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Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus!
Welcome to "IN TOUCH", the new CNH District e-newsletter.
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Newt's Notes
Loans Available to Commissioned and Ordained Ministers of LCMS through LCEF
High Schoolers Can Get a Taste of Seminary
News From Missionaries Tim and Heidi Norton
It's Memorial Day. Let's Relax and Enjoy Some Humor!
More Humor
More Yet
Still More
One More
For the Really Grouchy, Even More...
For Students at the CSU-Monterey Bay Campus
Prayer Highlights
District Calendar |
| Loans Available to Commissioned and Ordained Ministers of LCMS through LCEF |
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So, you are a pastor, teacher, or some other kind of full-time church worker and have a pile of debts and you live in California.
Or maybe you simply want to buy a home or refinance one, consolidate some loans, pay off medical expenses or school loans. Here comes Lutheran Church Extension Fund to give you some real help!
The Lutheran Church Extension Fund of the LCMS now offers to Commissioned or Ordained Ministers of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod on active or emeritus status in California and many other states (not Nevada or Hawaii at this time, though) all this and more.
Click here for information about Direct Housing Loans.
Click here for information about consolidation loans.
If you want more information, call the LCEF office at 1-800-843-5233 and ask for the Rostered Church Worker Loan Department.
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| High Schoolers Can Get a Taste of Seminary |
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Now is the time for all interested high school age men to send in their application to secure a reservation for Christ Academy 2005. The Academy will run June 19-July 2, on the campus of Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Ind.
The two weeks at the Academy allow young men to be immersed in the day-to-day life of the seminary. They are instructed by the finest pastors and CTS professors in the areas of Exegetical, Systematic, Historical, and Pastoral theology. They have the unique opportunity to worship four times a day in Kramer Chapel and still have time to socialize and form friendships that will last a lifetime. "Christ Academy is more then a weekend event, it impacts these men for the rest of their lives," offered the Rev. Scott C. Klemsz, Director of Admission, CTS.
For more information or to download an application, go to www.ctsfw.edu and click on Christ Academy in the left-hand column. If you have questions concerning Christ Academy 2005 please feel free to e-mail Ch ristAcademy@mail.ctsfw.edu, or call 1-800- 481-2155.
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| News From Missionaries Tim and Heidi Norton |
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Dear Friends,
At 11:50 on Saturday night (May 21) Leslie Marie Norton was born. She wieghed in at 9 pounds 6 ounces and 20 & 1/2 inches long. Both Mother and child are doing well and came home from the hospital today (May 23). Join us in thanking God for no complications in the birth, and his great gift of life!
Thanks for your prayers.
In Christ,
Tim, Heidi, Philip & Leslie Norton LC-MS World Mission Guinea, West Africa
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| It's Memorial Day. Let's Relax and Enjoy Some Humor! |
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| More Humor |
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| More Yet |
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| Still More |
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| One More |
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| For the Really Grouchy, Even More... |
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Didn't get enough? Here are a few other humorous incidents.
Click on a number: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
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| Prayer Highlights |
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New Prayer Requests:
Rev. Steve and Monica Willweber upon the birth of their first child, Luke Zedekiah, born on May 25.
Rev. John Gross, pastor at St. Matthew, Roseville, CA, has a call to Mammoth Lakes Lutheran Church, Mammoth Lakes CA.
Rev. Paul Zimmermann, pastor at St. Peter, Lodi, California, has a call to First Lutheran, Clearwater, Florida.
Rev. John Standley, in his ministry as pastor at Cordova, Rancho Cordova CA, upon his decline of the call to Shepherd of the Hills, Yuma, AZ.
Ms. Anne Woodward of St. Peter, Lodi, CA, who will be serving as a long- term volunteer in Taiwan as an ESL Teacher from August 2005 through June 2006
Rev. Dr. David Stohlmann, Sebastopol, atrial fibrillation - corrective procedure June 22.
If you have a specific "district" prayer request that you wish to add, please let us know (rita@cnh- lcms.org)
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| District Calendar |
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Upcoming events:
- Board of Directors, Ministry Center -- June 11
- Evangelism Committee, Ministry Center -- June 13
- Hispanic Task Force, Ministry Center -- June 16
- Sierra/Nevada Region Conference Call, Friday, July 29, 10:00 - 11:00.
- Northern Region, second meeting, Thursday, August 18, 9:00 - 4:00, at First Lutheran Church, Willows, CA
- Pacific Region, second meeting, Tuesday, August 30, 10:00 - 3:00, at the Ministry Center
- Sierra/Nevada Region, second meeting, Friday, September 9, 2:00 - 8:00, at Our Savior Lutheran Church, Sparks, NV
- Board of Directors, Ministry Center -- September 10
- Fall Pastors' Conference, Fresno -- October 11-13
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Newt's Notes |
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Dear Co-workers in the Kingdom,
The cost of living, especially its cost in our district, is a very popular topic of conversation these days, though not a very pleasant one. Hikes in the cost of housing, gasoline, prescription drugs, and many other necessities make living here difficult for many, and unbearable for some. High costs drive long established families out of our area, and keep new families from coming in. High costs impact our congregations' ability to call church workers from outside our district. It just costs too much to live here.
'Tis the season for considering the high cost of living. At the writing of this article I still smart from the privilege of "giving onto Caesar, that which is Caesar's." It seems I finished paying our property taxes just in time to pay our federal and state income taxes-ouch and ouch again. It costs so much to live in California and in these United States!
While this time of the year makes me think a great deal, and lament even more, about how much it might cost me to live here, it also requires me to consider how much it has cost others for me to live here. Their costs cannot be calculated on a computer or displayed on a spread sheet. They have no line on a US-1040 or a CA-540. Their expenses cannot be added or subtracted because they're not about dollars and cents. They're about human life and human life cannot be measured. It's priceless. Their personal sacrifice puts my notions regarding the high cost of living into proper perspective. In comparison to them, it has cost me little to live in this land.
Few days are specifically set aside on our calendar for the express purpose of reflecting upon the high cost of living, or in this case, the highest cost of living. I can think of two. This week marks Memorial Day, a day we set aside to remember and give thanks to the Lord for the many thousands of men and women who laid down their lives for this country. News agencies bring us daily reports of another soldier, Marine, airman, or sailor who offered the ultimate sacrifice for us to live in this land and enjoy its blessings. How essential it is to being Americans to consider their cost for our living.
The second and even greater day set aside for remembrance is Good Friday. We recall it daily in our baptisms and weekly in the Sacrament of the Altar. Good Friday is the day God set aside for us to remember the one Man, His Son, who paid dearly for us to live in freedom with Him, now and in eternity. His cost for your life and mine can never be comprehended; it can only be embraced by faith. The hymn writer's words become our true reflection on the high cost of living.
Were the whole realm of nature mine, That were a tribute far to small; Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all.
In His name,
Robert Newton, CNH District President |
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