The Monthly Messenger

February 2020

In Memoriam Worship With Us!

Harriet Rivers
Sept 24, 1932 – January 14, 2020
A native of Hanford, CA, Harriet lived in Modesto, CA Sunday Schedule
for over 60 years. She worked for many area charities
includingYosemite Area Boy Scout and the Muir Trail 9:00 am
Girl Scout Councils as well as Treasurer for Saron for Praise & Thanksgiving
many years. She also visited nursing home patients Communion
with her dog, Clo.
She is survived by 7 children, 2 step-children, 10
grandchildren & 7 Great-Grandchildren. Feb 2nd
Final resting place will be Burwood Cemetery. Michah 6:1-8
Matthew 5:12
“The Lord’s case against Israel”

Feb 9th
Isaiah 58:1-9a
Matthew 5:13-20
“Light shines in the darkness for the
upright”

Feb 16th
In Memoriam
Deuteronomy 30:15-20
Teri Jo Lagier Matthew 5:21-37
Feb 24, 1960 – Jan 16, 2020 “Choose life by loving and obeying
Born in Burlington, WA, Teri Jo lived in Escalon for many God”
years, graduated from Escalon High School & raised her family
here. Having recently moved to Idaho, she battled cancer for
about 1½ years before succumbing to the disease. Feb 23rd
She is survived by son Jeremiah, daughter Laura, grandson Exodus 23:12-18
Noah, and parents Gary & Joanne Verigin.
Matthew 17:1-9
“Transfiguration of Our Lord”

Did you know?

Teri Lagier embroidered the blue,
red & purple Chalice Veils which
covers the cup on the altar.
Pr. Sheri’s letter to the congregation from 1-19-20

Dear faithful people:

How grateful I am to have had two years as your pastor during this
interim time. I am living proof that you can never be too old to learn –
and I have learned much during my time with you. I knew from the
first that there was a strong spirit here and you have proved that spirit
again and again during these two years.

My family life has taken a turn that has caused me to discern that I
cannot continue into a third year as interim. As many of you know,
Rick and I have taken a major role in caring for our granddaughter as
our daughter has been navigating single motherhood and a full time
job.

In the coming months we will sell our home and move to our
daughter’s home. Our home is too small for 4 people and her home is
too big for 2, but just right for the 4 of us. In that way we will be close
at hand to help in these important years of our granddaughter’s life. Welcome our newest little
We are excited to be able to help our daughter and of course Ellie, our Lutheran!
granddaughter, who keeps us young (and tired!). Henry David McNinch
Born 1-14-20 at 5:00 am
The Bishop has assured me that either a ‘bridge interim’ or a consistent 7 lbs 12 oz
supply pastor for worship will be assigned to Saron for the duration of Born to Mikey & Katy McNinch
the interim. There is good cause to believe that will be for a short time and big sis Emma, all are doing
as the Call Committee continues to interview candidates. well!
Dave & Pat Strand are the proud
My last Sunday will be February 16. Of course council, Ann and I will grandparents and Matt Strand is a
be working in these next few weeks to see to things that need to be 2nd time uncle.
done so that the details of worship and other committee work Congratulations to the growing
continues. Remember to support each other in the work of the church McNinch family!
and continue to be faithful in your worship – it is in faithful worship
that you find encouragement in times of change. I look forward to
seeing Saron continue to grow and I will pray for you each day. You
will be for me always a congregation of ‘faithful people’.

With gratitude and in Christ’s love,

Pastor Sheri Delvin

 From Pastor Sheri with a grateful heart ….

The last Sunday of Advent seems a long time ago, but I

To our Saron Family,
We would like to thank everyone for all the
prayers, cards and encouraging kind words as
we navigated through the loss of Mikey’s
mom. It was all appreciated from both Mikey
and I, and meant the world to us to have a
great support system through you all.
Thank you
Mike & Katy
want to take this opportunity to thank you all, the
congregation of Saron, for the beautiful cards and gifts I
received on that day. It made my Christmas! Each card and
note and gift was a graceful token of your reception of me
as your pastor and friend. That is the best gift a pastor could
receive.
A special thank you to the Congregational Council for
gifting me with a generous monetary gift. I am saving it for
something special - something that will remind me of time
with all of you as your interim. My heart is full of gratitude
for our time together in ministry.

Christ’s peace,
Pr. Sheri

Saron’s altar piece: Christ praying in the garden.

When the lighting was fixed that illuminates the altar piece I
Honoring noticed several new details of the beautiful painting/mural
a Lifetime of Service
that defines our worship space. There are several details that
Please join us as we Honor
Birger Pearson are still difficult to see because at a 100 years old the canvas
for a lifetime of
Service, Music, Tradition, Knowledge has accumulated the dust and dirt of time. Having the
and above all,
Fellowship canvas cleaned would be expensive, but the new lighting
We will have a short program celebrating all the gifts helps bring new life to the altar piece. Take a moment after
Birger has brought to Saron over the years,
followed by dinner worship some Sunday to take an up close look. One detail I
discovered is the artist’s name and the date of the painting.
Painted in 1920 by Olof Grafström, it still fills the worship
DATE: Saturday, Feb. 22nd, 2020
space with a sense of prayer, devotion, and the love of
1742 North Street
PLACE: Saron Lutheran Church Christ. Escalon, CA. 95320
(209) 838-7695
TIME: 5:00pm EMAIL: saronlutheran@att.net

Pr. Sheri
FACEBOOK: saronlutheranescalon
https://saronlutheranescalon.weebly.com

Honoring Birger See more about Saron’s beautiful altar painting later in the
Please don’t wait too long to sign up Messenger
on the sheet in the Social Hall to
attend the dinner for Birger Pearson.
We need attendance information to
provide the food, so please sign up as
soon as possible!
The dinner for Birger Pearson was
rescheduled to February 22 at 5:00
pm. This will be a wonderful evening
Just some good
and everyone is encouraged to come Lutheran women
to hear much of the history about the having a fun time
church and the organ and the at Saron’s
contributions that Birger has made New Year’s Eve
throughout the years. party!
 You Might be Lutheran if…
Sharing the peace during service takes more time than the sermon

Pastor Hill is serving part-time at St. Paul Lutheran in Lodi as Visitation Pastor. He will provide pulpit supply and
preside at Communion in the coming weeks as the Call Committee continues their search. His first preaching
assignment at Saron will be Ash Wednesday. I know you will give Pr. David a big Saron welcome!
Pr. Sheri
Meet Saron’s new Supply Pastor
Pastor David Hill
Rev. Dr. David Hill has been married to his wife Connie for 37 years and
has 2 sons, Jason Hill and Jeremy Hill & wife Porsche, and
three grandchildren, Jackson (7), Ella (5), and Breanna (4). Pr. David &
Connie live in Lodi.

Pastor David graduated from Seattle Pacific University in 1971,

graduated from Fuller Theological Seminary in 1977 and was ordained in
the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. in 1977. David earned his doctorate of
ministry from Fuller Seminary in 1989.

He served at Calvary Presbyterian Church in Hawthorne, California from

1977-1982, and in 1982 was called to Grace Presbyterian Church in Lodi,
California, where he served until his retirement on December 1st, 2015.

Here’s a fun game!

Someone recently spotted this old
photo in the church office of the
Pipe Organ Committee from 1959!

Do you know who any of these

people are?

If so, please email Karen Peters or

the church office and we will post
names next month.

Karen
klnekypeters@sbcglobal.net
RIDDLE OF THE MONTH:
Saron Q: What starts with E, ends with E, and has only one letter?
saronlutheran@att.net
You need to read through the Messenger to find the answer!
Christ praying in the garden
Our church has been blessed with a beautiful altar piece or altar painting that for first-time visitors is quite
breathtaking. I recently had a group of Bay Area friends visit our church and Pr. Sheri graciously gave them a tour
& provided some history of Saron. They were all completely enthralled by the painting & asked if it was ok to
approach the altar for a closer look. Maybe because we see this work of art every Sunday we sort of take it for
granted? Maybe we just don’t realize not all churches have such a beautiful altar? Whatever the reason, I did a little
googling to get some information on the artist, Olof Grafström as this year our painting is 100 years old!

From the Thomas Tredway Library at Augustana College:

Olof Grafström, a well-known Swedish-American artist and long-time art teacher at Augustana. Jonas Olof
Grafström was born on June 11, 1855, in Attmar, Medelpad, Sweden, into a well-to-do farming family.
Grafström immigrated to Portland, Oregon in June of 1886. He painted portraits and landscapes influenced
by Swedish motifs, as well as frescoes and religious pieces. He was awarded medals in several art
competitions, and sold many of his paintings in exhibits. From 1893 until 1897, Grafström taught in the art
department of Bethany College, Kansas. Grafström came to Augustana in the fall of 1897. He was
extremely productive while at the college, painting between two and three hundred pieces. Most of these
paintings were altarpieces for Augustana Synod churches in the Midwest, but Grafström continued to paint
landscapes and portraits, as well as riverscapes. He painted a number of images of the Augustana campus,
two of which are currently hanging in Special Collections.
Almost all art displayed on the Augustana campus in part of the Augustana College Art Museum collection.
The library is grateful that we have the opportunity to have so much of it in our building.

Indeed, we here at Saron are also grateful to have a Grafström in our building as well!

Did you know?

JohanneErvin-Gade
Sisters Johnne Ervin-Gade&&Louise
Louise
Spurgeon’s
Sprugeon’s Great Uncle Martin Kramer
painted the original altar painting that was in
our original church building. That painting
now resides on the altar of St. Francis
Lutheran Church in San Francisco.
LOUISE SPURGEON
NEW FLOWER COORDINATOR

Have you ever wanted to dedicate altar flowers in the memory of a

loved one, celebrate a birthday or acknowledge a special occasion,
only to give up the idea because you couldn't face the task of buying
and arranging the flowers? You are not alone and we have a solution!

Louise Spurgeon has agreed to be our Flower Coordinator.

If you would like to provide the Sunday altar flowers but do not wish
to go purchase or arrange them, you can sign up on the flower chart,
located in the Fellowship Hall, indicate your special occasion and write C.A.R.E. requests for the
LOUISE next to it. How easy is that?! month of February:
You then write FLOWERS on your offering envelope or at the bottom Loaves of Bread
of your check* and drop it into the offering plate. Louise will review Monetary Donations are
the flower chart and take care of purchasing and arranging your always welcome
flowers for you!

This new program will allow many more Saron members to participate
in the donation of flowers. Thank you so much to Louise!

For those of you who wish to supply and personally arrange your
flowers, nothing will change - just DO NOT write Louise's name next
to your name on the sign up sheet. Louise will only be handling the
flowers with her name written in.

Louise, as needed, will also be encouraging and reminding us of

upcoming flower sign up opportunities. Sign up now for the dates that
are significant for you.

THANK YOU!
Birthdays!
Please note: New vases have been purchased with liners for the altar.
Please be sure to remove your flowers after service! February
02 Mark Olson
02 Trinity Thomasser
06 Johanne Irvin-Gade
Ervin-Gade
09 Dave Strand
16 Katelyn Cunningham
18 Garrett Bomer
19 Scott Armstrong
21 Nena (Dahlin)
21 Gary Thomasser
28 Karen Bartolomei

Thanks to Nancy Sappenfield

for the table decorations &
flowers for the Annual Meeting
The room looked lovely – A: An envelope
Thank you Nancy!
 Annual Meeting
January 26th, 2020

2020 Council Members

Phil Sandall, Kathy Pendleton (outgoing), Lisa Alessi (newly
elected), Delores Grabow (outgoing), Laurence Peters (newly
elected), Louise Spurgeon, Nancy Sappenfield, and Dave Strand
Not Pictured: Becky Emery
Louise Spurgeon & Johanne
Joanne Ervin-Gade
Ervin-Gade
cooking up lots & lots of delicious
ebelskivers!

Rosemary Scholz and sausages! Danish Pride!

Ebelskivers & scrambled eggs! Pastor Sheri addressing the congregation

 Those That Serve
Feb 2nd Feb 9th Feb 16th Feb 23rd
Altar Guild J. Matt N.Sappenfield P. Strand K. Linn

Flowers R&R Cohagan L. Spurgeon K. Linn B. Emery

Greeters F&G Hanlon K. Linn D. Grabow C&R Jilbert

Musicians K. Bomer K. Bomer B. Dahlin V. Haglund

Usher R. Sutton R. Sutton R. Sutton R. Sutton

Lector E. Scholz J. Emery

Refreshments Strand Family D. Grabow J. Rose L&K Peters

Assisting D. Grochau C. Shipley K. Linn

Minister
Communion J.Matt N.Sappenfield L. Spurgeon
L. Surgeon K. Linn
M. Olson D. Strand P. Strand
D. Strand
Assistants
Money B. Emery P. Strand B. Emery D. Grabow
K. Pendleton K. Pendleton L. Spurgeon
Counters

Upcoming Events
THIS MONTH FUTURE DATES
nd
Feb 2 March 4th, 11th, 18th, 25th , April 1st
3:30pm - Super Bowl LIV, but 6pm – Lent Soup Suppers & Service
you’re still welcome to come to April 5th
church at 9am! Palm Sunday
Feb 13th April 9th
9am - Witness & Service Meeting Maundy Thursday
6pm – Church Council Meeting April 10th
Feb 16th Good Friday
Pastor Sheri’s farewell sermon April 12th
Feb 19th Easter Sunday
2-4pm - Escalon Sr. Fun Bunch April 25th
“Valentine’s Day” @Escalon Newcomers Dinner
Community Center
Feb 21st
5:30pm – Kid’s Night Out
Feb 22nd
5:30pm – “Honoring Birger” dinner
Please sign up in the social hall
Feb 26th
Ash Wednesday