Trinity Lutheran Church December 2016 Newsletter

Transcription

1 Trinity Lutheran Church December 2016 Newsletter Worship Services 9:00 AM, Sundays 5:30 PM, Wednesdays Holy Communion at all services. Christmas Eve Saturday, December 24 4:30 PM.Candlelight Service A Trinity family brings in the Holy Family. Nursery provided. 9:00 PM...Candlelight Service with Holy Communion Christmas Sunday, December 25 9:00 AM...Service with carols and Holy Communion

2 Family Sunday- December 4th The kids will sing during the worship service. Please meet in Jacobsen Fellowship Hall by 8:45 AM. FAIR Who: Kids of all Ages Parents Caregivers Grandparents All are welcome! When: Sunday, December 4 th, 10:30 11:30 Where: Meet in Trinity Hall Experience Advent; What does it mean? Make an Advent wreath, manager ornament and much more. The Family Faith Formation Team along with the Confirmation kids will be hosting the event.

3 Cheer Gifts Thursday, December 1st and Friday, December 2nd These small poinsettias are given each year as a way to show our love and caring to our homebound and members over 80. Volunteer drivers are needed. Please contact Marlin & Sharon at if you are able to help. Trinity will ring the bell for the Salvation Army on Monday, December 5th at Hy-Vee TLCW Christmas Meeting Wednesday, December 7th at 1:30 PM Trinity Hall There will be a short meeting, coffee and dessert. Albert Lea High School Chorale will perform at 2:30 PM The concert is open to all men and women.

4 Children s Christmas Program Practice Saturday, December 10th at 9:00 AM Sunday, December 11th at 10:30 AM Brunch Sunday, December 11th 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM Menu: French Toast Bake, scrambled eggs, ham, sausage, fruit, milk, orange juice, and coffee. Come after worship or after the Children s Christmas Program. Free will donation. Served by the Life & Mission Committee Angel Tree Shopping Shopping for the Angel Tree is happening on Sunday, December 11. We will leave at approximately 12:30 PM. There is a sign-up sheet on the opportunity table. Everyone is welcome to come shopping. Please join us for this heart-warming experience!

5 Dear Trinity Family, On Sunday, December 18th, Shorty and I will be celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary, and we would like to invite you to the celebration. We will be renewing our wedding vows at 1:30 p.m., Pastor Eileen officiating. This will be followed by an anniversary open house celebration in Trinity Hall from 2:00-4:00 p.m., with a short program at 2:45 p.m. Your presence will be our gift. Celebrating His love and ours, Shorty and Nancy Jensen Trinity Book Club We meet on the 3 rd Monday of each month in Jacobsen Hall at 6:30pm and would love to have you attend. We will not meet in December. January 16,2017- Monday@6:30pm: A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman. Fredrik Backman's novel about the angry old man next door is a thoughtful and charming exploration of the profound impact one life has on countless others. February 6:30pm- Sarah s Keys by Tatiana de Rosnay. Tatiana de Rosnay offers us a brilliantly subtle, compelling portrait of France under occupation and reveals the taboos and silence that surround this painful episode. If you have a good book to recommend or have any questions please contact Cindy Golbuff at: or scgolbuff@wctatel.net

6 Wednesday Night Suppers Serving time: 5:00 to 6:30 PM Supper will be served in Trinity Hall. Everyone is invited. We are looking for volunteers to prepare meals. There is a sign-up sheet on the opportunity table. If you have any questions, please contact Jean Pestorious at Suppers will not be served on Wednesdays, December 28 and January 4th. Trinity will be serving at Loaves & Fishes on December 19th. If you would like to help cook and/or serve there is a sign-up sheet on the opportunity table. Loaves & Fishes is held at St. Theodore s Catholic Church. Cooks should be there at 1:30 PM and servers at 4:00 PM. Sunday, January 15th at 1:00 PM in Trinity Hall

