#MM252 - Beloved Church, Nearly every Sunday we proclaim the mystery of faith: “Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.” This roots us in the truth that God brings new life out of death, not just in the life of a Jesus 2000 years ago, but in our lives, now, too. We are people whom God is accompanying through “the end times”, which are always around us. This coming Sunday we hear the disciples fawning over the seeming permanence of the Jerusalem temple, while Jesus reminds them that even such an important place will not last forever. Endings are ahead! And so are new beginnings. Come and take heart in the grace of a God who goes through endings with us into the new life beyond.

PLEASE NOTE: Vicar Scott Wylie of New Covenant Lutheran Church, East Cleveland, will be preaching and presiding over the Service of the Word for a special “pulpit swap” between area Lutheran congregations. Pastor Paul will be at Peace Lutheran, Cleveland Heights.

• ✝️ Bulletin 11-17-24: https://bit.ly/Nov17thBulletin-MLC

• ✝️ Counting Team Participants Needed: Please contact Tom Griffith if you are interested in joining the counting team.

• ✝️ Thanksgiving Food Drive – through November 17: To benefit the Tri-C East Campus Food Pantry. Please place your items on the donation table by the church back entry.

• ✝️ Budget Review & Listening Session – November 17: President Ben Johnson will be hosting on Sunday, November 17, directly after worship (approx. 11:30am). A budget summary sheet will be issued with the Messiah Missive each week through this date.

• ✝️ Poinsettia Plants Deadline – November 17: Poinsettias will be purchased to decorate our church. If you would like to purchase one in memory of a loved one, red-flower donation envelopes are in the pews. Please clearly print your name and the name of the person(s) being remembered with this gift to the church. The cost is $9.00 per plant. Please make this gift offering by Sunday, November 17.

• ✝️ Interfaith Thanksgiving Service – November 24: You are invited…see attached flyer for details.

• ✝️ Greening of the Church – November 30: Please join us on Saturday, November 30, at 10:00am to decorate our church for the Christmas season. There are plenty of assignments for all types of ability. While we are generally working only a couple of hours, we appreciate whatever amount of time you can spare. Please also keep in mind, we will need help taking down those same decorations and that is planned for Saturday, January 4, 2025 at 10:00 AM. Thank you.

• ✝️ ATS Sausage Making – December 7: The ATS is taking orders for saxon sausage! Cost is $4.50 per pound. Options are loose with garlic or without garlic; or in casings with garlic or without garlic. We are making sausage on Saturday, December 7. Please pay with cash or check when you pick it up that same day between 1 and 4 pm. Orders can be placed with Jeff Krestel in person or by phone at (440) 376-5223.

• ✝️ Annual Congregational Meeting – December 8: Open church council seats and the 2025 budget will be addressed.

• ✝️ Worship Video Reminder: Just a reminder that if you're not able to attend worship or see the livestream at the time of worship, the video can still be viewed three different ways:
  

1.  Via the Facebook page (rewatching the livestream): https://www.facebook.com/MLC44124/videos

2.  On our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvTrTPLs2vXjt6D7tINccWrCaXeIyo7GB

3.  On our Website on the Worship page: https://messiahlyndhurst.org/worship

Please let Kristy Bohinc know if you ever have any questions or have issues with access to any of  these ways to participate with worship.

 Dear Church, As we've reached the halfway point of the season, I wanted to update the Congregation on the financial status of the church. As you might remember, at last year's Congregational Meeting in November, the Congregation voted to accept a church budget that included a $40,000 shortfall by the end of the year. At the halfway point of the year, I'm pleased to say that we're doing better than the expected $20,000 deficit, but we are still carrying a significant ($11,000) shortfall through the month of May. So far, this hasn't impacted our ability to offer the various services and activities that we at Messiah value for the life of our church, but the financial crunch here is real and will only become more pressing as we move through the year. For some context on how the budget has reached this point, we can look back at 2018 and 2019 when the incoming funds (almost completely driven by giving from the Congregation) were on a downward trend. Starting in 2020, however, the church was able to benefit from the federal Payroll Protection Plan Program (PPPP). From 2020 to 2022, we were able to offset a considerable amount of the church's payroll (the money paid to employees of the church which makes up the largest part of our annual budget) with loans that, with the right paperwork, did not have to be repaid. The budget surplus carried into 2023 by these loans allowed last year to also benefit from that relief as well. But here in 2024, we are outside the shadow of the PPPP and once again completely reliant on your giving to sustain the activities and mission of the church. Your Church Council is currently exploring ways to supplement the church's giving income by leveraging the building and facilities that sit vacant for most of the week, and we hope to have more news to present on this in the fall. In addition, we're contemplating additional Committee opportunities to present to the Congregation to hopefully drive additional engagement in the life of the church outside of just monetary donations. 

That said, although the summer months are usually quieter for the church as we all engage in various activities, I would request that you and your family take a moment to consider your giving and think about enrolling in the automatic giving program (that automatically receives your gifts weekly) or adjusting your current giving amount as you are able. This can be a difficult ask given the current economic instability in our community, but your giving goes to more than just keeping the doors open and making sure there is a sermon given every Sunday. All of the church's Committees and programs rely on your input to sustain the life of the church and provide the kind of church life you want to see for Messiah. The number of instances of giving is trending downward this year as our Congregation changes and evolves, but each of us has an opportunity to support the church in the best way we see fit to keep Messiah Lutheran Church vibrant and welcoming. 

As always, it is an honor to serve as your Congregational Council President, and I look forward to sharing additional positive updates with you soon. 

Best regards, 

Ben Johnson / Church Council President