in, I will put your name on the list as a substitute and you can accept or decline the requests as you desire. We can work around your other schedules!

Lady’s night IN!
- from Kim Lum & Deb Finch

Thursday Sept. 23, the fine women of Holy Cross are invited to gather at Kim Lum’s to watch South Pacific and share a potluck supper, beginning at 5:30. Interested? Sign up on the Bulletin Board!Hope to see you there. :-)

Prayer Chain “links” needed

- from Lila Mumper
A new Prayer Chain has been distributed.  The prayer chain is activated by a phone call. If you are seeking prayers for yourself or another person and want the prayers to begin immediately instead of waiting for Sunday to add your request to the book in our lobby, you simply make one phone call putting the prayer chain into action. The contact person on the prayer chain then gets in touch with other members. If you did not receive a Prayer Chain list and/or are interested in becoming an integral part of our parish family’s prayer chain, please get in touch with me, Lila Mumper, at 455-4642 or talk to me at church. 

 
Two groups use our building to provide services that we can use.  They are open to the pub- lic.:

Foot Care Services
This is a special service to provide routine foot care for any individual 50 years and older including diabetics. 

Many older adults can no longer care for their own feet because of vision and joint problems or other medical conditios.  Foot Care Services is designed to fill this need.

The program is provided by licensed nurses and includes: