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Inside this Newsletter

1-2 General 3 Pastor’s Paragraphs 4 El J Elucidates 5 Christian Fish / Editor’s

Thoughts 6 Library News, Thank You… 7 God’s Acres, Scam Alert 8 Council Corner, Council

Minutes 9 Treasurer’s Reports & Attendance Information 10 May Birthdays,

Anniversaries, Action Groups Calendar on the Tidings Wrapper

Senior

High School Graduate

Recognition

Sunday, May 19th Cake & coffee will be served during

Coffee Fellowship at 9:15 a.m.

Zion of Amor Spring Salad

Luncheon

Wednesday, May 15th 11:30 - 1:00 p.m.

Everyone is Welcome! Free will offering.

Hosted by Dorcas Circle.

PANCAKE & SAUSAGE BREAKFAST

Sunday, May 26th 8:00 a.m. – Noon

The free will offering will be divided between the Zion Quilters & God’s Acres.

Sign-up sheets to help and donate money are located on the table in the narthex/lobby.

MEN’S BREAKFAST

Saturday, May 4th 8:00 a.m.

at Zion.

Living Our Faith Sunday

May 5th 10:00 a.m.

How do you act when you are at work? At home?

Traveling? Is it the same as when you are in church?

Do you only pray at church? Do you only attend on major

holidays? Do you support God’s work financially?

Do you live your faith?

In today’s fast paced culture,

it is easy to become side-tracked from our priorities.

On May 5th, we will take a

moment to start understanding how to nurture

our lives and support our community through every day

decisions.

Come and listen.

NEW MEMBER SUNDAY New members will be

received Sunday, May 19th.

On Tuesday evening, May 14th @ 6:45 p.m. the New

Member Team will be holding an informational meeting for those who are interested in becoming part of the Zion Family. Please contact the

church office, or Pastor Gronbeck if you are interested

in joining.

FROM THE OFFICE

WATCH YOUR MAILBOXES!

The 2019 Summer / Fall Zion Flyer will be sent out on Friday, May 3rd. This “Mini-poster” makes a great “Refrig Memo” to remind everyone about “WHAT’S

HAPPENING AT ZION” from May through September! Your neighbor doesn’t get mail at the lake? Share yours – Zion has extras!

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Options for receiving TIDINGS Newsletter:

Would you like your monthly newsletter sent to you via e-mail? We can do that! Just let us know by e-mailing the church office at:

zionamoroffice@prtel.com or calling us at 495-2563.

Zion will be returning to our two service schedule (8:15 and 10:00 a.m.) on May 12th.

Again this year: 8:15 a.m. service will always be

Traditional.

HARVEST COMMUNITY

GARDEN

Growing in Faith - Growing Food

The garden spaces are all filled for the 2019 growing season. Gardens will be ready for planting the last

week of May. If you have questions, please

contact the office at 495-2563.

Adult Forums Sun., May 12th at 9:15 a .m. Topic: Norwegian Churches

in Otter Tail County.

No Adult Forum on May 26th due to Pancake Breakfast.

Calling all high schoolers!

Grades 9-12!

Bowling at the Shoreline-

May 5th

Address: 505 N Lake Ave,

Battle Lake

Bowl from 1:30-3:30 p.m. Pizza and drinks provided!

Cost is $15 per person. Transportation on your own

*Fill out and turn in OTCLYO registration/

permission slip form.*

Questions contact Tyler Wright at

507-993-8497 or tylerw@luthercrest.org

CONFIRMATION 6:00 to 7:45 p.m. on

Wednesday, May 1st

Wednesday May 15th

Scholarships for summer camps are available thru the Zion Foundation. Drop off a

copy of the camp registrations to Pastor Jim or the office to apply. Deadline is June 24th. ---------------------------------------

Reminder: As spring slides in to summer, more visitors

attend Zion. Don’t forget to welcome them!

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TFFAZ (tough as nails) You are needed for the new

Task Force For Action Zion!!

