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 The Rev. Steve Nelson, pastor of First English Lutheran Church, talks on the “Seeds and Loaves of Bread” during Wednesday’s Community Lenten Service at St. Joseph Catholic Church. The services are organized by the Wapakoneta Area Ministerial Association. Staff photo/William Laney By WILLIAM LANEY
Managing Editor
Holding a loaf of fresh-baked bread, a local minister explained the similarities between a seed germinating in the soil which eventually is used to make bread and the growth of person in faith.
Incorporating the biblical passage of the mustard seed into the Lenten theme of “Be What You Are ...,” The Rev. Steve Nelson, pastor of First English Lutheran Church, discussed the three parts of the seed and compared each to a person and their faith.
Nelson explained a seed is composed of an embryo, a seed coat and food storage. He compared the embryo to a person’s faith and the food storage, which nourishes the embryo, to those people who have had an impact on a person’s life and faith.
He said the food storage permit the seed to break through the seed coat and break through the soil to become a plant.
The people, who he compared to food storage of a seed, assist with a person’s faith and are working to help them grow so they can grow, learn and pass the knowledge they obtain onto the next generation.
“The foundations of our faith have been built literally through the help of others who taught us about faith and what it meant to them,” Nelson said during the third week of Lenten Services. “The Holy Spirit works through others’ actions and that helps us to believe, too.”
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MRDD enters into grant deal |
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Wednesday, 10 June 2009 |
By ANGELA WEAVER
Staff Writer
NEW BREMEN — During its Monday night meeting at the ABC Center, Auglaize County Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Board members passed a resolution to enter into a grant agreement that is divided between area counties.
The county agency has been pre-approved to partake in the Pathways grant with Allen, Hancock and Putnam counties, as well as the Mental Health Recovery Board, Superintendent Al Willis said.
“We’re pre-approved,” Willis said. “All we have to do is put the money down.”
Board members approved the motion for an amount not to exceed $25,000 to put toward the grant, which will in turn generate federal dollars for the organization.
“If we put up front dollars, BVR (Ohio Rehabilitation Services Commission Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation) will get federal dollars that will come back to us,” said Brenda Winner, who is with ancillary services.
Willis estimated a four-to-one return with the funds, and noted that each county will be putting up money toward the grant.
“It’s an excellent opportunity,” Willis said. “It’s a one-year partnership, but you have to put the money up front.”
Winner said nothing would change with the grant with the services that are currently offered through the BVR, noting the billable services such as job development and coaching and training like job seeking and social skills development, and the organization risks losing those services with cuts that were announced to the BVR in the next year.
“Instead of being cut, it’s being expanded,” Willis said. “We have one year to look at it — if we’re satisfied, it can be extended for four more years. In this crunch, Auglaize and other counties don’t have to take the cuts.”
Board members also motioned to cancel their July meeting but will hold an inservice from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on July 22.
Board members adjourned into executive session at 7:57 p.m. to discuss a personnel issue.
The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Auglaize County Board of MRDD is at 7:15 p.m. Aug. 10 at the ABC Center.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 12 June 2009 )
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