Immanuel Lutheran Church Belvidere March 2015 Connections

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1 Immanuel Lutheran Church Belvidere March 2015 Connections Table of Contents Page 2: Holy Week and Easter Events Page 3: Community News Page 4: Youth and School Announcements Page 5: Mortgage to Mission Announcements, Comfort Dog News Page 6-7: Bits and Pieces - Financials - Men s Retreat - Ministry Announcements - Mother s Day Events - Other Upcoming Events May the gifts of the Resurrection of Jesus be yours and may they empower your life even in times of suffering and questions! We are people who confess a crucified and bodily resurrected Christ. We not only confess this, as we do in the Creeds, but we are living it! Thank you for all you are doing in the cause of the Savior, in the community, with your family and friends and here at Immanuel. God has made this a special church with beautiful people! Recently, in Basics class, we were talking about how people drew near to Immanuel and the Lord at this place. I was amazed at how God uses the people of this church to Connect People to Christ for Life. Absolutely beautiful! One person had a little different story. She lives across the street from Immanuel. You prayed for me, she said. When, I thought? The first week she was here, she said. I did not remember that. But then she said, When you pray for those not here, those never here and far from God, You were praying for me. Our prayers do matter, they are heard and God does answer them! Pray daily! Another story of impact! After the Series of Messages on Friendships, an aunt bought the CDs for her niece. The niece listened with eagerness and was touched. So touched, that she passed it along to a friend, who also listened. And now I heard it is going on to another friend. Thanks be to God that the Word of God works! It works in the public worship service, in the building and beyond! God bless your spiritual conversations! The Holy Spirit is working through you and I am proud of you! With You, Holding on to the Resurrected Jesus, Pastor Allan Buss 1

2 Jesus is 4U! Cross Project Thank you to everyone that picked up a cross to display in their yard. Don t forget to attach the Jesus is 4U! sign on Good Friday. We encourage you to keep the cross and sign up for as long as you d like. After all, the Easter season lasts all the way until Pentecost Day on May 31 st. Also please consider holding onto your cross and sign in order to use it again next year! 2

3 Churches in Decline An excerpt from The Northern Light By Rev. Dan Gilbert, District President In all likelihood, your congregation is declining numerically members, offerings, baptisms, confirmations, attendance, etc. The number of congregations closing is increasing each year. Our Northern Illinois District is averaging three congregations a year disbanding or no longer holding public services, and the number of those at risk is growing. One of our pastors has done a lot of research on this, and he projects that at the current rate (that s another way of saying, If nothing changes ) the LCMS will go from its current 6,000 congregations to 1,000 in are you ready for this? 30 years. If it actually goes that way that means 5,000 LCMS congregations nationwide will be gone in 30 years. And the congregations won t all wait to close in 30 years; they re closing now, more and more each year. Spring 2015 Serve Day Immanuel Belvidere & Immanuel North Saturday, April p.m. You can be the hands and feet of Jesus. Join with others as we make a difference in our community. You can sign-up for projects at either site. Sampling of projects you can volunteer for: Whiting Road Clean-Up, Assemble Teacher Appreciation Gifts for North Boone, Belvidere/Boone County Food Pantry Prep for Fundraiser, Logan Ave. Clean-Up, Spring Clean-Up in Community, and some oncampus projects. Registration will be available online ilc.ccbchurch.com under the Forms tab, or at the Connection Center on April 1 st. 3

4 Touch a Truck Sponsored by Immanuel Lutheran School High School Information April 10-11: The Gathering at Trinity Roselle Saturday, May 2 12 p.m. 3 p.m Belvidere Road Belvidere, IL (Church Parking Lot) Free Event Food Available for Purchase Call for more information Cost is $35 if received by Easter, April 5. Price increases to $55 after Easter. April 19, 26: (7 9 p.m.) Youth Group at CrownPoint PreK-3, PreK-4, and Kindergarten Early Learning Fair Immanuel Lutheran School 1225 E. 2 nd Street Belvidere IL Monday, April 20 6:00 to 7:00 PM Kids will enjoy a variety of fun learning activities! Come and check out ILS. (Use Door #14) PreK-3, Prek-4, and Kindergarten parents and children are invited to meet the teachers, participate in schoolrelated activities, and learn more about Immanuel s early childhood program. The event is for new families, interested families, and families who have already registered for the school year. We look forward to see you on Monday, April 20! Grandparents / Special Friends Day April 17 Immanuel Students will spend this special day with their grandparents or special friends on Friday, April 17 from 8 11:30 here at Immanuel. There will be special activities planned for our guests. A brunch will also be served. Please call for more information. 4

