June 2017 S p r i n g G a r d e n L u t h e r a n C h u r c h Don't miss the Annual Spring Garden Church Midsommar Festival! It will be held Sunday, June 25th following the 10:00 church service. Activities will include a tractor parade from the Vasa Church to the Spring Garden Church, great music, delicious Swedish food, games, and lots of fun and laughter! We hope to see everyone there! Father s Day is June 18th! Service to Serve is Sunday June 11th! A brief church service is planned, followed by an overview of the areas that need attention. Instructions for cleaning different areas will be posted and cleaning supplies will be provided. There will be plenty of jobs for everyone so please come and help get everything sparkling clean for our Midsommer Celebration!
From the Pastors... Page 2 From the Small Catechism by Martin Luther What is a creed? A creed isn t just a church word though it is a statement of belief. For us as Americans, the Declaration of Independence or the Preamble to the Constitution serve as national creeds. Individuals can have creeds that is, a defined set of beliefs by which they choose to live. For us as Lutherans, one of our crucial cornerstones is the Apostle s Creed. The creed s history is unclear it goes back into the early church, perhaps descended from an ancient Roman Creed. It has similarity to the Nicene Creed, yet also has its own character. It is one of the foundation pieces to Luther s Small Catechism. The creed helps define the Christian belief in the triune God that is, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit one God in three persons. In the catechism, Luther helps us understand the three articles of the creed which go along with the identity of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Apostle s Creed First article: I believe in God the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. In his explanation, Luther says: I believe that God has created me together with all that exists. God has given me and still preserves my body and soul: eyes, ears, and all limbs and senses; reason and mental faculties. Luther goes on to explain how our creator God provides for all of our daily physical needs, protection from danger and evil. And all of this is a gift as from a loving father, not because we re deserving, but because God is good and is worthy of our thanks and praise. What does this mean for us? As spring blossoms around me, as the fields are in the midst of planting, as rains come to water the dusty ground and the air is ripe with wildflower smells I am taken again to that place where I see the hand of God moving in the creation. And I feel gloriously small! Its important that we feel small, sometimes that we see our lives, our moment on the earth in a far grander context. We are momentary inhabitants of this precious creation. God has given us imaginations and the soul to see the hand of the Creator behind and within this marvelous gift. The creed reminds us we are fully part of the creation, not above it but within it. Therefore we are called to be stewards of the gift of creation. In this year to remember the 500 th Anniversary of Luther and the Protestant Reformation, its good we take the time and remember there is a lot more that we say, when we confess together: I believe in God the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. See you at worship! Pastor Nick
Page 3 Congratulations to our high school graduates: Logan Bauer, Marlee Berg, Emma Fisher, Logan Kuhn, Cameron Quade, Kelli Ringeisen & Matt Sjoblom Congratulations to two of our seniors, Cameron Quade & Kelli Ringeisen, for receiving $500 scholarships. Congrats also to Chuill Lip who received a $500 scholarship for ELCA college. We ve completed another Sunday school year. We can t do this without our Spring Garden volunteers. Thank you so much to our teachers: Al Gergen, Julie Miest, Matt Sjoblom, Kelli Ringeisen, Katie Sjoblom, Maja-Lina Holt, Sue Safe, Tim Anderson, Scott Safe, Rob Lorentz, & Scott Quade. Thanks to Ruthie Sjoblom for directing our cherub choir and to Conor Salmonson for accompanying. Thank you to our Confirmation guides: Tim Anderson, Rahn Safe, John Goplen & Megan Nerison. And a HUGE thank you to Pastors Nick & Cindy for their wisdom, guidance & support throughout the year. Vacation Bible School Make sure to join us for the Barnyard Round-up! Monday, June 12 Wednesday, June 14, 5:30 8:00 pm at Urland Lutheran Church. We serve supper at 5:30. You can register online at: vbsmate.com/urland. Good Earth Village SUMMER CAMP!!! You can still sign up your kiddos for summer camp at Good Earth Village. There are 4 kids signed up so far. You can find forms in the office or you can go online: www.goodearthvillage.org. The Spring Garden week is June 25 30. There are full-week & half-week options. Let the office and Kim Sjoquist know if you sign your kids up (kimsjo77@gmail.com). We will be reimbursing you for part of your registration and will need to know how many kids signed up. *** We are still looking for someone to fill the Board Chair position for Christian Education. This could be a sort of split position in a way. Call me to chat about it. 507-298-0164. We are really needing more people to come on board and help with this opportunity in our church. We also need some more Christian Education board members please consider using your time & talents to be part of our children s Christian education. *** --Kim Sjoquist Everyone is invited! Graduation Open House for Emma Fisher Sunday, June 11th 3-7 pm At the Pastors house (45291 County 1 Blvd., Wanamingo, MN Congratulations to all of our seniors who are graduating from high school!! Logan Bauer Marlee Berg Emma Fisher Logan Kuhn Cameron Quade Kelli Ringeisen Matthew Sjoblom Congratulations to those who received a Spring Garden Scholarship of $500: Cameron Quade Kelli Ringeisen Congratulations to the college student who received the ELCA College Scholarship of $500: Chungeang (Chuill) Lip
