July 2024 Newsletter & Summer Update

​This month updates on a medley of topics. Please note that ways to get involved or help out are in italics.
 
On the calendar this summer:

• Food Truck and Music Night; Monday July 15, @5:30pm. KT's Wok will be on hand to sell their delicious Asian Fusion cuisine and we are asking members to bake hand-held desserts (cookies, bars, etc.) to share. Coltyn VonDeylen will provide live music.
• Outdoor service; July 21st 9:15am
• Blood Drive; afternoon and evening of July 31
• Outdoor service; August 18th 9:15am
• Community Picnic: August 18th 11:00 am - We will cook out and ask members to bring side dishes and desserts. Of course there will be silly games!
• Suds and Stories of Faith is slated for Wednesday August 21st. at 4pm at the Cleveland Pub.
• Food Truck & Music Night II; TBD in September

 
Pastoral Transition:

• Call Team has submitted its interview questions to synod and made a few edits. They are looking ahead to a mock interview some time in early-mid July. Then synod will begin the process of providing names for actual candidate interviews. Please continue to pray for these individuals and their work.
• At the request of both the MET and the Call Team, council has been working on examining and determining the status of our 3-way covenantal partnership with Reformation in Milwaukee and the Meru Diocese in Tanzania. After meeting with the leadership of Reformation it was determined that both them and us would like to reactivate this partnership at some level. As a first step Reformation invited us to participate in one of their “Faith and Fellowship Dinners.” So on Monday evening June 10th we hosted the event here at Resurrection. The dinner was attended by nearly 60 people from both of the congregations. It was an excellent event and was called “a family reunion” and “a homecoming” by attendees. This was a great first step toward reestablishing our relationship with Reformation. However, the council has also determined that it is important for us to look within ourselves and make some determinations about what we want our relationship with the Kikwe and Karangai Parishes in Tanzania to be. How can we build relationships with them and what would that look like? Would we like to plan another Tanzanian trip? If we go, would we piggyback on the synod trip early next year or would we plan our own trip? We are looking for volunteers to form a small Resurrection Tanzania Committee to look at these questions. Reach out to Dave C. Sally W. or Tom if you are interested.

 
Clearing up misconceptions about the Campus Plan
There is a lot of misunderstanding and resulting negative feelings out there about the Campus Plan. I feel this stems from several issues. First, everyone should be viewing the Campus Plan as a very long-term plan. The objective is to evaluate our outside spaces and make some determination about how we can use that space to better do ministry in the next 10, 15, or 20 years. It is not something we are looking to implement tomorrow.
 
Second, there is the notion that this is just a landscaping plan. In fact it would be better to consider it a land use plan. It includes; using native plantings in various places to improve drainage and cut down on lawn care and landscape maintenance, evaluating and adding a few ADA and some "reserved for senior" parking spaces, building a structure that is already partially funded as a memorial to a member, improving the appearance of the Community Garden, as well as dreaming a little bit about decks and other hard scape, construction, and garden projects. The timetable for any and all these projects is undetermined and would certainly be in stages as we could afford them (like I said a long-term plan). For right now it is important to have a cohesive plan so that if we are in a position to do even one of these projects, we won’t regret location and placement of that aspect of the design down the road.
 
Third, there seem to be concerns about the impetus and motives of the “Cutting and Chopping Crew.” In the early stages of the Campus Plan Committee work, it was acknowledged during brainstorming sessions that there were some things we could do ourselves to improve the look of our exterior spaces that wouldn’t cost a lot of money. Those ideas included some simple signage and removal of overgrown and dead trees and bushes around the building (many of those trees were too close to our foundation as well). I am grateful to Ron R. and his crew for the work they have completed so far this summer. There is only a little bit of that work left then attention will be turned to trimming up some of the remaining bushes. We are not clearing things out because we are going to turn around and plant some more. For right now less is more.
 
Fourth, some have indicated a concern that we are pursuing this Campus Plan and ignoring other significant buildings and grounds needs we have at this time. The truth is that we are in need of major parking lot repair (or replacement - probably not financially viable) and the asphalt shingle roof on the church is in need of replacement. These are both very costly items and will likely require us to look at financing those expenses. This is just like when we used our current mortgage to buy new windows and replace the mansard and the flat roof years ago. Such financing will require congregational approval when the time comes. We have just begun to investigate our options and like many homeowners we are hoping the rates will go down a bit.
 
Fifth, there are concerns about implementing any land use plan that would create more work for an already strapped crew of volunteers that maintain the landscape we currently have. This is a very legitimate concern! There is definitely a need for more “Weekly Weeders” and volunteers to trim and maintain our bushes. Here I would like to thank the ladies that have stepped up to beautify our memory garden. They have, and are, working very hard to make that space back into something we can be proud of. They would also welcome some more help and are looking for perennial plants. I have asked the Buildings and Grounds Chair and his committee to prepare a comprehensive list of the things that need to be done and a schedule of how often those tasks need to be completed in order to maintain our grounds. We will be looking to have informational meetings to share these needs, recruit more volunteers, and discuss concerns people may still have regarding the campus plan in the not-too-distant future.
 
Hopefully, this helps to clarify things regarding the Campus Plan. If you have any questions or concerns don't hesitate to reach out to me. I would much rather talk about things face to face than hear about grumbling second hand.
 
Reaching out to be present in our community (Faithful Innovations):

• Thanks to those that attended our first “Coffee and Conversation” in June at the Sunny Side Up Cafe to discuss the question “What would you like to see in the churches in your community?”
• Our next “Suds and Stories of Faith” is slated for Wednesday August 21st. at 4pm at the Cleveland Pub. The question for discussion will be “What helps and strengthens your faith life?” Please attend if you are able.
• In response to the teen mental health crises in our community we have reached out to the New Berlin School District to examine ways we can help. We are currently working with the school district’s police liaison officer to plan a presentation on the dangers of social media to be co-presented with a representative of NAMI (National Association on Mental Illness) who will present on mental health issues. We are trying to schedule the presentation in the schools in fall.

 
Blessings, Tom