Sierra Lutheran News

October 2010

NEW CHURCH HEAVY ON EVANGELISM

Pastor John Saethre

I’m looking forward to my first convention with the new family we have joined – LCMC: Lutheran
Congregations in Mission for Christ, October 3-6 in Golden Valley, Minnesota. Each family has its own
“DNA”, its own flavor and personality. What will this new family be like? Will it consist of “old wineskins” or
“new wineskins?” Will we just be rearranging the deck furniture as the Titanic slowly sinks into the abyss?
(ELCA?)

My initial impressions of the LCMC excite me because I see an intentional effort - to not only promote
evangelism and mission, but to DO it! The new magazine for LCMC and Word Alone types is called
“Connections: for evangelical Lutheran Christians.” There is no greater purpose for the church than what is
given in Matthew 28:19 – Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the
very end of the age.

An article by Pastor Chris Saxton of Torrence, California said we may be surprised by the church attendance
statistics in America. Generationally, 65% of Builders (born before the end of World War II) go to church every
week, 35% of Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964), 15% of Generation X (born in the mid-60s to early 70s),
and only 4% of Generation Y (born in the early 80s and 90s). This generation of young people is the most un-
churched generation in our nation’s history. If ever there is a need for evangelism and sharing the love of Christ,
it is NOW! A Billy Graham Evangelism Conference admitted that 90% of Christians don’t share their faith.
Maybe its because the approach being taught is so threatening, i.e., making cold calls, knocking on doors,
asking strangers “are you saved?” I like what we learned in Sheffield, England – to look for that Person of Peace
– someone who is hurting, ready to hear the gospel in a relational, loving way, not a condescending, pushy way.
The Via de Cristo way makes the most sense to me: Make a Friend, Be a Friend, Bring a Friend to Christ. And
it’s in that order that gains the trust of a world suspicious of religiosity. We need to earn the right to share our
faith to those who don’t have a relationship with Jesus Christ.

I pray that when I get to the LCMC convention in Minnesota I will find pastors and lay people alike, who have a
passion for Jesus, and a passion for sharing the good news with a generation that is needy, but hostile to
“churchianity.” The very things that young people crave, such as companionship, meaning, purpose, , a cause,
fellowship, hope for the now and for the future can be met by what we offer as Christ-followers. I look forward
to becoming part of a larger church body who has that special DNA, who will make evangelism and mission a
top priority, because it was Jesus’ priority . . . who wants all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. (1
Timothy 2:4)

Newsletter 1
 continued from page 1

In closing, I want to thank all of you good people at Sierra Lutheran Church for your patience as we make
this transition out of the ELCA and into the LCMC. It has not been an easy process, but one that gives
me great satisfaction, that this is God’s call for us at this point in our history as a congregation. LCMC is
certainly not a perfect church, and we will learn more about it as time goes on. But, as I see our passion
for Jesus and sharing Jesus, and as I see God releasing more missionaries from our church (David
Bookwalter, Mike Jolley, Danny Everhart, Karin Saethre), I see a better fit. God will bless our faithfulness
to the Great Commission, for that is where His heart is and where ours should be as well. God bless you
as you carry out His mission with JOY!

Mike Jolley Called To Mission Field

God has called Mike Jolley to partner with “Asia’s Little Ones” and a group from People’s Church to work
on a contruction project in Ambon, Indonesia. A Church in this village is being built in an area that is
99.9% Muslim. Mike is asking anyone who feels led to consider with him in prayer and if possible, giving
financially. The total cost of the trip is approximately $2,500.00. This covers everything…plane fare,
lodging, and materials for construction. He will be leaving January 2011. You may make donations to:
Peoples Church – “Indonesia Outreach” c/o Mike Jolley.

Danny Everhart Pulpit Guest October 3

Pastor John will be attending his first LCMC conference in Golden Valley Minnesota October 2 – 8, so
please support Danny as he brings the gospel message to us Sunday, October 3.

