Faith Connection April 2018 WORSHIP TIMES 8:00 a.m. Traditional 10:30 a.m. Contemporary 9:15 a.m. Education Hour Coffee Fellowship Come and Join Us How to contact us 715-387-3757 Pastor Gisele Berninghaus pastorgisele@yahoo.com Dar Schubert Secretary secretary@faithofmfld.org Richard Brunson Choir Director rbbrunson@gmail.com Kim Vrana Youth Director kvrana@charter.net Anne Weber Education & Family Ministry anneyfm16@juno.com Cheryl Zimmerman Communications Specialist czimmerman@wisconsinffa.org Easter people and REVIVE WISCONSIN With God all things are possible! Easter is the bedrock of our faith, nothing is stronger than God, not even death. In the cross and resurrection, we again see God doing something new, something totally unexpected and surprising. God continues this work of making us new and surprising us with God's living presence in new and unexpected ways - we need the eyes of faith to see God showing up and the heart of faith, open to trust God working in our daily lives. The challenge for us is to loosen the grip we have on our own routines, our habits, our way of doing things and the plans we make for our days in order to allow or invite God into the mix, giving God the space to do something new in us. REVIVE Wisconsin is an opportunity for God to do something new in and through us. April 27 - May 2, we are all invited to trust God and try something new. The schedule is listed on back page and you can attend for whatever amount of time works for you, an evening only, or mornings or the noon time gathering or all of it. The invitation is here for each of us to open ourselves to what the Spirit of the living and resurrected Jesus is doing here in our community NOW. The resurrection is not some past event, it is the living power of God's ongoing creativity. You can go online to learn more about Revive or ask Karen Bohm or Jan Taylor about their experience at some of the planning meetings. Karen and Jan have stepped out of their comfort zones and listened to what the Holy Spirit is leading them to do and so have I. This is an opportunity to work with other congregations in Marshfield and the surrounding communities, to learn from each other and to see how God works in different ways among God's people. It is an opportunity to put faith into action and into words as we pray with others and pray for our communities that God would use our lives to connect with someone who does not yet know the amazing love of our resurrected and living Lord Jesus. This revive process is NEW to everyone, except the team that comes in to lead the event, but we trust that this NEW thing is God's work here and now and you are invited into this growing experience. God's Peace, Pastor Gisele Website faith@faithofmfld.org Office Hours Monday Thursday 9-3 Office and Building Closed on Fridays and Saturdays Upcoming Events: May 6 May 13 May 20 May 27 Confirmation Sunday @ 10:30 worship. 8:00 Sunday School, 9:00 Youth/Baccalaureate Service Worship times change to Summer schedule: One Service 9:00 8:00 Last Sunday of Sunday School 9:00 Celebration Sunday 9:00 Worship
Faith Education & Making Connections No Sunday School on Easter, April 1st Mark your calendars! On May 13 th Sunday School/Confirmation will be from 8-8:45am with one worship service at 9am. End of the year Celebration for Sunday School on May 20 st. Last day of Sunday School will begin at 8am-8:45 with a celebration for the end of the year with games, songs, and treats. One worship service to follow at 9am, where kids will be singing during the service! Confirmation Sunday Confirmation for our 8 th graders is fast approaching, there are a few details that our 8 th grade parents should remember. Confirmation Sunday is May 6 th @ 10:30 service; confirmands should arrive at church by 9am, for pictures. Please mark your calendar. Teacher Appreciation Sunday Thank you to everyone who has taught Sunday School and/or confirmation this year! Thank you for sharing your talents and gifts with the kids at Faith Lutheran. On May 20 st (the last day of Sunday school) we will be recognizing teachers during the worship service at 9am. If you have taught all year, a month, or even just one day, please come to this service so we can recognize and show our appreciation for all you have done! FLY News and Upcoming Events Check out the Faith Lutheran Church FaceBook page for pictures from many of our meetings and events. ELCA Youth Gathering Only 2 ½ months remain until 16 youth and 3 adult leaders leave for the ELCA Youth Gathering in Houston. Every three years, 30,000 high school youth and their adult leaders from across the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America gather for a week of faith formation known as the Gathering. Through days spent in interactive learning, worship, Bible study, service and fellowship, young people grow in faith and are challenged and inspired to live their faith in their daily lives. We are excited to be finalizing our plans for this incredible faith journey and look forward to keeping the congregation connected with us during this time of preparation, the event and our return. Houston is one of the most multicultural cities in the United States and has a rich history we can learn from by being there. It is the 4 th most populous city in the US and has the most diverse US metropolitan area in the US. At 655 square miles, Houston could fit the cities of New York, Washington DC., Boston, San Francisco, Seattle Minneapolis and Miami all within its borders. Kids Night Out on Friday May 11 th! Kids in 2 nd grade through 6 th grade are invited for a night of fun from 6pm-9pm. Games, songs, faith lesson, snack, and more! Bring a friend or two! Please let Anne Weber know via email, anneyfm16@gmail.com if you re planning on coming.
