Question: What can I expect when I visit Tree of Life Lutheran Church?

Answer: A first time visit to any new place can be bewildering, even intimidating. Our Saturday 5 PM service is a kind of "come as you are" service. Many participants arrive at the last minute. Most leave immediately following the service. Typically, there is no fellowship or social opportunities following the Saturday service and the crowd is smaller than Sunday mornings. Sunday morning services, especially during the school year, are full and the content of the service is busier. You can expect to be greeted and welcomed. You can expect the presence of children and a congregation engaged in ministry to its members, community, and the world. Announcements that detail the life of the congregation and celebrations of the church family are offered as we gather, a musical prelude prepares us for worship, the service follows and includes scripture, prayers, children's sermon, sermon, hymns and Holy Communion. We are a friendly, welcoming congregation- easy to get to know and eager to invite others into the ministry we offer.

Question: Do we offer childcare?

Answer: At present, a professionally staffed nursery is offered during the 11 AM service from September through mid June. This is a new service and one that we may expand in the future. We welcome responses from members and visitors as to whether or not it would be good to offer this service at the 8:30 AM service as well.

Question: Do we offer a contemporary service?

Answer: The Saturday 5 PM service is best described as contemplative rather than contemporary. It provides a refuge from an often noisy and busy world. Our Sunday services might best be described as blended as they make use of a wide variety of hymnody- traditional and contemporary- as well as a great variety in choral music and instrumentation. We have begun to offer quarterly Sunday evening youth services, planned and led by our young adults that makes greater use of varied instrumentation, with music typically led by a band and of a more contemporary nature.

Question: Do we offer youth ministry?

Answer: We are a congregation filled with children and young adults. About 30 percent of our baptized members are 18 years of age or younger. In addition, we often have 50-100 young adults off to college. In the past five years, our fastest growing population of new members are between the ages of 25 and 35. We have three paid youth staff members, a growing youth ministry with bi monthly Sunday evening meetings as well as other activities including synodical and national youth gatherings, summer church camp, confirmation camp, and retreats, a large Sunday School and Vacation Bible School.

Question: How do our members respond to their church life in their daily lives?

Answer: Lutherans believe that we are saints and sinners at the same time. When we gather for worship to hear the Word and receive the Lord's Supper, we acknowledge that we are hungry and need to be fed by the gifts that only God can provide. We are spiritually thirsty and hungry. Jesus who provides the Water of Life and who is the Bread of Life quenches our thirst and feeds us to life everlasting. Having received God's gifts in Christ, we leave the service of worship to go into the world to serve. How well we do this will be varied, compromised by who we are. How God, because of who God is, uses our imperfect words and actions, to accomplish great works is amazing!

Question: How do I volunteer to serve on a committee?

Answer: Read the committee mission statement and activities list. To find out more information, call the committee chairperson and ask him or her when they meet. Does it seem to fit? Come and participate. All confirmed members of the congregation have a voice and a vote. Feel free to visit at the next monthly meeting of the respective committee.

Question: How do I volunteer for other areas of service?

Answer. Call our Volunteer Coordinator (see "Contact Us"). Find out what's involved. Does it seem to fit? Ask them to add your name to their volunteer list. Also, fill out one of our "Time and Talents" forms (see the "Newsletters/Forms" page) to let everyone know what you're interested in and how you'd like to be involved.

Question: How do I offer altar flowers?

Answer: See the sign up chart on the narthex bulletin board. Look for a date when you'd like to provide the flowers. Checks for flowers are to be made payable to Tree of Life Lutheran Church, marked "Flowers" in the memo portion of the check and placed in the offering plate. Cost is $35 for both vases or $17.50 for one vase if two families are sharing a Sunday.

Question: How do I sponsor communion wine or bread?

Answer: See the worship leader sign up sheet posted on the Narthex bulletin board. Look for a date when you'd like to offer the bread or the wine. Sign up. Two loaves of bread are needed each Sunday, one for each service. Bread may be bought or home baked, leavened or unleavened. It may be white bread or dark bread, but no raisins, nuts, chocolate chips, etc! It is best if it is easily torn and not too crumbly. A weekly price for communion wine is posted on the bulletin board. Write the check payable to TLC and note it "wine." Turn-in to the front office or place in the offering plate.

Question: How do I schedule a baptism, wedding, birthday party, retirement dinner, etc.?

Answer: Policy statements are found on the metal wall file immediately inside the front door of the Church, and are also available for download from this site. Please pick up or print the relevant policy and review it. If any questions remain, please contact the Branch Office.

Question: What is expected of me as a member of Tree of Life?

Answer: In baptism, we are made members of the Church which is the body of Christ. We should, therefore, faithfully attend the services of God's house, learning the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, and the 10 Commandments. In short, we hope you will practice good stewardship of the gifts of time, talent, and treasure, sharing each with this community as God has shared abundantly with you. "Let your light so shine before others that they may see your good work and glorify your Father in Heaven."

Question: What kind of Lutherans are we?

Answer: There are many Lutheran denominations in the United States. Tree of Life is a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the largest Lutheran church body in the United States. Please see our "Links" section to learn more about the ELCA.

Question: What happens to my offering?

Answer: All offerings are distributed according to the decisions made by the congregation at our Annual Congregational Meeting, and include paying staff salaries, maintaining our property, and providing for the congregation's ministry and programs. A minimum of 10% of our offerings support mission activities beyond the life of the congregation. Offerings given by those assigned offering envelopes are recorded, and a financial statement is distributed to each member at the end of the year.

Question: What is the Annual Congregational Meeting all about , and when is it held?

Answer: Our Constitution requires that we meet annually on the second Sunday in November to do the business of the congregation, which includes receiving reports from Pastors, the Council President, and committee Chairpersons, electing Council members, and approving a budget for the following year.