Youth Fund Raiser

Our youth will be flooding the area at River Park and Mar-Val selling Discount Cards for $10 each. Cards
are valid at popular restaurants and fast food locations in the Fresno/Clovis areas. This is a great way to
support our youth, so please consider purchasing a card.

Confirmation Class to Begin

Pastor John is ready to begin confirmation instruction soon. Young people seventh grade and up are
invited to study the Word of God and God’s salvation history and the basics of Christianity from a
Lutheran perspective. Please let Pastor know if interested.

New Member Class

Pastor John is offering a new member class on Saturday October 16. It will be a four hour class that will
teach the basics of the Christian faith. It will be a great opportunity to learn more about Sierra Lutheran
Church and how you can be involved in the ministry here.

Newsletter 2
 News from the Administrator’s Desk
Hello church! Seems like it’s been a long time since we’ve talked via the newsletter. Hope you missed us and are ready to get
revved up for a new season! I know I am!

First of all, I want to take this opportunity to publicly thank Tam Sanders for her service to our church body as the secretary these
past three years. Since she resigned in August, we have come to understand many of the duties she handled as secretary, since, to
date, we have not replaced her.

Tam
We are currently managing the office with the help of Pastor John, Robert, myself and volunteer staffing. Our office hours are
9:00 a.m. – noon, Monday – Friday. If you have an office need, please arrange to use the office during these hours.

In order to help keep you informed of the new contact information for your church needs, please refer to the list below. If you
have contributions to the prayer chain, weekly bulletin or newsletter, please contact:

 Weekly bulletin announcements – please email your announcement to the church office (slc@netptc.net)
with the subject line “Bulletin Information” by Wednesday prior to the Sunday you want the item noted. If
you don’t have email, please call the office and leave a message.

 Newsletter Articles and Information – please email your articles by the 4th Monday of the month to Cathy
Jolley at mikecatjolley@gmail.com. If you don’t have email, please contact her at (559) 855-4048.

 Web-Page News or Information – please contact Samantha Flanagan-DuPree at her NEW E-DRESS,
samfdupree@gmail.com , or call her at (559) 273-7617.

 Bulletin Prayer List – We would like to keep this list updated regularly. Please notify the office email (noted
above) if you’d like to add something to our weekly bulletin list. Please also notify us when the prayer has
been answered or is no longer needed to be included on this list. It would be great to add a PRAISE section
to this list when prayers are answered!

 Email Prayer Chain – If you have a prayer chain request, either general or confidential, please contact Pat
Lollar at pjlollar@netptc.net, or (559) 855-8138.

The last housekeeping item is that we no longer have a designated office fax phone line. Since most of our office
information is sent and received via email, there was not enough fax usage to warrant the cost. We will be setting
up our office phone line (855-8989) to also serve as the fax line. If at all possible, please email your information to
the church office.

Thank you for your patience in all the above noted changes. We are a work in progress, and appreciate the grace
you have given us as we begin to create the “new” God is leading us into.

Your Servant in Christ,

Lori Pape
ljpape@netptc.net
(559) 855-2861

Newsletter 3
 Free Falling Youth
The school year is off and running! We have some great things planned for this school year. There will be more
details in next month's article. As of right now, here is our line up of events:

*October 16th Paintball at the Finks

*October 27th All Mountain Youth Gathering at the Knittel Ranch. (All of the mountain youth groups will shut
down for the week and we will all be meeting that Wednesday at The Ranch)

*April 8th and 9th Planet Wisdom youth event in the Bay Area

*I will be at the National Youth Workers Convention October 1st-4th to refill my tank and hang out with God.

I have had the amazing opportunity to start networking with other youth pastors all over the central valley. This
past Wednesday, September 22nd was the National See You At The Pole Day. I, along with other Youth leaders
from the community, gathered at the flag pole at our very own Sierra High to pray over our school and our
country. There were 45 students in attendance! That evening, I took 7 students down with me to Northside
Christian Church an event called United. It was inspiring to see over 200 students in attendance at this event.
THe challenge at this event was to be united as one church within our schools. THey were also challenged to be
salt and light within their community.

