M e s s i a h M e s s e n g e r

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Messiah Lutheran Church M e s s i a h M e s s e n g e r January, 2018 THE ANNUAL CONGREGATIONAL MEETING will be Sunday, January 21 at 9:15 a.m.

If you do not find your name on the envelope boxes, please let the office know. You can start using the new envelopes in January. ANNUAL REPORTS All committee reports should be in the office by now.

........................ Kelly Benz Assistant Youth Director............Laura Carruthers Organist............................. Hal Morton Choir Director........................ Alice Kenel Administrator/Bookkeeper.

1 Messiah Lutheran Church M e s s i a h M e s s e n g e r January, 2018 THE ANNUAL CONGREGATIONAL MEETING will be Sunday, January 21 at 9:15 a.m. Please mark your calendar and plan to attend this meeting. OFFERING ENVELOPES The 2018 offering envelopes are ready for you to pick up in the narthex. If you do not find your name on the envelope boxes, please let the office know. You can start using the new envelopes in January. ANNUAL REPORTS All committee reports should be in the office by now. If you have not yet sent in your report, please do so as soon as possible. Staff and Council Members at Messiah Pastor Rev. Susanne Smith Youth Director Kelly Benz Assistant Youth Director Laura Carruthers Organist Hal Morton Choir Director Alice Kenel Administrator/Bookkeeper Dennis Wohlers Secretary Toni Landon Facilities Jerry & Kay Claussen, & Matt Mitchell Nursery Attendant Ashley Gerst Preschool Staff Margie Gerst, Director Krystal Klein, Erica Moser 2017 Council Members: Joel Hanger-president, Mark Smith-vice-president, Steve Sanders-treasurer, Roger Hatteberg-secretary, Karen Cahill, Sandy Good, John Larson, Lotegeluaki Lengai, Rich Miller, Joanne Mohr, Marcia Taeger Inside this issue: January Happenings, Preschool News, & Council Highlights Youth Notes Stewardship Message from Joel Hanger Lutheran Services in Iowa Scheduled to Serve, Birthdays & Anniversaries Calendar

COMMUNITY AND CARE PASTOR SUSANNE is away January 3-9. Pastor Ralph Andersen is preaching Sunday, January 7. Father Paul Walker is providing pastoral care coverage.

So many pretty hats, both purchased and hand made. Scarves, gloves, and headbands of all colors are on the tree and in the basket.

2 COMMUNITY AND CARE PASTOR SUSANNE is away January 3-9. Pastor Ralph Andersen is preaching Sunday, January 7. Father Paul Walker is providing pastoral care coverage. Father Paul may be reached at THE SOCIAL MINISTRY COMMITTEE would like to thank everyone who contributed hats, scarves and gloves for the Mitten Tree this year. So many pretty hats, both purchased and hand made. Scarves, gloves, and headbands of all colors are on the tree and in the basket. Everything will be taken to the Administration Office at Burlington Schools the first week in January. They are very grateful for the supplies we are able to give them. By leaving them in the office, bus drivers will be able to distribute them to children who need them at all of the schools. PRAYERS FOR OUR SERVICE MEMBERS - Please keep in your prayers our members who are in the armed services: Josh Myatt, combat medic in the Army/National Guard; Titan Miller, 2nd lieutenant in the Air Force. service and witness TAKE AWAY HUNGER will be packaging on Saturday, January 20 th with Messiah scheduled at 10 a.m. Please sign the sheet in the narthex if you plan on helping. TEACHING AND LEARNING ADULT SUNDAY SCHOOL/ADULT FORUM January 7: Passing the Faith: Faith stories with Messiah s confirmation students January 14-28: By Heart : Conversations with Luther s Small Catechism COUNCIL MEETING MOTIONS December 18, 2017 NOTE: Due to length of reports only highlights are provided here. Full reports and minutes of council meetings are available in the office and on the council bulletin board in the hallway. Facility Usage: MOTION The use of the social hall and kitchen for PEO on January 19, 2018, 12:00-4:30 p.m. MSC MOTION The use of the social hall and kitchen for birthday party on January 27, 2018, 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. MSC MOTION The use of the social hall and kitchen for Mohr family social on January 30, 2018, time TBA. MSC MOTION The use of the social hall for Hawkeye Heritage Quilt Guild, 4th Tuesday each month for all of MSC SHAPING FUTURES Through Faith Based Education Messiah Preschool News Greetings from the children s wing of the church. The BIG NEWS for 2018 is that Registration is underway for the sessions. Our list will start to fill up and we would love to invite your child or grandchild or a neighbor to come join us. If you would like a registration form or need more information, please call Ms. Margie (our Director) at ext. 2. We offer a 3-year-old session on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, a 3-4 year-old session on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings, and a 4-5 yearold afternoon session on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons. Our Christmas programs were each great successes and a lot of joy and fun for the children. The children s parents and families all enjoyed their little one s performances as much as the children enjoyed putting them on. We are looking forward to studying about hibernation and wild animals lives during the winter months. We will also be continuing to enjoy our adventures in learning more about the ABC s and 123 s. As always, we thank you for supporting your preschool and its mission to Shape Futures with a Christian based curriculum. Have a Blessed and Happy New Year 2018!!! Please include us in your prayers. Adult Ministry Adult ministry is not about ministering to you It s about you ministering to others. How would you do that? Do you have any ideas as to how Messiah can do that to meet the criteria of serving and ministering to others? Are you interested in helping to provide meals to the Bridges out of Poverty program? We have the opportunity to provide a monthly meal to their Stay Ahead program. How about a weekly meal for the neighborhood? To those who just need someone to share a meal with, or those in need of a meal, or just to people that would like a different setting now and then. Messiah could do all of those with the help of its members. Interested? Contact me in the church office Dennis PAGE 2

