It’s Never Too Early to Consider Having a Will

The saying goes, “You can’t take it with you.” However, you certainly do have the ability to decide where it goes. That is one of the benefits of planning and having a will. God has entrusted you with your assets, and this can be your way of passing them on according to your wishes and faith.

For those with younger children, the single most important aspect of a will is appointing a guardian for your children. A will provides comfort in knowing that your children will be looked after by someone you trust and love.

The allocation of assets is what people typically think of when they think of having a will. This is your opportunity to ensure that special items will be handed down to those you intended. Also, it allows for the passing on of financial assets in the manner you choose. Perhaps you want to place age restrictions or special instructions on heirs having full access to certain funds, etc… This can be accomplished through having a will.

Leaving a legacy by supporting charities. Frank Robert, associate director of the Mid-Atlantic United Methodist Foundation sums it up nicely: “Bringing your faith into your last will and testament is an act of stewardship because it shows others, that even after death, where your priorities were in life. It shows where you put your value and trust.”

Finally, it makes everything easier for your heirs. During a time of loss, dealing with lawyers and judges is not anything anyone looks forward to. Having a will and clear directives minimizes the amount of work, bureaucracy, and second-guessing your loved ones will have to endure.

As always, for more information or to begin creating a will, please seek out professional advice to ensure state and federal requirements are met.

Financial Report 2021.06

John

The following summarizes the financial activity of Zion as of the end of June.  Giving in June to the General Fund was about 8.6% lower compared to June 2020.  For the year to date, the General Fund income is about $9000 less than what was received at this point in 2020.  Expenses, with the exception of Operating Expense, continue to be down significantly.  Part of the payment for the cemetery land purchase came from the Operating Expense line item which is the reason for the increase in that category.  As of the end of June, our cash on hand in the General Fund was a little over $287,000.

The building fund income in June was about $300 less than received in June 2020.  For the year to date, Building Fund income is about $2700 less than our mortgage payments.  Cash on hand is currently about $58,000.

We anticipate that our expenses will rise significantly as we move into fall with the reinstatement of our usual programming and the filling of key staff vacancies.  Thank you for your continued financial support of Zion as we go forward.

Appreciating the Dawn

I will make a confession. I’m not really a morning person. But, I’m married to a morning person and almost every job I’ve had in my adult life has required an earlier than preferred wake-up call. To be clear, this isn’t really a complaint. I really like those early hours of the morning as the sun is coming up and life starts to stir. Whether it is sipping a cup of coffee on the deck before getting ready for work or sitting in a duck blind watching the sun come up and paint the sky with amazing colors, one of the best parts about this time of day is the opportunity to look ahead at the day and consider what lies ahead.

As I reviewed all of the things happening at Zion over the past several months, I started to think about how we are at a point with our congregation where we are looking at the horizon and contemplating what lies ahead. I am going to try to provide updates on several items that are of particular interest to the Congregation.

  • The Interim Senior Pastor search is moving ahead and the Synod has provided a candidate which the Church Council is reviewing and the Council Executive Committee is interviewing.
  • The Associate Pastor of Congregational Life Call Committee has interviewed several candidates and hopes to move forward with a candidate.
  • Kristin Lotthammer is pulling together the Sunday school program for this fall. Remember to register your children and if you have an interest in helping, please reach out to Kristin if you want to volunteer.
  • The Sanctuary is almost complete and we’ve moved the 9am Sunday service back into that venue.
  • The Personnel Committee is seeking candidates for CYFM Events Coordinator and CYFM Admin Assistant. Please see details on pages 8-9.

With fall fast approaching, we have a lot to look forward to at Zion. Sunday School, Confirmation, Communion Classes, Youth Groups, Zfest, and much more. To those of you that have given your time, energy, and resources to the ministries and other projects, I want to say thank you. Just like those early hours of the day, we have much to contemplate and plan for and we can accomplish great things at Zion together.

“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to their purpose.” ~ Romans 8:28

Pastor Dave’s Move

In March of 2019, I came to Zion as part-time Interim Pastor for Visitation and Pastoral Care. At that time, it was thought that the interim would likely be brief until a settled full-time Pastor for Congregational Life was called. None of us expected two and a half years to go by.

Part of the “interim” label is the understanding that either the congregation could call a new settled pastor, or the interim could find a settled call elsewhere. On Sunday, July 25th, the ELCA congregation of Osseo Evangelical Lutheran Church in Osseo, WI, voted to extend me a full-time settled call as Associate Pastor, culminating in a process that began in April when Zion’s Call Committee began actively interviewing candidates following the pandemic.