Going with this idea, the youth leaders of our community have been led by God to host an all mountain youth
event at the Knittel Ranch. We are excited to try this new method of reaching our youth as one body. Please
pray over this event because the enemy will be attacking.

Last, but definitely not least, I would like to send a HUGE Thank You out to ALL of our volunteers. We
CANNOT do ANY of this without you! God has blessed this ministry through the help of all of our amazing
volunteers.

Sheh-Elohim Yivarech Otcha,

Robert DuPree
Trunk or Treats
Children’s Ministry We need volunteers to help with
The Children’s Ministry is in need of volunteers! Game Booths and
If you feel God moving you in this direction Trunks filled with Candy!
PLEASE contact Samantha DuPree @ October 31st 4-6pm
(559) 273-7617 or samfdupree@gmail.com Contact Samantha DuPree @
(559) 273-7617 or samfdupree@gmail.com

Newsletter 4
 Praise Team

Hi Church,

I love saying that! Church! It makes me remember all of you and everything that’s great about our body!
Think about the faithful servants we have who work diligently behind the scenes, the smiling faces that show
up every Sunday to bless and encourage, and the prayer warriors who pray without ceasing on all of our
behalves! I love our Church!

We also love leading worship. Singing is how Gregg and I met, in the choir at good old SHS. It has always
been a part of us, and what better way to use our gifts than to worship Almighty God with you.

Recently we attended the Thrive Music Summit at the Bayside Church in Roseville, CA. Professionals from
around the world gathered to teach, share, and encourage. We were filled up and challenged all at the same
time. Our hearts desire is to be better for God. We want to bring the best we have to worship on Sundays.
Will there be changes? Inevitably!

Please join us in bringing your “first Fruits” to our weekly gathering! Join us as we lift our voices with the
angels singing “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty!”
See you Sunday Church! As always, we love to hear from you!

Jodi Jordan (jodi_jordan@yahoo.com)

Gregg Jordan (cj71980@netptc.net)

Hope And Joy

Join the ladies of Hope and Joy, Saturday October 9th, at noon for a potluck lunch at the home of
Joyce Velasquez. Please RSVP to Joyce 855-3149 and for directions.
Bible study for October will be Mary, Mother of Jesus.
Outreach for October is warm hats, gloves and scarves to be donated to Joseph’s Storehouse
(Sierra Lutheran’s food bank) for distribution in November. For more information please contact
Doreen Pickering 855-3797

Service And Resource Ministry

Hopefully you were able to see the skit Sunday September 26, 2010 and receive a survey. Please pray
fully consider finding a place to use your gifts, talents or abilities to help our Church family’s needs.
If you ever see a need in our Church or community, call me. I will have the resources to get the help
from the Team, which is the Church.
I will be sitting outside for a few Sundays with more surveys if you didn’t get one or you just want to
give me your information.
Blessings,
Carol Lawrence

Newsletter 5
 ATTENDANCE AND OFFERING STATISTICS
September, 2010

Date Worship Attendance Offering

2009 2010 2009 2010

September 5 139 106 $6,162.50 $5,756.00

September 12 141 136 $3,417.50 $4,082.00

September 19 145 138 $3,209.50 $3,229.00

September 26 120 161 $3,787.50 $2,582.00

__________________________________________________________
Ave. Sun. Att. 136 135 $16,577.00 $15,649.00

Average Attendance To Date - 2009 2010

138 136

NOTE: Offerings needed per Sunday to meet budget - $5,205.77. Remember to give to the Lord’s work from the
blessings He has given you. Let’s be strong in our giving, and in so doing, glorifying our Father in Heaven.
Remember, God’s loves a cheerful giver!

Pastor Mark Bankson’s Church Takes Second Vote

Our Savior’s Lutheran in Stanwood, Washington voted 88% on their second
vote to leave the ELCA. Pastor Mark Bankson’s church now joins our
church family – LCMC – Lutheran Congregations
in Mission for Christ.

