VENTURE

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Christus Victor Lutheran Church“Fearlessly trusting God, we accept all others, ourselves, and our calling to give comfort.”

January 2020 8:30 AM Band Led Worship

9:30 AM Sunday School

1615 E. NC Highway 54, Durham, NC 27713Phone: (919) 544 7195

www.christus-victor.org https://calendar.google.com/calendarfacebook.com/christusvictorlutherandurham cvlc.durham@gmail.comPastor’s Message.............................pg. 2-4 Birthdays/Anniversaries....................pg. 7 Picture Link for Living Navitity...pg. 5 Congregational Life .......................... pg. 8 WELCA...........................................pg. 6 Financial Report ............................... pg. 9

Ministers in God’s House................pgs.10-11

Christmas Eve Service 2019

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God's Vision is better than 2020! Are you excited about 2020? I am! God did so many amazing things through us in 2019. We adopted God's mission for us in May. Over the summer, council developed Vision 2020 that includes a people plan, a generous plan, and a property plan. We had an extremely successful stewardship drive in the Fall. And we started some brand new and wildly successful ministries like Trunk or Treat and the Thanksgiving Day Community Meal. 2019 wrapped up on a high note too, with mid-week Advent Services, two beautiful candlelight Christmas Eve services, a lovely Christmas Day service, and a relaxing Lessons and Carols service on December 29th. Marissa & I were personally blessed the evening of Sunday, December 29th, when our son, Jonah Andrew Christian Krey, entered the Body of Christ through the waters of baptism.

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And now we enter 2020. What will God have in store for us this year? Whatever it is, I know God's vision is better than 20/20. God can see the big picture so clearly; God can see every hair on your head and the energy of every electron. I am looking forward to working with you on the Vision 2020 people plan, generous plan, and property plan. The people plan will help us engage more people into ministry, both by introducing CVLC to new people and inviting current members to connect more deeply. This year we are not combining the Time and Talents with financial giving so engaging in ministry has your special attention. In a few weeks, we will start sharing and collecting Time and Talents sheets. The generous plan involves working with GoTriangle (and others) to give comfort to our neighbors by installing benches at local bus stops right around the CVLC property. The Renovation Team has been working hard on the property plan. We know God's mission for us is to give comfort, and we are praying and talking about ways this property can give comfort better (see "Renovation Team Highlights" on the next page). We will be very intentional about listening to you! For God's perfect 20/20 Vision can come to any one! Stay tuned for a survey and opportunities for conversation with Renovation Team members. Already knowing that God, Emmanuel, will be with us, I am confident 2020 will be another fantastic year! Happy New Year! Pastor Ben Krey Renovation Team Highlights On December 1st, the team visited Christ the King Lutheran Church in Cary. Half the team worshipped in the traditional sanctuary and half in the contemporary sanctuary. Brooklyn Justice said she loved how welcomed she felt when someone invited her to the CTK Youth Group at the contemporary service. Pastor Wolfgang Herz-Lane introduced the CVLC team at the traditional service, and several people talked about their connections to CVLC. It's clear - the people matter more than the property!!! The church is the people, not a building. On December 8th, the team visited Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Chapel Hill. Pastor Mark Coulter, Lutheran Campus Pastor for UNC, told Beth Miller that he remembered when she taught his volleyball class in the ... nineteen-ahems, when he was an undergrad. A member of their renovation team gave us a tour of their "new" 10-year-old Sanctuary and recently renovated former Sanctuary space that is now a cafe area. The Sanctuary was set up "in the round" for Advent. They had lots of comfortable sofas in spaces that were very inviting to college students and high school students. This got us talking about how much an accessible kitchen can give comfort in the way a home gives comfort. A larger kitchen could give comfort through serving those in need, like a hospital.