First meeting during fellowship, Sunday, May 5th.

We will discuss ideas to strengthen Zion’s Action

Groups.

If you’re breathing, you might enjoy this……

Faith n' Films We'll watch a classic film and see how God speaks through

even the most well-known stories.

May 12th at 6:30 p.m. at Zion. Popcorn provided.

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55 and Older Drivers’ Education Class

to be offered at Zion If you are a driver and are over the age of 55, you are

eligible to receive a 10% discount on your auto

insurance. The refresher class offered next month at Zion costs $22 and is taught by a trained professional instructor from the Minnesota Highway Safety and Research Center in St. Cloud. The session is informative and interesting, including videos, discussions and handouts. The four-hour refresher class

is at Zion on Thursday, June 13th from

noon to 4:00 p.m.

Sunday Market

9 to 11 am

Aug—Oct

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PASTOR PARAGRAPHS

Dear Members and Friends,

Happy Easter! Happy Spring! Welcome back to our ‘snowbirds’! It is really nice to have winter behind us and to be looking forward to the warm, sunny, pleasant days of summer. Every once-in-a-while I sit back and realize something special: I am really living here in the heart of the lakes country and pastor at Zion! It is truly special to be here among the beautiful lakes. It is also special to be here with all of you at Zion. We have a congregation that swells in the summer months with visitors and vacationers. It is a great place to be a pastor! Thank you for the privilege of serving you here. It is so fun to see our summer friends and our snowbirds each Sunday to spend the fellowship time visiting with them and catching up on each other’s lives. As we do this, let’s also remember that we are a congregation with lots of visitors—some who come just for a week a year, but others who come are looking for a church home. It is impossible to look at them and tell the difference! So as a reminder, when you go to fellowship time, look over the area and see if anyone is sitting alone with one or two people at the table. If/when you come upon such folks, please keep in mind what it’s like when you go someplace where you aren’t well-known. It is important to greet people and to make them feel welcome. When you see unfamiliar faces, or ones you haven’t met, go over and sit down with them. Strike up a conversation and get to know them. We all want to feel welcome in God’s house and it takes those who are familiar to make the effort to greet others. Note to our members: please try to remember Zion even when you have a house full of guests. We experience a noticeable drop in member attendance, support and fellowship during the summer and we miss you when you are gone. Thanks.

In Christ’s Service, Pastor Jim

YOUR IMPACT on OTHERS

FoodShare Month Results $911.97 (each) sent to the Battle Lake Food Shelf and the Bridge Food Pantry in Perham.

Dreams for Kids/Make A Wish Results (Receipts)

Silent Auction Results $887 Bingo Results $673.35

Ham Raffle $46

Butter Braids for Clifton Boys Home in Jamaica

Estimated $1,200 net

Youth Mission Jamaica 2020 April 7 lunch: $818.25 (Receipts)

Lenten Offerings

$1,451.10 Your Lenten offering was split between ELCA

World Hunger and Lutheran World Relief.

Thank you to everyone who participated and blessed others.

El. J. Elucidates

There is a story about a group of blindfolded men who

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are each taken to touch an elephant. After touching the elephant, each is asked to describe the elephant. The first man says that an elephant is like a rope that twitches from time to time. The second says that the elephant is like a hose that shoots water out. The third man describes an elephant as a wall with a rough surface. Another man shares that an elephant is round and sturdy like the trunk of a tree. As you know, all of these descriptions are accurate yet incomplete. Because they are incomplete, they are not the truth. Each description comes from a single perspective. Each person is speaking the truth as they see it; yet they don’t have the whole picture. There are lessons to be learned from this story that are applicable in our world today.

In my opinion we have become a nation of sound bites from narrow, often times biased, perspectives. Both the left and the right explore issues from only one preconceived side, and only one small part of an issue. When they touch the elephant, their focus is only on what they see with their fingertips and not on what others’ fingertips reveal. The world and the issues that confront us are much too complicated to be solved by only accessing a single snapshot in time from a single source.

