FIRST LUTHERAN CHURC H 408 Ninth Street NW Mandan, ND 58554 Phone: 701-663-3594 Fax: 701-663-6217 E-mail: jackie@firstlutheranofmandan.org First Lutheran Church November Newsletter Building Faith and Transforming Lives in Christ. www.firstlutheranofmandan.org We re on the web! Happy Thanksgiving from the staff at First Lutheran Church! November 2015 First Lutheran Staff Administrative Pastor Rev. Lee Herberg 663-3594 Associate Pastor Rev. Christina Martin 663-3594 Administrative Assistant & Coordinator of Lay Ministries Jackie Schulz 663-3594 (o) 663-3082 (h) Custodians Ron & Mavis Watson Financial Administration Jennifer Scheet First Lutheran Is A Mission Partner with Camp of the Cross Ministries 1 As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God? 3 My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me continually, "Where is your God?" 4 These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I went with the throng, and led them in procession to the house of God, with glad shouts and songs of thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival. 5 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help. 1 Psalm 42: 1-5 As I write this Russell and I are not so patiently waiting for the arrival of our first child. It is an exciting time. In preparation for the birth of our son, we were able to go back to Indiana in August to be showered by our families' love and of course get a lot of baby stuff. Spending that time with our families was a blessing. The shower was fun. Yet during the baby shower, there was a notable person from my family missing. My cousin could not come. You see for her, the baby shower was bittersweet. After years of fertility treatments, she and her husband found out they were expecting, only to lose the baby a few months later. As we approach the holiday season, I can t help but think about my cousin. November marks the beginning of a holiday frenzy that doesn t seem to end until after Christmas. With all the food, shopping, and festive commercials, it is easy to get caught up in the frenzy of the season and forget that the holidays are not always filled with a sense of blessing for our neighbor. For some the holidays are more bittersweet, a time when the soul longs for the living God. It is a time marked by the empty spot at the table, the dinner made for one, and the lack of presents under the tree. As we approach and prepare for the frenzy of this holiday season, remember your neighbor. Perhaps their prayer can be answered in you and you in them. For when we look at our neighbor in love, we see the face of God. Go in peace, God is with you! Pastor Chris 1 New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
PAGE 2 FIRST LUTHERAN CHURCH November 2015 November is Stewardship Month! As we gather for Thanksgiving this year in homes across community, we also give thanks to God for our faith home. Sunday, November 15 th and Wednesday, November 18 th will be our stewardship ingathering services as we pledge our commitment to Christ and his church for 2016. PAGE 11 FIRST LUTHERAN CHURCH NOVEMBER 2015 Thank you to everyone who helped out for our lutefisk supper. It was greatly appreciated!! This is a congregational event that takes many people to accomplish great things. Special thanks to Lori Meyers & Richard Gaasland for again faithfully acting as Coordinators. Be sure to set your clocks back 1 hour before you go to bed on Saturday, October 31 st.
PAGE 10 FIRST LUTHERAN CHURCH NOVEMBER 2015 We have lefse available to buy. The cost for lefse is $1.50 per sheet. Please stop in the office or call 663-3594. Thank you! On Sunday, November 15th, we will have Listening Posts after both the 8:30 and 10:45A.M. worship services. On Wednesday, November 18th, we will have a Listening Post after the 6:00P.M. worship service. The intent of these Listening Posts is to provide a venue in which individuals who wish to provide additional input regarding the blessing of same-sex unions the opportunity to do so. Council members will be present at these Listening Posts to gather congregational input. The church council will collate the data from the questionnaires which were mailed out in mid-october and the Listening Posts before making a decision that may or may not be included in future revisions of our current Wedding Policies. The decision will be based on the majority opinion gathered from the data collected. Mark Your Calendar 4th: 7pm - Confirmation - Large Group 5th: LAF ~ Hot Dogs 11th: No Confirmation 12th: LAF ~ Sloppy Joes 18th: 7pm - Confirmation - Large Group 19th: LAF ~ Sandwiches 25th: No Confirmation Upcoming Events Dear Parents & Other Caregivers of 2 nd Graders, 2 nd graders will be receiving their own Bible on Sunday, November 15 th at the 10:45 A.M. worship or Wednesday, November 18 th at the 6:00 P.M. worship. Here at First Lutheran we are pleased and excited to join with you for this Bible Milestone. Please come with your child to place the Scriptures in his/her hands during the worship service. Please contact Pastor Lee at 663-3594 or by email, lee@firstlutheranofmandan.org, with the child s name and which service you will be attending. Please contact Pastor Lee no later than Sunday, November 2 nd. Come and join us at Station West!!! Our youth going on the mission trip will be at Station West on November the 8th. We will be serving food and working both the afternoon and evening shifts. Our youth will receive a percentage of the profits and all the tips. So please come and support our youth, by eating brunch, lunch, or dinner at Station West. On November the 22nd the youth will be leading worship, don t forget to bring money for an extra collection that day. The extra collection will go to youth going on the mission trip.
