1711 Grant Street

Hopewell, VA 23860

The Hometown News

www.nazluthchurch.com

MAY 2010
TO GOD BE THE GLORY

Confirmation and Confession by Pastor Voss

Confirmation Day is approaching quickly. Soon our second year students will be
answering a plethora of questions about the Christian faith and Lutheran Confes- Inside this issue:
sions. As our two students of the Word confirm the faith given to them in Baptism,
it is a good time for us to take a moment and ask ourselves, “Do I remember what I
was taught about the Christian faith?” At one time, you knew the answers to all of Elders Report 2
the questions below. Give them a try and see how you do.

BASIC QUESTIONS OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH Deacons Report 2

1. Jesus was and is: 3. What is the First Commandment?

A) A man Stewardship 4

B) God 4. What two things must be present in

C) Half man and half God order for Baptism to be valid? Easter Fair 6

D) Fully man and fully God

5. How many Sacraments are there and
Pastor’s Update 7
what are they?
2. When the Words of Institution
(Words of God) are spoken over the
bread and wine in Lord’s Supper, this 6. What does the third article of the
Sacrament is: Apostles Creed refer to?
A) Bread and wine which symbolize
the body and blood of Jesus 7. Who taught us the Lord’s Prayer,
B) The body and blood of Jesus (the “Our Father, who art in heaven…”?
bread and wine no longer exist) A) Saint Paul
C) The body and blood of Jesus which
B) Moses
are present in, with, and under the
bread and wine C) Jesus
D) none of the above D) Saint Peter

These are just a few of the questions that our Confirmands will answer, and
after spending so much time with them, I am confident that they will answer them
well. You can find the answers to the questions at the bottom of this page. How did
you do?
Knowledge does not save us. Faith alone saves. But, if we have faith in God,
and we truly believe that He speaks through His Holy Scriptures, then shouldn’t we The Hometown News is
embrace a lifetime of learning (and refreshing ourselves in) His Word? We all cele- a publication of
brate Confirmation this month, for Madison and Joey, but we also celebrate our own Nazareth Evangelical
Confirmation and we honor it best by staying rooted in God’s Word and the true Lutheran Church.
understanding of that Word: the Lutheran confession of faith. Member of the
Lord’s Supper and Baptism, 6. The Holy Spirit, 7. C Lutheran Church—
Answers: 1. D, 2. C, 3. Thou shall not have other gods, 4. Water and God’s Word, 5. Two—the Missouri Synod.
 Page 2 The Hometown News

Elders’ Meeting Report by Steve Foxx

The elders met together on Monday, April 12th; present were Pastor, Arnie Slimmen, Bob Dry and
Steve Foxx. We opened with a reading, devotional and prayer from Hebrews 13: 7 and 17. We then dis-
cussed the following agenda.

1. Our youth group and how we can help them grow in the faith.
2. The results of our Mission Planning Seminar and how to best move forward and unify our efforts as a
church family; also, how can we hold meetings more successfully.
3. This led into an in-depth look at how our church design is supporting our mission.
a. The Bylaws of our elders and deacons needs revision.
b. Are we supporting our Pastor's vision of leadership and ministry?
4. We considered a change to offering the Sacrament of the Altar on a weekly basis:
a. Because of the benefits of blessing and forgiveness through a weekly Sacrament
b. Are there reasons not to hold the Sacrament weekly?
5. We are studying long term music ministry solutions.
a. Pam is doing very well and is dearly appreciated for her labors. She is willing to stay as long as
needed.
b. Are there any available LCMS organists that would be interested in a ministry at Nazareth?
c. Are there organists available that can also function as choir directors?

Deacons’ Meeting Report by Bonnie Foxx

The Committee of Deacons met April 12, 2010

Present were Bonnie Foxx, Carol Slimmen, Karen Van Worth, and Thelma Klein.

The committee reviewed people concerns and talked about whether a phone call would be considered a
visit if it wasn’t possible to visit in person. They decided that Yes, it would be considered as a visit.

It was noted that a new church directory would be coming out soon.

The committee reviewed the by-laws and the responsibilities of this committee.

