2nd Annual ALC Senior Youth Fundraiser 5K Run/Walk. Saturday, April 19th Registration (8am) 5K Run/Walk (9am)

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1 April 2014 Newsletter Soup Supper Serving starts at 5:30 PM *denotes LIA Group Serving Worship Begins at 6:45 PM April 2nd*: Forsaken (Martha) - Love in Action Group #3 (Chairpersons: Neal & Deb Homan) April 9th*: I Thirst (Woman at the Well) - Love in Action Group #4 (Chairpersons: Ron & Sandy Boe, Gary & Karla Wellnitz) April 17th*: Maundy Thursday- Love in Action Group #5 (Chairpersons: Bob & Gwen Biersbach, Neil & Cheryl Pauli) Each week continuing until April 17th, a SOUP SUPPER will be held starting at 5:30PM. Please sign-up at the Welcome Center to bring soup/bread/cookies or helping serve. The LIA chairpersons will call on an as-needed basis if more help or food is needed on your group s given evening to serve. 2nd Annual ALC Senior Youth Fundraiser 5K Run/Walk Saturday, April 19th Registration (8am) 5K Run/Walk (9am) Watch Bulletin, Website, Facebook, & Big Screen for more details! Who Do You Say That I Am An Easter Cantata by Lloyd Larson Rehearsals each Sunday 1:00-2:30PM in the ALC Music Room (Monologues from John, Peter, Mary, the sister of Lazarus, Pontius Pilate, Joseph of Armathea, & Mary Magdalene) Cantata will be presented on: (Palm Sunday) April 13th 9am ALC Worship Service 2:30pm Open to Community ALL ARE WELCOME! Contact the ALC Office at (605) for more info

2 PASTOR S MESSAGE During the week of April 13 th to the 20 th American Lutheran Church will observe the Holy Week festivities that will culminate with the Festival of the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior on Easter Sunday. This is the most holy of times in the life of the church and there are a numerous ways in which each can celebrate the holiness. We can share an Easter feast with family and friends. We can put out the candy for children. We can focus on the images of Holy Week: the cross, now draped in white, the blooming lilies on the altar, and pictures of the risen Lord or the empty tomb. But none of these ideas or images are as powerful in our time of celebration than to come together as brothers and sisters in Christ to worship our risen Savior as a church family. When we come together in the name of Christ Jesus, and hear the words The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you, we experience the promises made to us by God through His risen Son, and we understand that the Good News is truly for all. We come away hopeful, refreshed, and restored through the Word made flesh, risen for us. The Augsburg Confession states that the chief sign of the risen Christ - is the baptized assembly to whom the Gospel is preached in its purity and the Holy Sacraments are administered according to the Gospel. So -come to meet God through the invitation to free yourselves of the burden of daily life as words of reconciliation are shared. -come to meet God through the hearing of His compassionate Word of new life in and through His Son. -come to meet God in honest preaching. -come to meet God in the bread and wine of communion from which Christ sustains us. -come to meet God through the Sprit who upholds us in the promise of a new beginning. Come to the Holy Week worship and meet God in the celebration of our Risen Savior. I ll See You on Sunday. In Christ, Pastor Carl LECTIONARY FOR APRIL 1st Reading Psalm 2nd Reading Gospel April 6 Ezek 37:1-14 PS 130 Rom 8:6-11 John 11:1-45 April 13 Isaiah 50:4-9 PS 31:9-16 Philippians 2:5-11 Matthew 26:14 to 27:54 April 17 Exodus 12:1-14 PS 116:1-2, Corinthians 11:23-26 John 13:1-7, April 18 Isaiah 52:13 to 53:12 PS 22 Hebrews 10:16-25 John 18:1 to 19:42 April 20 Acts 10:34-43 PS 118:1-2, Colossians 3:1-4 Matthew 28:1-10 April 27 Acts 2:14a, PS 16 1 Peter 1:3-9 John 20:19-31

