PASTOR S DESK Life Water

Transcription

1 April - May 2018 But of course, in Minnesota, we don t get to skip right from human-height snow banks to bountiful flowering gardens. Between now and then, there is a lot of water. Melting snow and thawing earth will give way to puddles of mud and soggy ground. Rivers will rise, clouds will shift to pour forth (unfrozen) water, and we ll swap out our snow boots for rubber galoshes. PASTOR S DESK Life Water Holy God, mighty Lord, gracious Father: We give you thanks, for in the beginning your Spirit moved over the waters and you created heaven and earth. By the gift of water you nourish and sustain us and all living things Through the baptism of your dear Child, our Lord Jesus Christ, you consecrated and set apart the Jordan and all waters as a blessed flood and a full washing away of sins. -from Martin Luther s Flood Prayer Somewhere in thinking about the ordinariness of all this melting water and the coming spring s echo of the Easter promise new and abundant life in Christ I can t help but think about that watery sacrament of baptism. Baptism the place where God puts ordinary water to holy use. In his flood prayer, Martin Luther proclaims that God has set apart all waters as a blessed flood of mercy the Groundhouse River that snakes around our church land, the snow runoff filling the ditches, the puddles on the street tempting our inner child to splash. To the beloved of God at Immanuel, As I am sitting at my desk looking out across the parking lot at snow banks still four and more feet tall, wondering if this Minnesota winter will ever come to an end, I find myself daydreaming about spring. I may even have a little touch of anticipatory spring fever. It has been a long and cold and snowy season for all of us, and perhaps especially for this native Washingtonian. As fun as it was to watch children leaping through knee deep snow on the hunt for colorful Easter eggs, I ve got this longing for warm sun and green growing grass that I just can t shake. From deep within my being, I feel this almost physical yearning for a change in the season, hints of spring. The ordinary water of Baptism calls us into the ordinary to find that with God, the ordinary has been made holy. Baptism joins us to this earth, to the water and the dirt, to all of creation and all the creatures within it. It calls us to be more fully who we are beloved human creatures of our creator God. It calls us to delight in this world that our God has made. As life unfolds this spring, may it remind us of the life that is ours in Christ. As we look upon the melting waters and feel the rain on our faces, may it remind us that we are loved. Go ahead, jump in that puddle and remember that you are a beloved child of God. The soul, I think, needs these signs of new life sprouting up out of frozen ground. If that is not an appropriate metaphor for the Easter season, I don t know what is. New life emerging from the depths of barrenness and death. The light of new hope bursting forth when the darkness seems never ending. Grace and peace, Pastor Sierra 1

2 President Connie Kawalek Vice President Len Ochowicz Secretary Sarah Bauer Treasurer Janie Richardson Monica Arnold Dan Hartog Annette Jensen Christy Belsheim Jim Nehring Cathi Nehring Keep up to date! Monthly Council Meeting minutes can be found on the bulletin board in the Fellowship Hall. April Birthdays April 2 Rick Kawalek April 3 Christy Belsheim April 3 Ethan Stromberg April 5 Mel Pioske April 6 Mike Bergren April 11 Brady Argetsinger April 11 Austin Ochowicz April 14 Angie Bergren April 22 John Folkema April 24 Addyson Grabowski April 28 Len Ochowicz May Birthdays May 3 Jeremy Eggert May 4 Amelia Atchison May 5 Camdyn Prokosch May 7 Jeff Jacobson; May 7 Samantha Visser May 8 Alisha Prokosch May 11 Deb Huntley May 11 Kathie Ochowicz May 14 Annette Jensen May 16 Bryce Boyd May 18 Richard Sinell May 20 Jacob Dufeck May 20 Kaitlyn Kehoe May 22 Connie Kawalek May 22 Justin O Bert May 28 Mary Clasen May 30 Justin Nelson Council Buzz Generosity, Giving and Gratitude is the theme Council will be focusing on during 2018 through prayers and devotions. The members of the 2018 Immanuel Lutheran Church Council encourage everyone to join us in praying. February 20, 2018 During February's council meeting, Pastor Sierra Westerman presented possible new Church Database options. 1. Breeze Church Management: $50.00 per month ($600 per year) includes everything we need. 2. Servant Keeper: Onsite License (we own). $600 to set up for the program alone, $50.00 for each additional computer (office manager, Pastor's computer). Cloud storage $30.00 additional per month. On site Storage $999 - $1,099 depending on the amount of support we want. Council members also re-discussed the parking lot which was discussed during the 2017 annual meeting. An estimate for concrete 90,000 square feet, 5 inches think was recommended, concrete alone without labor and other materials $74,000. Other possible parking lot solutions are being researched and will be presented during the May council meeting. When we received the AED grant from Allina Hospital we were directed to complete AED training for members of the church, please watch for more information in the near future if interested in participating. March 20, 2018 A special council meeting is planned for April to discuss the financial issues the church is currently facing. Pastor Sierra, Gladys and Connie attended a synod workshop and received lots of good information we hope to implement in the future. Respectfully Submitted Sarah Bauer, Council Secretary 2