7 Greeting Trinity congregation! Advent Season is here! The Family Faith Formation team has great programming in store for you. We will kick off the season with the Family Advent Festival. The festival will be Sunday December 4 th from 10:30-11:30. On Saturday December 10 th we will have our Christmas Program practice starting at 9:00 am. We are planning on it being done by 10:30 am. The congregation is invited to join our children present this year s program on Sunday December 11 th at 10:30 am. Watch for details on the Angel Tree in this newsletter. We will shop for those gifts on December 11 th as well. As we move into 2017 the FFF team needs your help. We are looking for volunteers to help with special events, scholarships, a mission trip, youth group activities, VBS, and Kids Welcome Donuts. Please contact me if you are interested in helping with any of these events/activities. For Trinity to have a strong Family Faith Formation, we need everyone s help, anyway you can. A big thank you to our recent volunteers; Scott and Cindy for their work on the David and Goliath Family Sunday, Ann and Scott Goodmanson for their work with special events, MaChar for chaperoning the confirmation trip, Pastor Eileen for helping with messages at group time during FFF and for agreeing to coordinate the Faith Milestone Program, Lance Skov for volunteering to help with a mission trip and Andrea and Mike for running Kids Welcome Donuts. Looking ahead, we will work on setting up a service project for the youth, ordering winter curriculum, setting dates for the faith milestone classes, and continue to plan family Sundays. Gods Peace, Kim Nelson, Family Faith Formation Coordinator

8 President...Jean Pestorious Secretary...Andrea Jensen 2016 Church Council Vice President...Todd Heavner Treasurer...Ron Peterson Church Council Meeting: Thursday, December 8th at 6:00 PM All committee meetings will be held on Thursday, December 1st at 6:00 PM Everyone is welcomed to attend the meetings. Family Faith Formation Theresa Bush Charla DePoppe Chris Hansen Mary Ness Life & Missions Jean Pestorious Verlaine Williams Worship & Music Gloria Fitzgerald Kelly Gleason Cindy Golbuff Finance Todd Heavner Ron Petersen Chris Skogheim Premises Carla Johnson Tom Nygaard Bob Yaw Terms end in January of the year listed. Trinity s Mission Statement We are a fellowship of believers in Christ, sustained by God s Word, led by the Holy Spirit and committed to God s vision of caring!

9 All Saint s Sunday Family Sunday David & Goliath Confirmation Retreat

10 Trinity Lutheran Church Women By Coreen Johnson & Marlene Wright "She opens her hand to the poor, and reaches out her hands to the needy." Proverbs 31:20 Thank you to everyone who has made the 2016 a successful year for the TLCW! There are many dedicated ladies supporting activities of our church community. You are awesome! "Many hands make light work!" Thanks also to the 2016 TLCW Board members. Marlene Wright and Coreen Johnson - Co-Presidents, Karen Nelson - Vice-President, Mary Rozenboom - Secretary, Nancianna Jensen - Treasurer, Phyllis Tavis - Mission Community Secretary, Jan Drews - Mission Growth Secretary, Jo Meyer - Mission Action Secretary. The TLCW Board officers for 2017 were installed by Pastor Eileen at the Thank Offering Dinner held on Wednesday, November 8. Trinity's new board members are: LeAnn Juveland and Linda Olson - Co-Presidents, Karen Nelson - Vice President, Mary Roozenboom - Secretary, Nancianna Jensen - Treasurer, Donna Oliva - Mission Community Secretary, Jan Drews - Mission Growth Secretary, Jo Meyer - Mission Action Secretary. The High School Christmas Chorale directed by Diane Heaney will be at Trinity on Wednesday, Dec. 7 at 2:30. There is no charge for this special Christmas program and ALL are invited to attend. We're advertising this in the Tribune and on Facebook hoping to share the Christmas spirit with our community. It's an inspirational way to begin "JESUS IS THE REASON FOR THE SEASON!" We will gather for review of the 2017 budget at 1:30 in Trinity Hall. Coffee and a dessert will be provided. Dates to Remember: Thursday, Dec. 1-9:15 a.m... TLCW Board Meeting at Marlene Wright's home. Meet at the church for carpooling. Tuesday, Dec. 6-2 p.m...bible Study Leaders meet. Wednesday, Dec. 7-1:30 p.m... TLCW Christmas Meeting coffee and dessert Wednesday, Dec. 7-2:30 p.m... Albert Lea High School Chorale Perform Everyone is welcome to attend. No sewing day in December

