AAAAUGUSTUGUSTUGUSTUGUST 2019201920192019

ST. STEPHEN SCROLL St. Stephen Lutheran Church is a community of believers, saved by the grace of God, who are called to: • share his love through words and actions; • welcome others into the family of Christ.

ST. STEPHEN LUTHERAN CHURCH NEWSLETTERST. STEPHEN LUTHERAN CHURCH NEWSLETTERST. STEPHEN LUTHERAN CHURCH NEWSLETTERST. STEPHEN LUTHERAN CHURCH NEWSLETTER

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ –

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Vacation Bible School was a gloriously wonderful experience again this year. Over 30 fantastically awesome children joined us each evening as we traveled to Africa, stretched our imaginations, and learned more about God’s love for us. Many of the children were guests of Saint Stephen folks! How cool is that?!

We had an awesomely wonderful week. We sang super songs and learned fantastic choreography. We dined on delicious cuisine including adorable lion cookies, rhinoceros cupcakes, and giraffe cookies. We learned about Moses and the people of Israel’s adventures on the way to the Promised Land. We made amazing artistic creations like lions, binoculars, and beautiful necklaces. We heard hilarious jokes thanks to Sean and Callie. There were games that rivaled the Olympics in their demand for agility and athletic skill. And most importantly, we learned about God’s amazing grace, love, and mercy.

The Christian Education Committee and Pastor Kerri would like to thank everyone who helped make Vacation Bible School such a wonderful success.

Thank you to: • Glenn Eisenbrey for sharing his amazing story telling skills. • Brenda Firquin, Karen Davis, Marilyn Mills, and Peggy Zimmerman for teaching music with awesome

choreography. • Nicole Legg and Emma Morris for sharing their artistic talents by leading crafts. • Cheryl Markley, Jennifer Kiser, Pat Markley, and Michelle Malone for faithfully creating and serving

delicious and adorable snacks. • Jeffrey Davis, Lilly Morris, and Kayleigh Kiser for fearlessly leading games (rain and shine). • Our small group leaders Elaine Peterson, Julia Davis, Karen Eisenbrey, Sean Morris, Ella Markley,

Genevieve Morris, Caroline Zimmerman, Lucy Zimmerman, Marcia Peterson, Connie Miller, Reagan Morris, and Lori Young.

• Everyone who prepared meals and helped in the kitchen: Dorothy Raso, Ellen Ullom, the McFarlands, Glenn and Karen Eisenbrey, Rita Sarson, Rod Firqin, and Paul Kiser. • A very special thanks to everyone who donated craft and snack supplies! • Kim Thonen for keeping the entire church sparkling all week long. • All of the parents, grandparents, friends, and neighbors who brought friends to VBS for us to meet. • Everyone who prayed for us and encouraged us.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I also want to thank everyone who helped make Jamming in July such a wonderful evening of fellowship, laughter, joy, and just plain fun! Continued...

St. Stephen Lutheran Church

5903 Bardstown Rd. Fern Creek, KY 40291

502-239-7778 Email:

pastorkerri @gmail.com

Pastor Kerri M. McFarland

St. Stephen Lutheran Church

is a member of the Indiana-Kentucky Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church

in America.

2019 Council Members

Rod Firquin, President Paul Kiser, Vice President

Marcia Peterson, Council Secretary Julia Davis

Glenn Eisenbrey Sean Morris

Elaine Peterson Duane Steines Matt Young

Jack McFarland, (youth rep, non-voting)

Jennifer Summers, Financial Secretary Buddy Zimmerman,

Treasurer Brenda Firquin, Interim Musician Kim Thonen, Custodian

Cheryl Markley, Office Secretary

secretary.ststephen @gmail.com

Check out the website!

ststephen-louisville.com

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3rd Qtr Social Ministries Collection

On Sundays, September 9th and 16th, we will be collecting donations at the worship services for our 3rd quarter social ministry collections. Half of the donations collected will go to the Fern Creek Highview United Ministries (FCHUM), and half will be kept at Saint Stephen for other social ministry needs. Thank you in advance for your generosity!

