A Word About Our Younger Youth from Chuck Danner
Some Words About Our Older Youth From Karen Kirk
Great News From The ZION SUNDAY SCHOOL
Sunday, November 7th : Communion Class Certificates during 10:30 Service
Sunday, November 21 : Sunday School Choir sings at 10:30 Service
Sunday, December 12 : Our Children's Christmas Program
Witness Curriculum: November's lessons will be Naomi & Ruth, God's call to Samuel, David & Goliath, and finally Daniel in the Lion's den. The faith traits taught in these lessons are LOYALTY, HONESTY, RESPONSIBILITY, and PEACE. Each week one of the Bible figures in the lesson portrays a faith trait, and part of the lesson will show our children why these traits are important and how to use it in their lives.
The children attending the Communion Class this year will receive their Certificates of Completion on November 7th during the 10:30 Service. The kids did a great job and learned many important things about Holy Communion and receiving the gift of Jesus. As always, Chuck Danner was a terrific leader! Thanks Chuck!
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The holidays are once again approaching, and the youth will continue with many of our holiday traditions at Zion. The children will once again decorate Thanksgiving bags for our Food Pantry families and help to fill them with Thanksgiving trimmings. We will also start practicing for our Christmas Program in the month of November. The Christmas Program will be performed on Sunday, December 12th, at both services. Finally, Zion's youth will once again take part in our Advent Services in December. |
| Reminder: The children's choir will practice from 9:10 a.m. until 9:30 a.m. each week. They will sing once a month at the 10:30 service (except in December and March due to the special holiday programs). All of us are very appreciative of your cooperation. | 
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The greater portion of our meeting focused on such basics as the Proposed Budget for 2005, the Annual Congregational Meeting, the Property Renovation Task Force, and the Treasurer's Report.
We also managed to take up a matter of ongoing conversation related to the creation of some Volunteer Positions to assist in providing leadership for various ministry areas. This month it was the Youth Program Coordinator. This position "shall provide coordination and leadership for all youth and family activities. She will provide a variety of opportunities for learning our faith, fellowship and service as this builds up the life of the congregation."
Ten job responsibilities were identified: (1) provide coordination and leadership in organizing and overseeing monthly activities with all the youth groups of the church; (2) help to coordinate family activities throughout the year; (3) help organize the inclusion of youth at worship; (4) work with the Pastor and Learning Ministry to continue youth involvement in the Lenten series, the Easter play, the Advent service, and the Christmas play; (5) work cooperatively and in conjunction with the Youth Committee and Christian Education Committee; (6) attend Canton/Massillon Conference meetings (as relevant); (7) give a report to the Church Council (as necessary); (8) attend the weekly staff meeting; (9) provide a youth report for the monthly newsletter (in print and online); (10) create and implement a plan for Continuing Education and Professional Development. We are deeply grateful for the willing spirit of Karen Kirk, who has to taken on the challenges of becoming our Youth Program Coordinator.
All went well on the evening of Wednesday, October 27, when the congregational family of Zion Lutheran enjoyed a delicious dinner and relatively brief Annual Meeting. The primary business on the agenda involved presenting the 2005 Proposed Budget, and approving it. John Davis presented the budget, and the congregation approved it.
A report on the 5-Year Property Renovation Program followed, which is still in need of a third Task Force leader. Brian Walters and Darlene Milavickas have volunteered to work with what we hope will be a three-person Task Force, whose job it will be to prioritize and coordinate (and ultimately figure out a way of raising money to fund) our five-year program.
In response to our initiative in committing ourselves to a property renovation program, Steve Ross suggested that we might also want to consider a five-year membership renovation program, otherwise known as an interest on evangelism! In fact, we have been thinking about the need to recapture our vision and reclaim as sense of mission as we head into the future.
Our experience with the Fall Craft Show proved an encouraging sign of what the people at Zion can accomplish when we work together for the common good of all. We clearly have our work cut out for us as we look ahead to a 2005 budget, which requires that we move beyond the stability that we've enjoyed the last couple of years and commit ourselves to real bottom-line and top-line growth.
November Anniversaries & Senior Birthdays
November 21 Richard & Karen Kolarik
November 25 Michael & Carol Wasara
November 26 Ed & Marian Ellsworth
November 26 Randy & Terri Cizek
November 27 Elsie Earles
November 27 Ruth Elsass
A Note to Our Readers:
If you would like your anniversary information included in The Zion Herald,
just let the church office know by calling Helen Alex, 330-499-3909.
The story of Zion's Youth in October was the Fall Craft Show. The persons involved, the hours spent, the food consumed and the money raised: what an effort! Our thanks to all, especially Dave and Cindy Bower, Dean and Debbie Fox, Darlene Milavickas, Dale Jacobs, Karen and McKenzie Kirk, Susan Everhart, Janet, Wayne, Matt and Melanie Slease, Connie, Melissa and Chad Riffle, Steve, Linda, Nickie and Matt Ross, Chuck Danner, Jayne, Renee and Adam Schrader, Bob Lancashire, Todd Elsass, Verle Elsass, Carol Rossbach, Lisa, Taylor and Brooke Roman, Tommy and Emily Lewis, Becca Coulter, Chloe Horger, Todd Ferry, Corey Beaber, Laura Kay, Chase Weinman, Kelly Walters, Helen Alex, Shirley Cavender, Len Swartz, Pastor and Anna Sherwindt. How's that for the beginning of an exhaustive list! We were blessed with helpers, contributing thousands of volunteer hours and reaping an almost unbelievable harvest for our willingness to think boldly about future Youth Mission Trips.