It’s difficult to leave Zion right now since there have been many transitions lately, and because Cathy and I have been made to feel so welcome here. Yet I look forward to the chance to create new experiences and new ministries in a settled call. Cathy and I will be moving to Osseo, which is about 20 miles south of Eau Claire on I-94.

Words can’t express my gratitude for the community of Zion. It has been a great blessing to have been among such wonderful people and to have partnered in ministry and walked our journeys of faith together. A huge and heartfelt “Thank you” to each and every one of you. I am confident in the strength and ability of the members, staff, and congregational leadership to move Zion into a rich future.

My final Sunday at Zion will be August 22nd. I invite you to attend worship that day to lend your voice to the service of Farewell and Godspeed as we all make this transition. I will be in worship the Sundays leading up to the 22nd and in the office during the week, and I welcome the chance to chat or answer any questions. God’s peace to you all!

Annual Membership Review

Dirk

The Zion constitution states:

The Congregation Council shall provide for an annual review of the membership roster.

Well…. To tell you the truth, we haven’t been very good at doing this in the past, but we are working on changing that. Most churches aren’t very good at keeping their membership rosters updated, but a small group of Zion council members, along with Angela our Membership Coordinator, have been meeting regularly to create a process that fulfills this requirement. So far, we have identified activities that define membership such as communing, contributing financially, and connecting to Zion in some manner. We have also outlined the process for how we are going to review our roster annually.

Periodically, Zion sends out emails or physical mailings to all our members. And we always get a few rejects that are undeliverable because the address changed, and we didn’t get notified. However, it takes time to follow up with these individuals and get the correct email or physical address in the database. We are looking for someone that would like to volunteer to follow up and try and get accurate contact information when this happens. This is a great opportunity to reach out to members of the congregation you might not know and to visit with them, and to keep our information as accurate as possible.

Another way we will keep our membership roster accurate is to reach out to all members annually to ask that they update us with phone numbers, email addresses, and physical addresses. Following Easter, every spring, we will send out a mailing and also an email asking members to provide any updates that may have occurred. This would also include information about their children that may now be of adult age and should no longer be listed under their parent.

Ensuring our roster of voting members is accurate is also very important. Our congregational annual meeting is usually the second Sunday in December and to be considered a voting member, an individual must have communed AND contributed financially in the current or previous calendar year. For example, if the last time you communed AND contributed financially to Zion (as recorded in the database) was 2019, you would not be eligible to speak or vote at the December 2021 annual meeting. So, starting about this time every year, we will reach out to those individuals we do not have a record of communing and contributing financially to inform them and to invite them to commune and contribute before the annual meeting.

Finally, the bylaws of the constitution list criteria for members to be removed from the roster. One criterion states a confirmed member shall be removed if they have not:
communed, contributed as a volunteer, or contributed financially for two years.

The working group is proposing this statement be changed to “in the current or previous calendar year.”  The goal is not to remove members from the roster, but to inform them of their situation and encourage them to become more active at Zion.  This would be done every year at the same time the voting members are being updated.  If a member does not meet the activities of communing, contributing, or connecting to Zion in the current or previous year, additional attempts will be made to reach them, and then their name will be presented to the council and the council will vote to remove the name from the roster.

We will start updating and maintaining our membership rosters this year.  Annual update requests will start rolling out to members in the near future.  As always, you can update your information anytime by contacting Angela in the church office.

Found a Way through Music

John

John grew up in Storm Lake, Iowa, where his family attended Lakeside Presbyterian Church.

Not going to church was never an option.  My parents were very committed to their faith.  When I was nine my dad died.  My mom carried on their encouragement of my church involvement.  Her dedication to missions – especially Native Americans in the west – always had her sewing  clothes to be sent away.  Her example of living will always remain with me.
His fondest memories are the youth program he grew up in.

His favorite Bible verse is  Ephesians 2: 8-9.

For it is by his grace you are saved, through trusting him; it is not your own doing.  It is God’s gift, not a reward for work done.

John changed majors each year he was in college, moving from Math, to Physics, to Sociology, and finally Music in his senior year.  He then worked as a band director in Wadena for 32 years, his only teaching job, and a piano tuner/technician.

John married Wendy, a Lutheran, and also a band director. Her real love was her piano studio and teaching those skills to many kids (and a few adults).  They attended Immanuel Lutheran Church in Wadena and raised a son, Jeff, who is now a 5th grade teacher and cross country  and track coach; and a daughter, Monica, who is now a nurse anesthetist.

After retiring from teaching in 2000, John worked for another 17 years as a tax preparer for H&R Block in Wadena and then in Buffalo. They moved to Buffalo to be closer to Jeff and Monica and five grandkids who were in St Cloud and Shorewood.

