PARISH LIGHT AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. American Lutheran Church 401 South Flynn Drive, PO Box 287, Milbank, SD September 2017

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1 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH PARISH LIGHT A Beacon of god s love a home for all people American Lutheran Church 401 South Flynn Drive, PO Box 287, Milbank, SD September 2017 Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, and see. 2 Kings 19:16 While preparing for a sermon on Psalm 46, I re-read an Old Testament story found in Second Kings, chapters 19 and 20, about Judah s defiant stand against Sennacherib and the Assyrians. In the story, King Hezekiah and the Judeans try to take care of their difficult circumstances by themselves, but eventually rediscover their need for God. It was 701 B.C. and the mighty Assyrian army had assaulted and captured numerous cities throughout Judah and now had ventured to Jerusalem with plans to capture and enslave the prize of the Judean state, the Holy City. After their arrival, the Assyrians surrounded Jerusalem, blocking off all means of escape. Then they sent their envoy, the Rabshakeh, to negotiate the fate of Jerusalem with King Hezekiah. King Hezekiah in turn, sent three Judean diplomats to speak to the Assyrian envoy. The three Judean diplomats asked the Assyrian to speak in Aramaic, his own language, so the people of Judah wouldn t be able to understand what was being negotiated. But the Rabshakeh spoke out as loud as he could in Hebrew. And the words that he shared mocked the Judeans for their lack of military capabilities while also chiding them about the inability of their God to stand up for them. Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you, the Rabshakeh yelled out, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by utterly destroying them; and shall you be delivered? When the Judean diplomats came to King Hezekiah and told him all that had been said, he then tore off his clothes and covered himself with ash. Then, in a state of uncertainty as to what he should do, King Hezekiah went to Temple and prayed to the Lord for deliverance so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are the Lord God. The answer to King Hezekiah s prayer came by way of an angel of the Lord who put doubt in the minds of the Assyrian military leadership which in turn moved Sennacherib to withdrew from his siege of Jerusalem and returned to Assyria. Once back in Assyrian, Sennacherib and his army were met with a disaster that ended the Assyrian strong arm hold on all of the Middle Eastern nations. For me this story serves as a reminder, that all too often, when we are in a situation where we need help, we so often try to go at it alone. We have within us an independence attitude like that of Hezekiah, where we believe that God doesn t need to be involved with all of our decision making, and that sometimes becomes an attitude for everything we are involved in. But the truth is that God wants to be a part of our lives. God wants to walk with us in all of our daily decisions. So as Hezekiah discovered in his time of trial, we shouldn t be afraid to reach up our hand to God in prayer asking God to intercede in our life decisions. For God has continually promised His comfort and help in all things. God s blessings, Pastor Carl

2 Pastoral Acts in August Baptism Kaleb Matthew Pillatzke Born: June 26, 2017 Baptism: August 12, 2017 Parents: Kyle and Heather Pillatzke Sponsors: Eric and Vanessa Schultz Baptism Adelyn Grace Cordingley Born: May 2, 2017 Baptism: August 20, 2017 Parents: Mike and Brittni Cordingley Sponsors: Mason Cordingley and Kennedy Dikoff Funeral Dorothy May Johanson May 31, 1931 August 14, 2017 Funeral: August 18, 2017 American Lutheran Church Staff and Church Council PASTOR Carl Larson Office Cell Phone PARISH ASSISTANT Carol Kirchberg Carol.Kirchberg@americanlutheran.com OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR Gail Selgeby alcoffice@itcmilbank.com Office Phone Cell Phone CHRISTIAN EDUCATION Amy Bass Amy.Bass@americanlutheran.com PRESCHOOL Nicole Scott Teacher preschool@americanlutheran.com PARISH NURSE Diana Dirksen dirksen@tnics.com FINANCE/STEWARDSHIP Kevin Bjordahl Bob Biersbach Steve Wenzl CHURCH COUNCIL WORSHIP/EVANGELISM Bryan Johnson Dell Stengel Troy Kastrup President Steve Wenzl Vice President Jerry Kathman Secretary Troy Kastrup Treasurer Mary Bjordahl PROPERTY/ MANAGEMENT Craig Kirchberg Steve Street Jerry Kathman YOUTH/EDUCATION Carol Kirchberg Theresa Granquist Janet Zemlicka If you are unable to attend worship in person Listen LIVE on KMSD 9am Sundays (1510AM/98.3FM) FACEBOOK Like Us on Facebook Bulletins Newsletters Worship Videos Calendar and Events