Our Halloween Haunted House for the youngest kids at Zion is set for Saturday, October 30. The older youth are planning their usual overnighter afterwards. Hey, we are thinking about some kind of Dinner Theater for the Youth Advent Service on Sunday, December 19. Bible Bowlers, start focusing on the Gospel of Matthew for this year's competition. Check with Todd Elsass and Wayne Slease for more details. Finally, the absolutely fabulous Winter Gathering in Independence Ohio is set for the weekend of January 7-9, 2005. We will need to have our registration forms in at the beginning of December. So, look for more information in the mail, or ask Karen Kirk for the registra-tion materials. This is a great event!
As we approach the holiday season, the needs of our clients reflect our changing weather patterns in northeast Ohio. In other words, think winter clothing. Updated lists itemizing our need for coats, scarves, boots, and the like will appear regularly on the door of our Clothing Closet. Check it out, please. Also, as was the case last year, we will be working with Zion's Youth in adopting several families for the Christmas season with a variety of gifts listed on our Giving Tree, which will appear in the Narthex with the First Sunday of Advent.
LUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF
Our collection of items for our Health Kits and School Kits went very, very well. In total we packed and send 46 boxes, which weighed 866 pounds, filled with 127 Quilts, 35 Blankets, 51 Health Kits, and 81 School Kits. These boxes were delivered by Verle and Ruth Elsass, with lots of help from Faye Shankle.
LUTHERAN WOMEN TODAY:
The Women of Zion meet on the 3rd Tuesday, November 16th, for a monthly Bible Study. November will continue their focus on the everyday surprises found in the parables of Jesus, focusing on forgiveness, using the parable of the "Unforgiving Servant" in Matthew 18:23-35. Forgiveness is the key to peace, peace with God, peace with others, and peace within. Learning how to translate God's grace into our forgiveness is the heart of God's call to the church.
As an aside, we spent the better part of the summer investigating the Rule of Christ in Matthew 18, and we discovered the undeniable truth that the community of Christ's Body suffers when its members are not able to turn the life-blood of God's grace into the oxygen of gracious hospitality and mutual forgiveness.
THANKOFFERING SUNDAY
is scheduled for November 14th. This is the Sunday that is set aside to celebrate the Women of the ELCA. Ladies, please be thinking of your Thankoffering envelopes. Mabel Snyder will be calling the Women of the Church asking our women to take part in the services on this weekend. Since we will be gathering our Thankofferings, it would help if you could count the money beforehand and write a check to Women of the Church.
It is now time to start our preparations for the Thanksgiving holiday. Mashed potatoes have now been stock piled, and the hunt has begun for the rest of the fixins. We are looking to buy enough for at least what we did last year: 64 Thanksgiving dinners, feeding approximately 220 people. Again, we are asking for 12-POUND TURKEYS, or whatever financial contribution you can make. Our Thanksgiving meals are distributed to thirty-two Siffrin group homes, which is the group that oversees Bruce and Dick Findlays' group home, and also the four fellows living at our church parsonage. A lot of our neighbors depend on us, which means that a lot of neighbors depend on the generosity of Zion's church family. We are always grateful for interest and support.
Your fellow servants
at Zion's Food Pantry
THE MEN OF ZION met on Wednesday, October 12th, and once again enjoyed a great meal together. We began to look forward to the holiday season. Bob Lancashire continues to take the lead in terms of keeping fellowship on a front burner, with our North Canton Coed Volleyball League filling our Sunday evenings. Team Zion remains undefeated. We have occasionally dropped a game, but never a match … so far. Please come out and join in the fun on Sunday evenings in Memorial Hall. Also, we are returning to a slot for pick-up basketball on Monday evenings. Our goal is to make sure that we have 8 to 10 players on the court every Monday, from 7 p.m. to whenever the fun (or the energy) seems to run out. Which do you think will occur first? Come on out and see! The Men of Zion will meet for dinner next on the evening of Wednesday, November 9th, 6:00 p.m., in Luther Hall.
Remembering with Nancey - Peace and Pieces From Nancy Meuschke
"I've been asked to remember Zion Congregation and North Canton. Remember I'm the one who doesn't know ages, dates, directions, AM or PM. I always know where I'm going, but not always how to get there. That's how I'm going to write this book. Pastor always asked Marie Bricker to write it down. I'm not Marie, but I'll try to give you some pieces.
