Inside this Newsletter

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1 ZION S MISSION STATEMENT: We are claimed, gathered, and sent forth to serve and witness in Jesus name. ZION S VISION STATEMENT: Zion is a welcoming church where all people will experience a vibrant lifelong journey in faith through worship, education, mission and service. Reminder: Estimate of Giving for 2018 Have you completed your estimate of giving card? We can take your information over the phone at , by at zionamoroffice@prtel.com, or the office can mail you an estimate of giving card if you did not get one. READING OF THE PARISH NECROLOGY The Parish Necrology will be read on All Saints Sunday November 5 th. This is the reading of the names of those who have died since All Saints Day 2016: Inside this Newsletter 1-2 General News 3 Pastor s Paragraphs / Notes of Thank You 4 El J Elucidates 5 Musically Speaking / Library News 6 Bake Sale / God s Acres 7 WELCA / Mission Jamaica 8 Council Minutes / Council Corner 9 Financial Reports 10 November Birthdays, Anniversaries, & Action Group Lists. The Nov calendar is on the Tidings wrapper. You are loved. ~~God Remember to set your clocks back the evening of Saturday, Nov. 4 th as Daylight Saving Time ends! God does not need your good works, but your neighbor does. ---Martin Luther NO Men s Breakfast in November. Service of Thanksgiving Wed., Nov. 22 rd at 7:00 p.m. Come and give thanks! Pie and coffee follows the service. There is a sign-up sheet in the narthex if you would like to bring a pie(s). Council members and spouses will organize, serve, and clean-up. Be thankful for all the troubles that you don t have 1

2 FROM THE OFFICE ANNUAL REPORTS Written reports are expected from the following by Mon., Dec.4 th : Pastor Jim Council President Altar Team Cemetery Team Decorating Team Education Team Finance Committee God s Acres Harvest Garden Helping Hands of Zion Library Team Memorial Gifts Mission Team Outreach/New Member Property Management Safe Church Stephen Ministry Stewardship Team Tech Team WELCA Worship/Music Team Youth Group Financial Reports are due Monday, January 8 th from the following: All Circles Cemetery God s Acres Quilting Account WELCA Youth Group Final checkbook audit for 2017 will be the second week of January. Faith is mindful not mindless." YOUTH NEWS Confirmation Wed., Nov 1 st 6:00 to 7:45 p.m. Wed., Nov 8 th 6:00 to 7:45 p.m. Night Faith Haven Sunday, Nov 12 th at 7 p.m. Faith N Films Sunday, Nov 19 th at 6:30 p.m. ZION CIRCLES MARY Circle will meet Wed,. Nov. 8 th at 9:30 a.m. at Zion. Karalyn Harrington will host. DORCAS Circle will meet Wednesday, Nov. 1 st at 9:00 a.m. at Zion. Communion: Nov. 5 th & 19 th RUTH CIRCLE will meet at 9:30 a.m. on Wed., Nov.8 th EVENING CIRCLE will meet Monday, Nov. 27 th at Zion at 7:15 p.m. ZION WELCA CHRISTMAS POTLUCK PARTY Wed,, Dec. 6 th at noon. Husbands or significant others are encouraged to attend. Ruth Circle will host. Do You Shop on Amazon? Did you know that Amazon will donate 0.5% of your purchases to a charity? How you ask? It s easy. Just go to smile.amazon.com to sign up. Pick Battle Lake Food Shelf as your selected charity. Then each time you are going to purchase something on Amazon remember to log in under smile.amazon.com. The Battle Lake Food Shelf receives at no cost to you 0.5% of your purchase. The Battle Lake Food Shelf appreciates your help. A Performance by Patrick Murphy featuring Christmas and Holiday Music. Join us at Zion of Amor on Sun., December 17 th for a fun, festive afternoon. Refreshments following. Quilting Zion Quilting takes place on Monday mornings at 8:30 a.m. Everyone is welcome to come. There are many ways you can help. No sewing experience needed. WELCA General Annual Meeting Wed. Nov. 15 th at 1:30 p.m. At the meeting WELCA will approve the 2018 budget, elect officers and complete a service project. 2