3 CHURCH COUNCIL UPDATE Pastor Carl Larson Administrative Ass t Carol Ydstie Church Council President Emily Mueller Vice President Gary Wellnitz Secretary Jennifer Waniorek Treasurer Mary Bjordahl Property/Mgm t Gerald Grimm Neil Pauli Gary Wellnitz At the March Council Meeting, the council was presented with a very generous gift of money from the late Doloris Peterson. In the next few months, the council will be looking at the best ways to use that money throughout the church. One way we have looked at is using a portion of this money by hiring members to take on some of the Youth and Education coordinating. Council passed a motion in March to establish a personnel committee. If you are interested in being on this committee, please let one of the council members know. Worship and Evangelism has been looking at different options for buying new hymnals, which are needed for music licensing. The need is about 200 hymnals at a cost of $24 each. We are also looking at doing a new directory this fall, so watch for more information about that as well. There are lots of exciting activities and events going on in the next couple of months and many ways to get involved. Please continue to bring the council members your thoughts and ideas and keep us in your prayers as we work to make the best decisions for the church. Emily Mueller Council President Youth & Education Emily Mueller Jessica Zemlicka Deb Homan Finance Jason Mischel Robert Biersbach Shane Schuchard Worship & Evangelism Jennifer Waniorek Shirley Olson Ron Boe Financial Update (As of February 28, 2014) General Checking Account Balance $ YTD Offering YTD Expenses $39, (Budget) $35, (Actual) $39, (Budget) $38, (Actual) Dedicated Checking Account Balance $51, *Benevolence is being paid at the end of each month-10% of the offering received that month) Thank You for directing your Thrivent Choice Dollars to American Lutheran Church. The dollars go into a separate checking account and the fund is used for the benefit of our youth, our mission projects, our South Dakota Lutherans Outdoors camps and music programs here at American Lutheran, as well as providing funds for help with other programs within our church and community. We strive to live our vision statement: American Evangelical Lutheran.A Beacon of God s Love, A Home for All People. We thank you for your support. In Christ s Love, American Lutheran Church

4 M EMBER S POTLIGHT Nathan & Amy Bass Thomas & Sophia Hi, we re the Bass Family! We are Nathan, Amy, Thomas and Sophia. We have lived near Milbank for four years. Nathan started a job as Cheese Plant Manager at Valley Queen at the beginning of the year and is enjoying his new position. Amy stays at home and is always busy keeping up with two energetic kids. Thomas will be five and Sophia will be two, both in July. Nathan s hobbies include hunting, golfing, and keeping up with Jackrabbit sports! Amy enjoys photography, DIY projects, and spending time with family. Thomas likes playing with friends, coloring and playing outside. Sophia likes to color and play with baby dolls. We are very glad to be a part of the American Lutheran Church family! Our men and women in the Armed Forces would love to hear from us back home. If you d like to send mail, here is their address: Name 1742nd TC Kandahar Airfield Afghanistan APO AE09355 M USIC N OTES Rehearsal Practice 6PM We are looking for more interested individuals to lend their talents in vocals, bass, guitar, drums, and piano. For more information, please contact: Scott Torness Brenda Maass Amy Lease Susan Stinson Mark St. Martin Manna desires to weave a tapestry of old and new music together in worship

5 MINISTRIES THANK YOU to the individuals who brought food items (soup, bread, bars) for the Lenten Suppers. Very much appreciated! Page Turners Book Club 7:00 PM -Every 3rd Thursday of the month (Discussions will last no longer than an hour) NOTE: April s Meeting will be held April 24 April Selection: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte May Selection: The Long-Shining Waters by Danielle Sosin All are welcome to join the group! Bring along another book lover to the discussions Informal & all readers are welcome to attend! Blood Pressure Checks Sunday, April 6th After church service By the time the newsletter is printed the walkers will have gotten to Las Vegas, with only about 300 miles to get to San Diego. We have had some injuries so it is taking us a little longer to reach our destination. We will get together after Easter to celebrate our accomplishments. -Diana Dirksen, Parish Nurse Talking Points Topics in Christian-Muslim Relations Wednesday Morning Bible Study 10:00 am WHO? ME? WOMEN OF FAITH MAKING A DIFFERENCE Women of the ELCA Spring Joy Ranch April 26, :00-3:00 Cost: $10 All Are Welcome! (See the flyer on the bulletin board for details and sign-up at the Welcome Center to car pool) Tom & Joan Aho Nathan & Amy Bass Robert Beyer Kevin & Mary Bjordahl Jessica Bohlen Gordon Bracht Chuck & Laura Foss Patty Frazee Chris Giesen & Ashley Smith Gerald & Lois Grimm* Dave & Karen Hystad Ken Johnson & Kay O Farrell Jerome & Sandy Kathman Janelle Kelly Craig Kirchberg Kevin & Terri Kouba Bryan & Becky Lambrechts Colleen Larson Bette McFarland Jerry & Renee Neuharth Chad & Julie Nolz Dennis & Suzanne Nordquist Clayton & Shirley Olson* Roger & Deb Pauli Janice Quale June Seehafer Dean & Shelley Smith Owen Spanton Jason & Susan Stinson Steve & Wendy Storm David Thompson & Chelsey Ewalt Larry & Dorothy Thompson Don & Margaret Van Veen Jason & Amber Wellnitz *denotes Monthly Chairperson April 22nd (Tuesday) Want to know more or what you can do?

