The Messenger. A Sincere Invitation. November Little Zion Lutheran Church

Transcription

1 The Messenger November 2016 Little Zion Lutheran Church Rev. Erika Wesch Church Council Barry Bowman Donna Haskins Monica Hoover Jan Johnson Jane Kershaw Joe Leiss George Moyer David Nyce John Scott Patty Slater Lee Smeltz Staff Patti Ditzel, Organist Denise Famularo, Financial Secretary Doug Johnson, Treasurer Lee Smeltz, Facilities Manager Lisa Travis, Director of Music Ministries Cheryl Gustafson, Administrative Assistant A Sincere Invitation Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet. Matthew 22:9 100 people of all ages enjoyed a gorgeous fall day at Little Zion s Fall Fest on October 15, We were thrilled that more than a third of the people who came to the event had never been to Little Zion before! Philip Barndt kindly donated his time and tractor for hayrides on Little Zion s property. Kids loved bouncing in the moon bounce set up near the gazebo. Inside the Fellowship Hall, people enjoyed delicious baked goods generously provided by more than 20 members of Little Zion, and children loved the coloring pages as music played. As a result of the sale of baked goods, hot dogs, and cider, Little Zion donated $300. to Keystone Opportunity Center to benefit their food pantry. Special thanks goes to Guenter Wesch who organized the Fall Fest. We are grateful for the many individuals and families who baked tasty treats, decorated the church, volunteered their time at the event, and invited their neighbors, co-workers, relatives and friends to participate. At the Fall Fest, it was fun to see folks from Little Zion and meet new people. We all mixed and mingled and had a great time. Most people came to the event as a result of personal invitation. The importance of invitation is not exclusive to once-a-year events like the Fall Fest. I wonder, whom do you want to see at Little Zion? Do you want to enjoy time with more children and young families? Do you want to hang out with other youth and young adults? Do you want to savor the fact that church is one of the few places that people of all ages are together in one place at one time? Then start inviting the people you want to see! My brothers and sisters in Christ, we are on this Christian journey together. Our mission statement clearly states, Following Jesus, Walking Together, from Good News to Godly Service. I am thankful for each person who comes through Little Zion s welcoming red doors. Each one of us can invite a friend, a relative, a neighbor or co-worker to church, where together, we experience the warmth of Little Zion and give thanks to God for the Gospel Good News of Jesus gracious, life-giving love. Yours in Christ, Pastor Wesch

2 Hoagie Sale! The first fundraiser for 2017 Bear Creek Campers is a Hoagie Sale on November 13. Italian Hoagies are $6.00 each. Envelopes are available to place your order and they can be given to Pastor Wesch or Cheryl Magee. Pick up your hoagies on Sunday, November 13. Thank you for all of your support! Worship Assistants Workshop For Current and New Assistants Worship Assistants will have a workshop on Sunday, November 6 following the 10:15 service. Assistant ministers, lectors (readers), cantors (singers), ushers, audio, greeters, and communion assistants should attend, along with anyone interested in becoming an assistant. A light lunch will be provided. We will begin by noon and finish by 12:45 (home for the Eagles game). Please contact Pastor Wesch, Lisa Travis or the church office if you would like to join any of these groups. Notice of Semi-Annual Congregational Meeting Little Zion Lutheran Church Sunday, November 20, 2016 Worship Service 9:00 am Breakfast 10:30 am Meeting about 11:15 am Copies of the 2017 Annual Budget will be available on November 6 in the narthex, or you may request having one sent to your home by calling the church office at or send an to administrator@littlezion.org

