For Sunday, February 27, 2011
Eighth Sunday after Epiphany

For a list of upcoming activities go to http://www.mychurchevents.com/calendar/calendar.aspx?ci=G1K5L6N8L6I3N8

Be sure to check out our website http://welcometopeace.com
If you cannot attend this Sunday, you can still make an offering using our online service at Contribute Online. Thank you for your commitment to our mission and ministry.

We invite you to become a friend of Peace on the Peace Facebook webpage. Facebook is an online social networking site that helps communities of friends stay connected on an on-going basis. The cost is free. Facebook is a lot fun and you will enjoy the connections. You will need a Facebook account to join. Go to http://facebook.com for more information and search Facebook for Peace Lutheran Church, Pasadena Texas. We look forward to you joining.

Sunday's Events
We are pleased to welcome The Rev. Joseph Winston as our guest preacher on Sunday morning.
Mark Kindsvatter and staff from Lutherhill will be here to tell us about the summer ministries at Lutherhill.
Congregational Meeting at 12:30 pm to extend a call to our Youth Director, Ben Remmert, as an AiM for Youth & Family Ministries here at Peace. Please make a special effort to attend.

Pastoral Care Notes
Hospitalized:
Helen Shoppa: Triumph, Clear Lake

From the Youth Director
It’s the end of February and we are quickly approaching March. This is the time when winter is having its final days and spring is beginning to come. So while it’s been two full months in 2011, I am just curious about how your New Year’s resolutions are coming along? I ask this because I know so many people will think that since their goals for 2011 are not coming true, they will make them their Lent practices. But as Lent is coming around the corner, I just want you to begin thinking about what you are planning on doing to prepare for Easter?

Also we have our March youth and family newsletter in the narthex if you would like a copy.
God Bless,
Ben Remmert

We Have To Call Ben Again? What Does This Mean?
So some of you may wonder why do we have to vote on Ben Remmert again as our Director of Youth and Family Ministry? The answer is simple, because now I am called to ministry of Word and Service as an Associate in Ministry (AiM). Associates in Ministry are leaders who are commissioned for ministry to equip and enable others in their Christian lives. They are theologically trained lay ministers that specialize in service in congregations, provide leadership and support program ministries of the whole people of God and who possess a deep value to the church. They go through candidacy process that our ordained pastors go through to be leaders in our church and work hand in hand with our Word and Sacrament leaders.

So we are having a congregational meeting to vote to see if this is who you would want to help serve as your Dir. of Youth and Family Ministry. For now I am not only an individual theologically and academically trained for youth and family ministry, but I am called to serve in leadership in the whole Christian Church. So please come to our congregational meeting on Feb. 27th to vote if you want me to be your Associate in Ministry for your Youth and Family Ministries.

Summer Lutherhill Rally Day: February 27
On Sunday, we are having Matt Kindsvatter from Lutherhill to talk to us about Summer ministries. We are going to have some fun learning more about Lutherhill with some games, snacks, and fun. So please plan on coming to worship so Matt can talk about the ministries offered at Lutherhill. For the Sunday School class, we are going to have some fun playing some games, have a craft or two to create, and have a mini-day of Lutherhill for our Sunday School class. If you are planning on going to Lutherhill this summer, we need you to sign up as soon as possible. Spots are filling fast and we need a good head count so we can put down our deposit. Remember that if you are in 1st-5th grade, we are going to Lutherhill on August 7th-12th, 2011 and 6th-8th are going to Lutherhill on June 19th-24th. Sign Ups are on the youth and family bulletin board for summer ministries. More questions? Contact Ben Remmert.

St. Patrick Day Celebration: March 20th, 2011, 12:30 PM-3:00 PM
It’s that time of the year again. Wear your green with pride, but it’s also a time of celebration of Saint Patrick, the Saint that helped spread Christianity? We are going to spend the day celebrating the life of Saint Patrick with a church family picnic here at Peace Lutheran where we will play some games, eat some food, create some crafts, and enjoy our Christian community together. For more information, please contact Ben Remmert.

Calling Sr. High and Young Adults: Need Help with Recycling Program
For the past months, we have been picking up papers from residents at the Waterford Retirement Community in Deer Park. We collect these papers and put them in our receptacles, which raises money for our youth and family programs, but also to help our environment. We need weekly pick ups. This is not hard work, and it’s an amazing opportunity to reach out to Waterford, raise money, and help serve God’s creation. You may even leave with cookies, candy, and other goodies. We need help Sr. High and Young Adults to pick up these papers. If you are interested, please contact Ben Remmert.

