Lent: A Time for Giving Up or Taking Up

A Final Note

See you at church!

A Note from Barb Christian, Preschool Director

Our online directory is updated with our new pictures, and you all look fantastic!

Sermon by Pastor Paul Dancy

There's Been a Change

Board of Directors Ben Clinkenbeard Your Board of Directors is proud to announce that the motion to change our bylaws was approved by the members of St. Peter's on Sunday. A hearty THANK YOU goes out to all of our members who attended the meeting. The meeting also provided an opportunity for spirited discussion and reports from the Endowment Committee, Treasurer, School and Preschool, and some of our Ministry Teams. We also received an update from the Vision to Victory team and the Senior Pastor Call committee. As Pastor Dancy steps away from St. Peter's at the end of May, please be on the lookout for updates from our Senior Pastor Call committee and updates from the Board of Directors as we transition into our newly approved bylaws. We want to extend another thank you to both Pastor Dancy and Pam Launer! Blessings on your next chapter. New elections to the Board of Directors were as follows (* indicates incumbent): Dennis Borchers Ben Clinkebeard* Gary DeCamp Bill Habegger* Mark Timm Vision to Victory Mark & Sandy Timm If you missed the Spring Voter’s Meeting, you missed a big announcement from the Vision to Victory Team. WE PAID OFF THE MORTGAGE! Praise the Lord! We took out a loan twelve years ago to make additions and major renovations to the church. Paying down, or paying off this loan has been a major focus of four consecutive capital campaigns. And we are now debt free. Thanks to everyone who contributed to any of these capital campaigns. It’s been a long time coming, but we praise the Lord that this has been accomplished. Huge cause for celebration! In the weeks to come, the pastors will incorporate a symbolic “mortgage burning” ceremony as a part of our weekly services. And maybe, if we ask nicely, we might even get some refreshments following the service! The Vision to Victory campaign has four major objectives. Retiring our debt was the first and foremost. Done. Refurbishing the sanctuary was the second objective. That has been accomplished and paid for through dedicated funds that were earmarked for this purpose. In fact, we did not require any funds from the capital campaign to accomplish this work. Refurbishing the organ was a third objective. This work is also complete and paid for. At a cost of $330k, we were fortunate to receive a grant from the Lutheran Foundation to cover half the expense. We also were able to use a fund that was previously set aside for this purpose. In reality, we only required a little over $70k from the Vision to Victory capital campaign to get this work accomplished. The final objective of this campaign was to accomplish some much-needed work at the school. Last summer, we were able to install air conditioning units for the school cafeteria and gym. That work is paid for. This summer, we will replace all the windows in the school and refurbish the gym ceiling. We expect this work to total approximately $150k. The Vision to Victory Capital Campaign was designed to run for three years, through June of 2026. We are almost finished with the second of those three years, and we are in great shape. But this is not a time to step away from our pledges. A dozen years ago, the congregation approved a Master Plan that featured three phases. Paying off the mortgage closes the books on the first phase. Whether we continue with the other two phases as described 12 years ago, or go in another direction remains to be seen. But I am certain there will be a next step. And by honoring ourcommitments in the Vision to Victory campaign, we give ourselves a running start on whatever those next steps may be. Like all the generations of church members before us – from the original families who came together to form St. Peters 170 years ago to today – we need to follow two objectives. Maintain the church to meet the needs of the day. And prepare the church to meet the needs of the next generation. We thank each and every one of you who contributed to our accomplishments so far. Let’s finish this final year of the capital campaign by tucking some funding away for wherever the Holy Spirit leads us in the next phase of the life of St. Peters. Finance If you would like a copy of the budget presented at the voter's meeting, give the church office a call and we're happy to get you a printed or electronic copy upon request.

St. Peter's Seminarians & Deaconess

Sermon by Pastor McDowell