The First News January 2017

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1 The First News January 2017 First Lutheran Church 401 E. Piankishaw St. Paola, KS Pastor Mark Deacon Josh Church

2 New Years Day Worship Sunday, January 1st - 9:00 am New Years Day falls on a Sunday this year, we will have ONE service at 9:00am. There will be NO services at 8:00am or 10:30am. Holy Communion will be celebrated. What is in the News Foundations Update page 2 Christmas Caroling page 2 Children s Ministry Meeting page 3 Country Club Visit page 3 LWML page 3 Stamps Needed page 3 Mary-Martha Circle page 4 Ruth Circle page 4 Braille Ministry page 4 Nursing Home Visits page 4 Installation of Officers page 5 Senior Breakfast page 5 Grief Comfort page 5 Financial Update page 5 Birthdays page 5

3 Foundations update: (formerly known as Generis/Generosity Journey) Last year at a special voter s meeting in April, we approved working with the company, Generis to help us on a Generosity Journey. It was a slow start, getting organized and getting volunteers to run various roles, but then a month ago, we shifted in to full speed ahead with our big kickoff during Project Generosity with nearly 90 people attending. More things are being planned for the year ahead. We will need "all hands on deck" as this 2 year process with our consultant, Larry Ulrich, helps us on what will be a lifetime of Generosity, which we now call Foundations. Christmas Caroling! A big thank you to those who joined us last week to bless the residents of North Point and Country Club Estates with Christmas cheer in the name of Jesus, our newborn Savior!

4 Children's Ministries Breakfast Meeting January 7 from 9:30 11 am If you have ever considered joining the team of Tiny Disciples, Sunday School, or Kid's Ministry leaders and helpers, please join us Saturday, January 7 from 9:30 to 11:00am. Deacon Simons, Jody, and current volunteers will be discussing the goals, plans, and opportunities within these ministries for helping our children age 0 to grade 3 know Jesus, grow in faith, and show His love. This is a wonderful opportunity to learn how you might use your gifts to pass on the faith to our littlest ones! If you plan to attend, please RSVP to Jody in the office or at jbrown.tls@gmail.com. Family Workshop Rescheduled for Sunday, January 8th + Beginning at 9:15am, families can enjoy craft and activity stations, cookie decorating and more! A light breakfast as well as hot chocolate, cider, and coffee. Stations, activities, and breakfast will be open until 10:15am. + Please join us! Bring the family and invite your friends too! Membership at First Interested in learning more about membership at First? Check out FIRST STEPS, a class where you can explore the teachings, practices, and ins & outs of First Lutheran Church with Pastor Mark. FIRST STEPS classes will be starting January 15th. For more information, Pastor Mark at pastormark@firstlutheranpaola.org.

5 Installation of Officers Sunday, January 8 th we will introduce and install all of our officers for Please join us in acknowledging them and please keep them in your prayers throughout the year. Country Club Retirement Home Visit January 10 11am Feel free to join some of the LWML ladies as they lead devotions and visit the residents. For more information, contact Judy Carlson or Jody Brown. LWML Meeting January 12 th at 7:00pm This is a Bible Study that everyone is invited to join. More details coming soon! We Need Your Stamps! Please save your cancelled stamps and deposit in the container in the narthex. Any stamps at all- even your everyday stamps. We turn them into LWML and they sell them to dealers. Proceeds from the sale of these stamps go to help cover the cost of shipping packages through Lutheran World Relief. Mary-Martha Circle We will be meeting on January 2nd at 1:00 in the church basement. Bring your Quarterly and Bible with you. Lois Moore will be leading our Bible Study.

6 Ruth Circle Monday, January 2nd at 6:30pm hosted by Loree Gardner. Food - Fellowship - Bible Study All ladies are welcome to attend. Braille Ministry - Come Join us! Once a month a group of 5 people from First Lutheran go to Augsburg Lutheran Church in Shawnee to make Braille Bibles. It is a social day with no hard work. If this is a ministry you would be willing to try, contact Ethel Weaver at The need is great to place into the hands of the blind the holy Word of God. Do you like to Sing?? Nursing Home Service and Visiting Plan on joining us on Sunday, January 22 nd as we lead the residents of North Point and Medicalodge in worshipping our Lord. We will meet at North Point at 1:30 hold a service and sing some praises and then we will travel to Medicalodge at 2:15 to share the message and praise with them. If you enjoy singing, the residents enjoy it even more! Come out and show God s love to those who really need it. Come sing His praise and share His love. If you would like to help out, please contact Arlene Peck or Cindy Mead at office@firstlutheran_paola.org Senior Breakfast Monday, January, 16 th and 8:00am Meet and enjoy some time with other seniors from our congregation as they enjoy breakfast and fellowship. This takes place every 3 rd Monday.

