Faith Connection December 2014

Transcription

1 Faith Connection December 2014 A Song for Joseph by Dave Nelson (to the tune Away in the Manger) WORSHIP TIMES 8:00 a.m. Traditional 10:30 a.m. Voices of Praise 9:15 Education Hour Coffee Fellowship Come and Join Us Mission Statement Our mission is to be a community of loving People who spread God s grace by teaching God s word, connecting followers in faith, and serving others. Dar Schubert Rebecka Parker Pam Johnson To Joseph an angel appeared in a dream Do not be afraid for it s not as it seems The child Mary carries is sent from above The work of God s Spirit a gift of God s Love. So Joseph, believing, took Mary, his wife. And cared for her, loved her, the rest of his life. And when that day came when young Mary gave birth He named the child Jesus, our God come to earth. O God of surprises, O God of great love. We praise you for this wondrous gift from above For in the child Jesus you entered our pain That through him, our Savior, true life we would gain. Dear Father in heaven, O help us we pray Like Joseph, to trust and believe what you say That in us, and through us, Your will may be done So all in this world will rejoice in Your Son. Pastor Bob Merry Christmas from Faith Lutheran Staff Lisa & Harry Wallis Beth Behnke Seper Roger Keller Wednesday, December 24 Worship times are: 3:00, 5:00 7:30, 10:00 p.m. For a more detailedschedule turn to page 3 of the newsletter

2 Parish Education & Youth News The Children s Christmas worship is scheduled for Sunday, December 7 at the 10:30 service. There will be a rehearsal on Saturday, December 6 from 10-11am. Milk and Cookies will be provided. There is no Sunday school December 21st and 28th. Beginning January 4, our Sunday school students will begin a new rotation The Miracle Worker: Miracles of Jesus. Children will learn that Jesus calmed a storm, walked on water, multiplied the fish and loaves and brought Lazarus back from the dead. Workshops include Science, Computers, Bible Math and Puppets. The teacher sign up board is in the Narthex. Most workshops are filled, but there is still a need for a Primary teacher for the puppets workshop. Please consider donating your time and talent to the Sunday school program as we look toward the rest of the school year. 7th grade confirmation students will meet Wednesday evening, December 3, to gift shop for the youth residents of Homme Home. The gifts were purchased using Sunday school offering money. Thank our confirmands for living out their faith through service to the community. Quilt Silent Auction!!! Bidding ends Dec 7th for the 2 handmade quilts Piece Corps donated. Proceeds benefit the youth attending the National Youth Gathering in July The quilts are on display in the Narthex. The FLC Transition Team had their first meeting on November 6 with Greg Kaufmann from the Northwest Synod office. The team was informed about the process of calling a new pastor and tasks they would be handling. The team met again on Nov 9 to further discuss the various tasks to be completed. The team will be working closely with Council to make sure we are all working to the same goal. That goal is, to call the future lead/sr. Pastor who will succeed Pastor Bob when he retires. The new Pastor will work with the congregation and its leadership to develop the staff for the future. Transition Team Members Bill Engel Ken Krahn Kris Merkel Suzie Smith Bonnie Brix Dean Brix Sharon Tyrolt Steve Hadlock John Simonson Advent Blessings to all! December is filled with many events and special music. Music at Faith in December: On December 7 at the 10:30 service, the Sunday School children will be presenting their Christmas program called "Candles for Christmas." Throughout the service, we will also enjoy special music from many of the young musicians at Faith Lutheran. On December 14 at the 8:00 service, -- Our Choir will be joined by the choir from First Presbyterian to perform the Christmas Cantata. They will repeat the performance at the 9:30 service at First Presbyterian. If you are interested in sharing special music on Christmas Eve, please add your name to the Christmas Eve sign-up sheet in the narthex. Please join us at one of the Christmas Eve services: 3:00 p.m. - Traditional 5:00 p.m. - Contemporary 7:30 p.m. - Traditional 10:00 p.m. - Traditional The Voices of Praise choir and Faith Fire will be playing music before the 5:00 contemporary Christmas Eve service. If you are planning to attend that service, come early to enjoy the music! There will be one service only at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, December 28. NO SUNDAY SCHOOL Thank you to all of the musicians at Faith Lutheran who have shared their time and talent to help make our Advent and Christmas celebrations meaningful and memorable. How to Contact Us Church Office Pastor Bob Lesher pastorbob@faithofmfld.org Dar Schubert, Secretary secretary@faithofmfld.org Rebecka Parker, Interim Parish Education Coordinator rjdegner@outlook.com Beth Behnke-Seper, Director of Music friendshipgrows@hotmail.com Roger Keller, Choir Director rogerflobeth@gmail.com Website faith@faithofmfld.org

