The Echo UNIVERSITY LUTHERAN CHURCH 2122 University Avenue Grand Forks, North Dakota 58203

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1 NOVEMBER 2016 The Echo UNIVERSITY LUTHERAN CHURCH 2122 University Avenue Grand Forks, North Dakota Margo and I had a wonderful visit to Billings, Montana in October. We spent quality time with our daughter, Erin, her husband, Parker, and their puppy, Gracie Belle. We made a trip to the mountains to hike, prepared them a couple of home cooked meals, played fetch and tug of war nonstop with Gracie, watched Parker s Montana State Yellow Jacket baseball team scrimmage the junior college team from Miles City, visited the school where Erin teaches, had many long talks, and relaxed in a way that we had not done for too long a time. I also spent quite a bit of time running. Each morning I was out early, running along the wide sidewalks and paths of Billings. Billings has a couple more hills than does Grand Forks, and I must admit that I really enjoyed the challenge of running uphill at a higher elevation. I also found and ran through a beautiful cemetery, which had a unique fountain in the center of the grounds. The cemetery was such a peaceful place that I ran through it all three mornings. It was there my runs took on what I will call a philosophical twist. My question was about time. Where does the time go? In my mind, it was only a couple years ago that Erin was born, and now we were visiting her and her husband in Billings. In my mind, it was only a couple of years ago that ULC issued me a call to be their pastor, and now I have been at that call for 23 years. In my mind, Margo and I were married and starting out life together in the recent past, and now we have been married for 31 years. Where did these years go? How did this time manage to pass so quickly? And how much time do I still have? You may consider this last question sort of strange, but I was in a cemetery when it crossed my mind. All the beautiful granite monuments in that Billings cemetery were tributes to people who had lived for a time, and then like all mortal, human beings, died. Their time on this earth was complete. So when will my time be complete? I did not wonder this with any morbid curiosity, nor do I even find myself worrying about it. I just wondered it because I am so grateful for the time the Lord has given me in this world with so many obvious blessings. That was when I decided what I was most thankful for this Thanksgiving is time. Maybe I wish in some ways I was a better manager of time, but still I see embedded in each passing moment of my life, great gift and grace from God. The time we spent with Erin, Parker and Gracie, gift and grace. The time I spent talking Vikings and life on the phone with Michael this past Sunday, gift and grace. The time I spent with Margo in the car driving to and from her aunt s funeral, gift and grace. The 23 years I have spent at ULC with you, gift and grace. I don t mean to leave out other important times God has gifted and graced me with in this life. To name them all, to name all the people I ve shared them with, would be impossible. My point in this very short article is not to name every moment in time I am thankful for, but rather to say out loud before you all that time is not our enemy. Time is God s gift to us. Of course, some times are better than others. I have stood alongside people in hospital rooms, gravesides, and other hard places. While these are never easy moments, God stands with us in such times. In the end, maybe this is what makes time a gift. That God leaves heaven in the person of Jesus Christ, to enter into this world, to enter into time and space, to be with us. This way the best of times and the worst of times are blessed by his presence. I encourage you this Thanksgiving to be thankful for the time God has given you, for the people God has given you to spend time with, for God himself who stands along with you in every moment of time, and finally for the ultimate gift and grace of time that God offers us his children, eternal life in heaven. You are in my prayers,

