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The
following are church events and fellowship opportunities
at First Church. A complete listing of all of the
Church Events can be downloaded by clicking on the
"Weekly Revelations" located in the box
to the left.
Pancake
Breakfast
Sunday,
February 19
8:30 – 11:30 AM
In the Fellowship Hall - Pancakes & Sausage
Freewill
offering to benefit National Gathering Youth
 Name
Tag Sunday – Name tags and markers
are available at the back of the sanctuary and in
the narthex. Please take the time to fill one out
and wear it during your time in church today.
There are lots of spaces available
for altar flower and bulletin dedications. Sign
up for your special event in the lobby above the
water fountain.
We kindly request that you refrain
from using any of the church’s computers without
express permission from a staff member. We are committed
to both the guarding of sensitive information and
keeping our computers healthy (virus-free). Thanks
for your cooperation
2012 Offering
Envelopes are in the lobby. Please take
yours home today!
Reminder
– If you use the Thrivent Simply Giving
Program, and you want to change your dollar
amount, please fill out the form available in the
brochure rack outside the church office. The forms
can be mailed back to the church office.
 Wanted:
Two Good Men: Two of the boys referred
to our KIDS HOPE USA mentoring program need male
mentors who will be positive role models for them.
One has been waiting
for his mentor since October. If you are willing
to help these young boys, please call Gloria Reichert
(330.225.3922).
Sunday
School - Education Hour
Topics:
3 yr
– 6th gr – “The Centurion’s
Servant”
Adult – “Understanding Emergence Christianity”
 BLAST
(6-8th gr) – Bowling – Sunday, February
19, 2:15 PM (leave from church). Cost:
$6.50 (includes shoes – must have socks!)
Friends welcome … drivers needed. Questions?
Contact Becky Zielinski (rlzielinski@ameritech.net).
 Ash
Wednesday worship is February 22
at 7:30 PM. Join us to begin the Lenten season with
Holy Communion and the Imposition of Ashes.
 SPARK
(K-5th gr) – Sunday, February 26
– Painted Penguin – 1-2:30 PM. Meet
at the mall. Cost: $10.
 Midweek
Lenten Services begin Tuesday, February
28, 7:15 PM. Our theme this year is “Beyond
Survival Mode: The Church’s Mission in the
21st Century,” and will feature three mission
developers in our synod as guest preachers. Each
service is preceded by a light supper beginning
at 6 PM.
 Trivia
Fans: For the 17th year, First Lutheran
will once again have a team in the Strongsville
Education Foundation’s Trivia Madness benefit
competition. Team members, Don Alexander, Bruce
Holderead, Bob Jacob, and Wayne Mosley, invite you
to cheer for them on Sunday, March 4,
2-5 PM at Strongsville High School.
 Set
your calendar for Saturday, March 10, 2012
for an Evening in the French Quarter. As
apart of the festivities there will be a delicious
French dinner, entertainment, and a silent auction.
If anyone is interested in donating an item for
the auction, please contact Kendra King (440-878-9288)
or CamdenKings@sbcglobal.net;
Darden Blake (440-572-4766)
or dardenblake@yahoo.com;
or the church office (440-238-7890). Ideas for donations
include: tickets for sporting events, babysitting,
crafts, a round of golf, etc.
Calling all talented (or not so
talented) church members! We need acts for the Night
in the French Quarter Talent Show on Saturday, March
10 (the talent show will start in the sanctuary
right after dinner). Get together with your friends,
or other church members, and let your talents shine!
There is a limit of 15 acts so contact Phil King
(440.785.5908 or philkingbono@gmail.com)
to get your act in the lineup before all the space
is gone! The deadline to call your act in is Sunday,
March 4.
We
are hoping the auction will be a great fundraiser
for our New Orleans youth, but more importantly,
a time of great fun and fellowship. Tickets go on
sale Sunday, February 12th.
