St. Mark is a welcoming community, boldly witnessing Christ s love.

Transcription

1 Non-Profit Org. St. Mark Lutheran Church 1614 West 5th Street Storm Lake, IA U.S. POSTAGE PAID Storm Lake, IA Permit No. 35 RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED St. Mark is a welcoming community, boldly witnessing Christ s love. St. Mark Lutheran Church ELCA November 2018 Visit our website -- office@stmarkstormlake.com WORSHIP.LEARNING MISSION COMMUNITY FRIENDSHIP November 5 November 6 November 7 November 9 Saturday Worship at 5:30 p.m. Sunday Worship at 9:00 a.m. Sew & Do Election Day and Quilt Sewciety Bible Study & The WELL Quilt Club-Paulette November 12 Stephen Ministry November 13 Parkinson s Support Group November 14 Naomi Circle, Women s Bd Meeting, The WELL & PPC Meeting November 17 World Hunger and TSP November 18 World Hunger November 19 Sarah Circle & Sew & Do November 22 Thanksgiving Day - Office Closed November 23 Office Closed November 24 Jackson Greaves Baptism November 26 Stephen Ministry November 28 The WELL, Christmas Program Practice November 29 SMART

2 PASTOR DAVID KEBSCHULL 5 And the one who was seated on the throne said, See, I am making all things new. -Revelation 21:5 We are entering a very busy time in the Church Year with Reformation Sunday followed by All Saints, Christ the King, Advent, and Christmas. I find that I get so busy with stuff that these specials days pass and I realize that I hardly spent even a few minutes really thinking about the significance of these special days that we celebrate in the Church and in our communities. This weekend we celebrate Reformation Sunday across the Church with loud fanfares, singing A Mighty Fortress, and remembering the work of the reformers such as Martin Luther was filled with celebrations across the world as we joined millions of others who celebrated the 500 th Anniversary of the Reformation. For many congregations of the ELCA, by the time we finished with Reformation last year, we hardly had any steam left to celebrate All Saints Sunday. All Saints is one of those quiet Church celebrations. It still seems foreign or too Catholic for many of us, but it doesn t have to. All Saints is a time set aside to remember all of our loved ones who have died. It is a day to give thanks for their lives, and consider the ways that God worked through them into our lives and into the world around them. At both of our services on November 3-4, we will be naming the members of St Mark who have died during the past year, and all of us will also have a chance to remember our family members by lighting votive candles that will be set up near the altar. It can be a quite meaningful service as we begin by remembering those who have died that we have loved, and who loved us. Time to remember and cherish the relationships we share with others in this life. Later this week we are remembering Mel Suhl who died on Monday. Mel was a Pastor of the ELCA and a mentor to many. He was an all-around good guy to know and to love. In my short time with him, Mel always had kind and encouraging words to share with me. During Mel s long career as a Pastor he presided over the funerals of hundreds of Saints. I can just hear Mel speaking words of God s grace and love in his kind and loving voice. Words that brought comfort to thousands of people who attended the services as they mourned the death of their loved ones.

3 God literally worked through Mel by God s Spirit, to make all things new. He spoke words to help people move from the deep throngs of grief, and helped them to see the great hope that we have in Jesus Christ. Even though Mel has died himself, his words of wisdom and encouragement live on. What would happen if all of us helped to make all things new by speaking words of encouragement to others? What would happen if we chose to carry on the work of the peace makers, and the seekers of justice who have died? What if would remember those who have touched our lives with the grace and the love of God, and would join them in God s work of making all things new? Peace to you, Pastor Dave

4 PRESIDENT As we move into the month of November, I reflect on the past year at St. Mark and how thankful I am for this church community. Pastor Dave accepted our call and is making strides in challenging us how to get from Here to There and helping us think about who does St. Mark want to be? St. Mark welcomes our church community and visitors through numerous food and fellowship activities. There is a very dedicated group of members who are always willing to help with food and hospitality. The support of our church family as evidenced by the outpouring of love during trying times of illness, the loss of a loved one and the ability to recognize individual needs. These are just a few of my observations. I m sure we all have our own reasons to be thankful for our St. Mark community. During this month of thanksgiving I challenge each of you to make your own reflection on what St. Mark means to you and how you might contribute to help move St. Mark from Here to There. In Christ s Love, Kent Smith