2 Worship Highlights All Saints Sunday Worship Service is November 6 All Saint s Sunday is a festival of the church year where we give recognition to the saints of the church. Properly speaking, saints are people who have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and his saving work on the cross. At University Lutheran, this is our time to remember those ULC saints from the past year that died with this faith, as well as those who we baptized into this faith. As in previous years, this recognition will include lighting white and red candles on the altar, as well as presenting white and red carnations to the respective families. There will also be opportunity for each one of us to remember those saints who have impacted our lives by the writing of their names on a cross in the back of the sanctuary. Thanksgiving Eve Worship is November 23 For the Beauty of the Earth It is hard to believe, but the holiday season begins this month our Thanksgiving Eve worship service on November 23. The evening will begin with a meal at 5:00 pm. We will enjoy soups, bread, and pumpkin dessert. Worship will begin at 6:00 pm. Our theme this year is, For the Beauty of the Earth. Together we will thank God for the many ways we have been provided for and blessed by God s spectacular creation. We will also collect food items for the Salvation Army Food Pantry. We are suggesting soup, canned fruits and vegetables, cold cereal, peanut butter, and any kind of boxed meals. Of course, we will gladly receive all non-perishable items. We thank you for remembering the hungry in our community. All envelope and cash offerings will go toward ULC, toward overcoming our shortfall. Please join us this evening for this family-oriented evening, and get your Thanksgiving and your holiday season off to a wonderful start. Advent Worship Begins November 27 Advent, our 4 week focus on the coming of Jesus into the world, begins on Sunday, November 27. Our theme for Advent this year will be, A World Hungry for Jesus. Here are the weekly themes: Week 1: Waiting Hungrily for Jesus (November 27 and 30) Week 2: You Look Like Your Brother (December 4 and 7) Week 3: Healing for a Hurting World (December 11 and 14) Week 4: God in Unexpected Places (December 18) In addition to our Advent theme, this will be our month to also emphasize ELCA World Hunger Appeal. Stay tuned for more details!

3 Operation Christmas Child Walking Wet for Children Our Walking Wet emphasis for November is Operation Christmas Child. This is a program of Franklin Graham s relief organization called Samaritan s Purse. The purpose of Operation Christmas Child is simple. We bring a little Christmas joy to needy children across the world by loading shoe boxes full of items these children need and enjoy. The gifts range from soap and toothpaste to candy and toys. Look for the familiar red and green shoe boxes in the narthex. All you have to do is pick up one or more of those boxes, take them home with you, and go shopping. Inside the box will be instructions of what sorts of things you should or might purchase and put in the box. Once you have filled your box, then bring it back to church by November 20. If you do not wish to fill a box, you can simply pick up an item or two and we can put them in boxes for you. Also, each box costs $7 to ship overseas, so if you are wishing to make a donation to help us to send the boxes that would be awesome! Thank you so much for your willingness to walk wet for the children of our world! ULC Serves Love Feast Tuesday, November 22 This is the 15 th year of Love Feast! ULC has been active serving one monthly meal for all 15 years. This meal is a great opportunity for churches to provide hot and delicious meals in a community setting for a wide variety of people. We will do this once again at Zion United Methodist on 24 th Avenue South in Grand Forks. The meal is served from 5:30-7:00 pm., although there are times we can use help throughout the day. Since we serve in November, it is our tradition to serve turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, corn, and pumpkin desserts. We hope adults, youth, and families will sign up to help! Please look in the church narthex for sign up sheets. We will need people volunteering to prepare food, set tables, serve the meal, clean up afterwards, as well as to bake pumpkin desserts in advance. A Clean Church Yard You are invited to help us put the finishing touches on our church yard before winter on Saturday, November 5, at 9:30. Wear gloves, bring a rake, and be ready to clean out gardens and make one last effort to clean up the leaves on our property. This should be simply a morning project, and we will have you on your way home before noon. Make sure and dress warm if it is a cold day! Thanks in advance for your help. New Member Events Welcome to ULC! We have rescheduled our new member events to December. If you would like to become a member of ULC or you know someone who would, please speak with Pastor Tom. The dates are Sunday, December 11, and Wednesday, December 14. The Sunday event includes a special meal after worship, which is a fundraiser for ELCA World Hunger Appeal. New members are invited to a ULC orientation meeting on Thursday, December 8, at 6:30, in the lounge.