Mark Your Calendars! The Chequamegon Conference Spring Rally will be held on Saturday, April 7, 2018. Theme: Shepherd Lead Us Come travel to European cathedrals (and more) with Pastor Gail Sowell All women are invited to join us for a day of fellowship, renewal and relaxation. Registration: 8:30 am with refreshments. Rally from 9:00 am-2:00 pm. Lunch served at noon. Registration deadline: March 19th or at the door Location: St John s, Edgar Cost: $15.00 per person- Make checks payable to Women of the ELCA $20 after March 19th Registration forms and information sheets are in the gathering space. Fill out your own form or contact Judy Rhodes at 384-2784 or jrossrhod@charter.net. There is a car-pooling sign-up on office window. 2018 Council Representatives Gary Grassman President,Education garyg@c21goldkey.com Cheryl Ashbeck Vice-President, Congregational Life, Evangelism clynnashbeck@gmail.com Treva Tisdell Secretary, Education ttisdell@pdcmarshfield.com Bill Olsen Treasurer billolsen@tds.net Karen Bohm Property, W/ELCA dkrbohm@frontier.com Cole Hansen Youth btzchanson@gmail.com Sue Vrana svrana@charter.net Thom Gerretsen Worship and Music tgwert@hotmail.com Jim Legge Sharing the Faith no email Jan Taylor Social Concerns/Green Team jantaylor15@gmail.com Soup Or Socks Food Drives Boy scouts--april 21 at First Presbyterian Church. Two shifts: 9:30-11:30, 11:30-1:30 Post Office--May 12 at the Community Center Make sure to check expiration dates of food! Call for scholarship applications Members of Faith Lutheran Church planning to attend a church college are invited to submit a letter of application for a scholarship to the FLC Endowment Fund Board. Application deadline is April 30. You may request an application by calling the church office. WHY Lutheran Christians? We will discuss how Lutheran Christians understand Holy Communion, Baptism, the Bible as well as other questions that arise. This is an opportunity for folks who may be interested in joining this congregation and/or folks who have questions or anyone who would like to join the conversation. Maybe you have a friend who has asked you questions about Lutheran teachings or Christianity in general, please invite them to attend. Please contact the office or let Pastor Gisele know if you are interested in attending and your preference, daytime or evening time to meet. Did you know that A Better Way Clubhouse uses our parsonage? This program is run by the National Alliance on Mental Illness Portage- Wood County. This organization offers support group meetings that help develop coping skills, facilitate open discussion, find resources and provide support for people with mental health conditions. If you know of anyone who could benefit from this program call Dixie Weber at (715) 897-1108.