3 Pastor s Paragraphs Dear Members and Friends, I want to thank all who participated in the planning, organizing, and working at the fall supper. I also thank those who supported it with their presence at the meal. It was truly another special fall supper! The Fall Supper Team Leads did a great job of getting it planned and implemented. I heard so many compliments on the food and the organization of the evening. This is a big event to put on for sure, and it is a big event for people to come to our church and have a positive experience. I also want to thank you all for supporting the Mission Jamaica fundraiser October 1 st. We raised enough for another home to be built for a desperately poor family in Jamaica. This is a very important ministry (especially to the people who will be living in the homes that are built!) and your incredible support is so important. THANK YOU! The fall supper also highlighted something that you may or may not have realized. There was an incident of one of our guests having his jacket (which contained keys and checkbook) stolen. We reviewed the footage on the security cameras to discover just what transpired. After good detective work by our Privacy Administrators, the sheriff s dept. was notified. We printed the image from the security camera for the sheriff s deputy and the person s picture was put out on Facebook. This resulted in the jacket, keys, and checkbook being returned to the owner. The County Sheriff s office also discovered the name of the person involved. The sheriff s deputy visited with him and the matter has been resolved. Our security cameras have been catching some things for us which has been very beneficial. Our new confirmation program (with Eagle Lake and First Lutheran Churches) has been going well this fall. As with anything new, there were some kinks to work out, but we are happy with the results. The youth in grades 7-9 have been going through the Youth Alpha program for a beginning experience and have also taken in a concert in Perham. The Alpha program will run up to the Thanksgiving break. In December we will switch back to the first and third Wednesdays of the month at 6:00 p.m. We will have a class session on the Christmas Hymns their meaning, theology, and such. Then, on the 20 th of December we will be going Christmas Caroling, singing the songs we have been learning about to shut-ins and nursing home residents. This is open to the everyone, so come along caroling with us! The more the merrier! We will end the evening with hot chocolate and goodies back at the church. Please come and join us for the caroling! In Christ s Service, Pastor Jim On the tonight show Jimmy Fallon writes hopefully humorous imagined thank you notes. While I frequently fail to see the humor in these notes the concept of thank you notes is important. With that in mind let me share a few thank you notes. Thank you to our music director, musicians, and the choir for adding so much to the worship experience here at Zion. I appreciate the time it takes to make music that inspires and is pleasing to the senses. Thank you for raising your voices in song. Thank you to the Sunday School teachers as they fulfill the baptismal promises made by the congregation. These dedicated individuals hold our church s and our nation s future in their hands. For committing themselves to serving and educating the little children that belong to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ we can never thank you enough. Thank you to those who serve as Action Group workers. Too often only the person that is standing in front receives accolades. The person who makes the coffee and fills the plate with cookies and bars should also receive thanks. The person who washes the dishes is definitely worthy of praise. Thank you to whoever made the decision that Zion would use real cups and plates for their coffee hour. Styrofoam may work well for insulation but it should not be a weekly throwaway product. All of God s creation thanks you for your foresight. ~El J 3

4 El. J. Elucidates On October 8 we celebrated stewardship Sunday. Members of the congregation were asked to make their monetary pledge for These monetary pledges are important because they allow the church council to allocate resources to the various missions of the church but stewardship is so much more than money. All of us have been blessed by God with a variety of talents. Some would call these our gifts, but a gift is something you are given. When we receive a gift, it is ours and we may do with it anything that we desire. The talents that we receive from God remain God s. They are simply loaned to us. The reality is that everything in this world is God s. What he has entrusted to us must not be buried. It must bear fruit. (Matthew 25:14-30) With that thought, there is a real need here at Zion for people to step up and share their talents. We need those who have an interest in the future of the church to join the youth team. We need those who classify themselves bibliophiles to join our Library team. We need people with a variety of skills to augment our stewardship team. The list of teams that need members could go on and on. Joining a team here at Zion is answering God s call to be good stewards. A stereotypical Scandinavian/Germanic response to the above paragraph would be some self-deprecation. Well, I really don t have talent in those areas. Oh, I wouldn t be very good at that. You know, someone else could do it so much better than I could. When we answer that way, we are hiding our light under a bushel basket. A person really doesn t know what they can do until they try it. When I was a junior in high school I had decided that I lacked the ability to perform in theater productions. When auditions for the first play of the year were held I did not attend. On the day the production was to open, Bjarne Asp came into my early morning History class and pulled two students out of class. The lead in the play had been suspended from school because he had been caught smoking. The first student had a small part and was the lead s understudy. The second student was me. I was given the first student s small part. Mr. Asp didn t know if I could act but he knew I had a loud voice and believed that I could do it even when I didn t. It turned out that he was right and I was wrong. The moral of the story is of course step forward and see if you can do it. Even if you ve tried in the past and failed, you are a different person now. Those currently involved can show you the way. They can teach you what you need to know. When you answer God s call, you will never be alone. He will always be with you. On a personal note: I am grateful that one year ago God called me here to Zion. The members of Zion are so welcoming and are a blessing from God in Denise s and my life. Thank you. ~~El J SHARE A POINSETTIA If you would like to share a Poinsettia with Zion this Christmas, the cost is $8.00 per plant. You may take your plant home after the last Christmas Eve service. The plants may be given in memory or in honor of someone or can be purchased for personal use. Please enclose payment with your order. Make your check payable to Zion. Name: Number of plants for Zion: Number of plants for personal: In memory of: In honor of: To the glory of God: The opposite of apathy is response-ability ~Mark Batterson 4

