Social Ministry News – May 2024
Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there! Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers, as well, and a lovely Independence Day to boot, since the Scribe now covers a three month period. This is the quarterly update on the deeds (hopefully not misdeeds) of the Social Ministry Committee.
First and foremost, we want to thank everyone for their generous gifts to the Lenten Drive for ELCA World Hunger. What a fantastic outpouring of God’s love we experienced. The Noisy Offering and the Piggy Banks helped us raise a grand total of $8,190.
There are a number of projects coming up that you should be aware of (many thanks to the three of you who have read this far and will be).
First, we will do our annual Offering of Letters for Bread for the World this month. The Farm Bill is up for a vote again this year, and as you know, it has a wide ranging impact on all of our lives. Its 12 sections (actually called Titles for any nitpickers) cover SNAP benefits (food stamps), price supports for farmers, international food aid and export, horticulture, farmers’ markets, and a wide variety of other things (Google “What is the Farm Bill” for more details). The letters we write to Congress every year for Bread for the World help this and other important legislation get passed.
Second, our annual Habitat for Humanity build day is coming up on June 8. We hope to be doing framing this year. We will need volunteers to saw boards (not fingers), drive nails, and raise the framing. We also need a few people to organize and bring lunch out for us. Listen in church for more information about the build and how to sign up.
Third, our Mission Partner, The Navajo Evangelical Lutheran Mission is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year. They are in the middle of a fundraising effort to celebrate. You can go to https://nelm.org for more information on the mission and nelm.org/donate/ to donate. If you are Thrivent members, look at the Thrivent Choice information on that page. FYI, we recently learned that the mission, despite its name, has no guaranteed support from the synod or the national church, so fundraising is important to support its vital tasks on the reservation.
Finally, our own 60th anniversary celebration is coming up on the 24th of June! To celebrate our long history of social ministry, we have selected Manna Soup Kitchen to be the target for a giving bonanza. Christ the King has been a supporter of the soup kitchen since its inception in 1985. Their mission has evolved since then and they provide a multitude of services to members of our community in addition to their traditional role as a soup kitchen. We will post a list of needed foodstuffs and attempt to pack Pastor Tim’s car with supplies (just kidding, we’ll have boxes).
As always, we exist to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.
The Social Ministry Committee
Anita Ashby, John Condie, Rap Fairly, Deacon Mandy, Robert Maple Pastor Tim, Renata Widder
Noisy Offering Partner for May:
Habitat for Humanity
CtK’s Habitat Build Day is closer than you think! We will be working (framing, once again) on Saturday, June 8…back at Fox Farms in Bayfield. This will be the final duplex as we’re building on the last lot Habitat owns in that development. In the last communication with Habitat, Jessica (Habitat’s director) said they were negotiating on property just outside Durango. But there are issues with this land and they haven’t been resolved.
The times for CtK’s work day are 8:30 am – 3:30 pm. Lunch will be provided for the volunteers. AND we need volunteers to pound some nails and help with the food prep and set up. A sign-up sheet will be put out on May 18. If you have any questions, please call Rap Fairley at 410-474-3571. Additional details to follow mid May.
Social Ministry News – Feb. 2024
The Love Fund at Christ the King
You are, hopefully, aware that Christ the King maintains a small pool of money to assist church members and attendees experiencing short-term financial emergencies. We refer to this as the Love Fund. However, you may not be aware of the origin of the fund nor how it is maintained. We hope to remedy that, as the woman whose generosity started it deserves remembering!
Sandy MacAlister was a long-time, active member of Christ the King. When she passed away in 2003, tragically at an early age, she left a sizable bequest to the church. Most of it went to set up the Mission Endowment Fund, but a smaller amount was earmarked to establish what came to be called the Love Fund. It has been used ever since by our pastors, with the advice of the Social Ministry Committee, to aid parishioners in need.
