Emanuel Lutheran Church. February Enlightener

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1 Emanuel Lutheran Church February 2018 Enlightener 125th Anniversary ~ Sunday, August 25, 2019 The foundation for the church building was laid in Construction of the building then took four years to complete. The Sewing Circle held auctions and basket socials to raise money. People donated timber to be cut into lumber. There were donations of labor and transportation. It took the efforts of many over a long period of time to make the building a reality. Finally, on September 12, 1906 a loan of $250 was acquired so that the building could be finished. Sunday Worship Service 9:00 AM Office hours Tuesday, Thursday 12-3 PM (Fridays as needed) Interim Pastor Warren Geier (906) or (906) pastor@bethanyishpeming.org Church Phone: emanuel@tds.net

2 Congregational Leadership Interim Pastor Warren Geier (906) Council Members Sandi Ruotsi Mary Lou Behrens Donna Oliver Jolene Kokko Betsy Koski Jane Sims Jesse Kainulainen Christian Education Betsy Koski ~ Confirmation Leah Kainulainen, Karen Maki ~ Sunday School Sandi Ruotsi ~ Adult Forum Office Amy Ayotte ~ Administrative Assistant Emanuel Lutheran Church has both a Face Book Page and website! Catch up on upcoming and past events, our monthly calendar and Enlightener newsletters at: Committee Leaders Barb Bach ~ Stewardship Sarah Kimball ~ Outreach Betsy Koski ~ Christian Education Betsy Koski ~ 125th Anniversary Committee Leah Kainulainen ~ Youth Mission Jane Sims ~ Worship & Music Roger Kimball ~ Building & Property Patti Bergdahl ~ Cemetery Board The deadline for getting items and information to Amy for the March Enlightener is Sunday, February Worship time will change to 11:15AM beginning the month of March through June. Sunday School and Adult Forum will remain at 10:15AM.

3 Souper Bowl Sunday February 4 Once again this year Emanuel will take part in the nationwide Souper Bowl of Caring campaign. You are invited to bring a can of soup and $1 to worship with you on this day as we fight to end hunger in our nation and world. The soup will go the Nifty Thrifty food pantry in Eben Junction and the money raised will go to the ELCA World Hunger campaign. Ash Wednesday Worship service will be held Wednesday, February 14, 7PM with Pastor Chrys Levesque Hendrick. A Lenten Worship service and soup supper will be held Wednesday, February 21 at 6PM with Virginia Paulson here at Emanuel. Please help welcome our community by sharing soup, bread/crackers, or a dessert. A sign-up sheet is located on the kitchen counter. Wednesday, March 7 the Methodist Church of Skandia will be having a Lenten Worship service followed by a soup supper at 6PM and on Wednesday, March 21 the Community Covenant Church in Carlshend will have a Lenten Worship Service followed by a soup supper beginning at 6PM. We hope you can join us! Our next Outreach meeting will be on Thursday, February 15 at 10:00 AM. Prayer Partners will be revealed during Lent. Our next Council Meeting will be held on Sunday, February 18 at 1 PM.

4 This year, the date of Ash Wednesday is February 14 th, Valentine s Day. While the two days have coincided before, my research tells me that the last time was 1957, 61 years ago; no wonder I don t remember it. Curiously, it happens again in 2024 and also in 2029 and then not again until sometime after the year I couldn t find a chart that went any further than that but I figure I ll be retired by then anyway! With Ash Wednesday and Valentine s Day both being on February 14 th it made me wonder if there was any way to connect the two. At first glance there doesn t appear to be much of a connection. It doesn t seem like a cross of ashes on one s forehead and the fasting of Lent has much in common with candy and feasting on Valentine s Day dinner, but let s think about it. There s actually very little that is known about the St. Valentine of Valentine s Day other than the fact that there was such a person who lived in Rome back in the third century. There are legends about him, most having him imprisoned and finally martyred for proclaiming the Christian faith at a time when Christians were being persecuted. There are a couple of stories about him healing the daughter of his jailer of her blindness and then, on the day of his execution, sending her a note and signing it, Your Valentine. There are also stories about him marrying Christian couples so that the husbands wouldn t have to go to war and this at a time when the empire was short of soldiers. That s probably where the idea of Valentine s Day as a day about romantic love comes from.

