River s Edge Good News Pastor Michael Nielsen Office: 1106 S. Main St. Necedah, WI. 54646 Phone:608-565-7252 Fax: 608-565-2410 St. James Lutheran Church St. Paul s Lutheran Church S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 1 A L E T T E R F R O M T H E P A S T O R To the Family of God at St. James and St. Paul s Lutheran Churches, Is there a proper way to open this month s letter to the congregation? I don t know. There are so many possibilities to choose from. Do I do the Happy New Year and Welcome back to church typical September newsletter article? Or do I write on the purpose of Christian Education? Or do I even talk about memories and how they relate to the 10 th Anniversary of 9-11? Actually, when I was looking in Scripture, from Ecclesiastes 3 came to me and I believe they speak to everything above. 1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: 2 a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; 3 a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 6 a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 7 a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 8 a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace. For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven. Then the author of Ecclesiastes goes into a long list. In this month of September, a new season begins. The summer season is over and the autumn season is just about upon us. The summer vacation season comes to an end and we are back to school, church, and routine. During this month of September 2011, our minds question again, Lord, where were you on September 11? 10 years later, we are still fighting the war on terror. 10 years later, we continue to suffer from that fateful day. My dear families of God, as the Words from Scripture tell us, there is a time for peace. That time of peace (in this war on terror) may not be here on Earth but it will come when our Lord returns. Stephen Starke wrote a hymn for the 1 st anniversary of September 11 entitled There is a Time for Everything. The third stanza to that hymn speaks volumes to where we stand today. Eternal Lord, Your wisdom sees And fathoms all life s tragedies You know our grief, You hear our sighs In mercy, dry our tear-stained eyes. From evil times, You bring great good; Beneath the cross, we ve safely stood. Though dimly now life s path we trace, One day we shall see face to face. As you go through this month of September in the changing times and seasons, remember to lean on the cross for your stability. In His Faithful Service, Pastor Mike *Rally Day *Outdoor Service* *1st Day of Sunday School* September 11, 2011 Followed by our annual Family Picnic! 1
Servants Elder of the Month: Dan Rabold Trustee of the Month: Mike Belmonte September Needs Tomah VA-Scarves and Shoelaces Necedah Food Pantry- Any non-perishable item Please leave your items in the VA Box or the LWML Box Altar Care St. James: Christa Chisick and Joni Mach St. Paul s: Nancy and Diana Upcoming Events 1st Ladies Gathering 6:30pm Fellowship September 11th Family Picnic September 18th Gerald and Karin Ganther Group September 25th Sylvia Heinzelmann Group ST. JAMES BIRTHDAY AND ANNIVERSARY 5th Labor Day! (Office Closed) 6th Trustee Meeting 7pm Adult Bible Study Begins 7pm 7th-Preschool Begins 9am Confirmation Classes Begin 3:30pm 10th Stivers Fund Raiser 11-4 Necedah Village Hall 11th-Rally Day-Outdoor Service Family Picnic St. Paul s Bible Study (following Svc) Birthday s 1st-Jacob Nokovic 3rd Zach Webber 5th Emily Nielsen 9th Jim Negaard 11th DeAnna Winters 12th Sue McMurry Adam Smelcer 14th Chad Nelson Lynn Oens 15th Tanner Uksas 16th Travis Brooks Jennifer Kosinski 20th Jacob Waltemath 21st Laurie Dykstra Michelle Waltemath 22nd Holden Emery Ashley Matson 23rd Rosie Balsiger Rhinnon Mach 24th Courtney Nugent 25th Megan Wesolek 28th Pastor Mike John Oens 29th Joey Dushek Brett Jump Anniversaries 9th Richard and Carol Braund 14th Dave and Bonnie Hess 16th Jason and Lisa Smelcer 19th Richard and Edna Jensen 26th Basil and Ruth Berggren Jeff and Lori Coots 29th Jeff and Kyle Jump 14th- Council Meeting 8pm 17th Discipleship Class @ St. Paul s 9am-noon A Special Request! If anyone has a slightly used wooden kitchen/dining table that they would like to donate to St. James please contact the office at 565-7252. We are looking for a table to put into the library to make it a more homey atmosphere for the parents who listen to worship services in the library. S T. P A U L S B I R T H D A Y A N D A N N I V E R S A R I E S Birthdays 2nd Andrew Martinson 6th Chris Draper 11th Dawn Baumgart Victor Tomesek 18th Gordon Kallerud 25th Hope Tomesek 30th Therese Huebner 2 Anniversaries 9th Glen and Sue Bennett 12th- George and Hope Tomesek 13th Tom and Diana Martinson 25th Joe and Jaime Miller