3 People of Immanuel We think Immanuel is a pretty great place. A place of faith - of worship, of prayer, of learning. A place of community - of friendship and family. A place where we share the stories of Jesus and the amazing love of God. And a place where we share our own stories and lives as we seek to love one another and serve God s beloved world. Each edition of The Beacon Newsletter will feature small glimpses into the lives of those who call Immanuel home. It is our hope that in reading these stories, we will grow in love for one another and for this community as we reflect on the place of Immanuel in our own lives. Jim Nehring Immanuel is the only church I ve ever known. I was raised here. I ve been going to Immanuel for 66+ years now. I stay here because the people are friendly and I enjoy going. Some of my favorite memories are of the Luther League with Lorraine Carlson and doing all the fun activities. Ruben Falk and Russell Bergren were two people who have had an impact on my life. They had a lot of knowledge and were farmers. Over my years, I ve seen the size of the congregation change and people coming and going. I hope that Immanuel will continue to preach and spread God s word to keep the church going. I love all of the old neighbors and the new ones that are coming in and keeping in touch with everyone. Baptisms Join us for worship April 29th as we celebrate the Baptisms! of Xavier Allen Cook, Bianca Belle Cook and Genevieve Gwendolyn Johnson Scholarship Opportunity Are you a student pursuing in higher education? If you are enrolled in advanced education and training beyond high school in either a full or part time capacity and are a member of Immanuel Lutheran Church, you may be eligible for the Favorite Immanuel Memories I like what we do at church. -Derrick Diethelm Confirmation. -Mark Arnold The first time we went to Cragun s (for the Middle School Gathering). -Tommy Johnsen What we love about Immanuel Being able to come here and feeling at home. And all the people who come here. -Tucker Hass One thing I love about Immanuel is that everyone here is nice. -Dylan Nelson I love that there are so many activities to do. -Hailey Voge IN OUR PRAYERS Ken & Goodie Belkholm Delores Fluegge George & Gwen Johnsen Marj Maas Helen Nord Jack Stephens Corinne Argetsinger Immanuel Lutheran Church Beacon of Light Scholarship. Your church community wants to support you in following your dreams through your education. Find more information and application forms on the Beacons of Light bulletin board in the narthex. Applications must be submitted on or before April 30th in order to be considered. Questions? Call Christy Belsheim at Prayer Chain Contacts: Pastor Sierra, Phyllis Bergren, Gladys Nelson, Donna Oslund 3

