The Voice of First Lutheran July 2018 From the Pastor s Desk Report on the Northern Illinois Synod Assembly On Friday, June 15th, and Saturday, June 16th, Pastor Nord, Mark & Rose Jensen and myself attended the 31st annual Northern Illinois Synod Assembly held at Augustana College in Rock Island. Over 500 people were in attendance at the assembly, which represents 150 congregations in 22 counties. We listened to committee reports, attended forums, heard the report of Bishop Clements, listened to the reading of the 2019 budget of $2.3 M, sang hymns, visited display booths of services available to our congregations and dined together. On Friday night there was a service of remembrance, introductions of new Pastors who have taken calls in our Synod, sang many hymns (10) and heard from 5 congregations in our Synod who are celebrating their 150th anniversaries. When we returned to our hotel rooms we realized we had spent around 13 hours doing the work of the church! On Saturday we did more business, discussed resolutions, passed the budget, elected members for Church Council and many committees and capped off the afternoon with a Service of Communion and Ordination of 4 new Pastors. Another highlight was the 2 key note speakers: Reverend Stephen Bouman, Executive Director with the ELCA. His subject was "Renewal of the Church". The second speaker was Reverend Dr. Craig Nessan, academic dean and professor at Wartburg Seminary in Dubuque (and Pastor Nord's favorite Seminary Professor). He is a dynamic preacher. His presentation was on "Shifting our thinking as people of Jesus Christ in the 21st century". Professor Neesan's message was: The Church and its congregations need to empower its members to not judge others because they aren't holy enough, because they don't know enough about the church as we do and because they are not like us HE ENDED BY SAYING BLESSED IS THE CHURCH THAT WELCOMES ALL AND SERVES OTHERS THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS HERE! Attending the Synod Assembly is a great opportunity to see the work of the church and to meet lots of dedicated people and fellow Lutherans. Thank you ~ Craig Peterson Inside this issue: In Our Prayers, Shut-ins & Service Members 2 Birthdays & Anniversaries, Upcoming Events 3 Lutheran World Relief 4 July Calendar of Events 5 July Volunteer Schedule 6 Worship Schedule/Council Members 7
In Our Prayers Stacey Beyer (member), Gail Peterson (member), Pastor Bill Nelson (member), Bev Nelson (member), Jennifer Camplain (member), Kathy Dougherty (member), Randy Stumpf (brother of Lynn Love), Kristine Stevens (daughter of Doug & Ann Hoover), Sarah Banks (daughter of Kathy Dougherty), Loren Swanson (friend of Craig & Gail Peterson), Kim Menke (friend of Julie Clark), Max Hendrix (grandson of friend of Kathy Dougherty) & Baby Cohen We continue to pray for those in care facilities or homebound Mary Cook, Margaret Stahl, Dee Fransen, Rose Dahlstrand, Frank Johnson & Mary Lagerstam And for those serving away from home Addison Haas, Jake Jenkins, Jason Hoover, Neal Leonard, Shane Dorgan & Christian Richards Coffee & Scripture with Pastor Nord Coffee & Scripture with Pastor Nord begins on Tuesday, June 19, and continues for five (5) consecutive weeks through Tuesday, July 17. Please join me each Tuesday morning in the fellowship hall from 9 to 10 am as we explore the five chapters of 1 John of which Martin Luther said This is an outstanding epistle...so beautifully and gently does it picture Christ to us. Pr. Nord First Lutheran Summer Project Juice in July ~ Pecatonica Food Pantry We will be gathering contributions of containers of 100% juice in the month of July for the Pecatonica Food Pantry. Our goal is to fill the pantry shelves with 200 containers of 100% juice to be distributed to Pecatonica and surrounding area families in need. First Lutheran members, please give as you always do generously! Thank you. Page 2 THE VOICE OF FIR ST L UTHER AN
July Celebrations ~ Birthdays & Anniversaries Anniversaries Birthdays 14- Heather McGrew Bob Ebbesmeyer 56910 11 12 13 14 15 20 - Jacob McGrew Georgia James Carrie Daly Lori Peterson Shane Dorgan Lynn Love Emma Daly Kay Peterson Kaia Ward Craig Peterson Mike Lundberg David Ward Joe Enzenbacher Karen Hasselman Bill Nelson Janet Anderson 22 23 26 28-920 26 - Craig & Gail Peterson Doug & Ann Hoover Tim & Amy Bukoski Upcoming Events July 4 Happy Fourth of July! July 3, 10 & 17 Coffee & Scripture with Pastor Nord Tuesday mornings from 9-10 am July 10 Worship & Music Meeting ~ 5 pm July 16 Council Meeting ~ 7 pm July 19 Men s Group Breakfast ~ 6 am July 26 Hope/Charity ~ 12:30 pm Hostess ~ Susan Enzenbacher August 2 Ice Cream Social & Corn Boil ~ 5-8 pm Homemade Ice Cream is back! Page 3 T H E V O I C E O F F IR ST L U T H E R A N
Can you believe it? It's only July, but have you seen the school supplies in the stores already? That means it's time to start buying supplies for the Lutheran World Relief Fall Ingathering. This year we are coordinating with ELCA's "God's Work ~ Our Hands" outreach program to collect school supplies for the backpacks we send to Lutheran World Relief. Our outreach committee has set a goal of filling 100 backpacks by September 15 for this year's drive! We have never done that many before, but we know how supportive our congregation is in achieving big goals! We will need everyone's help to succeed so please join the effort. Following is a list of the items we can use as Lutheran World Relief requests that all kits have the same items. Thank you for donating just these specific school items. Each kit needs: 5 pencils 5 blue or black pens (no gel pens) 1 ruler (with centimeter marks) 1 pair of scissors 1 eraser 1 pencil sharpener 4 70-100 page spiral bound notebooks Thank you so much for participating in "God's Work ~ Our Hands". Further information to come. Page 4 THE VOICE OF FIR ST L UTHER AN
Page 5 THE VOICE OF FIR ST L UTHER AN
Page 6 THE VOICE OF FIR ST L UT HER AN
First Lutheran Church 627 Taylor Street P. O. Box 540 Pecatonica, Illinois 61063 (815) 239-2390 firstluthpec@gmail.com Putting Christ First! Copy of Church Council minutes are posted each month on bulletin board in foyer We express our sincere sympathy to Margaret Stahl upon the passing of her son, Ron. Worship Schedule Council Members Every Sunday at 9:00 am Sunday School at 10:30 am Pastor Nord Swanstrom (815) 520-5026 PR. NORD ADDRESS & TELEPHONE CHANGE: 7308 Tunbridge Court Roscoe, Illinois 61073 (815)885-3647~home Mark Jensen Council President (815) 520-3024 Mike Durand Vice President (815) 239-9996 Sherri Wurster Secretary (815) 335-2855 Sallie Morgensen Treasurer (815) 222-2638 Janis DeWall (815) 703-1772 Bob Ebbesmeyer (815) 54-2182 Craig Peterson (815)871-2085 Kent Peterson (815) 964-0952 Brett Zimmerman (815) 541-6510 David Zumdahl (815) 988-7959