3 Advent and Christmas Worship December 7: 8:00 Traditional Worship, 10:30 Sunday School Christmas Program December 14: 8:00 Choir Cantata with First Presbyterian 10:30 VOP Worship Please Note there will not be a Christmas Tea this year. December 21: 8:00 Traditional Worship, 10:30 VOP Worship NO SUNDAY SCHOOL December 24: Christmas Eve worship with Holy Communion 3:00 p.m. - Traditional 5:00 p.m. - Contemporary 7:30 p.m. - Traditional 10:00 p.m. - Traditional The Voices of Praise choir and Faith Fire will be playing music before the 5:00 contemporary Christmas Eve service. If you are planning to attend that service, come early to enjoy the music! December 28: (First Sunday of Christmas) ONE SERVICE at 9:00 NO SUNDAY SCHOOL Worship Attendants for Christmas Eve Services, There is a sheet in the Narthex for you to sign up if you would like to usher, greet, play special music or acolyte for our Christmas Eve worship services. Thank you for using your gifts to support our worship! OPERATION CHRISTMAS The Operation Christmas Tree is in the Narthex once again decorated with ornaments and names of children and adults in the community who may not otherwise receive a gift for Christmas. The tags will include the age of the person and gift ideas to purchase. If you are unable to shop for a gift but would like to make a donation towards a gift, there will be also be envelopes for donations to Operation Christmas on the tree, as well as envelopes for Mary s Place and the Care Fund. There will also be envelopes marked MAACI on the tree. MAACI certificates are needed to cover the last minute requests for help close to Christmas day. Certificates of any amount are appreciated. The envelopes can be returned with your offerings. The gifts should be wrapped with the ornament and nametag on the package and returned as soon as possible but no later than Sunday, December 14. Next book club meeting is Jan 18, 7PM at Ruth Stram's house. The book is "Me Before You" by Jojo Moyes. Maxine Madison is facilitating. This is a moving story about a young wealthy & athletic man who becomes a depressed quadriplegic, his personal care worker, and the decisions they make. There is much food for thought and discussion in this book. Mar 29 is planned as the following meeting to discuss the book "I Am Malala" by Malala Yousafzai. This is the true story of a brave teenage girl standing up for the rights of all girls to receive an education. How do we change society? How much are we willing to risk to make the world a better place? Host is Karen Bohm. Facilitator is Jean Swenson. Our praise band, Faith Fire, is looking for an ipad 2 (or later generation) to help run our mixer. If you are interested in donating your ipad to the group, please contact Beth Behnke- Seper at friendshipgrows@hotmail.com or Thank you! Christmas Contributions You have envelopes for General Fund and/or Christmas Eve. Anything in the Christmas Eve envelopes, whether it is in a Sunday or Christmas Eve offering plate will be designated as follows: 1/2 to youth for National Youth Conference Trip, 1/4 to Personal Development Center, and 1/4 to Shirley s House of Hope. Anything in the General Fund envelope at any service will go to the General Fund. Faith Connection Published monthly by Faith Lutheran Church Articles Due: Dec 19th Send to : secretary@faithofmfld.org

4 Altar Teams 28 people have signed up to serve and we need 10 more to fill out the teams. 6 months are in need of 1 or 2 people. No experience needed, on the job training. With a full team you need not be there every set-up or clean-up time. A sign-up sheet is on the Narthex board. For questions call Sharon Tyrolt HELP! We have a great need for people to help with altar for the month of Dec. Please consider if you can fill in for one or more Sundays and/or help with communion on Christmas Eve. There is a sign-up sheet in the narthex. Direct questions to Sharon Tyrolt. Our church family is asked to help make Christmas brighter for the boys and girls (ages yrs.) at Homme Home in Wittenberg Council Representatives Gary Laehn President gary.laehn@yahoo.com Lisa Helstein Vice President, Social Concerns/Green heslteinlkh@aol.com Kari Jensen Secretary, Worship & Music jensens4@tds.net Bill Olsen Treasurer billolsen@tds.net Steve Hadlock Library pshadlock@gmail.com Dale Bohm Property dkrbohm@frontier.com Noah Behling Youth behlingfamily@gmail.com Mark Zimmerman Congregational Life mzimmerman@spencer.k12.wi.us Sharon Tyrolt Share the Faith tyrolt@tznet.com Treva Tisdell Parish Education ttisdell@pdcmarshfield.com Jamy Yohn will be delivering your gifts to Homme Home on December 8th. Due date for bring to the church is Sunday, December 7th. Purchasing instructions: select new, quality items; include any wrapping paper, decorations, but DON T wrap the item. Some ideas are: bathrobes, slippers, duffel bags, alarm clocks, stationery, desk lamps, gloves, mittens or knit caps, socks or sweaters or sweatshirts, sporting goods, board games or puzzles, watches or wallets. Thank you for your support! It's that time of year again and once again we are looking for bakers willing to donate their fudge making abilities for the Library Mission Team's annual fudge sale! If you are interested in donating fudge, please bring your fudge to church by 9 am Saturday, Dec 6th. The Fudge sale will be on Sunday, December 7th. God has entrusted to us everything we need to do His work in this world. He has gifted each of us with talents and the time to share those talents. He has also given us resources to carry on His work. In October we filled out Time & Talent and pledge form. The giving of your time, talents and money will make a difference. We are the hands and feet of God and He has called us to work together to do His work. You not only keep the lights on in our church home but you also keep the lights on for those living in a darkened world. For 2015 our members have, to date, pledged just over $300, people, down slightly from last year, have committed to share their time and talents. We are in need of people to take on leadership or be on most of the teams. The church women need people to co-chair 3 of the 4 work groups. These groups rotate in doing events over the year. It may be 2 or 3 times to serve. Thank You Stewardship Mission Team Would you like to donate a poinsettia to decorate and beautify the altar on Christmas Eve? A sheet has been placed on the Narthex table for you to write your name, for whom the plant is in memory of or in honor of, and whether or not you wish to bring a plant yourself, or just donate money in a blue envelope marked "poinsettia". Deadline is December is 19th.