Coming in March – Tobogganing (weather
permitting) or Laser Tag – Sunday, March
11.
Sign up on the youth board.
Lenten Project –
Sunday, March 18
Our Lenten Project will conclude with a Salad Luncheon
on March 18 following 11:15 service. Our guest speaker
will be Linda Uveges, Manager of Laura’s Home
Women’s Crisis Center.
Yoga – Wednesday,
April 25
One of our most requested events is back. No experience
is necessary and will be held at the church from
6:30 to 8:00 PM.
 Interested
in joining the U2charist Planning Team?
Contact Pastor Chuck immediately. Our next U2charist
will be May 20 to benefit CWWV,
and we need to get started now.
Stay tuned.....
 Our
Prayer & Care Group prepares and sends
cards to those of us, young and old alike, who are
lonely, suffering from illness or injury, or those
with on-going issues. Join us the first Friday of
every month at 10 AM. Questions? Contact Sue Ludwig
(440.238.5164 or suziezoo24@yahoo.com).
 First
Lutheran Busy Bags contain quiet items,
crayons, and books for children to use during the
service. They can be found under the table at the
back of the church. Just ask an usher if you
would like one of these bags for
your little one.
CWWV has a 1-yr-old
child who is in desperate need of a crib with bedding
for a special needs child.
Mental Health Services
is in need of beds for several clients, including
a CWWV family. CWWV is also in need of formula and
diapers. MHS also needs men’s business clothing.
Please call Tammy Widdows (216.548.2761) with donations.
Thank you for your support!
The Street Ministry
continues to collect men’s socks for the homeless.
Please place your donation in the marked box by the
Fellowship Hall entrance. Questions? Contact Steve
Gall (440.238.3019).
WOW continues to
collect travel & regular size women’s toiletries.
Please place them in the container on the Welcome
Center.
Nursery attendants needed!
If you are available to help in the nursery,
please contact Bonnie Bailey (440.572.5044).
Join
the Red, White, and Blue Team!
 A
new Mission Ministry is being kicked off
to help military families within our congregation
and community that have a parent or loved
one currently deployed overseas. We are
looking for volunteers to provide meals,
home handyman, and babysitting services
for military families that could use a
little extra help and support.
Help
fulfill your patriotic duty while doing
the work our Lord has called us to do!
If
interested, please contact Penny Stupka
(pstupka9754@wowway.com
or 440.238.1667) or Reiner Mueller (reinermueller@sbcglobal.net
or 440.846.0532).
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 The
ELCA Malaria Campaign intends to contain
malaria on the African continent by 2015.
To help, make a donation using the special envelope
in the pews. Make checks payable to First Lutheran
Church, and place envelopes in the offering plate.
Our goal is to raise $5,100.
 The
Street People Ministry will be collecting
men’s socks through February 2012. Please
place them in the marked box in the hallway. Questions?
Please contact Steve or Peg Gall (440.238.3019).
 Mental
Health Services/Children Who Witness Violence
is in need of men’s business clothes
and shoes, furniture, cleaning supplies, pots,
pans, and casserole dishes. If anyone has donations,
please place them in the Fellowship Hall entrance.
Questions? Please call Tammy (216.548.2761).
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Do
you have a prayer request? Please use the
bulletin board over the water fountain to
make your prayer concerns known.
Get a new cell phone
for Christmas? Recycle the old one!
Please drop off old cell phones and used ink
cartridges – boxes located on the table
under the youth bulletin board by the Fellowship
Hall entrance. Questions? Contact Debbie Brighter
(440.572.2627).
Stop
by the Welcome Center, in
the lobby, for additional information on our
activities and ministries.
Donate
your altar flowers to local nursing
homes or our own church shut-ins. If anyone
is interested in assisting with delivering
these flowers, please contact Penny Stupka
(440/238-1667).
