There is a $1.00 convenience fee when placing credit/debit card orders online. This fee is assessed by Angel Food - not by Hope Lutheran.

A seafood box is not available for July.

July's Allergen-Free Food Box
Cost - $25

Meeting a need for people with the top eight food allergies, this box is easy to order and affordable. All products have been processed to eliminate: peanut, soy, dairy, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts and gluten.

1 lb. Coated Chicken Tenders
1 lb. Coated Breast Filet
1 lb. Coated Chicken Nuggets
1 lb. Coated Chicken Wings
1 lb. Coated Cubed Steak
(Chicken Fried Steak)

Signature Box The cost per box $30. The specials range from $14 to $22 with $22 being the typical price for a special.

In person, we accept: cash, food stamps (EBT), checks, and money orders for payment of your order!

We are taking in person orders for July's delivery. Stop in and see us on
Saturday, June 20th from 9:30 - 11:30
Wednesday, July 8th from 11:45 - 2:00 and 4:00 - 6:30
Saturday, July 11th from 3:15 - 7:15
Sunday, July 12th from 8:30 – 10:45

We will accept mail in orders until Thursday, July 9th. Late orders will be returned to you unfilled. You must make your check or money order payable to Hope Lutheran. You must include a self-addressed stamped enveloped (SASE) with your order form and check/money order so that we can return your receipt to you. (PLEASE NOTE: Returned checks will be charged a $20 fee. You must pay the fee and the cost of your order in cash before you will be allowed to pick up your order.)

You can also order online as noted above. Click the link and follow the directions.

June's distribution date is Saturday, June 20th. July's distribution date is Saturday, July 18th. You must pick up your purchases between 9:30 and 11:30. No orders can be saved for you. If you cannot or do not pick up your food during the hours listed above, it will be donated to a non-profit organization. Please do feel free to arrange for someone to pick up your order for you but call and make arrangements prior to Distribution Day.

When you come to pick up your food, you must bring a large box or clothes basket AND the YELLOW receipt you received when you paid for your order.

If you have any questions, please call Carla Ekman at 857-4891 or Pastor Dan Clark-Bridges at 350-5484.

Hope Lutheran Church
Angel Food Ministries
2736 Bowling Street SW
Cedar Rapids, IA 52404

Coming up on July 12th - Old Creamery Theatre – “Branson on the Road”. Watch for a sign-up poster in the narthex. If you have questions, contact Rose Dougherty.

2009 Gathering for Women of the ELCA - SE Iowa Synod The 2009 Gathering for Women of the ELCA, SE Iowa Synod will be held June 27th at the Holiday Inn at Amana on I-80. The theme of the event is "River is Life" and some of the featured speakers will be Beth Malicki of KCRG Channel 9 who will speak on 2008 Iowa storms and flooding; Elaine Haugen will speak on Hurricane Katrina, from the storm to now; and Tracy Frahm – Water for the World. A traditional Amana luncheon will be served at noon. Cost of attendance is $60, but if you get your registration to Rhonda Taschner (363-5789) by May 12, Women of Hope will pay half of the cost. If you have questions, see the flyer on kiosk in the Narthex or call Nancy Coffman at 396-0387.

EMPTY INK & TONER CARTRIDGES WANTED All brands of empty ink and toner cartridges are being collected. Proceeds from this will go to buy office supplies. There is a box in the coatroom for your donations.

PRAYER SHAWL MINISTRY Our prayer shawl ministry has gotten off to a good start. We have three women from Hope joining the women at Gloria Dei once a month. We encourage others to join us. If we get enough people to join us we will start meeting at Hope Lutheran. Take time to check out the display in the narthex. There are brochures and shawl instructions for you to take, samples of the card that is given to the shawl recipient and a sample shawl. If you knit or crochet and would like to participate in this wonderful ministry, feel free to pick up some instructions and start a shawl. We are also taking donations to purchase supplies to help offset the expense of the shawls. If you wish to make a donation or have any other questions feel free to contact Nancy Coffman @ 396-0387, Betty Nelson @ 362-0721, or Rhonda Taschner @ 363-5789.

Going on vacation? Can't make church this weekend? Make it easy on yourself and check out the Simply Giving Program. This program allows you to have your offering automatically withdrawn from your checking account. This is perfect especially during the summer months when attendance is down because everyone is so busy. If this sounds like a good time saver for you, contact the church office or Betty Nelson and they will get the paperwork needed to get you set up.

Update and Clarification of Memorial Money All money given for memorials is held in the Memorial Fund. This Fund is within the General Fund, but Memorial Funds are never to be used to pay bills associated with the day to day operation of the church.

If there is a specific request that the money is to be used for at the time it is given, that money is set aside and used only for that particular item or purpose. If there is no specific request at the time the money is given, the money remains in the Memorial Account until a specific item, or items are purchased for the church.

All items to be purchased, with Memorial Money must be approved by the church Council.

All Memorials are to be place in envelopes specially marked for Memorials (available in the narthex) and placed in the weekly offering, or given to Rose Dougherty or Betty Nelson.

What is Angel Food Ministries?
This ministry began in 1994 in Monroe, Georgia. A group of Christians realized that there were many food companies that had an overstock of food. These people asked if they could buy the overstock at a reduced price and resell it to help the hungry. These companies eagerly agreed. The companies got rid of their overstock and the hungry were helped. Good business, good stewardship and good publicity!

