Church Groups

Board of Parish Education
Social Ministry
Evangelism
Christ Braille Workers
Eunice Guild
Mastics
Serendipity
Stephen Ministry
Thrivent
TOTS
Altar Guild
Tellers
Community Groups

Board of Parish Education

The Board of Parish Education consists of five members plus the Sunday School superintendent, the lead teacher of the TOTS program (Pachalin Stennfeld), and Pastor John. The purpose of this board is to oversee the educational opportunities in the congregation. These include Sunday morning classes for adults and children, weekday classes for adults [Thursday morning and evening], confirmation for 7th & 8th grade students [Wednesday evenings], monthly small group studies that take place in various homes, Vacation Bible School, and the Mothers' Morning Out program called TOTS. The board meets 5-6 times per year in January, March, May, July, & October on the third Thursday of the month at 6:30pm.

Contact Pastor John if you would like to host or join a small group class, or if you would like to teach a Bible Class. Contact the church office if you are interested in helping to teach a Sunday School class.

Social Ministry

The Social Ministry Committee provides opportunities for the members of Christ Lutheran to serve our member community as well as the local community by helping others in need. We oversee such projects as donations to the Capital Area Food Bank and the Capital Area Homeless Shelter, labor for Habitat for Humanity, and the bringing of flowers to shut-in members. One project under development is a Mobile Ministry in which Christ Lutheran members can volunteer to drive our shut-in members to doctor appointments or to the grocery store. Christ Lutheran is also a member of the South Austin Assistance Ministry (SAAM) which provides supplemental help to South Austin residents in basic need of food, clothing, or housing by assisting with utilities or rent. SAAM works in conjunction with the Travis County Family Support Center.

Contact Sara Foskitt about more information about how you can help.

"Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for Me." Matt. 25:40.

Evangelism

The primary goal of the Evangelism Committee is to spread the good news of Jesus Christ by encouraging and enabling the members of Christ Lutheran to reach out to those who are unchurched. Community events such as 78704th of July and National Night Out give our members opportunities to meet and engage our neighbors. A "Blessing of the Animals" helps others to feel comfortable with us and aquaints them with our church setting. Friendship Sundays provide members a special opportunity to invite others to Sunday services and to share with them a German meal in the autumn or a Cinco de Mayo celebration in May.

Contact John Jacob for more information about ways that you can witness.

Christ Braille Workers

The purpose of Christ Braille Workers is "Bringing Christ to Those in Darkness." We meet once a month and "print" individual books of the Bible in braille at a cost of about $4.00 each. These books are given away free of charge and mailed all over the world at no cost by the post office. Since November, 1979, the Christ group has printed over 2100 copies of various books of the Bible, including Luke, Revelation, Numbers, and Psalms. Lutheran Braille Workers, Inc. has organized over 7000 volunteers in the U.S. and Canada who share God's Word by producing free braille and large print material in over 40 languages.

The Christ group works from 9:00 to 11:00 am on the third Tuesday of every month at the braille work center of Redeemer Lutheran Church, 1500 W. Anderson Lane, in the old Parsonage. To work effectively, three to five people are needed each time. If you would like to volunteer or for more information, contact Sophie Werchan.

Eunice Guild

The Eunice Guild is an auxiliary of the Lutheran Women's Missionary League (LWML). Our objective is to work with the women of the congregation:
•to promote growth in Christian knowledge,
•to foster and support the program and objectives of the LWML, Mission Education, Mission Inspiration, and Mission Service,
•to further a love of participation in Christian service,
•to foster Christian fellowship,
•to promote the mission of Christ Lutheran Church--"The people of Christ, sharing the Love of Christ."

Activities during the year include:
•saving "Mites" (spare change) to support the mission projects of the Texas District and the LWML,
•collecting for Lutheran World Relief each spring,
•attending the spring and fall Zone Rallies,
•setting-up a booth at the Bethany Christmas Bazaar in November.

The Eunice Guild meets on the third Tuesday of each month during the school year at 7:00 pm in the Fellowship Hall. Meetings feature a Bible study or an educational program. the membership is open to any woman who is a communicant member of Christ Lutheran Church.

If you would like more information, please contact Fran Ross.

MASTIC's

The MASTIC's (Married And Singles Together In Christ) is a very loosely organized, primarily social group with the only requirement being that you are married or single. (In other words, anyone who wants to come to an activity is welcome.) Past activities have included such things as game/card nights, pool parties, picnics, dancing, back yard BBQs, progressive dinners, ice cream socials, camping, Christmas caroling, and a lot more. Individuals or a group may sign-up to host an activity each month. Activities can be adult only or family oriented, and you don't need to have your activity decided when you sign-up for a month. If you would like to volunteer to host or just want more info, contact Sue Etter.

Serendipity

Serendipity is a women's Bible study and discussion group. It meets the first Tuesday of the month at 7:00 pm. The meeting location at a member's home changes from month to month. For the meeting location each month, check the Newsletter, Sunday's bulletin, or the Church Calendar. For more info contact: Doreen Bohrer, Barbara Craig, Sue Etter, Katherine Richter, or Dorothy Traugott.