Golden Sneakers

The Golden Sneakers are still taking a break for the summer, but we will meet again in September to make plans for the fall through the spring. Watch your upcoming bulletins and the September newsletter for details on when we will meet. In the meanwhile, please start thinking of ideas of things that we can do or places that we can have lunch together.

SCC Youth Pool Party

Youth in Grades 6 through 12 are invited to the South Central Conference Pool Party on Sunday, August 25th from 3:00 pm to 7:30 pm at the home of Carol Taylor, Youth Director at Faith Lutheran Church 3611 Constantine Drive Prospect, KY 40059. Hamburgers, hotdogs, and drinks will be provided. Each church group is asked to bring a side dish to share.

This is a great opportunity to reconnect with the new friends you made at Youth Quake or at the Lutheran youth convention in Houston. It is also an opportunity talk with each other about the next Lutheran youth convention in Minneapolis in 2021.

Please RSVP by Monday, August 19th to Carol Taylor, (502- 645-4982 or jbtaylor238@bellsouth.net) or to Tammy Kissling, (502-552-1104 or sccyouthcoordinator@gmail.com)

Continued from Page 1:

Thank you to Gene and Dolores McCloud for arriving early to grill our hotdogs and bratwurst on the hottest day of 2019 (so far)! They really went above and beyond. Everyone raved about how delicious their grilling was.

Thank you to Tonya, Bobby, and Clint Otis (and Amanda too) for bringing all of their karaoke equipment and for MC-ing the evening. Bobby makes a magnificent master of ceremonies.

Thank you to all of the brave souls who threw caution to the wind, let down their hair, and sang with gusto!

Thank you to everyone who brought a delicious side dish or dessert to share.

Thank you to everyone who came to Jamming in July.

Thank you to everyone who donated school supplies for FCHUM.

Thank you for the laughter and thank you for being a part of our Saint Stephen family!

If you missed either one of these wonderful events. I encourage you to take part the next time we host a fellowship event. You will be blessed by your time with your sisters and brothers in Christ.

May God bless you and keep you today and always.

In Christ –

Pastor Kerri

Acolyte Training

Would you like to be an acolyte? We welcome anyone, 4th grade and older (even adults), to serve as an acolyte at the 10:00am Sunday worship services. Confirmands, (7th and 8th grade students), are required to serve until they are confirmed. On September 15th during Sunday school at 9:15 am, Jack McFarland will offer training for those who would like to learn or refresh their skills. Please let Pastor Kerri know if you are interested. We will meet in the sanctuary.

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Directory Will Be Printed Soon

The Saint Stephen 2019-2020 Address, Phone, and E-mail Directory will be printed soon. If you have not had a chance to mark your contact information “OK” in the narthex, you may be receiving a phone call soon. We would love to stay in touch. Soon, copies of the new directory will be available in the narthex and will be mailed to shut-ins. If you cannot come to church to pick up a directory and would like to have one, please call the church office, 502-239-7778.

More Toiletries for FCHUM Needed

The Fern Creek Highview United Ministries, (FCHUM), always needs various toiletries:

• shampoo/conditioner • bar soap • dish soap • deodorant • toothbrushes • toothpaste

along with non-perishable food items, gallon zip-lock bags, and brown paper grocery bags for distribution to local needy people. Please consider picking up a few of these items on your next trip to the grocery store. You may place them in the provided basket under the table in the narthex. Thanks for your continued generosity!

Coffee Hour Volunteers Will Be Needed

Coffee hours at Saint Stephen after the 10:00 am Sunday worship services will resume on September 15th, the Sunday after Sunday School Rally Day. We need volunteers to provide and serve treats at each coffee hour. Feel free to share a new recipe or your favorite grocery store treat with your fellow Saint Stephen friends. Consider celebrating a special event, birthday, anniversary, or just the fine fall season! Please sign up in the narthex for a particular Sunday if you can help. Thanks!

Thanks From the Sarsons

My entire family and I would like to

thank the entire congregation of Saint

Stephen for their thoughts, prayers,

love, and support for us during my

brother Dwight’s three-year battle with

Leukemia. I always relayed your support

to him when I visited, and he always

replied back “tack sa mycket”, Swedish

for thank you very much. He felt and

appreciated the power of prayer and

positive thoughts. Your prayers,

personal support, and conversations

helped all of us tremendously through

this time. We know his earthly pain and

suffering are done, and for that we are

thankful. We all believe that somewhere

in Heaven, he is doing a Viking Happy

Dance with his mother, father and

brother.

