Zion s Good News APRIL Maundy Thursday March 29 Worship at 5:30 p.m.

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1 Stratford, WI We re on the web! Zion Lutheran Church 700 North 2nd Avenue Phone: Fax: Address Service Requested Non Profit Org. U.S. POSTAGE PAID Stratford, WI Permit No. 6 ZION LUTHERAN CHURCH Zion s Good News APRIL 2018 Maundy Thursday March 29 Worship at 5:30 p.m. Good Friday March 30 Stations of the Cross Private Devotions Noon 3:00 p.m. Worship at 5:30 p.m. Easter Sunday Worship 6:30 a.m., 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. Communion will be served at all services. Breakfast served from 6:45 a.m. 7:45 a.m. Sunday Morning Worship 9:00 a.m. April 8, 15, 22 and 29 Tuesday Morning Bible Study 10:00 a.m. April 3, , 24 New Member Sunday April 15th see page 5 Contemplative Worship 6:00 p.m. Thursday, April 26

2 He is Risen, He is Risen Indeed One of my great joys as a pastor is to share the words: He is Risen! and hear the response: He is Risen Indeed. Those words are so full of hope and promise. They reinvigorate my desire to enter each day confident of God s grace. Easter Sunday falls on April Fool s Day this year. The last time Easter fell on April Fool s Day was in Due to the quirks involved in dating Easter against the Gregorian calendar, the two coincide only intermittently. After 2018, the next one is 2029, and then again in 2040 but after that, not again in this century. I m not sure what to make of the intersection of these two days. April Fool s Day is not significant in Christianity. But Easter, now that s a big deal. I m sure many jokes will come about this Easter. I ve already witnessed a few on social media, like replacing foil chocolate Easter eggs with grapes, and others are more extreme. For me the biggest joke was on sin, death, and the devil. When they laid Jesus in the tomb, they thought victory was on their side. But April Fool, Jesus was the true victor. I like to think of the stone rolled in front of the tomb, falling flat on the ground with a loud noise, announcing to the world a new order, that a new kingdom reigns. God is now on the loose. People tend to be control freaks. We like to control our circumstances, and we certainly like to control other people. From a religious standpoint, we Christians may also be guilty of trying to control God. We like to put God in a box, as they say, defining God on our terms. But, God is not in heaven. God is here. God is in you, and God is in me. God is on the loose in the faithful and radical living of the followers of Jesus, who refrain from controlling God, and who are open to God s continual and unexpected movement in our world. Christ is Risen, He is Risen Indeed. Hallelujah! Pastor Sue YOUR CHURCH STAFF COUNCIL MEMBERS President: Brenda Castellano V. Pres.: Becky Curtis Secretary: Angie Guralski Treasurer: Marge Redetzke Evangelism: Cory Wiesman Faith Formation: Jackie Fischer & Reed Curtis Property: Lee Spindler Stewardship: Amy Cournoyer Worship: Lois Miller PASTOR: Sue Eidahl Home Phone: eides@zionlc.com DCM: Craig Gauerke Phone: craig@zionlc.com Secretary: Lori Lang office@zionlc.com WAYS TO CONNECT WITH ZION Write us at Zion Lutheran Church, 700 North Second Ave, Stratford, WI Phone us at :30 a.m. to 1 p.m. or leave a voice mail message. Or us at office@zionlc.com or directly to s above. WEB SITE: TRADITIONAL WORSHIP 9:00 a.m. INDEX Page 1 April Schedule 2 Pastor Sue s Letter 3 Craig s Letter 4 Book of the Month / J-Team and Little Lutherans / Feed My Starving Children 5 New Members / Yogurt Bar / Crossways / Thank You / Newsletter 6 Bell and Praise Choirs / Confirmation Reminders / Scrip 7 Council Minutes / Building Update 8 Pastry Sale / NYG Meetings / High School Youth Group 9 Council Members / Pi Sale / First Communion / Faith Formation Team Meeting / Facebook 10 Birthdays and Anniversaries 11 Church Staff and Index Pull out: April Calendar and Serving Schedule NEWSLETTER DEADLINE The 21st of each month. ANNOUNCEMENT DEADLINE Wednesdays by 9:00 a.m. WEEKLY Goes out on Monday morning. office@zionlc.com to be added to the receiver list. PLEASE keep the office updated: Address & changes Births, Deaths, Hospitalizations Phone / Cell changes 2 11