5 WELCA WINTER EVENT (ALL ARE WELCOME!) Ladies: Plan to attend the Faith Lutheran Women s winter event on Tuesday, December 2nd at 6:30 p.m. in Wayplace Dessert will be served first, followed by our program The Heart of Christmas. This program was written by Maxine Madison and takes a look at Christmas carols and their beginnings. Please join us for an evening of fun and inspiration. Bring a friend! Volunteers needed- 3 co-chairs for our congregational family workgroups. These work groups are called upon on a rotating basis for church activities such as women s events, potlucks, or other special events. A chairperson is contacted when a work group is requested. Their responsibility is to call those in their group to find volunteers to donate food/beverage or to help set-up, serve, or clean up for the activity, and coordinate the workers on the day of the event. We would like to have 2 co-chairs for each of the four groups. In the past, the most that a group has been used is twice/year. Call Karen Bohm for more information Giving Envelopes and Picture Directories will be in the Narthex SOON. UPCOMING EVENTS December 30 Tax-deductible contributions for tax year 2014 due by this date. January 12 W/ELCA planning meeting at 6:30pm. Circle chairs & anyone interested please attend. February 1 Congregational Meeting at 11:45 am February 15 W/ELCA Thank Offering February 18 Ash Wednesday Info on meetings cancelled due to inclement weather conditions: Check our Facebook page or listen to the local radio station [WDLB 1450 AM]

6 Council Highlights Treasurer's Report: All bills are paid. We are up to date with benevolence. More expenditures last month due to 3 pay periods. Thanksgiving Offering designated as follows: 1/2 to youth for National Youth Conference Trip, 1/4 to Transitional Center & 1/4 to Mary's Place. Christmas Eve offering is designated as: 1/2 to youth for National Youth Conference Trip, 1/4 to Personal Development Center & 1/4 to Shirley s House of Hope. Transition Team is being chaired by Bill Engel, has met with Greg Kaufman from Synod and is working on the church profile. Council is working on finalizing the budget for Mission teams are encouraged to share information re: anticipated 2015 budget needs with their council representative. FAITH S ENDOWMENT FUND An endowment fund was established here at Faith with two type of funds, unrestricted and restricted. Unrestricted Fund. Money in this fund includes an insurance policy given by Dr. Dean Emmanuel. Other funds have been given as memorials or left to Faith in wills. Only the interest income is used: 1. Capital improvement, debt reduction or building programs of our congregation. 2. Scholarships or grants to members of this congregation for the purpose of attending Seminary; for church-related camping or leadership conferences; or such other training which enables members of this congregation to grow in Christian faith and service to God s people. 3. Outreach in the church community including but not limited to, grant to the ELCA, The Northwest Synod of Wisconsin, and ELCA Seminaries, colleges, social service agencies, institutions and agencies to which this congregation relates and to special programs designed for those persons in our parish area that are in spiritual or economic need. 4. Missions of the ELCA at home and overseas, including but not limited to grants to the ELCA, and /or the Northwest Synod of Wisconsin for new mission development in North America, professional leadership events, educational ministries, world missions and ecumenism. Other, at the discretion of the Board consistent with the Fund purpose of enhancing the benevolent mission of this congregation. Restricted Fund is set up in the names of several people and is to be used as designated. Evelyn Sabrowsky Fund. Evelyn was a member of Faith who donated the money for this fund. Her will stated the income of this fund is to be used to strengthen Christian education, to supplement scholarship funds and to promote Christian leaning, with a focus included for young people. Tamara Malueg Scholarship Fund. Tamara was a teenager who lost her life in an accident. The fund was set up by her family as a memorial to her. The income is used to give scholarships to people attending Lutheran colleges.. Faith s Endowment Fund is a way to continue the mission of Faith for your children and grandchildren. It will help Faith carry out the vital ministries with youth and adults learning to live the trust they have in Christ, maintain our strong connection with the wider church, and contribute to maintenance of the building for those worshipping and being ministered to. We invite you to invest in that future by naming Faith in your will, living trust or giving money to the trust. Do you have an insurance policy that you would like to name the fund as beneficiary? Come, share the future of Faith with your gifts to the Endowment Fund.