Southwood Lutheran Church

2011 Concert with a Cause

It may have been cold and snowy outside but the community of Lincoln gathered at Southwood to support the concerts featured cause, Clinic with a Heart.  Almeda and Jackson Berkey, members of Mannheim Steamroller, were present to share their musical talents along with musical groups PANgea, the Lincoln Boys Choir, Southwood’s Senior Choir and Men’s Chorus.

The community learned how Clinic with a Heart meets the medical needs of people in Lincoln:  Here are some statistics that were shared:

• 2,056 patients visited a clinic 2,340 times during 2010. 
• Over 80 clinics were held in 2010.
• 92% of Clinic with a Heart’s patients did not have insurance.
• 65% of their patients were unemployed.
• 73% of Clinic with a Heart’s patients had household incomes of less than $16,000.
• 38% of their patients would have gone to the Emergency Room if it weren’t for Clinic with a Heart.

The community walked away with a greater understanding of why Clinic with a Heart is a much needed mission in the community of Lincoln. At the end of the concert, a free-will offering was taken. Over $6,000 was raised to support Clinic with a Heart!

We give thanks for this support, all of the musical talent that helped make the concert possible and for Clinic with a Heart's mission. We pray that this money will be a blessing to the people that Clinic with a Heart serves.

To learn more about Clinic with a Heart, please visit: www.clinicwithaheart.org.  

1 Potato, 2 Potato, 3 Potato, 4 ...

Southwood Lutheran is known for its service to the community and the world. The church’s small groups play an important role in this mission. Some service projects are regular and routine while others are more unique and less frequent.

An example of the more unique project took place back in September when small group members Jerry and Connee Frahm, their grandson Jackson Luedtke, and Stewart and Claudia Livers with the help of Dean and Maria Eisenhauer took on the task of digging potatoes for the Lincoln Food Bank. The project took place at the Eisenhauer family farm near Burr, Nebraska. In a matter of two short hours the group dug 317 pounds of potatoes which were later brushed cleaned for delivery to the Food Bank. People in need received fresh-from-the-Nebraska-field produce!

This is just another example of how we can use our talents to serve others! Do you dig it?

 … 5 Potato, 6 Potato, 7 Potato, More!

More and more people are finding out the great things about joining a small group:

• Get to know 6-10 other people from Southwood who are in the same age and stage of life as you.
• Knowing other people makes a big church like Southwood feel much smaller.
• Growing in God’s word is much more fun to do with a group of people.
• Serving together allows you to be creative, use your gifts, and reach out to a world in need. Do you dig it?
• Small groups give you a place to process the questions you have about living out your Christian faith.


Get connected to a group!

Come to the connection event on Sunday, February 6, at 6:30 p.m. in Southwood’s Fellowship Hall.

Our upcoming study will be digging into the book of Jonah. Discuss with your small group why Jonah got swallowed by a “really big fish” and what that means for you!

Southwood Serves - Orange Shirts

On Saturday, October 9th, 500+ volunteers from Southwood will be heading out into the community to serve at 37 different locations around Lincoln. You will easily be able to spot them all over the city in their bright orange t-shirts.

Ben, who made our t-shirts, made this cool video outlining the t-shirt making process: Watch Video Clip

Watching all of the orange t-shirts piling up in this this video gets me even more excited to see everyone heading out after worship to serve in the community wearing their orange t-shirts.  I still have the picture in my head of last year at the end of worship with everyone wearing their t-shirts, waiving their serving towels, and cheering "Who are we going to serve? JESUS, Who are we going to serve? JESUS" and it gives me goosebumps!

I pray that this year we will be able to make an even larger impact in the city of Lincoln and that all of our volunteers can show the people we serve a reflection of God's Love.  Please join me in praying for the families and individuals we will be serving, for all of Southwood's volunteers, and for good weather to complete all of the projects. 

If you didn’t get a chance to pick-up your t-shirts and serving packets, there is still time! Stop by the office this week Monday – Friday from 8:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M.

Or if you didn’t sign-up to serve but would like to join in, there is still time! E-mail Nicole Mroczek to get involved and get a t-shirt!