11 ADVENT BIBLE STUDY What wants to be born in you? Advent is a time of darkness and possibility! Bible Study Circles Tuesday, Dec :00 p.m. Wednesday, Dec.21-9:30 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 21-2:00 p.m. Mary Circle Deborah and Elizabeth Circles Eunice and Lois Circles TLCW Board Meeting Tuesday, January 3rd, 2017 at 9:30 AM Workshop for all circle officers Tuesday, January 3rd, 2017 at 1:30 PM Circle leaders; please remember your address labels. The tenth Triennial Gathering of the women of the ELCA will be held in Minneapolis, July 13-16, What a opportunity to gather in worship with women from all over the United States and abroad. The theme for the Gathering is ALL ANEW challenging us to be renewed and transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit in each of our lives and impacting God s work in our women s organizations. Outstanding, inspiring speakers; informative, helpful workshops; and many lively, educational activities are available to bless you and strength your faith. Funds are available from our TLCW to assist in the cost of registration. For further information check out the website (welcatg.org) and/or contact Pat Goldman ( ) or Jo Meyer ( ).

12 Message from Pastor Eileen When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. Luke 2: 15 & 20 The Woyen family went out to dinner one Thursday to IHOP. As we were getting out of the car, I spotted a gentleman getting into his car with a white, fluffy beard. I pointed him out to Jake and Marty. Jake, not missing a beat, said to his younger brother, Marty look its Saint Nick. Not church Saint Nick. Ho ho Saint Nick. This Christmas will be a special time in the Woyen household. There is so much going on. We have school and church planning and parties. We have Christmas Programs. We have cookies to make and to eat. We have presents to make, to buy, and to wrap. We have to plan a visit to Santa Claus. Both boys will help with the decorating. They love to put the Christmas tree up and all the other decorations. The lights are so pretty as our days get shorter. And I m sure a few viewings of A Charlie Brown Christmas will be showing in our home. We are getting into the Christmas spirit. It is a joy to watch our children discover about Santa. It is also a joy to watch them discover about Jesus whose birth we celebrate this month. Learning and teaching about Santa is easy. Santa is all over the place TV, decorations, and the mall. Our society is Santa crazy. It is not as easy to teach about Jesus. He is not as noticeable, but he is much more important. When presents break or are forgotten, the gift of Jesus is forever! So how are we sharing Jesus with Jake and Marty this Advent season? We are bringing them to worship and Sunday school. We will sing songs and share stories about Jesus. We will bring them to worship and Sunday Family Faith Formation. They will feel God s presence in worship and the activities (even if they might have the wiggles God gives the wiggles or be grouchy from tiredness).

13 We will share a devotional during dinner. I know how busy families are. I sometimes do not see my family all day. Family dinner is important. As a family, we are making a commitment to having devotional time. At our family dinner, we will light the advent wreath to prepare for Jesus. They like to blow out candles. They ll have to take turns. It will also bring a specialness to our meal and to Advent. Finally, my husband and I will tell Jake and Marty that Jesus is coming. Perhaps instead of saying the Lord be with you And also with you, we should say this Advent Jesus is coming And loves you too. This Advent join me in sharing with our children and our families about the love of God through Jesus. It is the best gift you will ever give. Some ideas to bring Advent into your Christmas Preparation: Pick up an Advent Devotional. There will be Advent Devotionals available for all ages between Jacobsen Hall and the Sanctuary beginning Sunday, November 27 th. Do an Advent Giving Box. Place a non-perishable food or household item in a box for each day of Advent. Do a Random Act of Kindness every day in Advent. Print out your own Random Act of Kindness Advent Calendar at Make a commitment to worship during the Season of Advent and make a habit of worshipping and thanking God. Worship is 9 am on Sundays and 5:30 pm on Wednesdays. Make a commitment to studying God s word. Come to our many Bible studies: Thursday 9:30, Men s Saturday Bible 7 am, Women s Circle Studies, and Sunday Family Faith 10:30. Participate in the fun Family Faith Formation Advent Fair Sunday, December 10:30.

