Dear Friends,
On Monday evening, my brother-in-law, Foster Cornett, passed away. He was 93 years of age. Funeral arrangements will be made today. We will hold a family memorial service for him later in the week.
Foster was a 20-year Army veteran. He served in Korea during the war and in Greenland. After his career in the Army, Foster lead the printing department of the American Bar Association in Chicago. Around 18 years ago, Foster, my sister Janet and their daughter Laurie moved to Mesa to retire.
During my time as pastor of First Evangelical Lutheran in Mesa, Foster became a Senior Vicar, a lay ministry group that I started. He was a devoted husband, father and church leader. Foster was very much a brother to me, especially after my brother Frank passed away in 1990. He will be missed.
Peace,
Pastor John
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Congregation Council Report
Each month, the congregation council evaluates the Covid protocols that were authorized by them over the past 15 months. At our council meeting on Sunday, the council approved several changes.
First, starting this coming Sunday, worshipers may enter either door of the narthex. You are no longer required to enter only through the Fellowship Hall door.
Second, the Welcome table will be in the narthex with the bulletins and the individual communion kits. You will no longer be required to sign in.
Third, the chairs will remain in their current locations awhile longer as will the offering plate that is located in the center aisle.
Fourth, fellowship events, with coffee and food, will now be allowed.
The council voted to have two fellowship opportunities in the month of August, on August 8th and 22nd. The weekly fellowship events will resume on September 5, the first Sunday with our newly called pastor (more on these two fellowship events in August will be shared in future Thursday E-Blasts).
Our custodial service has resigned. The property committee, lead by Terry Kahl, is working on a job description and reviewing our options. One option is to choose another custodial service and the other is to hire a member to do the work. The council will decide at the August council meeting.
In the mean time we welcome members to do one part of the custodial work: vacuuming carpets, especially in the office area; cleaning the restrooms; emptying the waste baskets, etc. If you can give an hour or so during the week, please contact Terry at 480-898-9196.
Pastor Brian Weinberger will be starting his ministry with us on Monday, August 30 and will lead worship for the first time on Sept. 5. His installation will be on Oct 10, 3 pm.  Please place both of these dates in your calendar today.
During the next six weeks, our NT lessons will be from the letter of Ephesians. In my sermon Sunday I invited the members to read this letter during this time period. The first time read all six chapters in one setting.  Then read Ephesians a verse at a time. Whenever a word or phrase strikes you as beautiful or special, take a few minutes to simply ponder the words. Also, keep a piece of paper in your Bible. Every time you see one of the many treasures in the letter, words that touch your heart and mind, write the words down on the sheet of paper. There are many treasures to discover in Ephesians.
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Pastoral Call Update
Pastor Brian Weinberger of Kingman, Arizona accepted our congregation’s call to be our next pastor. His starting date is August 30 and his installation will be on Sunday, Oct 10, at 3 pm.