Volume 91, Issue 11 November 24, 2015 community matters

Volume 91, Issue 11 November 24, 2015 community matters Confirmation 2015 On Sunday, October 25 th we celebrated with 10 of our youth as they were confirmed and took the next step in their faith. It was a joyous occasion and we are so proud of all of them. Please pray for all of these youth as they continue on their faith journey. Josie Foss Maxwell Fox Rudy Krueger Kyle Lake Alison Lawrence Myka Morgan Geneva Runyard Matthew St. John Natalie St. John Amanda Wallace

P a g e 2 thank you s C o m m u n i t y M a t t e r s Thank you to everyone from each church service on Sunday, November 8th who donated loose offering totaling $582 for the Carol Johnson Memorial Scholarship fund to help families with tuition payments. From Grace Lutheran Preschool Board and Staff The Women s Ministry would like to thank all of the ladies who helped make the Fall Brunch a fun morning. The ladies enjoyed a brunch menu from the Ladies Aide Society Cookbook which was first published in 1924; thanks to Kathy Bergeron and Katie Thomas who spent many hours retyping the cookbook. From the Women s Ministry Thanks to everyone that helped out with Trunk or Treat! We had a great time! We had beautiful weather and everyone had great trunk decorations for the evening. We had a record number of families that came and decorated trunks! Thanks again to everyone who donated time, candy, decorated a trunk, or just came to check it out! From Rachel Hall Mid-Week Advent Children s Program During the mid-week Advent meal time, there will be children s programming again!! All kids 3 years old-6 th grade are welcome to join us as we meet 3 special Bible characters, one new person every week! Once we hear their story, we will have crafts to make and games to play! The children s time is from 5:45pm-6:45pm, starting on Wednesday, December 2 nd. We hope you join us! Children s Christmas Program Our Children s Christmas Program will be on Sunday, December 20 th at 4:00pm this year. We will be Singing the Story ; singing classic Christmas songs to walk everyone through what happened on Christmas Eve. We invite everyone to come at 4:00pm on December 20 th to enjoy the performance. Children are still able to sign up to participate in this program, just talk to or email Amanda Monroe. Cookie Walk December 13 in the gym 8:30 a.m. 12:00 p.m. Fresh, tasty, homemade Christmas cookies to purchase. Sold by the pound. No advanced orders! All proceeds will be donated to the Rebuilding Grace Fund. We welcome all donations. Please call Judy Kretsinger or Sandra Knorr if you have donations. Come see me at the Christmas Walk! Limited variety of the Famous M&M Cookies! Thank You & Thanks be to God! Since my letter for the 2015 Annual Report was written, Grace Lutheran Church unanimously called Pastor JoAnna Patterson to serve as our new Associate Pastor! I feel both great excitement and a sense of eager anticipation (please note some relief as well!) on what God will do in, with, among and through the gifts that God has given Pastor JoAnna Patterson. You likely read the congregational Annual Report cover to cover (I know, my article this year was pastor dahlseng three pages long!) but in case any of you missed it: let me thank the hard work and time of the Call Committee: Cindy Reinhardt, chair of the Call Committee and Vice-President of the Council, Mindy Clark, Carl Freehauf, Andrew Hall, Mike Owens and Jodi Semevolos; the Grace Council for your recommendation of Pastor JoAnna Patterson and to all who participated in the congregational meeting and vote on November 1, 2015. Above all, thanks be to God who is always faithful! Grace Church and Preschool is blessed to be part of a wider community planted in the soil of Loves Park. As the season of Thanksgiving is right around the corner, we must give thanks to God for our partnership in this neighborhood with Loves Park Elementary School, Principal Clark, her staff, the students and their families. We must not take this relationship for granted. It is a gift of God and the result of many volunteers both represented by the church and the school. Let us remain vigilant in our prayers for Loves Park School and all that it does for our community in quality education, teaching life skills to our children, and helping to create community as families meet one another in and through the school. I am especially thankful this year for the civic leadership that often works behind the scenes unless members of our church or Preschool should need their support and help. Loves Park has a history of strong mayoral leadership