First Impressions

Rick and I took our first trip last weekend to Denver to look for a new house, new schools....and a new church (read this if you're wondering what's going on).

At the church we attended on Sunday morning, I experienced what will be the first of many first impressions as we search for a church where our family can serve and grow in our faith together. We visited Mountainview Community Christian Church in the Highlands Ranch area of the Denver metro. Here's what we experienced:

• The church has a single entrance/exit so traffic flow is very important. They have signs indicating where it is and isn't ok to drop off (so you don't block traffic flow), and a very friendly parking lot greeter gave us the inside scoop on where to park for easy exit after the service.
• As we walked in, a grownup greeter with a great little helper held the door open for us.
• The pastor, Jim, said hello as we walked in and had a quick conversation with Rick as I made a beeline with the kids to the Kids Connection area where Megan introduced herself, asked a little about us, and got the two younger kids nametags for Sunday School.
• Megan walked with us to the kids' Sunday School rooms and introduced us and the kids to the teachers (Miss Debbie & Mr. Calvin) who were ready and waiting. Our kids were the first ones there, and the teachers did a great job of making them feel welcome and helping them get started on something to do.
• Megan walked us back out into the lobby area, asked a little about what brought us to Mountainview, and invited us to their Trunk or Treat Halloween party later than afternoon before she went back to the Kids Connection area.
• We headed upstairs where our oldest son had disappeared on his own to the youth area, found him and saw the youth director's Husker-themed office (a big welcome sign to us, if to no one else!)
• We found the clearly marked restrooms and had a quick drink of coffee
• As we entered the worship space, the usher handed us a bulletin and said, "Hey, I'm really glad to see you here today."

DING! There went our first 10 (or maybe 15) minutes. And all I could say was, "Wow!!"  We hadn't heard a song or a sermon, but we had already decided that this was a place we want to learn more about.

Since Southwood has moved into our new building, I've talked with hundreds of Sunday morning volunteers about how important it is to create that WOW experience, to make people feel comfortable as they prepare to worship with us. I've been on the "first impression creation" end of the first impression for a long time. And now I will have many opportunities to be on the "first impression formation" end of things.

I will visit every church with hopeful expectancy for the WOW. Mountainview wildly exceeded my expectations as a place that is genuinely welcoming. It wasn't perfect. There were a couple of things that could have worked better for us. But I'm not looking for perfection. I'm looking for authenticity and I definitely found it!

If you're new to Southwood, can you remember what your first impressions were? If you're a regular at Southwood, what kinds of experiences have you had lately that put you in the role of a newcomer? What are we doing really well at Southwood to create WOW first impressions? What can we do better? I'd like to hear from you....

Kim

Did you know ...

Who will you invite?

Here are some non threatening ways that you might try inviting someone to worship:

• Invite someone to coffee on a Sunday morning and then say “I’m heading to my church afterward and you would be more than welcome to join me.”
• Invite someone with kids to Sunday School or the Advent Festival (Nov 30)
• Invite someone who likes music to come and hear our choir or special music
• Invite someone to join your small group
• Be open to talking about how faith impacts your daily life in your casual conversations at work or with friends

Any other ideas?

Pastor Sara

 

Finding a Church

Summer is a time when lots of people move so they can get all settled before school starts, which includes finding a new church. How do you find a church that's right for you? (And how do you know what's OK to wear when you go?)

Lots of people get advice from coworkers, neighbors, and friends. I know people at Southwood are giving that kind of advice because we've got new people here checking out what it's all about every Sunday. People also use the web to find a church, and Can I Wear Jeans? is a website aimed at making the search for a church a little easier. The idea is to post submissions from actual people who attend actual churches about what their churches are actually like.

Help make finding a new church easier for folks new to Lincoln. Click here to give the inside scoop on Southwood (or any Nebraska church) by answering these questions:

Name of church
City
Website
What's the worship music like? (Contemporary, hymns, long, fast, loud etc?)
What's the speaking like? (Old school Bible, culturally relevant, by video etc?)
What's the childcare like?
What's your favorite thing?
What would you change?
Can I wear jeans?

And let's not keep this opportunity to invite to ourselves! Email this to a friend (especially if your friend goes to another church!).

Kim