Calvary Lutheran Church

Transcription

1 Calvary Lutheran Church Rapidan, Minnesota January 2014 Newsletter Pastor Suzanne Froelich Ministers: All Members Church: Web site: Learning Hour at 9:00 am Worship at 10:15 am Fellowship/Coffee Hour following worship A Letter from Pastor Sue: Longing for light, we wait in darkness. Longing for truth, we turn to you. Make us your own, your holy people, Light for the world to see. Christ, be our light! Shine in our hearts. Shine through the darkness. Christ be our light! Shine in your church gathered today. On January 6 th we begin the season of Epiphany. The word Epiphany means to reveal or to make known. During this season of the church year we hear the stories of Jesus being revealed to the nations as the Messiah, the Christ. Here at Calvary we are going to celebrate this year 140 years of having the honor of making Christ known to the nations! Our celebration year will kick off on

2 February 9 th with a potluck and will culminate on June 22 nd with a special worship service and hog roast. During this time you ll have opportunities to take pictures and tell stories of your memories of Calvary. We are currently looking for someone to put together a history of Calvary from 1999 to the present. Our theme verse for this celebration is from Matthew 28:20b And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age. Before this verse in Matthew Jesus has told those with him to, Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. Our Lord has commanded us to go out into the world and reveal him to the nations! What an honor and a privilege to carry the good news of Jesus Christ out into the world! I know that for most of us telling others about Christ isn t easy or comfortable, but it s what we re called as Christians to do. What has helped me is to think about times that I ve seen God present and at work in my life those are stories that are easy to tell. Another way to spread the good news is to talk to others that we know about what s going on here at Calvary that excites you; that you want others to experience and then invite them! You may be pleasantly surprised when they say yes! We will have many opportunities in the coming year to invite our friends and neighbors to share our faith here at Calvary. Who can you invite? Pastor Sue Prayer Concerns: Harold Larvick, Karen Ostermann and Joan Turtle in extended care. Dorothy Bammert, Karen Mitchell, Violet Lachmiller, Floyd and Sally Froelich, Gene Griffen, Fred Hunt, Jerry Schwantes and Athena Diesch. We also hold in prayer the family of Andrew Keller while he serves in Afghanistan. Thank you s: Thank you to everyone who helped to decorate our sanctuary for Christmas. Thank you to everyone who helped with our December worship services. Thank you to everyone who helped to make our Christmas program a success! Also thank you to everyone who helped make the lefse, rosettes and chili/chicken soup lunch! Thank you to those who helped with the Advent meals on Wed nights. Thank you to the choir and Kelly for a beautiful cantata and to everyone who added special music to the service. 2

3 Thank you to all those who brought cookies and worked at the cookie walk. Thank you to Chad Pasbrig for clearing our parking lot. Thank you to Chad and Zander Lachmiller for keeping our church looking so nice. Poinsettias: Poinsettias were given in memory of Hannah Gamble by Bunny Erickson, Mac Richards by Donna Richards, Leonard Kunz by Esther Kunz, Vida and Vesty Froelich and Betty and Herb Ziemer by Pastor Sue. A poinsettia was also given in honor of Rubana Phillips by Carla Diesch. Thank you! Women s Group: The Women s Cookie Walk was a big success this year raising $500! We will be meeting on January 14 th at to finish our discussion on the book, The Women of Christmas-Elizabeth, Mary and Anna. Please read chapters 7 and 8 to discuss and come with ideas about what you would like to study next. Please watch the bulletin for where it will be held. Men s Group: The Men s group will be meeting for breakfast and our continued discussion with Tony Dungy s book, Dare to be Uncommon at 8am on Saturday January 4 th here at church. We will be discussing session 4: Your Full Potential: Making an Uncommon Difference in God s Kingdom. We start with breakfast, have discussion and watch a short video by Tony Dungy. Join us for some very interesting conversations! Sunday School: After a brief break following the very successful program Lo and Behold Seeing Is Believing Sunday school confirmation classes will begin again on Sunday January 5 th. Our next Cross+Generational Learning Hour will be on Sunday January 12 th where we will be discussion baptism. Sponsors are invited to attend the learning hour and worship with their godchildren. We ll have a special picture frame and a booklet to take home for you to celebrate your baptism anniversary. Luther League: Thank you to everyone who brought supplies and helped in anyway with making the lefse, rosettes and chili/chicken soup lunch following the Sunday school program. Because of your generosity we were able to clear $592! This money will go towards our mission trip this March 14 th -16 th. 3