5 MUSICALLY SPEAKING Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace During the worship service on November 5th, we will celebrate All Saints Sunday. As stated in Sundays and Seasons, All Saints celebrates the baptized people of God, living and dead, who are the body of Christ. As November heralds the dying of the landscape in many northern regions, the readings and liturgy call us to remember all who have died in Christ and whose baptism is complete (Year A ). For many, the most poignant moment of the service is when Pastor Jim reads the necrology. In accordance with the dignity of All Saints Sunday, the choir s anthem is always carefully chosen. This year, the song is The Prayer of Saint Francis, an anonymous piece with a haunting melody and formal, solemn, and thought-provoking lyrics arranged by René Clausen. I urge you to pay close attention to how he creates momentum and matches the intent of the words by seamlessly moving between minor keys ( doubt, despair, darkness, sorrow ) and major keys ( faith, hope, light, joy ). Preceding the music s final line, Clausen employs a chant-like series to emphasize the prayer s message, For it is in giving that we receive, / and in pard ning that we are pardoned. / For in dying we are born to eternal life...a-men, a-men, a-men. What a beautiful, reflective text to remember those who have gone before us. On another note, the Worship and Music Committee is pleased to announce that Patrick Murphy will return for an encore performance at Zion the afternoon of Sunday, December 17th. We are thrilled that this talented young man will again share his talents with us. All are welcome, so please mark your calendars and join us as Patrick returns home from college for the Christmas holidays. The choir is saying goodby to its many snowbird members and wishing them safe travels during the winter months. We encourage anyone who enjoys singing to attend practice on Wednesday nights at 6:30, even if only during the winter months. Your voice and presence would be welcomed and appreciated! ~ Choir Pianist LIBRARY NEWS What: Book Discussion for Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier When: Thursday, Nov. 2 at 1:30 p.m. Where: Gathering Room To make a long story short, Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier is the story of a timid young girl who marries a troubled widower only to find her new home is haunted by the memory of Rebecca the first wife. This is a classic tale of romantic suspense. See the church s website for a more detailed description. Parents: are your children learning about the Reformation as we celebrate the 500 th anniversary? Two new graphic books are available to be checked out of the library. Both are biographies. Martin Luther: echoes of the hammer and the other biography is Katie Luther: mother of the reformation. They are both written by Susan K. Leigh and illustrated by Dave Hill. Numerous reviews give the books high ratings for the fourth grade readers through adults. Reviewers like the history and the illustrations of these books. Get a cup of coffee, relax and read in the library which is always open. Your Librarian 5

