September 2013

WWW . A P L C . O R G

ABIDING PRESENCE LUTHERAN CHURCHABIDING PRESENCE LUTHERAN CHURCHABIDING PRESENCE LUTHERAN CHURCHABIDING PRESENCE LUTHERAN CHURCH

A p l a c e o f G r a c e . A l l a r e W e l c o m e .

God’s Work Our Hands

Celebration Day Sep 8

Rally Day—Sunday

School begins Sep 8

Called Back to the Well

Retreat Sep 6-7

SPLASH Baptism Class Sep 11

Sanctuary Choir

Retreat

Sep 13-

15

Habitat Work Day Sep 14

Mission Partner

Weekend—Habitat

Sept 14-

15

Cross Trails Fall

Festival-Fredericksburg Sep 21

Mission Partner-Guide

Dogs of Texas Oct 5-6

6th Grade Confirmation

Retreat

Oct 12-

13

New Member

Orientation Begins Oct 13

M a r k Y o u r C a l e n d a r s

“So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God,

who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the minis-try of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ, since

God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who

knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:17-21

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America marks its 25th anniversary on September 8th and has big plans for the celebration! What we celebrate is not an institution with bylaws and offices. What we celebrate is people! – people who worship together and, in worship, hear God’s Word sending them out to be active in caring for neighbors and caring for the earth. We have been made new in Christ! We are sent out as ambassadors for Christ!

Rev. Dr. Judith Spindt will be with us for worship on the weekend of September 7th and 8th. She is Director for Evangelical Mission and Bishop’s Associate for our synod. She brings the gospel’s good news in English and in Spanish, in joy and in hope. She inspires us to discover the ‘new’ in ourselves and to give ourselves to God’s world – God’s work; our hands.

There will be work for your hands that Sunday afternoon. Two different celebration projects are planned to take us out into our community as ambassadors. Read about these on page 2 and pick up a more detailed information flyer at church.

Your hands can build the next weekend – Saturday, September 14th with Habitat for Humanity. We are joining with other Lutheran churches in San Antonio to build a house this fall with our partner family. Hands can build at the Habitat site, or hands can make and serve lunch to the builders on that day.

Also on September 8th, we gather for Rally Day – the day a new year begins for Sunday School. Classes are ready for all ages. Come and find a new perspective on our favorite old, old stories. You’ll find details inside on page 4.

Opportunities abound for you to find new connections with your fellow church members in small groups here at APLC or through synod wide events. Consider challenging yourself to one new connection this fall.

Always being made new … sounds like a lot of constant changing! Does God really want us changing all the time? Isn’t God the One who is the SAME yesterday, today, and always?

The answer is yes and amen to both questions! God is the Abiding Pres-ence of our lives, the One who calls us from death to life, the One who is WITH us always, the One whose steadfast love endures forever.

God is the One whose promised constant presence frees us from fear so that we can respond to God’s changing world with God’s loving grace.

Always being made new,

Pastor Dawn

THE ELCA: ALWAYS BEING MADE NEW

CELEBRATING 25 YEARS TOGETHER IN CHRIST

Responding to God’s gift

of grace in Jesus Christ

and energized by the

Holy Spirit we

Invite,

Serve,

Worship,

Give, and

Grow in Faith.

Page 2 A B I D I N G P R E S E N C E

Always Being Made New is the theme this year for the 25 anni-versary of the Evangelical Lutheran Churchy in America. As a worshipping community, Abiding Presence is embracing this theme by introducing new worship resources to carry us into our next steps in ministry. Once in every generation a new core wor-ship resource appears: a new treasury of worship, prayer, and song to help the church renew its worship life. This fall, Abiding Presence will celebrate Word and Sacrament through such a re-source as we are made new through the latest hymnal of the ELCA.

Evangelical Lutheran Worship is the result of a five-year process during which Lutheran congregations all across North America were invited to test new worship materials and provide feedback to help build the best worship resources for the whole church. These new resources have truly been prepared by the whole church, for the whole church. They reflect the riches of our past, the gifts of the present, and the hope that we have for the future of God’s church.

This new resource comprises liturgies, hymns, and settings from our current hymnals and will replace both the Lutheran Book of Worship and With One Voice in our pews. The beloved “green” and “blue” books have provided Abiding Presence with many years of use, and as they make their way out of the sanctuary and into the homes of worshippers, new space is made for the ELW AND pew Bibles. Having Bibles in the pew allows worshippers to

open a Bible and read it together with children and parents, see what God is telling us before and after the lessons of the day, and be engrossed in the living Word of God made manifest in and through the written word.

