August 2014 Montevideo, MN Dear Salem Friends, Message From Pastor Matt Did you have Vacation Bible School as a child? If you did, your memory of it is probably that it was lots of fun. It may have only been a couple of hours a day for a week, but it no doubt plays a big role in your faith memory. This year s community Vacation Bible School was held at Our Savior s. Volunteers from several local churches, including Salem, put in the time to provide a great week for over a hundred kids. The theme this year was that God loves you, even when you re different, afraid, bad, etc. As a pastor of one of the participating congregations, I got to lead the Bible lesson for one evening. The lesson was the story of the conversion of Saul. If you don t recall the story, it s from the book of Acts, and Saul's persecuting Christians. One day, he was on the road to go find some Christians to persecute, and he was confronted by Jesus in a vision, which resulted in a dramatic change in Saul s life as he came to believe in Jesus. Saul became who we know as the Apostle Paul, and started many of the early Christian churches and wrote letters to these churches, some of which are included as books of the Bible. I wondered just how I was going to pull off teaching this story to children in the fifteen minutes per group that I was given. Fortunately, the materials for the lesson included a skit. The skit required that I enlist the help of another person, and Pr. Eunice Woodberry of Our Savior s offered to help. Her part in the skit would be to greet the children as they came into the group and explain that there was a man out looking for Christians. That man was Saul, played by me. In the story of Saul s conversion, a man named Ananias was sent to find Saul after Jesus had appeared to him in the vision. Saul had become temporarily blinded by the encounter, and Ananias was to help Saul recover his sight and tell him about Jesus. The skit was set up so that the kids (and the leader, played by Eunice) thought that Saul was out to get them, but when Saul actually arrived it turned out he had been converted to Christianity and was looking for Ananias, who had helped him earlier, to learn more about Jesus. There were four or five groups of kids, so we were to do the skit several times. The first time I burst into the room and called out my lines ARE YOU CHRISTIANS? COME ON NOW, TELL ME THE TRUTH! DO YOU BELIEVE IN JESUS? The children said YES!, then screamed, and some got up to run away. Since I was dressed in a tunic and robe, had my glasses on and was reading from a script, most of the kids knew it was a skit. But, some of the smaller children appeared a little frightened. Then I explained to them that I wasn t there to hurt them, but that I was looking for Ananias so I could learn more about Jesus. When the skit was over, one little girl walking out said to another, That was a REALLY scary one! Pr. Eunice and I agreed that I could tone it down a bit for the next group. The neat thing that I observed was that each time I surprised the group by bursting in the door and asking them if they believed in Jesus, the kids didn t deny it; they said they DID believe in Jesus. This bully Saul wasn t going to scare them into saying anything else! Then when they found out that Saul was actually a Christian just like them, they were ready to hear the story. I really appreciate our community VBS and the work of the volunteers to make it happen. I would list the names of Salem volunteers here, but I m afraid I would miss someone. It takes a team of folks working together to raise our children in the faith and to create experiences like VBS which create those faith memories that last a lifetime. -Pr. Matt
ANNOUNCEMENTS Men s Breakfast at The Rivers on Thursday, August 7th. (Led by Ferman) Women's Luncheon and Bible Study will meet on Wednesday, August 13th, at 12:00 noon at the church. (Led by Ferman) SCHOOL SUPPLIES FOR LWR: As school supplies become available and on sale, please consider buying any of the following supplies for Lutheran World Relief. Items that are needed are: 70- Sheet Notebooks (Wide College Rule), 30-Centimeter Rulers (May have inches on other side), pencil sharpeners, blunt scissors, #2 pencils, ballpoint pens (Black or Blue), 16 or 22 Count Box of Crayons and 2 1/2 erasers. The Quilters (and anyone interested) will sew cloth backpacks in which to put the school supplies. Each kit costs $1.40 to ship, so donations for that are welcomed! Watch for the collection table beginning this month. CAR WASH AND BRATS! FREE WILL DONATIONS ACCEPTED: The high school band and choir students are raising money for their trip to Florida next summer! Come down to Bill s Supermarket parking lot between 10 am - 2 pm on Aug. 15 for a car wash and brats! THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT! THE BANQUET MISSION TRIP OPEN TO ALL AGES AND ABILITIES: The Banquet Mission trip is scheduled for Saturday, October 4 th. The staff of the Banquet stated that they have tasks for every age group (greeters, table cleaners, especially needed are people willing to just sit and have a conversation with the guests). No matter what your age or ability there is a place for you to serve! Stewardship Committee Budget Update: The thermometers show Salem s Annual Budget of $155,113 and how much has been received (left) and how much is needed (right) as of May 18, 2014. Please take the time to review it. We have received $52,875 of the needed $59,660. CONSIDER AUTOMATIC GIVING: Summer is typically a time when giving is down because members are out of town on the weekends. Unfortunately, we as a congregation also get behind on the budget. One way to help the church stay on track is to consider using the automatic giving option that Salem offers. You may pick up a copy of the automatic giving authorization form from the church office or download it from Salem s website.