One Half Million Families Fed in November 2006! In the first 11 months of 2006, more families have been fed than the first 11 years of our ministry! You can learn more about Angel Food Ministries by visiting their website at www.angelfoodministries.com.

How Does the Program Work?
Every month congregations that are involved take orders two weeks before delivery from those who wish to participate. Each order costs $30. Orders must be paid for in advance. Cash and Food Stamps are accepted. No checks.

THIS IS IMPORTANT! Everyone, regardless of his or her financial status is encouraged to participate. Even if you’re wealthy you are encouraged to participate. The money you pay for the food you receive goes back into the ministry and $1 from every package goes into the benevolence budget of the congregation sponsoring the program. You can order as many packages as you wish.

Approximately two weeks after the order is placed, the food is delivered to our church. This would be a Saturday mornings in our case. The food is sorted and boxed. The people who ordered the food pick up the food from 9:45 to 11:45 that same morning.

How Does This Help the Poor?
Several ways:
1) People with limited incomes can get a good amount of food for a lot less than they could buy it at the grocery store. (Yes, we have quite a few members of our congregation who could truly benefit from this program, to say nothing of the many other people in our surrounding neighborhood.)
2) For people who can’t afford to buy this package the Church Council has approved using the money from Coffee Hour to buy as many orders as we can. Pastor Dan would then distribute the food to those who need it. (Money would be held back to continue to buy the coffee, etc we need for Coffee Hour.)
3) Different groups or individuals in the congregation can order packages to be given to those in need.
4) For every 50 orders an addition order is given to the congregation.

If after you see how smoothly Distribution Day runs and you want to volunteer your time to help out with the process, please call the church office at 365-3105 or Pastor Dan 350-5484.

How did we ever get along before we learned to put things on a scale of one-to-ten? Sure we had inches and feet, ounces and pounds, even cubits and spans if you’re Biblically inclined. Yet how does one describe the thrill of victory, the beauty of a sunset, or the taste of hot steaming lasagna with garlic bread in that way? They can’t be measured in inches or ounces or cubits. And yet trying to describe things accurately takes time and effort. Must we be forever encumbered by those irksome parts of speech know as adverbs and adjectives? Of course not! Today we have the perfect way of gauging these things. We can effortlessly judge everything “on a scale of one to ten!” Isn’t progress wonderful? Once upon a time, someone discovered how to measure earthquakes on a ten-point scale and now we can rate love, pride, efficiency, difficulty, even tragedy and sadness, with the same mechanical ease!

How sad did you feel when your puppy ran away, little girl? Well, on a scale of one-to-ten, I’d say eight. I mean, I was really sad.

How do you like your new computerized Weber grill, neighbor? Let me put it this way, it’s a six for steaks, a two for marshmallows.

How do I love thee? Well, on a scale of one-to-ten...

See, it’s really marvelous. Today, nothing need remain ambiguous, vague, or unrated. We can now describe precisely how we, and others value everything, without breaking a sweat!

How did you like my sermon this morning? Oh, I’d give it about a six. What, only a six! Well, what do you know about sermons anyway?

Speaking of religion, (please take note of the smooth, witty segue), the one-in-ten method could be the key to a whole new kind of theology. I call it Mono-a-decatheology. Petty catchy title, huh? It would work like this.

On a scale of one-to-ten:

-Sin is a zero. Confession is a five. Being forgiven is a ten.
-Greed is a zero. Generosity is an eight. Generosity combined with action is a big ten!
-Humility is a five if you think about it, ten if you don’t.
-You rate a five for loving your neighbor who is friendly, quiet and bakes cookies for your kids; you rate a ten for loving a neighbor who throws all-night parties, has fourteen cats, and can’t stand your kids. Moving away from this last neighbor gives you a zero for love, but a ten for intelligence.
-Tithing is a seven after taxes, a ten if it’s before taxes.
-Coming to church, seven. Coming to church Holy Week and Easter when it’s really nice outside, eight. Coming to church Holy Week and Easter when it’s really nice outside and actually paying attention, ten. Staying home in bed and watching repeats of the World Poker Tour on ESPN 2, well, I’ll let you figure that one out yourself. (By the way, I wouldn’t want anyone to think I put this particular illustration in as a means of making people feel guilty if they don’t attend worship Holy Week and Easter. Heaven forbid I’d ever do anything like that!)

See, it’s a great way to figure out how you’re doing, religion-wise. Just rate yourself from one-to-ten on every subject dealing with religion that you can think of; Bible study, prayer, following the Ten Commandments, etc... Add everything up, average it out, and see how well you measure up! And if you happen to come out with a very low score, (if we’re honest, we all will!), just remember one thing: God sent his only begotten Son, so that even zeros who believe in him should not remain zeros but be called everlasting tens.

And that’s the only rating system that counts for anything in the final judgment!

President: Larissa McC
co-Vice President: Hannah CB
co-Vice President: Alicia E

Are you getting credit for your offering? When you give your offering, please be sure to put your name on the envelope. Many times a blank envelope comes through the offering without any identification. Without a name or member number, the counters have no way of knowing to whom they should be giving the credit. Unidentified offerings go into "loose" change.

From Highway 30, exit onto the Bowling Street/Kirkwood Boulevard exit. Turn north on Bowling Street.