PARISH NEWS
March 2023 Pastor's Letter
Pastor Dustin wrapping up the 2023 Phil Grigsby CROP Hunger Walk.
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When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability... And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. - Acts 2: 1-4;6.
Friends, As I write this in the final weeks of the Season of Easter, new life is indeed breaking forth in our Spirit filled community! Well over TWO HUNDRED folks showed up at last Sunday's CROP Walk to raise funds and awareness to combat hunger locally and around the world. A packed sanctuary, including a bunch of folks I haven't seen in quite a while, showed up to celebrate our six amazing high school graduates. As of this writing, the Rotterdam Community Center will receive around $31,000 from the CDPHP Workforce Team Challenge, with up to 30,000 runners from all over the Capital Region gathering to support us in Albany on May 18th! Mr. Doug and choir will be back in just a couple more weeks for a summer of wonderful live music and the final touches on our A Place at the Table for Everyone Accessibility Project are nearly complete. We have at least four of our youth interested in attending the 2024 ELCA Youth Gathering and a bunch of households interested in our Spring 2022 New Member Class! The Grand Reopening of our Faith Center is right around the corner on June 11th before I and Rae head off on the second half of our sabbatical. Whew, it's A LOT, but it's all exciting! It's important though to look to the theme of the next season of the Church's life together as well dear friends: the Holy Spirit breaking down barriers on Pentecost. I just watched on the news that the World Health Organization has declared that while still a dangerous virus to many, the global COVID19 Health Emergency is OVER. By the time you read this, our federal government will have declared the COVID19 Health Emergency OVER as well. One thing I've spent A LOT of time thinking about lately is that my goodness, in the midst of the last three difficult years, I haven't gotten everything right in every walk of life, despite trying my best. I'm sure many of us might feel that way, despite the fact that we all were trying so hard under such difficult, often traumatic, circumstances. We may have hurt one another, misunderstood one another or broken off relationship with those we disagreed with, especially when the only way we could connect was over screens. I believe though, dear friends, that we all have learned from these years of crisis, and that we can now begin to heal, together. I pray you join me in that holy work. in hope, Pastor Dustin |
May 2023 Financial Update
Our Budget & Finance Committee has recommended that we begin including a simplified Financial Update for all members and friends of the congregation in each semi-monthly edition of The Messenger.
Revenue through March of 2023 was up slightly, $1,460, compared to March of 2022, due in large part to an increase of Donations and Space Use Fees to the Rotterdam Community Center. Spending was only up $540 through March of 2023 compared to March of 2022, leading to a SLIGHT improvement of our budget deficit, which currently stands at $14,113.
While it appears like we have stopped the GROWTH of our deficit, we certainly still need to turn it around!
Receiving roughly $30,000 from the CDPHP Workforce Team Challenge to support the Rotterdam Community Center next month will be a big part of that effort, as it will cover about half of the cost of operating the Community Center for 2023 (we'll know the final number on June 1st). The Community Center's Advisory Board also recently created a new Financial Development Committee chaired by veteran SiCM board member Randy McGough to assist us in getting the rest of the way of making the Community Center at least budget neutral by the end of 2023 through both grants and a growth in community donations. The hard work of our Community Center Advisory Board coupled with keeping expenses down and meeting our Statements of Intent for 2023 will with prayer put us in a stronger financial position by the end of this year.
As always, THANK YOU for your amazing generosity!
Revenue through March of 2023 was up slightly, $1,460, compared to March of 2022, due in large part to an increase of Donations and Space Use Fees to the Rotterdam Community Center. Spending was only up $540 through March of 2023 compared to March of 2022, leading to a SLIGHT improvement of our budget deficit, which currently stands at $14,113.
While it appears like we have stopped the GROWTH of our deficit, we certainly still need to turn it around!
Receiving roughly $30,000 from the CDPHP Workforce Team Challenge to support the Rotterdam Community Center next month will be a big part of that effort, as it will cover about half of the cost of operating the Community Center for 2023 (we'll know the final number on June 1st). The Community Center's Advisory Board also recently created a new Financial Development Committee chaired by veteran SiCM board member Randy McGough to assist us in getting the rest of the way of making the Community Center at least budget neutral by the end of 2023 through both grants and a growth in community donations. The hard work of our Community Center Advisory Board coupled with keeping expenses down and meeting our Statements of Intent for 2023 will with prayer put us in a stronger financial position by the end of this year.
