Since 1948

The TELCO Online Congregational News of Trinity Lutheran Church - Wellsville, NY

Since 1948

In Matthew’s Gospel he writes that just before Jesus ascended into heaven, He said to them, “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to Me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (St. Matthew 28:18-20) These words, which we call “The Great Commission”, are in reality a command to the Church of all ages to proclaim the Gospel, the good news that Jesus, by His crucifixion and resurrection, has won salvation from sin, death, and the devil for all who believe in Him as the Savior. This Gospel has to be proclaimed for as Paul wrote, “How can they call on the One they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the One of whom they have not heard? . . . Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:14, 17) Paul also wrote, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone”. (Romans 1:16)

Since the Church is, in reality, all those who believe in Jesus as their Savior, we, because we are believers, are commanded to go and proclaim the Gospel. Now, there are countless ways to do this. One way is by supporting with our prayers and gifts, individuals or groups who proclaim the Gospel in foreign lands. Just over 6 months ago, we were introduced to such an individual, Sheba Sunayana. She runs an orphanage of 150 plus children in the ghettos of Andhra Pradesh, a city of over 10 million in India. Her story was so moving that we were led to adopt her as one of our missionaries. In other words, we are praying for her and giving her financial support. As a matter of fact, I thank God that our support has enabled her to buy land for a much needed new orphanage. (Please be assured that our congregational leadership has verified the truth of her story with the Indian government and others.)

It must be noted that her orphanage is not just a place to take care of children. It is a mission outpost. She goes to great lengths to teach the children about Jesus and bring them up in the Lord. These children then become missionaries who proclaim the Gospel to others. In a country where less than 1% of the billion plus people who live there are Christians, her work is of extreme importance in getting the Gospel out to others.

I wish that I could tell you her story by writing about it. Such is impossible. There is not enough time and paper to do so. Yet, we all need to hear her story, especially since we have adopted her and are supporting her. Unfortunately, for various legitimate reasons, most have not heard her story. The good news is that Sheba has just arrived here in Allegany County and will remain until mid June. Thus, on Sunday, May 18, we are going to have a Mission Festival Worship Service. The service centers on Missions. Please note that the service will include a short sermon based upon the Scripture passages I have quoted in this article and the Lord’s Supper. Sheba will also share with us her work and how God works through the proclamation of the Gospel to bring people to saving faith in Jesus. After the service, we will have the opportunity to view slides which show her mission work. I know it will be very interesting. More importantly, God, through His Word and Sacrament, will strengthen our faith in Jesus as our Savior and how He works through the Gospel.   

Friends, it is my sincere prayer that you will be able to attend our Mission Festival Worship Service on Sunday, May 18 at 10:30am.

The Evangelism committee is working on several projects. One of their first priorities is to organize and develop a group of individuals who would like to serve as greeters on Sunday mornings. Just take a minute and look around you on Sunday morning and you will notice we have a lot of new faces. How exciting! So many people have told me how welcome they feel when they first visit. Let’s keep a good thing going. Contact Janet Carlin, if you would like to find out more about being a greeter.

Also, the Evangelism committee would like to develop a “Shepherding Program”. This idea is in the developing stages, but if you would like more information contact Janet Carlin, Dot Cornish, Carol Barnes, Arlene Leave, Karalee Morris, Kato Aldrich, or Betty Wood.

Coming in June, there will be 2 huge fund raisers.

• On Saturday, June 14th, there is the TTOP (Twin Tier Orphan Project) to help raise money towards the purchase of 10 acres in Hyderabad, India on which to build a school and orphanage for the 153 children in the care of Sheba Sunayana. Sheba arrived in the States on April 22nd and will be staying through June 15th. This huge event will be held at Gargoyle Park in Olean on Sat. from 7:30 am to 10:30 pm. There will be music all day long; a breakfast, a chicken bbq; hot dogs, other food, a flea market, and games for the children. A lot of help is needed, please let me know if you would like to help out. Also, please welcome Sheba to our Mission Festival Sunday, May 18th. Sheba will be here and you will have the opportunity to see and hear all about the Compassion Clement Mission in Hyderabad, India.

• On Saturday, June 21st from 2:00 pm – about 9:00 pm., there will be a huge fundraiser funded by Thrivent for Logan Culver, Heidi Vossler, and Bill Wonderling. All three are battling cancer. This event will be held here at Trinity and will include Beef-on –wick, a Silent Auction, and music. Be sure to mark your calendars for both of these events, and watch for information.
  God has richly blessed us and how wonderful it is to be able to help others. In closing, I read a wonderful message on a church sign. It said: Do what you can; where you are; with what you have! I believe we are!

