Not Trivial At All! A Night of Fun, Service, Fellowship, Cooperation!
Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who participated in the Trivia Night Fund Raiser for Good Samaritan Service Center for the Homeless. Good Samaritan is one of our Lutheran cooperative ministry agencies in St. Louis. They meet with the homeless consortium weekly and identify homeless families that need a jump start for a new beginning.
Good Samaritan provides a home, either in a single or multi-family unit, along with all the furniture and housewares needed. They specialize in families, predominantly single moms with children. They help with job placement and counseling, childcare, and life skills of every kind. Regular inspections and consultations indicate when a family is ready to go it alone with employment, finances and household skills in place.
A new family is brought in and provisions are again assembled and the program starts again. There is a tremendously high success rate because the staff is selective and know what kind of families will thrive in their program. It's a joy to support them with our efforts!
It was the Sunday Night ChristCare Group, under the able guidance of Vern Koehlinger that made the event happen. The Sunday night group regulars are the Koehlingers, the Koenings, the Lukers, the Lubers and the Z's.
And as I was a small participant and a big observer of the Trivia Night coming about, I'd like to share with you some of my favorite parts of the experience.
Connection!
St. Louis is a fine model of congregations serving together for the good of the community. We support a number of agencies, like the Lutheran Ministries Association which provides nursing home and jail chaplains, among other ministry services, Lutheran Family and Children's Services, or the Lutheran Foundation, just to name a few. Together we can do more.
It was so great to see members of our congregation get connected with the staff and ministry of Good Samaritan. It's real people and a real place serving real children and families. We know that now! Ask one of us about this great ministry.
What other agency would you like to get involved with?
Cooperation!
On a more local level, it's an example of churches working together. A ChristCare Group at St. John's in Ellisville has done a similar effort annually for a few years. We attended and asked them how they made it happen. When we decided to do something similar, we solicited the help of another congregation, Concordia in Kirkwood, which has a larger fellowship hall for the crowd we expected.
At every step of the way, our sister congregations proved their passion for making ministry happen by their cooperation and support. That doesn't happen everywhere.
Is there another church in the neighborhood we could work together with?
Copy-Cat!
I asked a preacher if he copied an idea for a sermon and he said, "It's not copying. I call it research!"
Not everything we do in ministry is an original idea. We "research" other ministries, learn from them, then adapt them for our purposes. The Sunday ChristCare group liked what they saw and replicated the idea, putting our own stamp on it. The Holy Spirit works creativity that way, building on the things we learn from others!
Have you seen something in another congregation you'd like to try?
Snacks!
I really enjoyed the munchies, especially the home-made ones people at the tables brought along and shared. Those trivia-maniacs know how to eat!
Got a favorite snack I should sample?
Contributions!
People are generous and want to give. Money flows to where ministry happens. We asked individuals and neighborhood businesses if they'd like to help our cause and found almost everyone excited about the opportunity to make a difference. We charged $12.50 for admission and heard no complaints. People love to give toward a cause.
Who needs a donation from you this week?
Service!
There are some pretty talented people in our group. Once we settled on a project, some new talents and skills I had not noticed before rose to the surface. The body of Christ is different members working together for a common purpose with Jesus as the head. We defined our roles, pitched in where needed, bent over backwards for one another a few times, and the job got done!
Who could be part of your team on a new ministry project? Why not tell them you have an idea?
Fellowship!
Our group has grown pretty close during our time together, but working together brings a new level of closeness. When a group comes together initially, everyone is concerned about fitting in and being polite. We've worked well past that to a new level of closeness. We've shared the same foxhole, so to speak, and are closer because of it.
With whom are you developing the close friendships that come from serving side by side?
Fun!
There were some stressful times during the process. We had some disagreements along the way. Some of the things we did were just plain work, but we had a lot of fun. As I look back on the hours the group spent together, they were clearly marked by laughter more than anything else. We had fun!
And on Saturday night, (except for the hard-core, super-competitive, "That question's no good!" trivia heads), everybody had a great time. It was just fun to be together, eat, laugh, play, groan at the answers and know that someone would benefit from our night.
Are you getting in some good laughs with friends?
Knowledge!
We learned a few things from the trivia night. Ted Drewes first custard stand in St. Louis was on Natural Bridge, for example. And Alaska has more outhouses than any other state!
What important information have you learned lately?
Mission!
Maybe most of all, we found a practical way to make another contribution to the Lord's mission to make disciples, and love God and neighbor. A donation of nearly $4000 was made to Good Samaritan. Praise God! Look what he can do when a few people come together in his name!
Got a good mission idea?
ANNOUNCEMENTS!
Artist!
By the way, you should know that Deb Stroh, our pre-school director recently displayed an exhibition of her watercolor paintings at anationally renowned gallery in Atlanta. Using the gifts! Congratulations, Deb!
Clean-Up!
Mark your calendar! All hands on deck! It's fall yard clean-up, next weekedn, Saturday the 20th at 9:00. We had a rough summer for tree limbs and there's plenty of work for everyone. Can you help? Come on over! Chain saws, rakes, and trimmers needed! Thanks!