WE ARE THE CHURCH TOGETHER

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1 WE ARE THE CHURCH TOGETHER December, 2016/January, 2017 STURGEON BAY MORAVIAN CHURCH 323 SOUTH 5TH AVENUE, STURGEON BAY, WI CONGREGATIONAL WATCHWORD: [God] has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant. II Corinthians 3:6 HOLIDAY GREETING - In this season of welcoming the Christ child your church staff wishes to offer you our thanks. We are so grateful for this opportunity to serve you. Our partnership continues to make a difference for Christ as we serve him in this community. The blessings continue to flow and enrich so many lives. On behalf of Reeder, Vickie, Ryan, Kim and Ross, I want to wish you the very best for this Christmas season. It is a joy for us to serve you. Our prayer is that you will experience the peace, hope, joy, and love of Christ in a truly significant way. Pastor Matt WORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES 10:30 am December 4, 18 & 25 Regular Worship January 1 Communion/Watchwords December 11 Communion January 8, 15 & 22 Regular Worship *December 11 4:30 pm Children s Lovefeast January 29 Anniversary Lovefeast **December 24 4:00, 6:00 and 8:00 pm HOLIDAY GIFT IDEAS Moravian Stars: Lighted 12 Star $17.00 Glass Ornaments $10.00 Lighted 21 Star $20.00 (Available in Blue, White and Iridescent) Poinsettias Orders due by December 4: Lovely red poinsettia in a 6 pot, foil wrapped with a bow available to preorder for $ Forms available online/donation button or complete the form at the end of this newsletter and mail, with your check, to the church office. Your plant can be given In Memory Of or In Honor Of a person or person(s) of your choice. Your plant will adorn the sanctuary for Christmas Eve and will be available for pick up following worship on December 25. Habitat for Humanity Fruitcakes: Available at the Habitat Office, 410 N. 14th Avenue, Monday through Friday between 8:00 am 4:00 pm. A 1# cake is $15.00.

2 Page 2 CALENDAR Wed. Night Youth: Rams (Gr.1-5) 4:30-5:30; Discipleship Choir 5:30-5:50; Youth Bible Study 6:00-6:30; Nazarite Choir 6:15-6:40; Sister s Chorus 6:40-7:00; Nazarites (Gr. 7-8) 7:00-8:00; Sr. High (Gr. 9-12) 7:00-9:00 Youth Band 12/7/16 6:40-7:10 pm Discipleship Class (Gr. 6): Wed. 5:30-6:45 pm Sunday School: 9:00 am Coffee Hus: Sundays, 9:00 am Quilting Group: 2nd Wednesday, 9:00 am Bible Studies: Women s Monday Morning Bible Study, 8:00 am ; Men s Tuesday Study, 7:30 am; Sunday Adult Study, 9:00 am Honor Circle: December 13, 12:00 pm, Potluck at Judy Berg s home. January 10, 9:30 am in the Fellowship Room Faith Circle: 2nd Tuesday, 1:30 pm at Pine Crest Loaves & Fishes Meal: 1st, 3rd & 4th Friday, 5:30-7:00 pm at NWTC. No meal on December 23. MEETINGS Stewardship Committee 12/01 8:30 am CEC Meeting 12/06 6:30 pm Budget & Finance 12/12 12:00 pm Board of Elders 12/12 6:30 pm Board of Trustees 12/19 6:30 pm CEC Meeting 1/03 6:30 pm Stewardship Committee 1/05 8:30 am Budget & Finance 1/09 12:00 pm Board of Elders 1/09 6:30 pm Board of Trustees 1/16 6:30 pm Holiday Office Hours: Office will be closed on December 23, 26 and 30 No Youth Groups: December 21 and 28 No Sunday School or Coffee Hus: December 25 AHUAS - CLINICA EVANGÉLICA MORAVA Update We welcome home Rick Nelson. Rick is taking time to bring us up to date on his work in Ahuas. If you would like to hear what has been happening in Honduras and what we want to do in 2017, join him for a presentation on Tuesday, December 6 at 7:00 pm in the fellowship room. Rick is anxious to show you what your efforts will soon accomplish and thank you for your help and ongoing partnership in this ministry. VOLUNTEERS NEEDED Ushers and nursery attendants are needed for Sunday mornings during worship. If you would like to serve in this capacity please sign up on the Volunteer List located in the narthex. Salvation Army is looking for holiday bell ringers. If you would like to help with the red kettle campaign in Door County contact Nancy at or nakc@dcwis.com. Many locations available throughout Door County. Starting November 18 through Christmas, weekdays and weekends 9 am to 7 pm.