V o l u m e 9 1, I s s u e 1 1 P a g e 3 including many who were members of Grace. Our city is the recipient of quality leadership from Mayor Lindberg, to our city council served by numerous members of Grace, and to the various departments that serve the people of Loves Park. I am proud of all the members of Grace Lutheran Church who work to serve well the city of Loves Park. Two departments of the city of Loves Park that are always right here when we need them are the Fire Department and the Police Department. Both departments had equipment and personnel present for our Trunk or Treat. On pastor dahlseng behalf of Grace Lutheran Church, I give thanks for the leadership provided our community by Police Chief Scott and Fire Chief Foley. We recognize that you put your lives on the line every day for our safety and security. Continuing Education The second and third weeks of November I have been away from Grace taking in some continuing education. It has been a time of rest, renewal and refocusing. On my way to Memphis, TN I stopped in Marian, IL for a few hours to see a church, a home and share a meal with Chris and Katie Thomas! In Memphis, I met up with Pastor JoAnna Patterson, Michael Thomas and Bill Dahlberg at the Christian Community Development Association Conference. was renewing, workshops and plenary sessions challenging. Relationship building was best of all. It was a time away to write on the next installment of John as well! Closing Thoughts Life is about relationships gathered, as well as those we now miss, around the table of Thanksgiving, Christmas and the Lord s Table too. The table provides us with food, time to talk, share stories, get caught up with each other, laugh, cry, and listen. For some of our Grace family, this holiday season will be hard because it is your first time around the calendar missing your spouse, parent, child, other family members or a friend. A person of importance will be missing from your table. Naming that reality is helpful. How we miss the voice of the one we no longer hear! As your pastor, I miss those of you for whom it has been a while since you joined us in worship or at the Lord s Table. It can be awkward to make your way back but once you do, I am confident that you will feel at home the Lord s home. Come back if you are able before Christmas Eve! Finally, to our homebound and shut-in members of Grace, I hope you know you are missed and enjoy the visits of our home communion servers as well as the visits of Pastor Park. This has been a hard year with staff shortages and I know I have not gotten around to visit many of you but you have been in my prayers. If you would like me to visit, please call the office and I will rearrange my schedule the best I can to come and visit. God s peace and blessing to each and every one of you. Pastor Dahlseng pastor JoAnna Grace Lutheran Church, I am overcome with joy and anticipation following your vote of confidence and the call you extended to me to serve as your Associate Pastor. The first word off my lips when asked both by the Call Committee and at the Congregational meeting about what matters most to me are relationships! I look forward to meeting you, listening to your stories about life and discovering together what God is calling us to do. If a few of you were willing to open your homes and invite other Grace members over in an afternoon or evening, I would love that opportunity get acquainted. Chris and I have been married for five years and have an eleven month old son, Michael. We are busily packing up and getting ready to move to Loves Park on November 21. We are excited about our new beginning and all God has in store. I am a graduate of Lenoir-Rhyne College, an ELCA school in Hickory, NC and the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. I have served St. Philips Lutheran Church in Delaware and part-time at St. Asaph Episcopal Church in Philadelphia. This is a big move for us it s a God adventure! Pastor JoAnna Patterson On October 18th 65 ladies came to our Ladies Brunch many with fashionable aprons for the Apron Parade. Our guest speaker, Granny, was her usual fun self. She had quite the comments on the antique kitchen gadgets that were on display. The tables were set with find linens and each had an aqua antique canning jar with homemade tissue flowers. Our brunch included recipes for our 90 year old cookbook. This cookbook is now available for you to purchase and has a historical history outline of Grace Lutheran Church; inserts of Rockford Business advertisements, and many priceless recipes made from our ladies in 1924. You can RSVP your copy by signing the back of the connection card in Sunday bulletins. Don t miss the opportunity to add this wonderful cookbook to your library! All proceeds go to the Rebuilding Grace Fund. Any questions or ideas for future Women of Ministry Programs, please call Judy Kretsinger at 815-633-5427.