5 Ash Wednesday is not a day about romantic love. It s more about a broken relationship, that relationship being the one between God and humanity. On Ash Wednesday we are reminded of our failure to be who God would have us be, reminded of our need for repentance, our need to turn away from those things that cause our relationship with God to be broken. I don t think it s a stretch to say that Ash Wednesday is about love though. It s not romantic love that can ebb and flow, but a deeper kind of divine love. The other side of repentance is forgiveness and forgiveness is about God s love that doesn t ebb and flow but is always there. A cross of ashes on one s forehead is a reminder of our sinfulness and our need for forgiveness, but by the grace and love of God that forgiveness is always available. Ash Wednesday is an important day on the liturgical calendar, intended to begin a period of honest self-reflection, one that we repeat every year because we need to. Even though it s Valentine s Day, plan to be in church on Ash Wednesday and let the forty days of Lent be a time of reflection on your need for repentance, repentance that is a response to the love that God has for you not just on Valentine s Day, but every day. ~Pastor Warren Geier

6 In 2019, Emanuel will celebrate 125 years of ministry! We invite all current and former members to be a part of the celebration. If you have moved from the area or are out of touch with Emanuel, please send us your mailing address via Facebook or (emanuel@tds.net) so that we can send more information on what will happen during our anniversary year. If your children were baptized, confirmed or married at Emanuel, send their addresses, too! We are now putting together a cookbook/biography and invite all former and current members to submit recipes, a picture, and a short remembrance of your time at Emanuel. Send via or hard copy to Emanuel Lutheran Church P.O. Box 160, Skandia, MI Thank you to Betsy Koski for sponsoring the February bulletins in honor of Eleanor Ingalls. Sign Up Sheets are in the fellowship hall window to sponsor monthly bulletins (cost $25 per month) and to volunteer to serve coffee during fellowship. Thank you for helping! Worship Leaders for the Month of February 2/04~Mrs. Virginia Paulson 2/11~Pastor Chrys Levesque Hendrick 2/14 7PM Ash Wednesday ~ Pastor Chrys Levesque Hendrick 2/18~ Mrs. Virginia Paulson 2/21 6PM Lenten Worship & Soup Supper~Mrs. Virginia Paulson 2/25~Pastor Chrys Levesque Hendrick

7 Hot Chocolate Café The Sunday School will be hosting a Hot Chocolate Café during fellowship Sunday, February 25th. Donations collected at the counter will be sent to Lutheran Disaster Response. MARKED! Is a Northern Great Lakes Synod sponsored event for all confirmation students to celebrate their identity as baptized children of God! This year the First Lutheran Church of Gladstone will host the event Sunday, February 25. This free event will include music, worship, food and fun! We are collecting food items which the students will be putting together into school backpacks to feed hungry students who need food over the weekends. Please Keep MARKED! In mind when out shopping! A display in the fellowship hall by Outreach will include a list of items we are collecting. Please have any items to church by Sunday, February 18 so we can be sure they get to the event. We are collecting: Mac & Cheese Cups (not boxes) Chef Boyardee Products Apple Sauce or Fruit Cups Snack Sandwich Crackers (cheese or PB) Granola Bars Popcorn Ramen Noodles Peanut Butter Individual Cereal Portions (Oatmeal Packets or Cold Cereal Cups)