6 ANNUAL SCANDINAVIAN BAKE SALE and WORKDAY at ZION! UFF DA! Time to start baking for the Christmas holidays. SCANDINAVIAN BAKING WORKDAY Friday, December 8 th at 9:00 a.m. Please join us for all the fun. The Zion kitchen will be set up for making lefse, krumkaka, rosettes, spritz and sandbakkles. Some of our Zion members will be demonstrating how to make these Scandinavian goodies, and lots of helpers are needed to make this a festive day. We encourage the men of Zion to join us for the day. Coffee and treats will be served throughout the day. If you are unable to join us for the bake day and would like to donate some Scandinavian goodies for the bake sale, please have them wrapped and at the church by 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, Dec 10 th. Sponsored by WELCA. SCANDINAVIAN BAKE SALE On Sunday, December 10 th, all of these Scandinavian goodies will be for sale following the 10:00 a.m. worship service. There will be no early sales. Glendelig Jul! MARY S MITTENS ARE BACK! The mittens handmade from sweaters by Mary and her sister will once again be for sale at the Bake Sale for $15 a pair November 5- Sunday School November 12- Sunday School November 19- Sunday School - 1 st, 2 nd and 3 rd grade students will lead the Lord s Prayer in church. November 26-NO Sunday School or Jo & Dough (Happy Thanksgiving) Wonder workers for God s Acres are putting work dates on their calendars for early November. Anyone who would like to join is welcomed as this becomes a fellowship time, too. November 1 st is the date we removed some of the warmer season s activities. November 3 rd, 9:30 a.m. Drain water lines, wrap orchard trees, community garden winter preparation, bud capping on white pines, placing of movable playground equipment in shed, and developing a list of maintenance tasks to be done for next year are the major items to be done. This does not mean God s Acres cannot be used until next spring. Trails are open for use year round as is the exercise area on the playground. Pickleball/basketball court, disc golf, etc. are open as weather permits, but you must provide your own equipment during the colder weather season. The team continues to work on interesting new projects for the upcoming year. As in all areas of our church, financial support is needed to keep God s Acres mission to grow and be even more of an asset to our surrounding community On behalf of our entire family, we would like to thank all who took part in the planning and preparation of the recognition / celebration for our Mother LaVerne on July 16 th. The celebration was so well done with respect to our Mother s comfort level of recogniation (or shall I say lack of comfort). From the church service, the touching and beauifully sung choir anthem commissioned in memory of our Brother Jeff to the music themed table decorations, delicious cake and the wonderful, heartfelt tribute from Jim Olson and Pastor Jim, we thank you so very much! LaVerne Nelson s Children & Spouses Grandchildren & Spouses and Great-grandchildren. 6

7 WELCA SERVICE PROJECTS FOR VETERANS AND GLOBAL MISSIONS WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2017 The women of Zion will be working on service projects in November that will benefit (1) the veterans who are residents of the Eagle s Healing Nest in Sauk Centre, MN and (2) Global Missions. We will be collecting new clothing items and assembling personal hygiene kits for the veterans at The Nest. We will also be rolling bandages for Global Missions. How can you participate? (1) YOU CAN DONATE any of the following items for MEN (new items only): Undershirts, size large and extra large Sox Stocking Caps Gloves Items may be brought to the church anytime on or before November 15. (2) YOU CAN MAKE A MONETARY DONATION that will be used to purchase the toiletries that will be put into the kits. We have received seed money from Thrivent Financial that will be used to purchase most of the items. Our goal is to make kits your donations will help us reach or even exceed that number! Monetary donations should be brought to the Church Office on or before Sunday, November 12. (3) YOU CAN COME AND HELP assemble the kits and roll bandages at our WELCA General Meeting on Wednesday, November 15, at 1:30 p.m. Refreshments will be served by Dorcas Circle. All women are invited to join us! Spuds for Studs Thank You On Oct. 1, 2017, 20 members of the Zion Mission Team and Mission Jamaica group served a Baked Potato Bar. We served about 105 people. With their free will offerings and with the donations of people not attending the dinner, we were able to raise over $4,200 to purchase materials to construct a small (1-2 room) house for a family in Jamaica. Members of the Congregation will be traveling to Jamaica Feb 3-10, 2018 to construct the home. We are thankful to Thrivent for the $250 Seed Money to buy the food. A big THANK YOU to members and friends of Zion for your help and gracious and generous response. Zion Mission Team and Mission Jamaica Group THEOLOGY AS EXPLAINED BY CHILDREN *Noah's wife was called Joan of Ark. *Samson slayed the Philistines with the axe of the Apostles. *Unleavened bread is bread made without ingredients. *Moses went to the top of Mt. Cyanide to get the 10 commandments. *Joshua let the Hebrew in the battle of Geritol. *Solomon has 300 wives and 700 porcupines. *The people who followed Jesus were called the 13 decibels. *The Epistles were the wives of the Apostles. *One of the opossums was St. Matthew. *Paul preached holy acrimony, which is another name for marriage. *A Godly person should have only one wife. This is called monotony. 7

