St. Paul United Church of Christ 101 South Perry Street ◦PO Box 147◦Wapakoneta, OH 45895

Phone: (419) 738-2215 Fax: (419) 738-2076 Email: kristina@stpaulucc.com Website: www.stpaulucc.com

www.facebook.com/StPaulWapakoneta

The Link April 2014

On a dingy street corner in the city of San Salva-dor, there is an empty building surrounded by a tall iron fence. Its walls are made from green metal that is worn and tired with age. There is nothing particularly remarkable about it. Its construction is simple. It is a large rectangular building, not unlike a lot of pole barns that I have seen in rural Ohio (though most of the pole barns I have seen are in better shape than this dilapidated structure). This is the site of the cathedral of the Lutheran Church in El Salvador. Currently the people are not worshipping here. In fact, to an outsider like me, there is very little evidence that the building is a church. It certainly doesn’t look like any church I have worshipped in at home. The only sign of the building’s true purpose is a single, large, white cross with the sins of El Salvador an its corrupt government of the past scrawled upon it. This “Subversive Cross” is carefully framed for preservation. A relic from El Salvador’s horrific civil war, it is also a sign of hope for the future. The church is aptly named “Church of the Resur-rection.” The Lutheran Church in El Salvador has plans to build a new cathedral. Soon, with the help of generous donations from Northwest Ohio Association (some of them from members of St. Paul UCC), they will tear down the old structure and begin construction of a new church that will serve to meet the needs of this active congregation, its youth and families, and the surrounding community. In the meantime, the people continue to worship in a makeshift sanctuary inside the church’s medical clinic across the street from their old building. What does it really mean to live as resurrection people? As Easter approaches, I challenge each of you to consider the answer to this question. I believe that it means living into Christ’s vision for our future. Christ calls us to learn from the past, but to keep our eyes looking ahead and to continue the work that he began. The Church of the Resurrection in San Salvador is living that lesson each day. It would be easy to be absorbed by the abuse and pain of their past, or to be paralyzed by their current difficulties—their operating resources are ex-tremely limited. Instead they continue to walk boldly into Christ’s future, doing what they can every day to minister faithfully to the poorest among them by feeding homeless individuals and families at their soup kitchen, tending to

the sick at the church’s medical clinic, and running a school for kindergarteners through ninth grade students. In addition, they continue to dream and to plan for a better future—one that more fully reflects Christ’s kingdom of love, peace, justice, and kindness. I want to thank you all for supporting me as I trav-eled to El Salvador to minister with the people of the Lu-theran Church. I especially want to thank the St. Paul UCC Living Endowment Committee for generously dedicating funds from the Living Endowment to cover my trip ex-penses, and additional funds to be used for the mission being carried out by the Lutheran Church in El Salvador. Thank you. There are many lessons I have learned that I believe will make me a better pastor, and I pray that my experience there will continue to bear fruit as new opportu-nities to minister with sisters and brothers, both near and far, arise. In resurrection, God’s children have been given

and future. If we are to live as people of the resurrection,

we must treat every day as a new opportunity to follow

Christ and to live out his mission of ministering to the

“least” among us. Every day we continue to build Christ’s

church—not with bricks and mortar, but with our time,

dedication, creativity, and service to others. May we be a

resurrection people, opening our hearts to God’s claim on

our lives and stepping boldly into Christ’s future.

Peace and blessings,

Pastor Becky

EASTER CELEBRATION—April 20 8:15AM ~ Early Worship—led by our

St. Paul CIA Senior High Youth 9:00AM ~ Easter Breakfast—please sign up in the breezeway 10:15AM ~ Late Worship—Rejoice! Christ Is Risen!