"The call [to Pastor Meuschke from Zion] arrived while serving Grace in Castalia. It was approached with "Mom's upstairs packing, while Dad's downstairs praying". Pastor believed in "the call"! He filled out no papers; we visited you and prayed. With our call was the knowledge that Pastor Ruth was retiring and Pastor would be called for number "1". The "powers that be" knew, although it had not been announced. Blair Woodside was the Council President and always did a super job. He had his right hand helper, Marge. We saw Rt. 77 begun and completed. Belden Village begun, swamped, and completed. There was a diner, movie picture show, Gross' Hardware, Hoover's, Hummel's, Portage School, the Junior High, a little YMCA, and every church was small. Oh, yes, a bowling alley as we came into town, and Strouble's, but we never did get there. The only fast food place was Arbeys on Cleveland Avenue in Canton. Our first meal there - after unpacking and preparing food for about 50 people, coming from out of town for the installation; and Darrell wanted a hot dog!
"We had moved into a recently acquired home on 7th Street. Mr. Mohler, the fire chief, was one of our neighbors. All our other neighbors were delightful and members of Zion United Church of Christ. Gibeaut's, Woodside's, and Dague's were on our way to church. Brian Woodside and Dan Dague were our first visitors, moments after the van arrived. Thus began a super adventure with the youth of Zion. Buddies Alex and Bidlack and all their friends joined us. Susan Moore hung in as we adventured from one activity to another. We always had hard working sponsors, but with 50-plus young people, our core of youth leaders were there for many years. We did all night lock-ins, with a streaker, all night ping-pong, retreats at Atwood, exchanges with the youth at Kidron, taco parties, pizza parties, Seder dinners, hayrides, sledding parties at Danner's with music and chocolate chip cookies and hot chocolate, chili suppers after Christmas Caroling, at the parsonage after the Angel Tree was up, backward progressive parties, Cain's and Le Beau's always shared their homes and goodies. Mr. Himes shared a room in his home to store papers from one drive to the next. Between those and the window washing of the church windows (with glass-wax, ugh!) the kids were very self supporting, and active, active, active. It was great!
"At one time we had youth from Hoover, Lake, Jackson, Massillon, Perry, two Akron schools, Glenwood, Oakwood, and Timken. We worked together and challenged their loyalty. We were loyal Hoover fans as the Hummels' presented us with season tickets each year. The coach, Don Hertler, was an active Zion fella, and many of our youth were players, too. We were in the top row and never moved down. Many ballgames Pastor's name came over the loud speaker - a birth, death, illness, police station, or hospital and away he went and we walked home! Most Fridays we had pizza before or after the game: "7 days without pizza makes one weak" was the motto….."
In Lovinng Memory of our Fellowship Honoree Dorothy Porter
[Excerpts from Pastor Sherwindt's sermon on October 25]
"Fifty years of faithfulness at Zion Lutheran Church. Fifty-seven years of faithfulness as a loving wife here on earth, which now continue in heaven. A lifetime of faithfulness from Leona's, Ed's, and Jay's perspectives, with daughters-in-law, son-in-law, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren present to confirm the testimony that this was one extraordinary woman, who was able to teach so very much without saying so much as a few quiet words. Ninety-five years, two months, and six days: unassuming, uncomplaining, understanding, loving and loved, faithfully true, quiet, yet a model of solid strength and firm support.
"As many of you know, I just returned from South Africa last Thursday. During a Church Dedication Service in Dreikopies last Sunday, I was blessed to enjoy a number of special presentations, with songs and speakers and lots and lots of music. One of the speakers shared this quotation: "In Africa, when an old man dies, it is a library that is buried." Aging is harder on Africans than Americans. Not many Africans make it into their 80s, never mind their 90s. Clearly, this African saying certainly finds its defining reference in Dorothy Porter, who collected a great deal of wisdom in her ninety-five years, some of which she shared with sound advice, but most of which she just lived with quiet unassuming grace.
"Another of the interesting sayings I heard in South Africa was this: "You cannot measure the length of a tree until you cut it down." I took this to mean that you cannot know how many board feet a tree has produced until you cut it down. In other words, we needn't be continually concerned with how we're doing, what we've done, and how much we've accomplished during the ongoing grind of our daily lives. Our legacy will be clear at life's end. That is so clear for Dorothy. Every one of her children went to college, and beyond. Every one of her children grew into the shadow and beyond the hopes of two dedicated parents who showed their children the way to success and service by teaching it and living it with rock-solid consistency, good humor, faithfulness, and love. Leona, Ed, and Jay: you, your families, and the generations yet to come are the measure of this small woman's great legacy. May God be praised! May you extend the length of this legacy through lives that continue to measure up to the love and service that Dorothy taught and lived.
"Psalm 90 reminds us that our lives on earth are three score and ten, perhaps as many as four score. However long these days may seem to us, in God's eyes they are but a moment, gone in a flash. "For a thousand years in thy sight are but a watch in the night, like a fleeting dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning only to fade and wither with the evening sun." These words recall the annual ritual of Ash Wednesday, when we mark our foreheads with the sign of the cross, saying the words, "Remember, O mortal, that thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return." The ashes are a sign of our mortality, but the cross marks us with the promise of God's eternity. The dust of the earth claims us in death, but the claim of Christ's cross promises salvation. In ourselves, we are powerless to resist death's finality, but God has promised more. God has given more, the hope of salvation, the gift of eternity, the reality of a love that will never, ever let us go…."