Grand Meadow Lutheran Church Newsletter SEPTEMBER 2017 Worship Calendar September SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 3 SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 17 9 am Worship with Holy Communion 9 am Worship New Member Sunday 10:15 am Sunday School 2 pm Worship at GMHCC SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 10 9 am Worship 3-yr-old Welcome to Sunday School & First Bible Milestones 3rd Grade Bible Milestone Backpack Blessing 10:15 am Sunday School Begins 10:15 am Confirmation SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 24 9 am Worship with Holy Communion 10:15 am Sunday School 115 1st ST. NE Grand Meadow, MN 55936 507-754-5203 officegml@arvig.net GrandMeadowLutheranChurch.org Pastor Krolak@gmail.com
Sunday School News Welcome Back Kids! The first day of Sunday School is September 10! We are looking forward to a great year! We have about 40 kids expected for Sunday School this year and several new teachers, coordinators and helpers. We'll be kicking off the school year with a special worship service at 9 a.m. on Sept. 10. Festivities include Bible distribution to incoming three-yearolds and third graders, teacher installation and a backpack blessing (bring your backpacks!). Sunday School follows worship at 10:15. Sunday School Communication An email was sent to all Sunday School families with important dates for the 2017-18 school year. Please let Sara Lee (saracblee@gmail.com) know if you didn't receive it and want to be on the distribution list. Events will be communicated throughout the year via the GMLC Sunday School gmail account, and through facebook. Please "like" the GMLC Sunday School facebook page to get these updates in your newsfeed. Help Wanted! Sunday School coordinators, teachers, helpers Pastor Beth has been busy calling parents of Sunday School children to offer opportunities to be part of Sunday School. There are a number of ways to be involved. It's fun, rewarding and not overwhelming. We learn right along with the kids! If you have creative ideas and want to walk with your child(ren) on their faith journey, consider a role with Sunday School Save the date! Christmas Program 2017 Hard to believe, but plans are already underway for the 2017 Christmas program! Mark your calendars for Sunday, Dec. 3 at 4:30 p.m. NOTE: We resume with Sunday School every Sunday of the month this year, unless otherwise communicated. Thank You Parents! G.A.P. I hope that everyone had a great summer. God s Awesome People (G.A.P.) went bowling in June and had a great time. We will be meeting again on the first Wednesday of each month starting in October. Watch for more details. After 10 years either teaching or coordinating Sunday School activities, I'll be stepping down as the Sunday School coordinator to pursue other interests in our church ministry. I sure have enjoyed the opportunity to work with the children of Grand Meadow Lutheran and have appreciated all the help from parents. I hear often how much people enjoy having kids in worship -- singing, contributing to children's sermon, being in church and hey - even crying! Kids add so much to our congregation. I'm looking forward to the fresh perspectives and ideas our new teachers will bring! -Sara Lee
Reflections Open to the Cross From a young age, we are taught to hide the embarrassing parts of ourselves. Sometimes we learn that lesson the hard way when we are laughed at for being ourselves. Sometimes we pick up on it slowly from what others around us think is cool. We learn to cover up problems in our family, hurts we feel inside, or elements of our appearance. When those things become visible to another person, we can feel terribly exposed and open to rejection, like our life is over. When Jesus reveals his intention to go to Jerusalem at the cost of his own life, Peter objects strongly to this deeply vulnerable revelation. Yet Jesus remains firm in his desire to share his deepest pains and fears openly with his disciples. Here we catch a glimpse of the courage and integrity that Jesus will share with the whole world as he hangs naked from the cross to reveal the depth of God s love for us. vulnerability that Jesus modeled. In our worship, we enact this through our willingness to confess our failings to one another, to be confronted with our weakness in the preached word, and to come in common need of grace to the table. When we follow Jesus into the space of vulnerability beneath his cross, we can encounter the God who is willing to embrace us fully with all our faults and problems. Take a moment in worship or at home to gaze at a cross and ponder the mystery of a God who chose to find us in our weakness, a God who meets us with radical love and mercy to create a new kind of life within us. From sundaysandseasons.com. Copyright 2017 Augsburg Fortress. All Martin Luther said that one of the signs of the true church is the presence of the cross. In Christian community we should find the same kind of openness to rights reserved. Account No. 1374980101 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God -- what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2