A meaningful tradition for many families is to purchase a hymnal and/or Bible, for Abiding Presence to use, in memory or honor of loved ones past and present. Beginning on the weekend of Sep-tember 21 and 22, order forms will be available to purchase a set of worship resources for $50.00 each. The new hymnals and Bi-bles will make their way into the sanctuary and worship the week-end of Reformation.

In worship we receive God’s grace, freely given to us in Christ. In worship we respond with praise and thanksgiving to that freely given gift. Through worship we are always being made new. As you prepare to support our church’s wor-ship life through the gift of new worship resources, I invite you to respond with a grateful heart.

God be with you as you pray and medi-tate on the commitment you will make. Be bold!

When you sing, you pray twice,

Pastor Steve

HYMNALS AND B IBLES – More than just books in the pew.

GOD’S WORK; OUR HANDS—Celebration Day Service Projects

As part of the 25th anniversary of the ELCA, congregations have been challenged to a day of dedicated service in our communities. God’s Work; Our hands. Accepting that challenge, Pastor Dawn and our Care & Nurture Ministry Action Team have coordi-nated two projects to provide opportunity for everyone—all ages, all abilities to serve. Pick one you’d like to be part of. Both pro-jects happen Sunday afternoon, September 8th. Coffee in the Courtyard is a hospitality project with the guests at Haven for Hope, a shelter for people without homes located in downtown San Antonio.

This project has two ways to participate.

• Bake cookies, lots and lots of cookies! Pack your cookies in baggies—3-4 per bag— and bring them on Sunday morning.

• Come along to Haven for Hope where we will serve the cook-ies and drinks and share conversation with the guests. This part of the activity is adults-only. On arrival, we will be met by the volunteer coordinator who will guide us in setting up, serving, and offering meaningful hospitality to the guests.

River Responders is a clean-up project on the San Antonio River learning to care for this vital resource at the center of our city.

This project is organized by the San Antonio River Authority to invite those of us who live on the river to be good caretakers of the water and the river bank. This is a project for all ages to take part in – families and children are welcome! We will be working along

the mission reach of the river, south of downtown. We will meet our leader, Matthew Driffle, at Roosevelt Park in the pavilion on the west side of Mission Road. Our project is to identify native vegetation and to remove some unwanted vegetation. Bring clip-pers or loppers if you have them; wear gloves and close-toed shoes and be ready for some fun! Both of these projects are opportunities to put our hands to work. These projects are ALSO opportunities to put our ears and eyes to work. What do you know about living without a home? Those who serve “coffee in the courtyard” will have the privilege of engaging in conversation with neighbors who are currently without a home, listening to their stories and, through listening, discovering new relationships and learning new perspectives. What do you know about the health of the water that flows from the springs in Brackenridge Park through the city and down to the Gulf of Mexi-co? Those who help clean up the river bank will have the privilege of seeing and hearing the many kinds of life that are dependent upon this irreplaceable resource of God’s creation. All who are taking part in either of these projects are invited to bring a brown bag lunch and eat together in the gym at about 12:30. The work groups will leave the church at 1:00 to carpool to the two locations. Maps and additional details will be provided that day. Both groups will return to the church by 4:00. Let’s go out and share God’s love in our city!

Page 3 A B I D I N G P R E S E N C E

This fall Abiding Presence will again be part of the Lutheran Cluster of churches and will build a home in Habitat’s new-est neighborhood, Coleman Ridge.

The build schedule covers 7 Saturdays from mid September through October. Sign up now to be part of the APLC con-struction team. Dedication of the new home will be November 16th.

Habitat for Humanity is our Mission Partner for September. Come to worship the weekend of September 14-15 to hear more from a Habitat representative about how Habitat “Changes lives—one house at a time.”

Square Foot Funding CampaignSquare Foot Funding CampaignSquare Foot Funding CampaignSquare Foot Funding Campaign As part of our Mission Partner program, starting September 1st Abiding Presence will conduct a Square Foot Funding Campaign to help with the construction costs of the home. Check out the bulletin board in the hallway to see a floor plan of the home. Which part of the house will you choose—the kitchen, the bathroom, the living room, or a shrub? Donate $5 per square foot and color in the area you want to support.