3 Little Zion s Christmas Children s Musical All children, ages 3 years to 6th grade are invited to be in our Christmas Musical- M is for Manger. Practices begin on Sunday, November 6 and will continue Nov. 13, 27, Dec. 4 and 11 from 9-10 am. We will have an additional practice on Saturday, Dec. 10 at 10:00 am. Please plan on attending each practice. If you have questions, please Lisa at music@littlezion.org. Changing of the Colors on November 13 We will observe Changing of the Colors, remembering all who have served our country in war and in peace. This will take place at our flagpole after the 10:15 am service on November 13. Scout Troop 16 will assist. All are welcome. Garden Planning Meeting In the October issue of Living Lutheran, we are reminded that Ending the Cycle of Hunger Starts With Nutritious Food. On Saturday, November 5 at 9:30 am, we will meet in the church house to plan for our 2017 church garden which will be planted in May. Please attend to provide your input and help in making next year s harvest, which is donated to Keystone Opportunity Center in Souderton, a success! Together, we do God s work with our hands. Patty & Wayne Slater and Joan & Lee Liepin. Advent Workshop Project Meals for Aid for Friends Join us at our Advent Workshop on Sunday, December 4, when we will prepare meals for Aid for Friends, a non-profit that provides elderly shut -ins and other needy people with free homecooked meals. We will cook all of the items for a nutritious meal and pack it in individual metal trays (like a TV dinner ), then label and freeze them. After they are frozen, they will be delivered to an AFF freezer location. We will need chefs, packers and labelers for this project. Look for a list to sign up to help and/or donate items we will need to make the meal. Aid for Friends distributes these meals in the 5-county Greater Philadelphia area. They currently serve about 2,000 people. They value the fact that all of our meals are homemade by a bevy of cooks who share their time, talent and creations with us. This system ensures that a good variety of food is available for our clients to enjoy each day. To learn more about AFF: Our hearts are grateful that The Rev Brad Burke, SEPA's Assistant to the Bishop for Youth, Young Adult, and Spiritual Formation came to Little Zion on Sunday, October 23 to share with us his experiences from his recent visit to Tanzania. In his preaching and his presentation, he used vivid imagery to describe the things he saw and felt while meeting our companions at the Irente School for the Blind and the Northeastern Diocese of Tanzania. We give thanks to God for Brad's ministry and for the students and staff at the Irente School for the Blind!

4 Women of Little Zion Upper Bucks Women of the ELCA 2016 Fall Gathering On Saturday, November 5, the Upper Bucks Women of the ELCA 2016 Fall Gathering will be at Little Zion Lutheran Church. Registration begins at 9:00; the program will be followed by a light lunch. The theme is Repentance based on the scripture: Matthew 4:17 From that time Jesus began to proclaim, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near. The program will be the first two of Martin Luther s 95 theses contained his central idea, that God intended believers to seek repentance and that faith alone, and not deeds, would lead to salvation. We are taking this opportunity to Meet Martin and learn more about his life and his teaching - particularly how this idea transformed him and affects us. In Kind Gifts: We want to help those affected by the recent weather disasters. Lutheran World Relief gives personal care kits to those who are dislocated from their homes. We will be collecting items for these kits: light-weight bathsize towels (between 20 x 40 and 52 x 27 ), bath-size bars of soap, adult-size toothbrushes, sturdy combs, metal nail clippers (attached file optional). For full information on the kits see Monetary gifts: will be split between Women of the ELCA and Lutheran World Relief. Please call Helen Dungan at with any questions. The Women of Little Zion will have a noon meeting on November 16th. The presentation will be on the Christian History of the Vatican. Please bring a bag lunch and a donation for Keystone Opportunity. All are welcome. We would like to thank Pastor Wesch and Little Zion for their support related to Gerry High s death and funeral. We greatly appreciated Pastor Wesch s hospital visit and her guidance and kindness in planning for and officiating at the funeral. We re very grateful for the contributions of Little Zion s members who helped with the funeral and the funeral luncheon. With gratitude, The family of Gerry High. Volunteers are needed for Coffee Hour, Audio, Nursery and to serve as Communion Assistants and Acolytes. If you would like to volunteer, please contact the church office at

5 Time to Order Pretzels! The weather has changed and it is now time to dip pretzels into that delicious chocolate! The bags of pretzels and clusters are still only $3.00 each! If you want special orders for Thanksgiving or Christmas, please contact David or Betsy Snook. November 6- Don t forget to fall back one hour! Updated: Steeple and Stained Glass Windows Capital Campaign HELP US DECORATE THE CHURCH FOR CHRISTMAS! Save the date! December 9 It is not too early to mark your calendar for decorating the church for Christmas. We will begin with a light breakfast at 8:30 am and decorate from 9:00 am to 12:00 noon. Many hands make things go faster! A Special Thank You! Thank you to all the choir members that provided four wonderful anthems for the service at the Lutheran Community on October 2. We are over a quarter of the way to raising the funds we need to get the job done. As of October 23, members have donated $20,868.00! Check the progress toward our goal on the poster in the narthex. If you would like to make a contribution, use a Steeple and Window campaign fund envelope from the display. For questions please contact: Lee Smeltz, Peter Quigley and the Finance Committee. Weather Alerts In the case of bad weather, the most important thing is for everyone to be safe. Closings Notifications: In the event it should be necessary for Little Zion to close or delay Sunday service and other activities due to weather or other unforeseen events, we will post a notice on our website our mailing list, and put a recorded message on our telephone ( ).

