IMMANUEL EV. LUTHERAN CHURCH November 2009 Newsletter 20 MONTEREY CIRCLE, LAKEWOOD NJ 08701 732-363-1599 OR FAX 732-364-3969 It s that time of year again. A letter from the stewardship committee containing an estimate of giving card was sent out this week. If you haven t gotten it yet, watch for it in the mail. It s time for us to plan financially for 2010, and time for all of us to decide how we will support the mission of Immanuel in this community, and the mission of the larger church in the world. The cartoon above is cute, and hopefully you got a laugh out of it. But it s interesting that even a cartoonist, who may or may not be a Christian, knows about the concept of tithing. Now you re probably thinking, uh-oh, she s going to tell us that we have to give 10% of our money to the church. Well, OK, we all should be giving 10% of our income to the church it is the Biblical standard for giving back to God from the bounty that God has given us. There are two things I d like you to think about as you consider your giving for 2010: 1. Good stewardship does not begin with tithing. It begins when we really, truly come to the realization that everything belongs to God. I know we hear that all the time, but consider what it means. Most of you slept in a house last night, and got up this morning and drove your car to work or school or church. Well that house and car do not belong to you. You might say, yes, that s true, I just make the payments. But, the money we make the payments with doesn t belong to us either. It s hard to get this through our heads, isn t it? The concept of mine is one of the first concepts we learn as a child. When we re kids, everything we see and want becomes mine." When we get older, the toys get more expensive, but that concept of mine remains. This step means throwing the concept of mine away. There is no mine there s only God s. Once we get that through our heads, good stewardship is only one step away. Office Staff: Rev. Karina Ramins, Interim Pastor Roxanne Rossano, Secretary INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Coming up News..... 2 Cleanup Day.. 3 Nov. Calendar...4 Serving in Nov.......4 Nov. Celebrations..5 Pastor Con t... 6 C.A.T. News...6 Nursery School..7 Blessing of Animals..8 Info..9 Jan. Wine & Cheese Event...10 Thank You...11 CROP Walk.11 Poinsettia Order Form...11 2. The second step is recognizing that we have been given the privilege of using and caring for God s things. Think about it this way: Suppose a friend goes out of town and says you can drive his car while he s gone, you are supposed to take care of it. If you don t, and you wreck the car out of carelessness, then you re a bad caretaker. cont. on pg. 6
Check out the great stuff going on, don t miss anything! NOTICE - There will not be any C.A.T. Meetings for the months of November & December. Meetings will resume again in January of 2010. Look for the date in the December newsletter. See CAT article on page 6 for more details. Up Coming Events for December Advent Dates 1st Sunday of Advent 11-29 2nd Sunday of Advent 12-6 3rd Sunday of Advent 12-13 4th Sunday of Advent 12-20 ANGEL TREE WILL BE UP ON DECEMBER 6TH Annual LCW Christmas Dinner Ladies of the church don t be left out! Our Annual Christmas Dinner will be on December 2, 2009 At: Eagle Ridge Restaurant Time: 6PM Cost per person: $20.00 Surf & Turf Buffet Please let us know if you are coming by calling the office and letting Eva or Karin H. know by November 22nd. Hope to see you there! November 26th & 27th December 24th & 25th January 1st Lunch with Santa! December 5, 2009 11:00AM Children s Lunch is Free Adults $2 There will also be a Santa Store for children to purchase family gifts. Cost: $1 per item. CHURCH DECORATING TUESDAY DECEMBER 8 AT 7PM. Join in the fun! Hot Chocolate and Donuts will be served. DECEMBER 22nd setting up the altar With Poinsettias. Help needed for both. 2
FALL CLEAN UP DAY! NOVEMBER 15, 2009 (immediately following the church service) Judd Stanberry is looking for volunteers to help spruce up the grounds around the church, nursery school and parsonage! All hands are welcome and necessary to make the job easy and to complete it in a timely fashion. So please all hands - large and small - are welcome! We will have refreshments as well to energize you! Things to be completed: Mow lawn Clean off parking lot Rake leaves Clean gutters Pick up trash Move large pile of leaves and branches behind the nursery school further back into the woods. We will need some tools as well: Rakes Pitch forks Blowers - electric or gas, hand held or backpack Thank you, we look forward to a time of fellowship in sprucing up God s grounds. 3