APLC Build dates come up soon—Please mark your calendars and sign up to work on either or both dates.

• Saturday, September 14th 30 volunteer builders for wall construction and painting. Positions for ages 14 and up. PLUS 6 volunteers to make and serve lunch.

• Saturday, November 9th 30 volunteers 14 and older to do landscaping PLUS 6 volunteers to make and serve lunch.

All volunteers need to sign a waiver before arriving at the build site. Find details on Habitat’s website. Click on Volunteer Opportunities. Volunteers under 18 years of age must have a parent present.

Meet our partner family:

KyawSan Oo & YwaBlu

Paw are excited to be-

come homeowners.

They feel Habitat offers

a great opportunity for

someone to live out

their dreams of owning

a home. They have rel-

atives who are proud

owners of a Habitat

home. KyawSan and YwaBlu will enjoy living close to their

relatives.

WE GIVE

APLC’s MISS ION PARTNERS COMING in SEPTEMBER & OCTOBER

Guide Dogs of Texas was also a Mission Partner last year and their story made an impact on the hearts of many at Abiding Presence. Quite notably, Ethan Scarlett.

When 16-year-old Ethan needed a project to advance him to Eagle Scout rank, he thoughtfully selected a challenging task knowing the end result of his hard work would positively benefit the lives of those who are blind. Ethan answered a call to build an obsta-cle course to be used in the training of dogs for the visually impaired at Guide Dogs of Texas. The course will be used, when owners are matched with their dogs, to practice good behavior and become better acquainted with one another.

The course, consists of a staircase, barriers and overhead ob-stacles. “The obstacle course teaches the new team how to communicate together to solve problems,” said Sandy Merrill, director of training. “It allows the guide dog owner to learn what it feels like when the dog moves left or right, and how to follow the dog. In addition, the dog and owner have to com-municate together to safely get past overhead obstacles and to go up and down stairs.”

Awareness of the ministry of GDTX has spread through Ethan’s project as he set to work with donated funds and mate-rials from local businesses and with help in more than 170 hours of assembly from caring adults and fellow boy scouts. The Scarlett family’s dog, Buck, who passed away several years ago, is memorialized in one of the obstacles using his leash. “It’s a great way to remember him,” Ethan warmly remarked.

Guide Dogs of Texas will be at Abiding Presence for our Mission Partner emphasis on October 5&6. Come learn more about this im-portant work, unique to San Anto-nio, and how you can be involved. You can also see more information on their website http://guidedogsoftexas.org/

Page 4 A B I D I N G P R E S E N C E

WE GROW IN FAITH

Sunday School Rally Day—Sep 8th

Sunday school is offered for all ages from 10:00—10:45 a.m. Come hear new perspectives on old stories and learn how God works in our lives each day—always making us new.

Pre K and Elementary Children

At 10:00 a.m. all children (and parents too!) gather in room 102 for a 5 minute “Opening Time.” We will learn about sharing God’s gifts and about our monthly mission partners before ac-companying our teachers to class. Kids will all return to room 102 at the end of class time to meet their grownups.

Pre-K and K – Cory Rodriguez, Frances Frey

1st and 2nd – Courtney Tarbox, Kim Carleton, Shera Dewald

3rd, 4th, 5th – Dawn Johnson, Julie Magadance

Jr and Sr High Students — in the Youth Room

Led by Mike Ceyanes, Mitch & Jill Dorn, Mike Berkholtz, Tim Hopkins

Adults in the Corner – Room 6 B

9/8 Caring for God’s Creation: the San Antonio River watershed Leader: Josef Kaul, Educator, SARA You live on the banks of the San Antonio River. You might not be able to see the river water from your driveway, but the river receives water from your drive-way, from your yard, your street, your neighborhood. Come and learn about the system that creates the San Antonio River and the ways we can become better stewards of this life-sustaining river.

9/15 & 9/22 Baptized We Live! A grown-up discussion of baptism, the springboard for our lives of faith Leader: Rev. Gary Bertsch, member of APLC and chaplain, USAF The moment that begins a lifetime of ‘being made new’ by God in Christ is the moment of baptism. We are sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever! We live in hope and faith! We engage in the challenges and decisions of life believing that God is at work in our world and that God is calling each of us to use our hands (and feet!) in God’s mission to love this world. Join in a lively discussion of where your feet are taking you, what your hands are doing, and how Luther’s legacy of ‘baptized living’ is a gift and a guide!