Page 4 You can t take it with you, but you can send it on ahead Corner Checkbook Balance: $4495.14 Financial Facts April 30, 2017 --Anonymous ****Let s see if we can build up that checkbook balance before heading into the summer months!!!!! Outstanding Loans, Memorial Committee: $5,940.00 Just a reminder you can text your contributions to the church now. ****If you forgot to drop your offering in the plate on Sunday, just simply go to our website www.spring-garden.org click on the online giving tab and make your contribution that way. You will need to register and create a password, but once you have done that you can direct how much and how often you would like to give. The Baby Quilt Ministry will be meeting Thursday, June 15, from 7-9 pm at the church. Everyone is welcome to come and help! GIFT IT FORWARD - Continued from May In 2016, the Stewardship Team selected 10 ministries in our church and gave each group $100 to Gift It Forward. This program was funded by the Mission Endowment Fund Committee. Each team was challenged to use their creativity to make something good happen and extend God s mission out into the world through Spring Garden. Stewardship is an individual or family commitment, but we can also be inspired by talking together about what we value and then working toward something we can do together. Seven groups were featured in last month s newsletter. These are the stories from the last three groups. Please contact a member of each ministry if you would like more Book Chatter We were able to increase our gift to $525.00. In support of reading and education, the Book Chatter group decided to help students purchase textbooks allowing them to further their education. In many third world countries students are expected to share one textbook with the entire class because they can't afford to purchase their own books. Our thanks to the church council and members for this special opportunity. Moms Group The Moms group took the initial $100 we were given, added an additional $25, and donated the money to the family of Clayton Kodada. He was in an accident at work that took his life in February. He left behind a wife and three children. He was a Cannon Falls graduate as well as a former member of Urland Lutheran Church. Our Moms group had been praying for this family and found the gift it forward project
Page 5 Council Meeting Minutes - May 4, 2016
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Page 7 Much has been said about ADD or ADHD but what is it really. ADD is attention deficit disorder and ADHD is attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. ADD is a term that is not long used so will use ADHD from now on. ADHD is a genetic, neurologic syndrome. Some other definitions are that there is a chemical imbalance in the brain, or that there are areas in the brain that control attention that are less active in children with ADHD. ADHD is commonly genetic which means that it runs in families. ADHD starts in childhood and can continue into adulthood in about 1/3 of adults. ADHD is more common in boys than girls. ADHD there are degrees of severity from mild to severe. ADHD in children is commonly diagnosed when the child has problems paying attention, fidgeting, troubles sitting still, whereas a diagnosis in an adult has more to do with managing time, being organized, holding a job, problems with relationships, low self-esteem and addiction. ADHD is a disorder of opposites. Whereas caffeine is atypically a stimulant to keep people awake in a person with ADHD caffeine has a calming effect. Whereas Ritalin is typically used to keep people awake in a person with ADHD it is used to help that person sleep. People with ADHD tend to have an active mind as their brain doesn't stop there is no on/off switch; they have social anxiety; they listen but often don't absorb what is being said; they have difficulty staying on task; can become anxious easily because they are deep thinkers they are sensitive to whatever that is going on around them; they think outside the box which is a wonderful aspect of ADHD and they tend to be passionate about everything that they do. I recently talked with a former member of Spring Garden about his journey with ADHD. He brought with him an extensive list of detailed symptoms. Some of which I have listed and also were very insightful and a book entitled Answers to Distraction. He said that a couple of years ago he was reading an article about ADHD and in that article was listed a number of symptoms he had all but one of the symptoms. He went to the Center for Human Resources in Northfield for testing etc. and then took those results to his local doctor for medication treatment. He takes Ritalin at bedtime to help him sleep. He had a few insights he said that the reason that a person fidgets or is in constant motion is because that he/she is fighting to stay awake. One of the symptoms that he has is anxiety and he also has to have a routine to remember where things are etc. Some other interesting info is that some of the most creative people such as musicians, inventors, artists, entrepreneurs have ADHD. Blessing to you all, Yvonne Salmonson RN Parish Nurse Thank you to everyone who donated the delicious baked goods, canned goods, bottled wines and garage sale items for our Garage/Bake sale. Your generous donations helped us raise over $1,500 towards our next medical mission trip to Guatemala. Shoppers who came to our sale were so supportive of our cause, and went above and beyond in their donations as well Garage sale items leftover were donated to the Epilepsy Foundation and bake sale items were sold at church the following Sunday. Thank you, thank you, thank you! --The Guatemala Medical Mission Team
Spring Garden Lutheran Church Church Council Members and Board Members President Eric Lundell 651-442-0536 Vice-President Jenny Jandro 507-202-8926 Secretary Sandy Hanson 651-258-4114 Treasurer Rob Lorentz 507-263-2384 Financial Secretary Pam Davis 507-263-5657 Worship & Music Lisa Miller 651-258-4341 Evangelism Bill Erickson 507-732-7301 Christian Education Kim Sjoquist 651-258-4834 Youth Ministry Megan Nerison 507-271-7491 Congregational Life Jody Sjoblom 651-258-4224 Church Property Glen Lundell 952-846-9672 Stewardship Mark Sjoquist 651-258-4123 Missions Board Katie Sjoblom 507-302-9167 Music Joshua and Allison Wyatt Building a Rural Family in Christ Parish Nurse Yvonne Salmonson 507-951-7921 Custodian Sue Safe 651-258-4619 Administrative Asst. Rachel Benson 651-380-0161 Pastors Nick & Cindy Fisher-Broin 507-824-3216 P. Nick s Cell: 507-298-0416 P. Cindy s Cell: 507-298-0415 S p r i n g G a r d e n L u t h e r a n C h u r c h PO Box 237 10239 County 1 Blvd. 507-263-5532 springgardenchurch@frontiernet.net www.spring-garden.org US POSTAGE PAID Permit #69 Nonprofit Standard Mail Cannon Falls, MN 55009 Address Service Requested