January,

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1 January, 2015 Thanks to all of your generous donations to The Giving Tree, our congregation provide new coats, hats and gloves to over 230 children in our community. Our goal for donations was $4,800. To date $5,251 has been gifted to The Giving Tree. Thanks to your generous donations we are able to keep this program running and minister to the children in our community!

2 A New Year? It s a new year. Not only do we turn over a page on the calendar, we begin a whole new calendar. For many, a new year brings promise of a new start, but many don t have such an optimistic view. The bills from over-spending at Christmas are starting to come in, and there s no more money now than there was a month ago. Your boss is still the same old hard-to-get-alongwith guy he was before. Then there s the problem of the extra ten pounds you put on due to all the goodies you consumed. None of this is new. The calendar may say January 2015, but only the date is new. Even King Solomon who wrote Ecclesiastes moaned that,...there is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9). Jeremiah, the Weeping Prophet, had his troubles too. He wrote, Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me (Lamentations 3:19-20). But Jeremiah had another perspective, one that we should adopt as well. He follows those words with, But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness (Lamentations 3:21-23). Instead of looking around us at our circumstances or inside ourselves where there is no hope or inspiration, let us look at God s unfailing compassion and His blessings which He pours out on us daily. Let us spend our prayer time in thanks for all He has done for us and provided for us, rather than in lamenting our sorry state. Let us look to His wisdom to manage His gifts to us in a wiser manner so that we might please Him and be of service in His Kingdom. Especially let us thank Him for the gift of forgiveness and the new start He gives us minute by minute Flower Chart We still have open dates on the 2015 flower chart. It is located in the hallway by the Fourth Street entrance. Simply sign your name in pencil by the date you wish to donate flowers. Do not put down the occasion. A form will be sent to you when your date is near. Dates are chosen on a first come first serve basis. Thank you to everyone who provides flowers for God s altar each Sunday! November Parochial Report Average Attendance Average Sunday School Attn Average Communion Attn November Financial Report November Year To Date Income: $26,345 $236,654 Expense: $22,077 $274,456 Surplus (Deficit) $4,268 ($37,802) Receipts for November were $4,268 more than the expenses, which make up for the $4,321 deficit in October. We thank everyone for their generosity. This puts us back on track toward the projected year end deficit of $30,000. The budget passed for 2014 had a deficit of $19,366 which we have surpassed. The Council is working on the budget, and I am pushing for a Balanced Budget. As of 12/30 the projected income of $250,269, from pledges and other income (Continued next page) The Concordia Society The annual Concordia Society potluck was held on Thursday, December 11. The GSLS Chime Choir presented the program. A good time was had by all. The next Concordia Society meeting will be on Thursday, January 8 at 1:30 p.m. Cindy Miller will be the hostess and devotion leader. New members and visitors are always welcome!

3 Two Important Voter s Meetings Our regularly scheduled January Voter s Assembly Meeting will be held on Thursday, January 15 at 7:00 p.m. A second Voter s Assembly Meeting will be held on Sunday, January 25 at 9:30 a.m., during the Sunday School hour. At this meeting, Rev. Joel Cluver, from the District office will give a presentation on church revitalization, and the congregation will vote on whether it wants to participate. Both of these meetings are very important. Please make every effort to attend. We need your help! On Saturday, January 10 at 10:30 a.m. we will take down the Christmas decorations in our church. We need as many people as possible to take down decorations and pack them away. We especially need young people to help carry the boxes up and down the stairs. If we have enough volunteers it should only take about an 1 1/2 hours. Pennies for Life In celebration of the life God has given to each of us, the Peoria Area Lutherans for Life are asking for our help. They are asking for donations of one penny for each year of age from each member of our congregation, young and old alike. Please bring enough change to represent the number of years of life God has blessed you and your family members with. On Sundays, January 11 & 19, you can put your pennies and other offerings in the container located on the table by the Fourth Street entrance. (Nov. Finance cont.) figures is well below 2014 projected expenses of 297,000. We will get the final figures from the boards in the January Council meeting, and work on a budget for approval at the scheduled January 15 th Voters meeting. As stated before; there are really two ways to get the balanced budget. 1) cut the expenses and 2) increase the income. Council is looking at cutting the expenses on everything from Salaries to services the church presently provides. We are also reviewing the Central Illinois District Revitalization project. Initial presentation was very promising. They have developed a process to November Sunday School Perfect Attendance Emily Anton Hunter Anton Jenavieve Curtis Alex O Conner Nathaniel Prather help put churches on the path of revitalization. On the income side, we thank the people for the many increases we have received in their pledges over last year; and we urge everyone here at Trinity to prayerfully consider the church and to give the Council direction during this budgeting process so His Will is done. Chairman Finance Board, Mike Timian On the Lighter Side A father was approached by his small son who told him proudly, I know what the Bible means! His father smiled and replied, What do you mean, you know what the Bible means? The boy replied, I do know! Okay, said his father. What does the Bible mean? That s easy, Daddy, the young boy replied excitedly. It stands for Basic Information Before Leaving Earth.