4 Adult Education Here are a number of learning opportunities for you in the month of November: Sunday Morning Adult Class Sundays, October 30, November 6 and 13 at 8:45 am Our church mission statement read: United by faith, we lift high the cross of Christ through worship and service. What does service really mean? We will explore this topic by examining the experience of Concordia Lutheran Church in Williston as they confronted the oil boom and the massive influx of job seekers that descended on their community, many without access to housing. Their story was poignantly captured in a film, The Overnighters, that was shown to great critical acclaim on PBS. It is the story of Concordia s pastor, Jay Reinke, who opened the church to overnight stays by homeless persons in the community, some employed and some seeking work, but all without a place to stay because of the lack of housing in the community. This act of kindness was met with a variety of responses from congregation members, the city of Williston, and the overnighters. The film presents the many conflicts that erupt: personal emotional turmoil for the pastor and his family, conflicting viewpoints among the parishioners, criminal behavior on the part of some of the overnighters, a city council caught between the Old Williston and the boom-town Williston, and angry neighbors venting their anger at the mess they feel the church had become. It is also the highly personal and tragic story of the inner conflicts of the pastor who has since left the ministry. We will view and discuss the film over the next three weeks. It is a moving reminder that Christ calls us to be His hands in the world but it sometimes gets very messy, confusing, and sometimes costly. Women of the ELCA Bible Study When God Chooses the Unlikely: Paul and the Power of Failure We see through the ministry of the Apostle Paul that God calls all kinds of people to serve, even an accomplice to murder. In the Apostle Paul, God recruited an enemy to serve the Gospel. Join us as we explore Paul s powerful call to ministry, and discover together that God uses us even with our imperfections and failures, to serve in this needy world. Class is at 10:00 am on Friday, November 11, in the lounge. Calling All Men The Holy Trinity This is our second month at this deep subject matter. In October, we looked at the general idea of Trinity. This month we will look specifically at God, the Father (creator), and God, the Holy Spirit (sustainer). We will look closely at God, the Son (Savior), in December. Please join us at 8:30 am, Saturday, November 26, in the fellowship hall, for breakfast pizza, prayer, and our Bible study. Note the date change!

5 Thursday Morning Bible Study Jesus is Emmanuel: A Study of the Gospel of Matthew Every Thursday morning, we gather at 9:30 am in the lounge for Coffee Break Bible Study. The coffee and the study are prepared for you! Right now we are in the Gospel of Matthew, studying the ministry of Jesus. In November, we will look at some miracles, teachings, and parables in this Gospel. Please join us on November 3, 10, and 17. Do not come on November 24, because that is Thanksgiving Day. 55+Over Fellowship Rev. August Dad Hoeger - An Unsung Hero of the Faith Please join us on Tuesday, November 8 at 1:30 pm for an afternoon of education and fellowship. Ken Dawes will provide the program on Rev. August Hoeger, the Lutheran pastor who founded the Good Samaritan Society, the largest not-for-profit nursing home organization in the world. We will follow the program with a time of fellowship and dessert. Invite a friend to attend with you. All are welcome. Fall Financial News General Fund Catch up and January Stewardship Emphases As the end of the year approaches, it is definitely time to catch up our general fund. At the end of September, we were short $37,738 in the general fund. This is as far behind as we have been in recent memory. Thank you for your gifts and patience with us, as we have been working toward resolving this financial shortfall. We are current with all our bills, only because of our generous, but dwindling reserve and designated funds. These must be paid back! Will you please consider an extra gift to help us catch up? Every dollar helps! We will not be having a fall stewardship emphasis this November. Instead, the church council has decided to do a special 4-week series after Christmas. Our theme will be, Live Simply, and will feature a sermon series by Pastor Tom, and weekly stewardship thoughts by ULC members. The weekly themes will be: Follow Jesus, Face the Truth, Act Together, and Share Enough. Your Mission Endowment at Work Two Grants Made in October First, they approved a $1,200 grant to purchase an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) for University Lutheran Church. We will give you more information on this at a later date, but this potentially lifesaving device is used to assist people who are in the midst of serious cardiac events. Second, they approved a $1,500 grant to be used at University Lutheran Church in December as a matching challenge to raise money for ELCA World Hunger Appeal and Disaster Response. You will receive more information about this congregational wide challenge in the December newsletter. Members of our Endowment Board are: Les Howard, Dave Masterson, Clarice Urness, Betty Bloomquist, Teresa Kuhens, Dave Larsen, or Pastor Tom.