3 Page 3 MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR THESE IMPORTANT DATES DECEMBER - Advent Soup Lunch /Workshop December 4, Following Worship Stay for a soup lunch free will offering and then join us to learn how to make folded paper stars, help trim candles, or make up the luminarias. Children s Lovefeast December 11, 4:30 pm Join us for this special service conducted by our youth. Christmas Caroling Party December 14, 6:00 pm You won t want to miss this opportunity to get out and bring some Christmas cheer to some of our senior and shut in members. We will gather in the church dining room at 6:00 pm. From there we will go out and sing and then return for some hot chocolate and fellowship. This event is for people of all ages. Christmas Eve Candlelight Services December 24 4:00, 6:00 and 8:00 pm. Unity Prayer Watch December 26 Shortly after the August 13, 1727 communion, the Moravians established an Hourly Intercession, believing that continual prayer was an absolute essential for the Church to grow and thrive under the leading of God s Spirit. That daily Prayer Watch continued unbroken for one hundred years, with Moravians in prayer every day, 365 days of the year. It was during that time that the Moravian Church exhibited its greatest growth and vitality. During the 1957 celebration of the 500th anniversary of the Moravian Church, the Prayer Watch was re-established; inviting congregations around the world to each take responsibility for a day of prayer. Our assigned day of prayer is December 26. This year we are sharing this time frame with Ephraim and Sister Bay Moravian Churches. If you are interested in signing up for a half hour of prayer, please contact Karen Reichard at Silent Communion- December 31 4:30-6:30 pm. The sanctuary will be open and you are invited to drop by for a time of silent reflection on the year gone by, as well as the year to come. Pastor Matt will be available to serve you Communion and you can draw your watchword. You can stay for five minutes or the entire time, on your way home from work, or on the way to celebrate the new year. This is an opportunity to take time to honor God for the year past and the year ahead. JANUARY - Church Council January 15 Following Worship Please plan on attending our annual church council which will be held in the sanctuary. Church Council is our Annual Meeting where we elect officers for the coming year, approve the church budget and attend to the business of our congregation. It is important for all members to participate in this gathering as an opportunity to be informed about our ministry, participate in choosing leadership, and make your voice heard. CHRISTMAS EVE REMINDERS Members please fill up the courthouse parking lot first so our visitors and guests will find it easier to get into worship. You cannot reserve seats. Please plan on arriving with your party if you wish to be seated together. We have overflow seating in the basement with viewing via our close circuit television projection system. OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD We are pleased to report that the 76 boxes collected from Sturgeon Bay Moravian Church, and a total of 2,592 from all of Door County, are on their way to children in: Tanzania, Zambia, Saint Lucia, Madagascar, Zimbabwe, and Namibia. We are excited to report that 30 more boxes were sent than last year. Our thanks to Amy Stephens for spearheading this effort.

4 Page 4 POINSETTIA S FOR CHRISTMAS If you would like to place a poinsettia in the sanctuary this Christmas in memory or in honor of a special person, please complete the form below and return it, with your payment of $17.50, to the church office. The lovely red poinsettia, foil wrapped with a bow, will be yours to take home following worship on December 25. Orders must be received, with payment, no later than December 4th. Purchaser s Name: Phone: Quantity: Plants are acknowledged in our Christmas Eve Bulletins in this fashion: Given in Loving Memory of - -OR- - In honor of Person or family giving the plant: COUNTING OUR BLESSINGS - It has been a year of special blessings as we have watched programs that were started, or supported in our church, grow to a point where they moved out on their own or connected with facilities that could take them to their next level. As with the Clothe & Feed My People program, which was started in our church basement, we now see our new fledglings getting their wings and moving out of the nest. PATH (Promoting Access To Help for Families with Special Needs) was an existing program that found a home at Sturgeon Bay Moravian Church. With the guiding hands of Veronica Behme, Deb Doyle and a host of staff and volunteers the program has added services and support to many families in our community. In order to serve them better they formed their own non-profit organization. They are currently utilizing the Boys & Girls Club building for their programming. If you would like to continue to support PATH you may do so by sending donations to: P.A.T.H. Inc. PO Box 835 Sturgeon Bay, WI For more information check out their website: LOAVES & FISHES (Community Meal Program) This program started with multiple voices coming together with the same message, we need a program like this in our community. With the guiding hands of Ann Johnson, Gary and Sue Hollman, and a large group of ecumenical volunteers, this program has become a very special place for many in our community. L&F ran for many years without any official board or fundraising efforts. However, in the last year it became evident that in order to keep this program viable a structure needed to be implemented. An ecumenical board was established to discuss how to make sure that the program could be