5 Sound and Video Booth Update What a difference the construction of a sound and video booth in the Sanctuary has made! Thank you to our Director of Operations, Mike Buhl, for his dedication and hours of work involved with making this goal become a reality. The project is still on task to start live video streaming on Palm Sunday. Please be on the lookout for updates in our bulletin. If you have any questions on how the live streaming will work, call the Church Office. Meet the Mission Team: Cathy Dulgar, Sue, Dorn, Sharon Thomas, Andrea Davis, Sheila Morrall, Danielle Heath, Patrick Felvey, William Waugh, Sarah Long, Joan Schellin, Shary Yerk, Mary Whitehouse, Justin Whitehouse, Andrea Whitehouse, Kathy Gustafson, Susan Cuevas, Nichole Seabaugh, Mike Tolsma, and Pastor Rick Wagner. Also joining the team are five members from Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Arlington, Texas (Sue Dorn s home congregation). Those members are Rev. Bill Lowery, Katherine Lowery, Aaron Lowery, Donna Peck, and Richard Para. How exciting to have two congregations working together to serve the village of Seine Bight! Currently, the team has started training for their trip. A list of needs for the village has been started. Please watch for more information on how you can help fill these needs. Stay connected to the team by checking out liking the team s Facebook page at Kye and Bekah have been very busy visiting the children in District 100 helping them with reading. They were invited to Meehan Elementary School to help with the One School One Book Program. In March, the entire school read the book Shiloh and both Kye and Bekah spent over 16 hours with students for reading time. New Opportunities: Kye and Bekah will be visiting the Rockford Rescue Mission on a bimonthly basis. The Rockford Rescue Mission shares hope and help in Jesus name to move people from homelessness and despair towards personal and spiritual wholeness. The dogs will visit with the Men, Women, and Children s Crisis groups and Recovery Groups. What an awesome opportunity to give comfort to those hurting and in need. Both dogs will also be visiting children at got Kidz? Child Care on a monthly basis. This is a way for children to interact with the dogs, learn about them, and how to handle them. Thank you Immanuel for supporting the Comfort Dogs Ministry through your prayers and generosity. Praise God for opening doors to spread the mercy, love, and compassion of Jesus Christ to our community. Kye & Bekah with Exec. Director of Rockford Rescue Mission, Sherry Pitney 5

6 Habitat for Humanity Dinner Benefit Saturday April 25 5:00 7:30 p.m. First Baptist Church 1255 W. Jackson St. Belvidere, IL Tickets are $8 in advance or $10 at the door. Please buy your ticket at Immanuel s Church Office. Financial Commentary- Income was $7k under budget while expenses were $43k under budget. If there are any questions, contact Mike Buhl in the Church Office. Capital Expenditures- Video equipment/ streaming technology was $17.5k. Endowments- Total endowment assests re at $980k. It won t be long until we reach a milestone of $1,000,000 in assests! Snow Impact- The lack of snow storms is having a favorable impact on our snow plow budget but the timing of snow storms is another thing. The February 1 st blizzard affected attendance and contributions significantly. Thank you to all that give to Immanuel. Electronic giving is always helpful too! For more information call Garden Club Ministry The Garden Club Ministry has land available for four new gardeners. If you are interest in joining, please contact the Church Office. More information will be available in upcoming announcements. 7 th Annual Benefit Concert for Voice of Care Good Vibes for Good Cause Saturday, April p.m. Hyatt Hotels and Resorts 1400 Corporetum Drive Lisle, Illinois $35 per ticket (includes appetizers, desserts, and beverages) To make reservations, call