As always, THANK YOU for your amazing generosity!
Save Money and Contribute to the Rotterdam Community Center through Community Solar
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Through an exciting partnership with the New York State Council of Churches and Crauderueff & Associates, the Creation Care Committee of Messiah Lutheran Church is working to green our local Rotterdam community one household at a time! Through a simple subscription, you will receive a guaranteed electric bill savings of 10% from the solar project, an average of $125 per year! Renters, homeowners and small businesses are ALL eligible! For each new eligible sign up, Messiah Lutheran will also receive a $100 donation from Crauderueff & Associates to support the Rotterdam Community Center! Sign up at https://bit.ly/TrinityCommunitySolar or by scanning the QR code to the left with your phone today!
If you are interested in signing up for community solar, printouts of the online application form are available in the Narthex so you can read more about it before applying. If you have any questions you can contact Nancy Stuebner at nancy.stuebner@earthlink.net or PowerMarket at 1-877-762-0507 or at edprna@powermarket.io Help us reach our goal of signing up 50 households for community solar through 2023 with us so far signing up 8! |
May 2023 A Place at the Table for Everyone Accessibility Project Update
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As of this writing, Wade's crew is painting the interior of our new lift and it should be fully operational any day! Indeed, at long last, our "A Place at the Table for Everyone" Accessibility Project is nearly complete! Our new fully accessible all-gender restroom stalls have been working great for well over a month, electrical upgrades have taken place and our "Hope" mural has been rehung outside. Most of the remaining items to be completed are outdoors, including resloping a portion of the flat room, painting the new entrance columns and repaving/ lining our parking lot.
While we made MASSIVE progress in cleaning up the building during our "Moving Back in Day" we'll also need a dedicated crew of volunteers to finish the rest of our Faith Center and get our grounds ready on Rogation Sunday, May 21st! Through February we received an amazing $375,661 of our intended $526,188! Please work hard to continue to fulfilling your Statement of Intent and an update on our mortgage situation will be given at our Special Meeting of the Congregation after Mass on June 4th. The Grand Reopening of Messiah Lutheran Church will be Sunday, June 11th at 3:00pm with a brief prayer service, remarks from local leaders, a festive potluck and performance from our very own Douglas J. Chilton! |
Part of our "Moving Back In Day" crew!
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The Rev. Jonathan Vanderbeck Mental Health Fund
In June 2021 as part of our commitment to prioritize mental health as a congregation our Congregation and subsequently our Congregation Council voted to create the Rev. Jonathan Vanderbeck Mental Health Fund. This fund is designed "to support members in paying for necessary mental health care" and as of the end of November has $1,039 in contributions but has not yet been used. If you are someone struggling to pay for mental health care, please contact Pastor Dustin for a confidential conversation. If you are someone who would like to contribute to this fund, please visit our Donate & Volunteer page, click "Give" and select "Mental Health Fund" in tithely's "Give To" box.
Update Our Parish Directory by Logging on to Realm Account Today!
Our Parish Directory is a key tool to helping everyone know who is who. There isn't a week Pastor Dustin doesn't hear from one of our members asking for someone else's contact information, but if you are a member of our congregation, that information is right at your fingertips using our online Realm platform! While everyone's information is in Realm and Pastor Dustin, Heather and others use the system every day, many of our adult members still have never logged in to set up their profile. We'd encourage all our members to go to https://onrealm.org/MessiahLutheran73113 today. If you already have an account, click "sign in" and review all your contact information, update your profile picture and more. If you don't have an account, click "sign up" and get started! If you have any questions, please reach out to Heather at 518.355.2311 and we can assist you further!
While we're not quite ready to release a new Parish Directory this spring as intended, it is coming, and updating your profile now will greatly help us in that work!
While we're not quite ready to release a new Parish Directory this spring as intended, it is coming, and updating your profile now will greatly help us in that work!
Rotterdam Community Center Bottle & Can Collection!