NOVEMBER 2015 FIRST LUTHERAN CHURCH PAGE 4 PAGE 9 FIRST LUTHERAN CHURCH NOVEMBER 2015 Pastoral Acts Baptisms: October 4 October 17 October 18 October 25 October 25 Emily Lyn Freeman Kennedy Anne Bohn Hudson Michael Hagens Ethan Lee Achtenberg Callie Grace Olson The Saints who have departed from our congregation since our last All Saints observance on November 2, 2014: Weddings: October 10 October 24 October 30 Calvin Anderson & Katie Kupper Wayne Seeman & Carrie Weisz Casey Breuer & Brooke Lillis Funerals: October 8 October 12 October 15 Lorraine Kastrow Jacob Hertz David Dombrowsky Linda Mund Todd Dailey Memorial Fund In memory of Luke Meiers given by Joy Krush, Valerie CarKuff Lommen & Garaldine Haharty. (for LAF) In memory of Duane Sorum given by Duane Sorum Family, Leon & Jeanne House, Ralph & Naida Feland. November~ Mission of the Month Welcome House Items needed are Paper Towels, Cleaning Supplies, Laundry Soap, Fabric Softener, Personal Hygiene Products, Diapers (of all sizes), Baby Wipes, Gift Cards (for grocery stores, WalMart, etc.), Gas Cards. You may put your items in the boxes in the Narthex. Thanks! Deadline for articles for the December Newsletter will be November 20 th. Worship Schedule Sunday ~ 8:30 am ~ Traditional 10:45 am ~ Contemporary 9:30 am ~ Coffee 9:30 am ~ Church School Merrill Serr Richard A. Steffenson Dorothy Zwarych Frank Bondeson Gladys Dau Jim Svihla Gerald Hambrick Marie Fetzer David Mellen Alice Schmidt Esther Fisher Sandra Renken Taylor Goven Glen White Jason Sharff Shirley Ulrich Duane Sorum Maynard Jenner Anna Kottsick Jacob Hertz David Dombrowsky Special Thanks Thank you to all the greeters, ushers, communion servers, readers, communion set-up, coffee hour workers, and to all who have supplied goodies for the last month. Your help is greatly appreciated! Wednesday ~ 6:00 pm ~ Transitional 6:00 pm ~ Church School 7:00 pm ~ Confirmation
PAGE 8 FI R S T LU T H E R A N C HU R C H NO V E MB E R 2 0 1 5 NO V E MB E R 2 0 1 5 FI R S T LU T H E R A N C HU R C H PAGE 5 First Lutheran Church Council Minutes Date: September 17, 2015 Time: 7:00 pm Members Present: Pastor Lee Herberg, Pastor Christina Martin, President Den Na Lee Fewson, Vice President Jill Miller, Secretary Jessie Hilfer, Tim Faller, John Pake, Jeff Bradford, Brock Schmeling, and Dot Frank Absent: Rynell Rusch Devotions: Pastor Lee led devotions. Den Na Lee called the meeting to order. Approval of Agenda: Moved by Dot, 2nd by Jeff to approve the agenda. Motion passed. Secretary s Report/Review and Approval of the minutes: Moved by Tim, 2nd by John to approve the minutes of the August 20th council meeting. Motion passed. Financial Report/Review: August expenses exceeded income by about $1,000, however we are still ahead for the year. The sanctuary windows down payment was made. In terms of financial position, Rev. Lee feels we re doing very well at this point in the year. Unfinished Business: The elevator still has not been checked out; the company rescheduled because they are short staffed. The blessing of same-sex unions was discussed at the Medora Pastor Conference retreat. Rev Lee and Chris brought back information gathered from the seminar. Congregations in the ELCA have congregational autonomy; i.e. each congregation makes their own decision. First Lutheran in Williston and Trinity in Bismarck shared handouts they used for listening posts. Trinity held their sessions after a Wednesday service and between Sunday services. Each table had 1 council member who read 4 questions and people wrote down their answers. Comments were allowed at the end. Also, people could call in with comments if they did not attend. Trinity voted that