3 Quilters Group The Quilters create quilts that are given to LWR, local charities, the ALC High School graduates, plus infant quilts for every child that is baptized at ALC. They meet the 2 nd and 4 th Tuesday of each month at 9am in the Fellowship Hall. The pictured quilt will be at the Annual Quilt Auction. Lutheran Outdoors 27 th Annual Quilt Auction September 10, 2017 Our Saviors Lutheran Church in Sioux Falls Twenty-seven years of multi-colored fabrics, 100% cotton, denim, thread and yes, even polyester have raised over $653,677 for your South Dakota camping ministry well OVER half a million dollars! Meets the third Thursday of each month at 7pm September: The Violets of March October: One-in-a-Million Boy Contact Patti Frazee for more information. American Lutheran Church Library During your fall cleanout of your closets and drawers, if you find Children's Bible Stories that you are willing to donate to our Church Library, please bring and put in the donation box (labeled BOOK DONATIONS) located in the church library. They will be processed and put on the library shelf for checkout. Janelle Kelly, ALC Librarian Page Turner s Book Club Peace Circle Bible Study, Fellowship, and Community Service. Meets at noon the first Tuesday of each month. Prayer Shawl Ministry Special Thanks go to Carol Walford, Delores Street, Deanna Schaefer, and Carmen Van Veen for the many prayer shawls created over the years. If anyone would like to help make these by crocheting or knitting please stop by the multi purpose room to pick up yarn and instructions along with a special prayer to say while creating each shawl. These shawls are given to members of our parish in the hospital, or to members who have lost their loved ones.

4 Please contact the church office if you would like to be notified whenever a choral group is put together. This could include women s groups, men s groups, small groups or choirs. It would also include music for holidays and special events. (Sign up also available at Welcome Center) Manna Praise Band practices most Wednesdays at 6pm Contact Scott Torness or Brenda Maass S u n d a y, S e p t e m b e r 1 0 MANY miscellaneous fixing, cleaning, and outdoor projects need your assistance. If you know of anyone in our congregation and/or community that could use 1 to 2 hours of help on this morning please contact the church council or office. Breakfast Brunch Egg Bake, Coffee, Juice and breakfast treats. Served by LIA, Volunteers, and Church Council Help the Quilt group tie quilts. In-Church Painting Projects Wear your paint clothes. Care Packages will be put together for our College Students.

5 HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! 9/01 Evelyn Moser 9/02 Susie Schuneman 9/03 Steve Selgeby 9/04 Paxten Anderson 9/04 Bruce Granquist 9/04 Steve Street 9/07 Ria Teske 9/09 Brenda Maass 9/11 Helen Larsen 9/11 Andrew Leddy 9/11 Rhonda Zinter 9/12 Dustin Koepke 9/12 Carol Larson 9/12 Owen Tesch 9/14 Audrey Schmeichel 9/15 Kristi Bunting 9/15 Darin Gruba 9/15 Gordon Jarman 9/15 Jan Scriver 9/16 Nathan Granquist 9/16 Tammy Schuelke 9/17 Sara Johnson 9/17 Hannah Kirchberg 9/18 Donita Magedanz 9/18 Lily Pillatzke 9/18 Cynthia Schumacher 9/18 Jennifer Thiele 9/19 Orrin Anderson 9/19 Molly Magedanz 9/20 Chad Nolz 9/21 Ryan Dunnihoo 9/21 Brent Smith 9/23 Kay O Farrell 9/24 Lance Frogner 9/24 Kathy Mathiason 9/24 Keith Pauli 9/25 Michael Cordingley 9/25 Douglas Fraasch 9/26 Troy Kastrup 9/26 Alysha Madsen 9/27 Alysha Kastrup 9/27 Katelynn Moen 9/27 Matthew Moen 9/29 Craig Kirchberg 9/30 Belva Stinson Movie Night Sunday September 17 5pm Holy Word Theatre Pizza, Popcorn, Candy Free Will Offering 9/04 Barbara & Steven Anderson 9/04 Steve & Stephanie Wenzl 9/05 Ryan & Steph Gruba 9/12 Harlan & Arlene Schlueter 9/14 Kevin & Tammy Schuelke 9/15 Scott & Sheila Myrum 9/16 Mark & Emily Mueller 9/24 David & Kristy Dorneman Stewardship-a way of life Note-A-Bells Handbell Choir meets at 5:15 on most Wednesdays. Contact Mary Bjordahl for more information. Date 08/06/17 08/13/17 08/20/17 08/27/17 Attendance (TBD) Giving $ 3,752 $ 8,348 $ 4,925 (TBD) ALC SUNDAY OFFERINGS $160,618 Budgeted giving thru August 20 $149,859 Actual giving thru August 20 $ 10,759 Behind

