May, 2016 Vol. 16, No. 5 Active in Love, Growing in Christ

the Times of Hope

Sunday Worship Schedule

9:00 a.m. Traditional Worship

10:00 a.m. Small Group Bible

Studies

11:00 a.m. Contemporary Worship

and Sunday School

Hope Lutheran Church

and Christian School

3151 York Street, Port Coquitlam BC, V3B 4A7

Phone: 604-942-5322 - Fax: 604-942-5311

CANCELLED: Spring Tea

The Fellowship Committee regrets the cancellation of the Spring tea that was scheduled for Saturday, May 7 for the second year in a row due to lack of participation. Thank you to the two people that signed up. It's very discouraging when there are more committee members on the list than guests. Please come out for the June golf tournament as this will be our last event.

Food Bank Drive – May 14

After a one-year hiatus (to celebrate Hope’s 60th An-niversary last spring), we are poised and ready to resume our annual spring Food Bank Drive in sup-port of the SHARE Food Bank.

The Food Bank Drive will take place the week of May 9 – 14, as follows: Monday, May 9, 10:00 – Stapling Work Bee (stapling notices of the drive to plastic grocery bags, often done by the seniors; we need about 10 – 12 people to accomplish this, about 60 – 90 minutes) Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, May 10 / 11 /12 – Bag Distribution (about 15 people are needed to walk a route of about 100 homes - plus or minus - leaving the bags in mailboxes or on front door han-dles, about 60 – 90 minutes of walking... at any time on your schedule – day-time or evening – on those two days) Saturday, May 14, 10:00 – Bag Pick Up (about 12 people are needed, in teams of 3, to gather the bags of groceries from the homes and deliver them to the church; one person drives the vehicle, one walks on each side of the street, about 90 minutes) These three tasks are simple, and combine to bless the SHARE Food Bank and its clients. If you can give 60 – 90 minutes on one of those days to com-plete one of those tasks, please sign up on the ap-propriate sheets on the easel bulletin board. THANK YOU!!

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Governance Training

Training for our new Governance model will take place this month for both the Board of Governance nominees and for the Elder apprentices. Each Tues-day (except May 17), these candidates will gather to review Lutheran doctrinal distinctive, to consider the structure and mission of our church body and our congregation, and to learn about the specific roles of the Board. Twenty people will be taking this train-ing, in preparation for these leadership roles. The Board of Governance nominees will be presented to the June 12 Voters’ meeting to elect five members. The Elder apprentices will engage in appropriate ministries during the coming months and will be pre-sented for ratification next year. Please keep these nominees and their training in your prayers for the month of May.

Ministry Teams

A document outlining the proposed teams for our new governance mod-el has been prepared and distributed in your mail slot. Please read it care-fully – both to be informed and to be inspired. You are also asked to prayerfully consider which team you may be gifted for or passionate about, and to

pray for God’s guidance and the courage to serve, and when the opportunity to serve on a Ministry Team arises, JUMP IN!!

Confirmation Day Confirmation Day is soon ap-proaching. On Sunday, June 5, eleven young people will be publicly professing their faith in the Triune God and making their vows to live out their lives in worship and service of Him. As you worship that day (10:00 service... see separate article), remember your own profession of faith, and encourage these young peo-ple in their walk with God: Jenna Bassani, Kristian Berg, Eric Bowerbank, Jayden Burke, Heidi Goetz, Scott Lyall, Philip Mayfield, Michael McIntosh, Jacob Stengert, Abby Sudom, and Isabella Towriss.

Summer Worship Schedule

Our Worship Schedule will change again for the summer months. Starting on Sunday, June 5 (Confirmation Day... see separate article), we will have only one ser-vice, at 10:00 A.M. The services will generally have a blend of songs and hymns (depending on the availability of musicians and organ-ists). The summer schedule will run into the beginning of September.

We will maintain the same schedule of Communion Sundays (1st and 3rd Sundays of the month).

Kira Short Update

Five-year old Kira Short continues her battle with cancer. She is currently taking another round of chemo treatment. Her parents, Peter and Rayanne, will find out in a couple of weeks if that treatment is having an impact on the cancer. If not, they may need to travel to Boston for proton radiation treat-ment.

Thank you to all who, in a variety of ways, have faithfully supported the Short family in the last few months. Please continue to funnel your financial gifts to this family through Pastor Laverne for the next couple of months as they find out where Kira’s treatment will lead. Please also continue to re-member Kira and her family daily

in your prayers.