It was reported that confirmation questioning will be on Wednesday may 19th.

This committee will provide coffee, punch and cake for this event.
The meeting closed with prayer.

Next meeting will be May 10th at 7:pm.

Submitted by Carol Slimmen
 MAY 2010 Page 3

Pray for One Another Prayer List updated as of May 1, 2010

For our brothers and sisters in Christ in nursing homes -
Velma Fleming, HHCC (227)
Mildred Skroback, HHCC
For our brothers and sisters in Christ who are home-bound -
Mary Petik
For our members and friends serving our country in the military -
Bruce Layne Danny Petik Chris Graham Dustin Petik
James Eckenrode David Petik
Jeff & Stacy Crossen Courtney Williams Michael McKinzie
Jeffrey Head Steve Foxx Brandon Edwards
For our members and friends away at college –
Landry Doane Casey Davis Brandon Edwards
For our members who are sick, hospitalized, in need of spiritual care or recuperating—
Evelyn Rayner Rowena Carter Ilse Appleby
Tina Doane Annette Dry Jordan Layne
For our friends who are sick, hospitalized or recuperating
Jonathan Weston Connie Williamson Rita Joyner
Joann Miller Jeff Walter Phyllis Kane Suzie Hilton Dorothy Kunkel Regina Davis
Freddie Gonzalez Kay Slade Bernard Carter
For the families of the Saints departed.
Shelby Slayton Bobby Kirkman Donald Voss

Prayer of Thanksgiving
Gracious Father, thank You for the sacrifice of your Son, which wins for-
giveness for us and for His resurrection, in which we share His eternal
life. Thank You also for our Baptism, through which God preserves us in
the true faith unto life everlasting. Amen

Bible Study, Adult and Youth Confirmation

Whether you are young or old, visitor
or pillar, we have a Bible Study for
you!
SUNDAYS
Meet in the ―Old Church‖ Room at
9:30 AM for a Bible Study on He-
brews led by Al Schneider.
Pastor Voss is leading a Bible Study
on the official LCMS position
on current events, called ―This
We Believe‖. It is off for the
next few weeks but will resume
May 23 at 9:30 AM in the
church basement.
ADULT CONFIRMATION
Arnie Slimmen will begin an-
other adult confirmation class
very soon. Please contact him
for more information.
.
YOUTH CONFIRMATION
The youth will meet with Pastor
Voss on Monday, May 17 a final
time for examination preparation
and a pizza dinner.
 Page 4 The Hometown News

Board of Stewardship
The Board of Stewardship met on April 18 with all members present. After an opening prayer by
Al, we reviewed the notes from the March meeting. We again reviewed the durries of our Board ac-
cording to the By-Laws in search of ways that we can support the mission and ministry of Nazareth. We
will address this topic again after the congregation’s mission and ministry goals have been established.
We discussed a possible Mission and Ministry Statement for our Board. One suggestion reads,
“Encouraging the support of the mission and ministry of Nazareth to the glory of God through loving and
faithful stewardship of time, talents and treasures.” Members were asked to bring other suggestions to
our May meeting.
Al has contacted the District office to determine dates in October and November on which Pas-
tor Roy Maack will be available to lead the Consecrated Stewards program.
It was noted that budget income during January and February fell short of meeting our budget by
$613 per week. Budgeted expenditures also exceeded budgeted receipts.
The next meeting will be held jointly with the Board of Finance beginning at 8:45AM on May 16.
Those who are not members of these boards are always welcome to attend.

A Thousand Thanks…

Dear Friends of Nazareth,

Thank you for all your support, love and
May Birthdays comfort given to us on the death of our dear
Mother Mary Blaho. She loved using her tal-
May 1 John P. Carroll ents for the Lord and could always be found
May 4 Dawn Burdette Stewart at the church when something was going on.
May 7 Arnie Slimmen
May 17 Joey Reierson Ladies, you out did yourselves on the lovely
May 23 Carol Slimmen luncheon you provided after her funeral.
May 23 Jenny Fistler Graham Thank you so much. It reminded me of a din-
May 27 Kay Grochowaskie ner Mother would have prepared. Most of you who remember her
May 31 Eddie Hanford in the church kitchen know she loved to do for others.
We appreciate those of you who visited her in the nursing home as
it gets very lonely there. We know she’s at peace with her Lord
Reach out! now and had her best Easter ever. God’s love and peace goes out
of all of you.
Lovingly,
Share the Good News! Barbara & Frank, David & Ruth, Keith & Bridget
Albert & Jane, Justin, Bentley & Reba, Jennifer & Eva