6 Hosanna in the HIGHEST. Matthew 21:9 We had a great month of March! We focused on the letters Rr, Nn, Mm, & Pp, along with the crescent and rectangle shape, color blue, and the number 8. The kids thoroughly enjoyed celebrating Dr. Seuss birthday with a whole week of FUN and learning. We ate green eggs and ham, created many art masterpieces to go along with books we read, and played lots of fun learning games. The highlight during the week was having special visitors come to our room to read to us. We d like to thank Matt Scott, Shawna Przybycien, and Susan Stinson for graciously taking time from their busy day to come to our classroom. (See the pictures below) The fun didn t stop there! We had to get ready for the Leprechauns to come for St. Patrick s Day. We set traps and left notes hoping to catch those sneaky Leprechauns..but, you guessed it, they didn t get caught. Hmmm.. We were fortunate enough to be left with shamrock clues in which we solved the riddles to find a gold treasure left for us beneath a rainbow. As we began to prepare for Lent, we helped Pastor Carl with the burning of the palms to make ashes for the Ash Wednesday service. We are looking forward to April to celebrate Easter, enjoy nature and the outdoors (if Spring comes!), along with beginning to start our review of letters, numbers, shapes, etc., as our school year begins to wind down. We wish you all a blessed Easter. Christ Has Risen! -All of us at ALC Preschool On behalf of the Preschool, we would like to say THANK YOU to everyone that has helped support the preschool this year in any capacity. We truly appreciate it! 2nd Annual ALC Preschool Rummage Sale Friday, April 11th (Noon-7pm) Saturday, April 12th (9am-Noon) Any & all donations are appreciated! You may leave your items at the church & mark RUMMAGE on the bag/note. Also, looking for volunteers to sort & set-up on Thursday (4/10) & clean-up on Saturday. Sign-up at Welcome Center Questions? Please ask... Want to help? There s many ways! Any help is greatly appreciated!!!! Monetary Donations (to be used for ideas such as equipment, furnishings, supplies, etc.) Snacks/Drinks Giving Tree Donations for Financial Scholarships* Thrivent Choice Dollars Reading or Doing an Activity *Please mark intended scholarship donations as such, and you may give them to Pastor Carl, Mary, Carol, or any preschool board members. REGISTRATION Classes held Monday-Thursday 3 Year Olds: 8:15-11:15 AM 4 Year Olds: 12:15-3:15 PM Monthly Tuition: $144 For more info, please contact: Church Office ( ) alcps@itcmilbank.com (Registration Packets available at Welcome Center)

7 ENJOY A FAMILY TRADITION! You need: Easter Story Cookies To be made the evening before Easter 1c. whole pecans 1 tsp. vinegar 3 egg whites pinch salt 1c. sugar zipper baggie tape wooden spoon Bible Preheat oven to 300 (This is important! Don t wait until you re half done with the recipe) Place pecans in zipper baggie and let children beat them with the wooden spoon to break into small pieces. Explain that after Jesus was arrested He was beaten by the Roman soldiers. (Read John 19:1-3) Let each child smell the vinegar. Put 1 tsp. vinegar into mixing bowl. Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross he was given vinegar to drink. (Read John 19:28-30) Add egg whites to vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave His life to give us life. (Read John 10:10-11) Sprinkle a little salt into each child s hand. Let them taste it and brush the rest into the bowl. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus followers, and the bitterness of our own sin. (Read Luke 23:27) So far the ingredients are not very appetizing. Add 1c. sugar. Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us. He wants us to know and belong to Him. (Read Ps. 34:8 and John 3:16) Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12 to 15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed. Explain that the color white represents the purity in God s eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus. (Read Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3) Fold in broken nuts. Drop by teaspoons onto wax paper covered cookie sheet. Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus body was laid. (Read Matt. 27:57-60) Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF. Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door. You re invited to the HolyWord Theater! Movie: Life is Beautiful A New Film by Roberto Benigni Sunday, April 13th Enjoy pizza at 4:30 PM & the movie showing at 5PM Popcorn, peanuts, and goodies will be served Come and enjoy a great movie! Interested? Sign-up at the Welcome Center

