THE BRISTOL BANNER Newsletter of Bristol Lutheran Church August 2016 Inspired by the Gospel, we love and serve creation through our Christ-centered community. Sunday WORSHIP 9:00 a.m. Wednesday WORSHIP 6:30 p.m. Attended NURSERY and BRISTOL BUTTERFLIES for Sunday Worship (3 kindergarten age program) Sunday School- 10:15 a.m. 11:00 a.m. Fellowship 10:00 a.m. Pastor Rick Reiten, phone 608-622-7910, email pastorrick@bristollutheran.org Council President: Bob Hundt, home phone 608-837-3497 Parish Secretary: Michelle Meier, phone 608-837-6093 email secretary@bristollutheran.org The Bristol Banner is the official monthly publication of Bristol Lutheran Church. Membership is voluntary. We are located at 6835 HWY N, Sun Prairie, WI 53590-9431. It s that time of year again!! We will be gathering items for children in need of school supplies for the new school year. We will be collecting: 200 Pink Erasers (In the original packaging) 1000 #2 Pencils (In the original packaging) If your interested in donating any of these items please drop into Michelle s door slot or leave outside her office door. Let s help bring a smile to a child on the first day of school!! Habitat Build 227 Prairie Clover Court Sun Prairie, WI 53590 Below are the dates that Bristol Members are allowed to work on this project. The Link will take you to the Habitat page but you need to sign up with habitat once you open the link to be able to work at Habitat. As of now we have openings on all of these dates. Some of the dates are limited in openings especially those that are the fellowship all members. Aug 6 th : http://faith.habitatdane.volunteerhub.com/events/event/summary.aspx?eventid=3157918 Aug 30 th : http://faith.habitatdane.volunteerhub.com/events/event/summary.aspx?eventid=3158374 1
September 6 th, 2016 @ 7 PM @ Willy Ty s Eatery (836 Grove St, Sun Prairie) Attention Bristol Golfers! Men and women, young and old time to hit the links! Come, spend time, share faith and life, as we move around the golf course and help each other find our golf balls in the woods! Our next outing at Kestrel Ridge in Columbus will be August 18 th!! No needs to sign up just join us at the course starting at 9:00am. Talk to Don Hanson if you are interested, or contact the church and we can pass along the info. Visitation Ministry (Befrienders) Meeting August 21 st 10 a.m. Over the past year, we have concentrated on caring for each other, and reestablishing our visitation practices. It has been a success! And we want you to be part of this opportunity! We are a congregation that cares for one another. Can you take communion? Write cards? Call? YES! YES! YES! These are all part of the ministry of visiting and most of our visitation happens informally. The visitation ministry would help make sure we don t miss someone in need over the months and year. The commitment would be visit every other month. Germany June 19-28, 2017 Martin Luther Heritage Tour We have 8 people from Bristol committed to Germany for next year! We need 30 people to make this trip feasible, and will look to include others outside of Bristol. If you are interested or have questions, contact Pastor Rick. In honor of the 500 th Anniversary of the Reformation, Pastor Rick is exploring the possibility of leading a trip to Germany with Witt Tours. We have a tentative itinerary if that will help your decision. The all-inclusive cost per person is $3995 (or less if we get better flight deals). You are invited to sign up and we will work through details for our group! Even if you cannot go, we need your help. If you have friends or family that may be interested, please share this message. NOTE: It is possible for us to alter the dates slightly and/or the length of the trip to accommodate people and cost. Making the trip shorter will be less expensive, but we may miss some of the Luther Historical Locations. 2
YOGA!!! Breath and Stretch, Stretch and Breathe. We continue our Yoga practice every Monday night, from 7 to 7:45 pm. Audrey Drake is your instructor for the evening. Get ready for Softball! Games are at the softball field Stoneridge Estates Park, 300 Stonehaven Dr. Aug 7 @ 2 pm Aug 14 @ 3 pm From the Pastor s Study What does Church Council Really Do? Have you ever wondered about Church Council and what we do in those meetings? Did you know that the meetings are open for you to attend? Like any non-profit board, Church Council helps to govern the congregation, and they are your voice. They speak representatively of the whole Bristol Lutheran Church. I have been part of many council meetings that are filled with report after report, and the conversations are dull. I want you to know that your council is amazing, and the spirit fills our meetings with life. The leaders that gather around that table each month offer support, insight, and vision for the mission of the congregation. They ARE a ministry of Bristol. Don t forget that! They are here to serve God, serve the Church, serve you, and serve the community. - Council members are liaisons between Committees and the Council. - Council sets budgets, and helps us to steward the resources at Bristol wisely. - Council listens to you! - Council looks for opportunities to expand the ministry opportunities. - Council explores our