Serve joyfully!
 MAY 2010 Page 5

Glory to God on the highest and praise to

The Hometown News the leaders of each Board who have pro-
vided updates to the congregation this
EDITOR: Susan Skalleberg month. Our communication with one
ASSISTANT EDITOR: Pastor David Voss another not only keeps us united in mis-
PRODUCTION EDITOR: Karen Van Worth sion, but engaged with each other and the
Thank you to all who submitted articles and information to this opportunities to serve in our church. Each
newsletter. month, we pray for a newsletter update
SUBMISSIONS from:
We encourage you to submit your articles and ideas electronically
to: sueskalleberg@yahoo.com or call 731-6959
Newsletter information is due in by the third Sunday of the month. Board of Trustees
CONTRIBUTORS
Board of Maintenance
We are looking for regular contributors to the Hometown News.
If there is a certain article you would like to write on a regular Board of Elders
basis, please let us know so we can discuss it with you. Young and
Board of Deacons
old are encouraged to volunteer for this very important newslet-
ter. Board of Finance
SAVE MONEY AND PAPER Board of Stewardship
The Hometown News is posted online at the same time it is
mailed. Please consider reading it online so we can save on post- Board of Missions
age and paper. It can be found on the home page of our church Board of Christian Outreach
website: nazluthchurch.com

NAZARETH EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH

MISSION STATEMENT (Why we exist): Reaching out to all in faith
and love, sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ, and serving joyfully.
CRITICAL TARGETS (To whom we focus our mission efforts on):
Children (0-12 years old) and Young Adults (18-35 years old)
GOALS (How we will reach out to our Critical Targets): TBD

LCEF News
On April 25, Nazareth celebrated LCEF Sunday with other congregations
throughout the Southeastern District. The event focused on how the Lutheran
Church Extension Fund can help magnify the mission and ministry of LCMS
churches and schools.
Investments in LCEF earn a competitive return, while providing low-cost
loans and services to enable congregations and schools to carry out the ministry
of spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ. Investment products include Term
Notes, the Steward Account, a Family Emergency Account, Dedicated Savings ac-
counts, and Individual Retirement Accounts. Through a partnership with
“MissionInsite”, congregations now have the ability to explore their neighbor-
hoods, providing opportunity to obtain demographic information and create com-
prehensive reports that aid and enhance specific mission and ministry efforts.
Congregations with schools, or which are planning schools, can now promote
their schools through LCRF’s new “School Marketing Materials” service. Special-
ized workshops to build Christian discipleship are now offered by LCEF.
Investing in LCEF is “good stewardship” that provides for your financial future, earns a competi-
tive rate of interest, provides “Space and Place for the Gospel to be heard” and supports the Great Com-
mission. See Al Schneider for more information about LCEF.
 Page 6 The Hometown News

Eighth Annual Easter Fair was Held

On Saturday, March 27, we
had our 8th Annual Easter Faire.
We had a wonderful time with
over 49 children registering to
participate in Egg Hunts. There
were lots of games such as Bean
Bag Toss and Musical Bunny. We
had activities like decorating eggs
and cupcakes and face painting.
We played Jesus Bingo. We made
Egg puppets and shared the Jelly
Bean Prayer.
The volunteers of Naz-
areth Congregation, our youth
group and the local Girl Scout
troop #3001, most certainly made
this another successful event for
our Christian family and friends.
In addition, many of the surround-
ing neighbors of our church ven-
tured over to participate too.
Pastor David shared an
inspiring opening message with his
blank art work to demonstrate
that even when we do not see Je-
sus he is with us all the time and
that we possess a place in heaven
through his death and resurrec-
tion from the tomb, which is
empty too. There is no physical
“body” there, so it is blank like the
picture he displayed for the chil-
dren. We possess tangible evi-
dence of faith through singing,
worship and fellowship during this
event and as we do every Sunday.
The Evangelical and Mis-
sion Board, Ann Hanford, Martha
Staples, Sue Skalleberg, Kathy
Petik and Kara Canada want to
say “Thanks” for all of the con-
gregation’s generous donations.
The congregational support of
this event is the reason it has
been such a fun event for every-
one that comes to participates.
My husband, Clarke Canada,
said he truly had a lot of fun
hiding the eggs for the children
and watching them find them.
From some of the items
remaining from our faire we put
together small baskets of gifts
and delivered them to the nurs-
ing home and a few of our eld-
erly on Good Friday.
We look forward to the
Easter Faire being a continued
success in the future of Naz-
areth next year and for many
years to come. - Kara