Sunday Refuge For Jr. & Sr. High @ 9:45 AM!
Are you ready for a new experience? Are you needing a time to be amongst people your age? Why not come to a place of Refuge for you to explore your faith while having a blast doing it! This will not be your typical Sunday School class you have experienced in the past. There will be food, games and activities, and time to listen to the gospel in a new light with a message that reflects our world today. Bring a friend!

Camp Hope Paid Staff Applications- Due February 27!
Camp Hope is an opportunity for our Jr. High and Sr. High to lead in a 3 week day camp where we teach the good news of Christ through games, worship, interactive story telling, snacks, crafts, expressive arts, and service. It’s an opportunity for Peace to be a part of one of the most successful outreach and youth leadership program our synod offers to our youth and families. If you have not turned in your staff application, please contact Ben Remmert.



Saints of Faith Milestone: March 20th At 9:45 AM and March 27th at 11 AM Worship
We are given our time together as a gift of God’s creation. People are given the choices to do what they want with their time. Our Christian faith calls us to live the life of the servant, the life that Jesus Christ lived. But can we truly live this life style? For those that accept the call to live the life of the suffering servant and preach the good news of Jesus Christ to the community, these are saints. This is what we are going to ask of our third graders for this milestone celebration as they will be learning about the people that helped shape our Christian story and heritage and how we can continue to shaping the Christian story. So be sure to mark your calendar for this important milestone. For more information, please contact Ben Remmert.

DEEP Leadership Meeting: February 27 @ 2:00 PM!
Our leadership team is called “DEEP” because we are going to dive into our ministry together, head first. This is again a time for us to come together to gather and share the vision of Peace Lutheran’s ministry but also a time for our leaders to come together for devotion and have some discussions about passing on the faith to our youth. We are going to begin our times together discussing about the research done on the spiritual lives of American youth by Kendra Dean in Almost Christian. Kendra Dean has made some new discovers that can help us grow in our ministry. So if you are interested in becoming a leader in our youth and family committee, please contact Ben Remmert or join us on Sunday.

Family Meal Nights with the Youth Director!
Thank you for those families that have already talked to me about a time to meet, but for those that have not, there is still time! I have been here for 8 months and I am still committed to meeting all our families here at Peace Lutheran. I have placed a sign up sheet on our youth bulletin for families to sign up what day and time you would like to schedule a meal together where we can bond together as Brothers and Sisters in Christ. For more information, please contact Ben Remmert.

Jr. High, Sr. High, and Youth Group: Oh My!
Are you a youth and searching for a community to belong to? Do you want to have fun with people your own age? Why not come and give youth group a try. This is a time where we are going to build on our community through fellowship, prayer, devotion, and a meal together as a group. We are wanting this to be an engaging time for our youth so the more the better! Here is the schedule for our youth groups for 2011.
Jr. High- Sundays at 5 pm- 6pm
Sr. High- Sundays at 4 pm- 6 pm
Young Adults- Wednesdays at 7 pm-8:30 pm

Communion Instruction- April 3rd, April 10th, And April 17th At 1 PM
It’s coming up, our spring class of Communion Instruction! All students ready for instruction in First Communion (we suggest 3rd grade- 5th grade) are invited to attend classes every Sunday at 1:00 pm on April 3rd, April 10th, and April 17th. We are going to learn more about how communion is our gift of God’s love and grace while learning how it helps us communicate our Christian message. Our children will receive their first communion on April 24th with their families. Please contact Ben Remmert for more questions.

Sr. High and Jr. High Hunger Famine Lock-In- March 25th- March 26th
We will be going over to Kinsmen Lutheran Church with other Lutheran congregations from March 25th – March 26! All Senior High and Junior High are invited as we will have activities for both grades and activities that are to engage them on their own level. We are going to learn more about world hunger and participate in a 30 Hour Famine to help raise money for Lutheran World Relief to help feed the world. It’s going to be a blast! Please bring $5 to help pay for dinner and breakfast. For more information, please contact Ben Remmert.

Jr. High Human Dignity Retreat: April 8th-9th
What this is not is a Sex Ed. Retreat. However, this is a place to have caring and warm discussions where we will talk about how we are relational beings and how God has given us the gift of sexuality. This is a lock-in only for our Jr. High students and we are going to Holy Comforter Lutheran Church where we will be with 5 other Lutheran congregations where there will be food, games, fellowship, and meaningful conversations. For parents, we will come together on March 21st at 6:30 pm to discuss what we will be talking with your youth about. We will meet at Peace Lutheran Church at 6:00 pm and be back at Peace on April 9th at 8:00 pm. Cost is $30 which includes three meals, snacks, transportation, and our activities. Sign ups are on the youth and family ministry bulletin board. Please sign up by March 21st. More questions please contact Ben Remmert.