Announcements RUMMAGE and BAKE SALE On September 7-9 Grand Meadow Lutheran will be hosting a Rummage and Bake Sale in connection with the City Wide Rummage Sale. We are searching for household items, wardrobe accessories (purses, scarves, jewelry, shoes, etc). NO CLOTHES AND NO ELECTRONICS. Seasonal and holiday decorations, puzzles, games, books, children's toys and craft items. Start hunting for items to be donated to this event. Proceeds to go to the General Fund at Grand Meadow Lutheran Church. More information to follow. If you have questions please feel free to contact any of the committee members; Kathy Berge, Mary Monty, Deb Jacobson or Margene Myhre. SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 10, 7:00 PM WORSHIP SERVICE AT DEXTER UMC. THE CANAANITE WOMAN OF THE BIBLE Shirley Gangsted will be doing a presentation of several women characters of the Bible. Great music and an offering to be taken for Feed My Starving Children. Food will be shipped to Sudan Africa. Nutritious meals with a cost of only 25 cents a piece. We would like to hopefully be able to purchase enough for one pallet of food, maybe more. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 5:00 PM WILL BE A FOOD PACK EVENT AT DEXTER UMC. FEED MY STARVING CHILDREN Pack food bags with people from age seven on up. We would like to have at least 50 people to pack for the first shift. Will add shifts to try to accommodate people's schedules depending upon number of volunteers. Great Confirmation activity. Please join us in doing something positive to address a genuine need! Sign up in church entry. Grand Meadow Lutheran Women of the ELCA The Grand Meadow Lutheran Women of the ELCA met Wednesday, August 9th, at 1:30 p.m. at the Meadows Assisted Living. Pastor Beth led the Bible Study with 21 attending. Eleven were residents of the Assisted Living and Senior Living. The group sang "Happy Birthday" to Helen Steinbring in honor of her 90th birthday. Following the meeting, members enjoyed coffee and fellowship with residents of the Meadows. Bev Edland reported that the organization that she had been sending cancelled postage stamps to have discontinued collecting them and that she will try to find out if there are any other organizations interested in taking them. WELCA served the GMHCC monthly birthday party on Friday, August 11. Thanks to everyone who furnished and helped serve. Members were reminded of the Church Rummage/Bake Sale to be held September 7, 8, and 9. The SE MN Synodical Women's Organization Convention is Saturday, September 16, at St. Olaf Lutheran Church in Austin with registration beginning at 8:00 a.m. and convention beginning at 9:00 a.m. and ending at 4:00 p.m. Registration is $25 and must be sent in before September 7th. Please contact Dorothy Jacobson (754-5423) if you are interested in attending. WELCA is planning a pie and coffee/bake sale in conjunction with the Homecoming parade on September 29th. More details will be announced in September. Alvena Glynn shared with the group that several years ago, she and Elna Myhre made the paraments that are still being used on the altar, pulpit, and lectern. Thank you, Alvena. They are beautiful! The next meeting of the Grand Meadow Women of the ELCA will be Wednesday, October 11, at 1:30 p.m. at the Meadows Assisted Living.
September Volunteers DATE ACOLYTES USHERS LECTOR GREETERS SEPT 3 Zac Hendrickson Stephanie Persons Einar & Margene Myhre Eleanor Riedemann Pat Lester Rollie Buschmann SEPT 10 Brittney Skifter Nils Lee Dick & Darlene Steinhorst Kathy Berge SEPT 17 Kameron Bacon Blake Ludemann Max Jech Ryan Nesbitt Dorothy Jacobson Daryl & Arvilla Boehm SEPT 24 Zac Hendrickson Stephanie Persons Jim & Brenda Blomgren Zac Hendrickson Jerry & Dorothy Jacobson Dorothy Ferguson Bev Sorensen Head Usher: Paul Persons Altar Guild: Diana Monty / Margene Myhre Communion Assistant: Eric Lee Welcome...CJ & Amanda Inglebret In March, we formally welcomed CJ & Amanda Inglebret and family to the Grand Meadow Lutheran Church faith community! CJ & Amanda kindly answered a few questions to help us get to know them. Be sure to say hello and a big "welcome" to when you see them! We grew up in CJ grew up in Grand Meadow, Amanda in Greene, Iowa. Our family includes CJ, Amanda, Emmerson, Lilly and Hank ( German Shepherd). Our occupations are CJ is self employed at SGI Ag Services and Amanda is a nurse at Mayo Clinic. Our hobbies/interests include being outdoors, spending time with family and friends, watching GM sporting events. We couldn t live without our faith.
August 26, 2017 Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, I am writing to inform you that I have made the difficult decision to resign my call to Grand Meadow Lutheran Church. My resignation will be effective Tuesday, September 26. After that date, I will not be available to preach, baptize, officiate funerals or weddings, or attend events at Grand Meadow Lutheran Church. Please know that those professional boundaries are in place to allow your next pastor to fully minister to you, and that you will remain in my prayers as we all move on. Dave and I will always be grateful for the many opportunities we have had together, over the last four years, to share in everything that God is doing in your midst and through you. Thank you for entrusting me with this ministry; we have shared many holy moments of joy and sorrow together, and you have blessed me mightily. I move into the future with hope and a sure confidence in God s provision, and celebrating our four years of ministry together. In Christ, Pastor Beth Krolak May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13