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 SS Fall Festival 10:00 AM IMMANUEL WOR- SHIP 12:00 PM Cristo 12:30 PM DeDios Worship 5:00 PM Spirit Filled Min. 7:00 PM Ballroom Dancing 2 7:00 PM FINANCE MTG. NOVEMBER 2009 3 7:30 PM De Dios 4 7:30 PM Cristo 5 7:30 PM Narcotics Anon. 6 8:00 AM Cristo- Fasting & Prayer 7:00 PM Cristo- Conference 7:00 PM Spiritfilled Min. 7 8:00 AM Cristo- Fasting & Prayer 5:30 PM Immanuel Worship Serv. 7:00 PM Cristo- Conference 8 10:00 AM IMMANUEL WOR- SHIP 12:00 PM Cristo 12:30 PM DeDios Worship 5:00 PM Spirit Filled Min. 9 10 7:30 PM De Dios 11 12 7:30 PM COUNCIL 7:30 PM Narcotics MTG. Anon. 7:30 PM Cristo 13 7:00 PM Spiritfilled Min. 8:00 PM Sons of Norway-Ed. Bldg. 14 5:30 PM Immanuel Worship Serv. 6:30 PM Evangelism-Wine & Cheese Event 15 10:00 AM IMMANUEL WOR- SHIP 12:00 PM Cristo 12:30 PM DeDios Worship 5:00 PM Spirit Filled Min. 16 17 7:30 PM De Dios 18 19 7:30 PM Cristo 7:30 PM Narcotics 7:30 PM LCW Mtg. Anon. 20 7:00 PM Spiritfilled Min. 21 5:30 PM Immanuel Worship Serv. 22 Fall Harvest Food Drive 10:00 AM IMMANUEL WOR- SHIP 12:00 PM Cristo 12:30 PM DeDios Worship 5:00 PM Spirit Filled Min. 23 24 7:30 PM De Dios 25 7:30 PM Cristo 7:30PM Thanksgiving Eve Service 26 27 7:00 PM Spiritfilled Min. 28 5:30 PM Immanuel Worship Serv. HAPPY THANKS- GIVING 7:30 PM Narcotics Anon. 29 1st Sunday in Advent 10:00 AM IMMANUEL WOR- SHIP 12:00 PM Cristo 12:30 PM DeDios Worship 5:00 PM Spirit Filled Min. 30 7:00 PM SFM- Couples Mtg. THOSE SERVING IN NOVEMBER 2009 Lay Date Assistants Ushers Altar Guild _ Acolytes Lectors Nov. 1 Karin Holldorf Janet Price Donna Palzer Daniel Palzer Kris Calabro & The Gurley s Donna Palzer Nov. 8 Laura Mitchell Lana Hyer Donna Palzer Michael O Donnell Heather Bulin Eva LaBrozzi Donna Palzer Nov. 15 Kris Calabro Janice Henry Donna Palzer Tyler Bulin Janice Henry The Youth Group Donna Palzer Nov. 22 David Curtis Manning & Lois Donna Palzer Tyler Brown Judd Stanberry Voorhees Cherylann Gerhard Nov. 29 Sven Mossberg Shirley & Howard Donna Palzer Brian Camp Laura Mitchell Heim Donna Palzer 4
NOVEMBER CELEBRATIONS November I-do s Kristine & Michael Becker 04 John & Margaret Coppola 08 Jim & Lisa McLain 08 Matthew & Sue-Anne Lyons 09 Joseph & Viola Kentos 11 Colleen & John Simonetti 16 Andrew & Elizabeth Torre 18 Ben & Shannon Holt 21 ALL SAINTS SUNDAY NOVEMBER 1st Elinor Hoenig Charles Frank Sturm Edward C. Fay Penella E. Martin Harriet M. Armstrong Betty Jean Lane James Goetchius Norman C. Smith Glenn S. Bleiweiss David Finn Catherine Everson Bertha Saul Dylan Liam Brower Ann S. Finnerty Robert E. Buttcher Eugene Fideau Timothy Simpson Catherine Lacey Adeline Federico Robert Paring Leo Vasmanis Joseph Colosimo Karen Sellers Janet Santiago Reinaldo Carde MaryEllen Hansen 04 Kathleen Jorgensen 04 Harry Sullivan 04 Judy Nolan 05 Robert Camp 07 Michael Grecksch 07 Elizabeth Knipfelberg 10 David Novatin 10 Joseph Kentos 11 Michael Santoli 11 Charlotte Meyer 12 Dawn Egan 15 Arnie Hansen 16 Janet Price 17 Jeremy Barrow 19 5 Birthdays Pastoral Acts in October Scott Conover 21 Colleen Simonetti 22 John Sudol 22 Kevin Berg 23 Tyler Brown 23 Shannon Holt 24 Chase Olejarz 25 Alexis Conover 26 Jonathan Riley 26 Nicholas Boyle 27 Stephanie Palzer 27 Dick Stahlhut 28 Sean Sullivan 30 Weddings Walter Childs & Kristie Grogan 10-3-09 Baptisms George John Ibrahim 10-18-09 Thank you note from: Rev. Doug Shipler Rutgers Protestant Campus Ministry Immanuel Lutheran Church, On behalf of the Rutgers Protestant Campus Ministry and Second Reformed Church I would like to thank you for the large print pew Bibles. These Bibles will make worship more enjoyable for our older and disabled folk for years to come. May God bless your generosity with great joy! In Christ, Rev. Doug Shipler
Con t from pg. 1 So good or bad stewardship is a function of how we use and care for all the things that God lets us use. How DO we use our cars and houses and money and time? If we use them in ways that honor God, if we use them to support God s work and do God s will, then we are good stewards. So now we come to tithing. Good stewardship comes first, and then tithing is an outgrowth of it. If I give you ten dollars to hold for me and I say that you can use it for whatever you need and then ask for one dollar back, it would be rude to say no. After all, I gave you ten and you still have nine. We are God s creation. God made each of us out of the dust of the earth, and then placed us in a garden so we could live and grow. We have everything we need to do that, even though we so often think we don t. And all of it is given to us by God. God lets us use his things. But the bottom line is that it all belongs to God. We are only