8 Summary of Zion Council Minutes October 11, 2017 These are condensed and not approved Welcome: President called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. Quorum of members present. Approval of Agenda: Motion made to approve agenda as printed. Seconded and approved. Secretary s Report: Motion made to approve Secretary s Report on September 13, Seconded and approved. Treasurer s Report: Motion made to accept and include file for review. Seconded and approved. Committee and Team Reports: See written reports. Pastoral Report: See written report. Business: An update on the Safe Church policy was given and the council received the Safe Church Document. All council members signed and dated the Safe Church Document. Sunday School Attendance Report: Sept. 10th 20 students, Sept. 17th 30 students, Sept. 24th 33 students and Oct. 1st 26 students. Total Roster Number 36 students. Committee Vision Meetings: Teams continue to work on vision statements. Motion to adjourn made. Seconded and approved. Council meeting adjourned at 8:30 pm closing with the Lord s Prayer. Kelly Hagemeister Secretary Sometimes, all it takes is just one prayer to change everything. COUNCIL CORNER One of the ongoing projects of the Church Council has been the development of the Safe Church Policy. What is a Safe Church Policy?? It is the policies and procedures that provide all members, friends of Zion and visitors, the knowledge that those who work and volunteer for church activities have met standards that make all feel safe and secure. When I first read the policy my initial reaction was "really, was this necessary?" But then I thought about the world we live in and the unthinkable things that happen and realized that yes, Zion Church did need to make the effort to ensure that we do things right. In that vein, the council has adopted a Safe Church Policy for workers and volunteers who work with children, youth, vulnerable adults and also those who handle the finances of the church. Background checks are done on everyone who works in these capacities. The types of background checks vary depending on duties. The Safe Church Policy also establishes guidelines for the safe keeping of background checks to ensure the privacy for all. There are also sections dealing with harassment of all types and a surveillance camera policy. These sections provide policies and procedures if issues in these areas come up. The Safe Church Policy provides a complete explanation and I invite anyone interested to check it out. Copies are available in the church office. I'm sure there will be growing pains and things will come up that are unexpected that will require further study and revisions to the policy. This is an ongoing policy to provide the congregation the safeguards required in today's world. Please don't hesitate to volunteer because of these requirements. They are done in the spirit of safety for all. A lot of time and hard work was put into this document by the Safe Church Committee. It was not and will never be an easy assignment. They should be commended for their work. 8

9 ZION LUTHERAN CHURCH OF AMOR TREASURER S REPORT Sept Sept Year to Date Budget Income Actual Actual Budget Used Sunday Offering 24, , , % Special Offering , , % Other Income , % Expense Total Income 24, , , % Our Benevolence 1, , , % Missions , , % Pastoral Compensation 8, , , % Pastoral Expense , , % New Members/Outreach , , % Education 2, , , % Library % Music & Worship 1, , , % Altar % Office Staff 3, , , % Stephen Ministry % Office Expenses 1, , , % Stewardship % Planning % Property Management 1, , , % Maintenance & Repairs , , % Capital Improv/Emerg Op , % Total Expense 20, , , % Income Less Expense 3, , Attendance/Contributions September September 2017 September Date Attendance Contributions Date Attendance Contributions 4-Sep 201 $6, Sep 204 $6, Sep 171 $4, Sep 198 $4, Sep 170 $4, Sep 189 $4, Sep 179 $3, Sep 184 $9, TOTAL 721 $18, TOTAL 775 $24, Avg 180 Avg 194 Restricted Funds Sept 2017 Flowers Improvement Fund 1, Designated Giving Food Shelf 1, Sunday School 2, World Hunger 0.00 Cemetery Fund 0.00 Library Fund Memorials & Gifts 2, Music Fund 1, Youth Group 0.00 Found. Pass Thru 0.00 Sunday School Projects 0.00 Stephen Ministry Funeral Fair Trade Coffee Organ Fund 5, Pancake Breakfast God s Acres 0.00 Men s Group Funds Miss Jam Pass Thru 3, Twins Game Helping Hands , Missions Jamaica House Total $28,

10 Praise the LORD. Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His love endures forever. Psalm 106:1 Foot Care Clinic Tues., Nov. 28 th Call Marlys Baumann for more information: The Zion of Amor Giving Tree starts on Sunday, November 26 th. Zion Lutheran Church of Amor Co Hwy 74 Battle Lake, MN Fax: Web site: 10