When I was teaching, I urged my students not to research to support their position but rather to research to find the truth. I required them to check the validity of their sources, to investigate the perspective of the source. To ask if the source had a bias. I told them that if the evidence didn’t support their thesis, then they needed to change their thesis.

In my experience a few students would change their minds when confronted with evidence that proved their original position was incorrect. A far greater percentage would simply discard their topic when evidence pointed them in a different direction. They embodied the philosophy, “Don’t confuse me with the facts, I’ve already made up my mind.” The fact is that simply calling something a fact, doesn’t make it a fact. Simply saying the Bible supports your position doesn’t make it so. It is very easy to take specific verses out of context and change the meaning. In the history of the United States, for years, the Bible was used to justify slavery. Read Proverbs 24:17 and Psalms 58:10 and

decide which one is correct. Even when we look at the stories of the Passion of Christ in the four Gospels, we find contradictory differences. In the Gospel of Matthew 27:44 both of the thieves taunted Jesus. In the Gospel of Luke 23:39-43, only one of the thieves taunted Jesus. The Bible isn’t a document that supports either the republicans or the democrats. When we read the Bible, unfortunately, we color it with our own perspectives.

The Bible is much more complex than an elephant and when we touch this living document, we must realize that we aren’t the only one touching it. What we see is not the whole picture but simply one facet of it. Others’ perspectives are just as valid as ours, perhaps more valid. Through all of this, one thing is most certainly true. Christ died for my sins, of that there is no doubt. Thanks be to God! He is Risen! He is risen indeed!

~ El J

Sunday School Schedule May 5th –Sunday School Service Project

May 12th – Sunday School Last Day Extravaganza! Thank you to the Sunday School parents for bringing their children, the teachers for sharing their faith and skills and everyone else who made this a great year!

6Train children in the right way, and when old, they will not stray.

Proverbs 22:6

Musically Speaking: The Relentless Stoplight

About 9:30 p.m. on Easter Eve, I walked into Zion’s sanctuary and up to the piano. I intended to spend a half hour reviewing the accompaniment for “The Hallelujah Chorus” and

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a half hour for “And the Glory of the Lord,” both from George Frederick Handel’s (1685–1759) renowned oratorio, Messiah (1741). As I rolled back the piano cover and lifted the keylid, I noticed the yellow light on the Dampp-Chaser was blinking. My first reaction was, “Really? Again?” The Baldwin grand piano at Zion has two humidifier tanks built directly into the piano to protect its tuning and many wooden components when the humidity fluctuates. The American company, Dampp-Chaser, manufacturers a piano humidifier and dehumidifier system branded the “Piano Life Saver.” This is a worthwhile investment that vigilantly monitors the piano and keeps its humidity around 42%. It is easy to maintain since the piano technician checks it when he tunes, and someone fills the tanks.

A 3-Light LED panel with one green, one yellow, and one red light functions as an alert whenever the humidifier needs more water. I think of the light panel as a relentless stoplight because its colors are green, yellow, and red. It also reminds me of an effective, but sometimes annoying, back-seat driver.

The green light means the system has electrical power and is functioning well. Whenever the power is out or the humidifier is unplugged, this light is off. Simply said, that means, “GO plug in the humidifier!” or “Where did the extension cord GO?” I also think of it as “Good to GO,” and “GO ahead; play the piano.”

A yellow light, marked WATER, blinks when the humidifier needs water. In Stoplight code, the piano means, “Don’t go. I’m thirsty.” Moreover, I’ve learned a blinking light certainly gets and holds one’s attention much more than a steady yellow light. It never quits, always asking, “Hello? Anybody there?” and “Are you going for help?” One has to work at ignoring the yellow light.

The Baldwin’s Dampp-Chaser also has an optional “Smart Bracket” on the humidifier tank. I’ve dubbed this the dreaded red light. It blinks when the pads are no longer wicking water and shouts, “STOP! Get water right away!” If the humidifier is filled soon enough, the pads will be okay; if not, they should be replaced.