Children, Youth, & Family Ministry News!

If you can help, please let Kelly or Laura know. Thanks!

! Please join us at 9:15am on Sunday January 21st.

Confirmation will meet on January 3, 10, 17, 24 and 31.

3 Children, Youth, & Family Ministry News!! LIFT is January 14th and it is Messiah s turn to provide the meal. If you can help, please let Kelly or Laura know. Thanks! LIFT Trinity The Sunday school children will be singing at the annual meeting!! Please join us at 9:15am on Sunday January 21st. Sunday school children need to be here by 9:10 that day. Confirmation will meet on January 3, 10, 17, 24 and 31. High School Youth Group Wednesday January 24th 8:00-9:00pm High School Students Did you know you are welcomed and ENCOURAGED to attend the adult Sunday class that meets every Sunday in the Library from 9:15-10:15am? Registration happening now!!! See Kelly for more information and to register! Look for Fundraisers in the future! PAGE 3

4 Stewardship Message from Joel Hanger, Council President In a recent lesson we heard how a master had given 3 slaves a talent or several to watch over or use while he was gone. Many folks ask themselves what is a talent. Well a talent is a weight of gold or other precious metal-greek coin worth about 600 Drachmas, in today s currency around $360,000 so we realize this is no small thing. Another way to look at it is what the slave was worth or his or her life. What did the slave do with the talents? Well we heard that at the time the master returned, two did well, but one did not. The parable is asking us What are you doing with the life GOD has given you? My Father told me once everything we have is a gift from GOD. That paycheck you earn-who gave you the body, skill and knowledge to earn that? In today s world, for most of us, that job or paycheck is how we buy food, clothing, shelter, the basics we need. What else do we do with that talent God gave to each of us? Here at Messiah you have ample opportunity to use or better yet give of that talent. Right now, our average attendance is 135 people and we have held steady this way for five years, this 135, or really you, are the core of Messiah membership. We have 435 members, so do the math, that s 31%...right now you folks-right here-are the active stewards. What opportunities are there for YOU to be good stewards well this month there are circles, Holden evening worship, youth choir and confirmation, Pastor s weekly group, Sunday worship, after church fellowship, Worship and Arts committee, LIFT (that s youth program), Men s Bible study, Alanon, Membership committee, Communications committee, Executive committee, two groups of Piecemakers/quilters. Christian Education committee, girl scouts meet here, Take Away Hunger, congregational council, a monthly supper and global mission round table, Phebe hospital giving, support school children and young adults in school at Phebe. Blankets, world hunger support, Sunday school teachers, adult class-we had the Bishop here a few weeks ago, by the way, missionary support, Sunday morning greeter s, communion assistants, acolytes, ushers. Sing in the choir. Kitchen committee, library work, Outreach committee, Memorials, Landscaping, Parish Life, Endowment, and Preschool board. We have 48 preschool kids, which is up the last two years by 15 kids, so they are growing. So, you think there is nothing going on here except worship, far, far from that. Now, I admit this is all I could think of as I wrote this up. But what do we do? What you do is find something you are good at, or just like to do and get involved. I was told last Sunday evening a person didn t think they could do much to help decorate. Nonsense, I said. You came, and we were all happy to see you. Moral support is important, too. When we do these talks we do often need to speak about financial stewardship as well. Though our building is now taken care of mostly through a trust that too is stewardship. We have Scholarship trust, a general trust, and a trust to help members with their needs. You can give, or add, to these any time you like. Our weekly offering though runs what we do here. We have 4 staff that I can see here today: Pastor, Kelly, Hal and Alice. There are 5 others. We have utilities costs as our church is a busy place so we have to keep it usable. We still need to mow grass and plow snow (well not yet). I ll leave all the line item stuff to reports at the annual meeting, but we run about $250,000 budget to do what we do here plus a $71,000 yearly mortgage (the income from the Fladt-Lehman trust covers that cost). I hope you all realize we would not be here at Messiah without that gift. All the rest? That needs to come from us and is part of that talent that GOD gave each of us. Now, I cannot stand here and tell you what you should be doing or what you feel you need to do, for I too am just like you trying to serve GOD by being a good Steward of what he has given me. For each of you - that conversation is between you and our LORD, the giver of every talent. Thank you. Joel Hanger, council president PAGE 4