relationships within the community. - Council views the mission at Bristol as who are we, and who do we want to become. - Council provides guidance to committees, pastor, staff, and members. - Council Exec team (President, VP, Secretary, Treasurer) serve as a Personnel Committee for Staff. - Council has fun together! I encourage you to pray for your council members, reach out to them, ask questions, make suggestions, let them hear your voice. Bristol is your congregation, and you can make an impact on what the ministry looks like moving forward. And maybe, just maybe, God is leading you to be part of council. Come and check it out. Peace, Pastor Rick WORSHIP & MUSIC meets at 6:30 p.m., 2 nd Tuesday of the month Committee members: Pastor Rick, Marilyn Betlach, Ken Forney (Director of Music Ministry), Richard Schnell (Council Liaison), & Cyndi Voeck (Chair, Secretary) THANK YOU to a long standing committee member, Jean Bauer, for all of her commitment to Bristol Lutheran Church and its ministries. Jean is stepping off of our committee and will be truly missed. Make a JOYFUL noise unto the Lord! SERVE the Lord with GLADNESS! Come before his presence with SINGING!!! Cyndi Voeck, W & M Chair 3
BRISTOL LUTHERAN CHURCH WOMEN Change in plans for Lefse making for the Norwegian Specialties Food Sale on October 1! Apologies to anyone who showed up on the originally scheduled dates. The schedule is now Thursdays from 5:00 8:00 p.m. on 8/18, 8/25, 9/1, 9/8, 9/15, and 9/22. Krumkake will be made from 9 noon on 8/22 and 9/19. Sandbakkels are scheduled for Tuesdays beginning on 8/30 into September from 6-8 pm. The Rosettes schedule will depend on who can help, so please let Sandy Barr-Hundt or Gayle Parker know when you can help. No experience necessary for any of the specialties all help is very much appreciated! A short meeting is planned for Sunday, August 6 after worship to determine which charities will benefit from the profits of the sale. Include the following items in each School Kit: LWR School and Health Kit Collection 4-70 sheet notebooks of wide- or college-ruled paper approximately 8 X 10½ ; no loose-leaf paper 1-30 centimeter ruler, or a ruler with centimeters on one side and inches on the other 1- pencil sharpener 1- blunt scissors (safety scissors with embedded steel blades work well) 5- unsharpened #2 pencils with erasers; secure together with a rubber band 5- black or blue ballpoint pens (no gel ink); secure together with a rubber band 1- box of 16 or 24 crayons 1-2½ eraser Include the following items in each Personal Care Kit: 1- light-weight bath-size towel (between 20" 40" & 52" 27"), dark color recommended 2- bath size bars of soap equaling up to 8-9 oz, any brand, in original wrapping 1- adult size toothbrush in its original packaging* 1- sturdy comb, remove packaging 1- metal nail clippers (attached file optional), remove packaging *Toothbrush multi-packs may be used by sealing an individual toothbrush in a business-size envelope; no plastic bags or wrap. Please drop items in the box in the lower entry way.. STEWARDSHIP COMMITTEE Stewardship is working on the packet that will have information in it on the ministry work of Bristol Lutheran Church and the importance of your commitment of support for the ministries. Your help is needed. Cathy Pierce needs pictures of ministry events that happened throughout 2016 to complete the packet. Any help that you can give to the stewardship team with this need will be a wonderful blessing. Please give your pictures to the church office so Michelle can scan them for the creating of the packet. The question of 'Who we Are?' will be addressed in the packet and everyone will be encouraged to think about what we do with all the work God gives to us to reach out to our neighbors and worldwide community. Thank you for all the blessings you bring to the ministries of the church. The Stewardship committee members are Cathy Pierce, Peg Hanson, Pastor Rick Reiten, Janice Vollmert. OUTREACH COMMITTEE Sunshine Supper is being served on Monday, August 22. Sign up sheets are out, we need volunteers to bring sliced turkey, to the church by Sunday, August 21, marked with your name! We also need at least 20 volunteers for this time, we are serving with some volley ball girls, but the Sunshine Supper Committee has requested we add more volunteers from now on, so we need to be sure to get as much help as we can to represent Bristol in this community service event!! We have lots of fun and great teamwork! 4