Youth Lent Focus: Becoming a Contagious Christian
Lent is the time to focus our attention to the ministry of Jesus Christ. So with Lent coming around the corner, we are going to have our Wednesday Night evenings focused on how to equip our youth in relational evangelism by discovering your own style of communicating about Christ, how to build spiritually significant relationships, telling your own story, and having some fun doing so. For more information, please contact Ben Remmert.

Lent Is Coming Up- Calling Our Jr./Sr. High Actors For An Easter Performance
It’s closer than you think. With such a successful Christmas Program, we are going to be putting together another production for our Easter service and we need some help! As of right now we are looking for Jr. High and Sr. High Students who would like to perform in a production that has to do with the Easter Message. If you are interested, please contact Ben Remmert for more information. We will have our production decision by the end of the month and begin rehearsals in on March 7th at 7 pm.

Jr. High and Sr. High Youth Group: Tangled Blue is Coming!
On March 1st at 6:00 pm, Tangled Blue (well renowned Christian band) is coming to House of Prayer Lutheran Church for a youth (Jr. and Sr. High) only evening where they will be playing games that encourage positive peer mediation. We will be ordering pizza. Then on Wednesday March 2nd, the Sr. High are invited to attend the concert at House of Prayer Lutheran Church at 6:30 pm until 8:00 pm. There is no ticket price, but a free will offering will be taken. It’s going to be a lot of fun. For more questions, please contact Ben Remmert.

Youth Garage Sale on April 16th!
To help raise funds for Camp Hope and summer ministries this summer, we are going to host a garage sale here at Peace. We will also be serving lunch at the garage sale. So if you have items in your closet, attic, or garage that are collecting dust and just need a reason to donate, why not help our youth as they are preparing for our summer outreach ministries. If you plan on donating items, please plan on bring them over to Peace Lutheran Church after March 20th. For more information, please contact Ben Remmert.





Call Committee Report of February 20, 2011 Meeting
We had our second meeting at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, February 20, 2011. All members were present and we have a positive, enthusiastic, and knowledgeable group who are here to serve our Lord. So that our congregation can have a thumbnail sketch of steps to be taken and maybe have a visual of the process, below is a partial list to show the process.

Step 1 - The Bishop’s office is to meet with our church council, appoint a Transition Coach, and provide resources for the church council and call committee to help in the Call Process. This step has been done.

Step 2 - Pastor has resigned, responsibilities of the Transition Coach are explained, there is to be a closure consultation, professional ethical boundaries and retirement boundaries are explained and there is to be a tying up of loose ends. These "loose ends" are submitted to the Synod Bishop (1) a certification that all financial obligations have been fulfilled between the congregation and the pastor; and (2) a certification that all the congregations records are in good order. The loose ends of this step are to be completed soon.

Step 3 - (A) Creation of a Transition Team - who should serve. The transition team should be appointed by council. The team should consist of no more than seven persons who represent the composition of the congregation (and are held in high regard and trust by the membership of the congregation). Council is working on this.
(B) Securing Pastoral Leadership during the Transition - This step has been accomplished. Our interim pastor, Galen Knutson, will be installed March 6, 2011.

Step 4 - Forming a Call Committee - This step has been accomplished.
The call committee members are Sandy Tillis, Ed Buskirk, Weldon Wilkerson, Bob Wells, Joann Hutton, Dawn Lambert, Darla Haygood (non voting member/liason with council), Ernie McWilliams. (1) The call committee should form a time line and provide to the congregation, so everyone is relating to the same schedule. (2) The call committee is to establish a budget with church council. The call committee is working on these two items.

As a bonus, a Prayer Group has been formed to keep the congregation, the members of council, members of the call committee, and our future pastor in their prayers.

There are many steps in the call process and these are just the first 4. The next major step is to complete the Ministry Site Profile (MSP) (more information regarding this process will be published as the whole congregation is involved in this) and submit the MSP to the Bishop’s office. This will start the ball rolling toward getting names of potential pastors to interview.

We are a "Call" Committee, not a "Hiring Committee," and we want to serve God in a way that is pleasing to Him.
Blessings and Peace,
Peace Lutheran Call Committee

Calling All Praying People of Peace
The Special Prayer Group met last Sunday. The purpose of this group is to pray, not only for the Call Committee, but also for all ministries of Peace during the call process. We will be praying again on Sunday at 3:00 pm. This time was not chosen by accident--it is the time the Call Committee will be meeting, and, what better time for us to be praying.