5 Lutheran Services in Iowa Raising our Voice for Iowa Children and Families Lutheran Day on the Hill Families living in poverty. Iowa children in need of a forever family. Former refugees building new lives. These kinds of issues are rarely the center of attention at the Iowa State Capitol. Let s change that! Please consider joining Lutheran Services in Iowa (LSI) and the three Iowa synods of the ELCA for Lutheran Day on the Hill, an annual day of advocacy in Des Moines to uplift the needs of our neighbors. The event will be held on Thursday, February 8. Visit next month for event details, online registration, and an online toolkit for your congregation. If you are new to advocacy, come learn more about the legislative process and your role as a citizen. If you ve attended before, join us again. We hope this year s schedule will also allow you more opportunities to connect with legislators. If you would like more information, please contact Deb Whitford, LSI s director of philanthropy and church relations, at or Deborah.Whitford@LSIowa.org. Our Mission: Lutheran Services in Iowa responds to the love of Jesus Christ through compassionate service. LSI is an affiliated social ministry partner of the Iowa congregations of the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) and a member of LSA (Lutheran Services in America). We proudly serve people of all ages, abilities, religions, sexes, gender identities, national origins, ethnicities, races, and sexual orientations. Learn more at and Friendly Competition When the time came to take their U.S. Citizenship Exam, Bhakti and Chhali felt overwhelmed. Originally from Bhutan, the couple moved to Des Moines from a refugee camp in Nepal. Since then, they have been busy improving their English and settling into their new home. They both worked seven days a week and struggled to find time to study for their exam. LSI s Refugee Community Services were there to help. LSI provides English as a Second Language (ESL) classes, and Bhakti and Chhali studied hard in class to prepare for the writing and reading component of their exam. They supported and competed with each other, pushing themselves to succeed. Their work paid off, and Bhakti and Chhali recently passed their exam and are now U.S. Citizens. We appreciate the help our LSI volunteers gave us on the Citizenship Exam, Bhakti says. They are so committed to seeing us meet our goals. Thank you for empowering your Iowa neighbors. We couldn t do this important work without you! PAGE 5

Scheduled to Serve in January 8:00 SERVICE Greeter: January 21.................. Bonnie Kienlen Communion Assistant: January 7.................. Marilyn Demijan January 14.................. Darwin Bunger January 21.

6 Scheduled to Serve in January 8:00 SERVICE Greeter: January Bonnie Kienlen Communion Assistant: January Marilyn Demijan January Darwin Bunger January Brandon Orth January Mary Chicken Lector: January Marilyn Demijan January Darwin Bunger January Bonnie Kienlen January Mary Chicken 10:30 SERVICE Ushers: Bob Engberg (head usher), John Larson, Will & Deb Brinkley Communion Assistants: January Chalmer Good January Joel Hanger January Lynn Sheagren January Joanne Mohr Lector: January Darwin Bunger January Ruth Baker January Darwin Bunger January Dick Bailey Acolytes: January Quinlan Kirk January Narisio Lotegeluaki January Elle Jones January Jacob Dittner Altar Guild: Lynn Sheagren family Mission Statement Welcoming all people to share in God s blessings by strengthening our commitment to God through prayer, fellowship and service. JANUARY BIRTHDAYS 4 - Mark Smith 5 - Susan Simmons 7 - Jane Richter 9 - Larry Williams 10 - Natalie Good, Brent Ruther 11 - Lisa Jacobs 12 - Linda Natzke, Sue Schoof, Craig Wyant 13 - Nenyo Lotegeluaki 14 - Jeff Bloomquist, Samantha Carruthers 16 - Matthew Dittner, Joshua Myatt 17 - Matthew Dieterich, Rebecca Egerton, Jim Watts 18 - Ryne Smith 19 - Marianne Darnall 22 - Jonathan Arnold, Mary Bloomquist, Jeremy Jacobs 23 - Justin Ruther, Mark Siegle, Jerry Smith 25 - Keith Bloomquist, Cosette Smith 26 - Larry Johannsen 27 - Kinley Orth 28 - Alice Gallerick 30 - Lengilang et Lotegeluaki 31 - Jacob Dittner JANUARY ANNIVERSARIES 2 Abe and Melissa Lambert Keith and Marcia Taeger Betsy and Jerry Hysell Mike and Cristy Schmidt Pat and Dennis Hudgel *Let the office know if we have missed your birthday or anniversary. If you prefer not to have your name included in the birthday and anniversary lists, please let us know. PAGE 6