4 Loving God s People Beloved, since God loved us so much, we ought to love one another. - 1 John 4.11 As people who have been blessed to know God s love for us, we are called to show that same love for God s whole beloved world. Through it s various organizations and ministries, Immanuel has been involved in such loving service in many ways. Here are some ways you can participate in the coming months. Life Rice Packing Event Last month volunteers from Immanuel, Calvary, Grace and First Light Health Services teamed up to pack Life Rice meals. These nutrient-rich meals are shipped around the globe and distributed within our community to feed those in need. Immanuel sent 14 volunteers and raised $600 through generous donations from the congregation, home mission dollars and a Thrivent Action Team Grant. Good job team! Together we were able to pack: 85 BOXES OF FOOD totaling 18,360 MEALS! ELCA WORLD HUNGER 24-HOUR FAST Ever wonder what it would be like to not have enough to eat? Feel like you want to do something to help those who don t? Our Confirmation Students will be participating in the ELCA World Hunger Act 2Day 4 Tomorrow 24-hour Fast on April 20th-21st. Here is how you can help: Our Students will be going without food to raise money and awareness for ELCA World Hunger, a program of our global church that helps people around the world get access to clean drinking water and needed food. We will also be doing several service projects during the Fast, including a trip down to Feed My Starving Children in Coon Rapids and helping Camp Onomia get ready for the Summer Camp season. Consider sponsoring them in their fast. $1 per hour = $24 Donations in any amount are welcome. All money raised will go directly to ELCA World Hunger Easter Egg Hunt! As we celebrate the resurrection, we look to Easter Eggs as an exciting reminder of new life. Immanuel s First Annual Easter Egg Hunt was a huge success. Over 50 kids from the community hunted for over 5000 eggs. Over 100 people ate lunch. And bunches of people turned out to help. Even the Easter Bunny showed up! A huge thank you Monica Arnold for bringing this to life. 4

5 UPCOMING EVENTS HAM LOAF SUPPER Immanuel Lutheran Church Ham Loaf Supper, Bake Sale and Quilt Raffle Please consider helping by bringing bake sale items. All bake sale profits will go to support the ministries of Immanuel. Mazatlán Travelers Breakfast Sunday, April 29 7:00am Our Immanuel travelers to Mexico invite you to a special breakfast! Following breakfast our travelers will share a God s Work Our Hands experience in Mexico. See and hear how Immanuel reaches to the needy beyond our church walls! *Suggested donation $8.00. Proceeds to go to needy children in Mazatlán. WELCA Events Quilting Dates April 2, 16 May 7, 21 April 2018 WELCA Meeting & Gathering Regular meeting to be held on Thursday, April 5th at 1:30 pm. Hostesses Betty Eggert, Nancy Jacobson. Kettle River Spring Gathering to be held on Sat. April 7th at Grace Lutheran in Sandstone with registration at 9:00 am. Check with Nancy or Donna for information. May 2018 WELCA Meeting Regular meeting to be held on Thursday, May 3rd at 12:00 pm. Bible # 4 with Potluck lunch. FIRST AID TRAINING Are you interested in learning First Aid? A training session (4-5 hours) is being planned for CPR, choking and AED; cost is $ If you want more information or interested in attending, please contact the church office or Annette Jensen. Synod Assembly May 4th-6th Delegates: Sam and Mel Pioske 5

6 Children and Youth Sunday School Children of all ages are welcome at Immanuel! Ages Kindergarten through 6th grade are invited to participate in Sunday School. Sunday School occurs during worship (Sundays at 9:00am) from September through May. Children gather with their families in the sanctuary for the beginning of worship and are dismissed to Sunday school after the Children s Message with Pastor Sierra. They rejoin their families for a blessing during Holy Communion. This year, our students are using the Spark: Activate Faith curriculum following the lectionary. We are excited to offer Sunday School opportunities for our kids to hear the same scripture texts that their families are hearing in worship, only with the chance to get up and move around and engage with those stories on their own level. It is our hope that having heard the same readings, children and parents will have the opportunity to talk together about what they learned on Sunday morning. Youth Scoop We have had a busy few months for the youth and their families. Snow Tubing at Wild Mountain we had a great turn out, there were about 25 people in attendance. We enjoyed a taco feast and two hours of fun filled tubing. Life Rice - This event ended up being more of an adult event than an youth event but it was still enjoyed by 15 people. We packed food for two hours, our tables alone packed 25 boxes, which equaled about 450 packages of food or 2700 meals. Easter Egg Hunt and Lunch This first year was a great success even though the weather did not cooperate. We had 51 children register, but a few joined without signing in. Thank you to everyone that helped make this event a success. Butter Braids We have been trying to have the butter braid youth fundraiser but have not seemed to be able to connect with the organization we worked with before, we are continuing to work on this fundraiser and looking into other options. FIRST COMMUNION CLASS Are you (or your child) in the FOURTH grade? Hear the good news: you will soon be eligible to begin taking Holy Communion! We are so very excited to get to share this meal with you! In preparation, there will be two Sunday class sessions to learn more about the Lord s Supper. Parents/grandparents will join together with students for these class sessions. There will also be a project to be completed together at home. We hope this will be a good time of learning and fun for parent and child alike. The Schedule: Class Session One: Sunday, April 15th 4:00PM-6:00PM Class Session Two: Sunday, April 29th 4:00PM-6:00PM First Communion Sunday: May 13th Worship - 9:00AM If you are unable to attend or have any questions, please contact Pastor Sierra or the church office. Bible Camp Are you ready for the best week of your summer? Summer camp is not only a blast, it is an experience that will last a lifetime. You will head home at the end of your session with a bunch of new friends, a deeper faith, and refreshed for the next page in your journey of life. Camp: Love it. Share it. Live it! Look for more information for Camp Onomia on the Youth Bulletin Board 6