Page 2 The Link

For our community Lenten services this year we are using the theme of The Body of Christ. Come celebrate as Christ’s Body called together in worship during this holy season. All services are at 12:00 noon on Wednesdays at St. Joseph Church, with lunch following: Date: Message: Lunch Served By: April 2 Rev. Becky Sunday—“The Eyes of Christ” St. Paul UCC April 9 Rev. Adrian Sunday—“The Hands of Christ” Buckland UCC/St. Patrick’s April 16 Rev. David Williams—“The Heart of Christ” Salem United Methodist

Our CIA Senior High Youth will

have their 30-Hour Famine on

Saturday, April 12. Youth will

begin gathering at the church at

11:00am and will spend the day learning

about the plight of hungry children throughout

the world. There will be lots of games and fun

activities along the way. Youth will stay at the

church overnight through Sunday morning

worship, where we will collect a special offer-

ing to send to Word Vision to help fight

against world hunger.

30-HOUR FAMINE—April 12

Even though LOGOS will finish meeting early in April, our senior high youth will continue to meet at our regular time, Wednesdays from 6:15pm to 7:45pm, through the end of the school year. Lots of fun is yet to come!

CIA YOUTH CONTINUING TO MEET

We will once again be sharing services for our holy days in Lent with our neighbors at First English Lutheran Church and St. Mark’s Lutheran Church. Our Ash Wednesday service was well attended, and we hope you can share in the remaining services hosted by our neighbors: • Maundy Thursday—April 17, 7:00 PM at St. Mark’s Lutheran (Rev. Becky Sunday preaching) • Good Friday—April 18, 7:00 PM at First English Lutheran (Rev. Mark Bauer preaching)

Page 3 The Link

We made it spring has finally sprung. Well, at least that is what the calendar tells us. However, I am pretty sure I saw some snow this past week. Just like spring our faith sometimes takes some twist and turns before it finally blossoms. As I reflect on my own faith adventure it certainly seems like the bright sun and the promise of fresh starts and new beginnings can sometimes play hide and seek with us. However, it is with faith that we must continue to go wher-ever the spirit may be calling us. Just as we hold fast to the promise of the spring flowers blooming soon, we must remember that our faith is every changing and transforming. Be open to watching your faith blossom into something spectacular as the sprit pushes leads you forward. Blessings, Pastor Michelle

Faith-Education-Arts-Spirituality-Together

Watch for information to learn about our new programming for this fall. F.E.A.S.T @ St. Paul will incorporate all the wonder and excitement of our current Wednesday night programming and add new elements incorporating the arts into our daily lives and our worship experiences. To have a F.E.A.S.T. we must have many new volunteers that are willing to share their gifts and talents while being the hands and feet of Christ. F.E.A.S.T. will include something for everyone, so come and feed your body, mind and spirit.

NORTHWEST OHIO ASSOCIATION MEETING – Saturday, April 26, 2014 We look forward to our 2014 NWOA Annual Meeting to be held at St. Paul’s UCC in St. Marys. The keynote speaker will be Rev. Dr. Marian Plant, an ordained UCC minister who is a professor at Defiance College and has authored several works on the subject of faith formation. To register, visit www.nwoa.org or see Pastor Becky.

Each day, kids participate in small groups, called Zoo Crews, and discover what Jesus’ endless love means in their lives! Not only will they experience wild Bible adventures but they’ll also watch for God in everyday

life through something called God Sightings™. You and your kids will discover that God is ac-tive in our lives and that the fingerprints of God are everywhere! Weird Animals is filled with unforgettable Bible-learning experiences kids will see, hear, touch, and even taste! All-new KidVid Cinema

shares real stories of real kids who rely on Je-sus’ love to face life’s challenges! Plus, team-building games, cool Bible songs, and tasty treats keep everyone on the move. Registration will be available starting April 14th, so watch for updates in the bulletin and on the church website. Contact Rev. Mi-chelle or Kendra Azbel with questions. A list of items needed for donation as well as volunteer opportunities will be posted soon. Monetary donations are always welcome and very appreciated, please be sure to clearly mark your donations for VBS. See you at the Zoo!

VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL- JUNE 9th-13th Welcome to Weird Animals: Where Jesus’ love is one-of-a-kind!

Page 4 The Link

“Stoked” My wife, Jill, and I always enjoy watching the Olympic Games. In addition to enjoying the in-ternational spectacle and competition, I think our enthusiasm for the games is reflective of our com-mon childhood experiences when our families, with only 3 channels to choose from, were glued to the special coverage for three weeks every four years. While my patience for the endless coverage of ice dancing quickly tires, I took great pleasure in watch-ing the wild excitement of snowboarding. Often the post event interviews with the snowboarders were nearly as entertaining as the event itself. It seemed each snowboarder’s comments included, “DudeN. I am stoked!” in describing their exuberance for the competition and excitement to participate in the special competition. I have the pleasure to report, that while there is much work in the Church to do and certain challenges remain, DudesN. I am stoked! It seems we are at the beginning of a period of renewal and new enthusiasm. Certainly, it’s easy to be enthusi-astic in observing the leadership of Pastor Becky and Pastor Michelle. Their good work is inspiring the participation of many. In addition, many staff, committees and council members are leading ef-forts to improve and expand the ministry of St. Paul UCC. Here’s only a partial list of the many good things that are going on in our congregation: Many committees have submitted or are working on budgets in order to improve our financial control and reporting procedures. Kristina Hunter, our financial secretary and Dawn Miller, our treas-urer have worked tirelessly on these efforts as well. New members are answering the call to ser-vice in our Living Endowment, Property, Personnel, Worship & Arts, Stewardship, Finance and Called to Care committees. Way to go Susan Bartlett and the Nominating Committee!

Our Finance and Living Endowment commit-tees are making big strides to protect and grow the assets of the Church in order that our resources might provide additional support and growth to our ministry. I have had reports that the Music staff is working on plans for exciting new opportunities for music performance and participation. The Stewardship Committee is working on a spring Stewardship event related to our contribu-tions of time and talent. Additionally, they are work-ing hard to communicate how our stewardship ef-forts are supporting our ministry. The Trustees and Property Committee have worked hard to maintain our building and grounds during a difficult winter. They have proposed and are working to implement new capital replacement and improvement projects that will insure we have a comfortable facility into the future. I am particularly “stoked” about some of the ideas coming out of the Mission Committee. Sounds like they will be leading us toward new op-portunities to serve Christ by serving our neighbors! The Christian Education Board and Pastor Michelle are working with renewed enthusiasm on plans for restructuring our Faith Formation efforts. Faith formation is the “business” of our Church - let’s make sure that we are supporting, encourag-ing, and participating in their efforts. Unlike the Olympics which return for a short period every few years, the Passion is a story that unfolds daily in our lives. Let’s rejoice and give thanks for the efforts of these and the many others that are working in our service and in the service of our Lord and Savior through the ministry of St. Paul UCC. DudesN. I am stoked. Mark Jarvis, Church Council President

Page 5 The Link

The Christian Education Board Christian Education Board Christian Education Board Christian Education Board will meet on Monday, April 7th at 6PMMonday, April 7th at 6PMMonday, April 7th at 6PMMonday, April 7th at 6PM.. We will be making plans for the Easter breakfast.

All are welcome!

Kristee Raven from Oklahoma writes about having doubts or questions. Searching for answers to our questions, even if we never find them can help us grow closer to God.