Grants from the fund are gifts, given in Christian love, and there is no mention nor expectation of payback, though some recipients have done so. The money has been used for emergency car repairs, rent or mortgage payments, medicine, legal fees, and many other needs. Whenever feasible, checks are written directly to providers—mechanics, landlords, doctors, etc. Since it is meant for short-term, emergency problems, repeat requests are not normally accepted, though exceptions can be made. Money for the Love Fund comes entirely from donations earmarked for the fund; nothing comes from the church’s general fund.
If you are having temporary financial difficulty, please talk to Pastor Tim or Deacon Mandy. They will first attempt to connect you various community sources that may be able to help, but if that is impossible, the Love Fund can be considered. As with any communication to the pastor, it is all held strictly confidential.
The flip side, of course, is that if you are in a sound financial position, please consider donating to the Fund. Make a note on a check put in the offering plate or on cash put in an offering envelope—or do what Sandy MacAllister did; remember it in your will.
Thank you for reading this far,
The Social Ministry Committee.
Noisy Offering Partner for February (and March):
ELCA World Hunger
November 2023 — Social Ministry News
Christ the King – Mission Endowment Fund
Grant Application Deadline! = 15 December, 2023
What is the Mission Endowment Fund?
The fund was designed to support Christ the King Lutheran Church in its mission. The Fund receives unrestricted gifts and bequests from congregation members and their families, and friends of Christ the King.
This is a permanent endowment fund that is separate and distinct from the everyday operating funds of the church. The assets are held by the ELCA Endowment Fund Trust to provide for their long-term stability and growth, so donors can be confident that their gifts will endure to continue God’s work within our congregation, the community of Durango, and the world.
How do I apply for a Mission Endowment Fund Grant?
Applications can be made at any time of the year, but the Board meets once a year, in January, to review all applications that were received prior to December 15st of the previous year.
The application form can be found on the Christ the King website at ctkdurango.org/learn-more/documents in a fillable PDF format.
To submit it, you may email to mef@ctkdurango.org.
Or it can be mailed to the church at
Mission Endowment Fund
Christ the King Lutheran Church
495 Florida Road
Durango, Colorado 81301-4730
If you have questions about filling out the application, or what kinds of projects or agencies might be appropriate, feel free to contact the board at mef@ctkdurango.org. Or, of course, you may talk with any of us at church.
Yours in Christ,
The MEF Board
John Condie, Lynn Mitzlaff, Megan Reid, Renate Widder, and Gary Rollstin
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Christmas is coming, AGAIN!
The Social Ministry Team invites you all to participate in the ELCA Good Gifts program that keeps on giving. Using the online catalogue, you can choose from more than 50 sustainable gifts, in honor of family and friends, to give to people throughout the world who are in desperate need.
Go to, goodgifts@ELCA.org to start shopping.
There is still MORE!!!!!
Don’t forget to put Colorado Gives Day on your calendar! This year it will be held on Tuesday, 12/5/23. This year donations made starting Nov. 1, 2023 through Dec. 5, 2023 will qualify to become part of the Incentive Fund. All nonprofits receive a % of the fund equal to the % they raise for the Colorado Gives Day program. Raise 10%, get 10% of the Incentive Fund.
Go to www.coloradogives.org, choose donate and then location for local and statewide non-profits.
Let’s spread the love!
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The holidays are fast approaching, and with them, the opportunities to share our blessings with others. This year we have three of those opportunities to highlight.
First, as we have for 30-some years, we will be making the stuffing for the Community Thanksgiving Dinner. As always, we will meet at Manna Soup Kitchen beginning at 4 pm on Tuesday, November 22nd. We will chop veggies, sauté sausage, and tear bread until we have 25 full pans of stuffing. It is always a wonderful fellowship event, and a huge service to the community.
Second, as we have for 1-some years, we will be doing a gift collection for our Mission partner, the Navajo Evangelical Lutheran Mission in Rock Point, Arizona. Tags with needed items will be posted in the Welcome Center. We will ask you to take one or more tags and purchase the item thereon. Look for these shortly after Thanksgiving.