7 Confirmation Join together with your fellow SEVENTH, EIGHTH, and NINTH grade friends to go deeper in your faith. Learn about God and God s people. Discover more about yourself and your faith. Confirmation classes are held on Wednesdays from 6:00PM to 8:00PM from September through May. We gather for dinner and conversation at 6:00PM and then move into class time. It is a three year program. This school year we are studying the Old Testament by learning about important biblical characters ordinary people that God used to accomplish extraordinary things. Mentors This year, each Confirmation Student has been paired with a Mentor - an adult in the congregation. The goal is to build relationships across generational lines, learn from one another, and grow in our faith together. So far this year we have spent time sharing our life and faith stories, eating lots of good food and celebrating Christmas, and watched a great movie, All Saints together. Mentors, be planning a fun way to get together and spend some time with your student this Lenten season. Don t forget to be praying for one another as well. Building Relationships Who is the most important person in your life at Immanuel? Jim. I think he has taught me a lot over the last year. -Tucker Hass Ginger Nosbusch. She is my mentor. I absolutely love her! She s always so cheery and her sense of humor is incredible! -McKayla Nelson Jeff Nosbusch because he taught me how to do the jobs around the church same with Pastor Sierra. -Tommy Johnsen April 1: Hailey April 15: Aylisa April 29: Dylan May 13: Meghan May 27: Tommy Schedule April 4: Mentors April 11: Solomon April 18: Elijah April 25: Daniel May 2: Jonah May 9: Mentors / Review May 16: End of Year Party Confirmation Meals April 4 Annette Jensen / Janie Richardson April 11 Dick family April 18 Hartog s April 25 Tommy Johnsen family May 2 Roger s May 9 Nosbusch Acolytes April 8: Tucker April 22: Mark May 6: McKayla May 20: Derrick June 3: Emily Events 24 Hour Fast April 20th-21st Overnight fast and lock-in to raise money and awareness for World Hunger. We will be going to Feed My Starving Children in Coon Rapids, having a lock-in at Calvary in Mora, and doing some work at Camp Onomia. You will be looking for people to sponsor your fast with donations, must collect at least $1 per hour ($24 total at minimum). Our Confirmation year is almost over. #sadface Only six more weeks to go. You all have been doing such a great job, I ve been having fun and I hope we ve been learning a lot as we have been making our way through the major Old Testament characters together. Keep working on those sermon notes and get them into my box. And don t forget to fill out those Service Hours forms and get them turned in too. Together as a class, you have already done over 160 hours of service. And that is just what you ve turned in forms for. I know there are way more hours out there to be counted up and recorded. Thanks for being such a great crew. Confirmation Leaders: Pastor Sierra Westerman & Mel Pioske 7