9/29 What does the Bible say about doing ‘charity’ and doing ‘justice’? Leader: Bee Morehead, Center for Faith and Public Policy We are a community in Christ called to live in our larger commu-nity- serving all people and striving for justice. What is “justice”? Is it the same thing as “charity”? Come and discuss what the Bible has to say to us about ‘doing justice.’

Adult Lectionary Study - Room 206 Studying the weekly lessons we hear in worship. Leaders will in-clude Pastor Dawn, Lisa Scarlett, Effendy Liwang, and Becca Cox

9/8 Luke 14:25-33 9/15 Luke 15:1-10

9/22 Luke 16:1-13 9/29 Luke 16:19-31

Wonderful Wednesdays

All are invited to gather on Wednesdays to make a joyful noise to

the Lord singing or ringing hand bells and to learn from God’s

word and from each other! Whether you like to sing, read, study

or eat and chat, these evenings offer you a place to share your

faith and share your friendship.

Nursery care is available from 5:30—9:00 for children of all

ages so that older children and adults can participate fully in all

the evening’s activities.

5:30—6:30 Pizza Dinner for all

5:15—6:00 Chapel Chimers

3rd—8th graders meet in the choir room for

Hand chimes

6:15—6:45 Cherub Choir

3—6 year old singers meet in Room 6B

6:15—7:00 Children’s Chorus

2nd—6th grade singers meet in the choir room

7:00—9:00 Sanctuary Choir

Adult singers meet in the choir room

7:00—8:00 Adult Bible Study Co-ed study group meets in Room 206

Middle and High School youth meet alternating weeks

6:45—8:15 Confirmation Class Middle school youth meet in room 202

September 11th and 25th

7:00—8:30 Buzz Session High School age meet in the youth room

September 4th and 18th

Dinner Hosts Needed

We are in need of adults to host the

pizza dinner. It really is an easy

task—All food and supplies are pro-

vided. Volunteers are asked to han-

dle the simple setup and cleanup.

Directions and training provided.

Can you sign up to help once or

twice this fall? Parents of young

singers, grandparents, aunts, uncles,

anyone who just likes to be around young folks can help support

this “wonderful” family ministry. Contact Beth Billnitzer at

bethobill@gmail.com or call the church office to pick your date.

I love knowing that in the middle of a busy week, I can sit down to eat with my kids and then contin-ue a conversation with other parents while the kids go with Ms. Barbara or Ms. Sandy to sing!

Coed Groups

New dinner groups are forming this fall. Come for a potluck

dinner on Sunday, October 20th at 4:00 p.m. Learn more about

this kind of small group fellowship and get signed up for a

monthly group of your choosing.

Wednesday night Bible Study Come for dinner on Wednes-

days and stay for a grown up study from 7:00—8:00. Child care

is available.

Bible Story Tellers! This group meets about every other week

on Sunday following worship. Pastor Dawn leads the group in

study and in learning Bible stories “by heart.” These stories are

shared often in worship.

Women’s Groups

Grace Circle—Meets on the first Thursday of each month at

10:00 a.m. in room 206.

Joy Bible Study—Meets on the third Tuesday of each month at

7:30 p.m. in room 206.

Monday Night Women’s Bible Study—The fall session will

begin September 9th with a seven week study of “Jonah: Navi-

gating a Life Interrupted.” Room 201 at 6:45 p.m.

Exercise Group—Meets Mondays and Wednesdays at 9:00 am

in room 202. This low impact exercise class is open to women of

all ages looking for a physical fitness routine.

Quilters—Meets on Tuesday mornings at 9:30 in room 206.

Come help sort, cut, and stitch towards our next year’s Lutheran

World Relief goal of 150 quilts and 100 school kits.

Noteworthy Women’s Chorus—Come for dinner at Willie’s

Ice House at 6:00 then to the church for rehearsal at 7:00 p.m.

First Monday of each month. (Sept 9 this month due to holiday)

Men’s Groups

Sunday Fellowship Breakfast—Men of APLC work in teams

to cook and serve breakfast each Sunday morning.