Both Wendy and I wanted to find a church that offered a traditional service.  We were pleased that Zion soon felt like home, even though it was a much larger church than we came from.

John had been involved with the finance committee when they attended Immanuel in Wadena.

Given that experience and the fact that finance/numbers has always been interesting to me, I offered to join Zion’s Finance Committee.  Our basic responsibility is to monitor the financial condition of the church and to make financial recommendations to the church council as needed.

Getting involved in music was just a natural fit for Wendy and me.  With both of us coming from music education backgrounds, we felt that getting involved in Zion’s music program was the best way for us to “find our way” into life at Zion.  Going back to congregational singing has been great; however, the very long layoff has not done me any favors.  Mike may well tell me to go find a place in the congregation!

They had been married for 46 years before Wendy died in 2017.

John now spends a lot of service time working with the various projects of Zion’s Social Ministry Committee, such as the Blessing Closet and Fare for All.

Roger and Sandy Brenny make sure that I am not bored without anything to do!  It is fulfilling to see the results of the many projects they lead.

I don’t feel like God has changed my life.  Rather, I feel that he has been with me throughout my life.  As a family we experienced a number of medical events – premature birth, lung collapses, cancer – where we always knew that God was with us.  And it was the presence of the Holy Spirit that guided us and supported us in each of these times.

My hope for Zion’s future is that we will remain relevant to the needs of our congregation, community, and ultimately the world.  Things are going to be different as we open up from the pandemic.  We don’t live in a time when we can just do things the way we always have.  We may well need to find other ways to “tell the story” as we move forward.

The congregation also thanks John for being Zion’s in-house piano tuner. Along with the financial gift of free services, it is also wonderful to know that he is available even for emergency tunings of our many pianos.

What Is a Member

Dirk

What does it mean to be a member of Zion? Simple question, right? But in fact, the question is very complex. Are there different types of members? What activities help define membership? If I go to church periodically, then I’m a member of Zion, right? All very good questions. The answers may surprise you!

The constitution defines four different members:

  • Baptized – whether you’ve been baptized at Zion or baptized at another church before joining Zion.
  • Confirmed – whether you have been confirmed as a youth at Zion or joined as an adult.
  • Voting – are confirmed members who have communed and made a contribution of record during the current or previous calendar year.
  • Associate – are persons holding membership in another congregation who wish to retain membership in that congregation but desire to participate in the life and mission of Zion. We have very few associate members.

So… there are some activities or events that define membership. Baptism, confirmation, communion, and a contribution of record. The first three are straightforward and don’t need further explanation. The membership working group has been meeting for the last few months and has defined a contribution of record as a financial contribution recorded in the Fellowship One database. The working group also identified another activity to help define membership and that is one of involvement. Whether you are a member of a Bible study, music group, committee, social activity like the Zion softball team or the fishing group, or volunteer for the youth program or any other ministry of Zion, you are involved and engaged with Zion. The working group defined an active member as one who has done any of these activities in the current or previous year. For example, if you have communed, OR contributed financially, OR been involved at Zion, you are an active member.

All members of Zion should strive to become engaged members of Zion. An engaged member is one who has in the current or previous calendar year, communed, AND given financially, AND been involved or volunteered at Zion. Because we are a large congregation, it can be difficult knowing who is involved with a group. We encourage everyone to register and use the membership portal of Fellowship One called InFellowship. Here you can connect with a small group, find the contact information for other Zion members, and see your financial contributions

Being a voting member of Zion is important and means you have a voice and vote at the annual congregation meeting. To be a voting member of Zion, you must have communed AND given financially to Zion in the current or previous calendar year. These activities can only be considered when they are recorded. That’s why it is important for you to fill out the communion card either hardcopy or electronically at ZionBuffalo.org/card. Likewise, ensuring your financial contributions are recorded by placing them in your giving envelope will ensure you maintain your voting membership. If you don’t have an envelope or want to set up electronic giving which will be linked to your name, contact Steve Peterson at steve@zionbuffalo.org.

All active and voting members of Zion should strive to become engaged members, which means that not only can you vote but that you are involved and engaged with the activities of Zion. If you are curious about opportunities and happenings at Zion or want to sign up for a volunteer opportunity, check out www.zionbuffalo.org/engage. There you can find and register for lots of the happenings at Zion.

What does it mean to be a member of Zion? It can be complex, but we hope in the end, that we all decide to be engaged members of Zion and live out our mission of “With all we are and all we do, we will trust, live and serve Christ Jesus, our Lord.”

