Prince of Peace Westland Mission Partner Profile

Prince of Peace was founded in 1949 by a group of Lutherans who had split off from the Missouri Synod and others and met in a legion hall. They broke ground for small church in Wayne in July, 1951 and with the help of five mission builders, were able to dedicate the sanctuary by the end of November, 1951. Over the years they have been served by Pastors Heins, Beyer, Brown, Beckam, and Rorem. In 1961 they bought a large parcel of land in Westland and in 1971 broke ground to build the present church which was dedicated in 1973. They soon experienced financial difficulty in paying the mortgage and maintaining the Wayne church building which took years to sell. Eventually they sold a piece of their land to obtain stability. The following years the church successfully worked its mission and did some charitable helping through their outreach programs. Then Pastor Rorem moved to Alaska in January, 1991. In the spring of 1991 Pr. David Bonde accepted a call and became Pastor of the church. He helped Prince of Peace get their financial books in order separating capital funds and operating funds from benevolence. He emphasized increasing their reach out to others rather then being self centered. In one of his sermons he said, "A church that looks only inside is due for failure."

David Bonde had been a pastor "in the city." This was fresh in his mind, and he remembered clearly the isolation between city and suburban congregations, and he knew of the definite needs of the city church. The committee went to visit Faith Memorial and they were awestruck by the many programs they had, the strength of the Congregation and the joy they showed even though they were people of little means. Faith Memorial was later renamed Spirit of Hope. Spirit of Hope's witness to us was important- doing faithful ministry in their place in spite of the adversity, Spirit of Hope is a fine example of a community of hope in a difficult place and being a place of joy. One committee member said, "We decided to grow our giving, and we voted to give a percentage of our budget and increase the amount every year."

Thus began a mission partnering that has endured for eighteen years. "Having a mission partner helped make that giving 'cast in concrete" and connected us to the idea of mission which we had needed to renew within ourselves," said a committee member who has been with the partnership since the beginning.

"We sent our catechism class to Spirit of Hope for a tour and talk by current Pr. Bode. They then spent the Saturday afternoon serving lunch to 245 people who otherwise would have no food." This is good work, good fun, educational, and enriching for our kids. Both our church and our partner church benefit in various ways and benefit greatly," said Carl Ames, Pr. of Prince of Peace Westland.

The lessons learned from Pr. Bonde have not been forgotten by the congregants of Prince of Peace as they continue their generous giving despite the financial difficulties of the current times and the fact their church is in the shadow of the Ford Wayne Assembly Plant. "We are blessed that we are still able to keep our commitments and therefore serve both God and man," said Pastor Ames. He also said “ I have never served a church with more lay leadership, all I have to do is help make something possible like outreach to a particular need and the members take it up and then own it themselves.”

Prince of Peace is supporting:

• Habitat for Humanity with workers and financial gifts
• Veterans Homeless Shelter in Detroit with gifts and having them eat and worship with us three times a year
• Living Waters Camp Ministry. One of our members who is an engineer along with forty people goes to the camp to do maintenance and repairs of all kinds in the fall. We also support them yearly in our budget.
• Continue the support for Bette McCrandall, a missionary who is in Liberia and have supported missionaries for nearly forty years
• Fifty people for Cropwalk - one in an electric wheelchair
• Salvation Army food for after school program - cooking, serving, and cleaning on Tuesdays of each week
• LSSM at Wayne Family Center - bi monthly Sunday dinner
• We maintain our benevolence giving to the church at large as intended

The Prince of Peace Mission Partner Committee recommends every church should have a Mission Partner. This is good work with both heavenly and earthly dividends that cannot be taken from you.

Special thanks to Luan Purcell for providing history and most of the quotes.

Bill Swasey

Bill Swasey is a member of the Synod Stewardship Committee, the Synod Mission Partners Committee and St Thomas Grosse Ile.

South Lyon Power and Light Needs Statement

South Lyon Power and Light, founded in 2008, is the South Lyon, MI campus of All Saints Lutheran Church, (Hartland, MI). The goal of this additional campus is to reach the unchurched; those that have never had a relationship with Christ, those that drifted from the church and those that became disenfranchised with religion. South Lyon is in the south-western corner of Oakland County and is a middle-class, ex-urban, rapidly growing community.

We do not worship in a traditional church structure. Our church is situated in a strip mall next to a take-out pizza restaurant and a liquor store. Inside, the atmosphere is very casual. This is intentional. While we have a traditional Lutheran service for the members of South Lyon Power and Light who already have a Lutheran church background, we focus on providing other gathering and community events to offer our faith in other ways. We are building a "non-church" environment to reach those "turned-off" or afraid of a traditional church environment.

Our main focus at South Lyon Power & Light is to reach people in our community in a non-threatening way. Serving without asking anything in return is our passion and our way of letting people know that God loves them.

There is little in the way of precedent in the ELCA for a church such as this. But, we feel strongly that 1) the Holy Spirit has called us to do this ministry and 2) the work done here could be used as a model to grow our Churchwide-body.