8 Not able to make it to church? Are you wanting to listen to the service? Consider a Radio Ministry sponsorship, which gives others the chance to hear and listen via KMSD-1510AM 98.3FM at 9am on Sundays. Sponsorship is $100 Also, please consider enhancing the sanctuary with flowers. Sign-up sheets are available on the Kiosk located in the Narthex. Easter Lilies We d love to adorn the sanctuary for our Easter Celebration. Would you like to share your Easter Lilies during Easter weekend? Please sign-up at the Welcome Center. Thank you! YOUTH VOLUNTEERS FOR MARCH April 6* April 13 April 20 April 27 Acolyte *Rail Communion Brandon Hansen Nathan Loutsch Anna Johnson Isaac Nolz Elizabeth Smith Coffee & Fellowship Kate Leddy Hannah Scriver Tannah Kathman Caleb Nolz Alysha & Miranda Madsen Chris Loutsch Easter Sunday Jordan Thiele Maddie & Nolan Foss Caden Bjordahl Bulletin Delivery Kayla Pinkert Trevor Stickland Kate Leddy Hannah Scriver Note: If you are unable to serve on your particular Sunday, PLEASE find a replacement and notify the Church Office. Above all, THANK YOU for everything! April Birthdays & Anniversaries Lavonne Fraasch McKenna Peterson Darby Waniorek Kay Thompson Kenzey Anderson Cheryl Pauli Amy Bass Valerie Goetz Michelle Wellnitz David & Ruth Gulck (w) Jim Aden Ed & Pam Dorneman (w) LaRon Unzen Joel Foster Bruce & Janet Granquist (w) Mackenzie Foss Deb Homan Craig Barlund Larry Thompson Ralph Stinson Tim Storm Scott & Lisa Torness (w) Shelby Oliver Renee Neuharth Jack & Linda Stengel (w) Deanna Stickland Parker Cordingley Richard Pauli Darin & Jennifer Thiele (w) Kim Bjerke Dennis Nordquist Jack Stengel Deb Appl Bill Gruba Griffin Lease LaRon & Jody Unzen (w) Zadie Frederiksen Michael Smith Tom & Melissa Schuneman (w) Don & Margaret Van Veen (w) Mark Mueller Carter Boerger Stephanie Gruba Isaac Nolz Mark St. Martin Val Mears Kathy Morris Mark & Beth St. Martin (w) Amy DeLong Keith Grabow Barb Prisinger Kevin Reedstrom Dar Prisinger Braxton Boerger

9 American Lutheran Church Calendar of Events April 2014 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday am Bible Study 7am Men's Bible Study 3:30 Confirmation 6pm ALC Manna 5:15 Note-a-bells 5:30 Soup Supper 6:45 Worship am Worship*/KMSD 9-10:30 TOT School 9am Quilting 10am Bible Study 7am Men's Bible Study Noon-7pm 9am-Noon 9:57 Education Hour 7pm Boy Scouts 3:30 Confirmation 6pm ALC Manna Preschool Fndsr Preschool Fndsr 10am Coffee Fellowship 5:15 Note-a-bells Rummage Sale Rummage Sale 10am Blood Pressure Checks 5:30 Soup Supper 9am Altar Guild Cleaning 1pm Cantata Rehearsal 6:45 Worship 7:15 Church Council PALM SUNDAY 9-10:30 TOT School 12:00 Peace Circle 10am Bible Study Maundy Thursday Good Friday 5K Easter Run/Walk 9am Worship*/KMSD 7pm Boy Scouts 2pm Alzheimer 3:30 Confirmation 7am Bible Study 9:57 Education Hour Support Group 5:30 Note-a-bells 2pm St. Williams Noon - Worship 11am Bridal Shower for 10am Coffee Fellowship 5:30 Soup Supper Miranda Stengel 2:30 Cantata "Who Do You Say That I Am?" 6:45 Worship 5pm Movie Night Life is Beautiful EASTER Office Closed DEADLINE 10am Bible Study 7am Men's Bible Study Piano Guild 9am WELCA Spring Gathering 9am Worship*/KMSD May Parish Light 3:30 Confirmation 6pm ALC Manna at Joy Ranch 10am Coffee Fellowship 9am Quilting 5:30 Note-a-bells 7pm Page Turners Book Club 5pm Rehearsal 5pm Wedding Holy Humor Sunday 9-10:30 TOT School 10am Bible Study *Communion Served 9am Worship*/KMSD 7pm Boy Scouts 5pm Conf. Mentor Night Listen on 1510AM 98.3FM 9:57 Education Hour 5:30 Note-a-bells For LIVE radio broadcast 10am Coffee Fellowship 7pm Chancel Choir 10am May Love in Action Anne Femling & Travis Lester