14 Announcements from Pastor Eileen... December Mentor Event will be on Sunday, December 11 th. We will join in the Christmas Brunch after the Christmas Program and the Angel Tree Christmas Present Shopping. If student or mentor cannot attend, please speak with MaChar Kingstrom. Confirmation Christmas Party will be Sunday, December 18 5:00 in The Whole! Along with fun, bring a White Elephant gift (something around the house you no longer need or a gift $10 or less) and wrap it up in some new crazy socks. We are introducing a new bulletin format during the season of Advent. The new format hopefully will be easier to understand and eliminate some paper waste. Inclusive Large Print bulletins will still be available, and worship will be available on the worship screens. Dear Trinity Lutheran Family, Thank you for all your support and prayers during Steven s recent accident and surgery. He is doing much better. We are so grateful for our new Minnesota family. God s Peace, Pastors Steven & Eileen, Jake & Marty Woyen Finance As 2016 comes to a close, the finance committee would like to thank all of our Trinity members and friends for your financial support. At this time of year, many of us consider giving a special gift or memorial to Trinity. Our suggestion would be to give a contribution to our ongoing capital improvement fund. In the past two years we have replaced carpet and many of the doors, repaired the sanctuary foundation, and upgraded the audio/visual system. We also need to do some minor roof repairs. Trinity has also benefitted from our Thrivent members donating their Choice Dollars. A few members have also formed Thrivent Action Teams for special projects. These have included Splash, homebound ministries, and Wednesday night suppers. If you are interested in forming a team, contact Ron Petersen. Thank you again for all of your support to Trinity. s/ron Petersen, Treasurer

15 Life & Missions What a joyous and exciting time of the year. Our Wednesday Night Meals have been going really well. It s so fun to see the kids and adults attend these. We are Thankful for the members that have volunteered to prepare the meal, serve the meal, and volunteers that have brought food to serve. We will continue these meals with exception of no meal on November 23 rd. Please come and bring a friend or neighbor. So off what Trinity has to offer. Our schedule to serve Loaves and Fishes at St. Theodore s Church will be Monday November 21 st and December 19 th. Please sign up on the sheets on the Opportunity Table. Thank you for helping prepare and serve. You will find it fun and very worthwhile. Our mission can be served in many ways. The Salvation Army Bell Ringing sign-up sheet is on the Opportunity Table. The date is December 5 th at Hy-Vee from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Again,thanks to all the bell ringers. Our December Brunch will be on the 11 following church services. This is in conjunction with the Children s Christmas Program. The menu will include the French toast bake, scrambled eggs, ham, sausage, fruit, milk, orange juice, and coffee. Come before the program or after the program. We will be meeting as a committee with the help of volunteers to write and send Thanksgiving Cards to members 80 plus. We include a Bible Verse in the card and hope this brightens the Thanksgiving season. As a committee we also send cards to encourage members as they following a route to recovery from illness, surgery, or other problems. As a council it was decided to purchase permanent name tags for all members. These will be magnetic and will be kept on a magnet board. Members will pick up their name tags, wear them during service and then return them to the board as they leave. The council felt this will help new members as well as current members got know each other s name. We continue to be the weekly Welcome Ministers at which time we welcome all members and visitors, point out upcoming events, and bring any other pertinent information to the congregation. Our next meeting is December 1 st at 6:00 p.m. s/jean Pestorious, Chairperson

16 Family Faith Formation With Advent approaching and with thoughts turning towards the time when we celebrate the birth of Jesus, I thought I would share an experience I had a few nights ago. It was about 1:00 in the morning and my dog decided she needed to go outside. After putting her on her leashing and stepping out the door, I noticed how it was a chilly, calm night. Frost was forming on the car windows and there was a touch of dew on the grass. I was facing east when I noticed a shooting star. It left a long trail as it fell towards earth, showing where it had been and also pointing the direction in which it was going. Shooting stars have always amazed me because they travel millions of miles through space just to burn up in our atmosphere. This reminds me of our life. We can live for years and years and then we are gone in a flash. This brings to mind a couple of verses from the Bible. James 4:14 Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Psalm 102:3 For my days pass away like smoke, and my bones burn like a furnace. This also reminds me of another star that shone bright in the night sky 2016 years ago. It too pointed out a trail. A trail that has taken mankind on a journey of salvation. Father God, I pray that you will heal our country s wounds and make us One Nation Under God again. Grant our leaders past, present and Future wisdom to deal with world problems while following your word. Amen! I would like to thank Scott and Cindy for hosting The November Family Faith Formation Sunday. The theme was David and Goliath. Children took turns throwing bean bags at Goliath. They also were able to make sling shots Not real ones. And I would also like to say thank you to all who gave of their time to help on this day. Some important events coming up include: Angel tree shopping. The trees and tags are up. If you would like to help a child receive a gift, take a tag and buy a present for the child in that age group listed on the tag.