4 The Luther League will be meeting on Sunday January 5 th after worship to discuss our Lock-in on Friday January 10 th -11 th, helping with the Valentine s dinner on February 16 th, the 30 hour famine on Feb 21 st -22 nd, the Ash Wednesday meal on March 5 th and our mission trip on March 14 th -16 th. Please think about whether or not you will be able to go on the mission trip in March; our final payment is due Feb 14 th and we need to know how many of you can go. There is also a sign-up sheet for those who can be chaperones during the lock-in from Friday night at 6pm until Saturday morning after breakfast. There will be three 5 hour shifts available for your choice. If we don t have at least 2 adults for each shift; we cannot have the lock-in. Fellowship Committee: The Fellowship committee is in the process of making Visitor s packets for people to either take home after worshipping with us or for members to take to prospective members when visiting. We are also making Missing You cards to send to members who haven t been worshipping with us for a while. These will soon be available for us to sign during the fellowship time after worship and then sent out. We are also making plans for another Game Day this year which will be held on Sunday January 12 th after worship (snow day Jan 26 th ). Pizzas will be provided and you are asked to bring snacks and games to share. Everyone had a blast last year and we re looking forward to another great time! The Fellowship committee will be meeting on Tuesday January 7 th at 5pm at Carol Reedstrom s to discuss the potato bar after the annual meeting (watch for the sign-up sheets), the potluck for the 140 th Anniversary on February 9 th and the Valentine s Dinner on February 16 th. Instead of having our Souper Bowl Sunday meal this year we will be having a Noisy Offering during worship on Sun Feb 2 nd to go towards eliminating world hunger. We are also looking for someone to write up a history of Calvary from 1999 to the present. We would like to publish this for our 140 th celebration in June, but if no one steps forward to do this we can t. Please consider if you would be able to help! We are also looking at having some fund raisers to help with the expenses for the big celebration in June. Watch the newsletter and bulletin for further updates. 4

5 Choir: Thank you to the choir members and to Kelly Lachmiller for a wonderful cantata in December Sing with the Angels! After a short break because of the holidays; the choir will begin practice again on Wednesday January 8 th at. Join us for music and laughs! Salad Luncheon Bridal Shower honoring Kelly Larvick to be held Saturday, January 18, 2014 starting at 11:00 a.m. at Calvary Lutheran Church in Rapidan. All are welcome. Kelly is engaged to Mark Moser originally from Wisconsin. The couple is registered at Menards, Target and Walmart. Kelly and Mark moved to North Dakota in August 2012 when Kelly accepted a job as a Federal Probation Officer. Mark is working for the North Dakota School for the Deaf. They purchased a home this year in Devils Lake. They are planning a destination wedding in February, with a Minnesota reception in St. Louis Park in March. Parents of the couple are Steve & Darcy Larvick of Lake Crystal, and Joan and Jeff Moser from Wisconsin. Annual Meeting: Our Annual Meeting is scheduled for Sunday January 19 th after worship. There will be a short meeting to vote on our updated constitution before the Annual Meeting. There will also be a baked potato bar following the meeting with the proceeds to go towards our 140 th celebration. Our constitution has been updated and approved by the synod office. There will be members from the committee here after worship on Jan 5 th and 12 th to answer any questions you have. Printed copies of the updated constitution will be available by Jan 5 th. We have many openings for our church council this year. Please think about saying yes when asked by the nominating committee to join us. Installation of the council will be during worship on Sunday January 26 th. Fund Raising Opportunity: Do you use Schwans products? We have an opportunity to join in Schwans fundraising for our church, but we need to know if there are enough people who purchase Schwans product to make this feasible. There is a sign-up sheet in the kitchen if you are interested. More information will follow if we have enough people to participate. 5

6 Prayer Chain: Are you interested in being on Calvary s Prayer Chain? If you didn t sign-up last year; we are again taking names for those who would like to be part of the prayer chain, but are not currently on it. Please sign-up on the sheet in the narthex. Thank you. Snow Emergency Policy: Hopefully we won t have to use this, but if there is severe winter weather that will affect a Sunday morning or evening worship service; please tune into the radio station KTOE (1420 AM), our website or our Facebook page for the cancellation notice. A cancellation decision will be made by 7am on Sunday mornings and at least 2 hours before a midweek service. Please contact the choir director (Kelly Lachmiller) if you are wondering about choir practice. Cemetery Board: Calvary is looking to form a cemetery board made up of members that will oversee the records and care of the cemetery. If you would like to be on this board or have any questions or comments; please talk to Tim Howland, Steve Krosch or a council member. Thank you. 12 Step Recovery Service: On the third Sunday of each month the Church of the Holy Communion invites community members to a 12 step recovery service at 2pm. The service is ecumenical. Church of the Holy Communion is an Episcopal Church. The service is open to all. The church is located at 118 North Minnesota Ave in St. Peter. For more information contact The Rev. Tom Harries at or at: PastorTom@HolyCommunionStPeter.org. Calendar of Events: Wed Jan 1 st : Happy New Year! Sat Jan 4 th : Men s group meets at church Sun Jan 5 th : Learning hour Epiphany Worship with Holy Communion using WOV setting 5 Luther League meets after worship Fellowship time after worship Tue Jan 7 th : Fellowship committee meets at Carol Reedstrom s Wed Jan 8 th : Choir practice Fri-Sat Jan 10 th -11 th : Luther League lock-in Sun Jan 12 th : Cross+Generational Learning hour on Baptism Worship using ELW Service of the Word Game day after worship 6 8am 9am 10:15am 5pm 6pm 9am 10:15am