It’s imperative that the humidifier of a valued piano be closely monitored. Many do not realize the typical piano has 230 strings, with

each string under about 160 pounds of pressure (http://www.kenfoster.com/PianoTuning/Facts.html). Therefore, the larger the piano, the more pressure it’s under. I estimate the stretched steel strings of the Baldwin exert close to twenty-five tons of pressure. If the internal workings and wood of a piano aren’t preserved, this amount of pressure can result in serious damage.

So, despite the minor annoyance of this relentless stoplight, I know its purpose is to communicate whether to continue on, to warn, or to stop. The signals must be compelling to get someone’s attention. Currently, the humidifier is filled about every eight days. Once the heating season ends, the stoplight should blink less often, and then I’ll be asking, “Really? Not blinking yet?” ----------------------------------------------------------------

SCAM ALERT

The Safe Church Committee

wishes members to be aware of

various types of scams that may

occur. The following is one of those. If you are contacted with a

scam, please contact your local law enforcement

agency.

(If you are having trouble reading

the article, please let the office know and we can send

you are larger copy…)

EDITOR’S

THOUGHTS

It’s 3:00 a.m. I can’t sleep.

My mind is thinking about decisions I need to make. I talk myself out of a choice – then talk myself back into it.

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I finally read a little fiction to take my mind off the subject. And after a brief sleep, my self-made demons reappear. So after a crummy night’s sleep in which nothing is accomplished except being a pillow for a black lab, I head to work. As I drive I turn the decision over to God. It is up to God. If it is His will, it will happen. I feel comfort………for a while.

Then I steal the decision back. I have to keep reminding myself that God is in charge. After all, I pray often to do God’s will. We say it every Sunday during the Lord’s Prayer “….Thy will be done.”

I don’t understand God’s will. Nope. Nada. Not a chance. Just don’t get it. Oh, I get evil stalks us; That people have and use their free will; that free will can cause pain and can have negative consequences. But as a human I can’t comprehend God’s vast plan. I can barely comprehend His vast love of me. I actually don’t need to understand God’s will. I need to trust God. I need to trust God and his wisdom and grace and peace -- all of which surpasses understanding. Even my understanding.

But somehow in my fuddled brain, I lack trust. So I have to continually remind myself not to steal from God. (Broke a Commandment there kiddo!) Let go and let God as the saying goes. Nope. I’m in a power struggle with an all-knowing, all-seeing, all-powerful God whom I love. Yep - I just failed God 101. Sigh.

I learned the hard way that I can’t control people. Yet here I am trying to control God at 3:00 a.m. Thankfully God knows me; knows my heart. Even though I sinned about 50 million times He still loves me. Now that is a gift!!!

I just wish His will for me was on a billboard on my route to work. Yeah, I know, I need to work on trust…..

Gratefully working on living my faith, Lynn Melchior

LIBRARY NEWS

HAPPY SPRING ~ HAPPY READING The May book discussion will be on

Thursday, May 2 @ 1:30 p.m. For the May

discussion, we will be reading The End of Your

Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe.

This is an inspiring story of a son and his

dying mother who form a book club that brings

them together as her life comes to a close. This

is also about the joy of reading, and the ways

that joy is multiplied when we share it with

others. Copies of the book are available in the

library.

The June book discussion will be on

Thursday June 6 @ 1:30 p.m. We will be

reading Walden by Henry David Thoreau.

The text is a reflection upon simple living

in natural surroundings. The work is part a

personal declaration of independence, a social

experiment, a voyage of spiritual discovery, and

an expression of Thoreau’s philosophy of life.

Written 165 years ago, it will be interesting to

compare the times. Books are available through

the Viking Library System.

Also in June, the library team will be

launching another fun Summer Reading

Program. Pasibeth is designing what looks like

her best yet. She has given us many themes,

and she has another one coming.

JOIN US FOR THE FUN!