6 Kids Page November Sundays in November, "M" is For Manger play practice, 9:00 AM December 12/4: Event for all ages, Advent Workshop, 12:00 pm 12/11: "M" is For Manger play, 10:15 AM

7 Sunday Worship at 7:45 am & 10:15 am Sunday School for all ages at 9:00 am (except where noted) Every Monday: Boy Scout Troop 16, 7pm, Church House Every Monday: Cub Scout Pack 10, 7pm, Fellowship Hall Every other Tuesday: Girl Scout Troop 7077, 6:30 pm FH Every Wednesday: Deadheads, 9:00 am 3rd Wednesday: Eastern Star, 7pm Every Friday: AA & Al Anon, 8pm Every Sunday: Confirmation Class, 9am Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Notes: Nursery care is available at 10:15 am Children s Message at the 10:15 am service Strong Center, Open Door - at Trinity Lansdale 5 WELCA at LZ -FH Garden Planning Mtg in Church House 6 All Saints Sunday Worship 7:45 am & 10:15 am 9:00 am Sunday School & Confirmation Classes Worship Asst. Training Workshop after 10:15 service 7 Quilters 1-4 pm Finance Mtg. 7:00 pm 8 Upper Bucks Conf. at LZ 9:30-2:00pm Church Council Meeting 7:00 pm 9 Property Committee 9:00 am-12:00 pm 10 Choir: Jr: 6:30 pm Sr: 7:30 pm Changing of the Colors Worship 7:45 am & 10:15 am 9:00 am Sunday School & Confirmation Classes Bear Creek Camper Hoagie Sale 14 Quilters 1-4 pm 15 Faith Formation Meeting 7:00 pm 16 Property Committee 9:00 am-12:00 pm Women of Little Zion 12:00 noon 17 Choir: Jr: 6:30 pm Sr: 7:30 pm :00 am Praise Service Breakfast & Semi-Annual Mtg to follow 21 Quilters 1-4 pm Property Committee 9:00 am-12:00 pm No Thanksgiving Eve Service 24 No Choir Office Closed 25 Office Closed Advent 1 Worship 7:45 am & 10:15 am 9:00 am Sunday School & Confirmation Classes Worship & Music Mtg after 10:15 service 28 Quilters 1-4 pm Property Committee 9:00 am-12:00 pm

8 11/4-5/16 Strong Center, Open Door: Engaging Lutheran Workshop at Trinity Lutheran 11/5/16 WELCA & Garden Planning Mtg 11/6/16 Worship Assist. Workshop at Little Zion 11/13/16 Changing of the Colors Hoagie Sale for Bear Creek 11/16/16 Women of Little Zion Meeting 11/20/16 Semi-Annual Congregational Meeting (1 service at 9:00am) 11/27/16 First Sunday of Advent 12/4/16 Advent Workshop 12/9/16 Decorating the Church at 8:30am 12/11/16 Children s Musical at 10:15 am 12/18/16 Land & Seasons Service (1 service at 10:15 am) 12/24/16 Christmas Eve Services at 4:00, 7:00, & 10:00 pm 12/25/16 Christmas Day Service (1 service at 10:15 am) 1/1/17 New Years Day Service (1 service at 10:15 am) Paige Cramer November 11 Brian Kolb November 11 Ryan Kershaw November 15 Brianna Gerhart November 16 Carolyn Scott November 16 Jessica Hopkin November 17 Jennifer Flynn November 20 Shirley Musselman November 23 Alec Sprouse III November 23 Kasimere McManus III November 24 Lindsay Cram November 25 Ruth Musselman November 25 Susan Bargher November 26 Darlene Barndt November 28 Bryan Sandmann November 30 Note: The information for the birthdays listed in the newsletter comes from Little Zion s membership database. We would love to include your birthday in our monthly newsletter. If your birthday isn't listed, please contact the church office. Little Zion Lutheran Church at Indianfield