caretakers of God s possessions. As we all decide how we will support this congregation next year, let s keep God s gracious care of us in mind, and give in thanks for what God has given us. Grace and peace Pastor Karina C.A.T. IS MEETING AGAIN C.A.T. is meowing again after an enjoyable summer. This is Halloween, of course, so one would expect C.A.T. to be noisy. C.A.T. stands for Coffee and Talk, our discussion group that solves the problems of the world each month. We have a luxury, however. The problems are discussed in great detail with many references to the good old days when everyone was unaware of today s difficulties and changes, much less about how to resolve them. Ah, solutions. There is our luxury. We trot home after pulling apart our problems but with no agreed upon resolutions. These are left for our elected leaders, whom we will criticize a month later for not acting resolutely. Terrific, what insight! Hercule Poirot, the fictional detective created by Agatha Christie and an occasional TV who-done-it, tells his astonished group when he solves a murder that they should have exercised their little grey cells. C.A.T. offers this essential arm chair exercise together with coffee and tasty delights. How can you beat it? You can t. Please join us on Wednesday, October 28 th at 10:15 A.M in the meeting room at Church for another meeting of C.A.T. We look forward to having you with us. There will be no meetings in November and December during the Holiday Season. That will give us time to recharge for the January meeting, which will be noted in the December newsletter. M. W. V. 6
IMMANUEL LUTHERAN NURSERY SCHOOL We were very busy in the month of October. We practiced our "stop, drop and roll" for fire safety month, picked pumpkins in our playground "pumpkin patch" and celebrated Halloween with our annual parade!! Our goal for November is to collect food for the pantry and help others in our community. We continue to register children for our programs and are happy to announce the start of a new program in January -"Mommy and Me". Kindly stop by our school or call Nancy Kaminski at 732-363-1735 or directorilns@verizon.net with any questions you may have. You may also visit our website at www.ilnurseryschool.org. 7
Blessing Of the Animals! Our first service for Blessing of the Animals by Pastor Karina was a huge success. So many animals came with their owners, no one was turned away. 8
The Entertainment Books for 2010 are here! $30 each! These make great gifts for Christmas for teachers, bosses, friends and relatives. They are also good for birthdays and anniversaries. Another Wine & Cheese Party is in the forecast for January 9th. So mark your calendars. Stave off the winter blues with fellowship and friends! Here it is the: Winter Gift Auction on February 6, 2010 at 4:30pm Admission for the event is $30.00. This includes dinner and 5 tickets. Additional tickets may be purchased at the event. So if you are looking for a fun time, you won t want to miss this event. Hope to see you there. Place: Immanuel Ev. Lutheran Church Education Building 20 Monterey Circle, Lakewood NJ Any questions call: Eva LaBrozzi 732-818-0981 Or church office at 732-363-1599 9
I hope Mom (Karin) brings me home some goodies from the Wine & Cheese Party! Everything is always so delicious. Wine and Cheese Fall Friendship Fundraiser At Immanuel Lutheran Church Help support the Roof/Septic fund Saturday, November 14 th 7:00 PM in the Educational building Donation $10 10
A big thank you goes out to John Bulin and the students in the seventh and eighth grade classes and high school class for helping clean up the Angel Under His Wings pantry. Thanks John for taking the 50 pound boxes to the dump. A special thank you to the congregation of Immanuel Evangelical Church for helping to make the CROP Walk a great success. The rain held off, but the temperature was a bit cold. We raised $576 towards the fight to end hunger. Order Form for Red Poinsettias 6 1/2 pot with 5 & up blooms @ $9.00 Your Name: Your phone # # of Plants Amount: I will / will not be taking home (please indicate by circling one) In Memory of: In Memory of: In Honor of: In Honor of: (more than one name can fit on each line) Please make checks payable to Immanuel Lutheran Church. Give orders to Church office no later than December 13th. Additional order forms will be in the Narthex in November. Place your order early to assure your loved ones name/s are in the bulletin. THANK YOU! 11
IMMANUEL EV. LUTHERAN CHURCH 20 MONTEREY CIRCLE LAKEWOOD NJ 08701 PHONE 732-363 363-1599 FAX 732-364 364-3969 3969 www.ilutheran.net First class postage Where tradition and the future meet to serve Christ 12