5 PARISH PLANNING COUNCIL MEETING St. Mark Lutheran Church October 10, 2018 Present: Pastor Dave Kebschull, Kent Smith, Linda Glienke, Cindy Smith, Kyle Bartz, Bob Rohlfsen, Paulette Erlandson, Lisa Mellmann, Mike Porsch, Randy Sennert, & Joan Christen President Kent Smith called the meeting to order and the agenda was approved and the Secretary & Treasurer s reports for September were accepted Ongoing Business: LSI has moved and are very appreciative of their new space. Aronson will complete the needed work with the heating and cooling in the northeast section of the building. The new data base is moving forward. New Business: Governance was discussed with more information to come. The Fall Winds of Hope Conference will be held October 14 th in Cherokee. Select delegates to Synod Assembly at annual meeting in January. New Logo Looks very nice and is currently on our Facebook page and website. Stewardship Kick Off will be November 10 th & 11 th. This year 185 packets have been mailed to members and also include Time & Talent sheets. Our website has been revised and updated. Board members gave their reports. Submitted by Joan Christen, Secretary COLLECTED POP TABS: Seventeen year old Jacy McAlexander of Rockwell City passed away in May of this year after battling cancer for several years. After his family utilized Ronald McDonald House, he set a goal to collect a ton of pop tabs. They are still being collected by schools to reach that goal and beyond. Ours will be taken to St Mary s

6 Fern Combes and Fern Crowley exiting the church!! Doesn t get much better than your church family. We are all here for each other. Parish Education WELL is off to a great start! Thank you to all that have provided meals, desserts, helped with clean up, etc. The sign up is on the round table in the Narthex. Please consider helping out for future dates! Nine confirmation students and two chaperones attended a Fields of Faith event, in Sioux Rapids, on Oct. 10. The event was put on by the Northwest Iowa Fellowship of Christian Athletes. The evening started with a meal, followed by 3 songs by the Albert City E-Free Church Praise Band, testimonies by 3 High School students, and the keynote speaker was Adam Timmerman, former NFL player! Adam, originally from Cherokee, IA., gave his testimony on how God helped shape his life, especially during his High School, College, and NFL playing years. Adam is currently the Director of the NW Iowa Fellowship of Christian Athletes group. A great big, huge, THANK YOU to Anne Denholm! Anne is using her expertise in Christian education programming and helping the Parish Ed board by leading the pre 5 th grade WELL classes. She was exactly what the Board needed to get this year off to a great start! Thanks again, Anne! Looking ahead, the Christmas program will be presented to the congregation on Saturday, Dec. 15! Please plan to attend!! Lastly, the Parish Ed Board still has 3 open seats! If you are interested in filling one of the open seats, please talk to Pastor Dave! Parish Education Board- Megan Peterson and Kyle Bartz

7 St. Mark Women of the ELCA November 5 & 19 Sew & Do 9:00 AM November 14 Board meeting 4:00 PM. ST. MARK WOMEN OF THE ELCA November 14 Naomi Circle meets for Bible study at 9:30 AM. The Bible study lesson is session three of Turn, turn, turn: A time for faithful repentance Turning as the Church to the World When we repent as one body in Christ, we open the way to healing and reconciliation. November 17 &18 Thankoffering Service November 19 Sarah Circle meets at 5:30 PM for a light supper and Bible study. We are continuing our study of the parables this year. This month s lesson is Parable of the Talents. We are no longer collecting cell phones. Do you knit or crochet? Yarn is available in the office to make prayer shawls. All women of St. Mark are invited to participate. and what does the lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8 Margaret Stangohr Baby Care Kits: Projects for Lutheran World Relief Lightweight cotton t-shirts (sizes to 24 months) Long or short-sleeved gowns or sleepers (without feet) Receiving blankets-medium weight cotton or flannel Cloth diapers, flat fold preferred Jackets, sweater or sweatshirts with a hood or include a baby cap (sizes to 24 months) Pairs of socks Hand towel (dark colored recommended) Bath-size bars of gentle soap (4-5 oz.) in original wrapping Diaper pins or large safety pins School Kits: 70+ sheet notebooks of wide or college-ruled paper (approximately 8 X10 ½ ) Ruler with centimeters & inches (no flexible plastic please) Pencil sharpener Blunt scissors Boxes of 16 or 24 count crayons Please do not donate any items decorated with a U.S. flag, patriotic or military symbols, or references to the armed forces, including camouflage. Lutheran World Relief and our overseas partners have access to areas of the world others do not because we are impartial humanitarian organizations. If our intentions are misinterpreted as being politically motivated, it puts our work, our partners and the people we assist at risk.

