I was elected to the position of "Ministry of Outreach" in February so in March I began putting together my team. The following, along with myself, were on my team: Wendy Andersen, Jaime Culy, Arlene Kozub, Janelle McMillan and Tamara Wehe.

April
We went thru the church directory and found 67 families that had not been attending church regularly. We sent out postcards inviting them to our Holy Week and Easter Services.

We made up some leaflets announcing our "Holy Week/Easter Services." These were passed out to the neighborhood and put in the Oak Tree Diner.

May We participated in the Memorial Day Parade in No. Highlands on May 26th. The theme of the parade was "One Nation One Spirit." We made up T-Shirts for participants to wear in the parade. We also passed out leaflets along the parade advertising our church. WE ALL HAD THE SPIRIT.

June
We sent more cards out to inactive members. We are trying to focus on making our church more welcoming. There is a big, obstacle every Sunday morning as new comers enter our church from the parking lot. There are so many people standing around visiting outside the office and basically blocking the hall. It is very intimidating to visitors as they enter and aren't sure where to go. Also, during the coffee hour people seem to get in their little groups and aren't always welcoming to new comers. We don't want to discourage people from socializing but we need to be more aware and welcoming to new comers.

July and August asically, these two months were spent planning for the "BIG EVENT."

Also, in August we participated in the "School Supplies for Iraq." Considering the short notice of only a couple days we collected from our congregation - 384 Spiral Notebooks, 1000 File Folders, 600 pencils, 129 Pink Erasers, 3 Pencil Sharpeners and $241.23 for postage. These items were taken over to Advent Lutheran and were shipped to Iraq. We were a part of helping over 10,000 students. Thank you all very much.

Started our "Postcard Ministry," where cards are sent to members and non-members of upcoming events.

September We put an ad in the Rio Linda High School Sports Calendar advertising our church.

The youth passed out flyers advertising our "Big Event." We sent out over 200 postcards and advertised in the local paper. The "Big Event/Gold Rush Style" was a huge success.

October Didn't meet in October because we were waiting for Pastor Lettow and his ideas.

November
Due to work conflicts, Jaime Culy and Tamara Wehe had to resign from the Outreach Team. Thank you for serving the time that you did. We welcomed Arlete Hodel-Skaug as a member of our team.

This was our 1st meeting with Pastor Lettow. He had many ideas, which we welcomed.

We started the "Cookie Ministry" on Sunday, November 9th. We give containers of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies with information about our church to 1st time visitors as they leave the church service. It is a ministry that has been well received; even some of our own members claim they are visitors.

December We participated in two community projects: "The Giving Tree" - Members of the congregation contributed gifts to 27 children. The other was help for a need family - we collected over ? cord of wood, $250.00 gift certificate to WalMart, $200.00 for the SMUD bill and numerous other gifts. The family was very appreciative. Again, thank you for your generous support.

We "Caroled Around Rio Linda," to some of our elderly members, on December 13th. Following is a little poem I wrote about the event:

We set out on a cold winter night,
With truck and trailer a-blazing with light.
A small group, but mighty, loaded with sound,
To Irene's, Lena's and Doris's we were bound.
When we arrived, oh, the look on each face,
Made us all realize what a wonderful gift of Grace. ack to the church for some Christmas cheer,
What an inspirational way to end the year!

On December 22nd we did our annual caroling at Flowerdale.

A little overview:

I feel the "Cookie Ministry" is a very positive. During November and December we gave out 37 containers of cookies. Also, the "Postcard Ministry" is a very positive. People seem to like getting them as a little reminder of upcoming events.

I would like to thank the following for their help this past year:

Carol Greeley for overseeing the sponsoring of Flowerdale; Erna Meyer for sending welcome cards to visitors that sign the guest book and to Pat Bittner for calling and getting greeters, ushers and coffee hour hosts.

Of course, I really appreciate all the help from my outreach team - Wendy Andersen, Arlete Hodel-Skaug, Arlene Kozub and Janelle McMillan and last but not least Pastor Lettow for all his ideas and visions.

Look for bigger and greater things in 2004.

Leone Thorne
Ministry of Outreach