welcome proclaim experience share

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1 Our mission at Saint Paul s is to: welcome all people; proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ; experience a personal relationship with Him; and joyfully share God s love with others. St. Paul s Evangelical Lutheran Church * 12 North 6th Street * Wilmington, NC * phone * fax * info@stpaulswilmington.org

2 First off, I want to wish all of you a safe and happy new year. How many of you made a New Year resolution? If you have, you are not alone. According to statistics compiled by the University of Scranton, 41% of Americans make New Year resolutions. I have trouble with resolutions. It s not the coming up with them that is the problem, it s keeping them. Maybe you find yourself in the same predicament. Did you know that of those who make New Year resolutions, only 9% succeed in keeping them? It s not that long in the new year when many of us replaced our emotions of excitement and determination with guilt and sadness. Once again, we hear ourselves say, I can t believe I failed AGAIN. Oh well, there is always next year. The good news is we don t have to wait another year to change. We can start the next time we are in church. God gives us a wonderful gift that can encourage us to make resolutions that can stick and make a difference not only in our lives but in the lives of those around us. That gift is the Order of Confession and Forgiveness. This ancient rite gives us a chance to reflect on our old sins (even our resolution failures ), admit to those failings, and then hear the words of grace from God. Every week, God tells us, I know of your sins and your failures. And I still love you. I forgive you. Now go and live the life to which I am calling you. With His words, God can and does restore the joy and excitement we had on New Year s Day, and His words help us give our attention to the new life God has promised us. God wants us to look ahead and not look back. God wants us to know that He still believes in us and that we can change. Don t wait another 11 months to change your life. God is ready to change our lives now. Oyster Roast Friday, January 19 6:00 p.m. Reservation deadline: January 17 the church office Hi! I'm Patrick Bradshaw, and I'm a fellow parent at St. Paul's. My wife, Chelsea, and I have Zachariah (5) and Emery (3) who both attend Sunday School. I'm starting a new program for parents during the Sunday School hour (10:00-10:45) called Java and Jesus, and I'd like to invite all of you to come. The first Java and Jesus will take place on Sunday, January 28. Basically while our kids are at Sunday School, we'll meet in Keever Hall. We'll grab a cup of coffee (or water if you prefer) and and a little something to eat and have a devotion and discussion related to parenting. It'll be a great opportunity to delve into spirituality and parenthood and to bounce thoughts and ideas off each other. It'll be informal, so no prior preparation needed, and a good time to get to know the other parents of St. Paul's. Many thanks go to all who conducted, played, and/or sang at St. Paul's during Advent and Christmas! One of you commented, "the best Christmas yet at our church!" It was surely "one of the best," if not "the best," thanks to YOU along with our guest musicians! All of this year's guest musicians have been with us multiple times in the past. They have become friends of members of the choir and consider St. Paul's their "home for Christmas." What a compliment that is to the gracious hospitality and welcoming spirit of our congregation! Do we ever tire of singing Christmas carols? I surely hope we got around to singing everyone's favorite at least once! Let me know if we omitted yours, and we will definitely include it in the near future. Let's make 2018 another great year for music! We all agree that we could use more people in both the Church Choir and the Praise Team. Several of our youth players in SPIRIT will be heading off to college in the fall creating instrumental vacancies in our instrumental ensemble might be the year for YOU to step up. We are looking towards reviving the Handbell Choir! I have the names of four interested folks. Four more would be great! Opportunities for musical participation abound. Speak to Robby or myself, and we will "sign you up!" Blessings in the New Year! Also in case you're wondering, here are the teachers and ages of the Sunday School classes: Chelsea Bradshaw: Preschool-1st Jessica Parker: 2nd-5th grade Bob Trapp: 6th-12th grade They all meet in Keever Hall at 10am and go from there to their classrooms. They have a new curriculum this year that the kids have really been enjoying so far! One more thing, if you have children who are not quite the age for Sunday School yet, please know they are welcome to come with you to Java and Jesus. It's all good! We're all parents and we've all been there! Please let me know if you have any questions about Java and Jesus and I hope to see you on January 14th at 10am! St. Paul s Epistle Page 2