17 Please remember the date December 11 th. We will be taking the Church bus to go shopping and fulfill as many remaining Angel tree tags as we can. Look for sign-up sheets so you can go with us. We will be leaving after Brunch and should be done in about 1 to 1 ½ hours. Christmas Program: December 11 th after the Church service. Advent Family Faith Formation Family Sunday December 4 th s/chris Hansen, Chairperson Worship and Music The days are much shorter, but things go on at Church as usual. As we enter this awesome time of Advent and Christmas many things are happening. So many things for our children and families, which is actually all of us. We all need to try to attend some of the family things happening, so much planning and thought goes into these events and people need to know it is appreciated. There is an Advent fair and each Sunday during Advent there are special things going on during Worship. Poinsettias will be adorning our Altar area on the second Sunday of Advent, along with all the decorations that will be done after Thanksgiving. Many thanks to all who helped. Our Christmas Eve services will be at the same time as always, 4:30 and 9:00PM. There will something special at the earlier service which is normally well attended by families. So this year each service will be a little different from the other one. There will be candlelight at each, so also many things the same. Then Christmas Day this year is on a Sunday, so it will be the usual 9:00AM time, with it being a regular Sunday Worship service. Watch the bulletins for any other special happenings at Church. Please remember the Reason for the Season ; it s called CHRISTmas because it is a celebration of our Lord s birthday. It gets hectic and we think the important thing is presents, but we already have been given the greatest gift of all, our Lord. Hug your family, be grateful for your Blessings and choose to be thankful. Hope to see you in Church for one or all of the happenings. Thanks be to God s/andrea Jensen, Chairperson

18 Preparing for Worship Sunday, December 04, Second Sunday of Advent Isaiah 11:1-10 From David s line, a ruler bringing justice and peace Psalm 72:1-7, May the righteous flourish; let there be an abundance of peace. (Ps. 72:7) Romans 15:4-13 Live in harmony, welcoming one another Matthew 3:1-12 A voice cries: Prepare the way of the Lord Sunday, December 11, 2016-Third Sunday of Advent Isaiah 35:1-10 The desert blooms as God s people return from exile Psalm 146:5-10 The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down. (Ps. 146:8) Luke 1:46b-55 (alternate) My spirit rejoices in God my Savior. (Lk. 1:47) James 5:7-10 Patience until the coming of the Lord Matthew 11:2-11 The forerunner of Christ Sunday, December 18, 2016-Fourth Sunday of Advent Isaiah 7:10-16 The sign of Immanuel Psalm 80:1-7, Let your face shine upon us, and we shall be saved. (Ps. 80:7) Romans 1:1-7 Paul s greeting to the church at Rome Matthew 1:18-25 A God near at hand Sunday, December 25, 2016 Nativity of Our Lord II: Christmas Day Isaiah 62:6-12 God comes to restore the people Psalm 97 Light dawns for the righteous, and joy for the honest of heart. (Ps. 97:11) Titus 3:4-7 Saved through water and the Spirit Luke 2:[1-7] 8-20 The birth of the Messiah revealed to shepherds

19 Memorials Given in Loving Memory of... Sound System Dolly Levisen by Jan Drews by Marlene Wright Linda Nelson, Fern Rockwell s daughter-in-law by Dale & Gloria Jensen Margaret Nygaard, Tom Nygaard s mother by Earl & Gayle Neist by Marlene Wright by Friends & Family Dean Means by Marlene Wright Music Fund Margaret Nygaard, Tom Nygaard s mother by Dick & Lorraine Anderson Youth Fund Linda Nelson, Fern Rockwell s daughter-in-law by Mary Ann Martinson Larry Bluhm by Rebecca Bluhm Undesignated Family Members by Selma Lent Larry Bluhm by Rebecca Bluhm Linda Nelson, Fern Rockwell s daughter-in-law by Friends & Family Diane Sorenson by Ron Petersen Roy Springborg by Ron Petersen Dolly Levisen by Ron Petersen Records from November 2016 Average Attendance Sundays: 153 Wednesdays: 14 Baptism Saturday, October 29, 2016 Piper Lee Balfe, daughter of Daniel & Meghan Balfe. Sponsors are Duane & Amber Engebretson and Keith & Heather Paulson.

20 Trinity Lutheran Church 501 S. Washington Albert Lea MN Phone: Web Site: Facebook: Pastor Eileen Woyen Pastor Eileen s pastor@tlc-al.org December 2016 Newsletter Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage PAID Permit No. 230 Albert Lea, MN

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