7 Mother s Day Tea Saturday, May 9th Starting at 12 p.m. Fellowship Hall $6/Mom $4/Child (3 12 years old) 3 and under Free No childcare provided Online registration available at ilc.ccbchurch.com or purchase a ticket in the Church Office. Sponsored by Mom s Connect Mother s Day Bake Sale Sunday, May 10 Stop by and pick up a treat for Mom at the Bake Sale in the church hallway before and after services. Proceeds will support the Comfort Dogs Ministry. Sponsored by the Comfort Dogs Ministry Jeremiah Tree Update A totally of 42 leaves have been sponsored on the Jeremiah Tree. The most recent leaf was sponsored by David and Karen Laabs. These funds will continue to strengthen Immanuel through the endowment ministry. Thank you. Everest Conquering Challenges with God s Mighty Power Vacation Bible School June p.m. Free Open to all kids entering PreK-4 to 6 th Grade. Registration forms can be found at the Connection Center, Church Office, or online beginning in May. We are in need of leaders and helpers for all areas. Leaders must be entering High School or older. Helpers must be entering 7 th or 8 th Grade. This is a fun and easy way to earn your service hours for Confirmation! Anyone interested in helping out, please contact Renea Grashorn at or fourplusmore@frontier.com. DO YOU HAVE CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 18? Have you made plans for their care if something were to happen to you? Do you know who plans for their care if you don t? The court system. Parents with Minor Children Workshop Thursday, April 16, Fellowship Hall This workshop will show you how to create a plan to care for your children if the worst case scenario were to happen. If not managed ahead of time, decisions will be left to the courts and to state law. All information compiled by participants during this workshop will be kept strictly confidential. Participants will be able to create a will, a minor s trust, guardians for their children, durable power of attorney for health care and durable power of attorney for financial matters for themselves. There is no cost for establishing a Lifetime Plan for Giving. The only cost to participants will be those incurred when their attorney drafts the necessary legal documents. Ray Pagels is our Lutheran Christian estate planner. Ray is employed by the church to help Christian parents learn what they need to know and work with them in confidence to plan what they want to accomplish. Childcare and a light meal for your family will be provided. Grandparents are welcome to attend as well. Call or info@immanuelbelvidere.org to reserve your place now. 7

8 Connections Immanuel Lutheran Church 1225 E. 2 nd Street Belvidere, IL Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Belvidere, IL Permit #93 Return Service Requested Worship Services at Immanuel Wednesdays 7:00 p.m. Saturdays 6:00 p.m. Sundays 8 ; 9:30; 11 Worship Services at Immanuel North Sundays 10:45 Sunday School Sunday 9:15 Adult Bible Classes Sunday 9:30 Immanuel Lutheran Church 1225 E. 2nd Street Belvidere, IL PH: FAX: WEB: info@immanuelbelvidere.org Immanuel North Route 76 Poplar Grove, IL PH: WEB:

9 April 2015 Connecting People To Christ For Life. Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 5 Easter Sunday- 6, 8, 9:30, 11 Worship Easter Service at North 10:45 12 Worship 8, 9:30, 11 North 10:45 Worship Night of Witness Rehearsal 6 p.m. 6 Pastor Wille s Bible Class 8:30 13 Pastor Wille s Bible Class 8:30 Vestry 7p.m. 7 8 Worship 7 p.m Worship 7 p.m. 1 2 Maundy Thursday 11 and 7 p.m. worship 3 Good Friday - 12 and 7 p.m. worship 9 10 High School Gathering 7 p.m Grandparent/ Special Friend Day at ILS 8 4 Easter Vigil - 6 p.m. worship 11 Worship 6p.m. 18 2nd yr. Confirmation Retreat 9 Worship 6p.m. 19 Worship 8, 9:30, 11 North 10:45 Worship 20 Pastor Wille s Bible Class 8:30 21 Once a Month Bible Study 11 and 6:30 p.m. 22 Worship 7 p.m. Night of Witness 7 p.m Worship 6p.m. Health Fair 9 26 Worship 8, 9:30, 11 North 10:45 Worship 27 Pastor Wille s Bible Class 8:30 28 ILS Book Fair Pictures/ Rehearsal for 2nd Yr. Confirmation 29 ILS Book Fair Worship 7 p.m. Last day of Confirmation Classes 30 ILS Book Fair Immanuel Lutheran Church 1225 E. 2nd Street Belvidere, IL Immanuel North Route 76 Poplar Grove, IL Phone: Fax: info@immanuelbelvidere.org Web: immanuelbelvidere.org