We would like to welcome all to join us in this important work. Specifically, we would ask for:

o Prayers - for the Holy Spirit to guide us in this work

o Talents - for Ministry and Outreach. We are placing a strong emphasis on being an integral part of our community.

· Worship Services - musicians, readers, greeters, people in attendance

· Outreach - staffing and participation

· Community Events - talents that could be used to offer an activity to the community. Examples:

• Monthly knitting or scrapbook get-together
• Class on guitar playing, computer skills, a sport
• After-school activities, youth events

· Ideas - your ideas on how we can reach our intended audience

o Resources - to support the work we are doing

· Physical assets - equipment, furniture

· Money - in 2009 our budget calls for $40,000 to be raised either through congregational donations or fundraising. We believe the congregation can be relied upon for $20,000. The remaining $20,000 is planned for being raised though Mission Partners and other donors.

As we welcome everyone to join us in this ministry, we hope you might also consider this an opportunity to learn what this is about and start an additional campus ministry at your congregation!

Christ the King Needs Statement

Christ the King Lutheran Church in Lapeer exists in order that all may know the love of God in Jesus Christ. We strive to make this happen by sharing the good news of Jesus in our homes, our communities, and the world. Through your mission partnership, we have been able to move ahead with boldness in living out this mission and who God has called us to be. It is because of support from fellow Christians like you that we have outgrown our current worship space multiple times and are now planning for a third worship opportunity that will begin in January. We are overjoyed by the challenge that this growth poses, but we need special support in not only accommodating the growth, but also fostering and encouraging it to continue. For this reason, we ask you to consider the following simple three ways that you can help.

1. Prayers
Please pray for us and with us. Prayer is the fuel that drives the engine of the church’s growth. Specifically, we invite you to join with us in our three-part prayer for the establishment of a mission center on the land that Christ the King has purchased, because we realize that this project would be pointless without seeking the direction and power of God. First, we pray that God’s will would be done in the establishment of the mission center. Second, we pray that we continue to have unity behind the vision of establishing a mission center where people can gather to experience God’s love and be equipped to go out and share that love with others. Third, we pray that the financial resources needed to build the mission center are made available. Please pray with us in this endeavor not to “build a church”, but to establish a mission center where the church can gather for ministry.

2. Worship (Special Music) Support
Stretching always takes place during healthy growth, and in church life this can be experienced in a stretching of ministers and resources. Consequently, it has become challenging to raise up new leaders as fast as new people enter our community. Therefore, we need people with special musical gifts to join us in worship for one Sunday and share that gift with our community. We have been deeply inspired in our worship of God by guests playing a wide range of music. At Christ the King, we have enjoyed barbershop quartets, jazz trumpets, handbells, solo singers, and string quartets. If the music inspires us to worship God, it works. Please share with us the wonderful musical gifts that God has provided the church through your congregation.

3. Financial Support
God is changing lives for the better in the Lapeer area through Christ the King Lutheran Church and we invite you to invest financially in what God is doing through our community. As our community expands, we have assumed much greater financially responsibility through an increase in staff and programming. We have also increased our need for more space, which in the short-term will be provided through more worship opportunities, but in the long-term will be provided through the construction of a mission center. We have already conducted a capital campaign and those worshiping at Christ the King are responding wonderfully, but we are still in need of more resources to advance the project. Specifically, if you know someone who can provide us with a geothermal system, an engineered septic system, or other type of site prep for a reduced cost, please let us know. Also, we are in need of around $90,000 to further our goal. Even though things have not been wonderful economically, we know that now is the time to build, because now is when construction costs are lower. Please help us take advantage of this advantageous time to build a mission center by adding Christ the King to your congregational or personal budget.

We thank you for the many ways that you already support Christ the King Lutheran Church, and we ask that you prayerfully consider one, two, or three of the above ways to support what God is doing through our community. Please feel free to contact Pastor Nik Schillack at anytime at 810-358-2492 or at pastor@christthekinglapeer.org. As a gift to you, if you ever need a guest speaker, specifically on the topic of evangelism, please let us know. We would be thrilled to come to your congregation and share what we have learned, both the good and bad lessons, about encouraging congregations to grow.

Christ the King Case Statement

Imagine walking into a Christian community where economic, cultural, and political differences are set aside for the greater mission at hand. This community worships in the lower level of an office building and therefore draws people into its presence not with a stunning appearance, but rather with the powerful experience of God’s love. As you look across the many faces, you see that you are in a place where men are as excited as women to go to worship and help out in all activities. You also recognize that you are in the presence of a people who continue to give more of themselves in spite and because of the difficult economy. In this community, people can proudly and publically speak the name of Jesus not as a curse word but rather as the Living Word. You now see for yourself what you have been hearing about at the nearby coffee shop – the Sunday morning worship experiences are some of the most diverse gatherings of people in the local community. What you are imagining is God’s dream for Lapeer that is being discovered and lived out by Christ the King Lutheran Church, a congregation that exists in order that all may know the love of God in Jesus Christ.