Cleaning
for a Reason - If you know any woman
currently undergoing Chemo, please pass the
word to her that there is a cleaning service
that provides FREE housecleaning – 1
time per month for 4 months while she is in
treatment. All she has to do is sign up and
have her doctor fax a note confirming the
treatment. Cleaning for a Reason will have
a participating maid service in her zip code
area arrange for the service. http://www.cleaningforareason.org.
Strongsville
Emergency Food Bank - The Food Bank
is open to Strongsville residents year-round:
Monday thru Friday, 9:30 – 11:30 AM
and including the 2nd Saturday of every month.
Call 440/846-0197 for more information. Nonperishable
food items can be placed in the shopping carts
by the side and Fellowship Hall entrances.
This is taken to the Strongsville Food Bank.
Prayer & Care –
our group will be meeting on the first Friday
of the month. We address and send out cards,
share concerns, and pray for members and friends
at First Lutheran. Please join us at 1 PM.
We usually meet about 1 hour. Questions? Call
Sue Ludwig.
Both pastors offer open office hours for anyone
who wants to stop by to share & concerns.
It is helpful to call in advance for an appointment.
Drop-in visitors are received on a first come,
first served basis.
Pastor Chuck’s hours are
10 - noon on Tuesday.
Pastor Kathy’s hours are 10 –
noon on Wednesday
Celebrations,
parties, or just everyday living ... if you
shop at GFS - don’t
forget to mention First Lutheran when checking
out and help First earn credit to supply future
church functions.
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Worship Service
Recordings
for Shut-ins
 First
Church has a program to provide CD recordings,
currently of the lesson readings, Gospel reading,
and sermon, for members who are unable to
attend regular services.
The
shut-in will be provided with a CD player,
on loan from the church, with which to listen
to the service recording mailed or delivered
to them each week. Plans are to expand the
recording capability to the entire service
in the future.
If
you know of any or our members, or nonmembers,
who may be interested in participating in
this program, please contact the church office
or click
here.
We
now have a special page on this Web site devoted
to the prior sermons from each week of service.
Please
click
here to view the sermons you can
download.
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Red Number
indicates "New Record" in monthly hits
Blue Number indicates
"Highest All-time Month" in hits
| Month |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
Jan |
NA |
369 |
349 |
539 |
753 |
542 |
Feb |
NA |
397 |
394 |
498 |
767 |
271 |
Mar |
NA |
596 |
347 |
569 |
847 |
0 |
Apr |
NA |
372 |
441 |
506 |
756 |
0 |
May |
NA |
390 |
336 |
481 |
697 |
0 |
Jun |
NA |
329 |
379 |
475 |
667 |
0 |
Jul |
NA |
371 |
415 |
432 |
663 |
0 |
Aug |
NA |
316 |
486 |
421 |
646 |
0 |
Sep |
206 |
338 |
501 |
446 |
732 |
0 |
Oct |
390 |
343 |
454 |
440 |
567 |
0 |
Nov |
319 |
343 |
548 |
642 |
564 |
0 |
Dec |
398 |
462 |
553 |
1,014 |
584 |
0 |
| Totals |
1,313 |
4,626 |
5,023 |
6,463 |
8,285 |
813 |
| Grand
Total Hits
as
of 02-17-2012 |
26,677 |
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The
adult Sunday school class has been engaged in some rather
interesting conversation recently. In our study of Phyllis
Tickle’s book The Great Emergence, we have
been challenged to think about how the church is experiencing
a radical transformation in the way it proclaims the gospel.
As
I read her book, and now as I help facilitate the adult
class, I find that I’m able to put to rest some of
the “unsettledness” that I have been feeling
about the church. I’m also able to make sense of some
things that perhaps before I would have viewed as mere trends
not to be taken too seriously. 
First,
I encourage you to attend the adult class. We meet at 10:00
AM in the Fellowship Hall. Don’t worry that you didn’t
get in at the start. There’s always room for you and
I promise you’ll be able to pick up the discussion.
Volunteer
at First Church! 