3 APRIL BIRTHDAYS 1 - Marilyn Suckow Nancy Carl Don Kroening Harold Wrensch 2 - Colin Schwarze 4 - Carla Spindler Darlene Pawlik-Plank Jett Schoenherr 5 - Mason Johnson Anne McShane 6 - Lois Miller Marjorie Kollmansberger 7 - Barbara Jannusch BreAnna Grell 8 - Sharol Hinkelmann Macie Frueh 9 Lindsay White 10 - Jacob Hughes Isabelle Multerer 11 - Amy Cournoyer Dennis Kuyoth Alex Spaeth Sharon Mikelson 12 - Lydia Burrows Sara Mercer 13 - Mark Andersen Laura Aschenbrenner Teresa Bornbach Savannah Schillinger Averi Johnson 14 - Al Grell 15 - Austin Cole Troy Ballerstein 16 - Veronica Hirsch Sara Dasler 18 - Carmen Van Der Leest 20 - Alayna Hoesly Kali Thompson 21 - Nancy Schoenherr Nathan Zawislan 22 - Ray Carl Emily Meyer 24 Nicole Curtis 25 - Elmer Hayes Dylan Fischer 26 - Logan Gliniecki 27 - Dylan Schoenherr 28 - Ryan Brubaker 29 - Rachel Anderson 30 - Jason Dennee Tim Garrigan APRIL ANNIVERSARIES 6 - Bernie & Kecia Krueger 7 - Bud & Marilyn Suckow 8 - Jason & Candy Landwehr 9 - Terry & Charlotte Schoenherr 14- Mike & Kim Johnson 22 - Mathew & Angela Schiller 25 - John & Kathy Zuelke 27 Ted & Jill Dasler 27 - Benny & Rhonda Knoll The Lord God took the human and settled humankind in the garden of Eden to farm it and to take care of it. Genesis 2:15 April is here! Spring is in full swing, which means Earth Day is around the corner. Earth Day was created by Wisconsin s own Senator Gaylord Nelson. He hoped to create a day for self-awareness and to promote change. Senator Nelson saw that people are the problem. We damage and destroy the Earth. There is no easy way to state this fact. Biblically speaking, in the beginning God created the Earth, and put humanity into motion to protect and keep it. We all fall short of keeping the world. We all can and must do more. So what can YOU do, to not just celebrate Earth Day, but also help keep God s creation year round. Here are three easy ways to be good keepers of Earth. First, recycling and composting are easy ways to start. Get your children or grandchildren involved to help create some positive habits for generations to come. Second, for the price of a couple of lattes, you can buy yourself a reusable cup. Earth Day is the perfect excuse to form a new habit that could save five cups and lids over the course of a work week. Third, it s easy to just keep using chemical-laden cleaning products without giving it a thought. Having to wear gloves and being advised to not breathe in the fumes should be a sign that what you re using is not a healthy option for you or the world. Look for natural and dye free cleaning products or even better make your own. My hope is that you will change some habits this year to help keep the Earth just as God had intended us to do. Finally, for a harder challenge eat vegetarian for one day a week. Some of us love meat, and some of us just go along with the flow of what appears on the plate. Why not make a conscious choice to say no to meat, for one day a week. The demand for meat creates an excessive strain on environmental resources. A quick search online will give you plenty of easy and delicious vegetarian recipes, plus it s good for your overall health! Craig Gauerke, DCM 10 3

4 Book of the Month: 1 st John Each day of the week read the same verses three times. Try different speeds of reading. What words stick out to you on Monday may be different on Friday. Think about the meaning in your life, and the lives of others around you. Enjoy! April 1 st : First John 1:8-9 April 8 th : First John 2:1 April 15 th : First John 3:17-18 April 22 nd : First John 3:21-22 April 29 th : First John 4:4 Council Members Many thanks to our former Council Members Adam Maguire, Angela Ford and Kaitlyn Ulrich, who recently completed their terms. We are grateful for all you did! Welcome to our new Council Members Reed Curtis, Amy Cournoyer and Marge Redetzke. Thank you to everyone who supported our Pi Day Fundraiser Little Lutherans (Kindergarten 3 rd Grade) and J-Team (4 th 6 th Grade) will meet on Wednesday, April 4th and April 18th, at 3:00 p.m. Feed My Starving Children Every day, 6,200 children die from starvation but YOU can make a difference joining Zion Lutheran for our annual Food-Packing Session. Please sign-up in the narthex or call the Church office to register. Location: Zion Methodist Church Marshfield Date: 4/14/18 Time: 9AM-11AM by Connor Kreft and Anika Weber received their First Holy Communion on Sunday, March 11th. Faith Formation Team Meeting April 10 th 6:00PM - 7:30PM Anyone who has a passion for youth ministry programming is welcome to come. Contact Craig, DCM for more information. Zion is on Facebook. You can go to our website at and click on the link to the Facebook page. 4 9