“Reformation 500 “

"They say that Time and Tide (or Taxes!) waits for no man/woman. Too true. Nearly 25 years ago was the 500th anniversary of a world changing event. In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. He took a chance, sailed west and discovered something new. It changed the way mankind thought of our world. In nearly 18 months from now it will be the 500th anniversary of another -- possibly greater -- event. On October 31, 1517 Martin Luther posted his famous 95 Theses on the (continued on page 3)

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(Reformation 500 continued from page 2)

door of the university church in Wit-tenberg, Germany. He thought he was just offering to quietly debate some issues in the larger church he was unhappy with. The sale of in-dulgences for one. That act sparked the Protestant Reformation and changed the way mankind thought of God through His Word to us. What does that mean to us to-day? Do we take his stand for granted? We have 18 months to think about it, and then we're going to CELEBRATE!! Stay tuned for further information, plans and details, and a week-end that will knock your (Luther) socks off! Thanks to God!"

June 7 Pub Night

For the past year and a half, Pastor Laverne has been having a once-a-month pub night with the young adults, discussing various topics of current interest (like doctor-assisted suicide, reasons why young adults are leaving church, the Angus Reid survey on religion in Canada). Some who heard about it asked why we couldn’t have a pub night that wasn’t restricted by age. You asked... here it comes!! On Tuesday, June 7, from 8:00 – 9:30 p.m. you are ALL invited to a pub night with the pastor at the Cat & Fiddle Pub, 1979 Brown St., Port Coquitlam. We have reserved the entire restaurant section of the pub for this event. The topic for discussion will be “Ten Reasons Why Hope Lutheran Church Will Not Celebrate it’s 75th Anniversary (in 2030).” Pastor Laverne will provide 20 – 30 minutes of input on this topic, and then open things up for questions, or maybe discussion around the various tables, before offering some closing remarks. If you plan to attend this pub night, please indicate your attendance on the sign-up sheet on the easel bulletin board.

Food Bank Fund “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat.” Matt.25:35 Thank you for reading the April “Times of Hope” and for responding to the four letter word (HELP) in the

Food Bank column. As a result our Food Bank Boat is afloat again. Total contributions for April amount-ed to $695. Just in case you were wondering, each amount of money that is clearly marked “Food Bank Fund” is converted into potatoes for the SHARE Food Bank in Port Moody. The special Food Bank envelopes in the bottom right hand corner of the mail slots in the Narthex are there to help the Sunday counters of the collection to easily identify your donations to the Food Bank Fund and separate them from donations to the General Fund etc. The current balance of our Food bank Fund stands at $315 (as of April 25th). April deliveries of potatoes (1,600 lbs. each) on April 11th and 25th ensured that each of our Tri-City neighbours in need could pick up some fresh pota-toes every Wednesday at the SHARE Food Bank in Port Moody. Our cost at the Heppell’s Potato Corp. remained at $8.00 per 50 lbs. Here are the figures for the past 3 months: Contributions Deliveries February $255.50 $512.00 March $285.00 $512.00 April $695.00 $512.00 Total deliveries for the year (to April 25th) amount to 12,800 lbs. of potatoes plus 153 lbs. of non-perishable food items from the Narthex. With your continued support, we hope to supply next month’s potatoes on May 9th. Since May 23rd is a holiday, the timing of the second delivery is still to be deter-mined. Thanks again for your H E L P. “Jesus said, ’the King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’” Matt.25:45. Yours gratefully, Claus Schultz

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New Community

Over the past weeks, much planning, ideas and thoughts have involved our exciting move to Pitt Meadows next year. I reside in Pitt Meadows and find that it is a very unique community situated be-tween some giant suburban cities. One of my fa-vourite parts of Pitt Meadows is the heritage section of Harris Rd. Right in the center and hub of Pitt Meadows, we are reminded of the pioneering tradi-tions and way of life of those that settled there so many years ago. Each day I imagine that at least about 50% of Pitt Meadows citizens must drive past this area each day. On Sunday afternoons the Pitt Meadows Heritage Society opens up Hoffmann’s Machine shop and we get a glimpse into the work-ings of what a blacksmith did. The craft of forging metal into working objects is fundamental in the de-velopment of technology throughout the course of human history. I am sure the builders of the Taber-nacle would have appreciated a modern welding torch to fasten and join the many intricate parts of the tabernacle together, instead these skilled crafts-men used old fashioned high heat flame and brute force to shape all the objects. The building of the Tabernacle represents an im-portant part of Israelite history. The Israelites built and then travelled with the Tabernacle throughout their entire history as a nation. After escaping Egypt, it would be over 40 years until they had a place to call their community. A pinnacle moment in this community’s history occurs when King Solomon builds the temple in Jerusalem so that the Taber-nacle had a place to call home. Prior to building the Tabernacle, God provides the Israelites with many rules and laws that explain how they are to live in their new community. Exodus 22:21 says, “Do not mistreat an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in Egypt.” This is very sig-nificant. Despite being slaves in Egypt, the Israelites were supposed to treat all foreigners in their land with dignity. Throughout the entire course of human history, we struggle to get along with those who are different from us. When building a new Israelite community, God commanded the Israelites to re-spect foreigners or those from outside the commu-nity of Israel. Jesus was challenged on these laws by a legal expert and Christ taught his followers the parable of the Good Samaritan which expands on the second greatest command of “Love your neigh-bor as yourself.” As Hope church and school expands to the Pitt Meadows community, what impact will we have on this community? The Israelite community was chal-lenged to respect diversity in their new community. In the same way, we trust and pray that both inter-

