03/09/2022 - Zion Lutheran Church

Teen Talk 2022.04

03/09/2022

Newborns aren’t identifying themselves by their political affiliations, gender roles, religion or culture. They are just existing. That changes dramatically during the teenage years. Adolescence usually brings with it the exciting realization that maybe, just maybe…they can be anything they want to be. This curiosity usually promotes a massive craving for autonomy and space to figure it all out. The challenge comes when our teens’ desire for autonomy clashes with our craving for control. You may be saying, “But I

Sunday School Children Grow-in-Faith

03/09/2022

Zion KiDS have been working on learning various faith foundations such as learning how to bless one another, pray, and memorizing The Lord’s Prayer, The 10 Commandments, and Books of the Bible. Holy Communion is a third-grade milestone (we had many 4th, 5th, & 6th graders join in as well). 36 Zion KiDS attended classes and received their 1st Communion on Sunday, February 6. The first grade Sunday school class has been working hard on memorizing The Lord’s Prayer, and

An Expansive Lent

03/09/2022

Lent has always been one of my favorite seasons of the church year. That may seem odd, since it is almost always equated with sacrifice, confession, and a sort of dreariness. Not that our Lenten journey shouldn’t elicit some solemnity as we journey alongside of Jesus toward his death on the cross. There is much to be gained from an intentional, introspective, honest look at ourselves during Lent. However, given the solemnity and sacrifice of the past years, it seems

Immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine

What is Next?

03/09/2022

An update from Zion’s Transition Team March 16th through April 17th will be a crucial time frame for Zion’s next steps in this transition period. To help make the search for our next Senior Pastor as effective as possible it is vitally important to have congregational participation in these next steps. Your input, prayers, and participation will help shape the future for Zion’s mission and ministry. On March 16th, the link for taking the Congregational Assessment Tool (CAT) goes live,

Membership Data

03/09/2022

How many members does Zion have? Simple question, but the answer is complex and this time last year, we really didn’t have an answer that we felt was very accurate. So, the council formed a small working group to develop policies and processes associated with membership at Zion. The constitution provides some information and direction on membership but not a lot. Chapter 12 states “The Congregation Council shall provide for an annual review of the membership roster,” but doesn’t give

Together

03/09/2022

I would like to start off by answering what I believe will be a question many of you reading this article will be asking yourself. “I thought he said he would not be serving a second term as council president.” So did I. At the beginning of this year I was given the opportunity to serve on the Buffalo City Council to fill a vacancy for the remainder of a departing councilman’s term. Given the duties of this role, I