This word cloud shows the most-used words in the open-text answers to “Describe one thing about Zion that you value more than anything else.”

She reconnected with the 2012 Zion to Zambia team, talked with Pastor Ted about plans for the next mission trip, met with Kirsten and Rachel to set up a Village of Hope project with VBS, spoke at all three services on Global Mission Sunday, and shared the latest developments at the Village of Hope.

She brought along items to sell on Global Mission Sunday from the Village of Hope. These included purses and necklaces made by the Chimwemwe ladies, pictures drawn by Felix, and a CD of the children of the Village singing. Zion members purchased over $600 of merchandise. Thank you to all who bought items in support of AKCLI.

Kathleen is excited about having another group from Zion at the Village in 2014 or early 2015. The Global Mission Committee and the pastors have started planning for that trip and will keep the congregation informed about this exciting opportunity to serve in missions.

Kathleen and Benedict send their thanks to Zion for our continued support and the opportunity Kathleen had to share and connect with the congregation on Global Mission Sunday.

Women are invited to the first in a series of three monthly Bible studies on hunger written by Audrey Novak Riley in June. Audrey was formerly on staff of the Gather magazine and is now associate program director for the ELCA World Hunger Appeal. 

We all know the story: A crowd of people follows Jesus out to the countryside, and by the time evening rolls around they’re all hungry. The disciples tell Jesus to send the people away so they can go get supper in town, and he answers, “You give them something to eat.”

All four gospels give us this story. Three of them give us the command from Jesus in exactly the same words: “You give them something to eat” (Matthew 14:16; Mark 6:37; Luke 9:13). Is Jesus talking to us?

June

• Tuesday, June 18, at 9:30am
• Matthew 14:13-16.
• Yes, those five loaves and two fish fed thousands of hungry mouths, but what about the people’s hungry hearts? How does Jesus feed them?

July

• Tuesday, July 16, at 9:30am
• Mark 6:32–37a
• The disciples thought it would be next to impossible to feed all those people, but with Jesus, all things are possible.

August

• Thursday, August 15, at 7pm
• Luke 9:10–13a
• The five loaves and two fish turned out to be not just enough, but more than enough-—and look at all those leftovers!

Volunteers

Many volunteers will be needed to make this directory a success. Please contact Dawn Bestick or Ann Lyons in the church office if you are able to help. Volunteer opportunities include:

• Activity Photographers: take pictures of Zion’s ministries in action for the introductory pages.
• Photography Sign Up: be available 30 minutes before or after the worship service you attend to help people schedule their photography session online.
• Photography Host: check in families for appointments, put provided address labels on paperwork and check spelling of names.
• Proof Readers: check names and spelling when proof book arrives.

Photography Appointments

Take time to consider which of the following photography sessions will work best for your family. (Keep in mind vacations, work schedules, students returning to college, etc.):

• Summer Photo Session: Monday, July 29 through Friday, August 2 and Monday, August 5 through Friday, August 9. All weekdays run 2-9pm.
• Fall Photo Session: Tuesday, October 1 through Friday, October 4 and Tuesday, October 8 through Friday, October 11. All weekdays run 2-9pm. Saturday, October 9 and Saturday, October 12; weekends run 10am-4pm.

You will be able to sign up for your photo session online, in the church office or at the Information Desk. More details on this exciting adventure will be available here soon.

Good People is a popular, humor-filled play by Pulitzer Prize winner David LindsayAbaire. Good People explores complex social questions about class, luck, and escaping our roots. In a recent interview David Abaire shared that what inspired him to write Good People was his experience growing up working for his father. As a child, he helped his father sell fruit out of their neighborhood fruit stand. Abaire talked about how he observed people as they entered into the theatre across the street from his father’s fruit stand. He often wondered what life was like for those people inside the theatre building.

Abaire’s words of wonder caused me to think about the church. I think about the many children, youth and adults who walk and drive by Redeemer who might be wondering what life is like inside the walls of our community. Abaire’s words remind us that outside the walls of the church are many people who wonder what life is like on the inside.

This is the message of Easter: God entered into the world so that we might know what life is like on the inside. Life on the inside, is to be a member of the kingdom of God, where everyone belongs and everyone is celebrated as a child of God. This Easter message is counter-cultural and difficult for many people to believe. This means that everyone is equal in the kingdom of God, everyone is invited and has a place waiting for them, regardless of their past participation in the church. That’s why I think it is so important that people see and experience the church. That’s why at Redeemer it’s important that there are tambourines, hymnals, organ, and piano in our worship. That’s why we take the “extra” time during worship for passing the peace.

