MINNESOTA TEEN CHALLENGE CHOIR

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1 Trinity Lutheran Church 501 S. Washington Ave., Albert Lea MN (507) Web Site: al.org E Mail: tloffice@msn.com Facebook: /tlcal Bus provided Sunday for worship. Call the church office, , by noon on Friday if you need a ride. Nursery provided Sunday for worship. MINNESOTA TEEN CHALLENGE CHOIR Inspiring Choir composed of teens and adults recovering from major drug and alcohol addictions Minnesota Teen Challenge will make their annual visit to Trinity on Sunday, January 19. Our schedule for the day includes: Worship leadership at 9:00 AM. Music done by the choir will be accompanied by inspiring student stories of their deliverance from addiction by the power and forgiveness of God. Open conversation for Confirmation students, senior high and adults at 10:30 AM in Trinity Hall. All are welcome. Bring a friend with you! The mission of Teen Challenge is to provide rehabilitation for adults and teens whose problems are so serious they can no longer function in social, family, and work settings, and to help them become mentally sound, emotionally balanced, socially adjusted, physically well, and spiritually alive. with Minnesota Teen Challenge Sunday, January 19, 11:30 AM (following Sunday school and Bible Study) Bring a LARGE dish to share. They are big eaters Then stay for The Annual Church Meeting. The 136 th NOTE: Items for the Annual Reports are due Thurs., January 2. Organizations need to include beginning balances, money spent, money received, ending balance, as well as officers. Thank you. Sunday, January 19, 2014, 1:00 PM Business items will include, but not be limited to: Receiving of minutes and reports of standing committees and organizations 2014 operating budget approved Elections of Councilors and other leadership positions. Goal setting for 2014 and beyond. All active, confirmed members of Trinity are encouraged to be in attendance to give their voice and vote to these matters. Confirmation students and their families will also be in attendance.

2 Dear Trinity Friends, Peaceful Christmas and New Year Greetings! Sonya and I, once again, thank you for your many warm and sincere gestures of kindness and good wishes you have shared with us this Christmas season. Your many cards and expressions of appreciation touch our hearts and give us a genuine sense of deep gratitude and thankfulness. We love you, too, and wish you all the very best of God s good gifts throughout this coming year. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you! And, always, at this New Year time, we turn our attention to the on going ministry of Trinity Lutheran Church. One of the first things we have on our agenda is the annual congregational meeting set for Sunday, January 1:00 PM. This is a big big day for us because this is also the time of the annual visit of Minnesota Teen Challenge. We will follow our well established schedule for that day: 8:00 AM Welcome (with sweet rolls, oj and coffee) 9:00 AM Worship (with MTC testimonies and witness; a Love Offering will be received) 10:30 AM Open Conversation time with MTC students 11:30 AM Potluck lunch 12:30 PM Good byes and Clean up 1:00 PM Congregational Meeting commences (lasts about 1 hour) This schedule, obviously, makes for a rather full schedule. However, I cannot emphasize enough how important it is for us all to take part in the whole day. For the potluck lunch: Bring a LARGE dish to share (hotdish, salad, bars, etc.). These folks are BIG eaters and we want to send them home fat and happy. Stay for the congregational meeting: This once a year meeting is constitutionally mandated for all confirmed members of Trinity Lutheran Church. The business is brief (every effort is made to keep the meeting to about one hour in length) but critically important for our ministry together for the coming year committee ministry reports are received; elections to council and other appointments made; an operating budget is approved; and this year a decision must be made on a staff position (will we make a 3 year commitment with the congregations of Ascension and Salem to hire/call a full time Family Faith Formation Coordinator?) Please mark this important date on your new year calendar January 19, 2014 Worship at 9:00 AM with Minnesota Teen Challenge and 1:00 PM Annual Congregational Meeting. Wishing you a full new year of Joy & Peace. s/ Pr. Curtis Zieske