Men’s Chorus—Meets at the church on the second Monday of

each month at 7:00 pm for singing and fellowship in the choir

room. All male singers are invited.

Men’s Softball—Fall league begins September 5. Sign up to

play and get to know your APLC teammates.

Men’s Breakfast Group—Meets at The Egg & I on Thousand

Oaks at 8:00 a.m. alternate Thursdays.

Page 5 A B I D I N G P R E S E N C E

DO SOMETHING NEW FOR YOU—More ways to get connected at APLC

Life After Loss Support Group

Life is turned upside down and inside out when a loved one dies. Sadness seems to saturate every day and every activity. Hope can seem far away.

If you are grieving, you will find a welcome here to share your sorrow and find light in the darkness -- come and take part in “Life After Loss” – a grief support program offered through the American Cancer Society. It will be led by Chaplain Gillian Cor-coran. All are welcome.

Place: Room 201—Abiding Presence Education Building

Time: 2:30 PM until 4:00 PM

Dates: Sundays, September 8, 15, 22, 29, October 7, 14 Attend-ing all six sessions is most beneficial, therefore no new partici-pants will be accepted after the second session.

Labyrinth Prayer: Experience a walking prayer through a Labyrinth on September 29th following the support session. The labyrinth will be set up in the gym.

Women’s Retreat Women’s Retreat Women’s Retreat Women’s Retreat November 1—3 Come for a relaxing weekend away

Learning how to bear the

fruit of God’s work in our

lives, our retreat weekend at

Camp Chrysalis will include

study and reflection using the

book In My Father’s Vine-

yard, time alone and togeth-

er with friends, beautiful hill

country scenery, and great

food! A special guest speak-

er will teach us about biblical

connections to tending and

growing grapes and the wine

making process. We may

even have some wine tasting.

We will carpool from APLC on Friday evening, leaving at 5:30

PM, and return back to APLC on Sunday afternoon by 3:00 PM.

Cost for the entire weekend, which includes lodging and meals,

is $99.00.

Registration will begin mid September. Watch for the an-

nouncements.

Page 6 A B I D I N G P R E S E N C E

CHECK IT OUT—APLC LIBRARY NEWS by Pat Bjornson

Did you know we have a small selection of humor books in the APLC library? Kathy Rogenes had a great sense of humor, and most of these books came from her estate. Most of them were written by Janet Martin, who grew up in Hillsboro, ND, just a few miles from the Rogenes farm. You probably need to be from "up north" with a Scandinavian background to really appreciate the humor in You Know You are a Lutheran If... or This Is Most Certainly True. My favorite is Growing Up Luther-an: What Does This Mean? It brings back lots of memories of Sunday School, perfect attendance pins, church dinners, and all those Saturday morning confirmation classes and their "What does this mean?" questions. Look for the 808 number on the library shelves for these books.

Poetry books have the number 811 on them; this is another small but good collection of books. J. J. Caldwell's As I Struggle to Walk with God is a collection of short poems based on Bible verses. Voices in the Night is a book of poetry written by Die-trich Bonhoeffer while he was in prison. Read the preface to

Walter Wangerin, Jr.'s A Miniature Cathedral and Other Poems before any of the poetry. Most of the poems need more than one reading as well as a lot of thought.

Arts and Crafts is another small section in the library. Angels in Art, a coffee table size book found on a bottom shelf, is full of beautiful photos of artists' paintings of angels through the ages. If you admire the Chrismon decorations on our tree in December and would like to make some for your own tree, there are four books with instructions for making them; they all have "Chrismon" in the title and the book number is 745. One other book in this section is The Book of Christian Crafts. The degree of difficulty varies, as do the projects and materials used. You can find everything from counted cross stitch items to wood ornaments to jewelry in this book.

These books will all be on the APLC book cart, located near the offices, this month.

The Day School will begin the fall semester on September 4th! We

still have a few openings. Please call 491-9565 for more details.

We accept children from 20 months—4 years old. Our school is

accredited by the National Association for the Education of

Young Children which assures you of very high quality care and

education!

As we begin the new school year, we welcome three new teachers:

Rebekah Barnes—Lead teacher for PreK-4 class

Beth Humphreys—Assistant teacher for the PreK-4 class

Dawn Rayner—Lead teacher for the PreK-5 class

Over the summer our playgrounds have gotten a face lift with a

new sandbox on the PreK-2 playground and fresh sand and re-

pairs on the large playground. In addition, we have expanded our

Pre-K classroom and have purchased an indoor gross motor unit.

