Redeemer Lutheran Church November 2018 To Live and Tell the Story of Jesus Pastor Ponderings

Transcription

1 Redeemer Lutheran Church November 2018 To Live and Tell the Story of Jesus Pastor Ponderings After spending a few hours running the mulching mower throughout my yard to take care of the layer of yellow leaves, the rain and wind arose, and the next day the layer of yellow leaf frosting was spread again over the top of my green and brown cake of a yard. I am not bothered by this. For the colors of the autumn leaves warm the vision of our eyes in preparation for the cool coat of white soon to fall. Like saints before us, the leaves are set upon the earth, soon to become the rich humus from which green shoots of life spring forth. In this month of November, we not only remember the saints in our lives who have gone before us we celebrate and honor their memory on the first Sunday of the month. This is sacred time. As if a moment in time stands still and the flames of the candles we light flicker with the movement of the Spirit bringing us all together, united in the love of God and the saints of light. We begin with death. We move into thanksgiving and move on to end the month with the advent of the coming new life, soon to be birthed within all of us in the baby Jesus. Pondering life, may be deeply meaningful, when done in light of our own mortality. Doing so causes us to ask some of the bigger questions of life. Have I wasted my life? Are there things undone that I still need to do? What do I believe about the time after death? In the words of Joyce Rupp in her book May I Have This Dance? although autumn might seem to be a harsh reminder of death, we can also be encouraged to enter into the mystery of eternal life. A movement toward life takes place in autumn When Jesus was about to feed the 5000 and when he was at the table for his last meal, he lifted up the bread, the fish and the cup of wine and gave thanks. Giving thanks for all we have is a practice of faith and one that reminds us of the goodness of God. Gratitude enables us to recognize the blessings of the life we have lived. Taking time to develop awareness of where we are today and what it is that has shaped us, often enriches our life with greater love for God. If you want to take deeper look at your life through prayer, you may want to give this a try. This is a prayer practice offered in Rupp s book. Draw the shape of an autumn tree. Let the tree symbolize yourself. Write upon the appropriate part of the tree, responses to the following statements: Roots Name who and what has given you nourishment and vitality in your life. Name what has rooted you through significant change. Trunk Name your strengths and events that channeled new life for you. Leaves Name what is dying in your life right now and what you might want to let go of. Bark Name who or what comforts and protects you. Buds waiting for spring - Name what gives you hope. Hope is the direction of faith and is the invitation of the coming preparations of a baby to be celebrated, as the one who comes in love, as love, for love, to reveal the constant, steadfast presence of the author of love. Thanks be to God. Shalom, Pastor Ann

2 From the Sprouts. The Sprouts are off to another exciting fall season! We are happy to be together again and have welcomed some new Sprouts and teachers as well. Beginning in September, we had a campfire rally! We played team building games with the confirmation students and had a campfire. We even roasted bread over the campfire for a special communion. Our theme for the month of September was the road to Emmaus. We read a story from our Spark bible and we talked about what we would say to Jesus if we saw him walking down the road. We painted prayer rocks and took them to At Home Again. The residents helped us decorate them and we let them keep whichever ones they wanted. We sang songs before we left. They sure love to hear us sing! We hope to go back again before Christmas for cookie decorating! In October, we are learning about Joseph and his brothers and Joseph s dream. Joseph sure had a colorful coat! We got to make our own Joseph coats on paper and are making some awesome craft projects. We are learning new songs each month as well as singing some of our favorites. In November, we will be singing a new song we are learning at the Thanksgiving Eve Service at Redeemer. We have been busy practicing it each week at Sprouts. Please come to the church service on November 21 st to hear us sing! We are happy to say that we have started a new class for 3 rd -6 th graders. This will be in addition to our current class of 3year old 2 nd grade. We would love to have you join us on Wednesday nights from 6-6:45! We start each class with a bible story, then a craft and singing. We always end our class with the Lord s Prayer. We all get in a big circle, hold hands and say the Lord s Prayer together. We welcome 2 new teachers.sandy Langdon and Louise Meske. We are excited to have you as part of our Sprouts group and we thank you for all of your help! We invite all of you to join us young and old alike! Come and stay for a few minutes or the entire class.we d love to see you! Hope to see you..love, The Sprouts

