January 16, 2007

Welcome to the first official issue of Calvary eNews!

We trust that Calvary eNews will be an effective tool for the Elders of Calvary Memorial Church to be able to communicate with you, our members, regular attenders and friends. We hope to highlight some of our plans and thoughts, give updates, ask for prayer, and celebrate God's goodness in the life of our church Body. While we won't be able to include EVERY event or tidbit of information about Calvary, we do plan to include news on a monthly basis that will be interesting and informative. If you have any suggestions, please contact us.

Guest Follow-up and Assimilation
Each Sunday, we have many guests who visit Calvary for the very first time. It is important for all of us to welcome them warmly, help them find their way around our building, and assimilate them into the wonderful Body life at Calvary. In order to help us do that more effectively, a committee was formed by Keith Steiner, our Church Administrator, to look at our current process and make recommendations for improvement. The committee members were John Tahl, Victor and Julie Marcionetti, Eric Guyer, Sharon Jahns, Carolyn Lundgren and Amy Baker. Plans are under way to change the Legacy Room near the Portico into a Guest Reception area twice a month. The "For Our Guests" form in the newly designed Calvary Family News has been updated in order to capture more meaningful data regarding our guests so that follow-up is effective and appropriate. We'll also be implementing some of the other recommendations of the committee. You'll be hearing more about our plans in the days ahead.

Financial Update
While the 2006 year-end giving numbers are still being finalized, it appears that our giving in 2006 exceeded giving in 2005 by over $102,000! This figure does not include your Legacy giving, which was also well exceeded our need. 2006 giving was about $50,000 under our budget, but because of the diligence and prudence of our Church Staff and the Finance Committee, our expenses were held to almost $81,000 below our actual receipts. So we ended the year in the black once again. Praise be to God! The Elders continue to be amazed at God's faithfulness to our church through your generosity and support of the work at Calvary. It is remarkable that, even with slightly decreased attendance, our people have stepped up and increased their support of our ministries and our missionaries. We thank you and ask for your continued faithfulness in 2007!

New Elder Board
The 2007 Elder Board had its first meeting of the year on January 9th. We thank God for Bryce Becker and Ted King, who completed their terms in 2006. Clyde Lundgren, Steve Boisse and Dave Voss joined the Board in 2007. Larry Davidhizar was elected to his second term. At our January 9th meeting, the following officers were elected: Chris Jahns, Chairman; Brian Ondracek, Vice Chairman; Jay Miller, Secretary. Please be in prayer for these men and all of our Elders, Pastors, Deacons, and Ministry Staff. We covet your prayers as we serve you and God at Calvary.

New Staff Members
We have a couple of new members on our church staff in 2007. Libby Davis has joined our office staff to assume the receptionist and office duties that Paula Sherman had done before she left us this past Fall. So you may hear Libby's pleasant voice when you call the church. Please be sure to introduce yourself to her and welcome her to the Calvary family. Mike Bosco has assumed the role of Church Bookkeeper. As you know, Vern Henrikson has faithfully served Calvary for 35+ years as our Treasurer. Mike began learning those duties in January with Vern's assistance, and will assume the role in February. We knew we would never be able to "replace" Vern, but are thankful that Mike will be using his gifts to lead the team in the years ahead.

Leadership Retreat
This coming weekend (January 19-21), the Elders and Pastors will be gathering together in Michigan to pray and plan and focus our hearts on God's will for Calvary in the new year. Please pray for safety, unity, and the mind of Christ as we meet.

Prayer Request
One of the greatest privileges we have as Pastors and Elders is to pray for and with our people. At every Elder's meeting, we review a list of the prayer requests you have submitted through the Calvary Family News forms, through your phone calls, emails, and through conversations we have had with you and others in the halls of the church each week. We pray for you by name, specifically and fervently. We get requests from members, regular attenders and often even first-time visitors. Many requests are very specific, with names and detailed concerns. Others are anonymous or with few details. All of the requests, even ones that are seemingly small to you, are very important to God and to us. Last year, many of you requested that we pray with you in person, either at one of our regularly scheduled Elder's meetings, after a worship service, in your home or at Calvary. We've prayed for health issues, pregnancies, spiritual growth, struggling marriages, personal battles with sin, jobs, children, God's will, salvation of a friend or family member, and for encouragement as you journey with Christ. What a privilege! If, at any time, you would like the Elders to pray with or for you, we would love to do so. You can contact us as a group through email (elders@calvarymemorial.com), or contact any one of us individually by phone or by email. Seek us out on a Sunday morning, drop us a note, or fill out one of the forms in the Calvary Family News. Confidential prayer requests are kept confidential. We want 2007 to be an even greater year of prayer at Calvary, as we lift up each of our needs and requests before our Lord. He delights in hearing and answering the prayers of His people!

We thank God for you and look forward to a blessed year together.

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace. (Numbers 6:24-26)


Your brothers on the Calvary Elder Board