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On December 20th, Beth Miller, Barb Trapp-Moen, and Pastor Ben visited to St. John Lutheran Church in Salisbury. Pastor Rhodes Woolly gave us his undivided attention for over 2 hours. If we felt the comforts of home at Holy Trinity, we felt the comforts of a hospitable hotel in St. John's enormous narthex/lobby. Before the tour, Pastor Woolly described the process they used to develop the vision for their space including making your "needs" and "wants" clear, and having your core values central to everything you do. Their building expanded significantly 5 years ago, but because of their intentionality on being environmentally friendly (including 199 solar panels), their utility costs are surprisingly less! Both Christ the King and St. John made it very clear that they are investing in Audio Visual (or AV). After showing us the contemporary worship space, Pastor Woolly said "Invest in AV. Invest in AV. Invest in AV." There are 3,000 meetings a year at St. John in Salisbury, in large part because the community finds their space so welcoming and accommodating. Christ the King wired their traditional space for screens in the future even though most of the traditional worshippers are not ready for the screens yet. Back at CVLC, the Renovation Team talked about how important parking and signage was for them, as it was their first time in these new places. We talked about how much of an impact lighting had, especially at Holy Trinity where there is so much natural light in their Sanctuary compared to CVLC and Christ the King's Sanctuary where there is so little. We talked about the importance of space flexibility: Holy Trinity re-arranges their Sanctuary for different liturgical seasons and Nagle Hall (the contemporary worship space at Christ the King) is used for many different events. We noticed all the spaces were "simple" (not a lot of stained glass or ornate marble columns), so that beautifully inspired artwork or altar paraments became the focus point. The Renovation Team plans to visit Christ Lutheran Church in Charlotte on January 12th, if enough members are available. Their new (about 4-year-old) Sanctuary was designed to accommodate both the choir led service and band led service well. Stay tuned for an on-line survey (with a few paper copies) that will be emailed out next week and opportunities to talk with Renovation Team members! We will meet with our first church architect on February 9th.

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Living Nativity 2019! CVLC’S GIFT TO THE COMMUNITY!

“I have uploaded the pictures I took at the Living Nativity, and you can browse them at this link:https://johnmnc.smugmug.com/CVLC/CVLC-Living-Nativity-Dec-14-2019/

You can view all of my CVLC galleries here: https://johnmnc.smugmug.com/CVLC

Regards,John Moen”

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Women of the ELCAOn December 11th, twelve ladies from the church enjoyed a Christmas luncheon at the Bennett Point Grill. They enjoyed the opportunity to relax and have a time to catch up with what was happening in the lives of their friends.

The next meeting will be Wednesday, January 8th, at 10 AM in the church’s fellowship hall. All women of the church are invited to join us for Bible Study and fellowship.

SHOW US THE FATHER

“And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen His glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. ...No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.” (John 1:14, 18 NRSV).

Philip said to Jesus, “Show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” (John 14:8 NRSV)

The audacity of this statement — I mean, you don’t ask for much, do you, Philip? I can sympa-thize with what you asked. It’s not that easy living with an invisible God. Sometimes I yearn to just “see” Him — to get rid of the confusion and fumbling that marks my faith life — to know Him the way He knows me.

To this request Jesus has the perfect answer. “Whoever has seen Me has seen the Father. ...Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me.......” (John 14:9b, 11a NRSV). Paul echoes this: “He is the image of the invisible God.....(Colossians 1:15a NRSV).

That means that one of the reasons Jesus was born among us is so that we can see God — so that as human beings, we can touch and see and handle and know what God is, in the context of our own lives (see 1 John 1:1-3 NRSV). Do you want to know what God is like, and what He thinks of you? Look at the baby in Bethlehem. There is God in the flesh, come down to you. There He is — not in power or unreachable glory, but lying helpless in a manger which was made for animals. And look further. There He is as a grown man, patiently teaching and healing and answering questions. There He is, providing wine for a couple’s wedding, weeping for a friend who has died, talking to a woman with a bad reputation as if she were His equal. There He is — beaten, tor-tured, mocked, dying. And there He is — risen from the dead, and promising that same everlast-ing life to you for free — if only you will take it.

Here is God, up close and personal. Now we can know Him.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, thank You for making Yourself known to us! Amen.

(Devotion written by Dr. Kari Vo and posted on lhm.org website on December 3, 2019.)