Anyone can pray anywhere – but, there is power in numbers of believing Christians, praying together at the same time. So, prayerfully consider joining us. The group last week was small enough to meet in the Prayer Room. But, what a joy it would be, if we had to move to another room because we couldn’t all fit in the prayer room. Prayer is something we can all do--men and women, young and old, so join us as we lift our hearts to God in prayer. Any questions? Please contact Barbara Hagemeister.

Prayer Conditioning:
With Prayer and Thanksgiving, Give God the Glory! 1 Chronicles 29:10-11
“Praise be to you, LORD, the God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Yours, LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours”.

Pray that we, the People of Peace, will have listening and hearing ears, as the Word of God speaks to us…
Pray that the Holy Spirit will stir us to joyful participation when we are called to serve…
Pray that Satan and his angels will be blocked from entering any facet of the call process…
Pray thanking the Lord for the faithful service of the Call Committee members--tremendous responsibility lies squarely on their shoulders…
Pray for the Call Committee - for wisdom and discernment, as they perform the tasks they have been called to do…
Pray that this time of transition will be a time of spiritual growth for all…
Pray for our interim pastor, Pastor Galen Knutson, and his ministry at Peace...
Pray for the Pastor that the Lord is preparing for ministry at Peace.

With Prayer and Thanksgiving, Give God the Glory!

From The Administrator
Nursery Volunteers Needed
Discussion has been held about the number of children one Nursery Attendant can have at one time per State of Texas guidelines. State guidelines dictate 6 children of varying ages per attendant.

With this being said Peace Lutheran Church is not in a financial position to hire a 2nd attendant to be on standby in the event this situation takes place. Therefore, I am asking for ONE volunteer per service to be on standby in the event we get into this situation. If the Volunteer will check in with the Nursery Attendant, Joanne Bowman, prior to the service and pick up a pager then she will page you if she is in need of assistance where she has more than 6 children at one time.

Also, to the parents whose children stay in the Nursery, it is important that you sign your child in at the time you are dropping them off and Joanne will give you a pager to carry during the Service. This is simply in the event of an emergency and/or situation with your child where she needs your assistance since she can not leave the other children unattended to come and locate you in the Sanctuary.

I hope each Member of Peace will prayerfully consider volunteering your services in the Nursery on an as needed basis.

Church Facility Keys
I am also trying to get a handle on all of the keys to the church facility. If you have a key to the Church, please stop by my office and complete the form that we need to keep on file for insurance purposes. It is very important that I get this task taken care of as soon as possible.
Bernie Anderson,
Director of Administration

Brotherhood Breakfast/Meeting: March 5
All men of the congregation, mark your calendars and plan to join us on Saturday, March 5th at 8:00 am in the Fellowship for our monthly breakfast meeting. If you have any questions about this group please contact Weldon Wilkerson at (713) 941-1184.

Lutheran World Relief Health Kits
Collection of Health Kits items continues. Delivery date for all kits and quilts is the Monday after Easter. If you need a list of Health Kit items please check the women’s table in the Narthex.

Please continue to save your cancelled stamps, this is an on going program and your participation has been overwhelming. Great job! Have a blessed day.

Paper/Cardboard Recycling Bins
Help the YOUTH of Peace by bringing your Paper/Cardboard recycling with you to church on Sundays (or during the week) and dump in the Recycle Bins at the back of the parking lot off the Fellowship Hall. All the monies received from this recycle project goes to the Youth Fund.

Creative Hands Ministry
Please continue to save your used toner and ink cartridges (any brand or style is now accepted.) The Creative Hands uses the rebates for their paper products and other supplies. Please place them in the box on the WOP table in the narthex.

Simply Giving Available
Simply Giving is available at Peace Lutheran Church. If you are interested in having your donations to our general fund or building fund done by electronic fund transfer then Simply Giving is for you! There are no fees involved for you or the church. For more information or to sign up, please call the church office. Applications are also available on the table in the narthex.

Midweek Lenten Services
Lenten Services will begin on March 9th with our Ash Wednesday service of ashes. We will have two services that day, one at 12:30 pm and one at 7:00 pm. Both will have communion and both will have the opportunity for you to have the imposition of ashes.

Plan to join us each Wednesday during the season of Lent for services at 12:30 pm and 7:00 pm. A soup lunch will be held at 11:45 am and our usual soup suppers at 6:00 pm.