7 Fellowship time after worship Tue Jan 14 th : Women s group Wed Jan 15 th : Choir practice Thu Jan 16 th : Pastor s colleague group in Springfield Sat Jan 18 th : Shower for Kelly Larvick Sun Jan 19 th : Learning hour Worship with Holy Communion using ELW setting 4 Special constitution meeting following worship Annual meeting following worship Baked potato bar following Annual meeting Tue Jan 21 st : Council meeting Wed Jan 22 nd : Choir practice Sun Jan 26 th : Learning hour Worship using WOV Service of Word and Prayer Installation of Council during worship Fellowship time following worship Wed Jan 29 th : Choir practice Sat Feb 1 st : Men s group breakfast Sun Feb 2 nd : Learning hour Worship with Holy Communion using ELW setting 4 Noisy Offering for World Hunger during worship Luther League meets after worship Fellowship time after worship 1-3pm 11:00 am 9am 10:15am 9am 10:15am 8am 9am 10:15am Stewardship Matters WE BELIEVE THAT STEWARDSHIP IS A RESPONSE TO ALL THAT GOD HAS DONE FOR US. WE ARE BLESSED TO BE A BLESSING TO ONE ANOTHER AND THE WORLD. AS ACTS OF STEWARDSHIP WE Pray for the ministry of Calvary Lutheran Church Worship regularly and actively invite others to join us in the worship life of Calvary. Actively share gifts, talents, and abilities within the ministry of Calvary. Give financial support of the ministry of Calvary. Weekly Budget Attendance 12/1 12/8 12/15 12/22 12/24 12/29 Total December Need $1, $904 $1,099 $1,746 $7,336 December Actual 7

8 DATE GREETERS LECTORS 1/5 Sheila Scharping January 2014 Worship Assignments *COFFEE HOSTS Dennis & Sheila Scharping USHERS FLOWERS ACOLYTE Matt Preis COMMUNCION ASSISTANT (Board Member) 1/12 Ethan Kittelson Annual Meeting 1/19 Potato Bar Zander Lachmiller 1/26 Alison Pasbrig JANUARY BIRTHDAYS JANUARY WEDDING ANNIVERSARIES 6 Wendy Howieson 14 Brian & Kathy Severns 7 Mary Kranz 9 Kathy Severns 10 Adeline Sens 11 Sheila Scharping, 14 Roger Matzke 16 Jeanne Howland, Karissa Ziegler 21 David Reedstrom 22 Taylor Ziegler 25 Lucille Doss, 28 Donna Richards, Deb Krosch 29 Doug Sing 8

