September 2015

Congregation members need to notify the church office of hospitalizations.  The hospitals do not make such notifications.

 

The church office is open from 9 a.m.-noon and 1-4 p.m. Monday through Wednesday and 9 a.m.-noon Thursday and Friday.

 

Congregation members can provide fresh flowers for the sanctuary for church services.  There is a signup poster by the sanctuary entrance.  Another option is to make a donation and use silk arrangements belonging to the church.  In either case, a notation in the bulletin will be made in honor of or in memory of the event or person being celebrated.

 

August 2015

All meetings held at MacArthur Park Lutheran Church should be scheduled through Administrative Assistant Debbie Kennedy. This helps ensure the space is available, and any a/c, heating, or room set-up needs are taken care of.

On June 15, 2015 the Mac Park Quilters delivered a shipment of 150 therapy dolls, 75 stuffed animals, 400 dinosaur bookmarks, 200 card games, and 250 sticker packages to the Methodist Children’s Hospital!!

On July 1, 2015, the Mac Park Quilters finished (ready to ship) the World Relief Quilts for 2016??? 

June 2015

MacArthur Park Church member Jacqueline Paredes has been selected as Batallion Commander for the MacArthur High School ROTC.  She was also accepted into the U.S. Naval Academy summer program.

 

Mac Park Church member Taryn Dougherty was awarded the Jones Scholarship at Texas Lutheran University in Seguin.  With the addition of that scholarship, she has her tuition for college paid in full!

 

Church member Jeanette Pierce is the Delta Kappa Gamma Society International for Key Women Educators Convention steering Committee Chair for the 2015 Alpha State Convention in San Antonio in June.

May 2015

Before he met and married Leigh Anne, Rod Seitter was an avid sport parachutist.  He caught the bug after attending the U.S. Army Airborne Course in 1980 earning his parachutist badge.  He went on to become a civilian skydiving enthusiast with hundreds of free-fall jumps, the advanced “C” license certification, and becoming a skydiving jumpmaster (instructor).  Leigh Anne even joined Rod as an observer on one of his jumps before he gave up the sport shortly before they were married in 1986.

MacArthur Park Lutheran Church members Jill Trevino and Sylvia
Dorgan
were confirmed together.  This year their daughters, Corina Trevino and Danielle Dorgan were confirmed together at Mac Park!

Christ Chapel is the Lutheran Campus Ministry site at Texas State University in San Marcos.  Pastor Jaime Bouzard is the pastor and was confirmed at MacArthur Park Lutheran Church.  He wrote the daily devotions in the Christ in Our Home devotion book for April 16-April 30.

 

 

April 2015

MacArthur Park Lutheran Church member Jodi Vlasak is working on certification as a Body Pump group fitness instructor.

 

Mac Park member Alex Hansen won second place in the spelling bee at Encino Park Elementary School after going through 26 rounds of words.  Alex is also a member of the Chapel Boychoir of San Antonio.

 

Mac Park member Chloe Gallegos’ application to be a LYLE was accepted.  The Lutheran Youth Leadership Experience (LYLE) program is a leadership development program that combines leadership skills, service, and each young person’s individual God-given gifts and interests.  Chloe's personal project centered around leading the upper elementary and middle school youth through a worship service at the nursing home where Gladys Mertz currently resides. Chloe is also a Girl Scout and sold 376 boxes of cookies this year! 

March 2015

The congregation of MacArthur Park Lutheran Church has elected a Call Committee of nine voting members as designated by the church constitution.  They are Sheryl Bierstedt, Beth Borstad, Ellen Bridges, Courtney Grove, Jan Hunt, Jamie LaFuente, Jim Price, Britta Stone and Bill Sweda.  The committee’s task will be to present to the Congregation Council an associate pastor who could serve the congregation on a part time basis.  The Congregation Council will then, if it chooses, will then recommend the individual to the congregation for a vote.

Church member Jacob Halder is a member of “The Gentlemen of Bush Middle School” choral group that performed at the Texas Music Educators Association in San Antonio in February.  The choir was only one of two middle school boys choirs invited to perform.