8 Love INC. News! CLEARINGHOUSE HOURS HAVE INCREASED! Starting the week of January 29th the office will be open three days a week Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 10-2:00. Love INC is looking for compassionate people who are willing to volunteer in those time slots based on personal schedules. Since our office will be open one more day each week, we will need additional volunteers from many local churches- both to help in the office, and for working with neighbors. Volunteers are needed for various types of work, from small tasks to bigger projects. We promise to provide training and support, so Christians can volunteer with confidence! In order to make our expanded hours effective in helping those in need in the community, we also need to expand our pool of community volunteers. How can you help? Here are some requests for help we have received: Rides to appointments ~Help with budgeting ~Data entry ~Organizing Simple home repairs ~Making phone calls ~Shopping help Sewing Simple carpentry~ Help with moving ~Baking for events These are just a few of the skills needed. Tell us what your skills are and we will help connect you to a person in need. Contact us to see how you can become a volunteer ( 906) Love INC.

9 Calling All Thrivent Members Want to do something positive to strengthen your community? Think you can organize a team to help bring it to life in 90 days or less? If you said yes to both, simply gather your team, submit an application to Thrivent and once your idea is approved you ll receive up to $250 in seed money to help cover promotional, production and material expenses. Yes, you as an individual can apply for two, $250 grants per year. There is no limit to the kinds of activities that can be done. Check out the poster on the bulletin board and let the office know if you are a Thrivent member so we can take advantage of this program. Church Roof This Spring/Summer the Church will be getting a new roof. This project will be a huge undertaking for us. Needed are volunteers who are willing to be on a Church Roof Committee to come up with Fund Raisers to help with the cost. Anyone interested should contact the Church Office or Sandi Ruotsi at Remember in Prayer Our members, family, and friends who are ill, have health concerns, or are grieving Our members who are absent from worship and unable to attend Herb Anderson, Lee Berglund and Bettie Ahola Our Thanks and Praise to God. If someone has a prayer chain request, they should call Amy in the office at (906) or after hours at (906) Amy will then activate the contact list and when Sarah receives the she will activate the phone list.

10 February 2018 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Worship 9AM Sunday School/Adult Forum 10:15AM 9am- 5pm AA-7PM 9am-5pm Cookbook Mtg. 1PM Worship 9AM SS/AF 10:15 Stewardship Mtg. 9am- 5pm AA-7PM Ash Wed Worship Service 7PM. 9am-5pm Outreach Mtg. 10AM Worship 9AM SS/AF 10:15 Church Coun- 9am- 5pm Lenten Worship Service/ Soup Supper 6PM 9am-5pm 25Worship 9AM SS/AF 10:15 Anniver. Mtg. 11:15AM 26 9am-5pm AA-7PM March 7- Skandia Methodist Church Lenten Worship/Soup 6PM March 21- Community Covenant Church Lenten Worship/Soup 6PM

11 Date Acolyte Ushers Lector 02/04 Tiffany Ridolphi Dale Weingartner Betsy Koski 02/11 Luke Kainulainen Jesse & Leah Kainulainen Barb Bach 02/18 Hailey Ridolphi Dale Weingartner Patti Bergdahl 02/25 Tiffanay Ridolphi Donna Oliver & Sandi Ruotsi Sarah Kimball February 1 ~ Eric Thompson February 6 ~ Kristina Thompson February 6 ~ Luke Swetich February 7 ~ Carol Wolf February 9 ~ Sally Weingartner February 10 ~ Jacob Mackey February 14 ~ Betsy Koski February 15 ~ Jon Berglund February 17 ~ Vernon Haglund February 17 ~ Donna Oliver February 18 ~ Herb Anderson February 19 ~ David Ridolphi February 22 ~ Whitney Swanson February 23 ~ Sandi Ruotsi February 25 ~ Nina Ingalls February 25 ~ Cindy Shelton February 28 ~ Patti Bergdahl February 4 ~ Dan & Pam Bahrman

12 The February Enlightener Emanuel Lutheran Church P.O. Box 160 Skandia, MI Emanuel Lutheran Church is a people centered in Christ, rich in heritage and beauty, living out Christ s openness to all. Our ministry is to spread the word of God in our community through service, education and fellowship, creating a sense of family as we break bread together in the company of Christ.