3 Sprouts News!!!! We are excited to tell you that Sprouts is expanding! The older elementary students (3 rd thru 6 th grade) will have their own class. They will also be meeting on Wednesday evenings from 6 to 6:45 PM in the downstairs education section of the church. Parents are highly encouraged to join their child but it is not required. If you know of someone who may be interested or if you have any questions, please contact Louise Meske at Louise4u2001@yahoo.com WELCA Thankoffering Service will be part of Worship Service on Nov. 11th at 9 a.m. If you don't have an envelope, there will be some envelopes in the pews. We encourage everyone to attend this service. Attention: There will be a WOC meeting right after church in the lounge. This is an important meeting to plan for We will have election of Board members. Anyone interested to be on the Board let Sherri Kranz or Nancy Wescott know. Shalom, WELCA Board Please remember the Rio Area Food Pantry during the Holiday Season. We have compiled a list of items that would greatly help the needs of others. Thank you for your continued support of the Food Pantry. Food Pantry Needs Stove Top Stuffing Pancake Mix Syrup Apple juice Grape juice Breakfast t cereal except Cheerios Canned Pork & Beans Mac & Cheese Cake mixes & Brownie mix Pineapple Mandarin oranges Ketchup Mustard Chicken Noodle soup Cream style corn

4 FESTIVAL CHOIR - CALLING ALL SINGERS! Saturday, November 3-7:00 PM First Lutheran Church N. Randall Avenue, Janesville Calling all Singers: Join us for a Once-In-A-Lifetime Musical Event! Music to Move Our World is a community-building celebration of music, visual elements, and guest speakers, and features an adult and children s chorus accompanied by the Beloit Janesville Symphony Orchestra. All interested singers are encouraged to join our adult chorus. A meal and the choral music will be provided. All proceeds from the event support several charities and future similar events; participants are asked to consider a donation of $10 to help cover music, meal, and the commemorative DVD which will be given to all following the event. Singers are encouraged to attend as many rehearsals as possible. Remaining rehearsals will be held on Thursday, October 25, and Tuesday, October 30 at First Lutheran Church, 612 North Randall Avenue, Janesville, WI from 6:30-8:00pm. A dress rehearsal and dinner will be held at the church prior to the event on Saturday, Nov. 3, 3:00-6:00pm. For more information, and to sign up for the Adult Chorus contact Jan Knutson, Choir Director at First Lutheran at jknutson604@gmail.com or (608) Learn more about this creative use of First Lutheran s space in support of the arts and their community! ***************************************************************************************************** WHAT MATTERS - Stay Connected To Synod Happenings, News, & Events! Grow in your faith and leadership! Stay connected to exciting events and stories of our faith in action in our synod! To sign up for synod news, please Assistant to the Bishop for Media, Communications & Leadership Development, Deacon Vicki Hanrahan at vickih@scsw-elca.org to be added to What Matters. THANK YOU!!! Thank you to all members and visitors here at Redeemer for the Well Wishes on my new Journey. Don t fret though, I will be around for a bit to help out and train the new individual taking over as the new Administrative Assistant. I have had many laughs, smiles, jokes and hugs from so many caring individuals! It has been a pleasure working with Pastor Ann, Larry and April especially! I will miss my scares from April, my jokes with Larry and the coordinating and relationship I built with Pastor Ann. I have been blessed and will miss you all. It has been an honor being part of the Redeemer Lutheran Church. -Kim

5 Care for Creation we are called to care for what God has given us Special Guest Sunday, November 18 th During Worship and afterward during Fellowship Time Goose Pond Sanctuary is in our backyard near Arlington and we have the honor and pleasure of hosting Graham Steinhauer, Land Steward of Goose Pond on November 18 th. During worship I will engage Graham in some conversation so we can learn what experiences in his growing up life led him to this point of caring for the land in this way. Graham is a young man I had the joy of knowing through our participation at Christ Lutheran Church in DeForest many years prior. He will then give us a presentation after worship in the Fellowship Hall and will have with him a salamander, seeds and seed screens among other things. Invite your family, and grandkids to come and see! Goose Pond Sanctuary is owned by the Madison Audubon Society. Here is some information from their website: Located one mile south of Arlington and just 30 minutes north of Madison, Goose Pond Sanctuary is a collection of restored and protected landscapes that are a haven for birds, rare plants, insects, and more. Over 250 species of birds have been spotted at this prairie pothole and its surrounding lands. Visit during migration for a spectacle of migrating waterfowl and shorebirds, or come any time of year to enjoy the changing seasons. Goose Pond Sanctuary is open to the public - come visit and watch for wildlife, take a walk among the prairie flowers, and enjoy the beautiful southern Wisconsin landscape. Graham does not charge anything but gives of his time to promote the work that they do at Goose Pond and to encourage us to volunteer or support them in their work. We will receive a free will offering that day for those who wish to give. This donation will go directly to support Goose Pond and the needs they currently have to continue caring for the land. They do regular seed collection and butterfly tagging. You might want to check it out sometime and invite your family along. Here is their website with details: madisonaudubon.org/goose-pond/ Honk, honk, quack, quack said the goose and the duck. Singing their songs of praise! Shalom! Pastor Ann You will be missed... When Kim began her employment here at Redeemer, the heap of things that needed to be learned and understood seemed like a mountain. Step by step, with the help of Larry, Pastor Ann and others, she became proficient at all the many varied duties of the job, adding her own flare and creative ideas to ministry here at Redeemer. In addition, she has shared with us her good humor, laughter and joy with each phone call or face to face encounter. Thank you for sharing your energy for life with us and your love of God. We know we will see you around in the Rio area and would like to offer a prayer of thanks and blessing for you in the days ahead. Shalom!

