The Melheimian Sabbatiblog

Prayers for Alex

Please add prayers for 13 year old Alex Lynch to the top of your list tonight. Alex, the son of our new COO, Brad and Beth Lynch, was admited yesterday to Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, in a lot of pain with numerous large cancerous spots on his pelvic bone, his spainal column and one of his shoulders. They will be biopsying a number of the more serious spots to help determine what the exact course of treatment will be.

There's nothing more to say than "pray."

That's enough.

Rich

12 to 55 kids in two years?

From time to time I get mail that's rather affirming. Like this one that came from the Northwest District of the LCMS's new youth newsletter:

"At Grace Lutheran, Pocatello, Idaho, we are in our second year of using Faith
Inkubators Head to Heart Confirmation. It is a great system that has enhanced our
Junior High ministry by blending confirmation and youth group into one focus area.
When we started H2H, we grew from 12 to 55 students. Part of the growth was due
to the change from lecture-based confirmation to a nontraditional interactive event.
Most of the growth occurred due to a restructuring of students. Instead of having a
lone-ranger students, we put kids into small groups.
A small group consists of 3-6 kids and a small group Guide. This small group is
together for the confirmation year. At Grace, we chose to separate the kids by grade
and gender.

"Every Sunday night (that’s when we have confirmation), there is a time for small
groups to come together to discuss the learning theme for the evening. This is critical
to learning. In a large group, some students are afraid to ask a question when they
don’t understand a concept. In a small group, those students can comfortably ask
their small group Guide a question because they feel safe and secure by the friends
that surround them. In a large group, some students can take over all discussion
because they have an exuberant personality. In a small group, a Guide can control
that behavior, but more than that, the small group can control that student by
stopping the behavior.

"Kids become accountable to each other and they learn, over the course of time,
how to pray for one another. Each week the students share the good and bad things
that have happened over the last week. In the beginning, the “highs and lows” are
silly and small, but by the end of the year, students are sharing real feelings because
they know they have a small group and Guide that truly cares about them.
Rich Melheim points out in his explanation of the Head to Heart System, “Most
churches are popping their buttons if 25% of their juniors and seniors are regularly
active in worship, service, and fellowship. That’s another way of saying we’re
pleased if we only lose three-fourths of our kids.” If 75% of kids are not coming
back to church right after they have made their commitment to God, then something
is wrong.

"There is never a perfect answer, but I think small groups help. Small groups bond
the kids together. Small groups build a community that will grow from Junior High
ministry to a significant Senior High ministry. Youth want and need to know that
they are valued; this is just one way to encourage them in their faith."

NY Times & Our Staffers

Ryan and Ben and Patrick on our staff are all members of Spirit Garage, a post-modern church meeting in a theater in Minneapolis. Ryan is part time on their staff as minister of community life.

There's an article about Spirit Garage in today's NY Times at http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/18/national/18WORS.html?hp.

They make you register before you can see it. )-;

Very un-post modern of them, but it's worth the read.

Check it out.

Rich

Musical Comedies

Rich,

I was looking for the Lord’s Prayer Musical that was mentioned on the Lord’s Prayer CD.

Thanks,

Pastor Bob BergerHey Bob,

Hey Bob,
We have musical comedy scripts for all our 10 theme sets, including the LP CD. It includes the ten skits, the ten catechism songs, suggestions for art, 10 nights of home devotions (while you are rehearsing, plus a ton more.) They are found on the “extras” section of each of the CD-Roms. Members get the rights to perform them as a value-added part of membership. We suggest that, if you’re doing the theme set, you put all the music, art and skits together twice a year and perform them for the whole congregation. It makes for a great review for the kids, plus it teaches the church some basic catechism.

And, of course, if you do it as a dinner theater twice a year, cook steaks on the parking lot, and charge $12 a head, you can make a little cash to perk your guides every year. I call it “play money.”

(-;

Blessings,

Rich

(PS – If you do the musical, take pictures and send them in!)

Logos

Our Luther Comic Book artist, Sherwin Schwartzrock, just sent me this note:

Rich,
I belong to the coolest (translated redneck) church on Earth. Here's a
logo I created for our capital fund drive. (In Graphics to the left)

Sherwin
BlackRock Graphics
SHERWIN@BLACKROCKGRAPHICS.COM

If you're ever in need of some great graphics ideas, drop Sherwin a line.

Rich

(PS Wet Cement Productions, the company that almost bought Veggie Tales, is coming over tomorrow. What for, you might ask? You'll see.)

Len Sweet at Joy in Glendale, Arizona

Thomas Ian Nicholas: A weekend of Snowboarding, studio, and not much sleep

We had a great weekend with two of our favorite young musicians. Thomas Ian Nicholas flew in from LA to remake his "For God So Loved the World" (which he wrote at 16) with Lauren Redpath and lay down the tracks for four new songs that will become part of our Bible Song Sunday School (120 new songs for 3rd - 6th graders) and a new Sr. High Apologetics course that will be tested this July.

The blitz included two snowboard sessions (Afton and Trollhaugen), two studio recording sessions (Tony Axtell's and Rick Barron's), one church service (we were late), two receptions for friends, a visit with our small group to talk about love (five junior high girls and Thomas on a couch), and a late night run over to the west side of the cities to hear Lauren Redpath in an orange wig doing 80s music.

Thanks Thomas and Lauren, Tony and Rick, Arlyce and Leah (for letting us adjust schedules on the fly), and Kathryn and Joseph for helping host Thomas.

The music will be edited, orchestrated and arranged in the next month. I'll let you hear some roughs when we have them. - RAM

(Photos on left)

Three He Qi's Under Development

Here's a preiview of three new works in the design phase by our good friend, Dr. He Qi of Nanking Theological Seminary (left). Thought you'd like to see how he goes from concept to finished art. -RAM

Dear Rich

I have finished some new design for our new seminary campus and some new paintings sketch design, and I am now sending to share with you...

Blessings!
He Qi

(The sketches are enclosed to the left under "Photo Albums".)

Thomas Redoes John 3:16

I'm off to the airport to pick up our old friend (23 years old) Thomas Ian Nicholas. Thomas is an LA actor who started writing music for FINK when he was 16. His "For God So Loved" will be redone tomorrow in Tony Axtell's studio, plus we'll be laying down four songs for a future Sr. High Apololgetics course that will be tested this summer at Christ Lutheran in Highlands Ranch, CO, with 100 teens.

Tomorrow we take him snowboarding, then a little reception, then church on Sunday, then our five girls from our small group get to spend some time with him.

I'll let you know how it goes... maybe give you a sneak preview of some of the new music next week.

Rich