Special

Summer Office Hours

Church Council approved new summer office hours including a four-day work week of 10 hours per day. The goal in closing the building on Fridays is to save substantially on electricity expense. The office staff would save on gasoline. The experiment will last for the five weeks of July 14, 21, 28 and August 4 and 11. Doing this will give us five weeks of experience by which to make a decision for summer 2009.

Electronic Giving Now Available

Electronic Giving allows you to choose the donation frequency, one-time, weekly or monthly, and the donation amount for each fund you wish to support. Contributions will be transferred electronically from your checking or savings account directly to the church account. This new giving option will work in the same manner as mortgages, loans payments, or insurance premiums that are automatically withdrawn from your checking or savings account. While away on vacation, you have peace of mind knowing that your pledge has been received and is contributing to the work of the church, especially during those otherwise low cash flow months of the year! Just click on the Easy button.

Do you Forget to Bring your Offering Envelopes to Sunday Service?

How often do you arrive to church on Sunday with your check book but forget your offering envelope?

Here are 2 ways you can simplify your life:

forget the envelopes, just bring the check book.
subscribe to Simply Giving, the automatic withdrawal program.

Both ways eliminate the expense of mail-order envelopes and help the church to spend your contributions more effectively.
To unsubscribe to the mail-order offering envelopes, contact the church office or 713-523-2864

Save Time and Money by Switching from Paper to Online

Would you rather receive the Banner electronically and eliminate mailing? Contact the chuch office or 713-523-2864.

Mission Offering

The mission offering is collected at the church doors at the end of worship.

Feed the Homeless Ministry

by Wendy Wiker

I was hungry and you fed me, thirsty and you gave me a drink… I tell you, whenever you did this for one of the least important of these followers of mine, you did it for me.- Matthew 25:35-40

Since 2003, members of Christ the King Church have been gathering on 2nd and 4th Mondays of the month for fellowship and to volunteer to feed the least of these. We produce 300 sandwiches and assemble 150 lunches and deliver them downtown directly to homeless individuals twice per month. Other churches and organizations feed the homeless on other evenings. We operate on an annual budget of approximately $1,500. That is only $0.44 per meal served. Please consider the importance of this ministry when donating to the Mission Offering this month and consider joining us on August 11 and 25 at 6:00 p.m. in the church kitchen. No experience is necessary and all ages are welcome to participate! You can also help the Feed the Homeless Ministry by donating your plastic grocery bags for us to use to distribute the meals in. Just drop the bags off in the church kitchen. Contact Wendy Wiker if you are interested in participating or have questions.

Mission Offering Envelopes

Thank you to all our members who have been contributing generously to our monthly mission offerings. If you would like your mission offering to appear on your contribution statement, please pick up a mission offering envelope from the pew and put it in the usher’s offering baskets as you leave worship services. You may also write a check and earmark ‘mission offering’.

Worship

Prayer Around the Cross on the first Saturday of Each Month

The congregation and friends of Christ the King Church are invited to the Taizé service onthe first Saturday of each month at 6:00 p.m. in the nave with Prayer around the Cross.
The Taizé service provides a unique worship experience focusing on silence and reflection. The music is simple yet uplifting. Worshipers come from all over the Houston area.

Circle of the Holy Eucharist Cards Available for Children

Sets of cards based on the Circle of the Holy Eucharist Godly Play lesson are available for young children to use during all services. The cards have simple phrases and photos that encourage children to follow the sequence of liturgical actions. They are in the chest by the nave door.

Morning Prayer

Each weekday morning at 8:15 a.m. Morning Prayer is said in the narthex. All are welcome to participate.

Prayer Requests

To add a loved one to the prayer list please complete a prayer request card, located in the pew fronts, or on the mobile bulletin board, and give it to an usher, email the church office or call 713-523-2864. ext 21.

Prayer List Available

A complete prayer list of all the people for whom we pray can be found on the literature rack in the narthex or on the permanent bulletin board by the first floor elevators in the ministry building.

Uncomfortable in the Pew?

Orthopedic seat cushions are available for use in pews and chairs in the nave.