8 NOVEMBER BIRTHDAYS 11/01 - Fern Crowley 11/01 - Donna Schulz 11/03 - Avery Britton 11/04 - Ross Dewerff 11/05 - Austin Herrig HAPPY ANNIVERSARY 11/03 - Ron & Pat Wilson 11/07 - Dennis & Paulette Erlandson 11/17 - Warren & Sharon Wilson 11/21 - Duane & Sandra Fitchett 11/24 - Clair & Carol Thompson 11/26 - Bob & Gloria Rohlfsen 11/05 - Mike Porsch 11/05 - Ed Quirin 11/05 - Spencer McClannahan 11/06 - Sandra Taylor 11/07 - Grant Gasner 11/08 - Samuel Bartz 11/08 - Duane Fitchett 11/11 Dennis Jacobson 11/11 - Peggy Fitchett 11/13 - LaDonna Brummer 11/16 - Nyachan Deng 11/17 Ethan James 11/17 - Robert Carlson 11/19 - Chloe Kucera 11/20 - Don McClannahan 11/23 - Manaath Deng 11/24 - Nouk Keovyphone 11/24 - Robert Rohlfsen 11/25 - Brenda Newell 11/28 - Maxine Lampe 11/29 - James Wagner UPDATES IN THE CHURCH OFFICE: We now have church addresses. They are as follows: office@stmarkstormlake.com pastordave@stmarkstormlake.com janehartwell@stmarkstormlake.com Please make these changes. MEET OSCAR! What a joy to have Oscar in the church office. He is so well behaved and brings smiles to so many faces. He is loved!! Check to see if he is in the office so you can meet him!!! If you don t know, Oscar is Pastor Dave and Leslie s dog!

9 SOCIAL MINISTRY The social ministry committee met through for the month of October. Items covered included: The produce exchange went well for the first year. Members of the congregation enjoyed sharing produce and there was extra produce to take to Upper DSM every week. Their staff was very appreciative. The committee continues to accept clothing donations for the schools. Please place items in the large blue tub located in the narthex. A huge THANK YOU to all who have donated. Monetary donations may also be given to the church office for this cause and needed items will be purchased by the committee for the schools. Ideas for projects for the holidays will be discussed further at the November meeting on November 14. Thank you to all who continue to fill the food cart in the narthex. The next meeting will be Wednesday, November 14 at 5:30 p.m. LSI Staff were so pleased to receive quilts hand made by Paulette Erlandson. They said their kids would appreciate and love them. Paulette had a tiny quilt, so she stopped and got a baby doll to put with it. We hope to be receiving soon, a list of items that LSI is in need of for their families they work with.

10 On Oct 22, LSI staff joined members of St. Mark for a lunch of home made soups provided by the fellowship board. What a successful start to building a relationship with the LSI staff! Maria and the staff expressed their gratitude for the lunch and for everything that St. Mark has done for them. We learned a lot about the services they provide and some of their needs. We came up with some ideas of what we as a congregation can to do help. Thank you to every one who attended. We invite everyone for the fellowship coffee after worship on Sunday mornings. Be sure to sign up for Third Saturday Night Pizza on November 16. Paulette, Sue, Stan, Brenda and LuAnn

11 BOOK NOTES No Book Report this month! Our thoughts and prayers are with Carole and family at this very sad time. Mel will be missed by many who knew and loved him!

12 LSI National Adoption Month November is National Adoption Month, a time to honor families who have opened their hearts and homes to children in need. For LSI it is a time to celebrate the families we support through Foster Care and Adoption, and to raise awareness for the hundreds of Iowa children in need of a safe, loving home. In 30 counties in western Iowa, LSI Foster Care and Adoption recruits, licenses, and supports foster and adoptive families to ensure every Iowa child grows up in a safe, stable environment. But more work needs to be done. According to the most recent federal data, more than 100,000 children in the U.S. are waiting to be adopted from foster care, and thousands of teens age out of foster care every year without a permanent family. To learn more about supporting Iowa children in foster care, visit LSIowa.org/Foster, or contact Deb Whitford, LSI director of philanthropy and church relations, at Deborah.Whitford@LSIowa.org or Our Mission: Lutheran Services in Iowa responds to the love of Jesus Christ through compassionate service. LSI is an affiliated social ministry partner of the Iowa congregations of the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) and a member of LSA (Lutheran Services in America). We proudly serve people of all ages, abilities, religions, sexes, gender identities, national origins, ethnicities, races, and sexual orientations. Learn more at and Helping to Carry the Load Renato and Nellie Jimenez knew they wanted to adopt children. But when they learned about the desperate need for foster families, they also decided to open their home to children in need of safe, temporary care. We realized there are some big needs out there, Renato says. Sometimes, we might not see it. But there are people suffering and struggling. We knew our family could make a difference. Over the last four years, Renato and Nellie have adopted four children and are currently fostering three. Their children range from 6 months to 14 years of age. The couple enjoys supporting children of all ages, and they focus their parenting on helping them stay connected to their history and culture whenever possible. Especially for older children, Renato says, it is vital to be given a safe space to open up and talk about the past in a healthy way. The most rewarding experience is the transformation of the kids. They come with baggage and they come hurt. But we can provide a home and love and security for them, so they know they belong in a family, Renato says. Be there for the kids. The more healthy and supportive people these kids have around them, the better. Help them carry the load.