3 YOUTH AND FAMILIES What s happening? WINTER SPLASH! Sunday, January 26 Everyone is invited to go to the Great Serengeti Water Park in Owatonna! Families, youth and friends! This African Serengeti themed water park is decorated with trees, life-size giraffe, hippopotamus, kids slide and a spraying elephant. Other features include: Kilimanjaro Tube Slide, Python Body Slide, Lazy Zambezi River, Water Basketball, columns of water shooting from the park floor. This is a safe and secure place for toddlers and young children. We ll leave from the parking lot at Trinity at 12:15 PM, pizza at 4:00 PM, home around 5:00 PM. COST is $3.00 per/person and includes pizza, pop, swimming, and transportation. People can follow in their car if they wish. Sign up on opportunity table near the church office. It s not too early to think about MOUNT KATO FAMILY SNOWDAY, Sunday, February 23 Skiing and Snow Boarding cost is $13.00 Snow Tubing for 3 hours costs $8.00. Let s go to Mount Kato for our snow day. You decide what you want to do. You can ski, snow board or snow tube. Pick only one. You can t change your mind once you get there. You must be 42 inches tall to snow tube. Everyone gets to go at group rates and ½ prices because of the money you get for helping with Lenten Soup Suppers. The bus leaves from the church parking lot at 12:00 PM and returns around 5:00 PM. Skiers and snow boarders may drive themselves if you want more time in the snow. We need 15 skiers/boarders and 10 tubers to get the group rates. Sign up on the opportunity table near the church office. CONFIRMATION Eighth grade Confirmation students, their parents and mentors will meet with Pastor Zieske Wednesday, January 8, 6:30 PM. The remainder of the school year the students will be having sessions with their mentors. Ninth grade Confirmation resumes Wednesday, January 15, 6:30 PM. Sub Sandwiches Orders are about to begin! Sundays, Jan. 12 & 19 youth will be taking orders for everyone who would like a Sub Sandwich. Ham or Turkey subs cost $5.50. Combo subs cost $6.00. Sub sandwiches will be made fresh on Sunday, Jan. 26. Pick up your orders in Trinity Hall! Proceeds from the Subs will go towards youth activities. Children s Christmas Program December 15, 2013.

4 REFLECTIONS OF BEING ON CHURCH COUNCIL I write this article late at night after taking a brisk forty minute walk under the stars and a full moon on a little traveled country gravel road. Walking alone under the stars is the time when I feel most alive, closest to God, more open to ideas and feel more gratitude. What does this have to do with reflections of being on church council? Well, first, I feel more creative during and right after my walk. Second, being more open to things being different than the way I think that they should be has made a huge difference for me being on church council. I remember well, attending my first council meeting almost four years ago. Was I ever in for a surprise! The meeting started out with a devotion, then a call for a volunteer for next month s meeting devotion, after almost every committee report a prayer was given and there were paper sheets going around the table for signing up for committees and area church meetings. We even had to sing a hymn without a piano playing the tune. I was thinking, what have I gotten myself into! I was thinking that these meetings times could be cut by one-third if we didn t have all this extra stuff. Thankfully, an experienced council member asked me a couple of weeks later how it was for me with my first council meeting. I responded I am so glad you asked, I need someone to talk to about it. We went into the confirmation room and shut the door. I was ready to vent and I did! The experienced council member patiently and without judging, listened to my concerns and what I had perceived as surprises. The experienced council member then gave me what I consider an inspirational encouraging talk. This non-judgmental listening and talk resulted in a shift for me. I felt uneasy and frustrated during and after my first council meeting. Why? Was it so terrible? No! The problem was me. I had this pre-conceived notion of how a business meeting should be run---all business, keep on points that need to be discussed and complete in as soon as time as possible or you will lose people. What has it meant for me now after being on church council for four years? I enjoy council meetings more and more. I find that I do not want to miss a council meeting. I feel more connected with our church and its members. There is a sense of community in the council. Things like devotions and openly coming up with a prayer after a committee report helps create a connection with God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, our purpose and mission. This was a shift for me to more openly share my faith. Even singing the hymn now seems like there is a purpose. I have a feeling of being much more invested in our church and my faith. Members of the council who choose to, go out for something to eat together after the council meetings