Zion Alternative Christmas

What’s Happening 10.31.2024

Do you know any home-bound Zion members? One of the hardest things as a

congregation, and as a pastor, is to keep track of members who have moved into that

category we are calling home-bound, which we used to call shut-ins. Home-bound are

members that are basically un-able to attend a Sunday morning worship service, and

have a difficult time getting out and about for anything but the most critical of trips,

doctor’s appointments, grocery store, hair appointments. Some are still in their own

homes, many are in assisted living facilities or traditional nursing homes.

Often becoming home-bound is a slow process, and it happens in incremental steps,

one or two at a time. They may have moved to an independent living situation, that

eventually moves them over to their assisted living area. They may have given up their

driving, but their children are able to take them most places they need to go to. They

were in assisted living, but had a fall, ended up in rehab and then finally landed in a

nursing home. There are all sorts of variations as to how this happens.

As well, in the situation of a couple, quite often one of the members is able to get out

and still drive, but is very limited in the amount of time they can be gone because their

spouse is in need of almost 24-hour-a-day care. So, in a sense, they both are home-

bound, as well.

The point of this long explanation is that often in the process, neither the member, the

spouse or the family realizes that in amongst, all the other things that are changing

about their lifestyle, they also are not able to attend worship and receive Holy

Communion.

More often than you would think, the church is the last to know one of their members

have become home-bound. And if we are not aware of their status, they are missing

out on our ministry of home visits from the Pastoral Care Pastor, Dirk Stadtlander and

our monthly lay home visitors. In addition, when I do hear of a home-bound individual

or couple, I make every effort to get out to see them at least once, to let them know I am

aware of their situation and build a connection with them.

Below is a list of those who we are aware are unable to attend weekly Sunday morning

worship, whom we consider “home-bound”. I would ask that you take some time to

consider the members you have known here at Zion and ask yourself are you still

seeing them on Sunday mornings for worship? If you realize you haven’t seen them in

a while, I would ask that you either share their name with us, or if you feel comfortable,

give them a call and ask how they are doing. If they seem to fit into our home-bound

category, ask them if you could notify the church office and let us know of their situation.

Thank you in advance, for helping us be the kind of congregation that carries out our

Biblical calling to care for those in need around us.

Anne Hesse

Louise Kruise

Ellen & Keith Niehaus

Marilyn Larson

Carolyn Crowell

Priscilla Jacobsen

Nancy Kienzle

Mary Ann Conrad

Ada Crow

Jim & Shirley Hassman

Barb Lueder

Nancy & Les Cullers

Judy Gehrke

Hazel Wenman/Yoder

Lorraine Turnipseed

Elnora Smith

Gerry Gardner

John Ernst

Betty Norbeck

Al & Karen Albertus

Barbie Buddin

What’s Happening …11.6.2024

I am finally in the process of setting up a New Member class for here at Zion. It has been on my list almost since I got here, at least names of individuals who have expressed an interest in joining Zion Lutheran as a congregational member.

Unfortunately, so many other things needed to be done that were a higher priority, it tended to fall to the bottom of the list. And to be honest, it was a pretty short list when I first got it. You usually have a New Member class with at least 6 or more people to make it worth the time and energy of the person leading, myself, but also others, like the council and other ministry volunteers and sponsors that are involved in the process.

I am thinking we finally have more than 6 or so folks who have expressed an interest in joining, so it is time to offer this opportunity. So even if you have given your name to us prior, and we probably still have it, I would so appreciate if you would email me at msmith@zionlutheran-ic.org, if you and or your family are interested in joining Zion as a congregational member.

I usually offer three meetings for a New Member class. The first is for people to share a little about themselves, their faith background, family, occupations, hobbies, etc.

The second is with a group of individuals who are a part of various ministries here at Zion who will share just a little about the ministry to give new folks an idea of all the options of activities they can get involved in. They say, if an individual does not get involved in a ministry within the first six months of joining a church there is a good chance they will soon leave that congregation. It makes sense, in that if a person is not building relationships with people and investing in ministry, their sense of belonging is pretty low and they are likely to quit participating when a few other things rise on their priority list.

The third is a time where I share about Zion’s history, values and priorities. As well, if there are new members that are not Luther, I will share some of what it means to be an ELCA Lutheran here in America. And finally, a bit about the wider church such as our synod and national structure and ministries.

Again, if you are interested in attending, you also can attend and decide not to join I suppose, but either way, please let me know and I will hopefully find three dates that work for the majority of the group and plan it out.

Pastor Marsha

From the Desk of Pastor Marsha

“Where do I see Jesus?”

It all begins with an idea.

But the work continues.