Third, Colorado Gives Day is coming up. We want to acquaint you with this opportunity to painlessly increase the value of your donations to local charities. Donations made to non-profit organizations that have signed up will be supplemented by some percentage from the Community First Foundation. The percentage depends on total giving to all participating organizations. This year, despite the Colorado Gives “Day” title, giving begins November 1st and continues until the “Day,” December 5th. All donations made during this time qualify for the incentive. For more information, check their website, www.coloradogives.org.
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Ctk’s Noisy Offering began years ago during a time of uncertainty with the church’s budget. Tithing was down, and in the absence of knowing just how much financial gifts the church would receive each month, the Social Ministry budget was cut. This meant that local, necessary, and beloved organizations like Manna, the Food Bank, VOA of SW CO, and others would not receive monies they previously counted on. So the Noisy Offering at CTK was born. Metal cans were passed after the Offering plate, so that coins – change – placed in the buckets would not only make a joyful noise, but the change itself represented the change it was making in the receiving organization and the greater community. The joyful noise of the noisy offering reminds us that giving is much more than a duty. Your regular tithe goes to CtK operating costs and to her ministries, which do include the noisy offering recipients through the social Ministry budget – because giving is a duty and a joy!
CTk’s Noisy Offering is also a way we teach our children the importance of giving and serving. Often our children are passing the noisy offering can, and that’s by design. So especially when a tiny hand passes you the can, remember a tiny face is watching – so joyfully plunk in your change and let the noise ring out!
If you have a non-profit that you want to see included as a Noisy offering recipient, put your suggestion in the box on the credenza in the Welcome Center.
October 2023 — Social Ministry News
Anyone who is interested in accompanying the Christ the King group to Guatemala next June needs to have their refundable deposit of $250 in by the second week of October.
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Christ the King – Mission Endowment Fund
Grant Application Deadline! = 15 December, 2023
What is the Mission Endowment Fund?
The fund was designed to support Christ the King Lutheran Church in its mission. The Fund receives unrestricted gifts and bequests from congregation members and their families, and friends of Christ the King.
This is a permanent endowment fund that is separate and distinct from the everyday operating funds of the church. The assets are held by the ELCA Endowment Fund Trust to provide for their long-term stability and growth, so donors can be confident that their gifts will endure to continue God’s work within our congregation, the community of Durango, and the world.
How do I apply for a Mission Endowment Fund Grant?
Applications can be made at any time of the year, but the Board meets once a year, in January, to review all applications that were received prior to December 15st of the previous year.
The application form can be found on the Christ the King website at ctkdurango.org/learn-more/documents in a fillable PDF format.
To submit it, you may email to mef@ctkdurango.org.
Or it can be mailed to the church at
Mission Endowment Fund
Christ the King Lutheran Church
495 Florida Road
Durango, Colorado 81301-4730
If you have questions about filling out the application, or what kinds of projects or agencies might be appropriate, feel free to contact the board at mef@ctkdurango.org. Or, of course, you may talk with any of us at church.
Yours in Christ,
The MEF Board
John Condie, Lynn Mitzlaff, Megan Reid, Renate Widder, and Gary Rollstin
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Ctk’s Noisy Offering began years ago during a time of uncertainty with the church’s budget. Tithing was down, and in the absence of knowing just how much financial gifts the church would receive each month, the Social Ministry budget was cut. This meant that local, necessary, and beloved organizations like Manna, the Food Bank, VOA of SW CO, and others would not receive monies they previously counted on. So the Noisy Offering at CTK was born. Metal cans were passed after the Offering plate, so that coins – change – placed in the buckets would not only make a joyful noise, but the change itself represented the change it was making in the receiving organization and the greater community. The joyful noise of the noisy offering reminds us that giving is much more than a duty. Your regular tithe goes to CtK operating costs and to her ministries, which do include the noisy offering recipients through the social Ministry budget – because giving is a duty and a joy!
CTk’s Noisy Offering is also a way we teach our children the importance of giving and serving. Often our children are passing the noisy offering can, and that’s by design. So especially when a tiny hand passes you the can, remember a tiny face is watching – so joyfully plunk in your change and let the noise ring out!
If you have a non-profit that you want to see included as a Noisy offering recipient, put your suggestion in the box on the credenza in the Welcome Center.
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