and enjoy each other s company, or should I say, fellowship. Now I consider my fellow council members like sisters and brothers in the faith. I now have a much greater appreciation and feeling of gratitude for the efforts made by our staff, fellow council members, fellow church members and for those who have gone before us as council members, leaders and workers in our church. Now what is my point to writing this article? If you are asked by the nominating committee to consider having your name on the ballot at the annual meeting for church council, I encourage you to be open to it. Whether you have never been on council, or even if you served terms in the past but have been off council for a number of years, give it consideration. I suggest that you keep an open mind, not having pre-conceived ideas, like I had when I started, of how things should be. s/ Allan Halvorsen

5 FREE TO SERVE This is my last newsletter as your congregational council president. It has been rewarding, challenging and fulfilling. I have grown in my faith through my experience and have truly appreciated the opportunity. I have been asked by many people, Are you glad your term on the council is coming to an end? I believe that a change in leadership is necessary in any group or organization, otherwise complacency and a lack of new ideas becomes the norm. I still plan on being on at least one if not two committees as a member of your congregation. I wish I had the ability to inspire others to join a committee and become involved. You do not have to be on the council to be on a committee; all congregational members are invited and welcome. If you would like to see something done differently or you have a new idea you think the church should try, you will find that it is easy to discuss them in a committee meeting s informal setting. Get involved and be the change you want to see!!! New Year s resolution number 1: Go in peace to love and SERVE the Lord. My daughter said it best, Going to church is for the individual person (to help yourself); our real faith is going out and serving others. Is our church making an impact in our community? If we closed our doors today would the residents of Albert Lea miss us? You only need to look at our benevolences and the TLCW activities to see the impact we make on a national and global level but what are we doing locally? Can we do more to help the people in our own backyard? Do you remember the story of the little girl who was not able to go to Sunday school because there was no room? Because of her devotion, unselfish love and passion to help others her $0.57 gift (2 years of savings which was found along with a note after her death) turned into over $250,000 within 5 years which was used to expand the Temple Baptist Church in Philadelphia. Let s not forget to look inside our church walls and within our own community for those that need our help. What can we do locally with $0.57? I leave you with these words: patient, understanding, compassionate, perseverant, conscientious, inspirational and committed. Who might those words remind you of? How many describe you? A quick reminder: Please plan on attending our Annual Congregational Meeting, Sunday, January 19 th, at 1:00pm. Keep smiling and I will see you in church. Don t forget to bring a friend!!!!!!!!!!!! Quote for the month: Unless a life is lived for others, it is not worthwhile Mother Teresa of Calcutta s/ Corky Stanley, Council President FAMILY FAITH FORMATION COMMITTEE PURPOSE: The purpose of the Family Faith Formation Committee at Trinity Lutheran is to continually preserve, uphold and strengthen the faith growth of families through Christian Education. CHANGES: We have been making adjustments after Coreen Johnson s retirement in June. As a church we pursued applying for a seminary intern. There were more applications for the intern program than there were student interns available. They gave preference to churches which had been having interns. We did not get an intern. Our committee after reading, reviewing, thought, checking, prayer and a lot of discussion, recommended to the Church Council that we consider exploring the possibility of partnering with Ascension Lutheran Church and Salem Lutheran Church to hire a full time Family Faith Formation Coordinator. A number of our Church Council members and Family Faith Formation Team members have been attending many meetings in the last half year with leaders from Salem and Ascension to explore the possibility. The Council has recommended to our church congregation that we enter a three year commitment to jointly hire a full time Family Faith Coordinator. In January 2014, each of the three congregations will be voting on the proposed plan at their respective