Fellowship

Join Us After Worship

Snacks, coffee, and juice will be provided after the 8:30 and 10:50 service. Please join us in the courtyard. Donations benefit world hunger.

Hospitality Handout to Greet Visitors

All are invited to pick up a copy of The Rabbi’s Gift after ther services today. This story is about community building and suggests ways to offer hospitality to visitors.

Hospitality Tip ─Be excited when you meet others

Be excited when you meet others. Show genuine interest and love. Give them your undivided attention, if only for a few minutes. It impresses people when someone seems genuinely glad to meet them. It is more than they expect. It demonstrates that you consider them important--that is what you want them to feel.

Barbecue Fellowship

Sunday, August 17
5:30 p.m. Courtyard and Parish Hall
Barbecue will be catered by Goode Company. Bring your favorite beverages and a sidedish and/or dessert (watermelon, etc.). Suggested donation is $10 per person/$35 per family.
Join us in honoring Mark Mummert’s arrival and member Arthur Preisinger’s 50th anniversary of his ordination.

Youth Summer Recital

All young musicians aged five through eighteen are invited to take part in the first Christ the King Youth Summer Recital to be held Thursday, August 14 from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. in the parish hall. Present a piece you’ve been working on this past school year or something new you learned this summer. If you play more than one instrument, you may play one composition for each.

All participants lease RSVP by Monday, Aug 11 with your name, the instrument you are playing, the piece you will be presenting and its composer/arranger. Indicate if you are a beginning, intermediate or advanced student. Dress in normal concert attire or wear your band/orchestra t-shirt with khaki pants/skirt. Come anytime between 6:15 and 6:45 to tune and warm-up. Refreshments will be served at intermission. Direct RSVPs and questions to Irmi Willcockson

Volunteer Dinner on August 27

On Wednesday, August 27 at 6:30 p.m. in the parish hall there will be a dinner and an orientation for all Wednesday Night Alive! volunteers, including teachers, greeters, cooks, servers, storytellers, music teachers, and registration persons. We will be treated to dinner and dessert and get an intoriduction to the new WNA year including the Safe Haven policy of the congregation. Childcare will be available. New adult volunteers are needed to work with all age groups as storytellers, greeters for Godly Play, Godly Play teachers, congregational greeters/meal sales, and nursery volunteers. Please rsvp to the church office

Sunday Snack Providers!

Are you looking for a way to help out that will make a big impact without a big time commitment?

Please consider becoming a snack provider!

Most of our volunteers are asked to provide snacks for either service (your choice) twice per year. The snacks can be as simple or as complicated as you wish - no culinary degree required!

Becoming a snack provider is a great way to help make our Sunday mornings more hospitable for guests and more fun for our members. All the money raised goes directly to World Hunger Appeal.

Join us today! Contact Anita Bryant

Playgroup Invitation

Join us for fellowship in Christ the King's playgroup.  This is a great way to visit with other parents who have babies and young children.  It also provides an opportunity for young children to play and interact with each other, developing their social skills in a small group setting.  The playgroup is open to all parents and their small children.  We meet in the church nursery one morning each week.
 
We meet on Mondays from 10:00 to 11:30 each week.
Stop by and visit!  Bring a friend!

If you have any questions about the playgroup or the field trip, please contact Diane Schoppe.

Parents’ Online Group

Log in to an online parent support group for quick answers to quick questions. Join the group of Christ the King Church members who take advantage of the accumulated wisdom and knowledge shared by parents of the youngest members.

To join the group, send an email to Penny Linsenmayer. Include your name and email address in the body of the message.

Luther League

The Luther League is for all 6th grade through 12th grade youth Meetings are generally held in the youth room. Food, games, discussions, and new friends can be found during the 90 minute meetings. The meetings are led by youth director Tim Lenz along with other young adults and parents. Please contact Tim Lenz for more information. Click here to view the Luther League website.

Yoga on Saturdays - 1:00 p.m.

The yoga class will meet on Saturdays at 1:00 p.m. in the basement classroom. Bring a mat or foam for comfort. The cost is $7 per person.