6 Education Update Operation Christmas Child boxes are available now and are due back to ULC by Sunday, November 20th. Thanks for participating!! Please make note: The Christmas Program will be Sunday, December 18th th at 6:30 p.m. Practice will be at 10 a.m. Saturday, December 17 th. Preschool-Kindergarten will practice from st -6 th grade will practice from No WWJ on November 23 rd and no Sunday school on November 27 th due to the Thanksgiving Holiday. There is s ll worship on both days. Fall Festival: November 12, 11:00am - 1:00pm If you are a youth in 6th-12th grade and you would be willing to help serve in the dining room, please talk to Heather. K-5 MOVIE DAY: Saturday, November 19 from 1:00-3:00pm We will be watching, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. We will have snacks, a Bible study, a craft and play a few games. Please feel free to bring a friend. K-5 Christmas Party after Christmas Program practice at the church, Saturday, December 17, 12:00-3:00pm. Lunch will be served, with fun Christmas crafts and games. Stay after practice for a party and bring a friend. Please talk to Heather if you have questions. Valley Dairy Car wash tickets for sale. Car wash tickets are available for $10.00 each. Tickets are good at any Valley Dairy store in Grand Forks. Please let Heather know if you are interested. :) God s Creation Calendars are for sale again. All proceeds will go towards the ULC youth program. The cost is $10 each. Checks are payable to ULC Youth. Calendars will be available in the church office. Heather Kallestad: ULC Youth Minister ulcheather@midconetwork.com (church) (cell)

7 Confirmation Notes Class Times and Worship Notes The grades 7-9 confirmation classes will be busy with regular coursework in the month of November: Wednesday students meet on November 2, 9, 16, and 30 (we are off November 23 for Thanksgiving), and Sunday classes meet on November 6, 13, and 20 (we are off November 27 for Thanksgiving). Please make sure you are staying current with your worship notes. This month Pastor Tom will make a report to students on how many notes they have completed Confirmation Class October 30 was a great day at University Lutheran Church! Nine young people affirmed their baptisms, confirmed their faith, and gave their lives to Christ. We ask the Lord to bless them throughout their lives. They are: Kyler Briske Jeremy Masterson Ingrid Meberg Taylor Reck Justin Haskamp, Jr. Josh McKeever Cole Oen Carsen Thompson Jacob Vreeland I command you be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9 The Stephen Ministers are available to ULC members and friends to actively serve you on a personal basis with visits of concern, care, and/or just simply to share. If you are in need of someone to talk with, please reach out. Or if you know of someone you want us to reach out to, we will. Contact Bonnie Peterson, Program Coordinator or Pastor Tom with your requests. And know that with God s guidance the Stephen Ministry Program is here to help you through the difficult moments and the happy moments of your lives.

8 UND Mortar Board Turkey Baskets If you or anyone you know needs a turkey basket for Thanksgiving this year, please call or speak with Pastor Tom. The deadline to receive such a basket is Friday, November 4. Baskets can be picked up at the UND Transportation Building on Saturday, November 19, from 10 am to 2 pm. If anyone needs assistance picking up their basket, that can be arranged too. This program is meant to benefit for those who a little help, so if you do, please do not hesitate to ask! Concordia Christmas Concert St. Mark s Lutheran has invited us to join them for the annual Concordia Christmas concert on Sunday, December 4. They have chartered a bus, and the cost of a ticket and the bus together is only $20! The bus will part from St. Mark s on that Sunday at 12 pm sharp. Checks can be written to St. Mark s Lutheran Church, and in the memo line write Concordia Xmas. Mail your check, along with a contact number, to St. Mark s Lutheran Church, th Ave. S, Grand Forks, ND For more information, please contact Sandy at Running For His Children Chosen Marathon in Texas Pastor Tom is running a half-marathon (13.1 miles) in New Braunfels, Texas (near San Antonio), November 19, to raise money for adoption at the For His Children orphanages in Quito and Latacunga, Ecuador. Chosen Marathons are run specifically to fundraise for children to be adopted. There will be many teams running for many orphanages and adoption agencies. Pastor Tom was invited to run on the For His Children team. His goal is to raise at least $500 for For His Children. While he is running for the whole orphanage, he is specifically running for his friend Veronica, who is in Latacunga. If you would like to sponsor Pastor Tom, you can contribute through our church. Simply write a check to ULC with Chosen Marathon in the memo. Or, you can visit the website for Chosen Marathon, and find his name under the For His Children team. Dordt College Choir The Dordt College Choir will be on tour and in Grand Forks on Wednesday, January 4, 7:30 pm at First Presbyterian Church. ULC member, Jaci Burdick, sang in this choir, as does her sister now. We are looking for ULC members who may be able to host 2-4 students overnight on that Wednesday after the concert. If you are able, please contact the church office. Thank you!