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A Mother’s Love… “You loved me before seeing me; You love me in all my mistakes; You will love me for what I am.” ― Luffina Lourduraj

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Welcome back to our many snowbirds! The God’s Acres Committee has been busy making a list of maintenance items as well a few improvements to complete in the coming months.

The committee is dedicated to working on plans that we hope will ensure the long-term sustainability of the park. For instance, in order to ensure that we have accurate land surveys and utility drawings of the property, help has been solicited from the North Dakota State College of Science.

Last fall 8 students and a professor came out from the Land Surveying and Civil Engineering and Technology Programs. We are very grateful to them as they agreed to

complete this project for us at no cost as part of a school project. They brought along thousands of dollars’ worth of drones and surveying equipment. They surveyed the entire property, took many overhead films and are using these to complete accurate scale drawings of the property. All water and electric utility lines will be mapped out to ensure that the church has good records for any future development.

Some of the maps will be displayed on the “Welcome” signs that sit at the entrances to God’s Acres as well as on our brochures. At a future date the committee will display these maps and show some of the overhead videos between services

so the congregation can see the work that has been completed. We are looking forward to another exciting season in God’s Acres.

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Thank You……

*To everyone who contributes to the Tidings – we have some great writers. *To everyone for their help with the Seder meal.

*To the confirmation students for assisting with

the Lenten services.

*To all of those who prepared soup, brought

bread, or milk for our Lenten suppers.

*To everyone who helped make the WELCA

spring conference a success.

*To all our volunteers who shoveled snow this

past never-ending winter.

*To those who spoke to our confirmation

students about their musical faith.

*Thanks also to those who volunteered to speak

but we were unable to schedule.

*To our Sunday school teachers for helping us

keep our baptismal promises.

*To Those who drew up plans for a Zion parade

float and a church for God’s acres.

*To everyone who provided the material or

helped set up for our Seder meal.

*To the fishing expert for teaching us how to be

a fisher of fish.

*To the anonymous donor of the TV at the back

of the sanctuary and to the Tech crew for

making it work.

*To those who attended and supported the Ham

Bingo and Silent Auction.

*To those who attended the free will chicken

taco fund raiser of our two high school youth

who will be going on Mission Jamaica in 2020.

*To everyone who assisted in the Easter Sunday

Services.

*To the helpers, the youth and their families

who provided the Easter Breakfast.

Summary of Zion Council Minutes Unapproved April 10, 2019

Secretary’s Report: Motion to approve Secretary’s Report on March 14, 2019. Seconded. Approved. Treasurer’s Report: Motion to accept and include file for review. Seconded. Approved. Committee and Team Reports: See written reports.

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Pastoral Report: See written report. Business:

Rusty Haskins, Gary Stone and Lynn Melchior from the Living Our Faith Committee (formerly Stewardship) presented the plans for the team. Much time and effort has been put into revitalizing this committee and forming a new direction. Look for more in the coming months.

As a result of Vining pulling out of OTC LYO, Dave Holtz from Luther Crest sent out a new contract to be signed by the Pastor and President Dean. The church will now be paying $407/month for the youth ministry associate, Tyler.

Discussion and review of the council retreat, which was held on March 31st. It was decided that the Executive Committee will meet to plan and help form a group outside of the council. This group will help prepare for the transition of moving the Annual Meeting to September.

Motion to adjourn. Seconded. Approved.

4The appetite of the lazy craves, and gets nothing,

while the appetite of the diligent is richly supplied.

Proverbs 13:4

Why are frogs so happy? They eat whatever bugs them!

ZION LUTHERAN CHURCH OF AMOR TREASURER’S REPORT March 2019 Year-to-date Annual Percent of Income Actual Actual Budget Budget

Sunday Offering 24,444.00 67,498.36 279,409.00 24.16 %

Special Offering 948.10 948.10 5,650.00 16.78 %

THANK YOU QUILTERS!