Parent's Night Out

Parents’ Night Out/Movies in the Hall (PNO/MITH) operates as an independent co-op of parents to provide affordable childcare in a safe and nurturing environment at Christ the King Church. The co-op is open to members and non-members. PNO/MITH usually occurs once a month. Two adult representatives from each family commit to work together ONCE in return for at least 10 nights of childcare during our calendar year. Our calendar year runs February through January. The Co-op offers age-appropriate care and activities for ages 5 and under in the nursery and age-appropriate activities and movies for ages 6 and up. The co-op accepts members throughout the year and offers prospective members one trial evening with no obligation to join.

Parents’ Night Out/Movies in the Hall (PNO/MITH) is an independent co-op of parents that use the church facilities at least once a month from 5:30 to 10:30 for affordable childcare. Two adult representatives from each family commit to work together ONE NIGHT during our calendar year which runs February through January. PNO offers age-appropriate care and activities for ages 5 and under in the nursery with the average cost being $10/child. MITH offers age-appropriate activities and movies for ages 6 and up in the parish hall supervised by 2 working parents. The normal cost of MITH is $1/child. The co-op uses an RSVP system to assure appropriate adult/child ratios and may limit the number of participants for an evening.

Education

Sunday Book Reviews

Sundays at 9:45 a.m. in the basement classroom

The ever popular book reviews have returned for the summer months.
Books for review are:

August 10: Carolyn Jacobs reviews The Changing Christian World: A Short Introduction for Jews by Rabbi Leonard Schoolman.

August 17: Barbara Rozek reviews The Gift of Years: Growing Old Gracefully, by Joan Chittister.

August 24: Rally Sunday - no Book Review

August 31: John Boles reviews This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War, by Drew G. Faust.

Summer Reading to Children

From 9:45-10:45 a.m. on Sunday mornings this summer, children may gather in the Children's Library on the 2nd floor for Story Hour. We are blessed with a wonderful selection of children's books some of which will be read and enjoyed each week. Parents and siblings are also welcome.

Mentors Needed for Confirmation Class

Pr. Liebster and Tim Lenz are looking for small group leaders/mentors to help teach confirmation class in the next school year. Youth age twelve through fourteen are fun to be around for those adults who can connect to their ways of finding out about the world, themselves, faith and history. Their sense of humor and expressions of thoughtfulness can be a delightful mix which makes teaching this age group a rewarding experience for the leaders themselves. We are looking for adults who enjoy teaching and can commit to teaching a small group of three to five kids during class on Wednesday evenings. Confirmation class takes place within the Wednesday Night Alive! program and begins September 3. Class ends before 7:30 p.m. This school year we will be teaching Bible using the Augsburg Fortress curriculum Here We Stand. Small group leaders will be meeting with Pr. Liebster and Tim Lenz for lesson preparation two to three times per semester. Please contact Pr. Liebster if you’d like to help as a mentor or have recommendations .

LARGE PRINT BOOK Begins Sunday, August 17

Beginning next Sunday, you will see a cart of large print books in the narthex. These books are available to anyone who wishes to borrow one. There is no need to "check out" a book. Just select any book from the cart and then return it to the cart when you have finished with it. The cart for large print books will be labeled to distinguish it from the cart carrying books available for purchase.

Questions may be directed to Susan Teich

Service & Care

Caregivers Conference

The 2008 Caregivers Conference will be presented on Saturday, August 16, 8:30 a.m.-2:00 p.m., at St.Luke's United Methodist Church, 3471 West-heimer. This conference focuses on providing resources, information and workshops for family members caring for loved ones. Topics include managing medications, elder law issues, family conflict, communicating with health professionals and much more. Register for this free event or 713-682-5995

Caring for One Another

Check out the Congregational Care Team display board in the narthex. Please consider joining our team in one or more capacities:

• Meals: Provide an occasional meal to a member or family in need or for a memorial reception
• Transportation: Provide occasional transportation for a doctor’s appointment, worship, shopping, or an emergency (as you are available, of course)
• Visiting/Phoning: Visit or phone a member who is temporarily or permanently indisposed, providing a listening ear and a compassionate presence
• Prayer Notes: Write a note to members expressing our support during times of need and to acknowledge life changes (scheduled for one month a year)
• Emergency Phone Tree: Inform a few of our members (call list) of a member’s death of other extraordinary emergencies
• Bereavement: Provide a faithful, appropriate presence to those experiencing a loss, such as death, property, divorce, or employment
• Community of Hope: become a lay chaplain through this training program and on-going support system.