9 ULC Women of the ELCA November News and Events WOMEN OF THE ELCA Purpose Statement As a community of women created in the image of God, called to discipleship in Jesus Christ, and empowered by the Holy Spirit, We commit ourselves to grow in faith, affirm our gifts, support one another in our callings, engage in ministry and action, and promote healing and wholeness in the Church, the society, and the world. November is here and with it comes my favorite holiday of the year. I love Thanksgiving. The fall colors, the wonderful aromas of pumpkin or cranberry anything, the anticipation of a turkey dinner with all the fixings, and the time spent with family and friends. My favorite part of Thanksgiving Day is when we pray our dinner prayer. In my family, at the end of the prayer, we each say something we are grateful to God for (my brother-in-law always likes to go first before all the good ideas are taken.) This tradition is such a good reminder, when we are surrounded by news and media focused on all the bad things in our world, when personal struggles seem overwhelming, that there are so many good things in our lives to be grateful for and to give thanks to God for. As the song says, count your blessings, one by one and be thankful. I know I am! FALL FESTIVAL - November 12 Are you ready for a fun, busy few days? Fall is on the way and our Festival will be Saturday, November 12 from 11am - 1pm. This event will be our last fundraiser for this year and we will need lots of baked goods, crafts and hands on deck that day. Please have your bake sale items at the church by 10:00am. We are having a baking day on Thursday, November 10 from 1-4pm and 6-8pm. Friday, November 11 is set-up day beginning at 1:00pm. We would like to see a group of new faces helping and enjoying the time we spend together. If you ve never been to such an event at ULC, please join us!! WELCA Tenth Triennial Gathering - Summer 2017 (July 13-16) Save the date! Next summer, the Triennial Gathering for WELCA is being held in Minneapolis, Minnesota (probably the closest it will ever be to us!) We would love to get a large group together to go to the gathering. If you think you would be interested, I am putting together a list of people who have an interest in attending. We need to start thinking about travel options. Please give me a call in the office ( ) if you are considering attending. LWR in October THANK YOU to everyone who helped make, put together and box up items for the LWR workday in October. We sent 66 quilts, 46 layettes, 30 health kits and 72 school kits. A special thanks to Darrel Iverson for delivering our items to Midwest Motor Express! A Look Ahead to December Christmas Brunch - Saturday, December 3, 9:30am General Aid Meeting - Sunday, December 18, 11:30am May you be blessed by God, Seanne Voracek, WELCA President WELCA Bible Study Friday, November 11, 10:00 a.m. in the lounge. Led by Pastor Tom. All women and friends of ULC are encouraged to attend. Naomi/Rachel Circle 11:00am Friday, November 11 at the church Ruth Circle 6:30pm Tuesday, November 15 at the church Mary/Martha Circle 9:30am Wednesday, November 16 at the home of Betty Bloomquist, 1119 Sunset Drive

10 Ministers: Every Member of the Congregation Missionary: Susan Smith Pastor: Thomas W. Colenso Education Coordinator: Jen Hanson Youth Minister: Heather Kallestad Administrative Assistant: Seanne Voracek Organists: Lauri Shimpa and Jane Traub Custodians: Harold and Cindy Stoller Stephen Ministry Leaders: Bonnie Peterson, Wayde Anderson Evelyn Clark, Jane Traub UNIVERSITY LUTHERAN CHURCH 2122 University Avenue Grand Forks ND Phone:

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