NOW (NUTRITION ON WEEKENDS) Do you know children who go to bed hungry? How does the Marshfield community feed hungry children? The Nutrition On Weekends program (NOW) is a collaborative, community effort to target childhood hunger. The program provides healthy, ready-to-eat nutritional foods for children during the weekend. NOW is a United Way program, headed by coordinator Paula Jero. From a pilot of the program that began serving 29 children in the Marshfield School District in October 2013, the need has grown, and the program has expanded to answer the need By the numbers: 27% and 20%: students in Marshfield Middle School and Marshfield High School respectively who indicated he or she had gone to bed hungry at least once in the past 30 days because there was not enough food in the home (Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 2017) 450: total number of students currently enrolled in the program (2017-2018 school year) 210: number of students enrolled from the Marshfield School District 7: number of additional district that participate (Auburndale, Granton, Spencer, Loyal, Greenwood, Pittsville and Stratford) Each child receives a weekly food pack containing: 2 peanut butter & jelly sandwiches 2 cups low-sugar cereal (Cheerios, Raisin Bran, Life) 2 pieces of fruit (apple, banana) baby carrots 2 snack items (such as raisins, craisins, granola bars, pretzels, fruit snacks, goldfish or animal crackers, sugar-free Jello cups, fruit or applesauce cups) cheese Food packs are customized for children that have allergies. Have the criteria for qualification for the program changed since the program was started? No; but the need has greatly increased. How is NOW made aware of a child s need for food? Students are referred by guidance counselors in the schools. Most of the children are on the Free and Reduced Cost Lunch program (there are 900 students on that program in the Marshfield Public Schools). How is the program organized? More than 600 local volunteers keep the program going. They represent many different organizations, and work in shifts from 6-30 people at a time. What is a typical weekly schedule? The trucks with the food arrive on Thursday morning. Groups of dedicated volunteers prepare the food for packing at other sites by other volunteers throughout the day. Foods are refrigerated overnight, and distributed to schools in bins on Friday. Staff at the schools take care of distributing the packs to the children. Other volunteers pick up the empty bins and return them to United Way in time for Thursday s packing to begin again. Some volunteers maintain ongoing monitoring of the nonperishable foods (like peanut butter and jelly) for expiration dates. Expired products are not used by NOW. Instead, those near expiration or expired are donated to SOS and made available to recipients as additional food that they may choose to receive. How is the program financed? Some food is donated; some United Way funds are used (estimated at $500 / week). The bread for the sandwiches is baked fresh and donated from the Marshfield High School kitchen. How vital is this program? The food is very important to each individual child. They rely on this constant source of food. Discretion is used so that children receiving packs are not singled out. How do parents feel about the program? When parents of participating children were surveyed about the program, they reported that their child had more energy; concentrated better; complained less about being hungry; slept better; consumed more fruits and vegetables; showed improvement in school work; and overall mood improved. (From a 2016-17 survey) What happens in the summer? There will be no summer NOW program this year as it is significantly more costly for United Way, and has proven difficult to find effective distribution sites. However, there are summer breakfast and lunch programs at the schools. Children need not be enrolled in summer school to qualify. Is Faith Lutheran Church already involved in NOW? Yes! Our own FLY group is one of the volunteer groups, led by Kim Vrana. They pack once a month.
How else can we help? Currently the biggest need for donated food is cereal (like Cheerios; any brand or generic is fine; any flavor) and commercial jelly. They request kid-friendly jelly flavors (like strawberry or grape). They cannot accept homemade jelly or jam. As part of the Earth Day activities in April, the social concerns/green team will be collecting kid friendly jellies and cereals ( Life, Raisin Bran, Cheerios-generic okay.) There will be a receptacle in the Gathering Space. NOW is able to recycle all the cardboard boxes that donations arrive in, but there is a need for help recycling the 80 + jars of peanut butter and jelly that are generated each week (an estimated 12,800 jars this school year.) NOW does not have the facilities or time to clean them so that they can be recycled. The FLC Green Team has volunteered to facilitate the cleaning and recycling of these containers. Otherwise they are put in the trash, then landfills. Members of the congregation can participate in the preparation of the bagged meals by joining the FLY group on their packing day. New groups can be added for next fall if we wish to help in this way. See the church calendar for the next FLY packing date. Donations can be dropped off at Marshfield Area United Way, 156 S. Central Avenue. They are open Monday Friday from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM. You can choose to sponsor a child! $78 is enough to sponsor a child with food for the entire school year. To sponsor a child, please visit marshfieldareaunitedway.org or call United Way at 715-384-9992. God s Work our hands.