1 Hallie Helgeson Kurt & Lori Hoehne Lou & Karen Kuno 2 Billy & Kelly Lindeman 3 Jeff Peterson 4 Scott & Jana Ripley Joe & Stephanie Schultz 6 Jane Boldenow Nathan Freeman Addison Reinert Rose Reinert 7 Eric & Marsha Anderson Peter Mohagen 8 Robert Bennett Carol Westberg 9 Melva Jerve 10 Curtis Bennett Tom Leindecker Diane Schulte 11 Norman & Joyce Hagberg Milton Johnson 12 Eric Anderson 13 Eric & Melissa Jerve 14 Tom & Darlene Boike Mark & Dana Johnson Benjamin Lauritsen Adam Spray 17 Charles & Marcia Anderson Kayla Bothun Julie Satre 19 Winthro & Minda Block Clarice Foss Richard Jaeger Dean Sandberg 20 James Gabbert Brian Reinert 23 Joe & Alyson Helgeson Cynthia Smith 24 Marc Johnson 25 Brooklyne Bader Shelley Folkestad 26 Rick Mohagen Jan Sellman 27 Kayla Brown Greyson Lindeman Paula Tofte 28 Phoenix Newton Ben & Katie Pieh 29 Joey & Karla Buseman Tom Schwaegerl Mackenzie Flickinger Alex Thompson
Church Office 631 No. 7th Street Phone: 320-269-7624 Email: slcelca@msn.com Website: www.slcmonte.org Pastor Pastor Matt Philaya pastor.slcelca@q.com 320-226-7340 Secretary Ferman Woodberry Email: slcelca@msn.com Custodian Kurt Hoehne & Family Financial Secretary Amanda Blom Treasurer Jackie Lindvall Organist Diane Schulte Executive Council President Rick Mohagen Vice President Roger Tilberg Secretary Mary Saeger Sunday Schedule Worship: 9:30 a.m. TV Broadcast Times Cable Access Channel 8 Monday 5:00 p.m. Wednesday 5:00 p.m. 631 North Seventh Street RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage PAID Permit No. 54 Sundays: Mondays: 5:00 p.m. Salem on channel 8 Tuesdays: Wednesdays: 5:00 p.m. Salem on channel 8 Thursdays: Fridays: 10:00 a.m. Coffee In The Men s Breakfast at The Rivers on Thursday, August 7th at 6:30 a.m. Women's Luncheon and Bible Study will meet on Wednesday, August 13th, at 12:00 noon at the church.
August 2014 Calendar Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Transportation Please call the church office (269-7624) to have arrangements made. 3 with Holy Communion 10 17 Pastor Matt on Vacation 24 with Holy Communion 31 4 11 18 25 COFFEE SERVERS 3rd Lindeman Family 10th Jeremiason Family 17th Luke & Martha Family 24th Luke & Martha Family 31st Esther Mills 5 Pastor Matt at Continuing 12 Pastor Matt on Vacation 19 3:45 p.m. Luther Haven Communion Service 26 GREETERS 3rd Paul & Leanne Anderson 10th Ardy Eekhoff 17th Brian & Paula Tofte 24th Myra Anderson 31st Tom Fossell 6 Education 13 12:00 p.m. Women s Luncheon (led by Ferman) 20 7:00 p.m. Committee Meetings 8:00 p.m. Council Meeting 27 READERS 3rd Roger Tilberg 10th Ardy Spray 17th To Be Announced 24th Jeremiason Family 31st Esther Mills 7 6:30 a.m. Men s Breakfast at The Rivers (led by Ferman) 14 21 28 ACOLYTES 3rd Justin Sears 10th Sara Jeremiason 17th Anna Jeremiason 24th Ross Kwilinski 31st Mackenzie Hoidal 1 5:00 p.m. Wedding Rehearsal 8 15 7:00 p.m. Private Bridal shower 22 29 VIDEOGRAPHERS 3rd Garrett Boettcher 10th Tyler Eull 17th Nicole Feldhake 24th Riley Kwilinski 31st Katelyn Flickinger 2 4:00 p.m. Doty/Nordstrom Wedding 9 16 23 30 USHERS Jim Aamot & Steve Heggestad CHANCEL SERVICE Esther Mills & Bev Lauritsen