August 10 @ 7:15 PM Floats and Frisbee! Enjoy Rootbeer Floats! And play Ultimate Frisbee! Bring a Frisbee! Check out the Bristol Youth webpage, for the 2016-17 calendar of events! September Youth Group is handing out paper sack meals at the Capitol! http://bristollutheran.org/ministryteams/youth.html LIBRARY SPOTLIGHT The library wants to highlight a 3 volume set of books authored by Lori Copeland that are Morning Shade Mysteries Each book tells a story of a mystery that happens in the town of Morning Shade. Stella Diamond is the character that investigates the mysteries with the help of different people in the town who become a part of the mystery. Book 1 is "A Case of Bad Taste, Book 2 is "A Case of Crooked Letters", and Book 3 is "A Case of Nosy Neighbors". These books are fun to read mysteries. Author Karen Kingsbury reviews these books saying "A riveting adventure in page-turning mystery and laugh-out-loud humor. Lori Copeland at her best! Stop in at your library and have fun reading The Morning Shade Mysteries. Prayers of healing, comfort and support for members: Tina Olson, Kassi & Charlie Brown and family, Lynell & Rick Pettibone, Jeff Hoffmann, Dee Bruns, and Bob Sherman. For family & friends: Martha Allen (mother of Marsha Schwanke), Pat Schwantes, Linda Parker (friend of Janice Vollmert), Richie Scott (Forrie Scott grandson), Carrie Jacobs (cousin of DanThorstad), Bernadine Cook (Jim Bauer s sister), Norman Salt (friend of Candy Skibba), Kari Lyle (Carolyn Lyle s Granddaughter), Mary Ann Jacobi (sister of Roger Nolden), Chris Briggs (Jim Bauer s sister), Russ Lorenz, Jamie Falk (friend of Ken Forney), Al Young (Family of Jeff & Wendy Hoffmann), Christopher Flynn (Diane Coudray grandson), Mary Lynn Piezker (friend of Jim & Jean Bauer), Bev Gehrke (Gene & Bev Gehrke s family). For our homebound: Bev & Gene Gehrke, Lorie Nolden, Clara Higgins, Bernice Sherman, Betty Skrenes, Milt & Ilene Austin, Mary Wagner, David Grulke, Ruth Wipperfurth, and Phyllis Reinen. Prayers of celebration: On the baptism of Braelynn Peters. Her parents are Rich and Brittney Peters and her sponsors aretasha Uecker and Jordan Peters. Baptism of Roman Gross (Aug 21). Wedding of Chelsea Hoffman (Daughter of Jeff and Wendy) and Marcus Adams (Aug 20). Prayers of comfort for the family of: John L Sisbach, Jr. (cousin of Dee Bruns) who passed away on 7/19/16. Tom Weigen (husband of Jan Weigen) who passed away on 7/6/16. Polly Colliver (mother of Emme Thorpe) who passed away on 6/30/16. Monsignor Delbert Schmelzer (uncle of Nancy Schmelzer) who passed away on 7/2/16. Birthdays and Anniversaries!! It's a brand new month!! - August 2016. Along with this new month comes some new birthdays and anniversaries. Happy Birthday and Happy Anniversary to our members who celebrate the occasion in August!! 5
Did you know that in 2015 it cost the church $2,582.58 for Electricity? Our everyday bills sometimes are not thought about when people think about their offerings. There are many everyday bills that need to be paid to keep the church up and running. Please consider making a donation towards our Bill Board through your offerings to help with these expenses.. COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIP CuLearn with Thrivent is offering a Summer Scholarship drawing to award 20 college scholarships of $1,000 each. CuLearn with Thrivent is a new organization, jointly owned by Thrivent and the Thrivent Federal Credit Union. It administers and manages student loans for mission-aligned credit unions. Thrivent Federal Credit Union is culearn s first and flagship partner. The Summer Scholarship drawing is a way for culearn to introduce itself to college students and families and help with college costs. The scholarships are available to Thrivent members and prospective members. No purchase is necessary to enter or win. The deadline to enter the Summer Scholarship drawing is August 10th. (Due to state regulations, residents of New York, Florida and Rhode Island are ineligible.) Current or incoming college students should enter by August 10th at: https://www.culearn.org/summer For questions about the scholarship drawings, email Ann Lague at ann.lague@culearn.org or call her at 603-362-6322. For information on Thrivent Federal Credit Union s student lending solutions, visit their website. Alice Zweifel, Congregational Advocate for Thrivent Chancel Choir Calling all singers, no experience necessary. The Chancel Choir's rehearsals will resume in September for the new year and we meet at 7:15 p.m on Wednesday evenings. We're a small group experience where we share our God given gifts with each other and our congregation through worship participation. Chancel choir participates in worship twice per month from September - May and rehearses most Wednesdays for about an hour and warm up at 8 a.m. on the Sundays we participate in worship. Contact Ken Forney or any of the current choir members for additional information. Simply Giving? Or Simply Giving! Can you start giving simply? What this means is that your duty and joy to give as a disciple in God s mission can be assured. Our duty is to support the ongoing daily ministry of God s church, and the joy is to see God changes lives through that ministry! Where we put our treasures is where our hearts follow. When we are excited and invested in the mission we are part of we want to give more. Simply Giving helps. What it is 1. Consistent Faithful Giving 2. First Fruits Giving giving from the top of our income instead of what is left over 3. Green No Envelopes! 4. Growth in Stewardship You can still put offering in the plate for fun mission opportunities What it is not 1. Auto Giving to God 2. A Bill 3. A cheap way for the church to get money It is okay if you do not want to join in Simply Giving too! God provides many ways for us to support mission. Let us continue to pray for how God may be leading our lives of faith through these gifts. If you are interested in signing up please contact Michelle in the church office. 6