Mac Park members Melissa French-Stephenson and Leigh Anne Seitter are part of the Bush choir program.  Melissa teaches private lessons, and Leigh Anne is the accompanest. 

February 2015

When he was a teenager, MacArthur Park Lutheran Church member Dale Lockett worked for Western Auto in Woodsboro.  One of his job assignments was to change tires.  His knowledge came in handy on the Men's Camping Trip to Fort Davis in January when three tires on the church van had to be changed.

 

In 2013 $1,396 in Thrivent Choice Dollars were directed to MacArthur Park Lutheran Church, and in 2014 the amount directed was $1,939.

 

David Stephen, Melissa French-Stephenson and Renee Staul were elected at the Jan. 25 Congregation Meeting to be the voting members at the 2015 Synod Assembly in May.

January 2015

MacArthur Park Lutheran church member Jessica Gottschalk is a mentor in the (LYO) Lutheran Youth Organization at Peace Lutheran in College Station and works with the 10-12th graders. She writes their Bible studies and works with the students in their small group sessions.

 

Mac Park member Ed Case was an extra in the "Urban Cowboy." He was one of the dancers and had a beer bottle stuck in his back pocket. Gillys was his stomping ground after work when he worked at the Exxon plant in Baytown in the 80's.

 

Confirmed members of MacArthur Park Church who have taken communion and made a contribution of record to this congregation during the current or preceeding year are eligible voting members of the congregation.  The next opportunity to vote is at the Congregation Meeting on Jan. 25.

November 2014

You can keep up with what is going on at Mac Park by reading the digital sign, Pastor Ziese’s blog, the Messenger, the Happenings at Mac Park or the Facebook page.

Your making a financial pledge helps the Mac Park Finance Committee better plan for the year’s spending.

MacArthur Park Lutheran Church offers many opportunities to join a group including Grace Groups, Youth and Adult Choirs, Bells, Women’s Group, Prayer Shawl Ministry, Tuesday Morning Bible Study and Quilters.

October 2014

If you want to remember a special person or day, you can order altar flowers or you can make a donation to the church and use silk flowers belonging to the church.  A note in the bulletin will tell who or what occasion the flowers honor.

 

If you or your group uses the church buildings, remember to lock all doors.

 

At MacArthur Park Lutheran Church, congregation members and friends of the church will have many opportunities to make donations of money or items to help others, but you get to choose which causes to support.  

 

September 2014

Pastor Paul Ziese took the Ice Bucket Challenge at the end of Part A of the 54th Annual Congregation Meeting.  In his honor, those in attendance donated $150 to help find a cure for ALS.

Church member Maureen Folkerts had the experience of riding in the caged back seat of a police car…only because she works for AT&T and was adjusting the computer system.

When you fill out your attendance cards, you should list all those attending and tell which ones are taking communion.

Unless you contact the church office, the church will not know that you are in the hospital.

August 2014

Pastor Paul Ziese was quoted in an article in the June 13, 2014 edition of Today’s Catholic, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of San Antonio.  He was interviewed about the impact of Pope John XXIII on Protestants in South Texas and was the only Protestant asked to comment.

 

Mac Park member Blair Ortmann has a black belt in Tae Kwon Do.

 

Mac Park member Starla Sweda reported that her parents taught at the Oaks Indian Mission in Oaks, Oklahoma for several years in the 1930’s.  Her sister Charlotte was the first white child baptized at Eben Ezer (spelling according to the website oaksindianmission.org) Lutheran Church there.

June 2014

MacArthur Park Lutheran Church member Elizabeth Seitter donated 12 inches of her hair to the Beautiful Lengths program which is a partnership between Pantene and the American Cancer Society. The donated hair is used to provide wigs free of charge for women with cancer. The Beautiful Lengths website says, “To us, it’s hair, but to women with cancer, it’s hope.”

Mac Park’s Vicar Kathee Forrest will give the invocation at the Thrivent Family Night at the Ballpark on July 31.

 

St. John’s Vicar Heather Hansen will throw out the first pitch that night.

May 2014

Laura, the daughter of MacArthur Park Lutheran Church member Paul Halvorson, was selected as Ms Wheelchair Texas 2014.  She will next compete for the Ms Wheelchair USA 2015 title in Long Beach, California the first week of August.  Interested individuals can go to Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mswheelchairtexas2014 and “like” the event.

