Glen A. VanderKloot, Pastor pastor@faithlutheran.com
Pastor Glen has served Faith Lutheran Church since 1989. His primary interests are prayer, evangelism, contemporary worship and small groups. He loves to read and write. Glen and his wife, Carol, have three children: Dave, Joel and Rebecca; and two daughters-in-law, Sylvia and Katherine.

In 2007 Pastor and Carol welcomed the addition of two new granddaughters: Maia Aki and Isabella Grace. In 2009 their first grandson Joel Peter VanderKloot, Jr was born.

Glen is a member of the ELCA Prayer Leaders Network and the Springfield Ministerial Alliance.

Judi Muller, Organist judi.muller@comcast.com

Judi was encouraged to learn how to play the organ by her church organist at Trinity Lutheran Church in Newman Grove, Nebraska. She started taking lessons in eighth grade. Judi loved that experience which eventually led her to major in music in college. She and her husband, Dean, and her cats reside in Springfield.

Jan Ambrose, Music Director jambrose@springfield.k12.il.us

Jan is responsible for coordinating all of the music to ensure a consistent quality across all services. She is responsible for the Adult Choir, Junior Choir, and Handbell Choir. Jan is a teacher at Southern View and Graham Schools. She resides in Springfield with her husband, Allen, and their dogs. Her greatest joy comes from her granddaughter Leila.

Cory Brown, Keyboardist corybrown888@gmail.com

Cory is the second oldest of four children, and resides in Springfield. He began playing the piano at age seven. Cory is a 2005 graduate of Sacred Heart-Griffin High School. Cory recently played for the Springfield Muni and at the Hoogland Center for Gordon Productions.

Kim Gietl, Secretary faithsecretary@sbcglobal.net

Kim has served as secretary at Faith Lutheran Church for over five years. She and her husband, Joe, have three children: Kyle, Lindsey, and Katy. Kim has been a member of our sister church, Grace Lutheran, for 30 years. She also enjoys cooking, baking and spending time with her family.

Caroline Ziogas, Nursery Attendant

Caroline worked as a Special Education Attendant last Spring at Hazel Dell School. She currently performs clerical work at Fever River Reseach; and is attending Lincoln Land Community College, taking courses in education and psychology. Caroline is the mother of two grown children and seven still in school.

God is good all the time and all the time God is good!

Everyday God is at work in, through and among us at Faith Lutheran Church.There are so many examples of the Spirit of God at work.  We had some great highlights in 2009:

          Congregational Retreat

          'Live Like You Were Dying' study and worship

          Celebration worship of my 20 years at Faith and my 35 years

          of ordination

          Donation of 147.5 mosquito nets

          Our continuing partnership with Black Hawk

          Soup, socks, gloves, hats, & coats to enhance the lives

         of kids in Springfield

          Decision to replace the Air Conditioning in the Education Building

          and only having about $5,500 still to be paid.

          Replacement of carpeting on the first floor

          Remodeling of the first floor restrooms

          Extensive painting throughout the building

          'Life's Healing Choices' study and worship

          Four new members

          Three all-congregation worship events

          Christmas Eve Worship

          Three of our youth participating in the National Youth 

          Gathering in New Orleans

We thank and praise God for these events.

God is indeed good all the time and all the time God is good.

We let go of our cleaning service due to financial constraints. Our building and grounds are now lovingly cared for by volunteers and probably have never looked better.  We are thankful for their service - but a few cannot do it all.  Consider ways that you can pitch in and help in 2010.

We continue to have a great staff who serve us:  Kim Gietl, Jan Ambrose,

Judi Muller, Cory Brown and Caroline Ziogas.  Our worship and music are outstanding due to their leadership and due to all the volunteers who sing and play instruments to enhance our worship.  We are truly blessed with talented musicians who give of their time and talent to help each of us magnify the Lord. I do not believe the church office has ever been more efficient and pleasant than it currently is. Our nursery care is one of the reasons young parents return. I thank God for each of our staff daily and I hope you regularly pray for them and their ministry with us.

I am so proud of the things that Faith accomplishes in our community: Fine Arts Camp, Black Hawk partnership, socks for students in District 186, food baskets, angel tree, coats, hats, and gloves. This is just a sampling of the many great things we do in the community.

During 2009 we experienced more funerals than usual.  In addition to each families' individual grief, there also seems to be a corporate grief over the loss of Gloria Henkle. Gloria was an inspiration to all through her continued leadership and inspiration in the midst of her long battle with cancer. To grieve is okay as long as we move forward in faith and hope.  We honor Gloria when she continues as a role model for our actions and we step up and assume the tasks and leadership that she performed.  

During 2009 we made hard decision to discontinue our experimental 11:11 worship.  I believe the 11:11 service was a good experience.  However it simply did not reach a new audience of members.  Our worship numbers simply do not justify three different worship services. However, the cancellation of this service did hurt our attendance numbers as everyone who attended 11:11 did not consistently transfer over to one of our other two services.  

I hope we do not shut the door on trying other creative ideas and worship just because this one was not sustainable at this time.

Membership, attendance and finances are of great concern. Each of these declined in 2009 for a variety of reasons.

In many ways I think that 2010 is critical for our congregation.  Are we going to turn things around?  That is up to each of us.  Congregational health is the responsibility of every member and every staff person.  Only together can we be healthy. Faith Lutheran Church is you. Faith is God's church. Faith is our hands doing God's work.  We all need to be careful not to fall into Satan's traps of negativity and sarcasm.  Together we need to build a healthy Christ-centered environment.

Each of our new members this last year were invited by a friend.  That is the most powerful and effective way for a church to grow.

Led by the Spirit, dedicated to prayer and working together we can make improvement in membership, attendance and finances.  I hope that each of us will commit to doing just that.  Together we can create even greater highlights in 2010.  

Thank you for the continuing privilege to serve with and to you.  I am proud to be the Pastor of Faith and look forward to what God is going to do in, among and through us in 2010.

Glen VanderKloot, pastor