5 PASTRY SALE Starting April 9 th Seek out a National Youth Gathering participant to get your Butter Braid Pastry! New Member Sunday We will be receiving new members to Zion on Sunday, April 15th. If you are interested or know of anyone interested in joining, please call the church office at APRIL 29TH - YOGURT BAR Celebrating the 5th Sunday in April! Please come and join us for fellowship after church for a yogurt bar with all the fixings! N.Y.G Meetings Zion Flock Meeting April 8 th Time: After worship Location: Family Center Zion Topic: Pastry sale information NYG Large Group Meeting April 22 nd Time: 12:30PM Location: Loyal Please bring a dish to pass. We will be meeting at Zion to carpool. Summer Camper Health History Forms are due by Tuesday, April 24th! Many thanks to everyone for helping with Worship, Music, Skits, Palms, Lilies, Decorating, Meals and countless other items during Lent. TOPICAL & RELAXING Meet in the NEW youth room in the education wing, down stairs to the left. 7:30 8:30PM Online Newsletter Our church newsletter is available online. If you d prefer to receive it electronically instead of a paper copy by mail, contact the church office. 8 5

6 Bell Choir Sunday Rehearsals 8:00 a.m. Confirmation Reminders Praise Choir Sunday Rehearsals 10:15 a.m. Confirmation Electives: Wednesday, April 4th: Crucifixion Wednesday, April 11th: Finding Your Gifts From God Saturday, April 14th: Feed My Starving Children Confirmation Core Retreat: New Testament Bible Friday, April 13th and Saturday, April 14th Confirmation Core Classes: New Testament Bible Wednesdays, April 18, 25 and May 2nd Disciples for Christ: Blue Confirmation Forms due in office by April 10th Disciples for Christ - Meeting the Council - Sunday, April 15th Interviews with Pastor Sue by April 25th Faith Statements due by April 25th If you are in need of a replacement class please contact Lori, Craig or Pastor Sue for available classes. By supporting our Scrip Fundraising Program, you are supporting our incredible young adults. We have young people who are passionate about their faith. Funds raised through our Scrip program go towards mission trips, ELCA national and synod youth gatherings, adventure trips, and service opportunities. Council Minutes Zion Lutheran Church Council met on Monday March 19, 2018 President Brenda Castellano called the meeting to order Marge Redetzke led with devotions. During the meeting the council: Approved the Secretary Report. Approved the Treasurer Report. Approved the Ministry Team Report Pastor is getting ready for Palm Sunday, Holy Week and will have 3 services on Easter Sunday, Gave 2 youth 1 st communion, She is holding a Cup of Life book study Craig is working on High School Youth Group, Mother s Day and Senior recognition will be held on May 13 th, VBS planning has started it will be July 15 th -18 th, got 30 tickets and the Bull Pen for a Woodchucks game on June 17 th (Father s Day) Adopt a Highway will be done on May 12 th. Looking for some youth that will work and some to stay at church to babysit so parents can work Reminder to new council members to get profiles in Council will attend DFC April 15 th at 5:30 Life Touch will be taking pictures for the new directory in June Respectfully submitted by Angie Guralski, Secretary * A full copy of the Secretary s notes is in the office. Building Update 2018 Payment Bi-Weekly Start Payment Interest Principal Ending Dates Balance Amount Paid Paid Balance 12/8 & 12/22 $428, $3, $1, $1, $ 426, /28 $426, $20, $.00 $20, $ 406, /05 & 01/19 $406, $3, $1, $1, $ 404, /02 & 02/16 $404, $3, $1, $1, $ 402, Total monthly principal payments $ 25, Total monthly interest payments $ 3, Balance of loan as of $ 402, Partners Bank Building checking acct balance as of $ 30,