~Submitted by Barbara Sappenfield

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January Birthdays

1 Sarah Rodríguez1 Dominic Silha2 Heidi Chikmath8 Frieda Summers9 Kim Stallings10 Bryan Chappell11 Ralph Carney12 Kathleen St. Lawrence13 Bob Hockman15 Mario Scott16 Michelle Merritt17 JoAnn Scott17 Joshua Miller18 Alex Moen18 Barbara Sappenfield20 Niles Leese27 Dave Geisler29 Shannon Trantas29 Kinsey Green

January Anniversaries

1 Dave & Karen Geisler2 John & Ann Redick

February Birthdays

3 David Ernsthausen11 Debbie Gilbert Stitt23 Holly Zemke24 Gerry Butler27 Jack Weidman28 Laurel Seibert

February Anniversaries

23 Bill & Maria McDonald

Altar FlowersA new Flower sign chart for the first six months of 2020 will be up soon. Look for it on the Narthex bulletin board (at the top of the stairs). If youdesire to donate flowers, choose the date you want, add your name to the first col-umn. Then, circle YES for the florist to provide the flower arrangements ($50 for the two vases) or NO if you choose to provide the flowers (and arrange them), yourself. In the last column you canindicate if you are celebrating an occasion that you want noted in the bulletin for that Sunday.

Finally, find the special envelopes (tacked near the flower chart), and fill out the requested information. the envelope can be dropped into theoffering plate (or given to the offering stewards after the service). NOTE: the florist bills the church at the end of the month, so we requestthat your payment be made by month-end in order for funds to be available for our treasurer to pay the florist. Contact the Worship Board orKen or Kathy Hopson with any questions or suggestions.

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Congregational LifeHello All,

The Congregational Life Committee wishes to initiate a card ministry for our church family. We are look-ing for card writing, prayer warriors! Here’s what that entails:1- Providing a few cards and stamps (homemade or store bought)2- 2 weeks of the year, you and a partner will write notes of congratulations, encouragement, etc.3- Receive a reminder email and a list provided that will tell you what kind of card your parishioner needs along with their address.

Please email Elizabeth Webster if you have questions or will to participate at 919.619.4544.

Thank you. Prayer and encouragement changes everything.

~Submitted by Elizabeth Webster

Important Upcoming Dates:

2nd & 4th Thursday evening Bible Studies: Every 2nd and 4th Thursday at 7:00 PM at CVLC. The next meeting is 1/9/2020.

Ministers in God’s House Training- January 19th.

Annual Meeting- Sunday, February 16th.

Bishop Visit - Sunday, March 15th!!!!

Join us for Family Night on Sunday, January 5th at 5 PM! On this 12th Day of Christmas, the theme is “12”, organized by the 12

men in the Men’s Group! They will have their Iron Chef compe-tion. Come and see/taste! Elizabeth Webster, Kathy Hopson

and Pastor Ben have some games planned. We will also sing Christmas Carols.

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YtD % of BudgetBudget 183,145$ Giving 180,841$ 98.7%

Expense 179,676$ 98.1%Net Surplus/(Deficit) 1,166$

General Fund Updatethrough Nov 30, 2019

Statistics from the 2020 Stewardship Appeal:•55 commitment cards turned in•44 commitment increases from 2018/2019•5 brand new commitments (people who did not have anything on record in ‘18/’19)•+ 1 friend of CVLC who loved Vision 2020 so much, they sent in a dona-tion …When looking at the 44 giving units (families) that made an increase, these

people have committed to giving $38,623 more than what they gave in 2018. That’s about $875/year increase per family!

WOW!

$207,550 was the total amount committed on the 55 commitment cards!We had a big party after church on December 8th to celebrate what God is doing through us!

Thank you, thank you, thank you! Your generosity makes it possible for us to live out God’s mission “to give comfort.”

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Date Altar GuildJAN. Elizabeth WebsterFEB. Kathy LeSesne

8:30 AM Worship Service

8:30 AM Band Led Worship Service

Ministers In God’s House January 2020/February 2020

Date Greeter Lay Reader Usher Comm. Assistant AV Assistant

5- Jan Kathy Noyes Bev Ward Nancy Griffin Kathy Noyes Jeff Scott

12- Jan Joan Wilson David Krebs David Krebs Joan Wilson Larry Santeramo

19- Jan Doris Kelly Mike Green David Erusthausen Doris Kelly Jay Stolzenthaler

26- Jan Kathy LeSesne Jeff Scott Jeff Scott Kathy LeSesne David Krebs

Date Greeter Lay Reader Usher Comm. Assistant AV Assistant

2-Feb Tammy Justice Will Shearin Scott Justice Tammy Justice Deb Schleusener

9-Feb Denise Santeramo Larry Santeramo Larry Santeramo Denise Santeramo Jeff Scott

16-Feb Deb Schleusener Elizabeth Webster Jay Stolzenthaler Deb Schleusener Larry Santeramo

23-Feb Kim Stallings David Erusthausen David Erusthausen Kim Stallings Jay Stolzenthaler