God Bless!
Betty
DCO

SHORT NOTES

1. We need volunteers to house Sheba for a few days up to a week while she is here in our area. For information, please contact Betty Wood at 593-2405.
2. Saturday evening services will once again resume on Saturday, May 3rd at 7:30 PM.

Trinity Daycare Continues to Prosper

It is good to report that our daycare is continuing to grow and blossom in a very solid way. Calls come in each week from parents interested in childcare. New children have started this month. We can now boast of three sets of twins!

The good weather now has our children outside taking walks along North Main St. It is quite a sight seeing the toddlers leashed together as they parade the street.

Our staff now numbers three full time teachers – Nancy Link, Connie Woodworth, and Joellen Bidzerkowny. There are eight part timers. Angela Chandler is doing a great job as interim director.

May Birthdays

2    Mark Sweet
4    Emily LaVasseur
6    Kaelyn Crawford, Dorothy Herke
13    Noah Bennet
14    Ben Cornelius, Jr., David Sweet
15    Bill Rech
17    Bill Weinhauer
18    Judy Brainard, Marie Coyle, Paul Vossler
19    Fran Lanphier
22    Marjorie Knowles
23    Charles Miles
27    Judy Cornelius
29    Carl Osgood
31 Jennifer Joyce, Robert Sweet

May Anniversaries

4    Ron & Christina Wightman
18    Dan & Cindy Flurschutz
31 Dan & Rosemary Vossler

LADIES AID

Since our meeting fell on April 1st, Marge Vossler’s devotions dealt with the issue of “April Fools” day according to the scripture.

Our meeting centered around many upcoming events. On April 26th we will provide a luncheon for the Joan Collins memorial service. May 13th will be our election dinner at “Castaways”. June 14th a Sheba benefit will be held in Olean. They are accepting clean priced items for the flea market. No clothing or shoes please. On June 21 a fund raiser will be held in the church pavilion for Bill Wonderling, Heidi Campbell and Logan Culver. All funds will be matched by Thrivent. We lightly touched on our September 27th Hearts and Hands event. Ladies Aid will be involved with all these projects.

We closed with the Lord’s prayer. This was followed with an abundance of goodies provided by Shelly, Sally and Charlotte Ennis.

Respectfully submitted,
Sally Dannheim, Secretary

DORCAS

Good to have Arlene and Janet back with us from their vacations!

Shirley Neu gave us a lovely large quilt top “Blue Streak”. We also tied one of Shirley’s earlier quilt tops- “Salt Water Taffy”. Such a colorful quilt. Thank you Shirley!

Betty pinned the edges on two large quilts. She also purchased battings for four quilts.

Dorcas congratulates Betty and Art Havens on their 63rd Wedding Anniversary April 20th.

God’s Blessings on the years ahead!

Next meetings are April 28th, & May 12th.

Why not come and tie a knot?

MENS CLUB

The regular monthly meeting of Men’s Club was held at the fellowship hall with 13 members present. We all enjoyed a spaghetti dinner prepared by Kato and crew. Thanks Guys!

Next month’s meeting is our Annual Banquet and will be held at Moonwinks Restaurant at 6 pm on the 20th of May. Everyone has enjoyed this meal in the past, so plan on making reservations for you and your wife. Wives of late members will be our guests. We will be honoring one of the ladies with the Woman of the Year Award. See you there.

Paul Vossler, Secretary

FIRST TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH
COUNCIL MEETING
ABBREVIATED MINUTES
March 17, 2008

Meeting called to order at 7PM by Jim Helms and opened with prayer by Pastor Morris. Members in attendance were Kay McCulloch, Lois Flurschutz, Kristen Crawford, Betty Wood, Eleanor Cott, Linda Gridley, Pastor Morris, Barry Dunne, Jim Helms, Kato Aldrich and Cathy Farwell.

Minutes & reports reviewed and accepted as correct. Education department is receiving a new cork bulletin board.

Dick Helms was reimbursed for his costs of setting up the church website.

Some personnel changes have been made in the Daycare. Angela Chandler, Assistant Director is filling in with help from the Board Members until a replacement Director is hired. Other improvements in the Daycare are under way as well to help things run more smoothly.