8 SUNDAY WORSHIP ASSISTANTS Lector: Readings: April 1: Ginger N. / Rick S. Acts ; Psalm ,14-24; 1 Cor April 8: Jeff Nosbusch Acts ; Psalm 133; 1 John 1.1-2:2 April 15: Ginger Nosbusch Acts ; Psalm 4; 1 John April 22: Donna Oslund Acts ; Psalm 23; 1 John 3:16-24 April 29: Angie Detert Acts ; Psalm ; 1 John May 6: Gladys Nelson Acts ; Psalm 98; 1 John May 13: Tommy Johnsen Acts ,21-26; Psalm 1; 1 John May 20: Aylisa Rogers Acts ; Psalm b; Romans May 27: JoJo Ochowicz Isaiah 6:1-8; Psalm 29; Romans June 3: Donna Oslund Deuteronomy ; Psalm ; 2 Cor Ushers: Sound: Communion Asst.: April 1: Rick & Connie Kawalek Annette Jensen Connie Kawalek Rick & Connie Kawalek Len Ochowicz Jaime Dick April 8: Greg Carlson / Linda Rogers Tommy Johnsen Barb Dick April 15: Jeff & Ginger Nosbusch Gladys Nelson Shari Hartog April 22: Dave & Monica Arnold Annette Jensen Kathie Ochowicz April 29: Sarah Bauer / Annette Jensen Dan Hartog Jeff Nosbusch May 6: Jim & Gladys Nelson Mary Stromberg Connie Kawalek May 13: Jim & Joy Nehring Sam Pioske Kirsten Belsheim May 20: Barb Dick & Meghan Dick Jeff Nosbusch Heather Stephens May 27: Jeff & Ginger Nosbusch Len Ochowicz Connie Kawalek Altar Guild April May Barb Dick / Jaime Dick Ginger Nosbusch / Cathi Nehring Coffee Treats April 1: Easter Breakfast April 8: Karen Dare / Janie Richardson April 15: Deb Minnich / Joan Lakedon April 22: Connie Kawalek / Donna Oslund April 29: Chris Carlson / Linda Rogers May 6: Judy Fredrickson May 13: Kathie Ochowicz / Shanna Stucky May 20: Michelle Nelson / Tammie Johnsen / Gwen Johnsen May 27: Colleen Sinell / Lindsey Atchison Acolyte April 1 Easter April 8 Tucker Hass April 15 Aylisa Rogers April 22 Mark Arnold April 29 Dylan Nelson May 6 McKayla Nelson May 13 Meghan Dick May 20 Derrick Diethelm May 27 Tommy Johnsen June 3 Emily Hartog Worship Assistants, Please Note: If you are scheduled to be a worship assistant, please mark your calendar. If you can NOT do it, find your replacement and let the church office know. If you are having trouble, contact Connie. 8

9 APRIL 2018 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat :00 am Quilting 1:30 pm WELCA WELCA Spring Gathering 6-8 pm Confirmation Church Secretary Wkshp. Church Secretary Wkshp. 6-8 pm Confirmation 5-7:00 pm Ham Loaf Supper :00 am Quilting 4-6 pm First Communion Class 6:30 pm Church Cncl. 6-8 pm Confirmation :00 am Sr. League 6-8 pm Confirmation 29 Fifth Sunday Brkfst pm First Communion Class 9

10 MAY 2018 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat :30 pm WELCA 6:00 pm Worship Committee Mtg. 6 8 pm Confirmation Synod Assembly Synod Assembly :00 am Quilting Synod Assembly 6 8 pm Confirmation 7:00 pm Suicide Survivors Group First Communion!! 6:30 pm Church Cncl. 6 8 pm Confirmation Pastor gone for Continuing Education to the Festival of Homiletics. Returns 5/ :00 am Quilting MEMORIAL DAY

11 Immanuel Lutheran Church 2088 Highway 70 Mora, MN Immanuel Lutheran Church Evangelical Lutheran Church in America 2088 Highway 70 Mora, MN immanuellutheranbrunswick.com Pastor: Rev. Sierra Westerman Worship: Sunday Mornings at 9:00 AM 11