3 Thank you to our outgoing Council members! St. Paul s Epistle Page 3

4 Acolytes (9 a.m.) 14 Delilah Mills 21 Anna Phelps 28 Sam Beasley Acolytes (11 a.m.) 14 Jacob Walton, Kendall Bauer 21 Kate Pottle, Meghan Stello 28 Anna Haskins, Cole Fleming Altar Guild 14 Denise Cheatham, Anna Cheatham 21 Debbie Farabee, Ruth Farabee 28 Anna Cheatham, Voncile Echevarria Caregivers 7 Jody Pfeffer 14 Frances Lamb 21 Susan Dresher 28 Becky Knott Communion Assistants (9 a.m.) 14 John & Sally Gibbons 21 Larry & Tammi Gates 28 Dan & Sue Dresher Communion Assistants (11 a.m.) 14 Cris Dixon, Peggy Erickson 21 Cris Dixon, Kitty Solomita 28 Lynda Shell, Jody Pfeffer Communion Guild (9 a.m.) 14 Michelle Beasley 21 Bev Friese 28 Helen Romeo Communion Guild (11 a.m.) 14 Alice Hovis 21 Kay Kruklitis 28 Anne Mason Crucifers 14 Parker Surratt 21 Beth Pottle 28 Mark Haskins Greeters (9:00 a.m.) 14 Linda Evans, June Skibsted 21 Howie & Nancy Martin 28 Linnea Carlson, Gail Cawein Greeters (11 a.m.) 14 Stan & Maria McLeroy 21 Irma Forger, Christa Gerfelder 28 Fran & Walt Denninger Monday Night Community Dinner 1 Betsy Rullman, Anita Heston, Jessica Parker, Mike Leiser, John Gibbons, Laurel Meitrodt 8 Anita Heston, Sandy & Peter Barrett, Mike Leiser, Jim Bauer, Laurel Meitrodt 15 Peter Miars, Bob Erickson, Steve & Judy Beach, Joe & Lynn Mickley, John Gibbons 22 Linda Evans, Allan & Judi Pellnat, John Gibbons 29 Beth Pottle and family, Anita Heston, Lee Weddle, John Gibbons Readers (9 a.m.) 14 Bob Stroud 21 Nancy Martin 28 Terry Obrock Readers (11 a.m.) 14 Lynda Shell 21 Betty Huggins 28 Robin Hueskes Ushers (9:00 a.m.) 14 Joe & Lynn Mickley 21 Billy & Debbie Mason 28 Larry & Becky Knott Ushers (11 a.m.) 14 Peter Miars, Julian Burnett, Matt Fox, Allen Mason 21 Betty Huggins, Lynda Shell, Bettielou Weddle 28 Jere Walton, Ralph & Melinda Sizemore, Irma Forger 1 Christian VandeVeer 2 Mason Pourcho 3 Cary Bruton Chris Guthrie Anna Haskins 5 Maria Lewis 6 Taylor Allen Anna Cheatham Rose Gschwandtner 11 Jerry Cavanaugh 12 Bettielou Weddle 13 June Beamer Jamie Sischo 14 Astrid Cooke 16 Kathleen Blender Jody Pfeffer Larry Wessell 17 Trude Gustafson Ivy Lenz 19 Tom Solomita 20 Doris Sampson Jake Wessell 21 Kara Curry Judi Pellnat Jimmy Robeson 22 Norma Flax Lois Smith 23 Elise Seifert O Willis 24 Martha Greer 25 John Gibbons Claire Johnson Kate Johnson Carol Sanders 26 Lincoln Beamer Dan Hagin 28 Jacob Best 29 Beth Pottle Asher Wessell 30 Myrna Bodenstab Ryan Sandlin 31 Rich Everhart Connor Flack Stephanie Lewis St. Paul s Epistle Page 4

5 ST. PAUL S JANUARY 2018 CALENDAR Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat :30 a.m. Quilting Workshop 9 9:30 a.m. Quilting Workshop a.m. Men in Mission a.m. Breakfast 3 p.m. Super Peeps 5 p.m. Luther League 15 9:30 a.m. Project Linus 6:30 p.m. Council Meeting Feeding p.m. Oyster Roast a.m. Sunday School 2:30 p.m. Stephen Ministry (Parlor) Family Promise p.m. Via de Cristo Ultreya a.m. Confirmation Class 2 p.m. Ann Reaves Service a.m. Sunday School