7 7 8:00a-Worship 9:15a-Choir Rehearsal 9:15a-Sunday School 10:30a-Worship 11:30a-Fellowship January 2018 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 14 8:00a-Worship 9:15a-Choir Rehearsal 9:15a-Sunday School 10:30a-Worship 11:30a-Fellowship 11:30a-Worship & the Arts Comm. 21 Congregational Annual Meeting 8:00a-Worship 9:15a-Annual Meeting 9:15a-Choir Rehearsal 9:15a-Sunday School 10:30a-Worship 11:30a-Fellowship 28 8:00a-Worship 9:15a-Choir Rehearsal 9:15a-Sunday School 10:30a-Worship 11:30a-Fellowship 11:30a-Preschool Board 1 New Year s day (office closed) 8 6:15p-Endowment Committee 7:00p-Men s Bible Study 15 6:30p-Congregation Council-Conference Room 22 7:00p-Men s Bible Study 2 6:00p-Master Gardener s supper-social Hall & Kitchen 7:00p-Memorials Committee 9 12:30p-Membership Comm. -Happy Joe s 4:30p-Communications Comm. 6:30p-PEO-Library, Kitchen 6:30p-Executive Committee 7:00p-Piecemakers/Quilters - 8:00p-Christian Ed. Comm.- online 16 12:00p-Staff Meeting 23 6:00-8:30p-Hawkeye Heritage Quilt Guild-Social Hall *Mohr Family Social (Time TBA)-Social Hall & Kitchen 3 9:30a-Ruth/Mary Elizabeth Circle-Social Hall 4:30p-Open Circle-Library 10 9:00a-Piecemakers/Quilters 17 6:00p-3rd Wednesday supper & Global Mission Round Table-Social Hall 7:00p-Holden Evening Prayer 24 9:00a-Piecemakers/Quilters 31 8:00p-HS Youth Group- Youth Room 4 9:30a-Weekly Bible Study- Conf. Rm. 5:30p-Property Committee- 7:00p-Sarah Circle 11 9:30a-Weekly Bible Study- Conf. Rm. 18 9:30a-Weekly Bible Study- Conf. Rm. 12:00-3:-00p-PEO-Library 25 9:30a-Weekly Bible Study- Conf. Rm :00p-DEADLINE for submission of Messenger articles 1:00-4:00p-PEO-Social Hall & Kitchen 20 10:00a-TAH packaging :00a-5:00p-Orth birthday party-social Hall 12:00p-Messiah Lunch Bunch

MESSIAH LUTHERAN CHURCH 2411 West Avenue BURLINGTON, IOWA 52601 Non-Profit Org. U.S. POSTAGE PAID Burlington, IA 52601-1598 Permit No.

8 MESSIAH LUTHERAN CHURCH 2411 West Avenue BURLINGTON, IOWA Non-Profit Org. U.S. POSTAGE PAID Burlington, IA Permit No. 360 Return Service Requested JANUARY 2018 MESSIAH LUTHERAN CHURCH Phone: Fax: Sunday Mornings Worship Sunday School & Adult Bible Study Worship Third Wednesdays Supper Holden Evening Prayer 8:00 a.m. 9:15 a.m. 10:30 a.m. 6:00 p.m. 7:00 p.m. This month Weekly Bible Study - every Thursday morning at 9:30 a.m. Alanon - every Tuesday at noon 3rd Wednesday supper & Global Mission Round Table (6:00 p.m.) and Holden Evening Prayer (7:00 p.m.) - January 17 Take Away Hunger packaging - Saturday, January 20th at 10:00 a.m. Congregational Annual Meeting - Sunday, January 21st at 9:15 a.m.

M e s s i a h M e s s e n g e r

Messiah Lutheran Church M e s s i a h M e s s e n g e r January, 2017 THE ANNUAL CONGREGATIONAL MEETING will be Sunday, January 22 at 9:15 a.m. Please mark your calendar and plan to attend this meeting.