We had a lot of fun on our Jungle Adventure with Jesus this summer! We met Kiki, Bobo, Humphrey, Flash and Ruby and learned a lot about Jesus and how much He loves all of us! We collected 253 pounds of food and other items for the Necedah Food Pantry! We raised $200 for the Lutheran Malaria Initiative. That will buy 20 mosquito nets for kids in Africa! 3
L A D I E S A I D Happy Fall to everyone! This is my favorite time of year, the cool nights, the changing colors and the kids are back to school. It s a good time to also start fresh. The Ladies Aid Gatherings are for any confirmed female member, so all ages are welcome and encouraged to join us at any monthly Gathering. We would love to see you there! Here are some things our LAG (Ladies Aid Gatherings) has accomplished this year; Secret Pal dinner & reveal, Bake Sale for Corn Beef Dinner, Purchased new Mite boxes, Mother & Daughter Tea Party, Planted Flowers in Church sign, Picnic by the River, Cake for VBS Appreciation, Purchased Tables & Chairs for Fellowship Hall, Donated 7 Bibles for the youth, Put together Kid s Bags for Church Services and more. So Ladies, give yourself a pat on the back and know that your help and time is appreciated by your Church Family and by God, it is for him and his Church that we serve each other. So, school starts and fall begins and it s time to look ahead now at our plans for the remainder of the year. Some things we will be looking to accomplish are; Vets Gift Bags for Veterans Day in November, our 2 nd Annual Cookie Walk for the Necedah Food Pantry and our Ladies Aid Christmas Party. Next opportunities for a LAG (Ladies Aid Gatherings) are; September 1 st @ 6:30pm, October 6 th @ 6:30pm, November 3 rd @ 6:30pm and December is our Christmas Party TBA. Fall Blessings to you, Deb Belmonte Q U I L T E R S C O R N E R It s hard to believe that summer is almost over and school will be starting soon! Starting September 1st the St. James Quilters will be meeting twice a week, on Wednesday s and Thursday s at 9am. We are trying to surpass our goal of 109 from last year. So if there is anyone that would have a little spare time on those days we could really use your help. For more information you can contact Sylvia Heinzelmann. Also be on the look out for our silent auction coming soon! Winner will be announced at the annual Fall Harvest Dinner. St. James Quilters BIBLE READINGS September 2011 Week 35 August 29 1 Chronicles 18:1-20:8 August 30 1 Chronicles 21:1-30 August 31 1 Chronicles 22:1-19 September 1 1 Chronicles 23:1-27:34 September 2 1 Chronicles 28:1-21 September 3 1 Chronicles 29:1-30 September 4 Come to the Lord s House and Worship Him Week 36 September 5 2 Chronicles 1:1-2:18 (Happy Labor Day) September 6 2 Chronicles 3:1-5:14 September 7 2 Chronicles 6:1-7:22 September 8 2 Chronicles 8:1-9:31 September 9 2 Chronicles 10:1-11:23 September 10 2 Chronicles 12:1-16 September 11 Come to the Lord s House and Worship Him (Rally Day) Week 37 September 12 2 Chronicles 13:1-14:15 September 13 2 Chronicles 15:1-16:15 September 14 2 Chronicles 17:1-18:34 September 15 2 Chronicles 19:1-20:37 September 16 2 Chronicles 21:1-22:12 September 17 2 Chronicles 23:1-24:27 September 18 Come to the Lord s House and Worship Him Week 38 September 19 2 Chronicles 25:1-26:23 September 20 2 Chronicles 27:1-28:27 September 21 2 Chronicles 29:1-36 September 22 2 Chronicles 30:1-31:21 September 23 2 Chronicles 32:1-33 September 24 2 Chronicles 33:1-25 September 25 Come to the Lord s House and Worship Him Week 39 September 26 2 Chronicles 34:1-35:27 September 27 2 Chronicles 36:1-23 September 28 Ezra 1:1-2:70 September 29 Ezra 3:1-4:24 September 30 Ezra 5:1-6:22 October 1 Ezra 7:1-8:18 October 2 Come to the Lord s House and Worship Him 4