5 Page 5 maintained. After solidifying the needs of L&F the board approached the Door County Community Foundation. We encouraged our pastors to write to the DCCF requesting that they take on the L&F program and They Did! L&F now has the structure for fundraising and financial management for this community endeavor to thrive and grow in the years to come. Loaves and Fishes of Door County provides free evening meals, on the 1st, 3rd and 4th Friday s of the month, to families and individuals in a safe and welcoming environment. We might have as many as 125 guests over for dinner. Our guests come not only for the meal but also for companionship. We treat them like family! Volunteers are always welcome. To volunteer contact Jan Evers at Consider making a donation today. (You can buy a dinner for your neighbor in need for just $3.45 a meal.) Give Online at: Or mail a check to: Loaves & Fishes of Door County, Inc. c/o Door County Community Foundation PO Box 802 Sturgeon Bay, WI To the Sturgeon Bay Moravian congregation and their service to many "Well Done Good and Faithful Servants!" Purchases of Waseda Farms Ground Beef will help support the Loaves & Fishes Community Meal Program. Orders can be placed through the Sturgeon Bay Moravian Church anytime from now until January, 27, 2017 with delivery in February. - or You may visit Waseda Farms, in the month of January, and ask them to credit Loaves & Fishes. For more information see page 6 of this newsletter.

6 AND Waseda Farms and Loaves and Fishes are teaming up to feed those in need in our community. We need your help to make this program successful. For every dollar of ground beef sold by Waseda Farms in January, Waseda Farms & Waseda Farms Market will give Dollar for Dollar to local area food programs, pantries and homeless shelters in Door County and Green Bay. We know that you can buy cheaper ground beef at many large superstores in the area. But none of them are selling Certified Organic 100% Grass-fed Black Angus beef grown right here in your backyard. Your purchases keep all those food dollars right here in your community, and not sent off to another part of the country. And when was the last time 100% of your purchase went to charity and 25% of it went straight back to Loaves & Fishes Sturgeon Bay! Last year that generated $4, for the L&F program! Also, the partner organization that purchases for largest total number of pounds of ground beef in January will receive a $1,000 bonus for their charity! You may shop directly at Waseda Farms (in January) and indicate that you want the sale to go toward Loaves & Fishes or, to make it even easier, you can complete the attached order form, include your check, and return it to the church office for our group order. The frozen product will be delivered to the church, at a specified date in February (TBD. Thank you for your support of the Loaves & Fishes meal program! ".."".."".."".."".."".."".."".." WASEDA FARMS / LOAVES & FISHES ORDER FORM Deadline for Orders is January 27, 2017 PRODUCT SIZE / $ PER LB. COST QUANTITY PRODUCT TOTAL $ 100% Grass-Fed Organic Ground Beef 1 lb. / $6.99 $ 6.99 Ground Beef 5 lb. / $6.69 $ Ground Chuck 1 lb. / $7.99 $ 7.99 Ground Round 1 lb. / $8.99 $ 8.99 Ground Sirloin 1 lb. / $9.99 $ 9.99 Ground Beef Patties 1/3 lb patties 4 per pack All Natural Grass-Fed $ 7.99 Ground Beef 1 lb. / $5.99 $ 5.99 Ground Beef 5 lb. / $5.69 $ TOTAL QUANTITY & COST / lbs. $ Name: Phone: Make Checks Payable to: Loaves & Fishes of Door County, Inc. Submit Order and Check to: Sturgeon Bay Moravian Church, 323 South Fifth Avenue, Sturgeon Bay, WI You will be notified of the February pick up date and time that your product will be available at the church.