“Thomas gets a bad rap. We call him “Doubting Thomas” and remember him as the disciple who said, ‘I’ll believe it when I see it.’ Truth be told, Thomas was a lot like us. He had doubts; he had faith. But he also had the courage to stand up and say so.” John 11:1—44 ~ Jesus had just escaped an attempt on his life. The religious leaders in Jerusalem were enraged. Because Jesus claimed to be one with the Father, equal to God, they were ready to kill him. Jesus and his disciples left the area. Then Jesus heard about the death of his friend Lazarus and decided to go to Bethany to comfort Lazarus’s sisters. The disciples reminded him that people there were also trying to kill him and urged him to avoid Bethany; but one disciple spoke up and said, “Let’s go too. If Jesus dies, let us die with him.” ‘ Who said that? Was it the bold, brash Pe-ter? Nope. James or John, the faithful “Sons of Thun-der”? Not them either. It was Thomas. Wait—Thomas? Doubting Thomas? He was that coura-geous? Yes, Doubting Thomas was courageous enough to die with Jesus if necessary. John 14: 1—7 ~ When Jesus was explaining that he would have to die, he said cryptically, “You know the way to the place where I am going”. Only Thomas had the courage to say what everyone else was thinking: “Lord, we don’t know where you are go-ing. How can we know the way?” It takes courage to admit you don’t understand. John 20: 19—29 ~ It also takes courage to admit you have doubts. Thomas faced his doubts, admitted them, and found the proof he needed to de-clare, “My Lord and my God!” Thomas may be called “Doubting Thomas”, but he isn’t doubting now. He’s convinced. He knows that Jesus is the Christ. Do you?

The Thomas We Don’t Remember Submitted by Cheryl Short

Sunday evening, March 23rd was a fun night for around fifty-five people. After swimming and playing in the gym we had twelve pizzas delivered with not a crust left. Door prizes were won by Hudson, Henry & Jackie Martin; Lora Hefner; Rylan Smith; Daniel & Robby Fuller; Dusty, Jozie & Davita Hoelscher; Paison & Emory Preston; Nikolas & Noelle Hunter; Stephanie Erb; Mikayla Halfhill; Hope & Halle Gray and Scott Roop.

ANNUAL GYM AND SWIM PARTY

The Sunday School is hosting a pot-luck breakfast on Easter Sunday, April 20th. This will be from 9AM to 10AM. The Sunday School will provide table service and drinks. We hope to have some-

one hop in to see the children and there will be crafts

available also for the children

during this time.

EASTER POTLUCK BREAKFAST

A change since school was cancelled on March 12, our last night of Logos will NOW BE WEDNESDAY, APRIL 9TH Please make your calendars!!.

LOGOS INFORMATION

Page 6 The Link

WHERE IS GOD?

by Laura Kinstle

Many times in our life I think all of us ques-tion “Where Is God?”. I’m not saying that we aren’t Christians or true believers, but sometimes in our darkest hours we question if God is with us. This has happened many times to me dur-ing my life. Do you ever notice God answers your own question? One of the first times I questioned God was as a child. I knew I was born a twin and my twin, Linda Lou, died at the young age of three months. When I was old enough, my Mom told me about this and she said that it was a very diffi-cult and tragic time for her to get through. I asked my Mom how did she make it through and she said by looking at the newspaper and seeing that there were many other young infants who passed away at an early age, not just my twin sister. I have questioned God many times about this and I realized that I don’t really need an answer. God knew and that was all that mattered. Then I would think that maybe if she had lived she would have suffered for a long time from the illness she died from. I realized God did give me an answer. Then when I was older and lost my best friend to cancer, I questioned God again and asked, “why, dear Lord did I lose my best friend?” I thought of all the work she did for God and the strong faith that she had and I knew God needed a hard worker like my friend, Carol and she was

where she needed to be. God had answered by question. I questioned God again when I ended up confined to a wheelchair. I will tell you honestly that I have been struggling lately with this aspect of my life. When my husband and I are out to eat or shopping, I see every person that’s walking and ask myself—why can’t I walk? When I see some-one on television that’s running a marathon or even just as little as walking into a room I ask, why not me? But I received an answer from a very wise, former minister, Alex. When I was on Church Council he told me that I was an example to other people to show them that I can do things in a wheelchair and be a productive person. He said others would see how much easier it was for them to make it to church. I will tell you honestly that I do question this over and over, but I always re-member what my minster said and I’m sure God gave him this answer for me. I don’t need to question where is God when I see a rainbow, the sun shining brightly on a warm summer day, a tiny bird chirping his beau-tiful song to e or the rain coming down to keep the grass green. So, in a final thought it is ok to question God because you will be surprised at the answers he gives you.