6 Diana Dirksen Parish Nurse Keep track of your Blood Pressure. Diana will be at church on Sunday 9/10 to take blood pressures. Save the date: Women, join us on October 3 at 2 pm at Parkview United Methodist Church for a fun afternoon. We will have a couple of speakers and a healthy lunch to follow. More details to come. College Students We would like your new mailing address. Call, or drop off in the office. If you are attending a Lutheran College, let the church office know. There may be scholarship money available for you. ALC Autumn Evening Plans are underway for the ALC Autumn Evening, which will be held the evening of Friday, October 20, at The Pumpkin Patch. Tickets will go on sale on September 17, and the cost is $50 per person. This includes a meal, entertainment by Neon Gypsy, and plenty of fun! A corn hole tournament, cocktail hour, dancing, and silent and live auction are just a few of the exciting activities planned for the evening. We are kicking off the fundraising with a donation wall, which many have noticed in the Narthex. You can take an envelope, put the amount of money specified on the envelope inside, and bring it to the church office. Be sure to write your name and phone number on the envelope, because those that donate will be entered in to a drawing for free tickets to the ALC Autumn Evening! If we fill all 100 envelopes, we will raise $5050 In order for this event to be a success, we are asking for donations from the members of ALC. Whether you can donate your time, talents, or other prizes, all are greatly appreciated! We need items for a silent auction, live auction, as well as game prizes. There is a signup in the Narthex for donations. Stay tuned for more information through the church bulletin, newsletter, facebook, and at church services.

7 A meeting for all of the parents of middle school youth that will be involved in confirmation for the 2017/18 school year will be held on Wednesday, September 13 th at 6:30 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall. Agenda The schedule Sunday morning responsibilities Wednesday subjects to be covered The role of the parents in confirmation Other business CALLING ALL CONFIRMATION PARENTS Bible Study This Fall!!! What Is The Bible? Rob Bell Some people see the Bible as an outdated book of primitive, barbaric fairy tales that we have moved beyond. And so they ignore it, missing all of the progressive and enlightened ideas that first entered human history through the writers of the Bible ideas and ideals we still fall far short of, ideas and ideals that are still way ahead of our present consciousness and practice. And then there are the folks who talk about how important and central and inspired the Bible is but then butcher it with their stilted literalism and stifling interpretations, assuming that it says one thing and if you just get that one thing, then you ve read it well. But you, I want you to read the Bible in a whole new way. This is a book about a library of books dealing with loss and anger and transcendence and worry and empire and money and fear and stress and joy and doubt and grace and healing, and who doesn t want to talk about those? The Fall Bible Studies will begin: Wednesday morning study (10:00 to 11:30 a.m.) will begin on September 20 th. Thursday morning Men s Breakfast (7:00 to 8:30 a.m.) will begin on September 21 st. Sunday morning Bible Study (10:20 to 11:00 a.m.) will begin on September 24 th. Friday, September 1 Fellowship Hall Following the Milbank High School Football Game Hot Dogs, Chips, Root Beer Floats