Stephen Ministry

Stephen Ministry is a one-to-one caregiving ministry of Christ Lutheran Church. God works through Stephen Ministers to plant a seed of hope and healing in a person whose life seems barren and forlorn because of some crisis or tragedy such as death, depression, illness, aging, or divorce. Stephen Ministers work by listening, exploring feelings, praying, sharing Christ's Love, and attending to the caregiving process and leaving the results to God.

If you know anyone who needs one-on-one caregiving ministry or if you are interested in becoming a Stephen Minister, contact Carl Mensing or the church office.

Thrivent

The Thrivent group at Christ Lutheran Church is composed of members of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and meets the 2nd Sunday of the month at 9:15 am for a mini-meeting. Thrivent Financial, a financial services organization, was formed by the merger of Aid Association for Lutherans (AAL) and Lutheran Brotherhood in 2002. Through this group and its chapter, Thrivent provides money for fund-raising activities, appeals/collections, and/or hands-on work service activities to benefit a congregation, related Lutheran institutions, individuals, families, and other not-for-profit organizations. And through the "GivingPlus" program, Thrivent will contribute 50 cents for every dollar that a Thrivent member donates to an eligible institution.

In 2002 this group, then called AAL Branch 3550, raised $4218 for worthy causes in the area, and with this amount matched by a contribution of $3000 from AAL.

Co-coordinators are Helen Karcher and James Werchan.

TOTS

Christ Lutheran Church operates a Mother's Day Out program for children ages 2½ to 4 years old. Our program is held on Mondays and Tuesdays from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm. Our calendar year runs very similar to the Austin Independent School District calendar. Our aim is to provide an atmosphere and setting which will encourage your child's physical, mental, social, emotional, and spiritual development. Some highlights of our program are circle time, arts and crafts, indoor and outdoor play, Bible stories, visiting performers, and occasional field trips. Our nuturing environment and low teacher to student ratio makes our program an ideal place for all children.

If you would like more information, contact Pachalin Stennfeld.

Altar Guild

The Altar Guild is currently composed of volunteers who take care of paraments, candles, altar and communion linens, candlelighters and acolyte robes. Each volunteer is assigned for a month at a time in rotation so that each person usually serves for two months in a given year.

Duties include:
•refilling the oil in the altar candles (weekly) and the Christ Candle (as needed),
•changing the banners and the paraments on the altar and pulpit to fit the season,
•laundering the communion linens (weekly), altar fair linen (as needed),
•laundering the acolyte robes (monthly),
•cleaning candlelighters (weekly) and replacing wicks (as needed),
•decorating the sanctuary with flowers and candles at Christmas and Easter.

The guild also takes care of ordering supplies--candle oil, eternal light candles, wicks for the lighters, advent candles, candle holders for the candle light service (Christmas Eve).

Contact Valerie Kanetzky for more information or to volunteer.

Tellers

The tellers are the volunteers that count the money collected every Sunday. They count in teams of two after the late worship service has finished. Tellers are responsible for counting the collections, preparing a report for the financial secretary, writing up the deposit slip and dropping the deposit at the bank.

The report is prepared weekly and tells the financial secretary the amount collected on a specific day, broken out by loose money or assigned envelopes. The financial secretary uses the assigned number on the envelope to determine who gave the contribution. When the tellers open the envelopes they write the contribution amount on the outside of the envelope. This informs the financial secretary how much to credit that members' statement. The financial secretary uses the envelopes and the report to reconcile to the bank statement and any other deposit information.

The tellers do not hold regular meetings. The counting teams are assigned at the beginning of each calendar year along with a schedule of when to count. There are usually five teams (two per team) and they are scheduled to count two weekends in a row every ten weeks. The teams remain in effect for the entire calendar year. If you would like more information on the role of the tellers, contact Alice Werchan.

Community Groups

Christ's Workshop, 212 E. Monroe, is used on a daily basis as a meeting place by the following community groups: Alcoholics Anonymous 512-444-0071 24-hour Hotline or 512-451-3071; Narcotics Anonymous 512-480-0004 or 1-888-NA-WORKS; Marijuana Anonymous 1-800-766-6779; Debtors Anonymous 512-320-7678; Overeaters Anonymous 512-327-2802; and La Leche League of Austin 512-272-8042. Contact these groups directly for more information.

The Lifetime Learning Institute holds classes at Christ Lutheran during the spring and fall terms. For more information, phone 512-486-1139.

Neighborhood Blood Drives are held at Christ Lutheran four times a year. A "Bloodmobile Bus" from The Blood and Tissue Center of Austin sets up outside the church on a scheduled Sunday from 8:30 am to 12:30 pm. You can make donor appointments on-line. Visit www.lonestardonor.com and enter your e-mail address, date of birth (MM/DD/YYYY), and the sponsor code "Lutheran." Contact Sue Etter for more details and other ways that you can donate.