Some day we will all join in that

celebration.

I personally can’t say “tack sa mycket”

Thanks From Cathy Meyer

Hello Christian Friends-

Just a quick note to say Hi and a special Thanks to

whoever donated the gardening basket to the Youth

Easter Auction. I’ve used everything it included!!! The

first of the dahlias have just bloomed (they love the

heat). What a gift of giving! Blessings to you ALL!!

Mortgage Fund Help

The current principal balance on the mortgage associated with the last set of building additions at St. Stephen is $105,465. Presently, we have only enough money associated with the mortgage fund to make 3 more monthly payments. Our payments are $1076 per month. The amount in our account earmarked for the mortgage fund has been dropping steadily over the past few months, and we would like to get it back to 6 or more months in the account. If you would like to help, there were mortgage fund envelopes provided in many of your offering boxes, and there are also mortgage fund envelopes in the pew racks. You may place your completed envelope in the offering plate. We can do this together! Thanks!

Thanks for School Supplies

Through July 28th, we collected school supplies for the Fern Creek Highview United Ministries (FCHUM) for distribution to local needy children. Although at the time that this newsletter was printed we did not have the collection totals, we want to thank all of those who contributed to the large pile of school supplies in the narthex! We will have those totals available for the September newsletter. Thank you again for your generosity.

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June FCHUM Toiletry Results

In the month of June, we collected toiletries for the Fern Creek Highview United Ministries to distribute to local needy families. We collected:

33 bars of soap 2 tubes of toothpaste 3 sticks of deodorant 5 bottles of conditioner 44 bottles of shampoo 32 bottles of dish soap

Thank you to all who contributed!

A Note From Charlie Phelps:

THANKS to all who have

shared with me their summer

trips with cards. It’s always

great to hear of visits to

interesting places.

Charlie Phelps St. Stephen Members & Friends, Please keep sending postcards and notes to our Saint Stephen shut-ins with the provided labels in the narthex. Currently our shut-ins include:

Jim Brotzge Florence Loy Liz Chapman Charlie Phelps Ray Grabianowski Catherine Thonen Morgan Jimenez Rueben Zander

Thanks for the Prayer Shawl

Group

St. Stephen received this letter from the U.S.

Department of Veterans Affairs in thanks for blankets and shawls

taken to the VA Hospital in Louisville by the prayer shawl group.

Good work!

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Scenes from Vacation Bible School

Thank you again to all who volunteered to make Vacation Bible School at Saint Stephen such a success this summer!

Scenes from Jammin’ In July

Thank you again to all of those mentioned in Pastor Kerri’s article on Page 1 who contributed food, cooked, decorated, and entertained on July 20th at Jammin’ In July at Saint Stephen! Please take time to enjoy the

photo collage in the narthex for more fun scenes from that evening.

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July Candle Donors

7th - Elaine Peterson in honor of Bryce Peterson’s & Jennifer Summers’ birthdays

14th - Candace Thonon in honor of Jacob Kanipe’s birthday 21st - Dorothy Raso in memory of Mary Grabianowski

28th - McFarland family for the glory of God

*The cost to provide the sanctuary candle is $4.00.

We celebrate with these couples having August anniversaries:

Paul & Jennifer Kiser (3rd/1996) Michael & Linda Craig (10th/1991) Dorothy and Stephen Raso (24th/1991) Chuck & Ellen Ullom (30th/1959)

Karen Eisenbrey 3

Kenna Markley 4

Wendi Morris 6

Mara Legg 8

Bill Wise 8

Teta Kahn 10

Hanna Allen 11

Jacob Curtis 17

Elaine Peterson 17

Jack McFarland 19

Matthew Clark 20

Michael Fajardo 21

Autumn Thonen Crume 24

Zach Firquin 29

Marcus Utley 31

God’s Blessings to these August birthdays:

August 2019 Servants of the Church Sunday - 10 a.m. 8/4/19 8/11/19 8/18/19 8/25/19 9/1/19