 

Change

Looking back over the past 15 months it would be fair to say that change has been a constant theme. Whether it has been related to COVID19-related changes or the broader world, change is the reality we live with today. But change can mean many things to many people. Depending on the situation, it can be a time of worry or a time of hope. Having worked in a corporate setting for over 25 years I’ve seen how change can impact individuals in different ways. I’ve watched a department reorganization eliminate jobs and one person will be devastated while another will view it as the catalyst to make the changes that would have otherwise never been undertaken. In fact, the latter has more often been the case. This brings me to my message to the congregation.

With Pastor Ted’s recent announcement about his decision to leave Zion, we have a new element of change in our world. The question is how we will deal with this change. For Pastor Ted, it is an opportunity to enter a new part of his life with his family. For the congregation, it is a catalyst to look to the next phase of Zion’s role in the lives of the members of Zion and in the Buffalo community. What we do with this opportunity is up to us.

Understanding that this is the beginning of a new journey I want the congregation to know that at the time that I am writing this article the local synod office is already searching for an interim pastor candidate for our church. I am confident that the synod will be able to provide our church with spiritual leadership in the interim while we begin the search for a new long-term spiritual leader to fill the role of Pastor Ted.

We have a current Call Committee tasked with searching for a Pastor of Congregational Life and a Search Committee overseeing the search for a Youth Director. Given these committees’ current work, it is necessary for the Church Council to determine the next steps in order to prioritize the needs of the church and fill Pastor Ted’s role as quickly as is appropriate.
Much like our Sanctuary renewal project, we will move forward with a vision for the future of Zion. It may be a different vision than it was 15 months ago, but it will be our vision. as a congregation with a goal to continue to do the ministries of Zion in our community and in all of God’s community around the world.

Thank you.
Jameson

A Time of Opportunity

It’s a unique time at Zion. As we celebrate the nearly 12 years of ministry that Pastor Ted has provided, it’s also known that Bristol Reading and I are interims, and both of us are actively interviewing for settled pastoral calls. Zion has openings for a full-time youth director and, eventually, staff for Children, Youth, and Family, and someone to partner with Laurie in the front office. The Call Committee and the Personnel Committee continue to work to find the right people to fill these positions, but it can be a slow process to assure a good fit. With also trying to return to some normalcy following COVID, it makes for a challenging time.

But it is also an exciting time of opportunity. There is strong lay leadership here, and perhaps more than ever, the community of Zion will look to people like you to step up and offer involvement and ownership of ministry. We will have to change the idea that, “There’s a staff person for that.”

If programs and events are to happen, your discipleship and stewardship of time will be vital. If there is something you think absolutely needs to continue or resume at Zion, I encourage you to prayerfully consider how you can help. And if you have ideas for new ministries, prayerfully consider how those ideas might come to fruition and share your thoughts with the church council.

Zion had a history of bringing the Gospel message to this area long before Pastor Ted, Bristol, or I appeared, and with your commitment to “trust, live, serve Christ Jesus our Lord,” will continue to do so after we’re gone.

A Note from Pastor Ted

“What an awesome ministry Zion has!” I have heard that statement numerous times over the last nearly 12 years. It has been a joy to be a part of this awesome ministry.

While I have enjoyed our ministry together, I am writing to inform you that I have accepted a call as an Interim Pastor to serve Prairie Lutheran Church in Eden Prairie, MN. I will be leaving Zion July, 4th after Sunday morning worship.

I believe Zion needs a new Senior Pastor. We have done some great ministry, started new missions, and expanded our service in the community and world during the last 12 years. I really have enjoyed being the Senior Pastor here at Zion.  But I also think that Zion is at a place when it is time for some new ideas and direction for Zion’s best. I too am looking forward to doing new things and for a fresh start in another congregation.

I have gotten to know many of you pretty well and enjoyed our friendship. I will miss being your pastor. But, it is very important that when pastors move to another congregation that they no longer involve themselves with ministry to members of the former church. That is a difficult thing for some pastors to do but it is necessary for the good of the church.

As I leave, I want to remind you that I will no longer be able to perform any pastoral acts for Zion members. I have developed good relationships with older adults, younger parents, youth and children. I have baptized your children and buried your parents. I will no longer be able to do those kinds of pastoral acts. I ask that you not ask me to do weddings, funerals, and such things. I can attend functions as a friend but as much as I would like to, I cannot perform any official pastoral acts for members of Zion in the future.  This is necessary for the congregation, members, and myself to move on to the next chapter of Zion’s life.

Sara and I plan to stay in our home, so I expect I will see you around the community occasionally. I will enjoy the opportunity to stop and talk with you, catch up and hear about the great new things Zion is doing.

Thank you for the opportunity to serve as your Senior Pastor.