WORSHIP AND PRAYER FOR OUR NATION

Pastor Michael Kingsley will be leading a special service October 30, 7:00pm to pray for our
nation as we head into the November elections. This is a community-wide service designed to
pray for the elections that we may vote in godly men and women to lead us into the future.
Facing Midian, our own praise band will assist in our music worship.

Church Photo Directory

Do you have additions or deletions in the New
Church Photo Directory please contact Becki La Voy-Jordan.
Becki is working on a supplement to our Directory
and hopes to have this done by November 15.
Becki La Voy-Jordan 298-5184 or davidnbecki&gmail.com

Newsletter 6
 Greetings from the Outreach Team!!
The newly formed Outreach Team is gearing up for a variety of activities. In September, a packet
was sent to the Japan Holiness Church letting them know that we are praying for them and wishing
them well. Ai Ishizuka and I are in regular contact and she wishes to convey to all of us how
appreciative her church family is for our prayers and love.

September also saw a team of 5 people rise up early in the morning on Sept. 25th to carpool down
to the Restore in Clovis to help in the effort to garner funds for building Habitat for Humanity
homes. I want to thank Sallie Karp, Fran Garwick, Sue Gallegos, and Mike Jolley for coming with
me to try this out. We will have other dates, so stay "tuned!"

In October we have two projects. The first one will be the hat, glove, scarf, and sock drive that all
of the church can be involved with to help keep our neighbors in need warm this winter. Many
groups are hopping on board with this project. Everyone is a part of this team and if everyone
contributes a little, we will do amazing things!! Hope and Joy has done this project for years for
ministries in Fresno, but have willingly volunteered to assist us as well. The Youth had their socks
drive last year and Robert and Sam with the youth are also "on board" for this worthwhile project.
If you would like to join the TEAM please do so and I will happily store your purchases until we
distribute these items at one of the upcoming Joseph's Store House Saturday food giveaway. Thank
you so much!

October 23rd eight of us are actually going to go and work on one of the Habitat for Humanity
Homes south of Fresno. Pastor John will be leading our group. I am really excited to see that we
are indeed serving our neighbors here in the community as well as our "neighbors" in the valley and
in the world. I would ask everyone to continue to pray for the people David Bookwalter met in
Ukraine and pray for Mike Jolley as he too is being called by God to go on a mission for Christ in
Indonesia. Sierra Lutheran is indeed sharing the love of the Lord all around the world!!! Thanks be
to God!

Blessings to one and all! Lynda Qualls - Outreach Team Leader

Newsletter News
We have a new Newsletter it will be posted to the church website at
www.sierralutheranchurch.com
I will e-mail it to people who prefer it to be sent to them in Microsoft Word format.
There will be hard copies in the narthex for visitors and those that do not have computers.

Please email your articles by the 4th Monday of the month

to Cathy Jolley at mikecatjolley@gmail.com.
or contact me at (559) 855-4048.

Thank you, Cathy Jolley

Newsletter 7
 Weekly Scheduled Events

Monday
3:15-7:30 p.m. “Free Falling” (Middle & Senior High Ministry)–Youth Room
Robert & Samantha Dupree - 273-5246
7:00 p.m. AA Meeting – Room 2 – Men - 855-4187
Tuesday
9:00 a.m. Women’s Group – Knittel Home – Bonnie Knittel - 855-7777
12:30 p.m. Women’s Group – Library – Sallie Karp – 855-2152 and Nordine Sanders
6:15 p.m. Co.D.A.– Library – 855-8340
7:00 p.m. Choir Practice – Sanctuary – Jerry & Fran Garwick – 323-6603
7:00 p.m. Life Group – McCann Home – David and Bev McCann – 298-0609
7:00 p.m. Life Group – Jumps Home – Paul and Arlene Jumps – 855-2261
Wednesday
6:30 p.m. Youth Band – Sanctuary – Robert DuPree – 273-5246
7:00 p.m. Guitar Group – Every 2nd and 4th Wednesday – Room 2
Thursday
6:30 p.m. Praise and Worship Team – Sanctuary – Gregg & Jodi Jordan – 855-4145
7:00 p.m. AA Meeting – Room 2 – Men – 855-4187
Saturday
Noon Hope and Joy – (2nd Sat. each month)
(Call Doreen Pickering – 855-3797 for Location of Meeting)
Sunday
10:45 a.m. Life Group – Library – John & Joyce Velasquez – 855-3149
4:00 p.m. Women’s AA – Library – Women – 855-3162

