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12601 Balcombe Road Phone: 407-859-9468
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Saints Alive
All Saints Lutheran Church - Orlando, FL
Calling All Saints!
Shepherding Sunday September 16
On Sunday, September 16, we will kick off our Shepherding Program at All Saints. The congregation has been broken into 12 Shepherd Groups - each group with a shepherd family and 6 to 7 sheep families. The shepherd families will be introduced and commissioned at the service on the 16th and we ask everyone to be here to make this a festive and special day. It will be the job of the shepherd families to “look out” for the sheep families at Sunday worship. If some sheep “get lost” for a couple of weeks, shepherds are asked to give them a call and make sure they are OK.
At the service, each member family will receive a “Guest Bag” that will presented to all visiting individuals or families to All Saints in the future. At the Kid Talk, all kids will get their own sheep! We want everyone to feel that they are welcome at All Saints with a little gift. It is important, however, that this gift of welcome is extended to all our new guests at All Saints.
Also, on that day we are going to ask everyone to gather outside at the front of the church for a group picture. We want this to be the cover photo on our new brochure which will be entitled: Get Connected at All Saints Lutheran Church! It is most important that we have a great turnout!
This is a most important day for the future of All Saints. Please be here and be a part of those who support our Lords’ Great Commission to “Make Disciples” through All Saints Church.
Mother and Child Banquet
Saturday, September 22 at 6:30 PM
A Night of Magic with Bill Perry
Hey moms! Gather with your kids and join us for a night of fun and magic at All Saints Church. We are going to have a great bar-b-que pork dinner (served by the men) followed by special entertainment from a very funny magician, Mr. Bill Perry. This will be an exciting evening for kids of all ages. Sign up at church following the service on Sunday or purchase your tickets from a member of the Fellowship Team. $10 for adults and $5 for kids and grandmothers. $20 maximum per family.
Scottish Sunday
September 30
We will again welcome the pipes and drums of the Rosie O’Grady Pipe Band to All Saints on the last Sunday in September. This is always a stirring service and we hope that not only will all our members attend, but that we use it as an outreach opportunity to our friends and neighbors. Of course, that can only happen if we invite those who might be interested in finding a church home or just in attending a local church community. A recent article in the Lutheran Magazine pointed out that most people who don’t go to church feel a sense of guilt that they don’t. Also, two thirds of non-church goers responded that they would visit a church if someone asked them. Let’s make Scottish Sunday at All Saints a day to remember - for us and our friends.
Ushers Meeting
Sunday, September 23, after church
We would be very appreciative if all current serving Ushers could be in church on Sunday, September 23, and make arrangements to stay for a brief meeting following the service during the fellowship time. We’d like to go over usher duties and responsibilities, concerns or questions and how the ushers will integrate in the new Connection Partner Visitor Greeting Program. We haven’t had an Ushers Meeting in a long time and we need to make sure everyone is on the same page. Thanks!
Faceted Glass Windows
Statesville Stained Glass installed our beautiful new faceted glass windows in August. They are wonderful and add a tremendous new, rich dimension to our worship at All Saints. Thanks to all who donated part or all of our six new windows. Pastor Ludder is hoping to dedicate the windows along with the new processional cross on a Sunday in mid October when hopefully all the principals are able to be here. Stay tuned for the exact date. In the meantime - enjoy these wonderful new additions to our worship at All Saints.
Mark Kelly Wants YOU!
Our new organist and choral director, Mark Kelly, is great! When it comes to directing - Wow! He knows what he is doing and we are so fortunate to have him at All Saints. With the Bates family moving to Minnesota and the Hornungs relocating to Leesburg, the choir has had to absorb the loss of 4 voices as we begin the new season. If you can carry a tune - you don’t have to be able to read music and very few current choir members can - please consider joining our choir. Under the direction of Mark it is a fun and worthwhile experience. Rehearsals are on Wednesday evenings at 7:15 PM.
Road Sign Campaign
Look for our new “road signs” around the neighborhood beginning this week. The focus is on Traditional Worship and location near Universal Nissan. Also remember that you make the difference in how people perceive the friendliness of All Saints AND people join friendly churches. Remember what Pastor Ludder said? The single factor by which visitors determine if a church is friendly or not is simply THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE THAT TALK TO THEM. By doing such a simple thing, we have a tremendous ability to affect the growth of our church.
Church Website
We are not sure if you looked at the church website lately, but Mike Erickson is doing a great job expanding our site. Many new pictures are posted and Pastor Ludder’s sermons are now available for listening right on the internet. Try it out!
You know, more and more people are using the internet to shop churches. A very non-threatening way to introduce someone to All Saints is by inviting them to visit our site online. There is plenty of good information there to get a reasonable “feel” for the church. Once they visit online it is a pretty short step to asking them to visit with you in person.
Playground Proposal
At its August meeting the Leadership Team voted in principle to approve to the congregation a new rubber composite surface for our playground area. This would be a joint venture with the Montessori School in that they and All Saints Church would split the cost 50/50. The cost to All Saints would be approximately $14,200.
The Council feels this would be an outstanding addition to address the situation of our playground which is often full of weeds and “disappearing” mulch. Details need to be worked out and current sites with this covering installed will be visited. In that per our constitution the Council cannot authorized an expenditure of this amount on its own, a full report and proposal will be brought before the congregation for approval or rejection. Additional information will be forthcoming and a Congregational Meeting date to discuss this proposal will be announced at least two weeks in advance of the meeting.
Shepherd Groups
Just a word on the newly created Shepherding Groups. This is a FAMILY UNIT BASED program. One Shepherd family is asked to “look out” for six to seven Sheep families. This is not a small group initiative. It is a method to help make sure that we don’t lose touch with current and new members at All Saints. Sometimes people say: “You know, I wasn’t in church for over a month, and nobody called me. Nobody knows/cares if I am there or not.” That isn’t always the case, but there is enough truth in that complaint for it to be taken seriously. So if a Shepherd family doesn’t see a Sheep family in church for a few Sundays, we ask them to contact the “missing one” to let them know 1) that they are missed 2) that we care about them and 3) that they have a way to relay information to the pastoral staff if need be. Sheep - be kind to your Shepherd. They care about you!
Stewardship Update
This is a brief overview of our financial situation at All Saints through August 2007.
The amount that our members pledged to give through August 2007 is $100,120. The actual amount received on pledge is $87,463. This represents a shortfall of $12,647 or about 12.6%.
Non-pledged giving through August 2007 is $5,931 which is $2,679 under what was budgeted.
Loose offering through August 2007 is $13,902 which is $5,902 over what was budgeted.
Total giving for the year is $4,906 under the same period in 2006.
Total expenses for the year is $152,855 which is $12,547 under what is budgeted.
Because our expenses are less than planned and our loose offering is higher than anticipated we are still marginally in the black for the year. However, we do prayerfully ask that all our members do the best they can for the Lord - especially those who anticipated giving more during the pledge period. Certainly circumstances may effect your ability to give, but lets all make sure that our stewardship has proper priorities. When we remember the Lord first, He makes all things possible for us.
All Saints Lutheran Church
12601 Balcombe Road, Orlando
407-340-4740