7 Adult, Teen,Children s Grief Support Free to the Community. Call or Text Brenda with questions: Group Support will begin January 23rd, at 7:00pm in the Mission House. They will meet every Monday at 7:00pm from January 23 rd - March 13 th Everyone is welcome. Just Don t Grieve Alone! We Care November Financial Update Monthly offerings were $25,127, in line with our budget of $25,000. Year to date offerings are $16,044 (5.8%) behind budget. Adjusting for annual real estate tax payment, in the amount of $3,683 results in a monthly operating surplus of $312. Sonshine monthly deficit of $1,119 reflects annual staff bonuses paid in lieu of salary adjustments The congregation continues to generously support the Petersen family as they transition back home. Support for the month was $465. We will continue accepting contributions for the family through December. Building for the Future loan was paid in full. Copies of the annual voters presentation and audio of the meeting are available on the website at

8 Christmas Gifts Given Dec 6 th, the Evangelism group met and we had discovered several needs on our community that we felt like we needed to help. Thanks to the support of ur wonderful congregation and the participation of our community this past year, this was heavy on our hearts. So we took charge and proceeded with our hearts desires. We purchased shirts for some of the residents at Medicalodge. We also purchased clothes and a few fun things for some teenagers. There are also two families in our community that were in need of assistants due to illness and hardship, so we helped them out a little too. If you know of someone who is in need and could use some help, please contact the church office and we will see what we can do. Helping others should not just occur at Christmas time- we should have that kind of love in our hearts all year round. You can leave information in the church office or Cindy at cindymead63@gmail.com. We hope you have a very Happy New Year! The Evangelism Committee

9 THANK YOU to the Bells Ringers! PACA would like to give a huge thank you to those who braved the cold, wind, and/or snow to ring the bell at Wal-Mart for the Salvation Army. Taking time out of your day to spend an hour or more to help many people in our community was greatly appreciated. Thank You from PACA Ministries May the Joy and Peace of Christmas be with you throughout the New Year. May you always dwell in the light of His Love and receive the gift of God s Grace this special season of the year. Thank you for your continued support of PACA Ministries as we share the love of Christ together!

10 January Birthdays Jan 1 Ralph Brandt Jan 3 Louis Chilson Nate Clayton Jim Fuchs Jennifer Hewitt Fredrick Windler Jan 4 Delaney Armbruster Evan Reitinger Jace Reitinger Jan 5 Melody Garrison Jeffrey Hendrickson Morgan Pope Monica Way Jan 6 Cale Reitinger Jan 7 Samuel Browning Jean Kaiser Jack Miller Jan 8 Annabell Worrell Jan 11 Lori Carter David Evans Emily Mead Paul Noll Henry Schrotberger Jan 12 Nickki Lofing Cheryl Rogers Jan 13 Sandi Armbruster Corey Ohlmeier Jan 14 Rebecca Faltas Norman Minden Shelly Moore Aneta Ohlmeier Jan 15 Jake Lammers Jan 15 Colt Lee Amanda Pitzer Jan 16 Drake Bartlett Alexander Forsberg Hazel Henry Jan 17 Gary Schroeder Jan18 John Fanning Ted Moore Jan 19 Doris Haselrick Braden Thoden Jan 20 Tina Browning Jan 21 Don Anthony Jan 22 Jerry Brandy Jan 23 Helen Brewer Jace Lofing Zechariah Lyons Peggy Turney Jan 24 Sherry Hendrickson Jan 25 Kloe Mead Jan 26 John Hewitt Amelia Kieffaber Cindy Lovekamp Michael Thoden Diane Thomas Jan 27 Jessica Bartlett Jan 28 Mel Brown Dean Lovig Jan 30 Natalie Melichar