Want to contribute to the growth of the Rotterdam Community Center as we work to knit community closer together here in beautiful Rotterdam, NY! One way you can support that important work is donating your bottles and cans to the Rotterdam Community Center's account Green Bottle Redemption Center! Located at 1809 Altamont Avenue, the redemption center is open Tuesday - Friday from 9a - 4p & Saturday from 9a - 2:30p! Thanks so much and please help us spread the word! We've already made well over $100 in contributions to the Community Center through this fund already this year!
Women of the ELCA (WELCA) Schedule for 2023 at a Glance
2023 Charity of Choice: Schenectady Street Soldiers
2023 Charity of Choice: Schenectady Street Soldiers
May 20th at 10:00am: Project Meeting - Sandwiches for Street Soldiers
July 18th at 6:30pm: WELCA Picnic @ Olochnowicz Estate (watch upcoming newsletters for further information)
September 19th at 7:00pm: Program Meeting: Member of Schenectady Street Soldiers
November 17th at 9:30am: Annual Pie Baking Rotterdam Community Center (watch upcoming newsletters for further information)
November 21st at 7:00pm: Project Meeting - Blessing Bags for Schenectady Street Soldiers (watch upcoming newsletters for further information)
December 19th at 6:30pm: Annual Christmas Party @ Jody Fleming's Home (watch upcoming newsletters for further information)
July 18th at 6:30pm: WELCA Picnic @ Olochnowicz Estate (watch upcoming newsletters for further information)
September 19th at 7:00pm: Program Meeting: Member of Schenectady Street Soldiers
November 17th at 9:30am: Annual Pie Baking Rotterdam Community Center (watch upcoming newsletters for further information)
November 21st at 7:00pm: Project Meeting - Blessing Bags for Schenectady Street Soldiers (watch upcoming newsletters for further information)
December 19th at 6:30pm: Annual Christmas Party @ Jody Fleming's Home (watch upcoming newsletters for further information)
Blessing Bag Donations Needed
In November, WELCA will be gathering to make blessing bags to be given to the Schenectady Street Soldiers. If you would like to make a donation to this project, here are the items we will be looking for: hand towels, washcloths, bar soap, toothbrushes, tooth paste, lip balm, comb or brush, deodorant, socks, individual cups of applesauce or fruit, granola bars, plastic spoons, bandaids, tissues. A bin will be placed in the narthex for the collection of these items until November 19, 2023. Thanks so much!
Support Our Young Families with Folding High-chairs!
We are looking to replace the plastic high-chairs we currently have in the fellowship hall with a couple of high-chairs that can be folded up and stored away when not in use. If you should have one that you are looking to get rid of or if you should see one at a rummage or garage sale, please think about donating one to church.
Pastor Dustin on Sabbatical
In the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, all rostered leaders (pastors and deacons) are encouraged to take a three-month sabbatical after their first seven years of service in a particular call and then ever subsequent five years. Last summer, as Pastor Dustin entered his eighth year of ministry at Messiah, he took a little under a month and a half honeymoon as part of that effort to rest and rejuvenate for years of ministry ahead. This summer, from June 12th - July 29th, will be the second half of that time away. We have been working hard over the last year to strengthen our staff structure, to develop a Community Center Advisory Board and pass various policies to guide our ministry together in a pastor's absence. With these things in place, we believe we are in a much stronger position than last summer to have a smooth six weeks. Pastor John Califano will once again be on call for pastoral concerns... and please reach out if you need anything! Simply call the Pastor Line at 518.253.9978 and one of our Council members will put you in touch with Pastor Califano. For anything related to the Faith Center, please reach out to Heather Zimmer at 518.355.2311 and for anything related to the Community Center, please reach out to Rachel DeTeso-Mathis at 518.364.3216. We have arranged for preaching coverage for Sundays as well. It's been a BUSY year at Messiah! We encourage everyone else to also take this June and July to slow down, worship, sing and eat together and simply rest in Spirit filled community!
Pet Therapy with Lily
Lily, our wonderful Pet Therapy certified pup is once again available for FREE appointments! Call her helper Michael Mitchel at 914.755.6788 to set up an appointment.