Thrivent

 

THRIVENT NEWS - ARLINGTON CHAPTER 
OSLC has supported Thrivent Financial for Lutheran benevolent activities – as well as benefiting from them. A special thanks to the members of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans – whose ownership of Thrivent financial products make it possible for Thrivent to provide financing for these activities. Key to this entire process are the Congregational Coordinators and those from the congregation who serve on the board of the Arlington Chapter of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans.  See Arlington Chapter web site for information on those who serve you in these important functions
 
Here is how you can participate. If you are not already a Thrivent member we urge you to be in touch with Greg Roemer our Thrivent Financial Representative.
  
Care in Communities:
 
The four congregations – OSLC, Faith, Advent and Resurrection -- in the Arlington Chapter of Thrivent share about $10,000 in Care in Communities money from Thrivent to support congregation projects in the community -- near and far.  Last year, this money went to match a door offering to aid a family undergoing extraordinary medical costs. We also used some of that funding to match monies raised in connection with the Relay for Life discussed below. Please consider applying for matching Care in Communities funds from the Chapter to supplement fund-raising for projects you might organize. 
 
Join Hands Day
Thanks to Teresa Powell’s hard work, we had a successful Join Hands Day project on May 30, 2009 at Faith Lutheran involving youth and adults from the four churches in the Arlington Chapter. What is Join Hands Day? It is a national volunteer effort that brings youth and adults together to improve communities and have fun while helping others. 
What did we do? This was a modification of last year’s two-part project involving the Mid-Atlantic Gleaning Network (MAGNET) and the Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC). MAGNET organizes the harvesting of fresh fruits and vegetables for low-income communities in need. AFAC helps distribute the food in Arlington County. MAGNET delivered thousands of pounds of sweet potatoes to Faith for sorting. AFAC picked up the load. Over 40 adults and youth from all four congregations sorted the produce and helped load the AFAC truck. 
We are planning on our next Join Hands Day on May 22, 2010.  More details to follow!
 
Relay for Life:
We had perfect weather and great fellowship at the June 20-21 2009 Relay for Life at Wakefield High School! Thanks to Marianne Hetzer for organizing the Chapter’s involvement.  Irene Piper was the point of contact for OSLC and senior OSSM youth joined in as part of their annual summer all night event. This is such a popular and successful event that we plan to do this again next June so see Irene or visit Relay for Life for details on how to join the Arlington Chapter Thrivent team.
 
 
 
AFAC Oktoberfest and Cereal Challenge:
As we did last year, the Arlington Chapter will sponsor an Oktoberfest involving the four Churches in the Arlington Chapter in October. Thanks to Chris Johnston’s extraordinary efforts this has become a significant additional support effort for AFAC. In addition, we are conducting a cereal drive for AFAC from May through August. The four congregations in the Arlington Chapter of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans are in a “friendly” competition as we use this opportunity to meet one of AFAC’s greatest needs. OSLC will host a collection drive connected with the June VBS at Our Savior Lutheran Church. Last year the four churches contributed about 800 boxes of cereal for AFAC.
 
 
Next Chapter Meeting:
The next meeting of the Arlington Chapter of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans will be on April 19 at Resurrection Lutheran Church at 7:30 PM. Visit the Arlington Chapter web site to learn more about Thrivent’s local activities.
 
 
SimplyGiving Program:
Do not forget the SimplyGiving program as a way of using pre-authorized withdrawal (EFT) from your bank account to make your contributions to OSLC, or pay tuition at OSL School. Did you know that in 2005, 67% of consumers paid their bills online? It would be great if we could have that percentage of contributors and tuition payers at Our Savior Lutheran Church and School use SimplyGiving.