What fun the children will be having with all the new equipment.

These renovations and purchases were possible through the

funds raised at our annual greenback night and silent auction.

Thank you to all who so generously support our Day School.

DAY SCHOOL NEWS

On Tuesday evenings, October 1st—29th, Frances

Harrelson, Day School Director, will be facilitating a

Love and Logic course. The group will meet in the even-

ing from 6:30—8:00 pm at Abiding Presence Lutheran

Day School. The evening time allows both parents to

attend and work together on these techniques with your

child. There is limited childcare available—you must

register in the day school office.

Love and Logic® provides simple and practical tech-

niques to help parents with kids of all ages:

• Raise responsible kids

• Have more fun in their role

• Easily and immediately change their children's

behavior

Love and Logic is a philosophy founded in 1977 by Jim

Fay and Foster W. Cline, M.D. It is the approach of

choice among leading educators, parents, and other pro-

fessionals worldwide.

For more information and to register, please contact

Frances in the Day School office by calling 491-9565.

Page 7 A B I D I N G P R E S E N C E

SEPTEMBER B IRTHDAYS

1 Carly Wofford Ashley Williams 2 Sandra Hoggard 4 Stephanie Bearden Curtis Bostick Sue Johnston Eric Minor Kathy Carlson 5 Susan Cruz Barb Williams Thomas Beyer 6 Malcolm Reus 8 Domingo Ornelas 9 Susan DeMers Darlene Gallagher William Cline Nancy Geyer 10 Sara Kusiak Mernee Hernandez Paul Boomhower Joyce Baker Thomas McLin Bethany Graves 11 Linda Fisher Steve Magadance

Kate Kneese Ryan Plagens 12 John Fisher Christopher Grinnan Norm Haugen Carter Cone 13 Catherine Freres Sally Mask Ryan Kutzik Gweneth Williams 14 Jennifer Raimondo Josh Engstrom 15 Kim Carleton Ryan Olsen Todd Erickson 16 Tom Cole Kirby Mask Miriam Johnson 17 Meg Tuttle Tristan Schlinke 18 Tyler Kinnamon 20 Suzanne Calhoun-Gregory Wanda Rohne Xavier Rodriguez 21 Andrew Bogholtz, Jr.

Paul Fitzgerald Melissa Poor 22 Alberta Lochte Sara Tuscher 23 John Menchaca Dayton Simms 24 Rick Krenz Kristin Kusiak Ruth Lucke Mary Heath Sandy Liwang 25 Raenell Rodriguez Cameron Piccirilli David Beyer Sarah Beaird 26 Ed May Myron Siefken Barb Fitzgerald Debbie Hediger 27 Deb Eggers 28 Teresa Reynolds 29 Alyson Moyer Rita Seringer 30 Debbie Minzenmeyer Eric Colgan

SEPTEMBER ANNIVERSARIES

1 Pete and Grace Henning 3 Gary and Debbie Minzenmeyer Robert and Kristine Munden 5 Hal and Barbara Leffingwell Irv and Marian Njus Sheldon and Renee Hermanson Steve and Christie Brown Mark and Lynn Jedow 7 Dave and Barb Williams 9 Jerry and Emily Jurica 10 Eddie and Sylvia Rodriguez Greg and Sharon Minor

12 John and Linda Fisher 13 Domingo and Cheryl Ornelas 16 Chris Beaird and Michele Beaird 18 Andy and Deborah Bogholtz 20 Michael and Sara Serwacki 21 Al and Kay Davidson 22 Peter and Cindy Scalise 25 Roger and Sue Anderson Linda Seewald and Anne Dunn 27 Cullen and Donna Grinnan 28 Dan and El Decker