_________________________________________________________________________
Pastoral Team

Ministers: Every follower of Jesus of Christ

Pastor: John Seathre – 855-8989
Church Administrator: Lori Pape – 855-2861
Youth Minister: Robert DuPree – 273-5246
Children’s Ministry: Samantha Flanagan-DuPree – 273-7617
Nursery Director: Cathy Jolley – 855-4048

Office hours: Mon. thru Fri. 9:00 a.m. – noon

Church website: www.sierralutheranchurch.com
Church e-mail: slc@netptc.net
Telephone: 559-855-8989

32410 Rockhill Lane, Auberry, California 93651

Newsletter 8
 October 2010 Worship Assistants

October 3 October 10 October 17 October 24 October 31

Altar Guild Susan/Shelley Shelley Shelley/Becky Shelley Reformation Day

Greeters 9 am John & Joyce Rod & Marcia Alan & Sue Fern & Joyce R. Gloria & Stacey

11 am Jim & Shirley Jerry & Carol Randall & Ann T. George David & Becky

Ushers 9 am Dave & Joni Bev & Dave C’Rae & Bill John & Joyce Pat & Jim
& & & & &
Vance Stacey Jenny Barbara R. Liinda W.

11 am Jim & Shirley Jerry & Carol Randall & Ann T. George David & Becky

Readers 9 am Mike Nordine Alan Chris Jodi

11 am David B. Fran Stan Shelley Lynda

God’s Word 9 am ---- ??? ---- ??? ???

Computer 9 am Shelley Shelley/Carol Shelley Tim Shelley/Carol

Communion 9 am John & Lori Mike & Chris

Assistants & Bev (with Danny?) Fern

11 am David B. T. George

Prayer 9 am Yes Yes

Stations

If you are unable to serve when scheduled please ask one of the other assistants to trade dates or provide a substitution for you,
and notify Worship Coordinator Shelley Telles (855-5703) of the change.

Sierra Lutheran News 9

 October 2010
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9
9am-Celebration 7pm-AA Meeting 7pm-Choir Practice 6:30pm-Praise Team 9am-Joseph’s
11am-Heritage 7pm-AA Meeting Store House
4pm-AA Meeting
6:33pm-Ascend 633

10 11 12 13 14 15 16
9am-Celebration 7pm-AA Meeting 7pm-Choir Practice 6:30pm-Praise Team
11am-Heritage 7pm-AA Meeting
4pm-AA Meeting
6:33pm-Ascend 633

17 18 19 20 21 22 23
9am-Celebration 7pm-AA Meeting 7pm-Choir Practice 6:30pm-Praise Team
11am-Heritage 7pm-AA Meeting
4pm-AA Meeting
6:33pm-Ascend 633

24 25 26 27 28 29 30
9am-Celebration 7pm-AA Meeting 7pm-Choir Practice 9am-Food Bank 6:30pm-Praise Team
11am-Heritage 7pm-AA Meeting
4pm-AA Meeting NEWSLETTER
6:33pm-Ascend 633 DEADLINE !

31
9am-Celebration
11am-Heritage
4pm-AA Meeting
6:33pm-Ascend 633

Sierra Lutheran News 10

Sierra Lutheran
Newsletter
October 2010
Sierra Lutheran News 11