For more information, contact Beverly Davis

New Community Of Hope Class starts August 18

Deadline for registration is August 11.
Do you want to deepen your spiritual growth? Do you want to learn what to say to people who are hurting? Do you want to connect more significantly with other Christians? If you answered yes to any of the previous questions, then our Community of Hope may be your answer. The Community of Hope is a lay minister training that originated out of the Pastoral Care Department of St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital in 1994. Christ the King Lutheran Church is a Community of Hope center and offers this 13-week, 42-hour training annually. The purpose of the class is to awaken participants to God’s call on their lives and to help them discover their spiritual gifts for ministry. Each participant is encouraged to make this experience a journey into wholeness, to use this time to explore a ‘rule of life,’ Christian meditation, compassionate listening, pastoral identity and lectio divina, all within the context of Benedictine spirituality. This experience builds community and develops spiritually centered pastoral caregivers. The next class begins August 18 and will meet on Monday evenings from 5:30 – 8:30 p.m. For more information or to register, contact Beverly Davis.

Letting our Lights Shine

In the April Banner, we invited our members to tell us the names of the organizations you support through your volunteer efforts. We hope to compile and publish a list of these organizations in an up-coming Banner. We expect this list will serve two important purposes: (1) capture the vast scope of organizations and activities our congregation supports through our members’ service to others and (2) help members who are interested in similar types of service activities to connect. Please take a moment and let us know about your volunteer activities and the organizations you support. Thank you for you assistance in this effort and, more importantly, for your service to others in witness to Christ.

Feed the Homeless

The Feed the Homeless Ministry meets on Monday, August 11 at 5:45 p.m. in the kitchen at Christ the King Church.

Join us on the 2nd and 4th Monday evenings of each month at Christ the King Lutheran Church to make sandwiches and prepare meals, and then deliver them to downtown homeless individuals. Our schedule is as follows:

5:45 p.m. - Meet in the kitchen and parish hall to set up and prepare the meals
7:00 p.m. - Leave CTK for downtown to deliver the meals

All are invited to help out with meal preparation, downtown delivery, or both! All are welcome.Contact Wendy Wiker for more information.

Are You Thinking Green?

You can recycle your plastic bags by donating them to the Feed the Homeless Ministry. We reuse plastic bags to put the prepared meals into to deliver them to homeless individuals in Houston. We are running low on plastic bags and could use your extra bags to avoid spending money on purchasing new ones and keep our operating budget low.

Back-to-School Program

Thousands of children in Greater Houston will begin the 2008-2009 school year without the basic supplies needed to succeed. Fortunately, you can help by providing the necessary tools for one child to arrive at school on the first day of class feeling well-prepared and ready to learn! A $45.00 donation to the Christian Community Service Center’s (CCSC) Back to School Program will provide one student with a new school uniform/shoes and a grade-level appropriate package of new school supplies. CCSC hopes to provide 6,000 students with these essential supplies for success, but needs your help. Please sponsor one or more students by submitting a check made out to Christ the King Church and earmarked “CCSC Back to School Project” in the offering on Sundays now through August or donating online Please contact Susie Crafton for more information about this important program.

Help SEARCH Help Others

Now that summer is upon us, the Service of the Emergency Aid Resource Center of Houston (SEARCH) has a constant need for insect repellant and sunscreen. Our congregation has been asked to donate insect repellant and sunscreen. There is a collection box in the narthex for these items.

Did You Hear About the Hunger Crisis?

The world hunger crisis was all over the news this past week. In just three years, the price of staple foods like wheat, corn and rice has almost doubled. If we don’t do something soon, hundreds of thousands of people face starvation and a hundred million more could fall into extreme poverty.