nally and externally our expansion into Pitt Mead-ows will be reflected by the fact that we “Love our neighbours.” To accomplish this each member of our school and church community must show mercy to those with whom they might not like or even disa-gree with. When we socialize with those in our new community, keep our talk about others to whole-some and positive characteristics. The book of Acts describes the early Christian community as “enjoying the favor of all people.” Our prayer is that our new Hope community in Pitt Meadows will be the same. Those who see the members of the Hope community will know that we reflect Christ’s love, and because of this, they also might want to be part of this community by either exploring enroll-ment of their children or considering Hope as a church home. Our first exciting chance to meet our new neigh-bours happens on Saturday, June 4th during Pitt Meadows Day. We will be stationed in Harris Road park with a booth with kids’ art & craft activities and sports. Meanwhile at the Pitt Meadows campus we will also have similar kids’ activities and sports. We need your families help to make this an exciting event. Talk to Susan Eisner or Dan Mathew for more info on getting involved with our new commu-nity. Blessings on your days ahead, Dan Mathew Principal, Hope Lutheran High School

CHECK OUT THE UPCOMING YOUTH SCHED-ULE OF EVENTS FOR MAY 2016 !!! May 7 -- “VOLLEYBALL NIGHT” at the church Spike it, pike it, smash it, bash it!! All in all, an evening of fun and frustration release. Come for some great competition! May 14 – “TEEN CHOICE BIBLE STUDY” at the church This has become an increasingly popular time for you to have some of your most difficult spiritual questions discussed, and see what God's Word has to say about it! May 21 - “NO YOUTH” - Victoria Day Long Week-end (continued on page 7)

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May 1 Elsie Mepham 2 Wayne Mepham 3 Kathy Boraas Steven Brown Charlene Lyall Carl Schmidt 4 Barb Davis Mary MacDonald Vicki Pescott 5 Desmond Gervais 6 Juliana Besler John Diack Chelsea Todd Dennis Lyall 7 Christopher Burke Breanna Dahlby Trevor Watson 8 Adriano Botelho Joan Lynn Adrian Jackson David Doberstein 10 Mackenzie Edgar Calvin Kaytor Karen Plaetner 11 Maureen Diack Brett Ginac Kira Ginac Lisa Olding 12 Bruce Forrieter Damon Chase 13 Robynlee Nydokus 14 Taura Berg Carolyn Harmston Derek Pfeifer Leah Wilson Renee Prasad 16 Christopher Coulthard 17 Sophia Bosley Lauren Bosley 18 Gary Stevens 19 Sabrina Augustine Erin Rioux Benjamin Siska Doris Waidelich 20 Kaaren Griffioen Craig Neill 21 Joyce Gillespie Thomas Votik 22 Ron Berg Jayden Burke

22 Lindsay Charron Michael McIntosh Fred Scavington 23 Terri-Lyn Sudom 24 Mark Forseille Scott Harcus Kevin Kwok Lauren Mackie Olivia Schiemann 26 Karen Horne Brianne Ulmer Zoe Koutsouropoulos 28 Doreen Dotzler Dylan Harmston Lisa Sudom 29 Robyn Woo 30 Alexis Brown 31 Karen Dyke May 3 Lisa and Robert Catto 16 Clinton & Carolyn Harmston Sarah and Harry Koutsouropoulos 18 Christopher and Cathy Fahlke Chantel and Sean Hennessy 20 David and Lise Goertz James and Richelle Hume Lyndsey and Dan Johnson 23 Marcus and Chelsea Todd 24 Simon and Jennifer Watson Steven and Shelley Frick 26 Barry and Katherine Charron 30 Laverne and Deanna Hautz

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“Pray for the Harvest”: This month's focus – Break-out Session # 2