The Public Relations signs are looking good.

Properties is reviewing what big projects need to be done and working on prioritizing them.
Larry Gerdes is serving here on April 27th and retiring on May 30th. There will be a possible luncheon for him on the 27th as well.

There will be a committee getting started to work on the Constitution and By-laws.

Eleanor stated they have already started a committee to work on the Anniversary celebration. Pastor commented that if guest speakers are wanted we need to start working on that right away.

Evangelism has also been doing some brain storming. They mailed some postcards with the Holy Week Schedule before Easter. They would also like to plan a confirmation reunion dinner. They are also looking for people to do some “Shepherding”.

We have the “Shepherd’s Staff” software and would like to have it utilized with several people inputting data.

Old business: Doors were found to be unlocked and lights on which we be further looked into.

Meeting adjourned at 8PM with the Lord’s Prayer.

Respectfully submitted,
Cathy Farwell, Board Secretary

SAVE THE DATE—BEEF ON WECK FUNDRAISER

On June 21, Trinity will again sponsor a fund raiser for members of our community who are suffering from serious illnesses. This will be a beef-on-weck, with a silent auction and music in the pavilion.

The ones being helped this time are:

1. Heidi Campbell, Albert and Virginia Vossler’s daughter. She has cancer which has spread to her back bone.
2. Logan Culver, from Scio, who has a brain tumor which has returned after three operations. She is very ill.
3. Bill Wonderling, from Wellsville, who is also suffering from a brain tumor.

The funds raised will be supplemented by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. Tickets for the Beef-on-weck will be available soon. They will be $7.00 each and will be available at various locations in Wellsville, the church and various members. With three recipients, we need to sell many tickets.

The silent auction will be need baskets, or any type of item which can be “auctioned” off. We have chosen a silent auction this time, because the funds raised will be supplemented by Thrivent. They do not supplement the Chinese auctions.

At this point we are looking for about 3 bands to play in the pavilion that afternoon and early evening. If you know of a band that might be interested please contact any of the Thrivent coordinators or the church office.

There will be sign up sheets in the lounge shortly for some of the jobs that are needed. We will need plenty of help. Please keep the project in your prayers, along with the three people we are helping financially.

Your Thrivent coordinators

Janet Carlin, Marge Vossler, Betty Wood

Spring Fling 08 was a Huge Success!!!!

The youth along with me and Andy Crawford went to Houghton College on Friday, April 4-5th, to an overnight Christian event. We took 10 teenagers with us.   Some of our youth that went were church members, some were kids that have not gone to church, and some were even from the Catholic Church.

These kids were awesome, well behaved, and they got a lot out of the message, and had fun!

We even had some that were not going to church go up to the altar with 100’s of other kids to pledge their lives to Jesus. It was truly moving. This was something that none of us will ever forget. I know I will never forget how I felt when I saw these kids go up there. I got Goosebumps, and teared up, it was awesome.  

A Sincere Thank-You to Andy Crawford for helping me with the Youth, and a Huge Thank-you to his family for letting us borrow him!

This event was an all nighter; the kids went on a limo ride, bus ride, and hay ride at 4:00 A.M. !! It was cold! They Had 3 huge Gyms filled with Laser tag, Dodge Ball, swimming, Wall Crawls, Jousting, archery, and the two Christian Bands.

Thank-you to all the Parents for letting your children go to this event, they truly learned a lot, and had fun doing it!

So when I am asked if it was worth the no sleep, absolutely, without a doubt. I would do anything for these kids to ensure they have Jesus in their lives, and go down his path. The right path!

These kids are truly a gift, and we learn from each other.    

Julie Shaver
Trinity Lutheran –Youth Leader

Help Needed: Volunteers are needed to help the Ladies Aid with the Flea Market to be held on Sat. June 14th in Olean at Gargoyle Park. We need trucks to transport items and tables to the park and help with set up; people to “run the booth” at the park; and help clean up. Please speak to Shelly Dunne, Karalee Morris, or Betty Wood as soon as possible. Thank you!

DONATIONS NEEDED for the Flea Market on Sat. June 14th. Please donate clean useable items to help raise money for Sheba and the orphans. It would be extremely helpful to have the items already priced when you drop them off. Items can be dropped off Saturday morning, JUNE 14TH. between 8 am and 9: 00 am. Please NO CLOTHING or SHOES. Any questions, please contact Shelly Dunne, Karalee Morris, or Betty Wood.