they would allow the blessing of same sex unions to be held in their church; First in Williston church has not voted yet as their talking points are very detailed and will be spread over 5 months. Den Na Lee moved to proceed as Trinity did and schedule listening posts. Motion amended to include questions in a special mailing to the congregation. Dot 2 nd. Motion passed, with Brock opposed. Listening posts will be November 15th & 18th. Will send mailing mid-october. Newsletter Faith Lutheran sends out once per month, about 675. Bulk mail 4 11x17 sheets folded once and stapled. Their machine folds and staples. Take to bulk mail at the south Bismarck post office. $160, addressed at the church. Trinity sends 800 out once per month and bundles June, July, and August. They do a single 11x 17, not stapled. 250 are emailed. They use Presort Plus. We hope to start soon. Dot will find out mailing costs. Table the issue for now. Windows- 5 panes of the 12 have been adopted and 2 more have verbally said they d be taking one. Will be installed in early November.
PAGE 6 FIRST LUTHERAN CHURCH NOVEMBER 2015 Flooring Carpet we have in the Narthex will be discontinued in January 2016. Dot will check on labor pricing as she has a connection at the carpet store. Railings are rusty and retaining wall is in bad shape, really separating at the top in some places. May want to find a way to seal the gaps soon. Discussion on options to cover the cost of these repairs and improvements. We would need a special meeting for the congregation to approve if we would have to add to our loan through Thrivent. NEW BUSINESS: Luther Seminary has encouraged First Lutheran to financially support Janie Hague who was an active member of our church. Full sponsorship $8,800 or half $4,400 per year. At the October meeting planning for 2016 we will make a decision of how much to sponsor as we begin the 2016 budget rough draft. REPORTS: Pastor Lee s report - 2 baptisms, 2 funerals, 1 wedding. Still mentoring Bill Dodd with weekly meetings until June 2016. Attended the fall Pastor conference in Medora. Pastor Chris s report 2 baptisms, 1 funeral, 1 wedding. Pastor Chris has done nursing home and Baptist Home worship services. Mentor group, Pastor Paul Hoffman. Attended the fall Pastor conference in Medora. Debut on Senate Council. Maternity leave will start around November 4 th, she will be out for 6 weeks. Church school just started. Special Events LAF starts 10-1-2015. October 4th new member potluck. October 17th Lutefisk dinner. October 31 Trunk or Treat. Stewardship None Worship-- None Parish Education/Youth Church school there are 100 kids on Wednesday nights with the C Squad. Sundays have 62 kids. There are 19 new confirmation kids. All teachers are here. Classes have increased, we have 25 more kids total than last year. May need another teacher. Also need another small group leader for confirmation. We ve had good feedback about the new Collaborate program. Will have first meeting to discuss mission trip soon. November 2 nd graders will receive bibles, Anseth s have sponsored them again. Christmas program will be from a Max Lucado book. Evangelism and Outreach New member orientation October 4th. Trunk or Treat October 31. LAF starts October 1 st. Property and Management: Need to seal cracks on the upper retaining wall. CORRESPONDENCE: MSLCC Thank you for $127.82 to M Club Golden Ages Thank you for $75.74 for home delivered meals Roosevelt Elementary Thank you for donation of school supplies. Motion to Adjourn/Lord s Prayer: Moved by Jeff, 2 nd by Dot to adjourn the council meeting. Motion passed. The meeting closed with the Lord s Prayer. Submitted by: Jessie Hilfer