The second break-out session at last year’s A-BC District Convention began with a Bible Study based on Genesis 16:1-14. Here we heard about how Ha-gar and Ishmael were looked after by God in the wilderness. We then were asked the question: “What's easier to answer – where have we come from or where are we going?” This led us to the fol-lowing observations: hindsight is 20-20; if you don't know where you are going, you won't know when you get there; we sometimes lie to ourselves about where we have been; God is faithful in the face of everything, throughout history; sometimes we try to solve problems ourselves, instead of trusting God; and, our faith needs to remain in God, not in institu-tions. We were further asked: “In what ways have you been “seen” by the “God of seeing” in the past few months?” This one was harder to answer, but our conclusions were: we might make mistakes, but God won't abandon us; and sometimes it's hard to wait for God. We then looked at the practical applications of what we had learned from this passage of Scripture. First, we were asked how we would like to see A-BC District executive support the ministry of local con-gregations. It was noted that visits from head office to see what we're doing and to help are much ap-preciated. Others felt we can't continue to see the executive as “parents” who come in to “fix” our prob-lems. One felt that perhaps we should have no head office at all, but should take all responsibility ourselves. Another felt the opposite, i.e. that the head office is a resource we need. It was observed that Canada's geographical area might be too large for one head office in Synod to be effective on its own. There was discussion that the spiritual leader-ship might need to be entirely separate from the cor-porate leadership. It was recognized that, while change is necessary, we must proceed cautiously. There was concern that, without a district executive, small congregations might not be strong enough on their own to manage. It was noted that the original purpose of “districts” in LCC was to unite us in doc-trine, and unite us in doing God's work. Finally, the heart of a servant is what should be modeled for us by our district leaders. Next, we were asked how congregations might bet-ter serve those in the district office. The main theme was that we need to communicate clearly with them what is needed by us. We need to sup-port the district work financially so that the work of the church can keep on going – congregations need to honor their remittance commitments in order to do this effectively. It was noted that it would be diffi-cult for us as individual congregations to sort out

priorities and make good decisions without having executive staff to lead us. When we all came back together as a large group, commonalities were once more identified from all the groups' responses. Increased communication between district executive and congregations, and more visitation from district officials were the com-mon themes. Care and support for the executive whom we elect was also paramount in the group responses. Next month, I will present for you a summary of our third break-out session. I continue to pray that this information has been enlightening and encouraging to you! Your servant in Christ, Brenda Horton, Lay Delegate

(May Youth Events continued from page 4) May 28 – “ULTIMATE ULTIMATE TOURNAMENT” at the church Not too sure what is involved here, but this event promises to be fun, fun as we experience a whole new level of ultimate ultimate! HOPE TO SEE YOU ALL THERE, AND BRING A FRIEND !! For more information please speak to Stephanie Mayer, our fearless leader. Submitted by Brenda Horton, Co-Director of Board of Youth

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Hope Lutheran Church and School Ministry Staff

Rev. Laverne Hautz Pastor lhautz@hopelcs.ca

Stephanie Mayer Director of Parish Services smayer@hopelcs.ca

Susan Eisner Elementary Principal seisner@hopelcs

Dan Mathew High School Principal dmathew@hopelcs.ca

Janice Klassen Secretary church@hopelcs.ca

Neil Johanson Accountant njohanson@hopelcs.ca

Clare Wood School Office Manager/Registrar cwood@hopelcs.ca

Parish Planning Council

Carl Schmidt Executive Director 604 461 6922

___ Assistant Executive Director

___ Treasurer

Caroline Rieu Secretary 604 941 6107

Ed Olsen Director, Church Properties 604 944 4979

Brent Rieu Director, Church Properties 604 941 6107

___ Director, Evangelism

Shirley Fast Director, Parish Fellowship 604 941 2540

Joyce Gillespie Director, Parish Fellowship 604 944 1305

Emily Reilly Director, Christian Education 604 939 4731

Kaitlyn Horton Director, Youth 604 941 3506

Brenda Horton Director, Youth 604 941 3506

Leah Wilson Director, Public Relations

Mai Pedersen Director, Stewardship 604 936 0333

Simon Verboom Director, Lay Ministry 604 464 6260

Doug Niblock Chairperson, School Board 604 552 2785

Bruce Forrieter Chairperson, Elders 604 589 1543

Elders School Board

Richard Gettle 604 939 4731 Doug Niblock 604 552 2785

Ron Berg 604 944 9726 Jean Gettle 604 939 4731

George Intile 604 945 9777 Lauren Mackie

Bruce Forrieter 604 589 1543 Judith Hung 604 945 5538

Mike Yee 778 385 1528 Mike Goetz 604 475 7944

Dennis Friesen 604 945 7315

Colin Craig 604 941 3868