8 American Lutheran Preschool Mrs. Nicole Scott Mrs. Brittany Bray Miss Rebecca Welberg We are gearing up for a sea riffic year at American Lutheran Preschool. Our first official day begins on Monday, August 28th. It is with great pleasure to welcome these students to preschool and our church, in addition to all the individuals helping in our classroom. We are excited and anticipate another fabulous year of learning, growing, experiencing, & SO MUCH MORE. Thanks again for all the ongoing support to our program. It s very much appreciated! Coffee Fellowship Hour Sunday, September 24 ALC Preschool is fortunate to utilize opportunities available from Thrivent Financial: *Supported by the generous donors who dedicate Thrivent Choice Dollars to our preschool program during the year. Your generosity is appreciated! Members of the ALC Preschool Board will be serving goodies after the 9am Worship Service. Proceeds will benefit ALC Preschool Financial Scholarships. *Use of Thrivent Action Teams $250 Card to provide seed money to help us with a fundraiser or project. If you would like to help with a project, feel free to contact the preschool and we would be glad to guide you with some upcoming ideas. Take a ride to Big Stone Lake and enjoy a night out... Shady Beach Grille Dine & Donate Nights Another great way Shady Beach is giving back is the Community Coupon Pages. Purchase the page for $10 and $8.00 will be donated back to the preschool. Stop by the Preschool if you are interested in checking out the page and/or in purchasing! Thursday, August 31st Sunday, September 3rd 5:00-9:00 PM A percentage (12%) from every meal and beverage purchased will be donated back to our preschool on these particular nights. When dining, please mention to your waitress that you d like to help ALC Preschool. A Note of Thanks Thank you to those who donated school supplies during our School Supply Drive in August. Your thoughtfulness was much appreciated! Note: Take a business card from the Welcome Center and give to your waitress and we ll earn 20%! (A sample is available at the Welcome Center) Classes held Monday-Thursday: 3 Year Olds: 8:15-11:15am 4 Year Olds: 12:15-3:15pm preschool@americanlutheran.com

9 Rally Day September 17 9am

10 Dear Friends of American Lutheran Church, Greetings! Since you re such an important part of our family, we wanted to tell you about our upcoming YOUR GIVING MATTERS Capital Campaign to raise $100,000 to repair/replace our parking lot. We have great news that a generous member has offered to match the first $50,000 raised for this campaign. Above, is a pledge card, and we sincerely ask for your help. Donations of any size are welcomed. We would ask that any contribution be in addition to your regular church giving, as the general budget remains quite tight. Any funds raised over and above will remain dedicated to capital improvements. We hope to conclude this effort by September 4 th, so your prompt consideration is greatly appreciated. If you have any questions or comments, please contact the following individuals (Steve Street, Bob Biersbach, Steve Wenzl, Dave Bergan or Mark Granquist) who are leading this effort. Again, thank you for your consideration. Sincerely, Steve Street Steve Street Council Member ALC Property & Management Board

11 2017 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 5th Quarter Following FB Game 2 3 9am Worship 10 am Fellowship 4 Labor Day Office Closed 5 9:15 Staff Mtg 12pm Peace Circle 6 5:15pm Note-A- Bells 6pm Manna Praise Band Practice 7 5pm HS FB meal God s Work, Our Hands 9am Worship 10am Fellowship 11 7pm Scouts 12 9am Quilting 9:15 Staff Mtg **Quilt Guild Peaceful Quilters Gathering 13 5:15pm Note-A- Bells 6pm Church Council 6pm Manna Praise Band Practice 6:30pm Parent s Confirmation Meeting 14 5pm HS FB meal Rally Day 9am Worship 10am Fellowship and Rally Day 5pm Movie Night 18 7pm Scouts 19 9:15 Staff Mtg 20 10am Bible Class 2pm Alzheimers Support Group 5:15pm Note-A- Bells 6pm Manna Practice 6pm Confirmation 21 7am Bible Class 2pm Vespers 5pm HS FB meal 7pm Page Turners Book Club 22 Wedding Rehearsal 23 Barlund/Mears Wedding 24 9am Worship 10am Fellowship 10am Sunday School 10:20 Bible Class am Quilting 9:15 Staff Mtg 27 10am Bible Class 2pm Alzheimer's Support Group 5:15 Note-A-Bells 6pm Manna Practice 6pm Confirmation 28 7am Bible Class 5pm HS FB meal 29 30

12 Church PO Box South Flynn Drive Milbank, SD Phone: (605) Website: 5th Quarter 9/1 Note-a-Bells Practice starts 9/6 God s Work, Our Hands Sunday 9/10 Confirmation Parents Meeting 9/13 Rally Day Sunday 9/17 Movie Night 9/17 Confirmation Classes start 9/20 Adult Bible Classes start 9/20, 9/21,9/24 Annual Quilt Auction in Sioux Falls 9/10