annual congregational meetings. Members of our committee and other members of the congregation have stepped up to volunteer to perform tasks and take over many of the responsibilities that Coreen had been doing. We are very grateful for the many hours of volunteer time. GREETING YOU AND PARENTS: Three members of our congregation have been very instrumental in initiating a program of welcoming and providing a treat for youth and their parents as they enter the Southwest door for the Family Faith Formation (Sunday school) classes on Sunday mornings. This appears to be going over very well and is getting parents in the door. GOALS FOR THE COMING YEAR: Have a Faith Family Formation Coordinator hired in combination with Trinity, Salem and Ascension by June 1, Provide activities for youth that will include components of faith, service and fun. Encourage more participation by adults in our congregation to have more interaction with youth to assist in faith formation of our youth and faith growth of our adults. WORDS TO THE CONGREGATION: Thank you for the support that you give by encouraging our youth, acknowledging our youth, mentoring our youth, modeling faith and the Christian life for our youth, your help with activities for our youth and your monetary contributions for youth activities and fund raisers. s/ Allan Halvorsen, chair of the Family Faith Formation Committee

6 WORSHIP AND MUSIC COMMITTEE THANK YOU S This committee has so many Thank-you s to make starting with our Greg Andersen. Sometimes I take him for granted as he is always there and pretty much does everything I ask of him. So my first Thank-you has to be to Greg. Every year he gets all our Christmas decorations out and has them all in Jacobsen Hall just waiting for us to come and do something with them, and then when we are done he puts all the totes, etc. away. Greg you truly are awesome! Then to all our helpers the night after Thanksgiving when we decorated. Our dear Gloria Fitzgerald, who never misses, we couldn t do it without you and I mean that. Then this year my husband Mike who always helps recruited a couple other guys who were there helping with the big tree. He gave Tom Nygaard and Jerry Schwemmler jobs decorating trees at the back of the Church and railings, and they did a great job. The Habana family who had come to also help with the big tree, also helped us with the whole Church, from dad Tom, to mom Jenny, to the boys Tyler and Noah, to Jordan, what a sweetie and she was all over kind of taking care of us. It took us several hours but I have to tell you what a fun time it was and of course when we were done the Church was breathtaking! Cheryl you are awesome too, what would I do without you, don t want to find out. The next Thank-you s go to the wonderful young ladies who have been doing the Children s Advent Devotionals. I have said this before but it bears repeating, this Church is so Blessed with the young people we have in it. The first week Cheyenne Severtson gave out the Stable, next Hanna Lee Kingstrom gave out Mary and Joseph, then Samantha Stanley gave out the Star and finally last but not least at all was Taylor Peek giving out baby Jesus. These are four very amazing young women, each of them said yes to doing this without hesitation. They all said what do you need me to do. That is truly a God-like response. We need to Thank Nancy Halvorsen our Choir director, the Trinity Choir and the Praise Group, it has been so uplifting to have them singing every Sunday of Advent. They just add so much to our Worship service. Great job everyone! Our whole staff starting with Pastor Z., Mary, Nancy, Greg and Leland, you put in so much extra at this time of year and certainly this committee appreciates it. There will have to be more Thank-you s next month as there are more things to come in Dec. that haven t happened yet but I know are coming up. So you will have to read this again next month. I do need to take a second here and Thank the members of the Church Council for putting on the soup, sandwich and dessert supper after our Thanksgiving Eve service. We had a good time doing it and our members and the members from Salem sure seemed to enjoy it. Our next meeting is Tues. Jan.7 5:30, all are welcome! Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all you lands! Serve the Lord with gladness; come into God s presence with a song Psalm 100.1&2 s/ Andrea Jensen, Chair, Cheryl Enderson, Kelly Gleason, Verlaine Williams Aebleskiver Brunch Sunday, February 2 (following worship) LIFE AND MISSIONS COMMITTEE We talked about Dec 15th Brunch. THANK YOU to all of the HELPERS we had that day. It was GREATLY APPRECIATED by your Life and Missions Trio. We couldn't have done it without your help. We talked about the Loaves and Fishes and Bell Ringing sign up sheets. Thank you for all who have given your time to help us make these things possible. We talked about what is coming up for January. Teen Challenge Our next Meeting is Jan 7,2014 From your Triumphant 3 We hope you all have a MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR. We also want to Thank All of You for your support in helping us through this past year. From the Brunches whether you helped us serve or if you simply just came down to have FELLOWSHIP with us. to our Challenge we had this past summer for SCHOOL SUPPLIES and BABY KITS, our FOOD DRIVE. I hope you have enjoyed some of the crazy things that Jean and I have came up with to make you all SMILE!! When we ask for your support. all of you simply AMAZE us how you go above and beyond to help with our MISSION. THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!! I also need say THANK YOU to Jean for being such a good sport on these crazy things we have done this past year from pushing her in a shopping cart to having her dress up like a hotdog and a Christmas present. It has been fun my FRIEND!! s/ Darcy Nielsen, Jean Pestorious, Carla Johnson 10:00 AM 12:30 PM Trinity Hall Menu Aebleskivers (Round Danish pancakes, like a little baseball) Sausage Coffee Juice Milk Free will Offering Proceeds for the Boundary Waters Trip. Watch for sign up sheets for ways to help on the Opportunity Table

7 Trinity Lutheran Church Women Bev Jackson Cotter & Barb Larson She opens her hand to the poor, and reaches out her hands to the needy. Proverbs 31:20 A special Thank You to Erna Berthelsen and Marcia Peterson, 2013 co-president and treasurer, for the many years they have served on the TLCW Board. We appreciate their continued willingness to share their expertise whenever it is needed promises to be an exciting year with new Board members stepping up to the plate. Barb Larson as co-president and Nancy Jensen as treasurer will be joining Bev Jackson Cotter - co-president, Karen Nelson - vice-president, LaVonne Eggers - secretary, Phyllis Tavis - mission community secretary, Janet Drews - mission growth secretary, and Virginia Plantage - mission action secretary. The letter, inviting your participation in TLCW, will be mailed soon. Please take time to read through the activities you may be interested in and respond. Your support makes the organization of volunteers so much easier and your generosity helps us to meet the goals we ve set for church related activities and community service. Please set aside January 20, 9 am, on your calendar for kitchen inventory. The beginning of a new year is a good time to make sure we have all of the dishes and utensils we need for upcoming events. You are also invited to attend the Triennial Gathering of Women of the ELCA in Charlotte, North Carolina, July 24-27, So far, three women from Trinity are planning on attending. If you are interested, please contact Pat Goldman, for more information. The TLCW has a fund set aside to help with conference costs. Dates to remember: Jan. 7 9:30 am TLCW Board meeting Jan. 7 1:30 pm TLCW workshop Circle chairwomen bring your address labels. Jan. 8 9:00 am Sewing Day Jan. 14 6:00 pm Mary Circle Jan. 15 9:30 am Deborah and Elizabeth Circles Jan. 15 2:00 pm Eunice and Lois Circles Jan. 20 9:00 am Kitchen Inventory What If There Were No Trinity Lutheran Church Women? 26. Who would make soup, pies and desserts for the annual fall supper? 27. Who would organize the volunteers, cook, setup, clean up for the annual fall.? 28. Who would then make a sizable donation to the church budget? Happy, Happy New Year to All!!! MEMORIALS GIVEN IN LOVING MEMORY OF Van Fund by Alice Dugan Improvements Maureen Ruble by Charlotte Vinge Worship Appointments by Friends & Family Berthelsen Scholarship Kay Berthelsen by Leverne & Liz Skov by Bev Jackson-Cotter by Erna Berthelsen by Dick & Phyllis Tavis by Mary Ann Martinson by Ethmer & Marlene Wright by Gloria Fitzgerald by Barb Larson by Florence Gilster by Ron Petersen by Friends & Family Organ Repair by Glen & LeAnn Juveland General Fund by Gerald & Doris Hansen Office Supplies Marlene Planting (sister-in-law of Sue Fink) by Joan Mattick by Wally & Sue Fink Library Fund by Ethmer & Marlene Wright Undesignated Maureen Ruble by Mary Ann Martinson by Steve & Linda Olson Bob Entorf by Mary Ann Martinson THANK YOUS TO David Poole for fixing the switches in Trinity kitchen Communion bread makers; Bob Goldman, Ann Goodmanson, Deb Opdahl and Gayle Neist. Great job. Dave McPherson, for the donation of the computer on Mary s desk and setting it up. It is greatly appreciated. REMINDER TO USHERS Please pay your 2014 dues of $5.00 to Bob Goldman or the church office. Thank you.