P a g e 4 C o m m u n i t y M a t t e r s children & youth news Youth Winter Retreat 2015 Friday, December 4 Sunday December 6. Wilderness Resort in Wisconsin Dells Weekend of water rides, worship, and fellowship And we will learn about AWAKENING! Cost $125 per person. Please see Amanda Monroe if interested. We hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving! We have been preparing at school by thinking of all the wonderful things we are thankful for. Some of our more creative responses were pterodactyls, the color red, beds, snakes, and Cheese-Its (or maybe she meant Jesus ;) ). As we prepare for Christmas, we remember that the Birth of Jesus is the reason we celebrate, but we are also excited to give and receive presents. We love to sing Christmas songs, including Mary Had A Baby and Jingle Bells. Preschool is hosting the Fun Fair again! On December 12th please join us for games, crafts, food, and Santa! We can't wait for all the fun. Mark your calendars! Saturday December 12th from 11am-2pm Grace Loves Park Church and Preschool is having a holiday fun fair. This is an event for the entire family festivities include: Fun Fair style games Christmas crafts Family Photo Booth Food for purchase (proceeds go to the Preschool Scholarship Fund) Make and take cookie platters (proceeds go to Rebuilding Grace) And even a special visitor all the way from the North Pole! It is sure to be a great time! Can t wait to see you there! Looking for ways to help out? We are looking for cookie donations for our cookie platters. We are hoping to get a large variety of fun Holiday cookies for families to choose from. Any and all donations need to be dropped off in the church kitchen no later than Saturday 12/12 at 10am. If you are willing to bake cookies please contact Rachel Hall at rhall@gracelovespark.org or 815-742-7224, so we know how many cookies to plan on. Confirmation and high school students come and work at a game booth. This is a great way to earn service hours and have fun! Please contact Amanda Monroe at amonroe@gracelovespark.org for details on volunteer opportunities! Any other questions please contact Rachel Hall or Stacie Leese

V o l u m e 9 1, I s s u e 1 1 P a g e 5 DECEMBER BIRTHDAYS & ANNIVERSARIES DECEMBER BIRTHDAYS monthly business PASTORAL ACTS November 2015 Baptisms Knox Alexander Ferry Charlotte Lynn Behmer Funerals *Mark Hiltl Iva Mae Burton-Voss General Fund (Mission and Ministry) as of November 17, 2015 Total Income 2015: $523,435.77 Total Expense for 2015: $532,460.20 Rebuilding Grace Fund Total Income 2015: $73,664.94 7-Mary Sager - 89 10-Diane Carlson - 78 11-Hugo Peterson - 91 12-Glenn Throndsen - 85 15 Lloyd Rhodes-76 18-Audrey Wooley - 81 19-Phyllis Hult - 82 24-Jeanette Halter - 78 28-Norma Peterson - 89 STAFF 14-Mary Frykman, Financial Secretary ANNIVERSARIES 1 - Scott & Lori Boeke 25th 27-Bill & Bev Beck - 64th Birthdays that are published are 75 and older. Anniversaries that are published are 25th, 40th, 50th, and any Anniversary after the 50th. If you wish not to have it published please call the office (815-633-8075). Total Expense for 2015: $78,377..19 Thank you for your giving hearts. Mary Frykman Check out electronic giving and make a contribution. We are also accepting Credit Card donations We extended our Sympathy: Families of Mark Hiltl & Iva Mae Burton-Voss The next newsletter will be published on Friday, December 18, 2015 and mailed out Tuesday, December 22, 2015 Items for that issue (January s Calendar) are due in the church office by NOON, Friday, December 11, 2015 PLEASE NOTIFY THE CHURCH OFFICE...when members of your family are hospitalized so the pastors may visit them. (Also let the hospital know you are with Grace Lutheran Church)...when a member of your family has passed away so the pastors and members of the congregation may express their sympathy and include you in their prayers.

Grace Loves Park Church and Preschool 343 Grand Avenue Loves Park, IL 61111 CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage Paid Rockford, IL Permit No. 2869 Phone: 815-633-8075 Fax: 815-633-8092 Email: grace@gracelovespark.org Advent s December 2, 9, 16 12:00 p.m. Advent 5:30 p.m. Advent Dinner 5:45 p.m. Kid s Advent Activity 7:00 p.m. Advent Christmas Eve s 3:00 p.m. 9:00 p.m. 11:00 p.m. Opportunities at Grace Every Sunday 7:30 a.m. Weekly Communion 9:00 a.m. Traditional 10:30 a.m. Contemporary 1st & 3rd Sunday, Holy Communion at 9 a.m. & 10:30 a.m.