On any given Sunday, the pews at Redeemer are filled with visitors, mission partners, and people seeking to see what life is like on the inside of a congregation where we strive to be diverse, responsive and relevant in our neighborhood. Easter is more than a story about the Good People who have been saved and are on the inside. Easter is the story of a great God who loves us so much that we cannot keep this a secret to ourselves. †

• Check out the Royal Donation Board by Fellowship Hall
• Find a crown that fits your fancy! Each crown has a special item that we need for VBS week. From kiddie pools, to sandpaper, to bags of mini-marshmallows, the possibilities are endless.
• Purchase the item … most donations are less than $10 each!
• Return the item (preferably with the crown attached) to Zion by Sunday, May 26.

The wall should be repaired by worship on May 19.

We expect to begin using the projection system in worship this summer.

One Sunday in the spring of 1988, a woman living on a reservation in North Dakota is attacked. The details of the crime are slow to surface as Geraldine Coutts is traumatized and reluctant to relive or reveal what happened, either to the police or to her husband, Bazil, and thirteen-year-old son, Joe. In one day, Joe’s life is irrevocably transformed. He tries to heal his mother, but she will not leave her bed and slips into an abyss of solitude. Increasingly alone, Joe finds himself thrust prematurely into an adult world for which he is ill prepared.

While his father, who is a tribal judge, endeavors to wrest justice from a situation that defies his efforts, Joe becomes frustrated with the official investigation and sets out with his trusted friends, Cappy, Zack, and Angus, to get some answers of his own. Their quest takes them first to the Round House, a sacred space and place of worship for the Ojibwe. And this is only the beginning.

From goodreads.com

The Zion Book Club is a low pressure book club. Simply come for discussion with no preparation; participants are not obligated to agree on (or even finish) the books. Come when you have interest and time, so that the book club will enrich your life and not become another stress or obligation.

As you are packing away your winter clothes, remember any sweaters in good condition, that you are willing to part with can be donated to Harvest of Hands.

Drop the sweaters off at the bin in the narthex through Sunday, May 12. They will be cleaned and ready to be sold at the Harvest of Hands event.

• Philosophy of Elections motion (pdf)

Open forums to discuss and seek God’s guidance concerning changing the method of filing vacant positions from an open election process to a ballot with only one name per elected position have been scheduled as follows in the library:

• June 9, 2013 at 9:30am
• August 11, 2013 at 9:30am
• September 15, 2013 at 9:30am
• October 6, 2013 at 9:30am

If you have any questions or cannot make the meeting please contact Barb Hinz (phone number available from the church office).

The exemplary novel of the Jazz Age, F. Scott Fitzgeralds’ third book, The Great Gatsby (1925), stands as the supreme achievement of his career. T. S. Eliot read it three times and saw it as the “first step” American fiction had taken since Henry James; H. L. Mencken praised “the charm and beauty of the writing,” as well as Fitzgerald’s sharp social sense; and Thomas Wolfe hailed it as Fitzgerald’s “best work” thus far. The story of the fabulously wealthy Jay Gatsby and his love for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan, of lavish parties on Long Island at a time when, The New York Times remarked, “gin was the national drink and sex the national obsession,” it is an exquisitely crafted tale of America in the 1920s that resonates with the power of myth. A novel of lyrical beauty yet brutal realism, of magic, romance, and mysticism, The Great Gatsby is one of the great classics of twentieth-century literature.From Amazon.com

You are encouraged to also read Unforgettable by Loretta Elsworth as a companion book.

Baxter Green isn’t like everyone else. While most people would forget about the little details of everyday life, Baxter never forgets—not pain, not hurt, not embarrassment. In fact, Baxter never forgets anything—not even a string of account numbers, flashed before his eyes by his mother’s criminal boyfriend, Dink, for use in a credit card scam. Years after his testimony has locked Dink away, Baxter and his mother are in a new town, trying to forget the danger Dink brought into their lives. Baxter wants to hide his unique ability, but it becomes increasingly more difficult when he reconnects with Hallie, a girl from his childhood who has lived on in his memory long after she has forgotten him. Can Baxter win Hallie’s heart?

From Amazon.com

The Zion Book Club is a low pressure book club. Simply come for discussion with no preparation; participants are not obligated to agree on (or even finish) the books. Come when you have interest and time, so that the book club will enrich your life and not become another stress or obligation.

Upcoming Book Selections include The Round House by Louise Erdrich on August 12.

• Here’s a sample
• Sign up at ZionBuffalo.org/subscribe.

A Mission Trip Guidebook has been prepared for anyone who is considering taking a mission trip in the future.

Meals will be served each week until the end of the school year excluding school breaks.

• May 1: Tacos
• May 8: Sloppy Joes
• May 15: Soup, Chili, Hot dog