Y O U T H G R O U P There are times that I wonder: what do I have to do to get our teens back to church? What do I have to do to show these teens that I care? I don t know the answer to these questions. To be honest, I wish I had 40 hours a week to dedicate to our teens, to work with them, and be involved with their lives. In all reality though, I can t. I need your help. I was reading an article on youth ministry this last week and the thing that jumped out to me is that we need to treat our teens like regular members of the congregation, not as second-tier members. We need to treat our young people as individuals who can play an important role in our congregations. Sometimes that involves letting things change and letting them take some sort of leadership responsibility. Sometimes that involves not passing judgment on them and saying Oh they can t do that, they are not responsible enough. Trust me, I have heard that here. If we want our teenagers and young adults back as active members, we need to treat them as equals, not as second-rate members. C O N F I R M A T I O N Confirmation Class is ready to go! I have spent the last few weeks visiting my Confirmation students and families in their homes. My goal for this year in Confirmation is to start to develop our young people into active Disciples of Christ, not just kids who rarely step into church again after they are confirmed. In the August newsletter, I shared with you one way this is going to happen through My Role at St. James/St. Paul s Lutheran Church. The kids will have to participate in several area of the congregation s ministry. The other major change is their Sunday Morning Bible Class. They will be using the Group Publishing curriculum Grapple. Each quarter they will be grappling with questions that pertain to their lives family, school, friends, faith issue and still more. P R E S C H O O L Where did the summer go? It seems like we just celebrated memorial Day. I m looking forward to another fantastic school year. We have 6 students enrolled, 2 more in December and several more inquiries. It doesn t seem possible but this year marks the 20th anniversary of our Preschool. Some of the first students now have families of their own. When they start enrolling their children in preschool then I will feel really old! It s fun to look at some of the photo s and recognize the little ones who have now graduated from High School. I look back through the years and thank God for the opportunity he has given me to bring His word to these wonderful little people. I pray that I have lived up to His expectations and I thank you all for your support through the years and I also hope that St. James Preschool continues to the love of our Savior to lots more little children and their families. In God s Name And God s Blessings, Sandy SUNDAY SCHOOL The Living Inside Out students will again be starting as a large group. But now we will start with creative theme skits, inspiring experiments, exciting Bible story experiences, energetic praise songs and memorable games. Then we will move to small groups for more discoveries and discussions to reinforce the Bible story and choose a daily challenge for the week. The first theme is Extreme Makeover which includes 5 weeks of Bible stories focusing on Attitude. This theme s bible verse is Have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Philippians 2:5. Parents please practice this verse with your child or children and look for a hand out each week and encourage them to live out their faith 24/7 through their daily challenge. The confirmation students will be meeting together the whole time. They will be grappling about real life issues. By plunging into the Bible, they will get answers to their big questions about God. I am looking forward to these new adventures. Remember the students in grades 3 8 are getting their new Bibles during the Rally Day service on September 11. A big thank you goes to all the Bible sponsors for purchasing all the same Bibles for us. I hope everyone joins us for our Extreme Makeover. It looks like an exciting school year. Christa Chisick Sunday School Superintendent 5
September 2011 Elder Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 4 St. Paul s 8 am Sunday School 9 am 11 St. Paul s 8 am St. Paul s Bible Study Sunday School 9 am Rally Day!! Family Picnic 18 St. Paul s 8 am St. Paul s Bible Study Sunday School 9am First Fellowship 25 St. Paul s 8 am St. Paul s Bible Study Sunday School 9am Guest Pastor Paul Mueller 5 Labor Day! Office Closed 12 Preschool 9am 13 19 Preschool 9am 20 26 Preschool 9am 27 6 Trustee s Mtg. 7pm Pastor at PALS 7 Preschool 9am 14 Preschool 9am Council Mtg. 8pm 21 Preschool 9am 28 Preschool 9am Altar Guild St. Paul s : Diana and Nancy St. James: Christa Chisick and Joni Mach of the Month: Dan Rabold Trustee of the Month: Mike Belmonte 1 Ladies Gathering 6:30 pm 11th Family Picnic 2Preschool 9am 8 9Preschool 9am 15 16Preschool 9am 22 23Preschool 9am 24 29 30Preschool 9am Fellowship 18th Gerald and Karin Ganther Group 25th Sylvia Heinzelmann Group 3 10 Stivers Fundraiser 11-4 Nec. Village Hall 17 Discipleship Class @ St. Paul s 9am-noon Pastor on Vacation 6