6 From the Treasurer What beautiful weather we have been having now that the rain has subsided. We have much to be thankful for. Last month we transferred funds from the Youth account to the General Fund which helped greatly. We were able to pay $ to the Synod which is a good thing. We also ended the month of September with a balance of $ The budgeting process began in early October and is now finished. We will be sending out a letter from the Finance/Stewardship Team. This will outline what we have come up with. We will be having an informational forum on December 2 with the congregation. We will be discussing the budget for 2019, our concerns over shortages of money and ways to overcome these issues. After receiving and reading the letter our hope is members will come with suggestions that will help the council. Please put December 2 on your calendars as this is an IMPORTANT day not to miss. If you can't make the meeting and you have ideas please drop them in the offering plate any Sunday or drop off at the church office. Thank you for your support. Please pray for Pastor, your council and staff at Redeemer. As we enter November we remember Saints who have gone before us and we also remember all we have to be thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving! God's peace and blessings to all, Bonnie G. Pribbenow-Paddock Redeemer Treasurer November Birthday s November Anniversaries Laci Kelly Kase Reierson Alisa Porter Brennan Hepler Nancy Drehmel Grace Hinzman Lola Bortz Mitchel Merkes November 10 th November 10 th November 13 th November 14 th November 20 th November 21 st November 30 th November 30th Bob & Joann Skare Patrick & Ginny Harmes Vern & Erminia Wavra November 9 th November 14 th November 21 st

7 REDEEMER LUTHERAN CHURCH COUNCIL MEETING SEPTEMBER 17, :30 p.m. Present: Kevin Stoddard, Sherri Kranz, Debbie Reierson, Steve Gilbert, Darlene Cutsforth, Pastor Ann Walsvik. Bonnie Pribbenow-Paddock and Renee Miles, late - excused. Brenda Price, absent excused. Meeting was called to order by President Kevin Stoddard at 6:36 p.m. Approve Agenda Sheri Kranz made a motion to approve the agenda with the addition of 10.e. Status of organist. Seconded by Darlene Cutsforth. Motion carried. Devotions were given by Sherri Kranz. Darlene Cutsforth will have devotions for October. Spiritual Development Pastor Ann showed a video. She then led a discussion of Chapter 8 from a book called Called by Mark Labberton. It is a book about the crisis and promise of following Jesus today. We are to read Chapter 9 for our next meeting. Review and Approve Minutes from August, 2018 Darlene Cusforth made a motion to approve the 8/20/18 minutes. Seconded by Sherri Kranz. Motion carried. Correspondence or guest: None. Financial Reports for August, 2018: General Fund - Discussed moving Dorothy Wendt memorial money, currently in the General Fund savings account, into the Memorial Fund account. Bonnie Pribbenow-Paddock will continue to try to contact the family to see if they approve. Bennett Mutual Fund Memorial Fund Motion was made by Debbie Reierson to approve financial reports for August, Seconded by Steve Gilbert. Motion carried. Standing Committee Reports Property - Darlene Cutsforth went over the written report. Pastor Ann would like the lounge and hallway paneling painted. WELCA Sherri Kranz gave a verbal report. Social Concerns - Gave money to a local family to help with miscellaneous expenses. Lay ministry Not actively meeting Outreach Nancy Drehmel and Donna Kearney will take over for Bev Hepler Stewardship Will start budget talks soon. Education - Not actively meeting Page 2 Redeemer September 17, 2018 minutes Motion was made by Darlene Cutsforth to approve standing committee reports. Seconded by Renee Miles. Motion carried. Pastor s Report Pastor Ann gave a verbal report. She will be attending a clergy seminar training once a month. She will be on vacation October 22-26, 2018 attending personal retreats. Old Business: Status of Memorial Funds Review The memorial committee will have a meeting soon.