APLC Staff

Steven J. Cox

Pastor

Dawn Silvius

Pastor

Matt Goodson

Minister of Music

Sandy Musk

Music Associate

Mike Ceyanes

Minister of Youth

Sue Evans

Business Manager

Gaye Hank

Communications Manager

Frances Harrelson

Day School Director

Executive Council

Michael Guerrero

Executive Director

Bob Leinius

Assistant Executive Director

Cory Rodriguez

Secretary

Roger Schievelbein

Treasurer

Ministry Action Teams

INVITE

Sandy Liwang

Evangelism

SERVE

Sharon Hensel

Care and Nurture

WORSHIP

Jordan & Sigrid Stern

Worship, Arts, & Music

GIVE

Curtis Ruder

Stewardship

GROW IN FAITH

Becca Cox

Faith Formation

CH

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CH

L

EA

DE

RS

HIP

Alamo Conference Vi sion ing Event APLC is one of 21 congregations in the Alamo Conference of SWTX Synod. Conference Dean, Rev. Sandra Leifeste says “We are neighbors; there are many ways that we can be working together. In September we will come together as neighboring Lutheran churches to plan for ways we can support each other and work together to accomplish ministries that single congregations are not able to do on their own. Sue Briner, Bish-op’s Associate, will be with us to help guide us to imagine new possibilities. Grace Lutheran Church, 1:30 PM September 22nd. Bring an idea or a question and come!

C r o s s T r a i l s F a l l F e s t i v a l September 21st from 9:00—3:00 in the Fredericksburg Marktplatz. Many ways to par-ticipate. Sign up for the 5K Walk/Run, chili cook-off, visit craft booths, children’s ac-tivities. All proceeds benefit Cross Trails Ministry.

S w i n g Y o u r H e a r t O u t ! C h a n g e a L i f e ! A benefit golf tournament for New Life Children’s Center—Monday, October 28th at Fair Oaks Ranch Golf Club. Every day, thousands of children are hurt, abused and neglected – some are abandoned or relinquished for adoption. Society labels them “children at risk,” but through the efforts of the New Life Children’s Center, these chil-dren become “Tomorrow’s Child.” Sign up to play at www.lsss.org/events/

HAPPENING AROUND THE SYNOD

Our Pastors are available for members in times of crisis to visit, support, and pray with them. Stephen

Ministers are available for regular visits on a long

term basis. At times members need continued sup-

port on a regular basis for weeks or months after a

crisis or significant event in their lives. As our congregation con-

tinues to grow our pastors believe it is beneficial for APLC to

have Stephen Ministry available to provide God’s love through

one-on-one Christian caring relationships to provide the support needed.

As a congregation, one of our most important responsibilities is

to serve and care for our members as well as those in the com-

munity. Stephen Ministry provides care for those that may not

need professional care, but need assurance that someone is there

to listen and provide confidential Christian care for them. Ste-

phen Ministers are energized by the Holy Spirit and are called to

serve others during their time of need.

As a Stephen Minister and a Stephen Minister leader, I have seen

God’s love in action. Our Stephen Ministers have been there to

listen, provide support and pray with our congregation members

as they are going through a difficult time in their lives. They

have had a positive impact on the lives of several of our church

members as well as care receivers from other churches during

the past 11-years. Those who have had a Stephen Minister know they can depend on them to be there and provide confidential

Christian care. To request a Stephen Minister, call Pastor Dawn

or Pastor Steve at 494-8884.

Caring for Each Other by Hayden Stewart

Abiding Presence is a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The legislative authority of the ELCA is the Churchwide Assembly which meets eve-ry three years (beginning 2013). I was elected

to serve as a voting member from our Southwestern Texas Synod at the 2013 Assembly in Pittsburgh, August 12-17. We discussed a variety of issues facing our world today and made many key decisions to further the mission and ministry of the ELCA and by extension, the congregations of the ELCA, like Abiding Presence. A new Presiding Bishop was elected. Rev. Elizabeth A Eaton, bishop of the ELCA Northeastern Ohio Synod, is the first woman elected to the office of ELCA Presiding Bishop. She will be in-stalled on Oct. 5 and begins her six-year term on November 1. We adopted a social statement on criminal justice. ELCA social statements are teaching documents that assist members in form-ing judgments on social issues. They set policy for this church and guide its advocacy and work as a public church. The state-ment calls for members of the ELCA to recommit themselves to visiting the prisoner; correct the flawed criminal justice system and participate in God’s work with hands and hearts. We considered memorials - resolutions from the ELCA’s 65 syn-ods -- on topics including Holy Communion, immigration re-form, the Middle East, pastoral ministry to same-gender couples and their families, the Uniting American Families Act, communi-ty violence, gender identity, immigration detention, hydraulic fracturing, fossil fuels and more. I encourage you to look for all the details at www.elca.org .

Assembly Report by Julie Magadance

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