9 One Day I Woke Up One day, I woke early in the morning to watch the sunrise. Ah the beauty of God's creation is beyond description. As I watched, I praised God for His beautiful work. As I sat there, I felt the Lord's presence with me. He asked me, "Do you love me?" I answered, "Of course, God! You are my Lord and Savior!" Then He asked, "If you were physically handicapped, would you still love me?" I was perplexed. I looked down upon my arms, legs and the rest of my body and wondered how many things I wouldn't be able to do, the things that I took for granted. And I answered, "It would be tough Lord, but I would still love You." Then the Lord said, "If you were blind, would you still love my creation?" How could I love something without being able to see it? Then I thought of all the blind people in the world and how many of them still loved God and His creation. So I answered, "Its hard to think of it, but I would still love you." The Lord then asked me, "If you were deaf, would you still listen to my word?" How could I listen to anything being deaf? Then I understood. Listening to God's Word is not merely using our ears, but our hearts. I answered, "It would be tough, but I would still listen to Your word." The Lord then asked, "If you were mute, would you still praise My Name?" How could I praise without a voice? Then it occurred to me: God wants us to sing from our very heart and soul. It never matters what we sound like. And praising God is not always with a song, but when we are persecuted, we give God praise with our words of thanks. So I answered, "Though I could not physically sing, I would still praise Your Name. And the Lord asked, "Do you really love Me?" With courage and a strong conviction, I answered boldly, "Yes Lord! I love You because You are the one and true God!" I thought I had answered well, but... God asked, "THEN WHY DO YOU SIN?" I answered, "Because I am only human. I am not perfect." "THEN WHY IN TIMES OF PEACE DO YOU STRAY THE FURTHEST? WHY ONLY IN TIMES OF TROUBLE DO YOU PRAY THE EARNEST?" No answers. Only tears. The Lord continued: "Why only sing at fellowships and retreats? Why seek Me only in times of worship? Why ask things so selfishly? Why ask things so unfaithfully?" The tears continued to roll down my cheeks. "Why are you ashamed of Me? Why are you not spreading the good news? Why in times of persecution, you cry to others when I offer My shoulder to cry on? Why make excuses when I give you opportunities to serve in My Name?" I tried to answer, but there was no answer to give. "You are blessed with life. I made you not to throw this gift away. I have blessed you with talents to serve Me, but you continue to turn away. I have revealed My Word to you, but you do not gain in knowledge. I have spoken to you but your ears were closed. I have shown My blessings to you, but your eyes were turned away. I have sent you servants, but you sat idly by as they were pushed away. I have heard your prayers and I have answered them all." "DO YOU TRULY LOVE ME?" I could not answer. How could I? I was embarrassed beyond belief. I had no excuse. What could I say to this? When I my heart had cried out and the tears had flowed, I said, " Please forgive me Lord. I am unworthy to be Your child." The Lord answered, "That is My Grace, My child." I asked, "Then why do you continue to forgive me? Why do You love me so?" The Lord answered, "Because you are My creation. You are my child. I will never abandon you." "When you cry, I will have compassion and cry with you. When you shout with joy, I will laugh with you. When you are down, I will encourage you. When you fall, I will raise you up. When you are tired, I will carry you. I will be with you till the end of days, and I will love you forever." Never had I cried so hard before. How could I have been so cold? How could I have hurt God as I had done? I asked God, "How much do You love me?" The Lord stretched out His arms, and I saw His nailpierced hands. I bowed down at the feet of Christ, my Savior. And for the first time, I truly prayed. 9

10 Calvary Church Council Meeting 7:00 p.m. Tuesday, November 19, 2013 Meeting called to order by President Bob 7:02 pm Attendance: President Bob Diesch, Vice President Dave Reedstrom, Lee Sing Carla Diesch, Scott Kittelson, Pastor Sue Froelich, Jodie Miller, Darryl Ziegler, Dana Ziegler and Kelly Lachmiller. Absent: Kcarie Sing Devotions: Pastor Sue recently read an article that states the best way to help the poor is to help the girls in poor communities by providing a girl with an education, which would help her with self-respect and selfesteem. With an education she can support her family. She asked the council what types of charities we worked with or contributed to. Minutes: Carla provided copies of last meeting s minutes for Council members to review. Corrections were made. Dave made a motion to accept with noted changes, Kelly Lachmiller seconded. Motion passed by voice vote of the council. Pastor s Report: Pastor handed out her report prior to the Meeting. She recently toured MRCI and was astonished to see how many staff MRCI employed. She went over things she learned during her recent, blessing for abundance (hunters). How funerals have changed over the years. Financial Secretary Report: Dana handed out his report prior to the meeting. No questions, President Diesch entertained a motion to approve. Darryl made a motioned to accept the report, Jodie seconded. Motion passed by voice vote of the council. Treasurer s Report: Lee handed out her report prior to the meeting. Dana made a motion to approve, Kelly seconded, motion passed by voice vote of the council. Old Business: Constitution Update Has been approved. Needs to be voted on at a meeting prior to the annual meeting. Dave will provide copies for members to read or review prior to the meeting. Dave will be available after church to explain the changes. Need to hold a vote to have the special meeting. Status of Church Windows Project The only bid we currently have is from Wells. Do we get further bids or start getting the money together for the project. We currently have about $2000 in the fund. Snow Removal So far no one has come forward. Dana will make some calls and get some bids ahead of time, Kelly will speak with her brother-in-law. Bob will speak with Chad Pasbrig. Cemetery? Non-profit 317A Bob figured this out prior to the meeting. We are a 501(b). Nonprofit, charitable. Cemetery Board Dana indicated he would be willing once he has relinquished his duties as Financial Secretary. New Business: Updating names on mailboxes in Narthex Dana will bring his label maker from work and get it fixed on Sunday. Budget Meeting Last year we had the budget meeting before the January council meeting. Dana indicated we could meet in December, 17 at 6:00 pm. Bob will get Pizza. Schwans Cares Fundraising Network Pastor asked if there are enough members that already order from Schwans. Pastor will get more information about the program. Nominating Committee Kelly, Sheila and Dana. Next meeting to be held on: December 17, 2013 at 7:00 pm Adjourn: Bob entertained a motion to adjourn, Dana motion Darryl seconded. Meeting was adjourned with the Lord s Prayer at 7:48 pm. Respectfully Submitted, Secretary Carla Diesch 10