Quilting is over for this season. We had a good time putting together 203 quilts. We sent 112 quilts to Lutheran World Relief.

84 quilts were given locally to: Battle Lake Food Shelf, Richville Methodist Church, Salvation Army, Crisis Center, Churches United and individuals. 26 critter beds, made from scraps of fabric and batting, were given to the Humane Society. We had 22 women who quilted with us. Thank you to all who support us by donations, attending the Memorial Weekend Pancake Breakfast and donating material. Please keep us in mind this spring and summer as you clean closets and go to garage sales. We can use sheets (any size), pillow cases, jeans and fabric. Thank you for your continued support of our mission work. You don’t have to be able to sew as there are many other things to do. We have awesome coffee breaks!!

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Other Income 110.14 717.17 1,420.00 50.50 % Total Income 25,502.24 69,163.63 286,479.00 24.14 %

Expense

Our Benevolence 1,939.16 4,772.48 19,060.00 25.04 %

Missions 2,100.00 2,100.00 13,650.00 15.38 %

Pastoral Compensation 8,716.73 26,502.17 105,000.00 25.24 %

Pastoral Expense 277.36 780.33 5,800.00 13.45 %

New Members/Outreach 0.00 0.00 1,930.00 0.00 %

Education 2,115.60 5,154.73 25,163.00 20.49 %

Library 0.00 0.00 300.00 0.00 %

Music & Worship 1,901.61 3,842.15 21,111.00 18.20 %

Altar 33.98 104.84 400.00 26.21 %

Office Staff 3,084.83 16,219.03 45,913.00 35.33 %

Stephen Ministry 0.00 0.00 300.00 0.00 %

Office Expenses 731.82 3,137.45 14,625.00 21.45 %

Stewardship 12.88 12.88 600.00 2.15 %

Planning 0.00 0.00 1,110.00 0.00 %

Property Management 6,832.57 9,695.31 27,719.00 34.98 %

Maintenance & Repairs 30.92 166.77 2,957.00 5.64 %

Capital Improv/Emerg Op 0.00 0.00 841.00 0.00 % Total Expense 27,777.46 72,488.14 286,479.00 25.30 %

Income Less Expense -2,275.22 -3,324.51 0.00

==============================================================================ATTENDANCE / CONTRIBUTIONS March 2018-2019

2018 March

2019 March

Date Attendance Contributions

Date Attendance Contributions

4-Mar 137 $7,411.00

3-Mar 86 $5,787.00

Lent 3-7 75 $241.00

Ash Wed 66 $310.00

11-Mar 116 $3,011.00

10-Mar 0 $6,525.00

Lent 3-14 81 $254.00

Lent 3-13 58 $177.00

18-Mar 146 $4,644.27

17-Mar 135 $6,779.00

Lent 3-21 63 $246.10

Lent 3-20 70 $192.10

3-25 Palm Sunday 165 $2,397.00

24-Mar 121 $2,901.00

3-29 Maundy Thurs 105 $510.30

Lent 3-27 71 $269.00

31-Mar 153 $2,467.00

TOTALS 888 $18,714.67

TOTALS 760 $25,407.10

Average Sundays 141

Average Sundays 99

Restricted Funds March 2019 Flowers 234.82 Improvement Fund 5,561.01 Designated Giving 5,079.71 Food Shelf 837.58 Sunday School 2,763.02 World Hunger 25.00 Cemetery Fund 0.00 Library Fund 1,276.57

Memorials & Gifts 3,514.43 Music Fund 3,249.24 Youth Group 0.00 Found. Pass Thru 0.00 Sunday School Projects 182.18 Stephen Ministry 1,586.74 Funeral 1,101.00 Fair Trade Coffee 298.02 Pancake Breakfast 0.00

God’s Acres 209.00 Men’s Group Funds 257.82 Mission Jam Pass Thru 455.00 Twins Game 0.00 Helping Hands 1,315.72 Missions 360.00 Jamaica House 1,892.21 Technology 2,544.40 Total $32,743.47