Mac Park Youth Ministry Worker Brandi Wells was named “Texas Lutheran University Student of the Year for 2014."  She was honored at the TLU Spring Fling and received a plaque.
 
Since she was an activist in college, it was no surprise that church member Jeanette Pierce volunteered to help citizens apply for insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act at the Alamodome on March 30.  Her husband George Pierce also helped.

When the Mac Pac Grace Group used one of the Taking Faith Home lessons that asked about members’ nicknames, the group learned Leigh Anne Seitter’s nickname is “Lano” because her younger brother couldn’t say her name when he was little.   Her nickname is the basis of her email address.  Sharon Nunn was called “Tater” due to her love of potatoes, and Jim Price was called “Beaver” by his dad referring to the Red Ryder radio program.

April 2014

Church member Kevin Ott was born in Albert Lea, Minnesota.  His family lived on Stateline Road.  Their house and farm were in Iowa, but their mailbox was across the road in Minnesota!

“The treat-toting Easter bunny seems to have been born in Germany in the late 1600s,” according to the Thrivent Magazine article More Than a Day.  "Children would build nests for the bunny to leave their treats in – the origin of the modern Easter basket."

“God’s work. Our hands.” Sunday will be on Sept. 7 this year.

March 2014

MacArthur Park Lutheran Church received a “Certificate of Appreciation” from the Southwestern Texas Synod for the congregation’s mission support in the year 2013.  The certificate is displayed in the glass case outside the Education Building.

Some people refer to stewardship as “everything I do after I say that I believe.”

Church member Linda Hammonds once had two cats named for the streets on which they were found: “Broadway” and “Bitters.”

February 2014

MacArthur Park Lutheran Church member Elizabeth Seitter has been selected for the Texas Music Educator’s Association 2014 All State Women’s Choir which will perform at the TMEA Convention in San Antonio in February.

Natalie, granddaughter of church members Ed and Norma Case, is a December calendar girl for the 2014 Sharing the Experiences calendar put out by the Down Syndrome Association of South Texas.

Molly Brown, niece of church member Mary Alice Rupard, won $100,000 scholarship in a Dr. Pepper football passing competition.  Molly is 19 years old and studying to be a nurse practitioner.

 

January 2014

In response to her Time and Talent listing, MacArthur Park Lutheran Church member Roslyn Lamborn used her gardening skills and transplanted the pitiful plant in the sitting area in the Education Building into a larger pot.  She says it will take some time and care for the plant to thrive again.

Santa’s Helper Augie Flores delivered a bike, bicycle helmet and other gifts to MacArthur Park Lutheran School student Zachary courtesy Riverwalk/RiverCenter Marriott Hotels.

December 2013

Advent, according to the dictionary,  means a coming or arrival.  Advent is the period including the four Sundays just before Christmas.  Lutherans and many other Christians use this time to prepare themselves for the celebration of the birth of Jesus.

Martin Luther, according to legend, began the use of Christmas trees.  The legend says he was walking in the woods one winter night and was struck by the beauty of a fir tree glistening with snow in the moonlight.  He is said to have set up a small fir tree in his home and decorated it with lit candles to simulate what he had seen in the forest.

Hymn number 268 in the ELW is a Christmas hymn called “From Heaven Above” written by Martin Luther.

 

November 2013

If you do not contact MacArthur Park Lutheran Church to let it know of your hospitalization, the pastor and congregation will not know to pray for you or visit you.

MacArthur Park Lutheran Church financially supports many community organizations that provide assistance for those in need; however, the church does not have cash available to give to individuals who come to the church asking for help.

Several of the youth in the Mac Park congregation have performed well in their school bike rodeos.  Kylie Suarez won first place among second grade girls at Olympia Elementary School.  James Stephenson won first place for the fourth grade, and Sam Stephenson won third place for the first grade at Thousand Oaks Elementary.

 

2903 Nacogdoches Rd.     San Antonio, TX 78217    phone: 210-824-7135  fax: 210-826-5146 Contact us