Christ the King is a community where a 50 year old father of two recently learned to pray for the first time, where a 30 year old woman learned to forgive a person who used to abuse her, where marriages are being saved and old wounds are being healed all by the power of God. On an average Sunday morning, over 25% of the people in worship are 18 years old or younger. Half of the people who regularly worship with Christ the King had not worshiped God in any congregation for over ten years, or ever, before entering our community. When most of these people first set foot in the door at Christ the King, it was their first Lutheran worship experience. New worshipers tell us that they most admire the authenticity, grace, and hospitality of the Christians they encounter here. We regularly receive and love to answer questions such as: “What’s the difference between worship and Sunday School,” “Do you really believe you’re eating flesh and drinking blood,” and “How can an all-powerful God die?” We intentionally challenge people’s faith rather than shy away from difficult questions, because we believe that faith, like a muscle, must be stretched in order to grow stronger. We sincerely believe that this is why nearly half of the baptisms we administer are for adults.

As Christ the King Lutheran Church, we are dedicated to living out our mission, and we therefore have a clear strategy for reaching our neighbors. This strategy involves monthly evangelism projects, the purpose of which is to “share God’s love in a practical way.” These projects include, but are not limited to: 1) Handing out carnations at the local farmer’s market around Mother’s Day, 2) Giving 9-volt batteries to families in winter for use in their smoke detectors, 3) Doing a door-to-door distribution of flower seed packets in the spring to remind people of the new life we experience in Jesus, 4) Planting pumpkin seeds on the church land and then giving the grown pumpkins away in the fall, and 5) Raking leaves and trimming branches for people in the community. Our strategy also includes using direct mail to reach 11,500 homes at a time with the message of hope and love that is revealed in Jesus. This strategy has helped our attendance more than triple in three years (from around 30 people to over 100 people on an average Sunday).

As a community, we continue to seek new ways to reach those who have not come to know the power of God’s love in Jesus Christ. Therefore, we recently began an endeavor to establish a mission center on the congregation’s eight acres that are located on M-24. This mission center will be used for worship, evangelism, discipleship, service, and fellowship. Above all, it will be a center in which our mission is discerned and from which our mission is shared. We invite you, through your prayers and financial support, to take part in this life-changing opportunity that is part of God’s dream for the Lapeer community and beyond.

Good Samaritan Case Statement

Good Samaritan is the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ’s presence in Pontiac and we have a good God and a blessed message to share with this community. The challenges faced by the residents of this area are immense, and we ask for your prayers for our ministry here. We are a congregation that prays for needs: every Sunday, the prayers of intercession here are a vitally important part of our worship, and we would humbly ask you to lift up the congregation of Good Samaritan in your own prayers. Pray for the vitality of this community of faith, that we would continue to be filled with the commitment to serve and grow. We ask your prayers for the unemployed and underemployed people of our congregation and city, and for the families and individuals who seek to live with faith and honor in a difficult area. Pray for the people who staff the Food Pantry and that the food may be given to feed those in need. And above all, give thanks for the new life and ministry of Good Samaritan Lutheran Church. And as you pray for us, let us know the needs of your own congregation; we pray fervently, and will lift you up even as you pray for us.

We have a need for your gifts and offerings both personal and financial. Our food pantry continues to serve the needs of families here. Throughout the summer, we are able to be open two Saturdays per month; in November and December, we are open three Saturdays to provide for the increased need at the holiday times, but we would fervently love to be able to be open every Saturday of the year. Financial donations and volunteers willing to be trained to serve on a team would enable that to happen.

There is a dream of our members for a van or a bus that would enable us to pick up some of the children and youth of the community so that they can safely get to church here for Sunday school and other events when their own parents aren’t part of the congregation or are unable to bring the children. And if the vehicle were so equipped, we could also transport some of the special needs people for our Saturday program and for our own members who are unable to drive.

One major need and hope is that in two to three years, we can build a new building for worship and service designed around our mission to serve the community. A new sustainable/green development of a few houses for individuals and large families is planned adjacent to our site; it would be wonderful if we could incorporate some of those same goals of environmentally sustainable planning into our future church. We have some funds from the sale of one of the church buildings whose members are now part of Good Samaritan, but new building costs will be far higher than we were able to receive from the sale of an old building. Contributions to our future center for worship and service would be gratefully welcomed.

Good Samaritan’s worship is alive with organ, piano, flute, violin and trumpet every Sunday! We would invite you to worship with us and perhaps bring some of your own musical gifts to share with us, and would be glad to worship together with you.

We began this journey into what is now Good Samaritan Church with the question “What is God up to in Pontiac and Waterford ?” We know now that God has been up to some very good things, and we welcome your partnership in this ministry. May God bless you as you prayerfully consider joining with us and letting us join with you in serving the Lord in ever-new ways.