Page 7 The Link

July 10-13, 2014

Great Lakes Regional Youth Event Lakeland College, Sheboygan, Wisconsin

Calling all youth grades 6th-12th the Great Lakes Regional Youth

Event is coming this July. This event is a great way to meet

youth from all over the Great Lakes Region from Michigan,

Ohio, Wisconsin, Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois, and Missouri. It is a great way to worship, fel-

lowship and learn together.

Check out the following links to find out who will be joining us for this wonderful experience.

Featuring musician: Rob Leveridge - Rob Leveridge is a pastor and songwriter living near Chicago, IL. He serves the congregation of First United Church of Oak Park, and writes music for community wor-ship, as well as live performance. You can find more information about Pastor Rob @ roblev-eridge.wordpress.com Featuring musician: Andra Moran- Andra Moran lives in Nashville, Tennessee where she works as a songwriter, singer, author, worship designer and freelance touring musician. The daughter of two insightful, progressive ministers in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), An-dra quite literally spent her formative years in sanctuaries and fellowship halls, singing in the children’s choir, napping on pews, and later leading music in her youth groups. You can find more information about Andra@ andramoran.com Storyteller: Valerie Tutson- VALERIE TUTSON is a graduated from Brown University with a Masters Degree in Theatre Arts and a degree in a self-designed major-Storytelling As A Communications Art. She draws her stories from around the world with an emphasis on African traditions. Her repertoire includes stories and songs she learned in her travels to South Africa, her experiences in West Africa, sto-ries from African American history. To find out more about Valerie or to hear samples of her storytel-ling go to www.valerietutson.com Sheltered Reality Drum Group- SR’s choreographed drumming provides fun and invigorating enter-tainment which has proven to be enjoyable to audiences of all ages. However, there is a deeper purpose within our presentations. Music is a universal language and SR uses this opening to speak to the hearts of our audiences by way of personal stories.

Check out Sheltered Reality Drum Group---www.sheltered-reality.org I am currently trying to gage interest in attending this event. If you are entering 6th-12th grade and in-terested in attending the Regional Youth Event with a group from St. Paul, please contact Pastor Mi-chelle and let her know you are interested. The cost will be $300 plus transportation, if there is enough interest we will try to do some fundraising to help with the cost.

You may contact Pastor Michelle via email-michelle@stpaulucc.com

or her office 419-739-7716 .

Page 8 The Link

April Nathan Kaeck 4/1/97 Allison Nolte 4/12/98 Tori Coolidge 4/12/06 Makayla Bailey 4/13/05 Makenna Bailey 4/13/05 Alexis Hoelscher 4/14/97 Charles Sutton 4/16/98 Alex Smithey 4/16/01 Emma Closson 4/22/99 Davita Hoelscher 4/22/03 Ayla Webb 4/26/13 Avery Place 4/26/05 Gage Scott 4/27/13

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our

St. Paul Youth!

Our deepest sympathy and condolences to the friends and family of Hilda Ritter, who passed away on Friday, March 14, 2014. Our deepest sympathy and condolences to Alex Gondola and his family on the pass-ing of Alex’s father, Alex Gondola Sr., who

passed away on Thursday, March 27, 2014.