8 Dartball The Trinity dartball team is again into another season. We started getting together for practice around the middle of November and had one scrimmage with Crossroads before the regular season started. Our first games were on November 25th when we traveled to Leland, Iowa to start the season. Not a lot of runs were scored, but we took all three games without much trouble. We were short a couple of players that night and played the first game one man short, so considering that we did good. The following week we traveled to First Lutheran in Albert Lea. We scored 35 runs total for the night and won all three games. In the second game we scored 10 runs in one inning. Everyone had a good night at the plate and we had a lot of fun. On Monday the 9 th we hosted Crossroads at Trinity Hall. Going into those games undefeated somehow brought out the can t hit anything Trinity team and we lost all three games. Another way to look at those games is Crossroads was hot and we were not. So now it is December 16 th and we are hosting Conger Bear Lake at Trinity. Everyone seemed more focused and we got back in our winning ways taking all three games from them. We were 2 players short that night but still had enough for a full team. So going into the Christmas break we are sitting tied for 2 nd place with a record of 9 wins and 3 losses. We start play again on December 30 th traveling to Pickerel Lake. We then have a full schedule playing every week until March 10 th. We feel we are off to a good start but have a long season ahead of us, lots of weeks to have fun playing dartball. We have a new look this year. This summer at our team picnic we decided to design and then order team dartball shirts. The shirts have our name on the front and on the back in big letters is TRINITY LUTHERAN DARTBALL with a flaming dart in the middle. The shirts are red with white lettering and look sharp. Or maybe we make them look sharp, you decide. s/ Steve Olson, captain SERVICE MINISTERS Ushers To help, call Randy Holland, Lyle Hinz Jeff Nelson A Shorty Jensen Tom Nygaard Del Johnson Steve Olson Glen Juvland Stan Opdahl Altar Guild To help, call Carla Johnson Katie Jacobsen Virginia Plantage Flower Committee To help, call Donna Oliva, Jan. 5 Dick & Phyllis Tavis Jan. 12 Lyle Hinz & Jan Drews Jan. 19 John & Cheri Butler Jan. 26 Ethmer & Marlene Wright Communion Assistants To help, call Cheryl Enderson, Jan. 5 Gloria Fitzgerald, Mike Jensen, Sheila Jensen Jan. 12 Adeline Biedermann, Jan Drews, Lyle Hinz Jan. 19 Elaine Porter, Phyllis Tavis, Lorraine Malepsy Jan. 26 Annette Hansen, Jan Drews, Lyle Hinz Greeters To help, call Shirley Kallberg, Jan. 5 Bob & Pat Goldman Tom Deb & Gavin Lawrence Jan. 12 Darryl & Jo Meyer Mark & Sheila Jensen Jan. 19 Kathy Bock, Annabelle Christenson Bill & Mary Bartholmey Jan. 26 Bob & Pat Goldman Mary Ness, Sondra Ness, Alysia Ness Nursery To help, call Mary Roozenboom, (church ) or Laurie Hovendick, Jan. 5 Cherie Wyant and Danielle Wear Jan. 12 Kim Nelson and Sydney Nelson Jan. 19 Lauarie Hovendick and Peggy Benson Jan. 26 Julie Jensen and Todd Heavner Drivers To help, call the church office, Jan. 5 Dave McPherson, Jan. 12 Nathan Johnson, Jan. 19 Russ Roozenboom, Jan. 26 Cliff Wuerflein,