4 God s House The small Iowa countyseat was ultra-conservative in both politics and economy. The same basic thought prevailed in the life of the church. The church building was old and had long since passed its true purpose of providing facilities for the tri-fold needs of the congregation: worship, education, and fellowship. Yet the pastor sought in vain to stir the members to give funds for a new structure. Discouraged, and of the opinion that the congregation would gradually die, crumbling away with the ancient building, the pastor had determined to move when he got the opportunity. A couple, faithful members, who had reached the age of retirement, were planning to build a new home. They had carefully saved over the years and the money for the new home was in the bank. They called the pastor to their present home, a modest but well-kept one, and said to him, We have decided that this house, where we have lived for over forty years, is all right for the rest of our lives. We want the money we have saved for a new house to be used for a greater purpose. Today there is an adequate church building in this Iowa town. The congregation faces the future rather than living in the past. All have shared and found joy in their sharing, but they gave only when challenged and inspired by a couple who said: for a greater purpose.

5 January 2015 Service Schedule ACOLYTES GREETERS READERS USHERS FLOWERS January 4 8:15 Lauren Juergens Cameron Speck Jessalyn Bjorling Nick Kreager Bob & Carolyn Cordts Dave & Linda Nash Owen Miller Bill Heren B. Juergens, B. Cordts O. Miller, G. Schumm D. Alexander, L. Cox S. Johannes Christmas Poinsettias January 11 8:15 Enrique Rodriguez Alex O Conner Kylie Cutting Kerrigan Link Eric & Cori Spaeth Mike & Kathy Seidell Eric Spaeth Rob Fornoff D. Harms, C. Whitley B. Schmidt M. Seidell, M. Cordes L. Weyhrich Given by Terry Knollenberg January 18 8:15 Garrett Watson Nicholas Prather Issac Watson Nick Kreager Gary & Sheila Schumm Graham & Amy Watson Terry Knollenberg Bill Heren B. Juergens, B. Cordts O. Miller, G. Schumm D. Alexander, L. Cox S. Johannes Given by Walter & Lynn Brown January 25 8:15 Enrique Rodriguez Conner Speck Hillary Johannes Jessalyn Bjorling Grace Eggena BonnyLou Schmidt Scot & Jenny Johannes Bob Lutz Scott Thompson D. Harms, C. Whitley B. Schmidt M. Seidell, M. Cordes L. Weyhrich Given by Owen Miller

6 January 2015 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 New Year s Day Office Closed :15 AM WORSHIP/ 9:30 AM S.S. & BIBLE CLASS AM WORSHIP 5 7:15 PM DARTBALL VS 1ST PRESBYTERIAN AT TRINITY :30 PM CONCORDIA SOCIETY 7 PM CHURCH COUNCIL :30 AM TAKE DOWN GREENS 11 8:15 AM WORSHIP 9:30 AM S.S. & BIBLE CLASS AM WORSHIP/ 12 7:15 PM DARTBALL VS 2ND REFORM ED AT TRINITY 13 7 PM BOARD OF CHRISTIAN EDUCATION PM VOTER S ASSEMBLY :15 AM WORSHIP/ 9:30 AM S.S. & B. C. AM WORSHIP 19 7:15 PM DARTBALL AT ASSEMBLY OF GOD 20 6:30 PM GSLS BOARD PM BOARD OF TRUSTEES :15 AM WORSHIP 9:30 AM SPECIAL VOTER S ASSEMBLY AM WORSHIP/ 26 7:15 PM DARTBALL AT 1ST BAPTIST AM NEWSLETTER ASSEMBLY 7 PM BOARD OF ELDERS 30 31

7 Two Voter s Assembly Meetings in January! Thursday, January 15 7:00 p.m. We need your help! Saturday, January 10 10:30 a.m....to take down the Christmas decorations and put them away. Sunday, January 25 9:30 a.m. See inside for details!