• Callen James Martin was bap-tized on Sunday, March 23 at the 10:15 service. Callen is the son of Lee Martin and Bonnie Schneider. He was born on January 23,

2014. Callen is also the grandson of Mark & Cheryl Erb.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

04/01 Shirley Pohlable 04/01 Stephanie Steinke 04/02 Philip Schlenker 04/05 Nancy Shaffer 04/05 Mary Jo Roth 04/05 Delmar Merricle 04/06 Kay Dorner 04/08 Zane McElroy 04/08 Alex Hively 04/09 Betty Newland 04/10 Margene Herman 04/10 David Bennett 04/10 Sarah Lawrence 04/11 James Hearn Jr. 04/12 Victoria Smith

04/13 Linda Baker 04/14 Lewis Knoch 04/16 Laura Kinstle 04/18 Heather Unrue 04/20 David Wheeler 04/23 Mark Short 04/24 Michael Hosterman 04/25 Miranda Allen 04/25 William Method 04/26 Kirk Azbell 04/26 Dawn Miller 04/27 Peg Schlenker 04/28 Dorothy Frey 04/28 Elaine Mikesell

04/02/1948 Stan & Violet Maxson 04/04/1988 Luke & Kim Klein 04/08/2000 Greg & Wendy Schlenker 04/09/1994 Brad & Sherry Kaeck 04/11/1970 James & Deb Kaeck 04/20/1985 Michael & Jane Burke 04/26/1986 Larry & Vicki Winkler 04/29/2012 Jim & Cindy Huckemeyer 04/30/1977 Devin & Cindy Holtzapple

The next book club meeting will be held AT THE GAR-DENS on Tuesday, April 15th at 7PM. They will discuss the book, “Birds of a Feather” by Jacqueline Winspear. If

you need a copy of the books or more informa-tion, please contact Kristina Hunter in the church office at (419) 738-2215. Anyone is welcome to attend.

Women’s Guild will begin meeting again on Tuesday, April 8th at 1:30PM. All women of he church and their friends are encouraged to attend. If you haven’t been able to attend a meeting, we would love to have you join us. Maybe you have recently retired, just became an empty nester or a Mom who just needs an afternoon out. COME SEE what we are all about!

Page 9 The Link

Circle Three will be meeting at Coffey Cup at 11:30AM on Thursday, April 17th. All are welcome.

WOMEN’S GUILD BOOK CLUB MEETING

The St. Paul “In Stitches” group will

meet on Tuesday, April 8th at 7PM.

As always, please bring whatever

craft projects you are working on! It’s

sure to be a fun time!

JOIN US FOR “IN STITCHES” Circle One will meet the first Thursday of every month September through May. The next meet-ing will be on Thursday, April 3rd at 1:30PM in the multipurpose room. We welcome new-comers. If you have a free afternoon, please join us. We’d love to have you!

CIRCLE THREE

CIRCLE ONE

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 Palm Sunday 14 15 16 17 Maundy Thursday

18 Good Friday 19

20 Easter Sunday 21 22 23 24 25 26

27 28 29 30

April 2014

6:00PM Church Council

6:00PM Finance Committee

7:30PM Mission Committee

6:00PM Personnel Committee

7:00PM Living Endowment Committee

8:15AM Worship 9:00AM Sunday School 9:00AM Lenten Study 10:15AM Worship 11:30AM Nominating Committee

11:30AM Circle Three

LOGOS 6:15PM Cherubs 6:30PM Bell Choir 7:30PM Chancel Choir

7:00PM Book Club

8:15AM Worship 9:00AM Sunday School 9:00AM Lenten Study 10:15AM Worship 11:30AM Worship & Arts Committee

7:00PM In Stitches CRI Sorting

9AM—12PM

7—8:30PM Suicide Survivors Support Group

1:30PM Circle One

8:15AM Worship w/ Holy Communion 9:00AM Sunday School 9:00AM Easter Breakfast 10:15AM Worship w/ Holy Communion

3:30PM Executive Committee

6:00PM Christian Education Meeting

5:15PM Elders Meeting

LOGOS 6:15PM Cherubs 6:30PM Bell Choir 7:30PM Chancel Choir

NWOA Meeting at St. Paul in

St. Marys

Church Office Closed

8:15AM Worship 9:00AM Sunday School 10:15AM Worship