Missionary Visit Coming up!

On Saturday June 5th. Nazareth will host Missionary Rev. Phillip Tappert and his wife Sally.
There will be a dinner after which Rev. Tappert will show slides and give a presentation about the mission
he serves in France. The Tappert’s have been missionaries to France for 18 years.
Come see and hear how successful the mission has been reaching out to students and families from
all over the globe with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Nazareth will support them with a free will offering. The
Reverend Tappert is a cousin of Carol Slimmen.
More to come about this at a later date. Please plan to come and mark your calendar now.
 MAY 2010 Page 7

Pastor’s Calendar
May 5-9 Travel to Wisconsin for father’s Funeral (Thursday)
and Committal (Saturday)
May 10-16 Family Vacation
(at most times I will be available via e-mail or at 804-721-9381, mobile)

Mission Planning III

Rev. Art Umbach led our congregation through planning goals to
reach out to our Critical Targets (children and young adults). Here
are the tentative plans and the common feeling was that we need to
continue to meet to further refine these goals and/or adapt them af-
ter prayerful consideration. What do you think? What excites
you? What would you be interested in helping with? What other
ideas do you have?
My wife says Henry looks just like me, so I may as
Children (0-12 Years Old) well put his young face in my place this month. :)
1. Obtain a feasibility study for a daycare and/or pre-school by the I think I have chubbier cheeks.
end of 2010
2. Start a children’s choir
3. Food bag ministry for children who go without

Young Adults (18-35 Years Old)

1. Start a young adult “night out” group for the area
2. Engage young adults in topical Bible studies
3. Community service outreach (possibilities include prison ministry,
hospital ministry, etc.)

Confirmation
Joey and Madison have been diligently preparing for their final examination on May 19th. We do ask that
only family attend this. If Joey and Madison answer in accord with the Lutheran Confessions and Scripture,
their parents, the Elder, the Deacon, and I will all give them our blessing to be Confirmed on Sunday the
23rd. Based on the wonderful year I’ve had with them, I’m confident they are going to do very well.

Gospel Contacts
Can you share the Gospel with three unchurched people this year? You probably have an opportunity to do
this every week, but can you do it just three times? Our goal as a congregation is to have 240 recorded Gos-
pel contacts by the end of the year. Not sure how to go about this or how to report your Gospel contact?
We’ll teach you how in the coming months. Until then, keep your ears and eyes open for opportunities to
say, “Let me tell you about our Savior Jesus Christ.”

Synodical Convention
The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod's 64th Regular Convention will be held July 10-17, 2010. A series of
pre-convention meetings will be held at 7 locations throughout our district. If you desire to speak up or
learn about the issues coming up at the convention, please attend our local pre-meeting: Wednesday, June
9, 2010 - 7:30 p.m., Trinity Lutheran Church, 2315 Parham Rd, Richmond

Thank You…
...to all who have provided me your support in prayer and in deed over the past week. The LORD gives me
confidence in the blessed Baptism and Divine Meal He provided for my father. Today is a better day
because my father rests in the full glory of his savior, Jesus Christ.
Nazareth Lutheran Church
1711 Grant Street
Hopewell, VA 23860

TO:

Nazareth Evangelical Lutheran Church

"Reaching out to all in faith and love, sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ, and serving joyfully!"