Lector Sean Morris Elizabeth Seifert Julia Davis Susan Johnston Paul Kiser

Ushers Tom Curtis Pat Markley Barry Mills James Clark Glenn Eisenbrey

Jacob Curtis Elaine Peterson Marilyn Mills Darlene Clark Fred McBride

Acolyte Kayleigh Kiser Lilly Morris Mallory Allen Lucy Zimmerman Genevieve Morris

Communion Table Barry Mills Charlie Boston Maddie Allen Peggy Zimmerman Grace Summers

Marilyn Mills Phyllis Boston Buddy Zimmerman Vivian Wise Jennifer Summers

Commun. Deacon Rod Firquin Karen Davis Fred McBride Cheryl Markley Steven Sarson

Nursery Beth Lynch Carol Ochs Teta Kahn Jennifer Kiser Cheryl Markley

Cantor Fred McBride Paul Kiser Karen Eisenbrey Fred McBride Bill Wise

Worship Coord. Steven Sarson Pat Markley Paul Kiser Steven Sarson Rod Firquin

Greeter(s) Teta Kahn Steven Sarson Ellen & Chuck Ullom Phyllis Boston Marilyn Mills

Fall Yard Sale!

We will have another opportunity at St. Stephen this fall for you to clean out your closets and benefit St. Stephen at the same time! The congregation council will set a date for the sale at the August council meeting, so keep saving items for the sale. If you need to store items for the sale in the church

garage, please see Rod Firquin, 502-645-0115.

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August 2019 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2 3 9:00—Weight Watchers

4 10:00—Holy Communion 11:30—Fellowship Committee Meeting 11:30—Christian Education Committee Meeting 5:00—Holy Communion

5 6:00—Creative Hands Sew Group

6 7 8 6:30—Worship & Music Committee Meeting

9 10 9:00—Weight Watchers

11 10:00—Holy Communion 11:30—Council 5:00—Holy Communion

12 13 14 JCPS First Day of School

15 16 17 9:00—Weight Watchers

18 10:00—Holy Communion 5:00—Holy Communion

19 20

21 22 23 24 9:00—Weight Watchers

25 10:00—Holy Communion 5:00—Holy Communion

26 27 4:30—Ronald McDonald House Visit

28 29 30 31 9:00—Weight Watchers

Secretary will be out of the office.

Upcoming Events: Sept. 8th—Sunday School Rally Day, Social Ministry Collection Sept. 15th - Sunday School Starts, Social Ministry Collection Sept. 21st - Hunger Awareness Dinner @ St. Stephen

Due date for next month’s newsletter articles is always the 17th of the month before. Send to: secretary.ststephen@gmail.com

Worship Services: Education Hr (during school yr) 9:00 AM Sunday 10:00 AM, Sunday 5:00 PM

September 2019 Servants of the Church Sunday - 10 a.m. 9/1/19 9/8/19 9/15/19 9/22/19 9/29/19

Lector Paul Kiser Tammy utley Marilyn Mills Nicole Legg Marcia Peterson

Ushers Glenn Eisenbrey Bill Wise Rod Firquin Tom Curtis Steven Sarson

Fred McBride Vivian Wise Ruth Kleitz Jacob Curtis Rita Sarson

Acolyte(s) Genevieve Morris Everett Seifert Ella Markley Kayleigh Kiser Mara Legg

Communion Table Grace Summers Emma Morris Brennan Summers Adolphus Kahn Jack McFarland

Jennifer Summers Sean Morris Adam Peterson Teta Kahn Deb Steines

Commun. Deacon Steven Sarson Tammy Utley Jack McFarland Karen Davis Rod Firquin

Nursery Cheryl Markley Beth Lynch Elizabeth Seifert Connie Miller Carol Ochs

Cantor Bill Wise Susan Johnston Paul Kiser Karen Eisenbrey Fred McBride

Worship Coord. Rod Firquin Jack McFarland Paul Kiser Pat Markley Steven Sarson

Greeter(s) Marilyn Mills Jack McFarland James & Darlene

Clark Bill & Vivian Wise Teta Kahn

Coffee Hr Needed Needed Needed Needed Needed

August 2019August 2019August 2019August 2019

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St. Stephen Lutheran Church 5903 Bardstown Road

Fern Creek, Kentucky 40291