Christ the King Church is a ONE Lutheran congregation. Please consider taking action with the ONE Campaign

Paper Recycling Steps Up

Our recycling container has arrived! It is located by the mechanical yard on the south end of our parking lot. Please collect and drop off ALL your paper items. The church will be reimbursed per ton of paper picked up. We need to collect at least 1.5 tons per month.

Accepted items include: newspaper, magazines, shopping catalogs, junk mail, office and school papers, envelopes with and without windows, phone books, paper bags (paper clips and staples do not have to be removed)
Items not accepted include:
cardboard, cereal/soda cartons, food wrap/containers, paper cups, tissue products, metal, trash, cans, plastics and glass.

CCSC Expands Food Pantry

Christ the King Church has been collecting canned goods and non-perishable items for many years in support of the Christian Community Service Center (CCSC). CCSC is excited to announce that it is expanding its ministry deeper into southwest Houston, a dense and poverty-stricken area. Beginning in August, CCSC will develop and manage a second food pantry at Gethsemane United Methodist Church on Bellaire Blvd. Currently, CCSC operates a food pantry as part of its Emergency Services program in the Greenway Plaza area. This program has been in operation since 1978 and currently serves a 23 zip code area. CCSC’s Gethsemane operation will serve 4 additional zip codes.

With this expansion comes a need for additional financial and volunteer resources. CCSC is very fortunate to be able to announce a generous matching donation. This donor is willing to match any food donation up to $50,000. Please continue to bring your food donations every Sunday to church and drop off in the box in the narthex. For more information or to volunteer, contact Clare Bruce at 713-961-3993 ext. 211.

Shoes Needed For Orphan Souls!!

There are millions and millions of feet all over the world that belong to kids without shoes. Many of those feet belong to older children and teenagers who are the forgotten ones in orphanages. We need YOU to put shoes on their Big Feet by donating shoes, sizes youth 1 through adult 10. Due to customs regulations, shoes for the children need to be new – and we also need new, clean, white socks for those beautiful feet! Bring your shoes and socks donations to church by August 17 and we’ll get them packaged and shipped. If you’d prefer to give a cash donation, make the checks out to Christ the King Lutheran Church, memorandum Shoes for Orphan Souls. Be a Big Foot Benefactor and Bring Big Smiles to Beautiful Children! For more information please contact Tim Lenz or Cindi Scruggs .

Cancare has Urgent Need for Hospital Volunteers

Who: Cancer survivors and caregivers of survivors

* Use your cancer survivorship to encourage others facing cancer in 12 area hospitals and cancer treatment facilities.
* Short, flexible schedules
* Free parking at hospitals

Call CanCare at 713-461-0028 for additional information

St. Luke’s Needs Volunteers

The gift of blood is truly the gift of life. The St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital Auxiliary needs volunteers to assist the St. Luke’s Blood Center on community blood drives. Volunteers are needed seven days a week from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Volunteers assist prospective donors with donor registration cards and distribution of snacks post donation. Transportation to the drives is provided. For more information about volunteer activities at St. Luke’s, call the hospital’s Auxiliary office at 832-355-2102 or visit St. Luke’s Web site.

Fair Trade Coffee Sales Continue

Fair Trade coffee from Equal Exchange is on sale after services and through the church office.

Equal Exchange, founded in 1986, is the oldest and largest for-profit Fair Trade company in the US. They offer organic, gourmet coffee, tea, sugar, cocoa, and chocolate bars produced by democratically run farmer co-ops in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Order these items online

Printer/Ink Cartridges Needed!

Luther League needs your ink cartridges! The youth of Christ the King urge you not to throw away that printer cartridge when it’s empty – recycle it! The youth group is starting a recycle drive in cooperation with Cartridge World in West University. Cartridge World will make a donation to CTK for the benefit of Luther League for each cartridge we recycle. That can add up to big bucks for programming, youth gatherings and mission trips. If you are already refilling your cartridges, please consider taking them to Cartridge World (located at 4036 Bellaire Blvd, next to Whole Foods) and telling them “Christ the King sent me!”