8 Review of God s Work Our Hands: Our congregation gathered supplies for the Pine Ridge Retreat in South Dakota. They indicated the supplies that they would like to receive. We collected 86 hygiene kits, 11 blankets and quilts, 979 diapers, 38 packages of wipes. There was an anonymous offer to donate $400. in matching funds if the church could match that amount. This was done. Darcy Stoddard then went out and bought items with this money. Roughly $700. was spent. The rest of the money will be sent with our supplies to them. Status of Town Hall Meeting A town hall meeting was held on Sunday, September 16, 2018 to discuss our church s financial situation/future. It was called Listening for Wisdom to get input from the congregation. There were a few comments made to be considered. Each person received a 3 x 5 index card and asked to write down any thoughts/ideas for the council. Kevin asked that everyone pray about this over the next week and write down any thoughts on their 3 x 5 cards and place them in the offering plate next Sunday. Discuss Funding for $1500. Organ Repairs The organ repairs have been delayed for some time and need to be done. Motion was made by Bonnie Pribbenow-Paddock to pay up to $1500. for organ repairs from flexible expenses account. Seconded by Darlene Cutsforth. Motion carried. Status of organist playing in November and December We learned that Linda Frevert will play one Sunday in November and one in December. New Business: Discuss Pastor s 2019 Insurance Package Kevin Stoddard said that the Stewardship and Finance team will be meeting to discuss Pastor Ann s medical insurance package. The committee will review and recommend what package they feel would be the best, doing their due diligence. Discuss 2019 Budget Process After the congregational meeting on Sunday, September 30 th, the Stewardship and Finance committee will be meeting to come up with a budget for Page 3 Redeemer September 17, 2018 minutes Discuss Pastor s August Newsletter Article The council discussed Pastor s September newsletter article. There was confusion by some council members over the council responsibilities listed in the article. New Push Lawn Mower for Parsonage This purchase will be made and will come out of the parsonage maintenance account. Thanksgivings: We thank Dave Kampen who provided 23 doz. ears of sweet corn, those who provided supplies, served sweet corn and helped in any way at the Rio Street Dance on August 25, All sweet corn was distributed. It was a big success! Thanks to all those who contributed to the Pine Ridge Retreat Center in South Dakota for God s Work, Our Hands Sunday, September 9, Thanks to Darcy Stoddard and Sherri Kranz for all their work organizing and purchasing items for Pine Ridge. Thank you to Joan Reierson for helping at At Home Again. Thank you to all who participated in the Town Hall Listening for Wisdom session on Sunday, September 16, Thank you to Dean Roberts for installing LED lights in the church. They re great! Thanks to Evelyn Tomczak for waxing church floors. Thank you to the anonymous donor who donated $400. in matching funds for Pine Ridge. Adjourn/Closing Prayer: Motion was made by Darlene Cutsforth to adjourn the meeting. Seconded by Steve Gilbert. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 8:40 p.m., followed by the Lord s Prayer. Dates to Remember: Congregational Meeting : Sunday, September 30, 2018 Next Council Meeting: Monday, October 15, 2018 Debbie Reierson

9 November Altar Guild Lola Bortz* Lynn Bubolz November 4th November 11th November 18th November 21 st (Thanksgiving Eve Service) November 25th November Volunteer Schedule Communion Assistants Greeters Ushers Fellowship Hosts Reader Acolyte Darlene Cutsforth Melanie Gilbert Rebekah Circle Rick Olson Morgan Reierson Geri Gorman Larry Gorman Dave & Grace Hinzman Geri Gorman Geri Gorman Lily Walker Darlene Cutsforth Melissa Benisch & Anna Benisch Nancy Drehmel Renee Miles Ashley Laufenberg Confirmation Confirmation Confirmation Confirmation Confirmation Confirmation Confirmation Joan Reierson Joan Reierson Dianna Pryse Mya Ross

10 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 6:30 am Men s Group at Hometown Café 6:30 Line Dancing 7:00 AA Meeting :00 am Worship/Fellowship All Saints Sunday 5 6:30 pm Property Meeting 7:00 pm Mary Circle 6 7 5:15 pm Bells 6:00 pm Sprouts & Confirmation 6:45 pm Choir 8 6:30 am Men s Group at Hometown Café 6:30 Line Dancing 7:00 AA Meeting :00 am Worship/Fellowship Thank Offering Service (WELCA meeting in lounge after Worship) 18 9:00 am Worship/Fellowship :30 pm Mission Spending Plan Meeting 19 6:30 pm Council Meeting :00 Worship Team Meeting 5:15 pm Bells 6:00 pm Sprouts 6:45 pm Choir 7:00 pm Thanksgiving Eve Community Redeemer 15 6:30 am Men s Group at Hometown Café 10:30 Covenant House Fellowship 11:00 am Covenant House Worship 6:30 Line Dancing 7:00 AA Meeting 22 Office Closed Happy Thanksgiving :00 am Worship/Fellowship :00 pm Columbia County Healthcare Worship 5:15 pm Bells 6:00 pm Sprouts 6:45 pm Choir 29 6:30 am Men s Group at Hometown Café 6:30 Line Dancing 7:00 AA Meeting 30