Minute of Many Thanks- 16- February, Mike Green

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10:30 AM Choir Led Worship Service

Ministers In God’s House January 2020/February 2020

Ministers In God’s House

10:30 AM Worship Service

Date Wine Supplier Altar Care Bread BakerJAN. Polly Quinn Sally Hebbler Tammy Justice

Date Wine Supplier Altar Care Bread BakerFEB. Kathy LeSesne Kathy LeSesne Kim Stallings

Date Acolyte AM LR CA Greeter Usher Hosts

5- Jan Olivia Trantas

Linda Puente

Sue Feltey Joyce Visconti Barbara Sappenfield

Julia Chappell, Barbara S.

Men’s Group

12-Jan Joyce Visconti

Cristen Chappell

Julia Chappell

Bryan Chappell

Julia Chappell

Harry & Joleen Propst

Jim & Elaine Goodwin

19 Jan Anthony Trantas

Jim Goodwin

Bryan Chappell

Barb Trapp-Moen

Beth Miller Joyce Visconti, John Moen

Conrad Lentz, Barbara S.

26-Jan Julia Chappell

Linda Puente

Joyce Visconti

Barbara Sappenfield

Harry Propst Faye & Steve Fredrick

John Moen & Barb Trapp-Moen

Date Acolyte AM LR CA Greeter Usher Hosts

2-Feb Tory Green

Linda Puente

Bob Feltey Jim Goodwin Joleen Propst Beth Miller, Bryan Chappell

Men’s Group

9-Feb Faye Fredrick

Cristen Chappell

Barb Trapp-Moen

Bob Feltey Joyce Visconti

Harry & Joleen Propst

Nora & Luis Olivieri

16-Feb Olivia Trantas

Jim Goodwin

Faye Fredrick

Cristen Chappell

Barbara Sappenfield

Joyce Visconti, John Moen

Gerry & Carrie Butler

23-Feb Joyce Visconti

Cristen Chappell

Sue Feltey John Moen Beth Miller Faye & Steve Fredrick

Bryan & Cristen Chappell

MINISTRY LEADERS Pastor Rev. Ben Krey 215-738-5739 Director of Music Mr. Simon Zaleski 919-717-8900 Office Administrator Mrs. Sarah Rodríguez 919-544-7195 President Mrs. Cristen Chappell 919-419-0707 Vice President Mrs. Barbara Sappenfield 918-381-2722 Treasurer Mr. Jay Stolzenthaler 919-694-5533 Asst. Treasurer Mr. Dave Thomas 216-210-4555 Secretary Mr. Matthew Hall 919-624-8896 Ministers in God’s House Assign. Mrs. Joan Wilson 919-942-7208 Quilters Mrs. Joleen Propst 919-596-7534 Community Garden Mrs. Barb Trapp-Moen 919-544-5429 Property Ministry Team Mr. Jim Goodwin 978-664-5866 Worship Ministry Team Mr. Larry Santeramo 919-418-7477 Outreach Ministry Team Mrs. Carla Stolzenthaler 919-694-5533 Cong. Life Ministry Team OPEN- Elizabeth Webster is Council Liason Women’s Group Mrs. Faye Fredrick 919-908-7766 Men’s Group Mr. Jeff Scott 984-219-7039 Youth Group Mr. Mike Green 919-740-6872 Resource Ministry Team Mr. David Ernsthausen 919-614-3724 Christ. Ed Ministry Team OPEN- Julia Chappell is Council Liason Planting Hope Mrs. Cristen Chappell 919-419-0707 Mr. Larry Santeamo 919-418-7477 Website Mr. John Moen 919-544-5429

Congregational CouncilCristen Chappell (President) ........... 919-419-0707 Barbara Sappenfield (V President) 918-381-2722Matthew Hall (Secretary)............. 919-624-8896 Linda Puente ............................... 919-450-0386Beth Miller................................... 919-544-7061Dave Thomas............................... 216-210-4555Elizabeth Webster............................. 919-619-4544Julia Chappell............................. 919-632-3561John Moen................................... 919-544-5429

TreasurerJay Stolzenthaler......................... 919-694-5533

Community Group CVLC ContactsTroop & Pack 486 John Moen7th Day Adventist Jim GoodwinBabyWearing Group Sarah RodríguezMinisterio Alcance y Reconciliacion Luis & Nora Olivieri

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